Page 86 of Playing to Win

It hit him toward the end of his pre-sex shower (alone, of course, whilst Colin was using the one in the second bathroom). Throughout their relationship, he’d been so careful not to spook Colin with intimidating expectations. Now, on the day when Colin was undoubtedly feeling most vulnerable, Andrew had put forward a massive, impossibly vague demand. And nearly lost Colin as a result.

He shut off the taps and hurried to dry himself. Tying the towel about his waist, Andrew entered his empty bedroom. Through the open door he heard footsteps approach, along with a soft clinking noise.

Colin entered, also wearing nothing but a towel, carrying the bottle of red wine and a pair of glasses, which he set on the bedside table. “Hope it’s all right I brought this in. What with your white sheets and all.”

“It’s fine.” The moment Colin had filled one glass halfway, Andrew grabbed it and took a large sip. “Forgive me. I threw this lovemaking thing at you with no warning. I never meant to pressure you.”

To his relief, Colin laughed. “It’s all right.” He took a brief sip of wine. “I was a bit freaked out at first. I even considered Googling ‘the difference between fucking and making love.’”

Andrew felt himself melt inside. “That’s adorable.”

Colin gave a one-shouldered shrug. “I was afraid of doing it wrong, that afterward you’d be like, ‘No, sorry, that’s not it. But thank you for playing.’”

“I would never—”

“I know that.” Colin set his glass on the bedside table. “No, that’s a lie. I don’t know it for certain.” Then dropped to his knees on the floor, between Andrew’s thighs. “But I believe it.” He reached both arms around Andrew’s waist and pressed his cheek to his stomach.

Andrew stroked Colin’s hair, letting the emotion stream out through his fingertips, willing this man to feel how accepted he was. How loved he was.

Acknowledging this love made Andrew feel utterly unmoored. It felt like the time he was water skiing and hit an obstacle beneath the waves. He’d tumbled arse over tit through the air for what seemed forever, then hit the water face first.

But now Colin was here, holding him steady. After a few eternal moments, he shifted to the side and slipped an arm beneath Andrew’s knees. Then in one swift motion he stood up, holding Andrew in his arms.

“Oh!” Andrew’s swoon had nothing to do with the sudden change in altitude. He linked his hands behind Colin’s neck. “What about your knee?”

“It’s fine. The pain was probably just in my head, what with all the stress of our contest.” He climbed onto the bed. “Which I won, by the way.”

“This is quite the romantic posture,” Andrew said, wanting to change the subject from their adventures in politicking. “Though a bit odd, since we are the same size.”

“We’re not.” Colin laid him down gently, then stretched out beside him. “I’m at least a centimeter taller and a stone heavier,” he added as he undid Andrew’s towel, letting his fingertips trickle against bare skin.

Andrew shivered at the sensation, then shifted his head on the thick pillow to see all of Colin, whose own towel had become dislodged on the way across the bed. “We’re the same size in some departments,” Andrew said as he aligned their semi-erect cocks and started stroking them together.

“Don’t, not yet,” Colin whispered. He gently removed Andrew’s hand, then laced their fingers. “Just let me kiss you.”

Andrew let him, closing his eyes to better memorize every brush of lips, sweep of tongue, tug of teeth. He felt each kiss down to the soles of his feet, and at the depths of his belly, and at the ends of every hair on his arms and legs and head.

Still kissing him, Colin unjoined their hands and began to stroke Andrew’s cheek with just the pads of his fingertips, stealing his last coherent thoughts. The caresses drifted downward, over Andrew’s throat, skating the line of his collarbone, then circling ever closer to his nipple, which burned to be touched.

Colin’s five fingertips surrounded the erect nub, inches away, then slowly drew together, like dancers in a reel. When they met in a light, firm clasp, an electric surge zipped through Andrew’s body. He moaned against Colin’s mouth.

Colin proceeded to make good on hisJust let me kiss youcommand. Every inch of Andrew’s body received Colin’s lips and tongue, until it felt he’d been born with this mouth already inhabiting his cells.

So by the time Colin reached for a condom, Andrew was a quivering mass of desire, ready to explode.

Lying on his back, he lifted and spread his thighs. Colin edged close and began to tease Andrew’s hole with the lube-slick head of his cock, making him squirm and whimper with need.

Then Colin stopped and whispered, “Tell me what you want.”

Andrew was tempted, in the heat of lust, to urge him on with aFuck me. No words drove Colin madder. And he always obeyed, giving Andrew some of the wildest, most mind-shattering sex of his life.

But that wasn’t what Andrew wanted this time. So he held Colin’s gaze and said, “Make love to me.”

Colin’s lips parted in either wonder or disbelief. Then he pressed forward, carefully, until Andrew’s body drew him inside. Releasing a softoch, he looked as helpless as Andrew felt.

With each inhale, Andrew filled with the energy between them. With each exhale, he took Colin deeper, expanding around that warm, thick length that made him feel complete.

When they were fully joined, Colin settled forward onto Andrew’s chest. Andrew held him in a soft embrace, resting his fingertips on the tattoo beside his spine. He couldn’t feel an impression of the ink, but by now he knew exactly which ribs and vertebrae the lyric stretched between. He’d learned every curve of this man’s back in moments like this, when they adhered to each other in near stillness, with Colin’s pelvis the only moving part in this single divine body.

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