Duh.Because it was a date, not a hookup.“That wasn’t just sex.”He forced himself to turn his head and look at Ian across the cab.“That was, like, dinner and conversation and a date.”
Ian looked at the steering wheel, following its curve with a fingertip.“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“I might, um, have feelings for you.”
Ker-thumpwent Sam’s heart.“Like, friendship?”
Ian twisted his fists around the steering wheel.“Well, yeah, and maybe more stuff ...I mean, it’s more than sex, yeah,” he said in a low voice.
Oh my God, how sweet was this shy, nervous guy where that uncaring bastard used to be?It was enough to give Sam courage.“When did you decide that?”
Ian muttered what sounded like a string of curses, then cleared his throat and spoke up, still barely loud enough for Sam to hear.“I kinda thought that since I came to your place last Saturday.”
Well, that was just ...irritating.“What was with your parameter, then?”
Ian huffed a big breath, still gripping the steering wheel like he was choking it.“I just ...I didn’t want to hurt you if I was wrong and it wasn’t more than sex, or maybe not enough more, I don’t know.Hell.”
What a completely adorable idiot.Couldn’t he see what was going on here?Obviously not.“What ifIhurtyou?”
Ian jerked his head around to look at him, eyes wide.
Sam barely kept himself from smirking.Takethatlittle dose of reality.
Sam had agreed to come home with him.Ian was happy about that, yeah, but also completely freaked out.Something had changed in the cab of his pickup, and he had an idea it might be the balance of power, which he really didn’t want to think about.
Just go with the flow.It’s a learning experience.You’re learning about emotional connectedness.
That night he learned a lot about Sam.He learned that a blowjob made Sam’s toes curl and his hips lift off the bed.When he reached for a condom, Sam breathlessly said, “Wait.”
“Wha’?”Ian had thought all systems were go.He was sure as hell getting a green light from Sam’s body.
Sam rolled onto his side and pushed on Ian’s chest until he fell onto his back on the bed, while Ian mostly tried to hide that his chest was heaving.Sam looked at him seriously
Holy fuck, were they going totalk?Now?Ian just managed not to groan.
Sam took a deep breath.“Can we do it standing up?”
“Huh?”
“I’ve never been with anyone tall enough,” Sam said, not quite looking at Ian.He lay on his side, one hand pillowing his head, nervously running fingers up and down Ian’s arm.
The thought of Sam up against the wall, his pale skin and long, bony back and that tight little ass tensed up and waiting for him—that was pretty damned appealing.Ian cleared his throat.“You want to try it?”he asked.
“Yeah,” Sam whispered, running his hand up to Ian’s shoulder and stroking the muscle there.Finally he raised his gaze, too, meeting Ian’s.
He couldn’t help but kiss Sam.Not because his blood was pounding inside him—and it was—but because Sam was just ...Sam.“Go stand next to the closet, facing the wall.”
Sam immediately did what Ian told him, palms pressing into the wall, hips tilting back and butt muscles tensing up.He looked like prey—trying so hard to hold still he was nearly quivering with it.
Ian took his time, rolling on a condom and dropping the lube on the nearby nightstand, watching Sam shiver.He took two steps forward, nearly touching Sam’s back, then slowly ran his fingers over Sam’s skin to feel the bones underneath.He explored each vertebra while Sam tensed under his hands.
The balance of power had shifted back to him.
Maybe.Does it matter?Maybe.
When he reached between Sam’s legs, intending to tease behind his balls, he found a surprise.Ian explored with his fingers, taking a second to figure it out, watching all the muscles in Sam’s neck and shoulders clench up as he gently flicked the ring hanging there.“What’s this?”he whispered, then kissed Sam’s neck below his ear.He tugged gently on the new body jewelry.
