Page 69 of Tender
Miles ducked his head, blushing. “I feel the same way.”
“Yeah?”
Miles looked up like he was able to hear the fragility in Emmett’s voice. “Yes. I’m happy. I need you to know I’m happy.”
Emmett couldn’t stop his smile. Yeah. Selene wasn’t right. Miles wasn’t going anywhere. He was theirs.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
MILES
Miles was finally sleeping well.
Both men on either side of him were like an oven, so he knocked out almost instantly and woke with a single arm slung around his waist.He loved his morning silence, and the only regret he had in that moment was not being able to hear his partner’s steady breathing. But he could feel it—the rise and fall of a single chest pressed against his arm.
He opened his eyes slowly, then turned his head to see Cosimo staring at him.His expression was unreadable, but the way he was holding Miles tightly spoke volumes.
“Hi,” Miles managed, hoping his voice wasn’t too loud, and his morning breath not too rank.
Cosimo’s lips twitched.“Morning.”From the way his chest rumbled, Miles could tell he was speaking aloud.“You can read my lips okay, right?”
“Yeah.”Miles shifted back just slightly, and he felt a sting of disappointment when Cosimo let him go.He was too hot, but he missed the warmth anyway.
The last few days had been dreamy. It had been everything Miles had ever wanted. Cosimo was working a lot, so he rarely got to see him before dinner, but Emmett had been around andso attentive. He’d gotten Miles’s processor fixed, had gotten new ones ordered.
He gave him space to work on his research when he needed it, and as though he had a sense for him, Emmett always appeared when Miles was feeling lonely or unsure. Little by little, he was making a home here.
He hadn’t slept in the guest bed in two weeks, and he was starting to wonder if he should go back at all. Neither man brought up the relationship again—how this was all meant to be a test—and he was too afraid to do it himself.
What if one of them decided this wasn’t what they wanted?
He was the only one who would lose, really. He knew they wouldn’t force him out onto the streets, but being relegated back into the guest room? Or the pool house?
It would kill him.
So he was walking around all nerves and fear, wondering when the other shoe was going to drop. And he had a feeling it might be this morning with the way Cosimo was staring at him. It was clear the man had something to say.
Cosimo stretched his arms above his head before rolling onto his side and propping up on his elbow.He reached for Miles again, touching the side of his neck, then dragged his fingers down to his chest.He hissed when the man made contact with his aching nipples.
“Emmett doesn’t go easy on them,” Miles was able to read off his lips. Last night had been fun. It had been a lot, but he’d come his brains out and had gone right into a post-sex coma.
Miles fought back a hysterical laugh.“How, um…how are you?”
He was also learning that while Cosimo didn’t want to be degraded and humiliated all the time, he also didn’t like sex when it was soft. He liked it rough and difficult. He liked being edged over and over until he was begging to come.
It was the stuff fantasies were made of, and Miles’s dick was threatening to get hard just by thinking about it.
Cosimo’s brow furrowed, then he started to speak as he swung his legs over the bed and stood.Miles missed all of it.When he looked back, he had a sheepish expression.“Sorry.I forgot.”
“Hang on,” Miles said. He turned over and found his processors, snatching them up off the nightstand before he realized there were two freshly charged batteries beside them.He missed the days when they were newer—when they didn’t run through power like it was their job.
But that wasn’t going to be forever. Just a few more weeks and he’d have brand new ones because these men…well, maybe they didn’t love him. Maybe they weren’t falling for him as hard as he wasfalling for them. But they liked him, and that mattered.
He saw Cosimo walk toward the bathroom as he got them connected, and by the time he could hear sound, Cosimo had come out with a freshly washed face and a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt on.
“Morning,” Cosimo said again.
Miles felt the rumble of his greeting like a touch under his skin.He smiled as he stood up, then realized he was still naked.“Oops.”
