“I want you so damn much,” I whispered. “But we can go slow if you’re nervous?—”

“I’m not nervous. I’m sure of everything.” A blush crept up his cheeks, but his eyes were eager, and his chin tilted with determination.

His reassuring words relaxed me in turn, and I reached out and touched his hand, rubbing my calloused palm over his soft skin. I felt at ease as well. Maybe the safest I’d felt in a long while. Just being with him and seeing James trust in me was enough to do that. More than enough.

“I never thought my life would give me the chance to be with somebody like you,” I said.

Stepping closer, James took my hand and placed it on his chest. His heart pounded under my palm. “Same for me, Phin. You’re amazing, brave, funny, kind. Sexy.” He smiled, his eyes glinting behind his glasses.

“That’s a given.” I couldn’t stop smiling. “But not as sexy as you.”

“Let’s call it a draw,” James replied, his eyes bright, lips curling wider. “So long as I can make you mine.”

I shivered at the possessive tone.

We sprang together, our lips smacking, tongues tripping over each other to stroke and meet. I let out a strangled moan, surrendering to the kiss, James, the moment. He frantically grabbed me by my shirt and moved his mouth over mine. We devoured each other, lips, tongues, even teeth grazing. When the kiss ended, I whimpered for more.

My head lolled back as James’ warm breath was on my neck. He sucked hard, marking me, and I fucking was hungry for it. I wanted him to brand me, take me, make me his.

How we got naked, I didn’t even know. My mind was in a daze, my heart in charge. But we were skin to skin, and James was letting me touch him. We barely made it onto the bed, almost falling to the floor as we grunted, and tasted, and touched. But we got to the center of the bed, both of us kneeling, our dicks straining near each other.

I ran my hands over his strong back, squeezed his ass. My hand slid to his front, stroking his cock, worshipping it with my hand. And James was eager for me, thrusting his hips forward, seeking my strokes against his hard length. I played with his heavy sac, his taint, until he was groaning, his body quaking with pleasure.

“God, so good, but… Phin… I want to make love to you… Be… inside you,” he gasped.

I unwrapped my grip from his cock, my hands shaking.

James was proper with words, but my heart leapt at “make love,” and I prayed it meant more than a substitute for fucking. It dawned on me that I would make love with James every day of my life if he wanted that. I’d hold his hand and brave the world with him. Or better still, create our world where anything was a possibility.

I lay back on the bed, granting permission for him to take me. James pressed down on me, his smaller torso rubbing at my bigger one, and our nipples grazed, creating sparks of desire.

“Oh, Jesus,” I gritted out between my teeth. My cock was rigid already.

Moving my hands behind me, I grabbed the bedpost for support and arched my body, seeking more contact, more of him.

He kept kissing a trail down my body. Down my chest, past my stomach. Each searing kiss had my pulse jumping. I parted my thighs, and James moved between my legs. He rubbed his beard at the swollen flesh, and I cried out. James opened his mouth and took the tip of my erection. I bucked my hips without thinking, just reacting, but James moaned low in his throat and accepted more of me. I grew thicker inside his hot, wet mouth, my desire surging. My fingers scraped at the bedpost. James ground his mouth on my dick until I was calling his name, ready to combust.

“Fuck,” I panted. “Give me more. I want all of you.”

James came off me. “Oh. God, yes.”

He raised himself to me, his mouth glistening with my precum. We kissed, and I freed my grasp on the bedpost to circle his neck. I tugged at James’ hair greedily, liking the mix of my taste with his. I swiped our tongues together until James was writhing against me. My groan answered his.

“I have to—get—to your ass.” James licked the corner of my lip, moving away. He fumbled for supplies, and I placed a pillow under me. It had been a long time since I’d bottomed.

“Let me have your fingers,” I said. “Slick me up, babe.” James whimpered and soon coated his fingers, massaging my rim.

I grunted and spread my cheeks wider, and I longed to kiss him.

“Good?”

“Yeah. What your fingers do to me… When you touch me, I go wild inside. Look at my dick. It’s leaking for you.”

James straddled me and rolled a condom on his cock.

“Help me?” he begged.

I grasped his dick and teased it at my hole, rubbing small circles.