Page 70 of Danger Close
Ricky groaned, half-laughing, half-dying.“Ez, I swear to God, if you go any slower, I’m gonna have to explode.”
Ezra smirked, stretched out beside him like he had all the time in the world.“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It is when I’ve been fantasizing about your hands on me for four goddamn weeks.”
Ezra hummed, fingers trailing down Ricky’s ribs, over the curve of his hip.“I’ve been touching you.Feeding you.Tucking you into bed.Taking care of every inch of you.”
“Yeah, and doing a damn good job of not getting me off,” Ricky grumbled.
Ezra’s laugh was low and warm.He leaned in, brushing his nose along Ricky’s jaw.“You’re alive, we’re home, and no one’s trying to kill us.Forgive me if I want to enjoy every second.”
Ricky tilted his head, nudging him closer until their lips met, soft and open and so full of heat it made his toes curl.
Ezra kissed like he fought.With focus.With heart.With a kind of reverence that always left Ricky breathless.
He rolled them gently, hovering above, his dark curls falling forward to tickle Ricky’s cheek.“Still think I’m going too slow?”
Ricky arched up.“I take it back.I take it all back.Just—don’t stop.”
Ezra didn’t.He slid inside with a groan, hands cradling Ricky’s hips, movements tender and deep.Every push and retreat felt like a promise, every kiss like an answer to a question Ricky hadn’t dared ask.
They moved together, building a rhythm that was unhurried but unstoppable.A wave rising, rising, rising—
“I love you,” Ricky whispered, fingers threading through Ezra’s.“I love you so fucking much.”
Ezra smiled against his throat.“You always get talkative when you’re about to come.”
Ricky gasped a laugh.“You bring it out of me.”
Ezra shifted, changed the angle just enough to make Ricky moan, his whole body arching.“That’s better.”
“I swear—if you don’t finish what you started—”
“Ricky, baby, I am the finish line,” Ezra whispered with a wicked grin.
And just like that, the tension snapped.Ricky came hard, Ezra’s name on his lips, stars in his eyes.Ezra followed with a low groan, holding Ricky tight, burying his face in the crook of his neck as they rode it out together.
Silence fell, broken only by their breaths and the soft crackle of the fire.
Ezra kissed his shoulder, lips lingering over a bite mark from earlier.“You okay?”
“I’m ...spectacular.”
They lay in a tangle of limbs and contentment, the stars above spinning slow and wide.
After a while, Ricky turned his head, watching the firelight dance in Ezra’s eyes.“You remember what you said in Albania?About how you’d learned to walk into the dark because someone had to?”
Ezra nodded slowly.
“That night.That moment.”Ricky swallowed.“You were the first thing I held onto when I wanted to let go.You were my ...anchor.”
Ezra’s hand found his.“As you were mine.”
They were quiet a minute more, then Ricky said, “Danger Close.”
Ezra looked at him, puzzled.“What?”
“You know, when you call in artillery or airstrikes so close to your own position that there’s a real risk of getting hit.You do it anyway—because it’s the only way to survive.”
