“Don’t want a t-shirt.” Rhys nuzzled his nose against Thomas’s throat. “You can keep me warm.”
And with that, Rhys dragged Thomas onto the bed and curled around him with a happy sigh. Thomas yelped in surprise at finding himself suddenly being used like an oversized teddy bear. There were circumstances where he would have enjoyed it a hell of a lot, but damn it, he wastryingto be a gentleman!
“Um, Rhys?” He tried to turn his head, but Rhys still had his head pressed against Thomas’s neck. “You realize I still have my shoes on? And my clothes?”
Rhys lifted his head and flashed a mischievous grin. “Do you want me to help you get them off?”
Yes. Yes, Thomas wanted that very much, but he couldn’t have it under these circumstances.
“I’m a big boy,” he said. “I can handle it myself.”
“Kay.” Rhys rolled over enough to let Thomas wiggle free, but then he clamped his heavy hand on Thomas’s arm. “Promise to come back?”
There was being noble, and then there was being a martyr for no good reason, and so Thomas nodded. “I’ll come back.”
A little snuggling wouldn’t do any harm, and if Rhys remembered what happened and was embarrassed about it, Thomas would offer assurances that he wasn’t offended or upset by Rhys’s need for cuddling. On the contrary, he thought it was a good sign that Rhys was comfortable with reaching out like this when his usual defenses were lowered by alcohol. Maybe Thomas was getting a glimpse of how Rhys’s feelings for him were changing.
He grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of boxers, and he went into the bathroom to change. When he emerged, he saw Rhys had drawn back the bedspread and was now burrowed under the covers and had made a nest for himself out of the plump pillows.
“Do you still have room for me in there?” Thomas asked as he approached the bed, surveying the scene before him with amusement.
“Mm-hmm.” Rhys rolled onto his side and stretched out his arm in a silent invitation, and Thomas hesitated, debating whether this was such a good idea after all now that he was faced with the reality of crawling into bed with a warm, cuddly, and half-dressed Rhys.
But he’d made a promise — the fact that he wanted to know what it felt like to be cradled in Rhys’s arms had nothing to do with it, of course — and so he climbed into bed and stretched out on his side, facing Rhys.
Rhys’s eyes were still a bit glassy as he searched Thomas’s face, and then he smoothed Thomas’s hair back from his face with gentle fingers. “You’ve been so good to me. I don’t know how I can repay you.”
Thomas closed his eyes briefly as he savored the caress while it lasted. “I’m not looking for repayment. I’m good to you because I want to be.”
“I don’t know why,” Rhys said. “I can be such a mopey asshole.”
“You can be,” Thomas said, laughing quietly. He slid his arm around Rhys so he could stroke Rhys’s back, and he smiled with soft affection. “But you’re fun when you aren’t.”
“You’re fun too,” Rhys said, sliding his fingers into Thomas’s hair, and Thomas had to resist the urge to close his eyes and purr. “And funny. I didn’t think I’d laugh again, but I did because of you. I feel a lot of things again because of you.”
Thomas sucked in a surprised breath that Rhys would admit something like that so freely. It definitely sounded promising.
“Like what?”
But instead of answering aloud, Rhys tightened his fingers in Thomas’s hair and leaned in, pausing before closing the distance between them completely as if gaging Thomas’s reaction. Thomas knew he shouldn’t kiss Rhys, no matter how much he wanted to. No matter how much Rhys seemed to want it too. Kissing Rhys was a bad idea that would probably lead to Rhys running scared and cutting Thomas off, even as a friend.
He knew this, and yet he clenched his fingers on Rhys’s back and shifted just enough that his lips touched Rhys’s — and that was all Rhys needed to take control of the kiss and deepen it. Moaning, Thomas parted his lips, offering to give whatever Rhys wanted to take. If he was only going to have one chance to kiss Rhys, he wanted to make a memory worth reliving on the long nights in an empty bed that stretched out ahead of him.
Rhys’s lips were warm and soft, and he seemed intent on exploring Thomas’s mouth and finding ways to make him moan more and louder. Thomas pushed aside all his doubts and concerns and lost himself in the moment. Surrendering to Rhys was the most easy and natural thing he’d ever done, and he didn’t resist when Rhys rolled him onto his back. He couldn’t remember feeling anything as good and right as Rhys’s solid weight pressing him against the mattress, and the heat of his need prickled his skin as he wrapped both arms around Rhys’s broad shoulders, clinging to him like a lifeline.
A soft growl rumbled in Rhys’s chest as he continued kissing Thomas, slow and deep, and when Thomas hooked his leg around Rhys’s waist, Rhys responded by snugging his hips against Thomas’s, proving that the alcohol might have dulled his defenses, but it hadn’t dulled his desire. A low, desperate moan escaped Thomas’s throat, and he struggled not to give in to the instinct to rock his hips. In that moment, he’d never wanted anything more than he wanted to feel Rhys’s hard cock buried inside him, but that couldn’t happen. Not while Rhys wasn’t capable of making rational decisions.
“Rhys…” Thomas broke away from the kiss with reluctance, his lips feeling hot and swollen, and he pushed at Rhys’s shoulders. “Rhys, we need to stop.”
Rhys lifted his head and gave Thomas a mournful look. “We do? Why?”
“Because while drunk Rhys thinks this is a good idea, sober Rhys might have a different opinion,” Thomas said, infusing his voice with gentle humor so Rhys wouldn’t take the rejection personally.
“Then sober Rhys is an idiot.” Rhys nuzzled his stubbled chin against Thomas’s throat, making his toes curl.
“You know what? I’m not going to disagree on that point,” Thomas said with a soft chuckle. “But I also don’t want sober Rhys to wake up upset and burdened with regret.” He tucked a stray lock of hair behind Rhys’s ear with gentle tenderness. “I want sober Rhys to be as happy about this as I would be.”
Rhys rested his head on Thomas’s chest and was silent for such a long time that Thomas thought maybe he’d fallen asleep, but then he propped himself up with his elbows on either side of Thomas’s body.
