“Are you sure —” I struggled to get the words out, laughing as he peppered kisses over my face. “I mean, your Gram won’t —”
“She doesn’t care —”
He was crowding me toward the bed, and I went, letting him push me down onto the quilted coverlet. And he followed, lying down on top of me and grabbing my wrists to pin me against the bed.
“I”ve finally caught up to you in age, old man.”
“You are less thantwomonths younger than me,” I growled, and rolled him onto his back.
It had been ten weeks since the lighthouse, and I thought I was getting used to the effect Cole had on me, what it was like to kiss him, to press his body against mine, to feel his bare skin under my hands, to let mylips wander down his neck. We hadn’t done more than kissing, although I knew Cole had in the past. But somehow it felt right, curling up next to each other for hours at a time, stealing kisses as we did our homework, throwing books aside when we got distracted, breaking apart when the feelings got too intense, only to do it all again. It was a cycle that was becoming familiar, even as it thrilled me.
But tonight was different somehow. I don’t know whether it was the special occasion, or knowing that we were in a safe place, or that we’d be out in the world on our own soon enough. Or maybe we were connecting on some new level, hurtling toward something that neither of us could articulate. But I was putting all of my weight on Cole, pressing him into the mattress. And he was whimpering, his arms wound tightly around my shoulders to hold me in place. He had spread his thighs wide to make room for me, and as I licked into his mouth, he clamped his knees around my hips, the connection between us almost dizzying.
“Ezra—”
His hand slid down my back to grab my ass through my jeans, and we weremoving, rocking against each other as our hands roved. One of mine was at Cole’s waist, pushing his shirt up so that I could wrap my fingers around the hollow beneath his ribcage, my other elbow braced on the bed. And I was making sounds too, sounds that came from deep within me,that matched the motion of my hips.
It was too much — It wasn’t enough — I knew I was hard, that I could feel his hardness through the fabric that separated us — it wasn’t the first time it had happened but somehow — god, it felt so fucking good — I was flushed all over and my stomach muscles were tensing and my thighs were cramping and it was warm, so warm, and Cole’s mouth was on mine and I could smell him all around me and —
“Fuck!Oh shit, oh god, oh —fuck fuck fuck fuck—”
I collapsed against Cole’s chest, hiding my face against his shoulder, warmth and confusion spreading all over my body.
“Oh my god, did you just —” Cole lifted my head to look into my face, and his eyes were dancing.
“Don’t you fucking laugh —”
I covered his mouth with my hand, but he was already giggling, and I couldn’t help joining in, both of us giddy, even as my muscles felt like jelly and my cheeks burned. Reaching for the bedside table, he handed me a box of tissues.
“Here, if you want to clean up —”
I rolled onto my back, turning away from him to unzip my jeans and clean up the worst of the mess. As I was finishing up, Cole rolled into me, dropping a kiss onto my shoulder.
“You know, if you ever wanted me to make that happen for you on purpose, I would.”
I looked down at him, and he was smirking at me, his cheeks flushed. “Is that so?” I pushed him back onto the bed and brought up my hand to cradle his face as I kissed him.
“Mmm—” he sighed, his breath hot on my lips. “There arelotsof things I could do.”
“Do you —” I cleared my throat. “I mean, do you want me to do anything for you?”
He pulled back to study me, his eyes flicking back and forth across my face. “Are you sure?”
“Pretty damn sure,” I chuckled. “I mean, I’ve been thinking about it a whole lot.”
“Okay.” Cole settled back into the pillows, unzipping his fly and pulling his T-shirt up to his armpits, exposing his concave belly. Then he took my hand, cradling it against his chest. “Kiss me —”
I leaned over him, pressing my mouth to his as he wound one arm around the back of my neck. As we kissed, I trailed my hand along his bare skin, stopping to brush my fingers over his nipple, to savor the rise and fall of his breath, to tease the trail of hair below his navel until I was lifting the waistband of his boxers, slipping my hand further down, chuckling as he gasped into my mouth —
And my hand was wrapped around him, and inside my brain was screaming, but it wasn’t unlike touching myself, not really — hard length, velvety skin, my hand gliding up and down — but this time I had Coleshuddering against me, one arm thrown over his head — he’d left off kissing me and so I was able to watch as he pressed back against the pillows, his lips parted and his eyes shut tight, the little frown of concentration that wrinkled his brow —
“Shit!”
His eyes flew open as he spilled over his chest, both of us laughing as he reached up to kiss me soundly.
“Well, happy birthday to me, I guess,” he quipped as he reached for the tissues.
“Yeah, happy birthday,” I murmured back, wrapping an arm around his shoulders as he snuggled into my side, resting his head on my chest. I could just feel that things were going to be different.
