"Loving you is the easy part," he replied, his lips parted and his eyes still crossed as I stroked us. "Speaking the words is where it gets dicey."
"Are you freaking out?"
He shook his head. "Not about saying it, no. About you edging me for the past ten minutes? Oh, yeah, I'm freaking out over that. I might cry if you keep doing this."
I offered him another rough stroke before saying, "Not until you tell me why now. Why are you able to say the words now? What happened?"
Since I reveled keeping Jory in a bit of agony, I ran my free hand down his flank and brushed my fingertips over the tender spot behind his knee. A shiver started at his shoulders and snaked down his body.
"I wanted to tell you the night of Tom's holiday party," he started, "but I didn't know how to say it."
With one finger, I traced the seam of his knee again. My touch was light as hell, but Jory went wild for these teases. It turned him on like crazy. "Mmhmm," I murmured against his neck, still dragging my finger over his skin. The rhythm was slow yet deliberate. It promised I'd tease him elsewhere very soon.
His breath was hot on my shoulder when he said, "I realized somewhere in the last month that I craved you in my life. It wasn't even sexual—"
I gave his cock a rude jerk and shifted to stare down at him. "What was that?"
Jory looped his arm around my neck and dragged me down for a kiss. "Believe me, I crave you in very sexual ways. I spent the entire trip bitching about my mother to prevent myself from begging you to stroke me off while you drove."
Dropping my forehead to his sternum as all the blood in my body arrowed down to my crotch, I murmured, "Shouldn't have told me that."
"Oh, stop it. You love it when I'm slutty."
"Like you wouldn't believe," I said.
"What I meant is, I crave your presence in my life," he continued. "Your dick too, don't get me wrong, but it's more than that. I like being with you, and I like who I am when we're together. You never make me feel small or difficult. You work hard at allowing me to experience my emotions, even when they're fucking ridiculous. You make me laugh, and you give me space to be myself. And I love that you've given me all that while also being such an amazing guy on top of it."
I wanted to take all of those words and stow them away for a time when I needed them to fill me, make me whole. I wanted that because I couldn't hear them and keep them right now. Not the way they'd been intended. No, my brain was fixed on sex—nasty, sweaty sex that was over in an eye blink because it was that aggressive—and had no use for those kinds of words. They were too precious for the likes of me, too easy to crush and lose forever.
"To answer your question, I realized this when I was home," he continued. "I wanted you to be there with me more than anything else. I didn't want to be away from you, and I didn't want to be cautious about my feelings anymore."
And since this was so much, so much, I shifted away from Jory under the pretense of dragging my lips over his rib cage, licking and kissing as I passed each ridge. "You're so fucking gorgeous," I whispered to his skin.
"And you like that?" he asked. "That I'm gorgeous?"
I nodded, my beard scruff scraping over his flank. Goosebumps rippled over his perfect skin. "Love it," I murmured. "Love you."
For the first time since ducking away, I glanced back at him. His eyes were screwed shut and his mouth open on a silent sigh. His cock was jutting out from his body, thick and throbbing, the head shiny with a drop of arousal. I stroked him once, twice, not nearly as intense as he wanted. Then, I climbed off the bed.
"You cannot leave me like this," Jory wailed. "Have you seen what you've done to me?"
"Be good while I'm gone."
I strolled out of the room as if I wasn't a fleshy bag of pulsating need and my cock wasn't thwacking my belly with each step. It looked like I was taking my sweet time, but the truth was, I needed to catch my breath and get a handle on this situation. Had to remember I was the boss. And I had to stop myself from begging Jory to marry me immediately.
Once I had the protection, the supplies, and the mindset necessary, I returned to find Jory kneeling on the bed, his cock staring straight at me while he pulled back the blankets and sheets. His face was still twisted in snarling, sexy desire and it damn near dropped me.
I pointed to the bed. "Hands and knees, babe. Show me that gorgeous ass."
"That kind of flattery will get you everywhere," he replied as he settled into position on the center of the bed.
I didn't look up as I rolled the condom over my shaft. "That's good, since I plan on getting you everywhere."
I tossed a brand-new bottle of lube on the bed, climbed up behind Jory, and locked my hands on his hips. I gave him a meaningful squeeze and smoothed my hands down his back and over his ass, my thumbs sliding between his crease with enough pressure to force a shuddering breath from him.
"Doin' all right, baby?" I asked as I grabbed his backside. My fingertips pressed into his soft skin as I gripped and separated him.
"You know how I'm doing," he grumbled.
I tightened my hold on his cheeks, holding him apart. "Mmhmm. I do." Then, I swiped my tongue over his crease.
A deep, guttural groan was his only response. That, and the furious way he balled the sheets in his fists as I teased him with my
