Page 44 of The Swap Masquerade

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“You were quiet on the way home. Is everything all right?” Elliott’s brown eyes showed concern as he looked at me from across my bedroom. It was late by the time we got back to my place and we’d quickly brushed our teeth and were undressing for bed.

A soft smile lit across my face as I thought about exactly how all right I was. “I’m more than all right. I’m great. I thought tonight went well, didn’t you?”

Elliott grinned. “Yes. Your friends are really nice. I can see why you like them so much.”

“They are awesome, and they were totally smitten with you. In fact, Curtis told me what a fine ass you have.”

“He did not!” Elliott gasped.

“Did so. I made sure he knew that ass was mine though.”

“Is that so?” My breath caught and held as he began slowly stalking toward me in all his naked glory. “Care to prove it?”

A growl rumbled from somewhere deep inside my chest. I slid my hands around his waist and reached down, cupping his butt in my hands and squeezing. “You’re playing with fire,” I warned.

“You already struck the match long ago, Professor. I’m simply fanning the flames.”

I leaned up, sealing my lips over his in a fiery kiss that soon had us shaking with need and gasping for air. We were all hands and mouths, pulling and biting and clawing at each other with the same primal need to get closer to one another. We fell on top of the bed in a pile of limbs, fingers exploring while mouths sucked on salty skin.

I reached blindly into the drawer by the bed, seeking the necessary supplies but unwilling to stop what I was doing long enough to look. My hand came back victorious, and I worked quickly to prepare his body for mine. “I’m good. Please, Gavin,” he whined.

Moonlight filtered through the windows, bathing his body in its pale reflective light. I forced myself to slow my frantic pace as I held myself up with one arm and lined the head of my cock up at his entrance, but when I looked up at his face, I froze. I could see all the emotions I felt for him reflected back at me through his eyes. He reached up, sifting his fingers through my hair as if he too, realized the enormity of this moment.

“I love you, Elliott. I love you so, so much,” I whispered, brushing my lips over his.

I felt his smile against my lips. “I love you too, Gavin. More than I ever thought it was possible to love another person.”

Our words were a gift to one another, a promise we would keep for the rest of our lives, because I knew in that instant, he was it for me. I had no idea what life had in store for us, but I was certain that whatever adventures lie ahead, we would enjoy them together. There would be no going back and there would never be anyone else. Elliott Stone owned my heart and my soul, and he would continue to own them for all the days we had left on earth. We made love then, slowly, sweetly, and for hours on end. When we finally fell into an exhausted sleep, we did so with our legs and arms and hearts intertwined.

Epilogue

GAVIN – Ten months later

“I’ll get it,” Elliott called out when the doorbell rang.

I finished attaching the last piece of trim to the floor then stood back to observe my handiwork. The rustic wood was perfectly suited to the old farm style home we’d bought two months before. The two-story home had sat on the market for a long time because most potential buyers didn’t want to put as much work into it as the place required. For me and Elliott however, buying a home that we could fix up and make into our own was a dream come true. We’d ended up getting it for a steal and were slowly remodeling it.

Moving in together had been an easy decision since we rarely spent time apart anyway. Besides, as my boyfriend pointed out, we both had spent too many years denying ourselves the things we really wanted out of life and it was time we started living our lives for ourselves. To us, that simply meant being together.

After visiting Curtis’s firm, Elliott had put in his resume and was quickly hired as the firm’s newest paid intern. Meanwhile, I’d made the decision to leave Bradbury College. I simply wasn’t happy there anymore with all the classes the dean kept adding to my schedule. The fact that she wanted to hand over the project I had created to someone else was simply the final nail in the coffin. Plus, the added classes would have meant more work which would have equaled less time with Elliott and that was something I just wasn’t willing to sacrifice.

Between Elliott’s new job being located there and me getting hired at one of the larger universities in the city, Indianapolis had been the perfect choice of place to settle down. Plus, we’d be closer to John and Curtis, and the new addition to their family, baby Sophia. The little girl wasn’t even a year old, but already she had all four of us wrapped around her tiny finger.

I ran into the bathroom and scrubbed my hands clean before heading out to the living room where Elliott’s parents and Trey were. I’d finally been introduced to his family shortly before we moved in together. While his parents had seemed surprised at first about the difference in our ages, especially, when they’d learned I was a professor at the college their son had attended, they’d seemed to buy the story that we hadn’t started seeing each other until after he’d graduated. Whether they truly believed it or simply pretended to, I wasn’t sure, but either way, they seemed to like me. A fact that I was forever grateful for.

I was also grateful to Elliott’s friend, Adam. He had been a huge source of support when Elliott decided to come out and I knew he was very important to my boyfriend. Adam and I recognized each other from a class I’d taught, which could have made things extremely awkward between us, but he took it all in stride, shaking my hand and telling me I better take good care of his friend. I’d liked him immediately and since then, the three of us, along with Adam’s girlfriend, Rachel, had gotten together several times for dinner and once to go see a movie. I enjoyed their company, but for me, it was all about seeing Elliott happy, and having his friend around, did just that.

“Hey, Gavin. How’s it going?” Elliott’s dad asked as I walked into the living room. I could smell food coming from the basket Mrs. Stone was holding and it made my stomach growl.

“I’m good. I finished installing the last bit of trim in the bedroom. All that’s left is the guest room and the upstairs hallway.”

“Did you decide to go with the pine like we discussed?”

I nodded. “I did. It was a good suggestion. I never would have thought of using it.”

“I can’t wait to see it.” His dad laid a hand on my shoulder and squeezed.

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