Page 7 of Persuaded

“Bed,” Josh said, breaking away and holding Finn at bay with one hand on his chest while he caught his breath.

He looked wild and beautiful, damp hair disheveled and chest heaving.

Finn wanted every part of him, every inch.

Josh studied him too, silence curling around them, until, with a smile that was charmingly shy, he slipped his thumbs into the waistband of his swim shorts and slowly slipped them off.

Finn’s mouth dried. He’d seen naked guys before, but not like this—not when he was allowed to look, not when Josh was curling his hand around his stiff cock and giving it a slow, deliberate stroke.

Blood burning, Finn watched him climb naked onto the bed and lie back, propped up on his elbows, aroused, hard and waiting.

Josh was trying for nonchalant, but Finn could see how hard he was breathing, the flush in his cheeks spreading down to his chest. It only made him more irresistible.

Feeling his own face heat, Finn dropped his shorts and for a beat stood there beneath Josh’s wide-eyed gaze, watching him chew his bottom lip.

Then Josh held out a hand in invitation.

Heart pounding, Finn went to him, crawling onto the bed and into Josh’s waiting arms. His skin was warm and smelled like the sea and the rain, his hard cock sliding over Finn’s the most erotic sensation of Finn’s life.

Josh kissed him, both hands on his face as he nudged Finn onto his back and held him there.

Despite his lean frame, Josh was strong.

Finn could feel it now in a way he never had before and it thrilled him.

Josh kissed him deep, pressing him down with the weight of his body, their legs tangling as they rocked their hips together.

“Josh...” Slipping his hands into his thick hair, Finn kissed him as their bodies ground together in a slow, tortuous rhythm. He felt dizzy with desire, burning from the inside out in a way he’d never known. He never wanted this to stop but he could hardly contain his rocketing desire.

With a soft groan, Josh broke the kiss and let his mouth trail along Finn’s jaw to his neck, his throat. He sucked a bruise into the skin over Finn’s collarbone, the pleasure-pain of it making Finn buck up against him. Josh smiled, looking up through dark lashes. “You liked that.”

Finn could only nod and watch Josh’s smile turn roguish as he continued his slow exploration. Drawing one nipple into his mouth, he sucked and nibbled until Finn put a hand on his shoulder to stop him, the sensation too intense.

A flash-fire lit Josh’s eyes. “I don’t think so,” he said and gripped Finn’s wrist, pinning it to the bed next to his shoulder.

Finn caught his breath, shockingly aroused by Josh’s strength.

To be held down by that sinewy grip while Josh teased him into incoherence was almost enough to end him right there. “Josh,” he gasped. “Josh, please...”

Please, what? Stop? Don’t stop? He didn’t know.

“God, you’re so hot,” Josh breathed into his skin, releasing his wrist. “Finn, you’re so incredible like this.” And then he moved lower, pressing his hot mouth against Finn’s sternum, his stomach. Lower still.

Oh fuck.

Heart beating right out of his chest, Finn levered himself up to watch as Josh nuzzled his hip.

He was so fucking beautiful. His hair fell forward, dark lashes fanning out above those fine cheekbones as his lips parted and brushed against the head of Finn’s cock.

“Fuck.” Finn clutched at the bedsheets to keep his hips from bucking. “Josh, fuck.”

He smiled, the tip of his tongue darting out to tease the slit already beading with moisture. “That’s the idea,” Josh said. Then, “God, Finn, I want you so bad.”

With that, he took Finn into his mouth, deep and hot and wet.

Finn fell back on the bed with an airless cry, hands pressed over his face, overwhelmed by sensation as Josh sucked and licked, fingers digging into his thighs, skimming up over his belly.

The world started to contract, pooling at the base of his spine, his breath stopping in his lungs. “I’m gonna—Josh—”

He pulled off and put a restraining hand around the base of Finn’s cock. “Not yet,” he said with a shaky smile, chest heaving. Christ, he looked as turned on as Finn.

Slowly receding from the edge, Finn nodded and held out his arms. “Come here, then.”

Josh went, crawling into his arms, warm and heavy, kissing him with depth and abandon as Finn rolled him onto his back. His turn.

He took his time, kissing Josh everywhere, reveling in his little gasps and whimpers.

He was stunning in the rainy light. It honed the lines of his cheekbones, drew out the pink in his flushed lips, and turned his sparkling eyes dark and hungry.

He was stunning, yes, but this was something more—something deeper.

Something Finn felt echoing in his chest, in the steady beat of tandem hearts. It was love. Eternity.

Overwhelmed, he pressed a kiss to Josh’s forehead, to the bridge of his nose, to his lips.

And Josh’s arms came up around him, hands ranging over his back, holding him close as Finn found their rhythm—Josh’s cock insistent against his hip, his own pressed into the crease of Josh’s thigh as if their bodies were made for this, for each other.

It was dizzyingly slow, but intense in a way Finn had never known.

With lips, tongue and hands Josh was taking him apart and remaking him anew, their hearts and souls entwined.

It was incredible. Also, terrifying. Because it was obvious—to Finn, it was obvious—that it was incredible because it was Josh.

“Oh God,” Josh gasped, fingers digging into his back. “Oh God, Finn... I’m—” He came with a cry, arching up against Finn’s hip, head thrown back and lips parted. Irresistible.

Finn’s heart billowed like a sail catching the breeze and he came with a sob of joy so intense he could hardly breathe. Dazed, he collapsed boneless into Josh’s arms, his mind spiraling away and Josh’s pounding heart beating against his chest.

“This is it,” Finn murmured later, as they sprawled, tangled and sweaty, in his rumpled bed.

The storm had settled in for real, rain rattling on the roof and windows, filling the small space with watery light, and it was all so perfect Finn thought he might die of happiness.

“This is it, man. You and me. This is it forever.”

Josh threaded his fingers through Finn’s hair and sighed. “I hope so. I’ve never felt anything like this, Finn. It’s so deep. It feels profound.”

And he was right; it was.

All summer they laid plans. Josh would bail on his Harvard MBA and follow his heart (and Finn) to LA where he’d study music at the Colburn School. Finn would find a job, help support Sean at UCLA, and then follow his dream of trying to make it as an actor.

And they’d be together. Sink or swim, they’d be together. That was all that mattered.

It felt right. Finn knew it did and he didn’t doubt it was going to happen for a second.

Not until that afternoon at summer’s end when he found Josh standing ashen-faced in the music room, hands twisting together and eyes stricken.

“We have to end it,” he said. “I’m so sorry, Finn, but I can’t go with you. This has to end.”

And so it did. Finn’s whole world ended right there in a firestorm of recrimination, fury and heartache.

Three days later, reforged like steel in the flames, he started to rebuild his life. And there was no place in his brave new world for Joshua Newton.