Page 24 of Jewel in the Rough

“Apologize for what? Tell me what’s going on inside your head.”

“Uh…”

He lifted one eyebrow. “Do I need to button my shirt back up?”

Benny’s eyes widened. “No, no! No need for draconian measures.” He hesitated but then rushed his words out. “I feel like I need to apologize for almost getting you killed, but also I don’t know if we’d be standing here right now—hopefully about to have some super-hot sex— if it weren’t for Talache. Gah, and the property damage. So, I’m conflicted.”

Teagan stepped close enough that Benny’s body heat lapped against his skin, so intoxicating, and ran his hands up Benny’s arms.

“Property damage, all just stuff that can be replaced or repaired. And we weren’t seriously hurt. You have a few stitches, but your hand will heal just fine. I’m not saying that it wouldn’t have been nice to know you were on the run from some Very Bad People, because I actually know how to handle myself and, as you now know, I have contacts who could also help out.”

Benny’s speculative gaze met his own. “You seem… remarkably not angry with me.”

“I’m not.” Teagan glanced up at the ceiling and noted there was a cobweb that needed to be taken care of, then looked back down at the inexplicable Benny Brambilla. “I can’t predict the future—”

“Control freak,” Benny mumbled, that lopsided grin creasing his cheeks.

“Let me finish,” Teagan fake-growled. He suspected Benny liked it when he growled and was rewarded with a wider grin. “We can’t predict the future. What if you end up hating life here on Piedras? Or maybe you’re not planning on staying. But,” his hands stopped on Benny’s shoulders and the lean muscle underneath Teagan’s fingers twitched as Benny shifted, “I like having you here. I like you. I’m glad you called Ciara. I’m glad you decided to hide out on Piedras. I’d like it if you stayed. I don’t know what shape that will take because… I just don’t know.”

Lifting onto his toes to cup Teagan’s face with one hand, Benny stared into his eyes. “I’m not sorry then. Definitely not sorry.” Then he leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against Teagan’s.

A shudder of want snaked through Teagan’s belly directly to his semi-erect cock. Benny’s t-shirt was soft against his bare chest, reminding him that Benny was still fully clothed. Reluctantly, he pulled away.

“Clothes off, now.”

“Yes, master.”

“That snarky tone is going to get you in trouble.”

“In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I have a trouble kink.”

Teagan chuckled as he helped Benny pull of his t-shirt—totally because of the bandaged hand, not at all because he wanted to unwrap Benny like he was the best birthday present Teagan had ever received.

“You’re sure your hand doesn’t hurt too much?” He asked, sliding his hand across Benny’s bare chest and down his flat stomach to his groin, where he stopped to cup Benny’s expanding package.

Benny shot Teagan a dazed glare, then raised his hand and shook it. “Nothing is stopping me, this is just a scratch. Oooh…”

Teagan lowered himself to his knees, grateful for the throw rug, and ignored the protest from his thigh—this was more important. He unbuttoned Benny’s jeans, nuzzling against his belly button as he did so, and inhaled the unique perfume that wasBennydeep into his lungs. His dreams lately had been filled with the scent of green apples, but the real thing was incomparable.

A gentle hand landed on the top of his head, encouraging him to keep going, to explore further. He tasted Benny’s sun-licked skin, felt him shudder and heard him groan.

“Please…”

“Please what?” Teagan teased.

Benny pressed his lean hips against Teagan and the bright red boxer briefs he wore could hardly contain his erection. Using his index finger, Teagan traced the outline of his cock, reveling in the moans and gasps that fell from Benny’s lips. Slipping his fingers inside the boxers, Teagan caressed Benny’s thick cock, cataloguing the breadth and heft of him before tugging it out where he could finally see it.

Teagan’s erection throbbed in response. He spread his legs to give himself room but wasn’t ready to stop this part. The tasting, the exploring, the inhaling—it was intoxicating. A tantalizing bead of precome oozed from the tip of Benny’s cock. Teagan lapped at it, savoring the slightly bitter flavor of him.

“Teeeeagan…”

Relenting, because he didn’t want to wait any longer either, he parted his lips and took Benny inside his mouth. He tasted incredible, his cock was perfect. Everything about Benny was perfect. Teagan’s eyes drifted shut as he sucked Benny, wetting his cock with his lips, tracing the vein along the underside of his erection with his tongue. Swallowing him.

“Fuck. Teagan, yes. But go. Bed. Please. I need to feel you. Not fair.”

That made Teagan suck harder, enjoying Benny writhing in his grip, shaking, begging. His thigh ached so he finally gave in and pulled off. Before standing back up, Teagan peeled Benny’s jeans and boxers down his legs so he could step out of them.

Standing—and not groaning in pain, because that would ruin everything—Teagan stepped out of his own jeans. Benny flopped backward onto the mattress and wrapped his fingers around his cock to give himself a few pumps. Benny’s heavy, hooded gaze caressed Teagan as he padded toward the bed. That gaze took in everything, including the ugly scarring on his thigh, a result of the shooting and subsequent surgeries.

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