Griffin groaned at the invitation and slowly let his fingers slide from Aaron’s ass. He stroked his cock with his slick hand, spreading more of the liquid across his length before he positioned himself behind Aaron. Aaron straightened slightly, tilting his hips to grant him access.
Griffin pressed the tip of his cock to Aaron’s ass and pushed gently. There was a moment of exquisite resistance and then the ring gave way and he slid inside an inch. Both men grunted in time and Aaron’s ass flexed, drawing Griffin inside.
Tight heat enveloped him as he slowly pulsed forward, better than a mouth, better than a fist. Better than anything. He reached around to cup Aaron’s cock as he thrust all the way to the hilt at last. Aaron was rock hard, the tip of him slick with precome.
“Oh God,” Aaron whimpered, thrusting against Griffin’s hand.
He cupped Aaron, jerking at him. At first he was gentle, loving the stretch of Aaron’s body, the heat that squeezed him so perfectly. But as his pleasure and his excitement grew, his thrusts grew harder, as did his jerks of Aaron’s cock.
Their breathing quickened together, until they were both panting. Griffin’s vision was beginning to blur, his legs were beginning to shake, and his balls tightened to his body in preparation for release.
It hit him like a volcano, sudden and explosive, and he thrust hard as his come filled Aaron. And as if that were permission, Aaron said his name and came along with him. They collapsed together over the edge of the bed, their hands entangling, their bodies still joined, the only sounds around them the matching raggedness of their breath.
Griffin didn’t know how long they lay like that, tangled and sweaty on the edge of his bed, but at last he rolled to the side, his cock falling free of Aaron’s body. He took a place on his bed and Aaron joined him, resting his head in the crook of Griffin’s shoulder as they lay together.
“You told me you loved Noah,” Griffin said, slowly tracing circles on Aaron’s bare shoulder.
Aaron was silent for a long moment. Then he nodded. “I did. And he loved me.”
“And was tonight…all right then? You don’t regret letting me do what you had only shared with him?”
He held his breath as he waited for the answer, its importance clear to him. Aaron tilted his head and looked up at him.
“Yes,” he said softly. “It was amazing.” Griffin smiled in relief, but the smile fell when Aaron said, “And what of you? Have you ever loved?”
Griffin pressed his lips together hard. “I hated myself for being different. You remember when I got into all that trouble when Letty met Jack. I was trying to join Jack’s criminal enterprise—I even went to his enemy and nearly got my sister and her husband killed in the process.”
Aaron shuddered. “I remember that very well, yes. You did it because you were…?”
“Confused,” Griffin whispered. “I didn’t fit and I wanted to find a way to do so. Not the way my body told me I’d fit, but something else. But once Letty and Jack were nearly killed thanks to me, I knew I couldn’t fight what I was anymore. Fighting it was as dangerous as accepting it. But I still didn’t get up the gumption to go to a club and find a man who would have me for almost two years.”
“And yet you did,” Aaron said softly.
Griffin nodded. “At last, yes. It was such a relieffeelingsomething, wanting something. But I swore it would only be physical for me. After all, my father and I had a strained enough relationship. I couldn’t risk him having yet another thing to disapprove of, or worse yet, hate me for.”
Aaron rolled and leaned up on his elbows until they were face to face. “So you only ever went to brothels and the anonymous clubs?”
Griffin sighed. “Yes.”
Aaron’s face was solemn. “It’s complicated for men like us.”
Griffin examined Aaron’s face. He was so damned handsome. Griffin had always thought that, and always admired him for how he’d brought himself up in the world. But what he felt right now was more than mere attraction or esteem. He was beginning to realize he was falling in love with him.
“It doesn’t have to be complicated,” he said, reaching out to touch Aaron’s face with the back of his hand.
Aaron’s eyes widened as he leaned into Griffin’s touch. “No?” he whispered.
Griffin sat up and cupped Aaron’s cheeks, drawing him up his body for a kiss. But before their lips touched, he whispered, “No.”
And then he was drowning in Aaron again, lost in desire and passion, need and love. And he’d never felt better.
Aaron picked up his jacket from the floor and quietly slipped it over his shoulders. He moved to the mirror, and in the dim light from the dying fire, he smoothed some of the wildness of his hair.
Then he turned back to the bed. Griffin was sleeping there, sprawled across the mattress, one bare leg kicked out from the covers. He had a slight smile on his face as he slept.
Aaron squeezed his eyes shut as a swell of emotion flooded him. He was in love with Griffin. It was true. Their night of unbridled passion had only solidified feelings he’d been trying to ignore since the first time he’d spied Griffin in a club.
Griffin had said their passion didn’t have to be complicated. Was that true? After all, they both spent most of their time living in London. They could see each other there, under the guise of a friendship, and no one would know. If they were discreet, if they were careful of what the servants saw…
