Page 7 of Gift of You
We made quick work of the rest of the cookies, and this time I didn’t interrupt the silence.
8
MATTHEW
I settledinto my recliner with my book and a cup of decaffeinated tea I’d topped with a splash of whiskey. I’d fallen behind on my reading and needed to get it finished if I was going to have the audio files ready on time.
I hadn’t even made it through one chapter when I found my mind wandering to thoughts of my temporary neighbor. I wasn’t sure what had possessed me to stay and decorate cookies with him this evening.
That was a lie.
It had been the defeated look in his eye when he’d apologized for disrupting my peace. And hehaddisrupted my peace. Several times, in fact. But I also recognized that lonely look in his eye. I suspected it was rather similar to my own.
So I’d decorated the cookies, feeling a little like an elephant with a paintbrush. I was sure there were four-year-olds who could have done a better job than I had. But there was something comforting in the work too... standing side by side next to someone, working together. It had been companionable. Even talking about Ally had been just a little less painful than usual.
I shook off my thoughts, refocusing my attention on my book.
An hour later, and I was completely engrossed in the story. The characters in this book were older than most of the other romances I’d narrated. One of the characters was my age, at forty, while the other was a year older. The book had started out as a rather lighthearted story about two best friends whose life had taken them in different directions, but for various reasons they’d been called home to the small town where they’d grown up. After re-establishing their friendship, tragedy strikes, leading them into a relationship they never saw coming.
One of the characters was openly gay and had always known his orientation, while the other was experiencing a bi-awakening, as he found himself falling for his friend. I hadn’t known someone could come to a realization like that so far into adulthood, and wondered if it was something that actually happened in real life, or if it was exaggerated to create drama like you sometimes saw in romance books like this one. Either way, it made for a compelling story.
Ernie stood up and with a little chirp, jumped off of my lap, pulling my attention away from the story. Looking at the clock, I was surprised to see that it was nearly midnight. With tomorrow being Christmas, I didn’t need to be up early to open the shop, but I figured I ought to get some rest anyway. My back still hadn’t forgiven me for sleeping in the chair the night before.
After brushing my teeth and changing my clothes, I climbed under the covers and opened my book, thinking I’d just read one more chapter before settling in to sleep. I hadn’t expected it to be a sex scene.
I unzipped Philip’s pants, taking my time drawing the zipper down, my eyes locked on his while a smirk played on my lips. He combed his fingers through my hair, gripping the strands in his fingers and tugging, holding me in place so thatI couldn’t look away. “You look so goddamn beautiful on your knees for me. You ready for your first taste of cock?”
Holy. Shit. I’d assumed there would be sex scenes in this novel, but I’d been more focused on the romance aspect of it while the intimacies had been a more nebulous concept. I had absolutely no problem with men fucking other men; I’d just never given the ins and outs of it any conscious thought.
My dick jumped at his words. Never in a million years had I ever imagined I’d be on my knees for a man, but in this moment there was no place else I wanted to be.
I palmed his cock through the fabric, smiling as he grunted at the sensation. His eyes fell shut, and his chin dropped to his chest as I ran my thumb up his length. I moved my hands up to his waistband and slowly began lowering the denim until his jeans were pooled around his ankles. I leaned forward and pressed my face into his groin, inhaling deeply at the scent of him.Mine. He was all mine.
Scenting another man’s cock? Was that a thing? Was that agoodthing? I supposed I’d had my mouth on Ally’s pussy and had enjoyed it, so something similar could be true for a couple of guys.
I tugged on his briefs, allowing them to slide the rest of the way down his legs, and eyed the cock in front of me. I’d never examined another man’s dick so closely. He was thicker than me, but about the same length, and cut, with a vein running down the underside. I hesitated, struck by a touch of nerves at the prospect of having another man’s cock in my mouth.
My eyes shot up, seeking his, and as soon as I caught the lust-drunk gaze on his face, my confidence returned. I’d put that look on his face. Me. Philip was my best friend. He’d seen the best and worst of me and still he was standing before me, offering himself up. I wanted nothing more in that moment than to see what he’d look like as he fell apart.
I wanted to see his head thrown back in ecstasy. I wanted to hear him call my name. I wanted him to go weak in the knees with the pleasure of it.
I paused a moment, surprised to realize that I was rock hard.Jesus. I’d occasionally been turned on while reading other romance books, but once again, I’d been unprepared for this reaction while reading a book about two men. Surely it was more about the act of sex than who it was with? Any guy would have that reaction while reading about blow jobs, regardless of who was doing the blowing. It probably didn’t help that I hadn’t had sex in over two years since well before Ally had passed.
Almost without thought, I palmed my cock over the cotton of my briefs. I wasn’t sure whether I was trying to encourage my erection or calm it down, but as I ran the heel of my hand down my length, I groaned at the delicious contact. The sound of my own voice, the deep throaty grumble of it, echoed around the room, startling me. Odd that the sound of my own voice would take me by surprise, but it had been a while since I’d emitted anything resembling that type of groan.
Consumed with grief over Ally’s loss, I’d been completely uninterested in sex for well over a year, and had only recently found myself experiencing the occasional urge to jerk off. Those few sessions had been almost mechanical. I’d stroked myself from point A to point B without a whole lot of fanfare. This feeling, though... I was sensitive to the touch, and the urge to stroke, to fan the flames, was almost more than I could bear.
Giving in to it, I lowered the waistband of my briefs, allowing my cock to spring free and taking it in hand. Another groan escaped as I wrapped my shaft in my fist and gave a long stroke. My head fell back against the wall behind me with a thump as sparks of pleasure skittered through my veins. The book, all but forgotten, slipped from my hand to the bed, and I paused for amoment, torn between wanting to finish reading the scene and wanting to get myself off.
In the end, I chose both. Lifting my ass up, I yanked my briefs midway down my thighs, then picked up the book and found the spot where I’d left off. With one hand holding the book in place, I fisted my length, slowly stroking myself as I read.
Leaning forward, I tentatively flicked my tongue over his tip, smiling as he hissed at the contact. My eyes found his, and I did it again, this time swiping the flat of my tongue over his head, savoring the taste of him. I swirled my tongue around his glans, flicking it over the ridge then moving lower, following that vein down his length until my face was buried in the tight curls at his groin. I inhaled deeply, then retraced my path back to the tip before pulling away to grip him in my fist.
“God, you taste good,” I said before sliding his length back into my mouth, stretching my lips wide to take his girth.
My eyes rolled back as the pleasure intensified, but I opened them again, determined to keep reading.
“That feels so fucking good. I’ve wanted this for so long, imagined you just like this with your lips stretched wide, glossy with spit as you swallow me down.” I moaned at his words, pride and lust swirling in my gut. He’d admitted that he’d had feelings for me back in high school... Had that extended to daydreams and jack-off sessions where I was the star? Why was that idea so hot?
