Page 16 of Candy Hearts
Benji gazed at him, his blue eyes serious and shimmery in the light of the dying fire. “It felt like it’s supposed to.”
“What do you mean?”
“It felt like I expected it to. Which is reassuring. I hadn’t built it up in my head for no reason. It …” Benji took in another one of those stuttering breaths. William kissed him lightly, chastely, trying to comfort him. When he pulled back, Benji kept his eyes closed. “It was wonderful. I want to do it again.”
“Then we’ll do it again. We’ll do it so many times.”
A grin slowly spread over Benji’s face, and he opened his eyes. “Did you like it?”
“I think the wordlikewould be underselling it.”
“Cool.”
Benji finally scrubbed the wet cloth over the dried come on his chest before peeling his harness and underwear off to finish cleaning himself up.
William indulged in some light staring. Benji, fully naked, was something else. He was magnificent all wrapped in pretty straps and lace. He was sweet and interesting in his overalls. But naked? Damn. Benji was so unselfconscious. So comfortable. His big athletic body, his wild blond hair, his cock resting against his thigh, the bubble butt that jiggled as he went about the very mundane task of wiping spunk out of his pubic hair.
“What now?” Benji asked suddenly, his voice clipped.
Perhaps not as comfortable as William had thought.
“Whatever you want now,” William said, meaning it.
Maybe it was because there was nothing else that could pull at his attention. Not his business partner, Tina. Not the Post-V-Day Bach Auction at Mount—their version of a bachelor auction—that was an absolute thorn in his side. Not the meals he’d missed because he’d been too busy or the phone calls he’d forgotten to return or the bloodbath of his unread emails. Maybe it was because Valentine’s Day was right around the corner and loneliness had doused him like a second skin.
Whatever the reason, he was enthralled by Benji Holiday.
“I mean, I don’t see why it needs to be a big deal. It was fun.” Benji’s mouth was a tight line.
“Itwasfun,” William said, realizing instantly that he needed to play his cards close to his chest. Maybe the fake valentine thing was an idea Benji had pulled out of nowhere to give them an excuse to have sex. Who knew if it applied now that the orgasms were out of the way?
Benji didn’t respond, but he did tug his overalls back on, no shirt, no underwear. So sexy.
William grunted—real smooth—and stalked back into the office. His body felt loose and sated and … cold. Dumb power outage. He put his pajamas back on, decorum be damned. When he returned to the living room, the space was empty and the fire had nearly burnt down to nothing, so he stoked it back to life. Benji appeared a few minutes later. He’d donned a huge neon-orange fleece blanket over the overalls.
“Nice blanket,” William said. Smooth, again.
Benji smiled, his eyes teasing. “It’s a poncho. Obviously. Nice pajamas. I like you in pajamas. You’re not so—” He bit his lip shyly.
“So what?”
“Intimidating, I guess. You’re a bit of a frowny guy. The pajamas make you look comfy frowny. Like an angry dog in a cozy sweater.” Benji’s eyes became brighter the longer he spoke. He was goading William. And God, William wanted to be goaded.
He stalked toward Benji, whose grin widened. William lifted a palm to Benji’s cheek, trying to clearly broadcast his intent. Benji’s body swayed toward William slightly, and his eyes fluttered closed.
“I’m going to kiss you,” William said. He swept his thumb over Benji’s cheekbone, over a light, almost invisible, dusting of freckles on his cheek.
“Okay.”
“Then we’re going to lie on that big-ass couch. I’m going to read and you’re going to waste the rest of the charge on your phone. And we might nap, but we’re definitely going to kiss again after that. That’s what I want.”
“Sounds romantic.”
William didn’t know if Benji was kidding or if the wistful tone was real.
Benji didn’t open his eyes, but continued, “Romance is for suckers.”
So much for real.
