He opened his eyes, and what I saw there made my chest tight. Relief. Joy. Fear. Hope.
“I’m terrified,” he admitted.
“Me too.” I stroked my thumb across his cheekbone.
“But?”
“But I’d rather have you and deal with the consequences than spend the rest of my life wondering what if.”
His smile was small but genuine. “When did you get brave?”
“About five minutes ago. Still figuring it out.”
He laughed, and it sounded lighter. Less pained. And then he kissed me again, slower this time, deeper.
I shivered, my cock hard.
When we finally broke apart again, he shifted to lean against me, his head on my shoulder.
“Mon Dieu,” I breathed, still trying to catch my breath. “That was incredible.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I pressed my face against his hair, breathing in his spicy scent. “Different from anything I’ve experienced before. Your beard, your strength, the way you kiss—nothing like being with a woman. It’s harder, more intense. Butputain, Marco, it’s exactly what I want.”
We sat there in the dim light, the lamp casting soft shadows, both of us just breathing.
“What happens now?” he asked eventually.
“I don’t know.” I ran my fingers through his hair, marveling that I could do this. That I was allowed to. “We figure it out.”
“It’s going to be complicated.”
“Yeah.” I pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “Worth it, though.”
He tilted his head back to look at me. “You’re sure about this? About me? About being with a man?”
“I’m sure about you.” I kissed him again because I could. Because he was here and willing and wanted me back. “The rest we’ll figure out.”
“Okay.” He settled back against me. “We should probably sleep. You have a roadie tomorrow.”
“And the personal trainer is making a home visit.”
“Later. Not until afternoon.”
Neither of us moved.
We lay down and tangled together, conscious of his foot, neither willing to break the moment. Neither wanting to be apart after finally having this.
Eventually, we did sleep. Right there on the sofa, wrapped around each other, closer than we’d ever been.
And for the first time in days, my mind was quiet.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Étienne
I woke up to warmth.
