“But you’re not drunk,” Pel felt compelled to point out again.
The expression of confusion only deepened. “I know?”
Stomach clenching, Pel finally muttered, “You said you only kissed me because you were drunk.”
Tor stared at him blankly—and then his face twisted into one of complete horror.
“I didn’twantto kiss you only because I was drunk!” He sounded mortified. “Because I was drunk, I did what I wanted without checking if it was all right with you. By the goddess, is that why you threw that alcohol at me?”
Stunned, Pel said, “Wait. Youdowant to kiss me?”
Tor still looked horrified. “You thought I was kissing youonly because I was drunk?”
Pel cleared his throat. His voice still sounded a little rough when he spoke. “That’s what you said.”
Tor jumped up from his seat, startling Pel, and paced around the room, whipping back and forth a few times.
“Why are you even talking to me? Why didn’t you throw me out on my ass?”
Tor’s weird anger on Pel’s behalf made him want to either laugh or cry, he wasn’t quite sure which. But it also made something unclench inside him, something that had been tightly wound since Tor had made clear—Pel thought—how much he wasn’t interested.
Pel rose to his feet so that Tor wasn’t towering over him.
He shrugged. “There was a minute where I thought you were interested, but I’m used to people not wanting me. So it wasn’t really a surprise. I just, uh, had to accept that.” Oh, goddess, that sounded terribly awkward. Hurriedly, he added, “I like being friends. Being friends is great.”
Which was why he kept kissing Tor.
Tor’s gaze was intent all of a sudden, pinning Pel in place. “That’s what all of that was, in the days afterwards? Not because you were horrified that I’d kissed you but because you thought that I’d only done it because I was too drunk to be discerning?”
Pel nodded stiffly.
Suddenly, Tor was standing right in front of him.
“So I’ve been very carefully keeping my hands off of you for no reason at all?”
His voice was low, his eyes were bright, and it suddenly felt as though a lot of the air had gone right out of the room.
Pel swallowed thickly and watched Tor’s eyes follow the movement.
He managed to nod, and then Tor was leaning down, Pel was leaning up, and they were kissing again. And this time,this time, Pel knew that Tor was kissing him because he really wanted to. Because they both wanted to.
Tor tugged him closer so they were plastered together and Pel could feel the growing hardness of Tor’s arousal pressed against his belly. There were so many sensations. Tor’s mouth was warm and firm, and his tongue in Pel’s mouth didn’t bring the sour tang of alcohol with it. Pel might have whimpered, and one of Tor’s hands migrated down to his ass, pressing them closer still.
Greatly daring, Pel reached up to delve his hands into Tor’s hair, feeling the softness of the dark strands. Tor made a low sound deep in his throat and leaned into Pel’s touch.
And then Tor tugged them backwards, and they were suddenly tumbling into a chair, Pel somehow seated in Tor’s lap. They were still kissing, couldn’t seem tostopkissing, and Tor had a hand up under Pel’s tunic.
Pel felt each fingertip like a burning brand against his skin. It was impossible to both lean into the kissing and shift closer to the man’s hand on his back, but Pel sure tried. He finally realized that he was dizzy with lack of breath, but when he turned his head, Tor just started kissing the side of his mouth, his chin, his neck.
He could feel the man smirk as he nipped at Pel’s skin, and Pel swallowed convulsively. He’d neverwantedlike this, not since he’d realized what it meant to be Unremarkable, to be dismissed over and over again.
But somehow, it seemed like Tor saw himandwanted him. Pel didn’t think you could fake this kind of frantic need.
It was a lot of stimulation, though, and Pel blamed that for the fact that he didn’t notice where Tor’s other hand was going. When it brushed over his cock, Pel startled badly.
This resulted in Tor removing his hand and pulling back so he could actually look at Pel.
“Sorry,” Pel muttered, feeling his cheeks heat.
