Page 29 of Another Chance
But there was a slight smile on his face, and unlike he would have done back home, he didn’t take out his phone to check if Liam had texted him back yet. He didn’t let himself get drawn back in because he really had no desire to do so. Flirtatious, infuriating, frustrating Liam just didn’t have the same pull on him that he used to.
No, it was more than that, because truthfully that pull had been diminishing for quite some time. It was more like Liam had no more pull on him than any of his friends did. And that was remarkably liberating.
With a smile on his face, he opened the front door and went in. Went to find Eric. Not for any particular reason, not because he needed some excuse, but just because he wanted to.
Just like in the old days, when it was a strange occurrence to have a day pass without them seeing each other. One or the other would dart across the street on the vast majority of days. And now, they were living together, under the same roof, at least for awhile.
It was so weird, how he couldn’t stop smiling. Had he really been so afraid of kissing Eric that it had caused this rift, this chasm, between them? It was hard for him to think of why when even the memory of Eric’s lips on him made him shiver.
As he walked into the living room, he found Eric. But not as he would have expected. The television was on, and Eric was sprawled out on the couch, eyes closed, breathing slow and heavy, face slack.
He looked younger when he slept. More adorable, which was definitely saying something. At this moment, he didn’t have any of his masks on, and the sight of him squeezed Theo in a way which was almost, but not quite, painful, a sweet sensation which made him more fully aware of just how thoroughly screwed he was.
And the cherry on top of this incredibly adorable sundae was Jupiter. As Eric had slept, or maybe before, Jupiter had crawled onto Eric’s chest and was curled up in a tight little ball, one small enough that Theo knew the little cat could sleep just as easily on the platform of his hands.
It was quite the sight. No matter what happened here, no matter how badly this ended, if Theo ran or if Eric ran, Theo knew that he would remember this moment, his two boys fast asleep together, for the rest of his life.
The more he looked, the more a picture formed in his head. Eric, watching television. Jupiter, looking for attention, deciding that Eric would do and crawling on him. Eric’s hand was just by the little creature’s head, and Theo was surer than ever that the big, strong, construction working man had actually been stroking the tiny cat before they both drifted off.
He stared too long, painting a picture in his memory. He didn’t want to forget a single color of this. A single soft sound. He tilted his head to the side and smiled, and he knew that he should move away. Let them sleep. And yet, he couldn’t force his gaze away, not for anything.
“What time is it?” Eric murmured, those brilliant eyes opening up just a crack, a glimmer of emerald.
“Close to seven,” Theo admitted, and he went to kneel down, hardwood floor biting at his knees but he didn’t care. Now that Eric was awake, there was no power on the planet which could keep him from touching the man. “I was thinking about dinner. You hungry?”
The question was so domestic. So utterly unlike anything Theo was used to. He didn’t let people get close enough to him to ask them questions like that. To wake up a sleeping lover—was Eric his lover—and ask them about dinner. That smile just wouldn’t quit, and Theo let it linger on his lips as he stroked his fingers lightly over the curve of Eric’s cheek, feeling the slight brush of stubble which exquisitely sensitized his skin.
“Mmm. Starving,” Eric murmured and then, just as naturally as could be, Theo felt fingers slipping into his hair, he felt a warm palm against the back of his head, and then Eric was pulling him in and pressing a kiss which was not light, nor chaste, onto his lips.
Even in such a short time together, Theo was learning one thing about this man. He woke up horny. This was the second time Theo had seen Eric awaken, and both times, he’d been immediately molested moments after Eric opened his eyes.
Not that he was complaining. The pressure of those lips against his was insistent, and he opened his mouth to him without hesitation, more than ready to give Eric, give them both, what they both needed.
He would have liked to crawl on top of Eric, to trap that gorgeous, hard body between himself and the couch, but there was the matter of the cat, who slept on like he had no care in the world. He kept a bit of distance between the two, which led to them being able to explore each other more than maybe they would have otherwise been able to. More than they would have had the patience for.
Theo cupped Eric’s cheek, his thumb stroking over his cheekbone, tracing it. He was, he realized, still trying to memorize this. Something this good, he was more than half convinced, couldn’t last long, and he wanted to remember it, all of it, when he inevitably lost it. It wasn’t a cheerful thought, but it was real.
“Mmph. Get this damn cat off of me,” Eric protested, because Jupiter slept on,and when Theo saw Eric try to sit up, when he tried to arch that lovely body up closer to Theo, the cat drove razor sharp claws into his chest and held on for dear life, all without so much as slitting one eye open.
“Nah. He looks comfortable. I think I’ll leave him,” Theo decided. Plus, well, he was getting a sort of sick thrill out of watching Eric squirm on the couch. It was deeply gratifying, especially since Eric seemed to know what he was doing with guys more than Theo did.
He wasn’t completely without mercy, though. He slid his hand up Eric’s leg, starting at this knee, and let it glide lightly over the slightly rough denim under his fingertips. He felt the warm skin even through the thick cloth, and the warmth turned to actual heat, seeming almost to scorch Theo’s fingertips, as he traced Eric’s inseam up between his legs.
“Theo. Theo, this isn’t fair,” Eric whispered, his deep voice breaking a little on the last word. Theo grinned triumphantly at the older man. He’d noticed that Eric tended to like to give as good as he got, but in this case, Theo was doing all of the giving and Eric, pinned down by the cat, was sort of helpless to prevent it.
“Just let me touch you,” Theo murmured, surprised by his own boldness. He was feeling the heavy fullness of Eric’s balls now, slipping his fingers over them and then cupping them through Eric’s jeans, and Eric hissed and moaned and pushed his hips up toward the sensation.
The power at this moment was incredible. The sheer control he had over this man, just by touching him. Theo couldn’t have stopped, not for anything short of Eric telling him to, and Eric didn’t seem at all inclined to do so.
It was so easy to ignore his own body for the moment, just to focus on Eric. His own cock was throbbing, trapped in his jeans, urgently demanding attention, but he could ignore the painful pressure and focus solely on driving Eric beyond crazy, to the point of desperation where he couldn’t even think.
Very slowly, carefully, Theo stroked over the full length of Eric’s cock, trapping it in its denim, thrilled by the look of sheer sexual desperation when he looked up at Eric. In the time since they’d been reunited, he’d been surprised by just how much this man seemed to radiate sex, but this, this utter abandon, lips parted and soft moans pouring from them in a fountain, this was something else entirely.
“Then fuckin’ touch me,” Eric insisted, his voice low and hoarse and almost dreamy. “Teddy. Teddy, come on.”
Theo grinned, and slowly, very slowly, he unbuttoned the shiny copper button of Eric’s jeans. Even more carefully, he lowered the zipper, deeply aroused, excited, and utterly focused on, the feeling of that rock hard flesh he could feel just under his fingertips.
As careful as he was trying to be, the kitten was not impressed. With a low grumble of annoyance, Jupiter rose to his feet and jumped off of Eric onto the ground, stalking off with his tail high in the air, a symbol of his great offense.
