Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 100188 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100188 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
I reached around and cupped his ass, pulling him even tighter to me until I could feel the hard ridge of his erection shift against mine through our clothes. A groan escaped me, and I heard him whimper in response. His hands moved from my face to the sides of my neck, and within moments, I felt him begin to climb my body, pulling himself up until his legs were around my waist. I stepped away from the door and began moving toward the bed.
I didn’t want to move too fast, so instead of lying him down, I turned and sat, landing with him in my lap and pulling our faces away from each other long enough to look at him.
“What do you want?” I asked in a gruff voice.
He just looked at me, caught in a haze of lust for a few beats before speaking.
“You.”
I rubbed my hands up and down his thighs where they straddled my own. Lean muscles curved under my hands, and I was itching to feel them without the barrier of his clothes.
“Augie, I don’t want to rush you…”
His jaw tightened and his eyes shuttered. “That’s fine. We don’t have to.” As he spoke, he began shifting off me, but I moved my arms around his back in time to stop him.
“That’s not what I meant,” I said gently. “I just want to understand what you’re thinking—what you’re feeling. Talk to me. I don’t want to do something you’ll regret later.”
He seemed to relax against me again until I felt like I could move my hands back to rubbing his thighs without him escaping.
Augie’s own hands came up to my chest, and he seemed to lose himself in tracing a finger over my collarbone as he gathered his thoughts. After a few moments, he looked back up at me.
“I’ve been with other men, Saint. Just no one I cared about. And I’ve never… had anal sex. Just blowjobs and hand jobs. I’ve never been with someone long enough for more than that.”
“Why not?” I asked, although I had a pretty good idea.
He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “If I actually dated someone, then I’d have to eventually introduce them to my family, you know? And I always assumed it would be impossible to get someone to understand the way I was raised. My mom has a brother. Did you know that? His name is Eric, and his son, Brett, is basically my nemesis. He and his friends made it their mission to treat me like the runt growing up, and when they found out I had a crush on a boy? God, it was hell. Anyway, my crazy family, childhood bullying, the expectations of my family’s reputation, just… typical bullshit. My grandfather’s voice is so loud in my head, Saint… God, it sounds so ridiculous saying out loud right now. It’s so embarrassing.”
He was rambling, but I thought it was better for it all to come out than stay crammed in.
“It’s pretty common, Augie. I get it.”
“It’s pathetic. I’m an adult and I’m still making decisions about my love life based on my goddamned family? Jesus Christ.”
I leaned forward and brushed a kiss across his lips. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. But thank you for saying so anyway,” he said, leaning in for more kisses. They turned light and playful until I glimpsed a smile tilting up the edges of his lips. Just the sight of it made me smile too, and I finally leaned back to grin at him.
“You’re smiling,” I said in surprise.
“You’re really fucking fun to kiss. Don’t stop.”
I’d never seen this side of him. The smiling, happy Augie whose nose deliberately poked me in the ticklish spot below my ear and whose fingers began seeking my armpits for the same reason. When I couldn’t stop laughing, I pulled away again.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked through the laughter. “The quiet shop owner was body snatched and replaced by a goofball.”
His face bloomed red, and he looked down. “I’m sorry. I’m just so… giddy.” He put his hands over his face, but I could tell he was still smiling through his embarrassment.
I wrapped my arms around him in a big bear hug. “Don’t be sorry; I like giddy Augie,” I said softly into his ear. “He’s sexy as hell.”
He moved his hands away, and his lips started kissing again—this time on my neck, trailing a path to my ear to suck on my lobe. My heart stuttered in my chest, and my dick pressed painfully against my pants. I wanted release. I wanted to get naked. I wanted to shove my cock into Augie’s tight little body.
But want and need were two different things. And what I needed was to get my head on straight. The image of Lanny’s disappointment in me, the entire team’s disappointment in me, if I lost this client and his influential family for the company, came roaring back to the forefront of my mind. I pushed it down, desire for the man in my arms taking over from any rational thought. We kissed and teased for a long time until we were rolling around on the bed dry-humping each other like teenagers.