Page 26 of What I've Tasted of Desire

I imagined being out in the middle of the forest, a roaring campfire popping embers into the night sky as Alex and I sat close to each other, a shared blanket draped across our shoulders. When we kissed, I would be able to taste the marshmallow and chocolate on his lips.

My phone buzzing pulled me out of my fantasy. I apologized to Alex for the interruption as I checked it.

Jason:Pull through…

I stared down at the screen, momentarily frozen as my brain sorted through the various implications of the text I’d just received. What it meant, and what was about to happen next.

I noticed Alex looking over at me, and I hastily closed the message. “Shit, it’s the chief. Half of Station Five has COVID, and they’re sending a bunch of guys from Twelve over to cover. I need to head in.”

A brief look of disappointment flashed across Alex’s face, but he quickly recovered, smiling lopsidedly. “Someone has t-to be there t-to s-save people’s lives...”

Back at Westing House, I walked Alex to his front door. “It wasn’t exactly what I had pictured for our evening, but I had a wonderful time getting to know you tonight, Alex.” He was looking up at me, his head cocked slightly to the side; that blush of maroon blooming across his cheeks. “I’d love to see you again. I promise I won’t make you eat in my trunk again.” I finished with a playful wink.

Alex laughed, “I would like that t-t-too. And I’m s-s-orry you have to work all n-night now.”

I shrugged. “Kinda comes with the job.” I inhaled slowly through my nose and took a step closer to him. Alex straightened his posture and looked up at me with his eyes half-lidded, his neck and collarbone reddening as I entered his space.

And in keeping with my fireman theme…

“Your lips look cold, Alex. I think we should warm them up right away before hypothermia kicks in.”

“H-how would you s-s-suggest w-we d-d-do that?” Alex asked, his voice breaking as his breath hitched.

I could feel every single nerve ending inside my body fraying, and every hair on my body was standing straight up as my skin pulsed with electricity. “There’s only one way…” I whispered before finally closing the gap between us.

I softly brushed my lips across his. My heart stopped beating, and the world fell silent all around us. I kissed him again, adding more pressure. Alex let out the smallest breadth of a moan and parted his lips.

I deepened the kiss at his invitation and tasted his mouth for the first time as our tongues danced, and he stepped up on his tip-toes to loop his arms around my neck.

Oh, baby. I’ve waited so long… and it was worth it.

Just like that, I was drowning, but in the best way possible. The waves were crashing over my head and the depths were dark. All I could feel was the heat coming off Alex. All I could taste was his mouth. My fingers itched to pull him close, and I swear that it took an act of God to restrain myself from doing it. I wanted to catalog every nanosecond, frame-by-frame. His scent, his warmth, his kiss. I never wanted to come up for air.

I don’t know how long we stood there, but when my erection started getting uncomfortable in the confines of my briefs, I knew I needed to get out of here before I lost control.

Somehow, I gathered the Herculean strength to pull away from his kiss, almost losing my resolve as I watched him chase my lips before opening his eyes.

“Goodnight, Alex,” I told him, brushing my thumb across his cheek before walking back to the car.

Chapter Thirteen

“Hi. I’m a friend of Jason’s?”

The man blinked at me. “Ah. Okay. You want the usual?”

I had no idea whatthe usualwas. I had plugged the address into my GPS with little idea of what I was getting myself into. Asking Jason for the small bit of information I did have had been unbearably awkward, which he made even more so by leering at me and winking. To say I was nervous would be a gross understatement.

“Yeah,” I said, with a confidence I definitely did not actually feel. “Jason’s usual.”

I gave my driver’s license to the attendant behind the plexiglass window. After scanning it over, he hit a button on the wall and a loud buzzer sounded, telling me the door had been unlocked.

I’d never been here before, but I’d heard a lot about the place from the other guys in the locker room at the gym. The 24-hour ‘Men’s Spa’ was less about relaxation and more about… blowing off steam, no pun intended.

I put the fake ID back into my wallet, and stuffed the leather bifold down into my front pocket. Once I walked through the door, the attendant handed me a rolled-up bath towel and a key hanging from an elastic band.

“Room 15,” the attendant said, in a perfunctory fashion. “Down the hallway, past the saunas. It’ll be on the right.”

I gave a nod of acknowledgement and took the towel and key, not wanting to have any unnecessary conversation. Mainly, I just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.

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