The stairs opened up to the center of the upstairs hallway. One direction led to the master bedroom, and in the other lay the guest bedroom.
Neither of us moved from the stair’s landing.
“There’s no rush,” Ellis said as he shrugged. “I sold most of my stuff to pay for my brother’s treatment, and the apartment I was living in is a shithole. There’s literally nothing waiting for me, assuming the landlord hasn’t already evicted me for missing rent payments.”
He hooked his fingers through the belt loop of my pants. It was such a small gesture, like he was trying to cling to me in the most unobtrusive way possible.
I stared down at his hand, debating the pros and cons of removing his grip.
“We could at least pick up your own clothes, so you don’t have to keep wearing mine.”
The hand that wasn’t clinging to my pants clutched the collar of the shirt he was wearing and pulled it closer to his face. “I kinda like wearing your clothes. They smell like you. It’s calming.”
The two of us were nearly the same height, but somehow, Ellis still managed to give the impression of looking up at me with an expression that I could only call coy.
“You know, since I have to wear your clothes, getting dressed in the morning would be easier if I woke up in your bed.”
Two doors, one decision.
Should I escort him to the guest room, or bring him into my own bed?
I was certain that he would accept either option, though he’d made it clear which he preferred. The decision was entirely up to me.
It didn’t take as long as I thought it would to decide.
My bedroom door closed behind us with a resounding slam, like the gavel of a judge’s hammer. I wouldn’t know until morning if I’d be pleading guilty or walking away innocent, but as I pushed Ellis back toward the bed, I didn’t care. His kiss was a thief stealing my every rational thought, and I was a willing victim.
Ellis’s knees hit the edge of the bed, and I was prepared to push him the final few inches onto my mattress, but before I could, he stopped me with a hand on my chest.
“Wait. Let me…” He paused for a moment, looking down so his gaze was shadowed under his slightly curled lashes. His expression would have looked shy, except for the way he licked his lips. “Let me do something.”
He didn’t bother waiting for my answer and immediately dropped to his knees. His returned memories had also brought with them a new sense of confidence. Ellis was still the soft, shy man that I’d come to care about, but he was also a man who knew what he wanted. There wasn’t a moment of hesitation as he immediately went to work unbuttoning my pants and pulling my straining erecting free from my underwear.
I tangled my hand in his curly hair, unsure if I wanted to stop him or urge him to continue.
“Are you sure?”
Dark eyes sparkled like the bubbles in a champagne glass, light yet deceptively intoxicating, as he smiled up at me.
“Absolutely.”
From that moment, I was doomed.
With a gentle hand, he stroked my cock, driving me wild with tantalizing sensations that were never quite hard enough to satisfy.
My second hand joined my first, and I tightened my grip on his hair. “You… minx,” I gasped, squeezing my eyes shut. “You’ve done this before.”
His mouth hovered near my arousal without making contact, just close enough for me to faintly feel the breath of his laughter. “I’m forty-five. Did you really think I was a virgin?”
“No, but?—”
I choked as he sped his hand up just a little bit, and brushed his lips over the sensitive head of my cock.
Ellis laughed again, making my hips buck into the vibrations his voice sent over my skin.
“But you thought I was shy and inexperienced,” he concluded for me. “Well, you’re not entirely wrong. I am shy. I could never do this with someone I didn’t trust. But that doesn’t mean I’m an innocent virgin. I know what I want.”
With my eyes squeezed shut, I couldn’t see his expression, but I could easily picture the way he must be looking up at me with hunger. The implication of his words was obvious. He knew what he wanted, and it was me.