“Now. Now. Now.” I sounded frantic, and I felt it too. Desperate for him.
A moment after I heard the tear of a condom wrapper and felt him work more lube in my hole. After a second I felt the blunt head of his cock pushing in and almost sobbed with relief.
“You’re so tight.” Elias sounded winded as he pressed in. I pushed back against the burn, meeting his thrusts until we were in perfect sync. Him pushing in, and me rocking back to meet him. Soon he was all the way in and we both sighed with relief. Elias pressed his chest to my back, our bodies so close.
“Desta,” he gasped, breathless.
He bit down hard on my shoulder as he seated himself to the hilt. He had his hand at my nape and the other on the mattress, and fucked me so thoroughly I couldn’t make words. After a few thrusts he grabbed my hips, lifting me up and pushing into me from an angle that hit me right where I needed it, making my entire body pulse.
“Oh, I’m gonna come like this. Fuck me harder, baby.”
He bent down again and bit that same spot on my shoulder. “Make yourself come,” he growled, his lips right by my ear.
“You’re so fucking bossy.” I laughed as I took my dick in hand. After just a few strokes, molten sensation spread through my groin, and soon I was coming, hot liquid splashing my hand.
Elias let out a pained gasp as he fucked me with short jabs. “So close.”
I felt the heat of his come filling the condom a second before he slumped over me, his lips brushing the back of my neck.
We stayed like that for a while until our breaths evened out, then Elias shifted so he was on his back with my head on his chest.
“I don’t think I can move for a while,” I mumbled against his skin.
He chuckled as he ran his hand over my back. “I’m not in a rush to go anywhere,” he whispered as he gathered me in his arms, tightening them. “We can stay here for now.”
I placed my palm on his chest, fantasizing that this could be us forever. That we could make love and lay in a sunny room, unrushed and unbothered. That this wasn’t a clandestine, temporary thing. I wished we could walk out of this room hand in hand without fear into the streets of this city Elias loved so deeply. One I was learning to love, too.
Maybe someday.
I felt Elias’s lips brushing against my forehead, and then he asked in a quiet voice, “What’s going on in there?”
I shook my head, not wanting to ruin the moment. “Just happy to be here with you.”
He made a sound like he didn’t quite believe me, but didn’t respond right away. After a few breaths he spoke again. “I’d like you to come to my home and meet my parents tomorrow.”
I sat up fast, hoping my face didn’t look as spooked as I felt while Elias smiled placidly.
“Did I scare you?” He asked the question like he hadn’t just said some earth-shattering shit to me.
I threw my hands up and scoffed. “Uh, well, I’m just a little shook. When you say meet your parents, does that mean in person?”
He rolled his eyes at the ridiculous question, still looking way too amused for the topic of conversation.
I paused before I asked the next question, not quite sure what kind of answer I was hoping. “Did you tell them?”
Again with the smiling. “I haven’t told them yet, but I’m planning to after they meet you. I want them to know who the man I love is when I do.”
I was glad I was already in bed because that would’ve certainly knocked me on my ass.
“For fuck’s sake, Elias,” I wailed before throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him hard. “Of course you’d say it first.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “You’re angry because I said I love you?”
I shook my head and kissed him again. “I wouldn’t say angry, just frustrated that once again, I didn’t get my shit together and you just did what I’ve been agonizing over for weeks now.”
“Konjo.” The word was a caress, a loving rebuke, and a prayer all in one, and I was so fucking gone for him. I pressed our foreheads together before I spoke again, wanting to be as close as possible to him as I could.
I didn’t know if we’d be able to be together after I left here in a few weeks. If Elias would really come out to his family and leave Ethiopia. If I’d be strong enough to tell my mother the truth about what I wanted to do. I didn’t know anything for sure other than what I felt for him right now.
I could say that with certainty, and I did.
“I love you too.”
Chapter 24
As we pulled up to the big metal fence of Elias’s family home, I wondered if he felt as nervous as I did. But when I looked at him with his back straight, his head up, he seemed so resolute and certain, so certain. Meanwhile, I was doing my best to keep my shit together.
After our big confession the day before, Elias had stayed with me until dinnertime and then gone home with the promise to pick me up for dinner tonight. He had a lot take care of and I needed to buy some supplies for my trip north in a couple of days. My time in Ethiopia was wrapping up and the dread of going back to reality was starting to get the best of me. But tonight wasn’t about my shit, it was about Elias. I was determined to be here for him in every way.
We drove into the compound where his family lived, and before we
