“Yes, Ethan.”
Cradling Jude’s face in my hands, I angled my head and pressed hard, letting my tongue graze along the seam of his lips while feeling the prickle as our stubbled chins grazed alongside each other. Then Jude parted his mouth and I tentatively took the first sweet taste of him. My tongue roamed gingerly at first, sliding along Jude’s. It sent shivers along my spine. I licked the outside of his lips and then a whisper of a kiss before I pulled back.
Jude’s eyes were dreamy and a slow smile formed. “You were going to ask if I’m all right. And the answer is I will be, once your mouth is mine again. But how are you?”
I gently knocked my forehead against his. “I’m good. Grateful that since I’ve waited so eternally long to be kissing a man, it’s you.”
Jude flattened the collar on my shirt, then peered up. “I used to make out a lot before the seminary. But it’s been so many years, I feel like I’m a virgin at it. I’m grateful it’s with you, as well, Ethan.” His lashes fluttered. “How long will you stay?”
I slipped my phone out and checked the time. “I have a couple more hours before I have to leave. I’m up early to be at work by seven.”
I felt the heat coming from Jude’s body as his hot breath floated over my ear. “That gives us plenty of time to kiss more… and explore, if I have your permission.”
I ran my hand up the back of Jude’s head. “What are you proposing?”
“Take off our shirts and lay on the bed,” Jude said, nodding toward the bedroom. “Nothing more for the first time. You’ll take the lead with our sexual exploration, Ethan. I have no issues except being sex starved so I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give me.”
I turned away, humiliated at having a priest more confident about sex than me. But Jude thumbed my chin and made me meet his gaze. “Ethan, what’s at the bottom of your concerns? Beyond the fact you’re going to be exacting about consent.”
“Trust,” I said without thinking twice. “I have to know that the person I’m with trusts me absolutely. In return, I trust that they’ll tell me to stop if they get uncomfortable.”
“You have it, Ethan. I promise you. You also have to believe that if I want more than what you’re giving, I’ll ask first. I used to be quite the kinky lover back in my youth,” Jude said with a wink. Then he became serious again. “I love sex with the right person. And I like it to be erotic, a mix of tender and rough. The key is for that person to care about me.”
“I’m infatuated with you, Jude,” I confessed, feeling more alive than I ever had. “I felt a spark from the beginning, when I walked into the church and you appeared like an angel at the altar, the way the sun from the stained-glass windows made your blond locks look like flaxen and your skin glow.”
“Tell me more,” Jude encouraged as he took my hand and led me into the bedroom. As soon as he was inside, Jude toed off his shoes.
“You were beautiful,” I said, swallowing down the saliva that was already pooling in my mouth watching Jude grab the hem of his T-shirt with both hands. He moved slowly and deliberately, crossing his arms and pulling the shirt with them. I was mesmerized as inches of creamy skin over defined abs glimmered in the low lamplight, causing me to lick my lips and my cock grow harder.
“Werebeautiful, in past tense?” Jude teased lightly as he tossed the shirt in the direction of the armchair, missing by a yard. And then he closed the distance between us, placing his hands on my chest, toying with the fabric. “May I?”
“Yes.” And damn it if I didn’t want to add, Sir. Yes, Sir. I’d dived headfirst into BDSM before I was even legal to drink alcohol. My boyfriend had been older and was training to be a Dom. As a result, I’d never been with anyone who wasn’t involved in the kink community. And in San Francisco, there was no lack of finding a gay for a hookup. And yet, there I was acting like a naive preteen coming into puberty.
I placed my hands on Jude’s waist when I didn’t know what to do with them as he made quick progress in unbuttoning my shirt. He stopped halfway and parted my shirt. Jude stared and in an almost reverent tone, but laced with arousal, he murmured, “Your nipples are pierced.”
“You’re making me feel vulnerable,” I whispered.
“That’s a good place to start,” Jude proclaimed, humming in admiration at my nipple rings, my tattoos, and down my body. “It’s scary, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” I agreed.
Jude skated over the nipple rings with his fingers before going lower to my abs that were like iron. “I’ve always believed that a boxer knows a fellow pugilist by our bodies. I realize that’s not logical or true even, yet I feel a sense of connectedness when I’m around someone else in the sport, whether it’s a man or a woman.”
I sat on the bed, bringing Jude down with me on a chuckle when his foot tangled with mine and he tumbled half over me. When he righted himself, we scooted nearer the headboard. I lifted Jude half off the bed and turned him around so he was straddling my thighs. Placing his hands back on my skin, I felt a flush rise up my neck. “I like them on me.”
“You don’t mind my cock hardening against yours?”
“No…” I thought for a minute, then lifted each set his fingers and nibbled on the knuckles. “After all the worry, maybe because we talked about our expectations ahead of time it’s made this easy. And I trust you.”
From his straddled position, Jude rested his head on my chest, the hair tickling his nose. “You’re as furry as I am smooth.”
“Your skin is as light as mine is dark,” I retorted. “Yet, you have brown eyes, like rich earth, and mine are green.”
“Your eyes are emerald, the brilliant color complemented by your tattoos.” Jude outlined the tattoos with his finger. Rolling waves, dolphins, seagrasses, and bottom-dwellers. “Now that I’m close up, I see that the tattoos are a story of the sea. A tribute.” A large crab was prominent, with the claw reaching up onto my neck. Across the claw were the words,il mare. “Doesil maretranslate to ‘the sea’?”
I reciprocated Jude’s exploration by roaming my hands up and down his sides, following the slight swell of his hips and dip of his abs. His skin was virgin, an expanse of pure smoothness without blemishes or color. “Yes, where I come from is on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Seafood is a major staple, and the crab is for my grandmother. One of her favorite dishes to cook is spaghetti with crab.”
Jude licked the claw. And then he kissed it. “Is your grandmother still alive?”
