Page 137 of Daily Grind
“That sounds ideal.” He rolled onto his back. “I need to throw this out, but I can barely move.”
“Tell me about it.” Brian shifted on the bed, then velcro ripped. “Fuck!”
“Are you hurt?”
He groaned. “No. Damn thing pulled a pube.”
God, this was the best thing ever. Forty years old, in bed with his lover, and they were like giddy schoolboys. He laughed. “Be grateful you’re not wearing the one I’m wearing.”
“How are you getting that off anyway?”
“Same way I got it on.” He was softer now. “But I’ll use lube, too.”
Silence for a bit. “God, we still have all night.” There was amazement there, and a bit of fear.
Thatwas showing their age. He felt both thrill and trepidation, too. “We don’thaveto do anything more.”
A grunt. “You ever been fucked like that?” Brian sat up, and there was that sexy-ass glint.
“Tied up?”
Brian nodded, his grin cocky and devilish. Rob shivered, remembering the earlier image he had flashing through his head. “Once or twice.”
“Want to make it two or three times?”
Oh hell, yes. He grinned back at Brian. “How about I cook you dinner, and we see how we feel?”
“Deal.”
No doubt in his mind he’d be flat on his back and begging Brian to make him come in a few hours. None at all.
In the end, he was right. They didn’t bother with the rings again, not after tearing each other’s clothes off once more. The sash was wound around Rob’s wrists—and he couldn’t have gotten out, even if he’d wanted to.
Which he didn’t. Not when Brian looked at him like he would spend the night devouring him whole.
Brian leaned down and took his mouth in a kiss that curled his toes. When he was a moaning mess, Brian relented.
“Thank you for coming downstairs.” Tears in those eyes.
In Rob’s eyes, too. “You closed your shop and came to me.” Hope and gratitude twined with desire. “I’d have been a fool not to.” He’d nearly been.
A more gentle kiss this time. One that led to heat and moans and Brian moving inside him, and the best night of Rob’s life.
When they’d spent themselves again, cleaned up, and collapsed like the older men they were, when he wrapped himself around Brian and kissed his shoulder, realization zipped through Rob like the shock after a sudden clap of thunder.
He’d never come this far through the veil of forgiveness withanyonebefore. Not his former lovers, not his parents, not evenhimself. But they’d fought and they’d parted, and they’d returned and here they were.
If that wasn’t love, then nothing in the world was. Rob closed his eyes and pulled Brian closer.
He had everything he ever wanted after all.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Opening Grounds N’atFriday morning was both the same and utterly different for Brian. Everything had changed. His priorities, his plans, his life. He hadn’t lied to Rob—he’d close the shop if it got between him and Rob again, but he hoped he could work something out with Sam. Maybe Justin could make magic a second time.
Brian pulled down the sign he’d taped to the door. A couple years ago, he’d have balked at asking for help, but now? Having a business plan—a real one—would be a good thing, especially if it meant a future that wasn’t more of the past: Failed relationships. Stress. Heartache.
As he went through the motions of preparing to open, he realized Beth had closed the shop perfectly on Wednesday. Counters, tables, and machines gleamed. All the supplies neat and organized. She’d done a great job. He’d have to thank her for that. And give her that key on a more permanent basis.
