Page 36 of Shaman

They’d kissed before. Hundreds, thousands of times. In all manner of ways.

But this kiss. This one. This was a first of sorts. A stripped bare, all cards on the table kind of kiss. It unlocked something in Ian’s mind; in his heart. Something that came roaring to life; that he’d squashed for so long; elemental, protective, masculine, powerful.

He grabbed Alec by the hips and dragged him in close, until their bodies were flush. Slanted his mouth across Alec’s, probed his open, gasping lips with his tongue.

It was sweet. It was so, so good.

All his life he’d been preyed upon, but now he was free. His own man. Able to protect himself…and the person who was his. Who loved him. Who he loved in return.

“God,” he breathed against Alec’s mouth. “Oh, God. Darling. I…”

“Hush,” Alec said, and leaned into him, up on his toes. Kissed him and tugged his shirt free of his waistband, drew it upward.

They pulled the clothes off one another in hurried, clumsy movements. Stumbled into the shower. The hot spray was a shock, and a wonder, some last breakdown of a barrier.

Ian threaded his fingers through Alec’s hair, tipped his head back, kissed his throat. Wrapped an arm around his waist and held him close; for the first time felt the true strength in his limbs. Not a boy, no longer helpless. A man. A lover. Someone’s partner.

He chased Alec’s pulse with his tongue. Sank his teeth into the join of neck and shoulder, that stretch of pale, vulnerable skin there.

Alec melted. Sighing and arching into him, fingers splaying across Ian’s ribs, needy sounds catching in his throat. And he was Ian’s. All his.

Ian loved him. And hewantedhim, with a kind of startling savagery he hadn’t known possible until now.

He backed Alec into the corner, where the hot water could pour down his back, Alec’s hot skin pressed down his front. Things had been so perfunctory and hesitant between them for so long, and now Ian was starving for touch – helethimself touch, hands moving across Alec’s chest, his trim waist, over his hips and down the long, slender muscles of his thighs, his ass, cupping the tight swell. Familiar territory, but held at arm’s length so long that it felt like relearning. Mapping the body of a lover thought lost. Cherishing it.

Ian found his mouth again and kissed him deep, tongue curling and flexing. Slid his hand down the flat of Alec’s belly and took his hardening cock in hand.

Alec made a soft sound against his mouth that moved down Ian’s spine like an electric shock. He tucked in even closer, hips kicking, grinding his own painfully hard cock against Alec’s hip. Their bodies were wet, and slippery, and it was an easy drag, grinding together. No friction, not enough.

Ian trailed his lips along Alec’s jaw, little kisses, little bites, boiling inside, desperate. “God, darling, I…I need…” He wanted so many things, but he couldn’t wait for any of them, hands going clumsy, skidding on Alec’s wet skin.

And Alec, bless him, seemed to know it. “I know,” he murmured against Ian’s ear, biting down gently on the lobe. “Here. I’ve got you.” He reached between them and brought both their lengths together, adding his hand to Ian’s, starting up a rhythm. Tight and perfect.

Ian shut his eyes, pressed his face into his throat, and clung to him. Thrust into their hands and lost himself to the need and the sensation.

It didn’t take long, and when he came, his knees almost gave out.

“Whoa.” Alec put both arms around his waist, pressed a kiss to his temple. “Are you okay?”

“Sorry, sorry.” How embarrassing, but he was too floaty and spent to care at the moment.

“No. You needed that.” Alec petted the top of his head a moment. “Let’s wash off.”

They did, trading the soap back and forth, along with slow, lingering touches. Alec unbraided Ian’s hair and worked shampoo and conditioner through it with loving care, picking each tangle out with his fingertips.

They climbed out when the water started to cool. Wrapped up in the fluffy white hotel robes. Went to sit on the end of the bed. There was a little gas fireplace in one corner and Alec switched it on after a moment of fumbling with the remote, tongue poking out his cheek on one side, brows furrowed as he tried to read the buttons without his glasses.

Ian felt as calm and content as he had in…well,ever, probably. Loose from his orgasm, warm and clean, safe here with the man he loved, free to look at him at his leisure. And look he did. At the way the robe clung to his damp skin in places; the pale, narrow shapes of his feet with the high arches and squared-off toes; the curl of dark hair that had flopped onto his forehead. He’d meant it before when he called him beautiful; he’d never seen anything more beautiful in his life.

The fire lit with a softwhumpand Alec said, “Aha,” pleased and smiling. Ian wondered what must be showing on his face when Alec turned back to him and pulled up short, expression becoming one of wonder.

“What?” Alec asked.

“Come here.”

He did, sitting down close – closer than he had for months, so Ian’s knee touched his hip.

Ian put an arm around his waist and hauled him even closer, half-into his lap. The warmth was starting to bleed out of him, and with it his contentment. A little chill skittered across his skin, raising goosebumps, and he tucked his nose into the soft patch of skin behind Alec’s ear.

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