Devlin suddenly shifted in his chair. “Denny, you’re looking at me with something in your eyes that’s making me a little nervous.” His voice held a scratchy quality.
Hunger. The guy had good instincts. And fuck, instinctively choosing to call him Denny rather than Gradyn or GC--particularly in the throes of fucking--had grabbed right at the soul of who Gradyn Connell was when he wasn’t creating characters for his work or picking up dates.
It struck at the heart of who he was beneath all the labels in his current life.
“Do I scare you?” Gradyn sometimes forgot he had an intimidating exterior right now.
Devlin hesitated for a good long minute and studied Gradyn closely enough that the phantom hairs on Gradyn’s shaved neck felt like they stood on end.
“No, you don’t scare me,” Devlin finally answered. “It’s just reminding me how little experience I have with men.”
The tension eased out of Gradyn at that. Then he went tight all over again as he pictured what they had just come from doing in this man’s motel room. “You’ve sucked a cock or two before, newbie,” Gradyn stated, watching Devlin closely. “That blowjob did not have the technique or suppressed gag reflex of a first-timer.”
Twinkle-lights running along the restaurant eaves highlighted the dots of color blooming on Devlin’s cheeks. “Weelllll, I had this friend in college...”
“Oh yeah?” Gradyn quirked a brow when Devlin didn’t immediately go on. “Maybe I should have gone myself after all.” He stretched out his legs and linked his fingers against his stomach. “Tell me all about him.”
From their secluded corner, Devlin glanced at the other tables scattered around the terrace and then looked over his shoulder to inside the full restaurant. “Shouldn’t we go?” he asked as his gaze met Gradyn’s again. “We’re finished eating. I don’t want to take up this table and rob our server of the tips he could be making with other diners.”
Irritation nicked Gradyn for a split second, and then he reminded himself that this man had only known him for roughly four hours. “Let me ask you something, Devlin. Do I strike you as the type of man who doesn’t understand the life of a waiter and wouldn’t care if I shafted him just because I can?”
Devlin went back to scrutinizing Gradyn with those intense silver eyes of his, and Gradyn found himself holding his breath, knowing it would sting more than it should if Devlin--a man he hadn’t even fucking known existed this morning--could think him capable of treating others like trash.
“No, I guess not,” Devlin replied. With that answer, Gradyn exhaled his trapped breath. “I get the feeling that you know about real life, and that, no, you’re probably not some rich, clueless asshole.”
With a bark of laughter that surprised him, Gradyn said, “Definitely not rich, and hopefully not clueless or an asshole.” Sobering just as fast as he’d found himself laughing, Gradyn held Devlin’s stare, and his voice turned thicker than he would have liked witnessed. “I knew I didn’t want to feel rushed with you tonight, so when I got up to use the restroom earlier, I told our waiter I would give him a tip that equaled our bill if he let us relax out here without a lot of disruption. I also told the manager that if he agreed, he could put one of his best bottles of wine on the tab and we would take it with us when we left.” Gradyn curled his hand around his neck and wished like hell he had hair to grab. “Maybe that’s a form of arrogance, I’m not sure, but I knew what I wanted, and all I could do was try not to make it happen at someone else’s expense.”
A little smile turned up the edge of Devlin’s lips, and something similar lit his eyes. “I like what you did and how you went about it.” Slashes of pink crossed Devlin’s cheeks again, and his voice dropped to almost a whisper. “I like everything I know about you so far.”
Good Christ, it could be Christmas morning the year he got a dirt bike from Santa all over again and Gradyn wouldn’t feel any giddier than he did right now.
Fuck. This is bad.
Gradyn didn’t care. “You’re not bad either, beautiful.” Giving in to the urge that had plagued him since they sat down to eat, Gradyn leaned across the table and scraped his lips across Devlin’s. The man made a needful little noise and took a fast lick at Gradyn’s mouth in return, and an innocent excitement that fueled every suppressed base desire clawed inside Gradyn to get free. Gradyn opened up for another taste. He curled his hand around the back of Devlin’s head and angled him for a deeper plundering. Silky-soft locks filled the spaces between Gradyn’s fingers, and he could fucking practically feel this man’s hair brushing up and down his cock and against his balls, tickling his flesh to the point of coming.
Son of a mother. Gradyn’s prick swelled to meet that fantasy right where he sat. Pull away, Connell, before you drag him onto this table and
