Page 40 of Throw Down

“The only thing to do with pants like that is burn them,” Derek said with a laugh.“But they'd just melt.”

Briar stuck out his bottom lip in a campy pout.“I guess the lip gloss was a mistake too.Not even Peter noticed.”

Derek couldn’t help but glance once more at his shimmering lips.He had no interest in primping, but Briar's strategic application of cosmetics transfixed him.He’d never met a man who did more than wash with bar soap and slap on some aftershave.

Briar was unique. His brand of soft openness was like a siren’s song to a man who’d denied himself all luxury his entire life.Derek wanted to touch him so badly.It didn't even have to be sexual.He just wanted the connection, like a child reaching for something fancy and breakable in a department store.

“Is that what it is?” he asked curiously.

Briar slanted him a look from the corner of his eye, slightly defensive, and said, “Nothing crazy.I didn’t want to draw too much attention to myself in a place like this.It’s just that the clinic air gets dry, you know, and I figured it’d be better not to show up to my date looking like I’d just sucked off a vacuum cleaner—”

Without thinking, Derek reached out and wiped at the gloss with histhumb.He’d expected it to feel unpleasant and sticky, but Briar’s plush bottom lip was like velvet beneath the callused pad of histhumb.He couldn't look away. Why did he have such a fascination with thisman's mouth?

Briar froze. “You can’t start this again,” he whisperedhoarsely.

His breath was a hot, panicked flutter against Derek’sfingers.

“I know.” Derek’s voice wasragged.“I just…I can’t seem to stop myself when you’rearound.I don't knowwhy.”

Briar’s tongue darted out to lick the tip of his thumb, and his breathhitched.His free hand curled into the grass so hard he ripped out a clump by theroots.He couldn't resist pushing for more, pressing his thumb inside, anxious to test the moist warmth of hismouth.

Briar pulled away at the lastminute.His tone was firm when he said, “I’m gay, Derek, but I’m notdesperate.Just because a man wants to fuck me doesn’t mean he’s going to treat meright.I learned that the hard way. So, if you’re going to repeat the bullshit you pulled at the scrapyard, you can forgetit.I deserve better thanthat.”

Pull back, Derek’s mind was screaming, before it’s toolate.But he had the sinking feeling that it was already toolate.He’d been hooked from the moment he saw those big, wary gray eyes blinking up at him through a crack in thedoor.

He’d didn't intend to break the promise he'd made to his mother long ago, but he was so tired of deprivinghimself.His cock had been aching nonstop forweeks.Relief was so close, if only he could grabit.

“I’ll treat you so good,” Derek saidhoarsely.He slid his palm up to cup Briar’s cheek, gratified when his lashesfluttered.“I'll give you what youneed.I can't promise much, but I can promisethat.”

Briar’s smile was tremulous, and his tone was wry when he said, “Well, as long as youpromise.”

They shared a smile, acknowledging how stupid they both were, and then Derek did what he'd been longing to do allnight.He leaned in and kissed the velvety gloss right off those beautiful lips.

Chapter Fifteen

BRIAR

Briar knew the cacophony of nature sounds hadn’t disappeared.The crickets still chirped, and the water still lapped gently against the shore.The pines creaked in the breeze, and a night bird occasionally let out a terrifying warble.But he couldn’t hear any of it over the wild thump of his heart.

He’d been kissed by Derek on three separate occasions, so he should be used to it by now.But it got better each time. His first kiss was confused and full of longing, while the second had been so hot and violent that it nearly incinerated him on the spot.This kiss was different. It was slow, deep, and commanding.It was Derek, unconflicted, wholeheartedly dismantling Briar’s defenses with nothing but the press of his lips.

Derek overtook him almost instantly, wrapping one arm around Briar and coaxing him back onto the blanket, his free hand protecting Briar’s head from the hard ground.

Briar's hands were fists in Derek's shirt.He used the handfuls of fabric to tug him down, so anxious to feel his body on top of him that he was shaking with it—but Derek resisted.

“I’m too heavy,” he murmured, trailing scorching kisses from the corner of Briar’s lips, along his jaw, to the vulnerable hollow beneath his ear.“I don’t want to crush you.”

“I’m sturdier than I look,” Briar panted, wriggling to get beneath him.His legs were already open, eagerly splitting to cradle Derek between his thighs.The heat of Derek's trapped cock was scorching, even behind a thick layer of denim.Briar went straight for the prize, cupping him through his jeans and kneading his iron length with the heel of one hand.

Derek groaned and threw back his head.Briar's gaze zeroed in on the exposed tendons of his throat.The urge to sink his teeth deep into the gleaming cord welled up inside him.He couldn’t help himself. It had been so long since he’d been touched, and Derek was easily the hottest man he’d ever seen.

It didn’t matter that Derek’s face was plain and rough by conventionalstandards.There was character in the broken bridge of his nose, strength in his jaw, pride in his sharp cheekbones. Sure, he'd never be called handsome, but that didn'tmatter.He was more than that; he washypnotic.

Everything about him fascinated Briar, from the way his jeans hugged his sturdy thighs to the swell of muscle outlined beneath his simple, dirt-streaked t-shirts.The thick veins in his forearms weren’t from workouts in front of a gym mirror; they were from years of back-breaking labor.Every sinew and scar of his well-worked body told a story in a language Briar barely understood.It was those rugged imperfections that made him far more attractive than any glossy photoshoot model.

Derek reared up on his knees and stripped his shirt over his head.His chest was broad and solid and bore the same sun-kissed tone as the rest of him.A smattering of dark, crisp-looking curls tapered down into a thin line that disappeared beneath the waistband of his jeans.

Briar almost swallowed his tongue.

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