Page 105 of A Hard Sell

He tried not to squeak as his next breath whooshed out of him.Oh, fuck. What do I do?He started to shift his weight back, but as soon as Thomas’ wrist slipped on his waist, the big man mumbled something and pulled Luka closer, burying his nose in Luka’s hair. His face was pressed against Thomas’ collarbone.

This time Luka couldn’t help it—he did squeak. Then Thomas froze.

“Ummm… Good morning,” Luka said, a little muffled.

But instead of darting away from him, like he expected, Thomas relaxed again. “Morning.”

“So…” Luka groped for words. “This is nice.” A little too nice. Luka had been half hard when he awoke and the situation was not improving.

“Mmm,” Thomas replied. Luka could feel the rumble in his chest. Then Thomas inhaled.

“Are you smelling my hair?” Luka asked.

“No.”

They were quiet again. Thomas dragged his fingers in lazy circles on Luka’s skin. The tingle threatened to wrench his brain in half. His body was responding one way, and his mind was a tangled mess. If he let himself go down this path, there would be no coming back. This path was dangerous. This path would leave him shattered.

“I think… I need to pee.” Luka rolled over and slid off the edge of the bed, hating the feeling of Thomas’ warm fingers slipping from his skin. His bare feet padded on the carpet as he darted for the safety of the bathroom. He closed the door behind himself and leaned back against it, head spinning.

When he came out, Thomas was sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“That wasn’t fair of me.”

Luka took a breath. “I know I was joking around last night, but if we can’t… Then I can’t…”

“I know. You’re right. It won’t happen again.”

But that’s not what I want either…His chest ached. “Okay. Thank you.”

“Well…” Thomas stood, smoothing his pajama bottoms. “We’d better not keep Shamsi waiting.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

So It Goes

Luka paused when he came out of the bathroom, seeing the look Thomas was giving him. “What?”

“A green suit?”

Luka huffed and examined himself in the mirror over the desk. “I’ll have you know that green is the color ofhealing,Thomas, and I have a strong feeling that Shamsi is the type to appreciate a pop of color.”

“Hmm. Is it a ‘pop’ when it’s head-to-toe?”

“Oh, fuck off, Mr. I-Have-Suits-in-Fifty-Shades-of-Gray.”

Thomas snorted and opened his mouth to respond.

“Anyway”—Luka pushed ahead through his blunder to cut off Thomas’ reply—“I look fantastic.” He patted his hair.

Thomas smiled shyly. “You do.”

They had breakfast in the restaurant, now much louder and brighter than dinner had been, a few tables of large families adding to the buzz.

“It’s our honeymoon, you know,” Luka said to their server when she arrived with coffee. “We’re on our way to the coast.”

“Congratulations,” she said as she poured.

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