Page 23 of Up In Flames

Will

E very time I was with Oren, he surprised me. Sometimes it was a small shock. A little nugget of himself that he’d reveal to me. And other times, like now, it shifted my world a few steps to the right.

Soft and pliant beneath me, a flush of pink spread down his body from the tips of his ears, trailing down the column of his throat and spreading across his shoulders.

His lip looked swollen from him biting it.

But it was his gaze that took my breath away.

The way he looked at me was nothing I’d experienced before.

I’d give up the universe if it meant his gaze would remain unchanged.

“Please, Will.”

I loved the sound of my name on his lips. Inching closer, I put my free hand on his hip, stilling him, steadying myself as I lined up with his hole. His legs spread wider, falling open for me. He exhaled a shaky breath, his fingers sliding up the side of my knee.

Hurting him was the last thing I wanted to do, so I pressed in slowly, giving him time to breathe and stretch and get used to me before giving him more of myself.

His fingers dug into my flesh when I pushed in further, relaxed when he was ready for more.

By the time I was inside him, a sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead.

Once I knew he was okay, I lowered myself down and kissed him.

Oren moaned into my mouth and arched underneath me. Arms wound around my shoulders, fingers dug into my shoulder blades, danced down my spine. Carved grooves into me as I started to move.

I fucked him slow so I could kiss him. Devour his mouth. Swirl my tongue against his, bite his already abused bottom lip. Oren’s arms trembled and he gripped me tighter.

“You’re okay,” I whispered, breaking the kiss so I could breathe, so I could hear the sounds he made. The gentle whimpers, the guttural groans when I thrust deeper, bottoming out inside him.

He tilted his head back, offering me his throat. He tasted of salt and skin.

“More. Harder,” he begged. Beneath me, he writhed and tried to meet my thrusts. Already he was coming apart.

I leaned back and grabbed his right leg. Gently I moved it, lifting it up over my head. I kept myself inside him while I urged him to lay on his side. Moving his leg upward, bending it at the knee, I leaned down again, rocking my hips forward as I brushed my lips against his.

“Oh,” Oren said, breathy and aroused. Shocked by the change in position that allowed a new, fun angle that should let my cock hit all the right places inside him.

“You like?” It was good that I didn’t expect an answer because the noise that came out of Oren wasn’t intelligible.

It was needy, and he reached for me as he made it, urging me to come closer.

Move. Thrust into him again. Part of me wanted to flip him onto his face and pin him down by his wrists, shove his face into the bed, and fuck him through it, but then I’d lose sight of those wide eyes, full of amazement. Lust. Affection. Wonder.

Sweat beaded on the back of my neck. Oren pulled me down to him. Our kiss was rough, and my body answered in kind, slamming into him with increasing force, driving us both up the bed. My fingers dug into the softness of his leg, just above the knee. His hand found mine, then slid up my arm.

“Will—I need. Need you to touch me.”

I let him roll onto his back. Lifting his leg, I rested it on my shoulder and kept it there. Oren stared up at me, wild-eyed as I wrapped a hand around his cock. He tipped his head back, making an offering of his throat as he moaned from my touch.

His hands didn’t seem to know what to do and eventually they ended up in the bedding, twisting handfuls until his knuckles were white. All taut skin and clenched muscle, beautiful in the way he trembled beneath me, he was the most gorgeous man I’d ever laid my eyes on.

“Will, please. Please—I—” Oren shattered. His body drew tighter in one second, every muscle contracting. He was origami folding in on itself only to explode outward a second later like a firecracker.

He came, cum splattering up his chest. It dripped down my fingers, coating them as I kept jerking him. Kept pulling those obscene sounds out of him.

I needed to come. Pulling out, I yanked the condom off. I rose up on my knees so Oren could see me jerk myself to completion with his cum on my cock.

My release streaked his chest. I fought the urge to rub it into his skin and instead pried my hand off my cock and kissed him again.

Out of breath, our kiss was open-mouthed, lips brushing against each other again and again.

I sucked in a breath and rested my forehead against his.

His leg had slid off my shoulder sometime between his orgasm and mine, and his legs were around me again.

He drew me down to him, arms wrapping around me again, urging me forward. Gathering me close, he kissed the curve of my neck and stroked his hands up and down my back in slow motion. Our cum dried between us, and we’d definitely need to shower.

When I finally caught my breath, I rolled off him, but didn’t get out of bed. I lay on my side and Oren nestled into me. He tucked his head under my chin and let out a long, shaky breath.

“Oren?”

“I’ve never had sex that good before.” He paused, then laughed, quiet and self-conscious. “My ass… it doesn’t hurt, but I can definitely tell there was a dick in there.”

“I could kiss it better if you wanted.”

Oren pulled back and looked at me, aroused and incredulous. “I know that’s a thing that exists, but is that a thing you’re into?”

“I’m into you,” I answered simply. It went without saying that I was into him, but I didn’t think he was ready to hear just how much I cared about him. The level of affection I had for him scared me sometimes. If there ever was a person I’d risk it all to be with, it was Oren.

But he was the kind of man who would never expect that of me.

So far he’d gone out of his way to do things on my terms. To keep our relationship a secret in public.

It was asking a lot. I knew that. But I simply wasn’t ready to come out.

I wanted to be ready for that. I wanted to be brave enough to face whatever the fallout might be.

Oren scratched at his chest, grimacing when dried cum flaked off his skin. “Well, that’s unpleasant.” He looked up at me, eyes glimmering with mischief. “You know, if we got tested and stuff, we could skip the whole condom thing.”

“You want that with me?” I couldn’t banish the surprise from my voice.

“I want a lot of things with you. Stop looking so surprised.”

Oren brushed his mouth against mine. I let him in like I always did, always would. If I could do nothing but kiss him for the rest of my life, it would be more than enough. It would be perfect.

Unfortunately, as lovely as that thought was, it was highly impractical. He pulled away and scrubbed at his chest again, this time with a frown.

“Shower time.” I rolled out of bed and stood, then held my hand out to him. “Come on, we can shower together and save water.”

Oren took my hand, and I tugged him into the bathroom.

It wasn’t the largest bathroom in the world, and I’d never had someone here to shower with.

At first glance, the shower seemed big enough, until we were both inside and then suddenly it was very apparent how little room there was for two grown men to move around.

Oren took full advantage of this and stepped into my space and wrapped his arms around me. “Oh darn, we have to save space too. How tragic for us.”

Already we were hard again, but the urgency was gone now, and my lust was content to simmer.

Oren soaped my skin, indulging in touching me while he did so.

His touch was exploratory, and I found I enjoyed watching him examine me.

Oren looked at me with a mixture of awe and hunger, but when he’d lift his eyes to meet my gaze, they’d soften as though looking at me made him melt.

I wished I could say that I’d do anything to keep him, but I didn’t know if that was true yet.

My insides still quaked when I thought of my parents and how they’d react when I told them.

Or the guys at the station. Of the two groups, I expected the guys to have a better reaction, but better didn’t equate good.

Not for the first time, I wished it were an easier decision.

People could spout all they wanted about not having to come out, and I used to think that was true.

Maybe for other people it was. But more and more lately, it was feeling like the biggest lie I ever told was one I told myself.

Oren pulled me down into a kiss, sliding his soapy hands up my back, then down again, dipping his fingers into the crease of my ass. Our conversation from earlier came back to me, making my cock twitch at the thought of going bare with him.

It wasn’t something I’d ever done. I’d never had a steady partner to make it worth it before. My sexual history was nothing but a string of casual encounters meant to scratch the itch and nothing more. Oren made me want more.

He made me want things I’d never entertained before. Dating in the open. Taking him to meet my parents. Going bare. Waking up next to someone. All the things I never thought I could have and did my best to ignore. Casual had been enough before. It wasn’t now.

“Can you stay the night?” I asked him.

“Not sick of me yet?” Oren dragged a kiss along my jaw.

Never.

“Not yet. But by nine am, all bets are off.”

“I’ll have to get up early then and leave before I wear out my welcome.”

Impossible.

“I could be persuaded to keep you around a bit longer.”

Forever.

“I didn’t bring my pajamas.”

“Pajamas are overrated.”

“Will, are you suggesting I run around your apartment naked?”

“I’ll close the curtains first.”

“Okay, you’ve convinced me to stay. Besides, I bet you make an amazing breakfast.”

“You only want me for my food.”

“There’s a joke about sausage in there that I’m not going to touch.”

“You could touch this sausage instead.” I wriggled my hips, even as I grimaced at my awful joke. “Sorry. That was terrible.”

Oren tipped his head back and laughed. “It was worse than the joke I was going to say.”

“Why didn’t you say it?”

“I didn’t want to be lame.”

“I like being lame with you.” Leaning in, I kissed him again, buzzing with the happiness I got from being lucky enough to be allowed to do so.