Page 124 of Should Our Hearts Catch Fire

“Nowhere.” He ducks his chin to brush their lips together. “I’m right where I want to be.”

“Good.” Gabriel smiles wide and catches his mouth in a short, deep kiss. “Now if you could get whereIwant you to be, that would be great.”

Ellis laughs so hard his whole body shakes with it, not doing any favors to his erection that has started wilting while he was busy whining about the wasted years of his life. Thankfully, it only takes one filthy kiss from Gabriel, one look at his wantonly spread legs, and the problem is sorted.

Putting on a condom and slicking his cock with an over-generous amount of lube, Ellis lines up, his gaze locked with Gabriel’s as he slowly pushes inside. It’s not as slow as he’d like, because Gabriel keeps urging him on with hands on his buttocks, pulling him forward.

“Fuck,” Ellis breathes when he’s bottomed out. A bead of sweat slides down his temple, tickling a little. Gabriel feels… He doesn’t have words for it. Only that he never wants this to end.

His heart plummets when he notices Gabriel’s eyes are squeezed shut, his features filled with tension. “Are you—are you okay?” What makes it confusing is that he can’t feel anything but warmth and happiness coming from Gabriel.

Finally, Gabriel’s eyes open, swirling with gold that doesn’t seem to fade. A small, beautiful smile blooms on his lips. “I’m perfect.” He moves his hands to Ellis’ back, pulling him down on top of him like he can’t bear any distance between them. “You are perfect.”

“Gabe,” Ellis says shakily.

“Perfect,” Gabriel insists. He repeats it as he kisses Ellis, as if trying to brand his lips with it. Then his lips move to form a new shape, new words. Ellis feels them in his soul before they’re spoken, feels the air around them saturate with their power. “I love you.”

Despite anticipating them, he’s not ready when the words finally land, reshaping his whole reality. It shouldn’t be a big deal. People say them all the time, not even meaning them.

He didn’t realize it would feel like this when someone said them to him.

He reaches inside himself, searching for the words of reciprocation he knows are there, have been for a while now, just waiting to be released. Something doesn’t let him, something rigid and cold, like a metal door, guarding the deepest parts of him.

His frustration must show on his face because Gabriel gives him an infinitely patient smile, then proceeds to hook his legs around Ellis’ hips and chase his demons away with a kiss.

“Ellis?”

“Y-yeah?”

“You gonna give me an epic orgasm or what?”

Ellis stills, and then he laughs, because it’s the only thing he can do. That, and give Gabriel what he wants. Hell, he’ll give him anything he asks for.

“Yes, sir.”

Gabriel sighs, like he’s disappointed. “We’ve talked about this, Ellis. Do not poke my hibernating kinks unless you’re ready to bear the consequences.”

As far as threats go… “Another time, then.”

“Another time,” Gabriel agrees, wrapping his arms around Ellis and holding on tight.

For what could be minutes or hours, the world stops for Ellis, him and Gabriel the only two things in existence. He’s not aware of anything but the way Gabriel clings to him, the way his hot breath caresses Ellis’s skin as he pants into his neck, the wrecked sob-like moan he makes each time Ellis gets the angle just right.

It’s all too soon when Gabriel starts chanting his name, his breath becoming labored and legs beginning to quake. Ellis is right there with him, because in this moment he can’t even fathom his emotions being separate from Gabriel’s, the two so closely intertwined it’s impossible to tell them apart.

Needing to see Gabriel as they crash the wave together, Ellis seeks out his face, contorted in pleasure. His mouth is slack and red from their kisses, his eyes closed. They fly open when the tension snaps, glowing gold as his cock pulses and spills between them. His flabbergasted expression is the last thing Ellis sees before his orgasm slams into him, punching a cry out of him.

His arms give up, causing him to slump against Gabriel in a boneless heap.

“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”

Gabriel shakes his head, but is still wearing that dumbstruck expression.

“What’s wrong?”

Gabriel’s throat bobs. “Your eyes glowed gold.”

“What?”