Page 16

Shawn

“ N o one gets to make you feel small, or ridiculous, for liking what you do.”

Daniel’s face turned pink as I leaned in to kiss him again, this time a little more gently. His skin was soft under my fingertips, warm, and covered in goosebumps as I trailed my hands down his chest.

It was his turn to break the kiss this time, hands capturing mine when they reached his jeans.

“I think this goes without saying that I’ve never done this before.”

His blush was back, and when I tried to lean in to kiss him once more, he backed away. Frustration sizzled beneath the surface. Hadn’t he just said that he wanted this?

“So what exactly does that mean? You’ve had sex?”

Daniel nodded. “With a girl, yes. Lots of times. But I need you to understand that I’ve not even kissed another guy before, no matter how much I’ve wanted to...”

Oh.

Oh fuck.

My heart beat a million times faster at the admission. Daniel and I had a reputation for fighting, and now I was taking many of his firsts. Then again, he’d been the one to kiss me for the first time in the hall.

“Holy fuck!” Daniel’s eyes shot wide, and he jumped at me, arms wrapping around my neck as he scrambled to climb up my body. The move only caused us to both tumble back to the bed.

“What?”

Daniel continued to stare at me, those deep brown eyes swirling with panic.

And then the kitten jumped onto the bed next to us, sending Daniel scrambling off of me and onto the floor.

“How did I forget that thing was in here?” Daniel pointed a shaking finger at the kitten as I picked it up and held it against my chest. He rubbed his soft orange head against my chin, purring loudly, happy to have gotten some attention.

“You were upset. I would have reminded you, but then...”

Daniel rolled his eyes. “You started thinking with your dick?”

I shrugged my shoulders before placing the cat back on the bed. “Can you blame me? No one has ever handled me like that before. It was kind of hot.”

That was all it took to break the tension of the moment as we both started laughing. The kitten hopped off the bed and made his way over to Daniel. Daniel didn’t notice at first until it started sniffing his hand. He jumped, but didn’t scramble away from it this time.

When Daniel tentatively lifted his hand, he rested it on the kitten’s head. A shiver raced through his entire body at the contact, but he didn’t pull away.

“He’s so soft,” Daniel mused as he stroked the kitten’s head slowly. It was like watching some sort of small miracle, the boy who was absolutely terrified of the animal he was touching coming to accept that it wasn’t out to hurt him.

“Most baby animals are. Do you want to name him?”

Daniel’s gaze snapped to mine. “But that would mean that I’m keeping him, right? I can’t keep a cat. It’s taking everything in me not to get up and bolt right now.”

I laughed before sliding off the bed and sitting with them on the floor. I picked up the cat, who let out a tiny squeak but didn’t fight me. Daniel continued to pet it gently as I set it in his lap. He still seemed really tense but was loosening up the more he got acquainted with our new little friend.

“No one said anything about you keeping him. I can take care of him. Think of it as doing me a favor.”

Daniel let out a low chuckle, scratching the kitten under its chin as it nuzzled into him and circled into a ball to take a nap. “I don’t know. You wouldn’t want to name your own pet?”

I didn’t know what possessed me to do it. It was stupid and impulsive. There was no way to tell how Daniel would even take the insinuation, but I leaned forward, kissing his cheek. “Why? It’s not like I got to name you.”

There was that blush again. But he didn’t seem to hate what I was implying. Not that I really viewed him as a plaything. He was fun to mess with, sure, and he definitely wasn’t mine.

“I don’t know, Shawn. It’s a lot of pressure.”

I laughed again. “Don’t think too hard. It’s a cat. I’m sure he won’t be offended by whatever you come up with.”

Daniel sat in silence for a few more moments, petting the kitten as it slept. It was nice to see him not freaking out about the creature being in his lap. He gnawed that bottom lip again, and I was quickly figuring out that was his tell that he was thinking really hard about something.

“I keep thinking about food. We can blame that on Chase and the fact that he named his cat Oreo.”

“We can give him a food name. What are you thinking?”

Daniel was quiet again, the blush deepening. His uncertainty about his choice was adorable. It wasn’t the end of the world if he picked a name for the cat. It was just a cat.

“Cheddar, Cheeto... Chester, you know, like the Cheetos cheetah? Or even Nacho...”

“Nacho?”

The kitten’s head snapped up, and he looked around. He blinked his eyes like he was trying to figure out why his nap had been disturbed.

“I said it was stupid. Maybe I’m just hungry.”

I wasn’t about to have any of that. When I leaned forward, I wrapped a hand around the back of Daniel’s neck and pulled him in for a slow kiss. The kitten jumped from his lap, giving a small mewl of complaint. I pulled back and grinned at him.

“I think he likes Nacho. And nothing is stupid. I already told you that.”

When I let him go, something flashed in his eyes. Uncertainty? “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Why are you being so nice to me all suddenly? I get that I sort of freaked out, but you don’t have to be nice to me, so I’ll...”

Nope. I wasn’t letting him finish that thought. Instead, I stood and grabbed his arm, pulling him up from the floor. If what he’d said about his friend was true, he was used to people taking advantage and having ulterior motives. Maybe it was my fault for teasing him so badly leading up to this, but the more I got to know Daniel, the more I liked him. He wasn’t a bad guy. He was sexy and funny.

“I think we were in the middle of something,” I announced as I hauled him against me.

Daniel’s eyes widened as we tumbled back onto the bed. He’d never experienced what it was like with a guy before? Hell, I was more than happy to show him.

“What are you... oh... yeah? We can get back to that,” he said as I slid down his body, fingers hooking into the waistband of his jeans. I only briefly struggled to undo them before shoving the offending material down his thighs.

Daniel was still mostly soft inside his boxers, but the longer we sat there, his cock twitched and pulsed to life. It pushed at the navy-blue material of his underwear and made my mouth water. He was a decent size, not overly large, but by no means small, not that I could make it out completely through the fabric. I wanted to see all of him, but I needed permission. If this was a first, I need him to be okay with me doing it.

“Do I get to suck you off now, Daniel? Do you want to fuck my face and come down my throat?” My fingers trailed down my neck while I explained what I wanted to do, and he watched me intently.

“Oh, fuck. Yes. Please. Please, yes.”

There was no other prodding needed. I pulled his pants and boxers the rest of the way down. The only hesitation came when I realized I had Daniel sprawled out and naked in my bed. And damn, was he stunning. All tanned, toned skin that trembled wherever I touched him. Fuck, I could eat him alive.

When I crawled back up between his legs, Daniel slammed his eyes closed, face turning that lovely shade of pink again.

“Daniel, babe, open your eyes. I want you to see what I’m doing to you. Want you to see that it’s me. Can you do that?”

Those doe-like eyes opened again, staring as if they could see into the depths of my soul, and maybe they could. Suddenly, I was a little more self-conscious than I’d been a few moments ago.

Shaking off those feelings of unease, I lowered my head. God, his dick was pretty. It was perfect, just thick enough to stretch my mouth wide when I sucked on him and long enough that I’d have to work a little to deep-throat him. The tip was shiny and pink, glistening with pre-cum. I swiped my tongue through the drop that was pooled there and preened when he hissed at the contact.

Then it all stopped.

Daniel’s hand on my shoulder pushed me away, and I stared at him in confusion.

“You should know. I—I haven’t been with anyone since they were, uh... arrested. My friend and his girlfriend. I got tested afterward and everything came back fine. You tell people that, right?”

He was so cute, worried that he had to assure me of those things. I wasn’t a stalker by any means, but I did realize he hadn’t been with anyone since his move to Seattle.

“It’s fine. I appreciate you telling me that. I wasn’t that worried.”

When I bent to go back to my task of blowing him, I was thwarted once again. This time, I let out a growl of frustration. There was a beautiful cock right there. I wanted it, but he wouldn’t give it to me.