His dick twitched, and he knew there was no going back now. Even if Derek backed away and said he couldn’t do this—didn’t want this—Basil wouldn’t be able to turn it off. Things had changed, evolved, and he was ready for it.
His hand lifted to his face. ‘Kiss,’ he signed.
Derek licked his lips, and even if he didn’t entirely understand that sign, it was clear enough he got the point. His head dipped low, his hands lifting to press against Basil’s waist, and then there was no space between them at all.
CHAPTER TWELVE
It was all happening so fast, his head was spinning so intensely, Derek wasn’t entirely sure the moment wasn’t a long hallucination until Basil’s lips met his. The first press of their mouths together was a little clumsy, not exactly on target. Derek mostly got Basil’s stubbly chin and he felt a hot brush of air against his nose. Then Basil’s head rearranged, and the grip on Derek’s neck got a little tighter, and it changed.
Like a gust of wind hit him, suddenly he felt rocked off center, and he fell down to his back against the love seat cushions as Basil hovered over him kissing him breathless. Derek kept his grip on Basil’s hips, fingers digging into his rough jeans, holding them together in a furious press of bodies in desperation to keep it going. Basil’s mouth was insistent, demanding, exactly the way he imagined it might be when he let himself.
His head was reeling, body aching with want because it had been so fucking long since he’d let himself be touched like this, let himself touch anyone with this kind of intimacy. And before this, there hadn’t been meaning behind it. He’d given in to his body’s desire to reach orgasm with another person in the past, but he’d never lethimself feel—he’d never wanted to. He hadn’t been lying when he said watching Sage break apart and nearly give up had terrified him beyond reason.
And yet, Basil made that fear worth it. The mouth drifting from his own to press searing hot kisses along his jaw, down his neck, sucking at his pulse-point was enough to remind him that some risks were worth taking. His hands drifted lower, pushing Basil’s shirt up, splaying wide against his warm skin.
He felt more than heard Basil’s soft groan, pressed into the crook of his neck as Basil’s hips shifted. He felt the hardness there against his thigh, felt Basil rut up into the V of his hip, and his eyes rolled back in his head. With a gentle pressure, he pushed Basil up just slightly, just enough to see the hand he lifted to sign, ‘Home,’ against his cheek, then pat himself in the center of the chest. ‘My home.’ It took him two tries to properly spell, ‘Condoms, lube,’ because his head just didn’t want to focus, but he got it, and Basil’s eyes widened.
‘Sex,’ he spelled.
Derek shrugged as Basil pulled off him a little more. ‘I want you,’ he said. He knew those words might not be the exact ones a person might use when talking about sex—because ASL didn’t share the same structure as English, but the way Basil’s breath caught in his chest, his meaning was obvious and plain.
He started to fidget with nerves when Basil continued to stare at him, and just when he thought maybe he’d crossed a line and ruined it all, Basil nodded. His hand lifted like maybe he was going to say something, but then it touched his cheek, drawing him in for another, hot kiss.
Derek lost himself to the sensation, lost time as Basil’s tongue dragged across his, and it was okay. They’d been there half the night, a short conversation taking an eternity because Derek still needed them to go slow, still needed most of the words spelled out, but he barely felt it. The bubble he existed in with Basil was enough to make the rest of the world feel so goddamn unimportant.
When he pulled away again, Basil signed something else, but in his daze, he didn’t understand until he spelled it out. ‘You live alone?’
Derek nodded. He wanted to tell him that yeah, he lived alone, and they wouldn’t be bothered because everyone else knew that was his sanctuary and they couldn’t just barge in and make themselves comfortable. But he didn’t have the words to say it quickly and didn’t have the patience to go through the motions of it all.
Basil didn’t seem to need all of that explanation right then, and really, it didn’t matter. He’d learn it all the longer he was around and got to know everyone. The more he learned Derek’s routine and how strict it had to be, and maybe he’d even understand how momentous it was that Derek was asking Basil to be part of that.
Of course, right then, the only thing that did matter was collecting their things and leaving the shop, and not letting go of each other as they made their way down the street to Derek’s car. They had to part, but instead of Derek letting him go right away, he crowded him back up against the side of the car. Cupping his face, he felt the warmth of Basil’s cheeks under his palms.
Basil made an involuntary noise in his throat, pushing his hips out, seeking friction, and Derek pushed right back. He’d dreamt of this from the moment he became profoundly aware of just how much he wanted Basil, and it was everything he imagined. No, it was better. It was overwhelming his senses, making him drunk on want. He tipped his head down and captured Basil’s mouth for a long, drawn out kiss.
It was only when he felt the breeze, heard a bottle break and someone start laughing down the street, that he tore himself away. Panting heavily, he pressed his forehead to Basil’s for a moment, then finally stepped back. Basil looked just as dazed as he did, blinking slowly before he reached for the door handle and let himself in.
Derek’s feet felt like they weren’t even making contact with the pavement as he rushed to the driver’s side, and he said a moment ofsilent thanks to the universe that his place was less than a ten-minute drive away. Basil’s hand rested over his on the gear shift, and he wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing that the dark interior of the car made conversation almost impossible. What he did know was that it was comfortable and as he pulled to his parking space, he didn’t regret a single second that led to that moment right there.
Switching the car off, he palmed his keys and turned to see Basil watching him carefully. Without breaking eye contact, Derek reached up and flicked the overhead light on, the car flooding with a dim yellow glow above their heads. Basil blinked, the corners of his lips turning up into a half smile, and he bit down on his lower lip like he was trying to keep his grin from going any wider.
‘Nervous,’ Derek signed. He didn’t indicate it was a question, but it wasn’t entirely a statement either.
‘Me too,’ Basil signed.
He felt a puff of air escape his lungs, then he reached out and Basil reached back, and they were kissing again. It was a slow dance between them, awkward with the console pressing into his stomach as he leaned over as far as he could go, but feeling Basil’s warm hands on his shoulders, holding him steady and keeping the little space between them from growing, it felt right.
‘Inside,’ Derek spelled with his fingers after they pulled away. Basil nodded, and Derek got out, leading him over the walkway and to his front door.
The key in the lock sounded like a gunshot in the profound silence, and he was hit with the all-too familiar scent of drying paint and old coffee. He turned to apologize, but Basil’s gaze was drifting around the room, taking it all in.
Derek had always been a minimalist, even long before he left home. Growing up, he never had to clean, his father had employed a housekeeper to do the fine tuning, so their place always looked like a show-room. His bedroom had never contained any of him in it, just the things his father wanted to present to the world, even if no one ever saw it. Derek often wondered if it was simply to convince himand Sage of the people they should be instead of the people they were.
Part of him wished his father was in his right mind now, so when Derek stood in front of him in his glory—inked up and pierced and everything he was told he was never allowed to be—his father would be able to absorb the impact of it. But it was what it was.
He approached Basil, who was standing in front of three canvases which were hanging to set the varnish, and he let his shoulder gently rub along the other man’s. When Basil looked, Derek shrugged. ‘New,’ he signed.
Basil nodded slowly. He reached out, letting his finger drift along the corner of the canvas where Derek would eventually paint a black coating to give it a frame, and his face softened into something sweet and understanding. ‘Beautiful.’
