Page 23 of Another Chance
11
There was a very confusing moment when Theo first woke up and realized that he was pinned to the bed in a way he was most definitely not used to. More often than not, he didn’t share his bed with anyone, much less two someones at the same time.
In the night, he’d rolled onto his back, and there was a tiny, soft, fluffy kitten on his chest, kneading at the skin with those tiny, but deadly, little claws of his, purring up a storm from the moment that Theo’s eyes opened.
Nor was that all. Though it took him a second to figure out what warm, heavy thing was pinning him down, when he did, he couldn’t help but let a smile come to his lips. Eric. It was Eric, Eric’s arm, to be exact, and he was lying in Eric’s comfortable bed, breathing clean air.
He wasn’t alone anymore.
Honestly, since before breaking up with Liam, even, Theo had felt so alone. Losing even that connection, as tepid as it had felt to Theo, it had left him feeling like he didn’t really have anyone.
As a writer, he was fairly solitary. He had some friends back in New York, but he’d made an effort to get them, to try to get more involved in the queer community once he’d realized that he really was a part of it. And they’d welcomed him, but …
None of those friendships, none of those connections, none of the lovers, none of them could compare to the one true friend he’d had in his life, the man who was sleeping beside him on this beautiful Sunday morning. Theo turned his head and looked at Eric’s face, utterly relaxed in sleep, practically glowing in the thin glowing morning sunlight which streamed in through the window.
He knew now. He knew what it was like to hold Eric’s naked body against his own, to hear him pant out Theo’s name, he knew what Eric’s face looked like when he came. Now that he knew, how could he ever let go of this man?
Jupiter had seemed easier. He could always bring the cat home. Not exactly the same situation with Eric. He could hardly just pack the guy up into a crate and bring him back to New York with him. Though it was a funny mental image.
“You gonna just keep staring at me or are you gonna kiss me good morning?” Eric suddenly spoke, and his voice, always that deep, rough growl, was even hoarser and sexier than usual. From the smirk on his face, not to mention from the words, Theo was going to go ahead and guess that Eric remembered what they’d done the previous night.
Which meant that it hadn’t been some sort of strange, wonderful dream. In five short minutes, he’d done almost as much with Eric as Liam had managed to get him to do in a month of dating. Imagine that. Maybe it wasn’t that Theo was a prude, as Liam and others before Liam had implied.
Maybe he’d just been waiting for the right person to do these things with.
Smiling a little, amused by how Eric still had his eyes closed and yet had known that Theo was looking at him, Theo leaned in and brushed his lips against Eric’s in a sweet, intimate, good morning kiss.
It almost broke Theo’s heart, only that wasn’t quite the right word. Heartbreak had a negative connotation, and this was not a bad thing. It was more like his heart was so full, it felt like it might explode, and that wasn’t a feeling that he recognized because he’d never had it before.
There hadn’t been a lot of time the night before for anything other than rough, hot, urgent movement, no time for slow kissing, no time for discovering each other. It had been hot as hell, filled with urgency and heat and passion, but this slow, sleepy touching, the way Eric gradually let his eyes open, the way their bodies slipped and slid together under the blankets was exquisite.
Although the sleeping kitten, dislodged by the movements, didn’t seem to agree. With a startledmewof protest, Jupiter slid off of Theo’s bare chest and jumped onto the floor, tail straight up to show just what he thought of such treatment, being so abruptly dislodged from Theo’s chest.
He couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the cat’s dramatic act, which only seemed to make Jupiter that much more indignant. With his dignity intact, the kitten stalked out of the room, presumably to find a quieter place to nap.
“Poor guy,” Theo commented, and then he hissed, because Eric’s hand was on him, on his hip, trailing over the sensitive skin there, darting over hiship bonesand stroking over him.
“Mmm,” Eric agreed. “But now I have you all to myself. C’mere.”
Theo went willingly, rolling onto his side, facing the older man and gazed into his eyes. He let himself touch, he slipped his fingers over smooth, hot skin, feeling the muscles of Eric’s shoulders and chest under his eager, searching fingers, tracing them as though he could commit him to memory this way.
They kissed again, and rather than pushing their tongues into each other’s mouths, they stroked lightly over the sensitive flesh, turning it into almost like a dance. Theo was getting aroused, but it was a more gradual thing, and when Eric pressed against him he could feel that it was exactly the same deal with him.
“Teddy,” Eric murmured, and that would just never get old. No matter how many times Eric called him that, he would love it, and he would be eager for the next.
It made him feel like there might be some hope in all of this. Like Eric could forgive him, somehow, even if he might never forget. Moaning into the sweet kiss, tasting Eric, feeling his heat, Theo pressed closer and let himself be worked up.
Had he really run from this? At the moment, he was damned if he could think of why or even think of a good reason to stop this. Lightly, teasingly, he pressed his hips forward, letting his growing erection rub against the full length of Eric’s.
“Teddy, there’s something I’ve gotta do,” Eric drawled, and then he pushed Theo right back onto his back on the mattress, then crawled on top of him and started to kiss him. On the lips, at first, but slowly, slowly, those angel’s lips trailed down over his jawline, down his neck, and further down.
From the beginning, almost, it was apparent where this was going. What it was that Eric wanted to do. Theo also knew there was no way in hell he wanted to stop him. No matter what Eric wanted, Theo knew he would want it, too, and he moaned and looked down at that handsome face, those pretty lips, kissing down over his chest to his nipple.
There was no discomfort, none at all. Theo could focus completely and totally on what Eric was doing because there was no doubt in his mind that he wanted it. It was a new experience, this was the first time he’d been in any way intimate with a man without having some doubts and having to cut it short before it really got anywhere.
It was like he’d always wanted to, but something got in the way. Looking down at Eric, watching as those lush lips worshiped over his stomach, Theo waited for that same sense of misgiving to come back. For it to start to ruin things.
He waited in vain. All he felt as he gazed down at Eric was desire, rising passion, the lessening of the hold of sleep on his body as Eric’s talented lips worked their magic on him. Theo moaned softly, rocking up toward the sensation, the head of his cock coated in precum as it rested on his flat belly just inches from where Eric’s mouth was.
