Laughing, Joshua trudged up the stairs behind him. He rested both hands on Colin’s hips as they climbed, and when they parted at the bedroom door, he pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “Don’t dawdle.”
When Colin entered the bedroom,Joshua was lying on his side, watching the door as if anticipating Colin’s arrival. The air inside was warm and faintly sweet with the scent of their shared cologne, still lingering on the sheets from the night before. The overhead fan spun, stirring the heavy summer air. As he had promised, he was naked, and the sight of his smooth, olive skin against the white of their plush comforter took Colin’s breath away. “My god, you get more beautiful every day.”
Joshua smiled at him. “Just tryin’ to keep up.”
Colin scoffed as he yanked his T-shirt over his head and tossed it to one side. His eyes never left Joshua as he bent to remove his jeans and briefs, and Joshua lowered his head, half embarrassed by the smoldering intensity of Colin’s gaze. His cheeks flushed a soft pink as he tucked his chin, but he couldn’t suppress the grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.
“Embarrassed, are we?” Colin teased, his voice a low rumble as he stepped forward, now also wholly nude. His body moved with quiet confidence, his frame outlined by the faint moonlight slipping through the curtains. The hush of the night wrapped around them like a secret, broken only by the whisper of the overhead fan.
Joshua shook his head, unable to look away despite the heat rising in his face. “Not embarrassed,” he murmured, his voice soft but steady. “But— maybe a bit overwhelmed.”
Colin climbed onto the bed, shifting the mattress as he relaxed beside his husband, and Joshua’s breath caught as their eyes locked. “Good,” Colin whispered, his lips curving into a crooked smile. “Because I want you to feel everything I feel when I look at you: awed, amazed … so damn lucky.”
Joshua let out a shaky laugh, brushing his fingertips along Colin’s jawline. “And hot enough to implode.”
Colin smirked and leaned in, his mouth brushing against Joshua’s in a kiss that was soft and slow yet filled with unspoken promises. “Happy to hear it,” Colin murmured against his lips.
The tension in the room thickened, not with awkwardness but with the depth of their love, tangible and undeniable. Every touch, every whispered word, and every lingering gaze reminded them that they weren’t just lovers—they were each other’s safety, each other’s cherished treasure, each other’s only real home.
Joshua’s palm rested against Colin’s cheek. He tilted his head toward the bathroom, eyebrows arched. “Should I…”
“No,” Colin told him, his hand moving, trailing gently over Joshua’s skin. “Not tonight, my love.” His kisses fell onto Joshua’s face and throat, then captured his mouth in a hot, hungry kiss that proclaimed the ache of his desire beyond the need for words. Joshua moaned softly against Colin’s lips, his fingers curling into the sheets as Colin’s hand continued its slow, deliberate exploration. The tenderness in Colin’s touch contrasted with the fire behind his kiss, sending shivers racing down Joshua’s spine.
“Colin,” Joshua whispered when they broke apart, his voice trembling with emotion. “What do you mean, ‘not tonight’? You’re driving me insane.”
Colin chuckled, his deep, velvety laugh brushing over Joshua’s skin like a caress. “What I mean, my love, is this: I want to savor this. Savor you. Every moment, every inch, every soundyou make when I touch you.” His voice softened, though the heat in his gaze never waned. “You’re too important to rush.”
Joshua swallowed hard, his heart swelling with both love and desire. “You always make me feel like your most cherished possession,” he murmured, reaching up to cup Colin’s face.
“That’s because you are,” Colin replied without hesitation, his eyes locking onto Joshua’s with an intensity that left him breathless. “And tonight, I want to show you just how precious you are to me.” His lips and hands moved with a patience and purpose that made every second feel like an eternity of bliss. Joshua surrendered completely, knowing he was in the hands of a man who adored him beyond life itself, lost in the pleasure and in the love that inspired it.
“Do me a favor, love of my life,” Colin muttered against his ear.
“What’s that?”
Colin leaned back slightly and extended his hand, palm up. “You’re closer than I am,” he told Joshua, nodding toward the bedside table and the heated lubricant that always waited there.
“My pleasure,” Joshua hissed out.
“Goddamn right,” Colin said in return as Joshua filled his hand with the slippery substance.
His hand slid between them and gripped both their erections, smiling when he heard Joshua’s choked, pleasured cry. “Yes,” he hissed out, his hand moving, slowly at first, then faster … bringing them both to the brink, then slowing again as they both gasped, writhing against each other, whimpering as the pleasure lifted them nearly to madness.
Joshua's heart raced wildly in his chest, his mind consumed by the intoxicating heat of their passion. He could hear the pounding of his own heart in his ears, and the rapid rush of his breath echoed as if from another world. “Oh god, Colin,”he moaned, writhing against the bed, gripping Colin’s shoulders with bruising intensity. “Hurry! Please hurry!”
The last blinding second of pleasure took them both, and Joshua cried out in ecstasy, feeling Colin spasm against him as he came, hearing him groan as pulsing waves of pleasure consumed them both.
For a long time, they lay together, gasping for breath, clinging to each other as jolt after jolt of mindless ecstasy coursed through them like white-hot fire.
“Oh my god,” Colin gasped out, half-laughing as he pressed wet kisses to Joshua’s neck, their bodies pressed tight together, Colin’s hand still between them … still wrapped around their softening erections.
“I bet …” Joshua began, then shuddered in pleasure and swallowed hard, his breath still catching. “I bet that hand needs to be washed.”
“It’s not the only thing.”
Joshua’s fingers crept from Colin’s shoulder to his sandy hair. “That was heaven, my love,” he whispered. “Thank you.”
“So good,” Colin murmured, still kissing and sucking on Joshua’s already-damp neck. “My god, Josh … so damned good!”
