“This works,” Lake murmured.
He straddled Miles’s thighs, bending over him until his chest pressed warmly to Miles’s back. He mouthed at his shoulder, soft kisses and the occasional teasing bite, just to hear those sharp little breaths. He kissed up the column of his neck, then back down, dragging his tongue along the ridge of his spine in a slow, deliberate stroke.
Miles trembled under him. But it didn’t feel like fear but like he was trying very hard not to show how much he wanted this.
Lake let his nails scrape gently down the muscles on either side of his spine, marveling at how he shivered. When he reached the soft swell of his ass, he hooked his thumbs in the waistband of the spandex, tugging it just beneath his ass, groaning at the sight. He bit down without thought—not hard,just a firm press of teeth. Miles hissed, hips jerking like he was grinding against the mattress beneath.
“Sorry,” Lake said, not sorry at all. “You have the most bitable ass I’ve ever seen.”
Miles let out a startled little laugh, half annoyed, half flustered. “Thanks?”
Lake bit the curve of his hip, gentler this time, savoring the way heat jumped under his tongue.
He was contemplating getting him out of the rest of his costume when he heard the sound of the knob turning, a shocked gasp, then the slamming of the door.
Both of them froze. That had definitely been Miles’ door.
He twisted to look back at Lake over his shoulder, jaw slack, breath coming fast.
Lake’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Who was that?”
“No idea,” Miles said. “It doesn’t matter.”
He said it didn’t matter, but the way they both held their breath as they listened for any sound that indicated the person might come back, said otherwise.
When no further sounds came, Lake dropped his forehead to Miles lower back and blew out a shaky laugh. “Well,” he murmured against his skin, “that’s one way to kill the moment.”
“Is that all it takes to kill the mood,” Miles asked, sounding disappointed.
Lake climbed off him, noting the way he could see the hurt even with only the lower half of his face visible. But all he did was cross to the door, turning the lock with a loud click. Miles' shoulders sagged, then he dropped his face into the pillow like he could hide his relief.
Lake returned, settling between his open legs. His hands slid up the backs of his thighs again, warm and steady, mapping the shape of him, fixated on his exposed ass. “Did it kill the mood foryou?” he asked softly, thumbs brushing the crease where thigh met hip.
“No,” Miles said, softly.
“Good, me either,” Lake said.
Miles made a sound between annoyance and embarrassment. “Then don’t stop.”
Lake smiled, bending down to press a kiss to his back, even as he throbbed, aching to bury himself inside this prickly boy. This kid was wound so tight he vibrated, but the second Lake touched him, he melted.
“Okay, bossy,” Lake said softly.
He kissed the small hollow above Miles’s hips, not a rough kiss, not a tease. A real kiss. Intentional. And the way Miles’s fingers clenched in the sheets told Lake he’d hit something deeper than nerves or arousal. Something he didn’t have words for yet.
“Stop,” Miles whispered, except his hips lifted like his body had no clue what the word meant.
“Too much?” Lake asked.
“Yes,” Miles said…then shivered again when Lake’s lips brushed the same spot. “No. I don’t know. Just—don’t.”
Lake sat up enough to really look at him, this lean, tense, impossibly sensitive boy with a mask hiding half his face, hiding everything except the parts Lake was already getting attached to: the flushed cheeks, the bitten lip, the attitude that fell apart the second someone touched him gently. Lake peeled his own mask off, tossing it on the bed. When Miles glanced over his shoulder and saw him without the mask, he froze.
“Can I?” Lake asked. When Miles hesitated, he said, “You don’t have to tell me your name, but at least let me see your eyes.”
For a second they were in a stand-off of some kind. He was about to take it back when Miles huffed out a sigh.
“Whatever,” he said, tugging the spandex off and tossing it to join Lake’s on the bed.
