Page 66 of Tooth and Nail

He briefly wondered whether Ari was a top, a bottom, or vers and then realized it really didn’t matter because he wasn’t plotting anything when it came to this man. He most definitely had no plans of slotting Ari into a preconceived box of his own contrivance since any way he could have him, he’d have him. Eoghan hadn’t been with anyone since his ugly breakup with the cheating Kellen McGillis. It wasn’t that he had been avoiding men, it was simply that he’d decided he needed to be more discerning in his tastes. In his opinion, Aristotle Brown was more man than he could’ve hoped for.

Then again, the man was still his partner, and he didn’t want that to change anytime soon.

“Ari—” he groaned, tearing his mouth away as they paused to draw in breath. When Ari’s gaze met his own, Eoghan lifted his hands and set them on his waist, pushing the solid wall of muscle back a step.

“Eoghan—” Ari breathed, dropping his gaze to his lips. He stepped forward again.

“Wait.” Eoghan put up his hand between them, leaning back and wincing when the back of his head thumped against the hard door. “I’m not so sure this is a good idea.”

Ari frowned. “You can’t be serious, Eoghan! I keep getting mixed messages from you. You’re driving me crazy.”

“I’m sorry. I just—”

“It doesn’t seem that difficult to figure out, Eoghan. Either you want me, or you don’t. Which is it?”

The underlying hurt in Ari’s voice almost unmanned Eoghan. “It’s not that. We’re partners. I just don’t know if it’s a good idea for us to sleep together.”

Ari stepped back, turning his back on him and walking over to the bed where he stopped, before whirling around to look back at him. “But you thought it was fine to sleep with Kellen McGillis?”

“What?” How had he known that? Eoghan quickly replayed every conversation he’d had with Ari regarding Kellen, trying to remember when he’d ever told him about dating McGillis. If the truth be told, they’d never dated in the conventional sense of the word. They’d had all their interactions between the sheets.

“I know you slept with him,” Ari said, walking across the room as he removed his gun and holster, setting them on the bureau before lowering his ass to one of the two queen beds in the room they’d rented for the night. “I may not have a lot of experience as a gay man from the south. But trust me, Eoghan, I know the feeling of anger when someone is flirting with my ex and that’s exactly the emotion I felt from you when McGillis flirted with me.”

Eoghan shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs out of it because he couldn’t believe Ari was serious and thought that he was jealous or angry. “You’re so wrong.” He removed his own weapon, placing it beside Ari’s, then walked over and saton the opposite bed, looking deeply into his eyes and talking with his hands. “You have to believe me.” He took a deep breath. “Please…let me explain?”

Ari looked up at him under hooded lids. “Yeah, okay. Explain, Eoghan.”

“I did sleep with Kellen. In fact, stupid me, I thought we were having a relationship. He didn’t. We dated for more than a year so I thought we were having a real relationship, but I have never before or since, dated anyone I worked with. That’s why the prospect of sleeping with you is freaking me out just a little.”

Ari stared at him—his beautiful hazel eyes looked shadowed in the twilight filtering into the room from outside. Otherwise occupied, they hadn’t bothered to turn on the room lights when they’d first entered. Eoghan remedied that by leaning over and switching on a lamp.

“He cheated on you,” Ari said.

Eoghan sat back, aware that he was blushing, feeling embarrassed and stupid for having allowed anyone to bring him to his knees. He nodded, looking up at Ari. He felt humiliated by how he’d allowed himself to have feelings for Kellen. He’d been duped.

“Yes.”

Ari’s eyes clouded over. “Do you think I have that kind of character? You don’t know me, but—”

“No!” Eoghan stood and closed the distance between them, sitting beside Ari. He took his hand and gazed into his eyes. “I don’t think you’re anything like him. He’s a dog, chasing after every tail he sniffs but I didn’t know that at the time. Even in the short time since we’ve met, I know your character is nothing like that.” He caressed Ari’s softly bearded cheek as he looked into his beautiful eyes. They were a smoky whiskey at the moment. “My worries about sleepingwith my partner solely stem from having each other’s lives in our hands. We’re responsible to watch out for each other every minute we’re together.”

“That shouldn’t matter, Eoghan,” Ari said, lifting his own hand to cover the one on his cheek. He turned his face and kissed Eoghan’s palm, closing his eyes. For the first time, Eoghan noticed how his long lashes curled as they blinked down over his expressive eyes. Ari’s beauty threatened to take his breath away. When he opened his eyes again, he leaned into Eoghan’s hand as he caressed his cheek. The gesture was so sweet and genuine, Eoghan felt his stomach fluttering with nerves. There was something about this man which made him want to shout out to the world that he belonged to Eoghan, that no one else could have him. He needed him in every way hecouldneed someone.

I’ve been alone for so long.

“No, you’re right. It shouldn’t matter,” he said, dropping his gaze to Ari’s lips. He slid his hand around the back of Ari’s head and pulled him forward, covering his lips again. What started out as a soft and sensuous kiss, slowly grew in intensity until they were sucking at each other’s mouths and groaning. Eoghan’s cock was back to full mast by the time Ari pushed him back onto the bed and followed him down, never lifting his mouth from his. Ari’s hands were suddenly between them at the hem of his shirt, pushing it upward. He broke their kiss, lifting his head and looking down at him, panting.

“Move to the middle of the bed and take this off,” he said, tugging on the shirt.

As Eoghan complied, Ari pulled his own shirt over his head, tossing it away to land somewhere on the floor. His khakis were obscenely tented, proving that he was just as turned on as Eoghan. He watched Ari avidly as he toed off his shoes while Eoghan did the same, letting them drop over theside of the bed. His own cock was trapped painfully against his zipper within the confines of his jeans. But he wasn’t going to be presumptuous and peel himself out of them until they’d moved things along a little more. When Ari finally climbed onto the bed and dropped down over him, Eoghan widened his legs to allow their bodies—and cocks—to line up just the way he wanted.

“You’re so gorgeous, Eoghan. I don’t know if anyone’s ever told you before but if they haven’t, then they were very remiss.”

A shiver of pleasure went through Eoghan as he smiled up at this sexy male lying over him. He reached for his face, framing it with both hands before they were back to kissing again. Eoghan loved this part of getting to know a partner. More than anything, learning that Ari was an amazing kisser, using his mouth, lips, and tongue in an easy and unpracticed way, was eye-opening. Though, he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was that he loved about the man’s kisses, it didn’t matter. His heart soared. The way Ari’s lips caressed his told Eoghan he was going to be a passionate lover. Now though, all he wanted to do was to relax into the amazing make out session and enjoy the feeling of being with this enticing man. In Eoghan’s eyes, he was simply perfect in every way and despite his earlier hesitation, he was in…one hundred percent.

Ari moved over him, frotting as he rocked his pelvis, surging against him, using his weight to press him down into the mattress, filling his mind with thoughts of what it would be like if they were naked and fucking. It made Eoghan feel amazing. As the smaller of the two, he reveled in the feel of Ari’s bunching back muscles beneath his hands. His skin was so smooth it felt like velvet and his now familiar scent—of sandalwood and citrus—was so light, it was barely there.He wondered vaguely whether his masculine musk would be stronger once he got into those khakis.

“Eoghan, you feel so good,” Ari said, moaning against his lips as he lifted his head just enough so that he could look him in the eyes. He punctuated his sentence with a rock of his hips, proving how turned on he was judging by the steel rod inside his pants. “I want to see the rest of your body. Would that be okay?”

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