Page 16 of Ravishing Among the Roses
Romance, puh. One night with Gabby and all he could think of was romance, and how many of these moments he’d already missed out on.
“I wish I’d known about your club.”
“What? Where I worked? Why?” Gabriel’s questions came with a weighty sigh.
“We could’ve met before.”
Gabriel shook his head. “I prefer it like this. If you had been a client, I wouldn’t be doing this now.”
“What do you mean?” Edmund had said he was curious, and he was, but he was also suddenly jealous that men had been able to do this with Gabriel before him. To hold him afterwards andsleep beside him was the most beautiful experience of his life. How many others had already enjoyed this with him?
“We’ve been intimate. You stayed all night.”
“I don’t understand.” His skin prickled at the blend of curiosity and awkward ignorance. He needed to know what Gabby meant and he didn’t want to know in case it meant ... something. Something deeper and more meaningful than he’d ever be allowed to have.
“Working in a molly club is about the rutting. It’s not intimate. Men would pay to fuck me, or have me suck their cock, and then they’d leave. We didn’t hold each other. That’s special. It’s just for you.”
Edmund’s face flamed, and even more embarrassing, his cock filled. The idea of Gabriel being wanted by so many other men, and he was the one who had the chance to be with him all night was incredibly arousing.
“You like that idea, don’t you?” Gabriel wrapped his legs around Edmund’s thighs, pressing up against his cockstand.
“I do. I want to be the one you come home to.” He was greedy in that way.
“I don’t do that work anymore.”
Edmund’s face burned brighter because his cock drooped a little and he didn’t understand why. Gabriel, of course, noticed.
“But if you like, I could tell you a story about one of my clients and we could play a game where I come home to you.”
Edmund’s cock betrayed him. He really would like that. He licked his lips, which were suddenly dry. “I want to be the one that you want.” Was it terrible that he wanted to be the one that Gabby chose?
Gabriel kissed him, deeply and with a passion that made Edmund burn even more. What he felt was confusing. He should feel jealous, and maybe he did, but he didn’t. He was a little worried that he wasn’t good enough, that he couldn’t do all thethings that Gabriel had done, and he was definitely worried that he was a little like his brother in that he wanted to be the one Gabriel picked. He wanted to be special. Important.
“You are thinking too much.” Gabriel pulled back from the kiss, and Edmund wanted to chase his mouth.
“Yes. I often think a lot, although mostly about roses. Not about you.”
“What do you like about roses?”
Edmund swallowed. “I like the patterns and the reliability of it, I like the patience it takes, not knowing if a cross has been successful until the plant is old enough to bloom.”
“And you like the big moment when the rose shows itself to you, it’s true self.”
He hadn’t thought about it that way, but yes. “I do.”
“You are a dreamer.”
“No, I’m a planner. The work I do is deliberate and planned and there’s a logic to it.” He liked it because his brother always caused chaos, and his work was the opposite of that. He could get lost in the reliability of the work. It was always the same with no surprises.
Gabriel grinned. “And you create beauty. Isn’t there a little bit of a dream in that?”
“I suppose so.”
Gabriel winked. “But you weren’t thinking about roses just now were you?”
“No.” His throat thickened and he had to clear it. “Am I strange?”
“For breeding roses, or for thinking about me?”
