Page 20
Story: Something Cryptid This Way Comes (Love in Maplewood #9)
Being with him is a heady mix of old and new. I can’t wait to add new memories of us around a campfire, huddling together in front of the crackling flames. I’m so grateful to share this time with him now, and I can’t wait for the rest of our night together.
Stars dot the night sky, and the fire crackles, warming my side.
My stomach is full and my head rests on Trevor’s lap as we lounge on the sleeping bag I laid out.
After the chair fiasco, we decided the ground would be safer.
Now Trevor’s fingertips are absently running through my hair as we enjoy the peaceful evening.
“That freeze-dried beef and noodles was better than I thought it would be.” He points to a shooting star, one of many we’ve seen tonight.
“It almost makes up for the chair.”
He snorts. “When I have you on your back, I don’t want your ass to be bruised.”
I sit up in a flourish. “What if I want you on your back?”
We’ve been getting each other off with our hands and mouths, but we haven’t had this conversation yet.
Oddly, in all the years of friendship, Trevor has been closed-lipped about his romantic and sexual relationships.
In fact, I can’t remember him talking about hooking up or dating.
Not that I wanted to hear about that. And not that I shared anything with him. It always felt… wrong.
His eyes darken and he pulls me so I’m pinned to his chest. “Whatever you want, I want. You want to top, I’ll bottom. You want to bottom, I’ll top. If all you want to do is what we’ve been doing, then I’ll be the happiest man alive.”
“I have something for you,” I blurt out, then get up and run into the tent. If I didn’t already love the man, I would after that declaration. I drop to my knees, digging in my pack. When my fingers hit the pointed corner, I pull out the box and rush back out .
Remains of the fire smolder as Trevor stirs the ashes with a long stick.
“Here.” My teeth grazing my bottom lip, I hand the box to him.
Trevor gives me the stick. He lifts the box’s lid, and my heart stutters at the wonder on his face as he studies the gold medallion.
He carefully lifts it from the bed of tissue paper.
“Where did you get this? How? It’s been missing since that group vacation to Bermuda…
” He looks up and I can practically see him doing the math in his head. “ Sixteen years ago.”
“It’s a replica.” The original had belonged to his grandfather, and Trevor wore it every day.
Every day until he lost it thanks to me tackling him in the ocean during a game of football on the beach.
“When we were in Italy this summer and saw that metal worker, the one I bought the ring for Agnes from, I got the idea of having this made.” He nods, but his gaze stays glued to the medallion hanging from its chain.
“I know how much the medallion meant to you and how upset you were when it got lost. So I reached out to him before we flew home. He had other commissions he had to complete before he could start. It arrived in Philly yesterday. Charlie overnighted it to Ever, and I picked it up from him this morning.”
He traces his fingers over the intricate work.
“I can’t believe it. Both that you’d do this, and that you remembered.
” His voice rasps and his eyelids flutter like he’s fighting back emotion.
He drags his gaze from the medallion. Glassy eyes meet mine.
Tearing my heart from my chest and stomping on it would be less painful than making Trevor cry. “Thank you.”
“Are you upset?” Maybe I overstepped a boundary. Of course a replica can’t make up for losing the real thing. What was I thinking?
Trevor shakes his head, a watery smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Not at all.” He strokes my cheek and I lean into his palm. “This is the most thoughtful gift anyone has ever given me.”
His cold lips press to mine and I feel him tremble. I hold him close, slowing my breaths until we’re breathing in sync and his trembling quiets.
Resting his cheek against my chest, he continues tracing his fingers over the shiny disc. “We looked for the medallion for days. You were relentless.”
“I was so frustrated that we couldn’t find it. It’s always bothered me.” I felt like him losing it was my fault. But he never blamed me and instead insisted that a weak link on the chain must have snapped, causing the medallion to fall free. It’s probably still somewhere in the ocean.
Trevor sets the medallion in its box and tucks it to his chest. Eyes full of heat, he rises onto his knees and braces his hands on my thighs. “Finish putting out the fire then meet me in the tent.”
I gaze into those gorgeous eyes. “I can do that.”
He stands, long legs wrapped in worn denim, with a bulge that I long to touch. Grasping the box, he starts for the tent, slowing his steps to look over his shoulder. “Because I’m going to thank the hell out of you.”
I have never finished putting out a campfire as fast in my entire life.
When I flip open the flap of the tent, a small lantern sits in the corner, illuminating the compact space.
Trevor lifts open his sleeping bag and my mouth goes dry.
But for the medallion resting on his chest and its chain around his neck, he’s wearing nothing.
I drop my sleeping bag and strip. Immediately, my nipples pucker. “Shit, it’s cold.”
“Get in.” He has his bag unzipped all the way, so I don’t have to worry about how the two of us will fit into it.
Later, we can zip our two bags together, but right now, all I want is to feel every inch of his skin against every inch of mine.
I want to feel his thick muscles. The hard planes of his stomach and the soft skin behind his ear. I want to be engulfed by him.
I slide in and the warmth of his body heats the down fabric, creating a cocoon of comfort. “Hi.”
“Thank you.” He wraps an arm around my waist, kissing me, tugging until I’m on top of him and my chest is plastered to his chest. “Thank you for the gift.” Kiss. “Thank you for helping me with the haunted house this week.” Kiss. “Thank you for coming when Agnes needed you.” Kiss.
We keep kissing and kissing, and Bram’s hands roam over my back, down to my ass, cupping, stroking, and caressing. Our bodies grind in a sensual dance directed by sighs and moans and pleas for more.
I nuzzle the skin under his beard, inhaling the scent of campfire and clean sweat. “I love the way you smell.”
“I can’t believe we’re here like this.” His voice is a croak and his throat bobs.
I nip his Adam’s apple with my teeth, then kiss it, and revel in the shiver my actions evoke.
Holding me to him with one hand firmly on my ass, he brings a finger to my mouth, tracing my lips.
I part them and suck in the tip, swirling my tongue around it, teasing as I hollow my cheeks.
His gaze heats and the power that surges, knowing I put that heat there, burns as hot as roaring flames.
He claims my mouth. Power laced with so much tenderness, the kiss is a contrast, and is everything that makes Trevor the amazing man he is.
Thought is forfeited and only sensations exist, a place I’ll happily live for as long as I can.
My weight on my forearms, I tease my fingers in his hair, and slide my foot up and down his calf, rubbing our thighs together, our calves, our cocks. I want everything with him. “You feel so good.”
With a nip to my lower lip, he pulls back. “Whatever you want.”
“I want to feel you inside me.” I push up so I’m straddling him and trace my fingers over his sculpted chest. Trevor sucks in a breath and his hands flex on my thighs. I like the way his lips part, the mists of desire in his eyes, and the way he whispers my name.
His fingertips tickle my lower spine, sinking lower and lower. A small bottle of lube and a strip of condoms sit beside the pillow. I grab the bottle, shivering as his hands skate up my thighs.
I pour some lube on his fingers. His wet finger slides over my ass to the crease, and I push my hips back, gripping his cock in my hand. “I need you, Trev.”
The meaning behind my words is more than I’m ready to say, but from the way he’s looking at me, with so much tenderness, I think he may have gotten the message. “You’ve always had me, Bram. You always will.”
Every one of my nerve endings short-circuits as the weight of his declarations encircles the air around us, wrapping us in its meaning. “Get me ready. Now.”
Even in the shadows of the tent, I can make out the tremor under eyes full of desire, and more.
With two slicked fingers, he works his way inside.
Desperation curls around my center and I stroke him from base to tip, slow and tight, watching his face for what brings the most pleasure, unlocking more of his secrets.
His hand clamps on my thigh and he arches into me with a groan. “Yes.”
He pulls my head down, demanding my mouth. As we kiss, he adds a third finger. He pumps them in and out, finding my prostate. A constellation of stars explodes behind my eyelids with each hit.
“Fuck.” I grope for the condom, then tear the wrapper open. Need trembling through me, I slide it down his thick cock. “This isn’t going to last long.”
Trevor grabs my hips, steadying me as I position myself over him and slowly sink down.
Inch by inch, moment after moment, each one bringing us closer and closer together.
The feel of him filling me, the intimacy that joins us, steals my voice and I’m overcome with how amazing it feels to be here, with him, as we are.
His fingertips dig into my skin. The tendons in his neck stand out as he fights to keep his hips still, giving me control.
“You feel so good.” His words are strained with that gruff tone I love.
I run my fingers over his chest, then grasp hold of his shoulders and thrust, moving my hips, sliding up until only his tip is in me, then sinking back down.
We both groan and I do it again and again and again. His fingers grip me hard enough I’m sure I’ll have marks tomorrow and I groan at the thought of carrying signs of our night together on my skin. Our gazes stay on each other, our connection never wavering.
When I’m close, he fists his hand around my cock, stroking me hard and fast, then pulls himself to sitting. Enveloping me in his arms, his gaze burns into me with every thrust.
Mine.
The thought catapults me over the edge. Mouth fused to mine, Trevor swallows my cries as my release coats our skin. Then he clutches me tighter, banding his arms around me, and stiffens, groaning long and low, filling the condom with muted heat.
Our kisses turn lazy, and we pause them only to smile at each other. I can’t stop caressing his skin, and he loosens his tight embrace enough to slide his hands up and down my back in possessive strokes.
Dazzled by what we shared, I claim another kiss and luxuriate in the feel of being body to body with him. “In the morning, I want the reverse of what we just did. Me sliding inside you as the sun rises, sharing orgasms as the day begins.”
His hands flex on my back and his gaze glitters with heat. “Fuck, yeah.”
I know we need to clean up, but I want to steal another few moments first. “It’s different with you.”
“Sex?”
“Yeah. And the hand-holding. The kissing. All of it.” It means more. And I know why. Love.
He slides a hand up to frame my face. “For me too.”
Those strong fingers shift to the back of my head and he draws me forward. Our lips meet, and I sink into the kiss, sink into Trevor, as owls hoot and crickets chirp and the night comes alive around us.