Page 20 of Flash

A shiver of lust rushes through me, and Arrow’s hand wraps around mine unexpectedly, stopping the jangling of the keys. I didn’t even hear his footsteps.

“I don’t have to stay if you’re having second thoughts,” he says softly.

I swallow down a laugh. Would it kill this man to throw out just one red flag already so I’ll know what I’m working with? Narcissist? Serial cheater? Dude who scratches his ass at the table in a fancy restaurant? A hint would be nice.

I look up at him and lean in a little closer, tilting my face up. Arrow bends down, stopping with our mouths barely an inch apart, his warm breath fluttering over my lips, his eyes searching mine.

“I’m not having second thoughts,” I say, sliding my fingers underneath his t-shirt to feel his warm skin again. “I want you to come up.” A brush the tip of my nose against his and give him a teasing smile. “For a little while, anyway.”

A smile twitches on his lips. “Okay,” he says, plucking my keys fully out of my hands and then handing them back to me holding them by the correct key so I don’t have to keep fumbling.

“How’d you know which key I needed, weirdo?” I tease.

“Big square keys are always the right ones for the main door,” he reasons.

I breathe out a laugh and give him a light nudge in the chest. As tempting as it is to drag him in for a kiss right here in the parking lot, I’d much rather get him alone first.

I lead him inside, flipping on the light and toeing off my shoes just inside the door. Arrow follows suit, stopping to untie his boots and slip them off. I glance around my apartment, trying to remember the last time I actually had a guy over… other than Rowan, obviously, but he doesn’t count. My place is basically a shrine to my one true love—plants.

“Want to meet my babies?” I ask. Arrow cocks his head and I chuckle, moving into the living room. I run my index finger lovingly over the broad leaf of my fiddle leaf fig. “This is Notorious FIG.” I gesture to the pair of pothoses next to it. “Plants Armstrong and Keanu Leaves.”

He laughs loudly and bends down to point at the jade plant on the lower shelf. “Let me guess, Morgan Treeman?”

“No, but I’m going to have to remember that one.” I chew on my bottom lip while he carefully looks over each and every potted plant. “Most people just think of plants as ornamental, but they’re so much more than that,” I blurt.

Arrow raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

“They can communicate with each other,” I explain. “Some scientists are even starting to consider that they may have actual intelligence and the ability to make choices in the service of their own survival, like which types of pollinators to attract and who to crossbreed with. People talk about how we domesticated plants, but if you think about it, they domesticated us. Human society started on the basis of farming. That’s how we went from hunters and gatherers to setting down roots and trending towards specialization, thanks in part to barley and hops.”

“Beer?” Arrow says with a chuckle, and I nod enthusiastically.

“Exactly. The fermentation process takes time, and we couldn’t continue to be nomads if we wanted to get properly drunk. So we started to tend to crops and help them propagate, we crossbred them to make them stronger, and we spread them across the world to places they never would have made it on their own. And we still depend on them for everything. We wouldn’t have food if it weren’t for plants.” I realize I’m babbling and bite down on my tongue to stop myself. “Thanks for coming to my extremely seductive TED talk.”

I let out a weak laugh and Arrow straightens to his full height. I’m suddenly aware of how close we’re standing, all alone in my apartment. The air between us crackles and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as goose bumps crawl along my skin, even though I’m hot enough to start sweating again. I sway towards him, putting my hands on his chest and bunching his shirt in my fists. The warmth of his skin radiates through the thin fabric, and I swear I can feel the wild flutter of his heart beating against his ribcage. Mine thunders just as fast, rushing in my ears with a roar just like the engine on his bike, deafening and thrilling at the same time.

“That’s fascinating,” he says.

“Don’t lie. You’re thinking what an absolute nerd I am right now.” I invited him over here to prove that I’m smoother than I’ve been letting on, and instead I end up blathering at him about plants.

I swallow hard, and Arrow’s calloused hand moves to cup the back of my neck. He drags his thumb over the pulse in my throat, sending a hot shiver through me. I don’t wait for him to pull me closer or crash his lips into mine, I’m too impatient for that. Launching myself into his arms, I claim his mouth. He catches me with his hands on my ass and a soft, surprised laugh against my lips, hoisting me closer as I wrap my legs around him and tangle my fingers in his hair.

The taste of his tongue hardens my cock in seconds, and the rumble of his muffled grunts makes me ache with an embarrassing amount of neediness. I kiss him harder, nipping his lips and tangling our tongues. He keeps pace with just as much greedy enthusiasm, kneading my ass with both hands and matching the intensity of my kiss. My cock throbs against his stomach and I squirm in his arms to grind against him. I’m tempted to keep things simple, to ask him to fuck me right here in the living room, up against the wall, fast and dirty just like our previous hookups.

“Where’s your bedroom?” he asks in a hoarse, breathless voice.

I jerk my head towards the short hallway behind him then kiss him again, sucking his lip and dragging my tongue over his. I tighten my legs around him as he carries me down the hall.

ARROW

Finding Lewis’s bedroom by feel alone without prying my mouth from his is a fucking feat, but it’s like when a mother finds the strength to lift a car off her baby—extrasensory abilities triggered by desperation manage to get me through. The blush that spread over his cheeks when he realized he was rambling was enough to make me want to devour him, but, dammit, it also made me even more curious about who he is.

Is he a botanist? Just a plant enthusiast? How does he spend his days? And why does he always taste so damn good?

When my knees hit his bed, I set Lewis down carefully and crawl over him. We inch up the bed together between fierce, rough kisses and gropes, tugging at each other’s clothes. I break away from his mouth to lick and suck along the smooth edge of his jaw and down the slender column of his throat. Fuck, I can’t get enough of the taste of him. I want to gorge myself on every inch of him like the glutton I am.

The breathy moans and throaty, impatient sounds he makes go straight to my dick, tightening around my balls and stoking the heat in the pit of my stomach. I grab the hem of his t-shirt and yank it up over his head, reluctantly pulling my mouth away from his skin just long enough to get it off and toss it aside.

Lewis’s fingers tangle in my hair as I run my tongue along the ledge of his collarbone and make my way down to his smooth, bare chest. I make circles over his pec with my tongue, getting closer and closer to his taut pink nipple. He squirms under me, arching his back and tugging on my hair, trying to hurry my progress. I chuckle against his skin and he growls low in his throat.

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