Stefanos claps a hand over his mouth, wide-eyed. His words hang in the air between us. All I can do is gawp at him.
“Stef,” I say finally when I can breathe again. I suck air deep into my lungs. “You know we can’t do that.”
He frowns at me. “It’s not any crazier than thinking it’s a great idea to marry some duke you’ve only met once. We’ve at least met a couple of times.”
I rub my face, hesitating. Stef looks hurt. He withdraws into himself, arms folded across his chest, and looks away.
Shifting, I turn to him on the sofa, tucking my leg under me. “Hey.” I take his hand. Reluctantly, he looks back at me as I speak. “I like you a lot, Stef. Just… remember the earlier part of this conversation? About the things hanging over you…”
Stef sighs, shoulders slumping. “I know. I don’t know why I said what I did a moment ago. I know your situation’s different than mine. And everything’s the way it is. I just want… to go back to pretending too, I guess.”
I give him a wry smile and squeeze his fingers.
“Please don’t marry the duke at least, okay?” Stef whispers.
I’m quiet, taking stock of him.
“Find another way. Even if we can’t be more than pretend. God.” Stef shakes his head. He blinks away tears. “Just—I’m sorry I said what I did, okay? And I get it if you want to be with someone who can be out and knows what they’re doing in life. I suppose that’s very different from my situation?—”
“Hey…” I brush the tears from beneath his eyes.
Stef moves, shifting onto me, and I let him push me back against the sofa, straddling me. He leans in to kiss me while my fingers skim under his T-shirt and over his warm skin.
As our kisses heat up, I pause long enough as he reaches down to rub my stiffening cock through my clothes. I groan, pressing into his fingers, more than eager.
“You sure about this?” I murmur, hesitating.
“Take me to bed,” Stef says urgently.
I do, and we continue, his body taut with tension. Everything feels too vulnerable right now. None of this is reasonable, feeling so much about him, even though we haven’t known each other that long.
My fingers and mouth explore his body, following his urging, his gasps, his desire. He’s unrelenting as I eventually push into him. And it’s my turn to take my time and bring him to the brink again before easing off, until he’s feral and mine, arching beneath me when we roll over.
“Please, Theo?—”
I ride him hard, till he’s sobbing and grabbing at me and soon spurting hot against our skin.
Then I continue till I come, quivering, as he pulls me tight against his body. We gasp for breath.
The rest of the day passes much the same way—plenty of intense sex with the occasional break for food, till he says he’s too sore and exhausted to continue, too emotionally tapped out.
“I’ll need to leave in the morning,” I whisper, lying on my stomach next to Stef in bed as he stares up at the high ceiling. “I don’t want to make this harder than it is already.”
He glances over, looking raw. “I guess that’s it, then.”
“I don’t know, Stef. I really don’t.” I roll onto my back, pillowed against the headboard. “But I don’t want you to be surprised in the morning when you wake up and I’m not here.”
An unhappy sound escapes his lips. Then, he slides on top of me. Stef kisses me lingeringly. I can feel his cock hardening against me.
“Again?” I ask with surprise. I slip my arms around Stef.
“Just once more. Please. Then… then you can leave if you must.” Stef can’t meet my gaze.
“Hey.” I try to catch his jaw. Reluctantly, Stef looks down, then kisses me hard, and we start all over again until we finally give in to our exhaustion. I fall asleep curled around him, not wanting to let him go.
When I’m driving home on Sunday afternoon, beneath overcast skies that threaten rain, a text chimes its arrival. It’s not until I pull over for a break and another coffee that I check my messages. It’s from Stef.
I loved having you here, but it’s too hard to keep seeing you, Theo. Our lives are too different X
