“Well, you served me all of that tea, so I figured I should give you something in return.” Quin’s face contorted into a grimace. “Right, well, that makes me sound like someone who gives out kisses as payment for hot drinks, but you know what I mean.”
Kit might have reacted to Quin’s inane babbling if he hadn’t been stuck on the initial question. “You want to kiss me?”
“Yeah,” Quin said. “Obviously.”
“Not obvious to me.” Kit had imagined that Quin might want to fuck him, but his mind had ignored the prospect of a kiss.
“Sorry if I’ve been sending you mixed signals. I want to be your friend.”
Friend. Kit hadn’t expected to have such a visceral reaction to the word, but it hurt to hear that Quin wanted only that.
“I mean, I’d like to be more than friends, if I’m honest,” Quin continued, however, immediately allaying Kit’s worst fears. “But I’ll settle for friends if that’s all that you want. I’ll take what I can get with you, Kit. Whatever you’re willing to give me.”
Kit didn’t wait for Quin to continue. He took a few fast steps, closing the short distance between them. He reached up, getting onto his tiptoes, and grabbed hold of Quin’s face. Their lips met in a violent crush that made physical all that Kit felt for Quin.
Kit worried for a scant second that his inexperience would be obvious, but then Quin wrapped one arm around Kit’s middle and placed the other at the back of his head, holding him in place. Quin took control, and Kit let himself relax into him, let himself willingly surrender to someone for the first time.
And it was everything Kit hoped a first kiss should be.
Undeniable.
Overwhelming.
Intoxicating.
Quin’s tongue dived into Kit’s mouth, the tea flavours on his breath unexpectedly pleasant. Quin gently stepped them back inside. A moment of panic hit when Quin pressed him againstthe wall and Kit felt trapped, but Quin pulled back, hands cupping Kit’s face.
“Is this okay?” Quin asked.
Kit’s panic dissipated like smoke from a blown-out matchstick. He didn’t answer Quin’s question with words alone, surging up to catch Quin’s lower lip between his teeth, nipping at it. “Yes. More than.”
Quin had been holding back. Their next kiss felt like a claiming, Quin dominating Kit’s body. But Quin wasn’t taking anything from Kit, and insteadgivinghim everything he had, like Quin would go to any length to get a taste of Kit’s lips.
Kit let himself explore Quin’s mouth. It was all new, but they fell quickly into a steady rhythm. The hint of blood burst onto Kit’s tongue when his fangs caught on Quin’s lips, but Quin didn’t so much as flinch at what must have stung. If anything, it spurred him on.
In that moment, Kit decided he enjoyed kissing. He wanted to kiss Quin forever, held in his strong arms.
But Quin broke them apart with a ragged breath. Kit stared up at him, concerned that he’d done something wrong.
“Just needed a proper oxygen break,” Quin said, taking another deep breath. “Otherwise, I’d have kept going.”
Kit smiled. “Oops.”
Quin held Kit’s face tenderly, thumbs rubbing over his cheeks. “How was that for you?”
Kit let his head fall back onto the wall. “The real question is, when can we do it again?”
“Soon,” Quin promised. “As much as you want. But I want to take you on a proper date.”
Kit swallowed. “I’ve never been on one before.”
Quin’s face creased in confusion. “Was that…?”
Kit didn’t need him to spell it out. “My first kiss? Not quite. The first I wanted, though.” He lowered his gaze, unsure if he should have said that out loud.
Quin lifted Kit’s face with a gentle hand until their eyes met. “Hey,” Quin said. “It’s okay. No pressure, right? I’d want to kiss you, whether I was the first or the thousandth person who got the chance to do so.”
“Who on earth has kissed a thousand people? Not you, surely?” They were joking around, but a small part of Kit felt inadequate in the face of Quin’s experience.
