Cade teased and tempted Aiden for hours. He’d thought he’d take his own climaxes as they arose, but he found himself feeling too guilty to do it. If Aiden didn’t get to come, apparently Cade didn’t get to either. So they were overstimulated together, both of them restless and sweaty and desperately, feverishly aroused. Cade made himself hold off for as long as he could. When he was tempted to give in, it was the thought of Aiden’s eventual pleasure that made him hold off. The longer they could last, the more intense Aiden’s orgasm would finally be. And strangely, when he finallydidgive in, that decision was based on Aiden, too, because Cade couldn’t resist the man’s desperate pleas a moment longer.
Aiden was on his back, his legs over Cade’s shoulders, his ass lifted wantonly off the bed. And Cade was inside him, moving slow and easy, trying to look as if he wasn’t going crazy.
“Come on, Cade,” Aiden whispered. His fingers were bunched in the sheets, his knuckles white from the tightness of his grip. “Please. Now, Cade, please. Let me. Please.”
Cade looked down at Aiden’s swollen cock and then at his strained face. Aiden had lasted as long as he could, and now he needed release. Cade could give that to him. He sped up gradually, pulling out a little farther and driving in a little deeper with each thrust. Aiden’s body arched in response, straining up to meet Cade’s movements. He wasn’t making words anymore, just desperate, breathy sounds in time with Cade’s own harsh, jagged gasps.
“Okay, baby,” Cade managed to say. “Okay. You can come now.” He wrapped his hand around Aiden’s cock and dragged his fist down one time. When he tightened his grip and slid his hand back up from the base, Aiden’s whole body rose off the bed, supported only by his head and by his legs over Cade’s shoulders. His needy sounds turned into a roar and his cock pulsed under Cade’s hand, again and again, thick strands shooting up over his chest and his stomach. Cade let himself go, keeping his grip tight around Aiden as he drove in deeper, harder, faster. Cade found his own release before Aiden was done, and for a glorious, endless moment they were both lost in ecstasy together, the same waves of pleasure seeming to wash over both of them.
And leaving them both exhausted and drained on the same shore. Cade found himself flopped half on top of Aiden, half beside him, his face buried in the crook of Aiden’s neck. They were both still gasping for breath, and Cade felt as if he’d been drained of every bit of tension. Not only the sexual desire, but everything else as well. He lay there with Aiden and didn’t care about school, or his parents, his past or his future. There was only the moment, and the moment was perfect.
“I love you,” Aiden whispered.
And for that one, perfect, all too brief moment, Cade believed him.
Part Three
Chapter Twenty-One
Aiden cameback from Aspen with a tanned face and a gratifying level of built-up lust. He and Cade spent the night together at Cade’s place, and neither of them got much sleep. Which was fine for Aiden but a bit rough for Cade, since he was working a twelve-hour shift at Chapman’s the next day. But he didn’t care. Aiden was back. Cade had never been lonely before, or at least he’d never realized it if he was. But missing Aiden had been like missing a part of himself, and now that he was whole again he didn’t need sleep. He barely needed oxygen.
Things fell into a pattern after that. Cade stopped fightingagainst the relationship—stopped fighting against himself. He was still dedicated to his schoolwork, because doing well at school was the only thing that made him even a little bit worthy of Aiden’s attention. And he kept working at the cafeteria and filling in at Chapman’s when they had shifts for him, because he needed the money in order to pay the rent on the apartment where he and Aiden spent their best times. So not that much had really changed, but it felt like everything was different.
Aiden’s parents came down for dinner twice that semester, and Cade managed to make himself sit through both events. Aiden and his father were warm and friendly, Aiden’s mother stayed icy, and Cade himself burned with anxiety and frustration. Why was it so hard for him totalkto these people? Why did he care so much what they thought of him, when Aiden had made it clear that it wasn’t important? And was it always going to be like this?
Walking home from the first dinner, Aiden kept his fingers tightly laced through Cade’s. “Thanks for coming,” he said. “I know it wasn’t much fun for you.”
“It was fine,” Cade protested lamely.
Aiden stopped walking and turned so they were facing each other. “You hated every second of it.”
“Well, yeah. I guess.”
Aiden nodded. “But you went anyway. For me.”
Cade snorted. “Well, yeah, obviously ‘for you.’ There’s no other reason for me to go to dinner with your parents, is there?”
“The pleasure of their company?”
Another snort from Cade earned a smile from Aiden, and then a gentle kiss. “Thank you,” Aiden said, as if they weren’t empty words. “I love you.” And he made it sound like he meantthosewords too, just like he always did.
This time, Cade didn’t let Aiden turn and walk away after saying them. This time, he took a deep breath and said, “I love you too.” He’d known it for a while, but it was still terrifying to actually say the words out loud.
Aiden’s expression made the effort worthwhile, though. “I thought youprobablydid,” he confessed, his face glowing. “But it’s really nice to hear it. You know?”
“I should have said it earlier.”
Aiden frowned at him. “You said it when it was right for you to say it. Stop second-guessing yourself all the time. You’re doing great, Cade.”
“Except for all the second-guessing.”
“Yeah, except for that.” Aiden gave him a quick kiss. “But I’m willing to overlook that because you love me. So we’re back to you being great. You’re stuck with it.”
They went back to the apartment and made love, and a few weeks later, when Aiden started talking about sticking around West Lafayette for the summer, Cade felt as if he might actually lift off the ground and start levitating from happiness. He tried to ignore it. There were plenty of things that could go wrong between midterms and summer break, and he shouldn’t count his chickens before they were hatched. But when Aiden suggested that they look for an apartment together, one a bit bigger than Cade’s that they could live in over the summerandduring the next school year, he went along with the plan. He didn’t have much stuff, so it would be easy to move, and living with Aiden for a little while and then getting kicked out would be better than never living with him at all.
They found a bright one-bedroom not far from Cade’s current apartment, but in a more upscale building. Not exactly ritzy, but Aiden’s mother probably wouldn’t fear for her life if she came to visit. Which was another thing for Cade to worry about—having that woman in hisprivate space—but he tried not to think about it. Aiden might be perfect in and of himself, but that didn’t mean there weren’tsomedrawbacks to dating him. Mrs. St. John was a part of the package.
She came down to inspect after they’d paid their security deposit and signed a one-year lease, and somehow that order of events was important to Cade. If she wanted to see the place, that was fine, but it had been Aiden and Cade’s decision to rent there, and they’d made it before she got involved.
