“You ever think about doing it?”
Not today.
I rode home with Folk at my back, a journey we’d made too many times by now to count, and always for the same reason. Because we wanted to.
Because we wantedeach other.
We pulled up at the house. Folk had his own key. He let us in and I slipped past him, leaving my boots at the door. My riding jacket hanging on the banister. I sensed Folk close behind me as I faced a decision between the kitchen and the stairs.
I chose the stairs.
21
FOLK
I pulled Decoy straight into the shower. I needed one—I’d been on the road for days—but being apart from him, even for the couple of minutes I needed to get clean, wasn’t something I could live with.
Steam rose as the water pelted down on us. I pushed him against the tiled wall and kissed the hell out of him. Then I pulled back, gauging his mood. “What happened to you back there? You were happy. Then you weren’t.”
Decoy pushed my damp hair out of my face, his fingers curling in the strands. He was the only person I knew who could be a million miles away and so focused on the present at the same time. “Nothing happened. Just fell into my head and got stuck there.”
“Are you still stuck there?”
A tiny smile twisted his lips. “While you’re naked? Never.”
“You’re naked too.” I pressed closer, emphasising my point. “I dreamed about you while I was gone.”
“What was I doing?”
“You tell me. I can only remember how it felt.” Awake. Asleep. Every moment my brain wasn’t crowded with other things.
Decoy slid his hands down my shoulders. My ribs. My hips. His hot fingers kneading sore spots I hadn’t told him existed. “I want you to feel good. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing.”
Then stay with me.I kissed him again, like I had so many times in this house, in this room. In thisshower.
Decoy kissed me back, his thumbs skimming my abdomen. But it didn’t seem to matter that we’d done this before; tonight felt different.Ifelt different. And whatever happened, maybe I’d never feel the same.
Profound thoughts for a simple kiss.
But nothing about kissing this sweet man had ever been simple.
It had never been less than a wild ride that took me out of my existence and mademea better man.
The water ran cold.
Decoy shut it off and reached for a towel that somehow found its way to my wet skin before his.
He led me out of the shower and dried my hair, my shoulders, my chest. Then he ventured lower and the towel was forgotten.
Decoy had work-hardened hands. Rough from hauling timber and slabs. But his touch was soft, his fingers light on the underside of my cock.
It made me feel feral. But I kept myself in check and backed him towards his bed, water dripping from his inked skin, the smell of his herbal shampoo scenting every step.
We fell down. I pulled him on top of me, hooking my leg over his hip, letting him do whatever he wanted to me. Because I knew wherever that led us, it would feel like he’d read my mind.
Decoy had a wicked mouth. Warm hands that were lava on my overheated flesh and bones. I lost track of time. Of the hours we spent making a mess of his neat bed. A whole day could’ve passed by the time I found myself on top of him, fists braced either side of his head.
In the dark, he stared up at me, chest rising as fast as mine, skin glistening with fresh sweat. “It’s still your birthday.”
