Page 105 of Operation Sunshine
“I wanted to tell you so many times,” Franco murmured against his mouth. “But I was scared if I said it, everything would all fall apart.”
Ben’s throat ached. He cradled Franco’s face, his thumb brushing the damp track on his cheek. “I thought ifIsaid it, you’d feel trapped. That you’d stay out of obligation instead of choice.”
Franco shook his head fiercely. “No. Never. You’re the only thing that made leaving hurt.”
That undid Ben more than anything. He pressed their foreheads together, his eyes burning. “Then don’t doubt it. Don’t ever doubt it. I love you, Franco. Nothing will change that. Not Florence, not three months, not a lifetime.”
Franco let out a broken laugh, pulling him close until they were chest to chest, skin to skin. “Say it again.”
“I love you.” Ben kissed him. “I love you.” Again, softer, like a vow.
Franco’s lips trembled into a smile. “I could listen to you say that forever.”
Ben couldn’t hold back anymore. He leaned in, closing the last inches between them. Their mouths met not with the frantic hunger of weeks apart, but with something deeper, slow, searching. Franco melted into it, his hands fisting in Ben’s shirt as if anchoring himself.
The kiss stretched, deepened, until breathing became optional, until the ache in Ben’s chest eased enough to let him believe.
This is real.
Ben’s mouth was on his, tasting like longing wrapped in restraint finally torn apart. Franco groaned into the kiss, his body trembling with the rush of weeks of denied hunger. He pressed closer, clutching at Ben’s shirt.
The kiss deepened, Ben’s tongue sliding against his with a control that made Franco weak. Ben’s hand curled at the back of Franco’s neck, firm, possessive, keeping him right there.
“You don’t know how many nights I’ve thought about this,” Ben rasped against his mouth, his breath hot and uneven. “How many times I’ve had to hold myself back from saying what I wanted to do to you.”
Franco’s knees nearly buckled. Ben never talked like this, andGod, hearing him sent heat sparking through his veins. “Then say it,” Franco whispered, his lips brushing Ben’s, goading him. “Say it now.”
Ben’s mouth twisted into a half-smile, half-snarl. “I want to fuck you until the only thing you taste, the only thing you feel, is me.”
Franco swore under his breath, his cock already straining against his shorts. His head tipped back, a helpless sound spilling out of him as Ben’s teeth grazed his throat. “Fuck… Ben.”
Ben’s chuckle reverberated through him. “No… FuckFranco. Fucking Ben comes later, but itwillcome, I promise you.” He smiled. “We both will.”
Hands tugged at clothes, clumsy and desperate. Franco shoved Ben’s shirt up, eager to feel bare skin under his palms again. He traced every line, every plane of Ben’s chest, lost on a voyage of rediscovery, each breath making Franco’s lungs ache.
Do something before we end up fucking in the hall.
There was lube in the bedroom.
“This way,” Franco gasped, grabbing Ben’s wrist and tugging him through the apartment.
“I hate to put a block on this,” Ben ground out, “but I really need the bathroom before we go any further.”
He laughed. “Through that door,” he said, pointing.
Ben claimed his lips in a fervent kiss, as if to make sure Franco wasn’t about to forget him in his absence, then disappeared behind the wooden door.
Franco hurriedly pulled the sheets straight, then yanked open the drawer in the wooden cabinet beside the bed, his fingers scrabbling to find the lube. He listened to the toilet’s flush, then the sound of running water.
I can’t believe he’s really here.
It seemed like a dream, and Franco was afraid any second now he’d wake up to find he was still in his bed, that there’d been no knock at the door.
Then Ben was back, and before Franco could utter a word, Ben steered him toward the bed, both of them stumbling, mouths colliding,tearing apart only long enough to drag fabric away, until only underwear remained. Ben pushed Franco down onto the mattress, straddling his hips, his eyes dark with need. He covered Franco with his body, groaning when their cocks rubbed together through the thin barrier of their briefs.
“God, I missed the way you sound,” Ben whispered, grinding harder, making Franco buck up into him. “The way you come apart for me.”
Franco could barely breathe. He grabbed at Ben’s shoulders, digging his nails in. “Then don’t stop. Don’t you fuckingdarestop.”
