Twenty years.
“A while now.” Gabriel shoved a bite of food into his mouth and chewed slowly, appreciating the meal Joel had made for him. Even if it had tasted awful, it would’ve still been the best meal of his life. “This is delicious, Joel. Thank you, truly.”
They ate dinner together in a companionable silence, sporadically peppered with questions from Joel about Gabriel’s day. On his second glass of wine by the time he had finished eating, Gabriel was sure Joel hadn’t cooked him dinner to be a courteous house guest. It was apparent he was trying toimpressGabriel. Joel had been subtly leaning closer to him through the entire meal, and making more eye contact in the last half hour than he had during the entire night before.
Deciding to test his theory, Gabriel placed his hand down on the table with his forearm resting near Joel and turned his body to speak. As Gabriel shifted his weight in the chair, he watched Joel shift his own arm closer so his fine arm hairs brushed against Gabriel's skin. They both shuddered and Gabriel's skin pricked with goosebumps. He wanted to ask,what is this? What are you doing, Joel?But he knew better and didn’t want to damage the tentative bridge Joel was building. Joel was a sad young man, so timid and beaten down by Gabriel’s shitty half-brother, and the fear of rejection practically rolled off Joel in waves. The dinner, the quiet questions. Gabriel almost immediately recognized what was happening. It was a fantasy he’d hoped for, but hadn’t anticipated it coming his way this easily. Gabriel took a deep breath and hoped he hadn’t been reading Joel’s signals wrong.
“Joel,” he all but whispered, and Joel turned his head to look him, bringing their faces closer together. Gabriel acknowledged a glimmer of lust radiating in the blue of Joel’s eyes and was almost certain it wasn't solely wishful thinking on his part. Leaning forward without hesitation, he pressed his lips to Joel’s mouth. Joel’s lips parted in a gasp before pushing back in reciprocation. Gabriel moved his hand from the table to cover Joel’s and brought the other hand up to grasp the tender skin on the side of Joel's neck. Gabriel flicked his tongue against Joel's lips, and like magic, they parted, letting him in.
He caressed the skin of Joel's cheek under his ear as he started an exploration of all the workings of Joel's mouth with his tongue. He licked against the back of Joel's teeth and the roof of his mouth, and he savored the movement of Joel's tongue dancing against his. Gabriel did everything he could not to eat the boy alive, pulling his mouth from Joel’s so he could take a much-needed breath. In that moment, the glimmer he had seen earlier in Joel's eyes ignited like a forest fire and Joel launched himself back at Gabriel, bridging the divide. Gabriel unlaced his fingers from Joel’s and held him against his mouth with one hand on either side of his face. Joel kissed Gabriel with a sense of urgency, and if it could speak it would have said,we need to hurry this up, before you change your mind.
Joel opened his mouth wider, pushing his teeth against Gabriel's so he could explore his mouth with the most thorough determination Gabriel had ever experienced from another man. Gabriel willingly allowed the exploration, kissing him back with as much gratitude as he could muster. He pushed his chair back from the table and Joel pushed his own body forward to climb over and straddle him. With a knee resting on each side of Gabriel's thighs, Joel ground his erection against Gabriel's belly and Gabriel tore their mouths apart, sucking in a deep breath.
“Joel,” he murmured, using his hands to turn Joel's face toward the ceiling so he could pepper kisses along his throat and jawline. As he pressed a kiss to Joel's Adam’s apple, Joel’s entire body trembled with a sigh. Gabriel stopped his kisses and dropped his head to Joel's shoulder, his body heaving as he tried to catch his breath. Kissing Joel was more than he’d ever imagined it would be. Joel tasted like everything Gabriel had ever wanted for himself. But there was a melancholy underneath it and Gabriel believed that even though Joel was here, in the moment, he was expecting this to disappear in the blink of an eye.
“Don't stop. Please,” Joel murmured, using his head to nudge Gabriel off his shoulder. “Please, Gabriel.”
Gabriel gripped Joel under his thighs and stood. Joel reflexively wrapped his legs around Gabriel's waist as Gabriel debated whether to take this to the couch or the bedroom. Joel sank his teeth into the lobe of Gabriel's ear and moaned, and Gabriel turned toward the couch–he’d never be able to make it down the hall. Fifteen steps into the living room, Gabriel lowered Joel down onto the couch, and thrust his hips down against Joel's denim-covered erection. Gabriel nuzzled against Joel and sucked a purple bruise onto the crook of his neck. Joel cried out and Gabriel reached a hand between them, fingering loose the button and zipper of Joel's jeans. Joel bucked up against Gabriel's hand, trying to force his cock between Gabriel's fingers.
“Touch me. Oh God, please, Gabriel.” Joel thrashed his head from side to side with his eyes closed. Gabriel reached up, grabbing Joel's cheeks with his hand.
“Open your eyes, Joel. Look at me.” Joel's eyes shot open and his mouth parted on a whimper as Gabriel reached into Joel's briefs and wrapped his fingers around his cock. With his other hand, Gabriel shifted his thumb and forced it between Joel's teeth, pushing it in and tilting Joel's head back. Joel nipped at Gabriel’s thumb with his teeth before licking a circle around it and sucking it inside. Gabriel stroked one hand up Joel's length, removing the other from Joel's mouth and rubbing it over Joel's lips.
Gabriel sucked in a breath as he coated Joel's lips with his own saliva and leaned down, pressing their mouths together again. The kiss grew with a fevered intensity, Joel fucking himself into Gabriel's hand with a renewed urgency, keeping his eyes open as Gabriel had instructed. Gabriel leaned back, pulling their mouths apart, and he pulled his own cock free. Joel's eyes dipped to catch a look and his eyelids drooped as he watched Gabriel jerk both of their cocks together in one hand. Joel's eyes fluttered closed and Gabriel stopped the movement until Joel opened them again. The intense longing in Joel’s eyes took Gabriel’s breath away, and he resumed stroking his hand down Joel's length.
“Good boy. Keep looking at me. Do you see me, Joel?” Gabriel murmured, shifting his weight to expose their straining erections to Joel's stare. “Do you see this, Joel?”
“Oh God, Gabriel.” Joel arched up as Gabriel rubbed their dicks together in the confines of his large hand. Gabriel used his thumb to smear their pre-cum together, over the heads of their cocks, making the friction and slide feel even more delicious. Gabriel squeezed his hand, leaning down to nip at Joel's lower lip. As soon as he bit down, Joel cried out and came, letting loose a shot of cum that reached his chest. Gabriel gathered it on the fingertips of his free hand, and with his eyes locked on Joel's, he reached up and pressed his fingers against the gape of Joel's mouth. Joel opened and greedily sucked Gabriel's fingers, tasting himself. The sight was enough to push Gabriel over the edge.
Gabriel’s entire body shuddered and he fucked forward against Joel's softening cock one more time before he came, ribbons of his own release mixing with the residue on Joel's chest. Gabriel shuddered once more and pulled his fingers from Joel's mouth. Gabriel scooped his own cum off Joel and licked it from his fingers before leaning down and drawing Joel's sinful mouth in for another kiss.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Joel is Wanted
Joel slowly blinked himself back into a state of awareness and found himself the object of Gabriel’s intense stare. Joel grinned at him and Gabriel’s expression softened with a slight smile.
Joel's orgasm had been fierce and unexpected, ripping through him like nothing he’d ever experienced before. He had been optimistic about reading Gabriel’s signals clearly, but as he’d prepared dinner earlier in the evening Joel had started to second-guess himself, as was his norm. But here now, as he lay beneath the solid weight of Gabriel’s body, Joel relaxed into the cushions of the couch, feeling sated and content. No,morethan content. Joel felt cherished. It made him wish he could spend the rest of his life in Gabriel’s arms, no matter how ridiculous an idea it was.
The silence between them stretched, not uncomfortably, and Joel flitted his eyes up from the cum streaked across his chest to Gabriel’s chocolate-brown eyes. Gabriel's gaze was in constant motion, scanning every crease and freckle on Joel’s face, his neck, and the lines of his chest. He told himself Gabriel was committing the scene to his memory and not searching for flaws Joel knew were there: his lack of height, his small muscles, his knobby knees.
Joel scrunched his brows together, fighting off another wave of self-doubt, and Gabriel brought his hand up, pressing a finger softly between Joel’s eyebrows until he relaxed. Gabriel smoothed the skin down with a repetitive swipe of his thumb then skated his thumb over the fine hairs of Joel's eyebrow before dragging it slowly around the crescent of Joel's eye. When Joel closed his eyes, Gabriel softly skirted the tips of Joel's eyelashes as they swept across his cheeks.
Hearing Gabriel suck in a slow breath, Joel opened his eyes and smiled, allowing himself to be present in the moment. Gabriel leaned down, moving his hand to Joel’s neck, and pressed their lips together in a kiss much slower and sweeter than the ones from earlier. Joel opened his mouth to Gabriel and explored the new territory, becoming familiar with the taste and texture of Gabriel's tongue. He tasted like crisp white wine and both of their orgasms, and Joel flicked his tongue against Gabriel’s so he could experience the flavors again. Catching the salty essence he already recognized to be Gabriel, Joel moaned into his mouth, arching up to connect more of his skin against the man above him.
Joel noticed Gabriel was still fully clothed, and had only loosened his pants enough to release his dick. Feeling brazen, Joel reached his hands up to Gabriel’s muscular sides and grazed his fingers along Gabriel’s skin, under the hem of his shirt. Gabriel pushed his back up, allowing Joel the liberty and encouraging him to pull it up and over his head. Once Gabriel’s shirt was off, Joel let his eyes wander, taking in the broad muscles and smattering of dark chest hair between Gabriel's pecs. Joel dragged his nails up Gabriel’s sides, over his chest and down to his abdomen, fingering the strip of hair leading to his cock. Joel wrapped his hands around Gabriel’s waist, pulling him back down for another kiss. Gabriel growled with approval and ground against Joel, his cock starting to plump and harden again.
Moving his hands to Gabriel's shoulders, Joel pushed him back until he was seated on the couch, and Joel followed him up, straddling one leg on either side of Gabriel's strong thighs, so they sat face to face. In a move that even surprised himself, he initiated eye contact with Gabriel and brought his fingers up to his face, softly pressing the blunt tips of his fingers into Gabriel’s cheeks, right below his eyes. He dragged his fingers down, feeling the shape of Gabriel’s cheekbones, to his chin and his ears, and then traced the lines of his lips.
Gabriel opened his mouth, letting Joel’s thumb skirt the inside of his lower lip, wet from their kisses. Joel’s eyes tracked his finger and dragged it across the clean white line made by Gabriel’s lower teeth, then he pulled free as Gabriel snapped his teeth together, trying to nip at Joel's exploratory digits. Joel traced his way up to Gabriel's forehead, assessing the age lines creasing his flesh, down to the crow’s feet that crinkled when Gabriel smiled.
Gabriel closed his eyes, letting Joel press lightly against his eyelids until, apparently unable to stop himself, Gabriel pulled Joel's hands away and kissed him. It was a chaste, closed-mouth kiss, considering what they had done together, and Joel pushed Gabriel's lips apart with his tongue. Gabriel's fingers wrapped around Joel’s wrists and lowered both his arms to his sides. In reply, Joel ground himself into Gabriel, rubbing his cock, which was still jutting out of the fly of his jeans, against Gabriel’s semi-hard erection. Joel moaned, testing the hold Gabriel had on his wrists, and when he found it was strong, he let out a curse and starting gyrating his hips to get any sort of friction he could against his cock.
Gabriel held Joel’s hands behind his back with one strong hand and tapped Joel's thigh with his other hand. Joel took the signal for what it was and he wrapped his legs securely around Gabriel's waist as Gabriel easily stood from the couch, supporting both of their weights. Gabriel released his hands, holding Joel under both thighs as Joel continued to use his body to push their dicks together. Gabriel kissed Joel with a quick urgency and made the trek down the hallway to his bedroom. He pressed Joel’s body against the closed door, nipped at the bruise on Joel’s neck, and then opened the door with one hand, kneading Joel’s ass with the other. Once they were in the room, Joel was tossed onto the fluffy down comforter on Gabriel’s bed, and he smiled bashfully as Gabriel remained standing.
Joel was consumed with lust. Whereas Joel normally hated when people looked at him, he relished the way he felt when Gabriel did. Gabriel's eyes were crystal clear with unmistakable intent that Joel could see even through the haze of intense longing clouding his rational thoughts.
Joel struggled to find a word to describe how Gabriel’s gaze made him feel, but didn’t want to lose the actual feeling by overthinking it. When Gabriel’s fingers started to pull his jeans down his thighs with a ravenous urgency, his lust-addled brain supplied the word.
