Page 48 of Inside Out

I couldn’t keep the leer from my face when I looked at him and said, “I’m not wearing any underwear.”

Jules raked his hazel eyes over my body, lingering on the crotch of my gym shorts before he cleared his throat. “How the hell hadn’t I noticed? God, we need to pick up the pace.” He wasn’t teasing about the last part. We quickened our stride which seemed to make Dolly happy. She was a Labrador trapped in a Dachshund’s body.

Once we were back inside my house, Dolly danced in circles while I hung up her leash at the back door and opened the treat jar. “Have you really been good enough to earn this?” I asked, holding the prized goodie in my hand for her to see.Woof!That little bark could’ve said “I’m Daddy’s best girl ever” or it could’ve meant “drop the fucking treat right now or I’ll piss in your shoe while you sleep.” I gave her the treat because she was definitely the first option and I wanted to avoid the second.

“So, I’m not the only one you like to dangle a treat in front of, huh?”

Rather than reply with words, I slid my fingers between Jules’s and led him upstairs to my bedroom. I flipped on the light and tried to see the space through his eyes. A big bed with luxurious linens, a cherry armoire and two matching dressers, and a club chair, ottoman, and end table tucked away in the corner. The colors were a mix of grays and blues, a combination I felt was relaxing and serene.

“That’s some bed,” Julius said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

I looked at him, but his eyes were locked on the four-poster bed made of cherry wood and wrought iron. I didn’t think he saw any other part of my room besides the bed. Why did he sound nervous suddenly? It was just a bed. Yes, the headboard and footboard were made of intricate metal work that formed lotus flowers, but it shouldn’t have been cause for concern. Then it occurred to me.

“Peter didn’t make the bed,” I said. “I bought it when I moved to Blissville. You’ve never seen anything like it because I had it custom made.”

“It’s a work of art, Rome.”

I tugged on Jules’s hand so he would turn to face me. “I probably said the same thing when I saw the bed for the first time but seeing you in my room makes me realize I was wrong. That,” I said, pointing at the bed, “is a piece of furniture. You are the work of art, and together, we’re going to make something devastatingly beautiful.”

“English lit majors are such smooth talkers,” he said, but I saw how much my words moved him.

“Would you expect anything different from a guy named Romeo?” I teased. “I meant every word.” I leaned in for a long, tender kiss then pulled back because there was something important I needed him to hear. “There’s been no one else in that bed other than me.” I released his hand to remove my shirt. “And I want you there with me. Only you. Over me, under me, or beside me. I just want you there.” I placed Jules’s palm over my heart, letting him feel the way it raced for him. Only him.

“You completely unravel me, Rome. You seduce me with your body, heart, and your brain. The perfect trifecta, and I want to make you mine.”

“I want to be yours.” God, I hadn’t wanted anything so bad for a very long time. I reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head, revealing his smooth chest and flawless skin. My hands immediately went to his pecs while he pulled me to him for a hot, needy kiss. I moaned into his mouth as I slid my hands up to wrap around his shoulders and pull him flush against me, needing that skin-on-skin contact. Jules’s skin blazed like he had a fever and was burning up from the inside out.

Jules pulled back from the kiss, breathing hard. “Bed.”

I missed his heat the second I stepped out of our embrace, but the sooner we undressed, the sooner I could have all of him against me. The fooling around on his sofa the previous evening was amazing, but I wanted—needed—to feel all of him pressed against me, moving inside me.

“Baby, are you sure?” Jules asked once we were completely naked. “I knowthis”—he wrapped his left hand around my aching dick—“is ready, but are you ready here?” He pressed his right hand over my heart then raised his hand to gently caress my temple. “Or here?”

“So ready, Jules.”

The walk to my bed felt more like floating on air. Jules pulled back the duvet then slid between my sheets and I followed until every part of me was touching every part of him. First-time sex between a couple tended to be awkward, at least until passion overrode insecurities and bodies took over and did what they were made to do. In my eagerness to taste Jules’s lips again, I leaned forward to recapture his mouth at the same time he started to lower his head to lick my nipple. My lips smacked hard against his forehead.

“God, I’m sorry,” Jules said. He ran his finger gently over my lips to make sure they hadn’t split. In response, I sucked his finger in my mouth and pretended it was his cock. I loved the way his pupils expanded until there was only a thin rim of color showing around the obsidian circles. Alice had her rabbit hole, and I was teetering on the edge of falling into Julius’s eyes.

I suddenly rolled him to his back and my knee caught the inside of his thigh when I tried to position myself between them. Julius groaned, and my only recourse was to slide lower in the bed so I could kiss it better. The scent of his arousal drove me insane, and my body took over, driving away my inept clumsiness. I gripped his cock and laved it with my tongue, savoring his taste and the way Julius fisted my hair. I wanted to make him writhe, pant, and moan, so I took him to the back of my throat.

“Unh,” Jules grunted. “Maybe we do that when I’m not so worked up, yeah?”

I released his cock from my mouth and circled the flared head with my tongue. “Feels good?”

“Too good. C’mere.” I was torn. I wanted to stay right where I was and work his cock with my mouth until his entire body shook with his pending release. Even then, I was tempted to suck and lick until he came, hoping he would shout my name as he spilled down my throat. His pleading eyes were the deciding factor. “I need you now.”

Jules’s lips met mine when I crawled back up his body then he rolled and pinned me beneath him. Unfortunately, he misjudged the distance to the edge of the bed and cracked his elbow on the nightstand.

“Fuck!” he yelled. I cringed because I knew how bad that had to hurt. We both burst into laughter when he looked down into my eyes. I’d always heard that laughter in bed was a bad thing, but I loved the way Jules’s body shook with mirth when I pulled him into my arms. “Have you seen anything more ridiculous in your life?” Jules asked when he could speak again.

“I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my life.” I sounded like a besotted, sappy fool, but so what. I was too old to be coy with the man I was falling so hard for. “And the night has just begun.”

I lifted my head, needing to taste Julius’s smile on his lips. We fell into sync then. Our hands sliding over smooth flesh, learning the dips and planes of one another’s bodies while needy moans echoed off the walls of my room. I clung to Jules, unable to get enough of him and wishing I could absorb him into my body. Having his dick inside me would be as close as I could get, so I retrieved the lube and condom from the drawer and handed them to him.

He didn’t double check to see if I was sure; he saw the certainty in my eyes and the steadiness of my hands. Jules took his time stretching me open while kissing me until I was vibrating with need. His fingers grazed over my prostate but never lingered long enough to put me out of my misery. Once he was certain I was ready, he slid the condom down his erect length and slicked it with more lube.

“Go slow,” I urged when the broad head of his cock pressed against my pucker, reminding him it had been a long time for me.