Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
Thor kicked himself for an entire month.
He hadn’t meant to bring up wanting to see Auggie more once the classes were over, but he had, and things had been awkward ever since.
Of the three classes they’d had together since then, Auggie had bowed out of dinner afterward for two, and he hadn’t been able to ask for the third because he’d had to attend the faculty holiday party.
Now here they were, the final class of the semester, and Auggie hadn’t looked at him all evening. Not when he’d arrived, not when he’d come out of the back room, not at the break, and not when the class had ended.
Thor had hurried everyone from the classroom so that by the time Auggie came out from changing back into his street clothes, they were on their own.
Auggie handed over the robe and accepted his payment without meeting Thor’s eyes. In fact, Thor was pretty sure Auggie was going to walk out without them saying a word, but he touched Auggie’s arm.
“Auggie. Look at me.”
Auggie’s eyes flew to his, worry clouding the lovely blue.
“I want you to answer honestly, and if the answer is no, that’s okay, and it won’t change your working here at all. Would you like to come home with me to have dinner with me and to see my paintings?”
Surprise colored Auggie’s face. “You still want me to?”
“Nothing’s changed on my end, but if it has on yours, that’s okay.” He would be heartbroken, but he wasn’t the kind of man who forced himself on people, and if Auggie didn’t feel the same connection that he did, then he would accept that.
Auggie shook his head. “I thought… I thought you might have changed your mind.”
“Nope. I still think you’re sexy, and I still want to get to know you better. I want to explore the connection I feel with you.”
“Hot guys like you don’t usually feel any sort of connection with me,” Auggie told him.
“Like I said before, their loss. Look, I don’t really care what other people think. I like you. A lot. And I want to spend time with you. If you feel the same way about me, say yes and I’ll take you home.”
Auggie took a deep breath. “Okay. Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
“It just doesn’t seem quite real,” Auggie told him. “And I… I’m…” Auggie shrugged.
“Waiting for someone to pull the carpet from under your feet?”
Auggie nodded, not looking at him again.
He put his fingers beneath Auggie’s chin and tilted his head back up. “I’m not being dishonest or leading you on or teasing you or joking.” He pressed his lips to Auggie’s and gasped as a spark flew between them. They both drew back, Auggie touching his lips.
“Stupid static.”
Thor shook his head. “It wasn’t static.” He rubbed his finger along Auggie’s lower lip. “But this isn’t the place. Come and see my paintings.” He’d painted his emotions onto the canvas, and he hoped that convinced Auggie he was being sincere.
Auggie rolled his eyes. “Sorry, but that sounds like a line.”
“It does, doesn’t it.” Thor shrugged. “It’s what I’ve got.”
Auggie regarded him for a long moment, face serious. Then he nodded. “Okay, let’s do it.”
Thor beamed at Auggie, relief flooding through him. Okay, so he’d been trying to fool himself when he’d said he would be fine with Auggie saying no. He wouldn’t have put any pressure on Auggie or punished him in any way, but he would definitely have been heartbroken.
While their dinners hadn’t technically been dates, they’d gotten to know each other during them and Thor knew Auggie was the boy for him. And now he would have the chance to convince Auggie this was real and that they would be good for each other.
They made their way to the elevator and then down, Auggie quiet, his hands in his pockets as he watched the numbers go by.
“You okay?” Thor asked.
Auggie glanced at him. “Nervous,” he admitted, looking surprised that he’d said anything. “I mean. I just… I like you a lot and I don’t want to mess this up. And I don’t know what it is about you that makes me just say the first thing that pops into my head.”
Thor knew, though. He knew that was Auggie responding to his Daddy energy. “You do it because you know you’re safe with me.”
“Do I?”
“Maybe not consciously, but subconsciously, you do.”
Auggie shrugged, but Thor could tell he was thinking about that.
“It’s awfully cold—I’ll grab us an Uber,” he suggested.
“Is it far?” Auggie asked. “I don’t mind walking and I’m wearing my warm jacket today.”
“It’s about a twenty-minute walk, but I want to get you home. Show you my place, my paintings. Try another kiss.”
Auggie’s cheeks heated, but he smiled, too, as he ducked his head.
They didn’t have long to wait for the Uber, and he held the door open for Auggie, then slipped in next to him.
“So you live near the campus?” Auggie asked.
“I do. Not in student alley. The other direction.”
“Oh, the ritzy part of town.”
“The old part, yes.” He had a great big old house with a big front yard and an even bigger backyard.
Lots of trees. His studio was in what had originally been a conservatory, though he’d had to get all the windows changed to double paned ones so he could keep working there in the winter.
“I’m really lucky to be able to make a good living off my paintings and I got ‘discovered’ at a young age. ”
“How old were you when you sold your first painting?”
“Fourteen,” he admitted. “Right place at the right time.”
“Wow.” Auggie gave him a wide-eyed look.
“Like I said, I am very lucky and I know it.”
“I’m on the opposite spectrum of that, I think.” Auggie hunched a little again.
Thor hated that Auggie felt like that, that his experiences growing up had been less than stellar.
He touched Auggie’s arm gently. “You’ve made a good life for yourself despite your bad luck. That takes character and it makes you special.”
Auggie snorted. “I’m not special, Thor. Not like you. I’m just a guy trying to make a living. You’re a famous artist!”
“And I’ve had it easy all my life—being able to pursue my passions without impediments. You’ve had a much tougher road to hoe and have still made something of yourself.”
Auggie opened his mouth, and Thor put his finger across Auggie’s lips.
“I don’t want to hear a word from you denigrating yourself.”
Auggie’s eyes got huge, but before the moment could continue, the car pulled up at his place.
“We’re here,” he said softly. “Come on.”
He thanked the driver and got out, then held his hand out to Auggie.
The hand in his was warm, and Auggie held on tight, like he was worried he’d get left behind or lost if he didn’t. That was fine with Thor; it felt good holding Auggie’s hand.
They went along the pathway to the stairs up to the porch. He had a swing chair there, along with two cushioned metal chairs and a little table between them. In the warmer weather, it was a lovely place to sit and start the day. He unlocked the big front door and opened it up, ushering Auggie in.
“Welcome to my home.”
“It’s… wow. I mean, like a really good wow.”
Thor nodded happily. He loved his home. He’d bought it ten years ago and had slowly renovated it—mostly refurbishing the original details, making sure everything was updated and safe.
“It was originally owned by a doctor and then passed down to his family. By the time I bought it, most of the family was out of town and they didn’t want to pay for the upkeep. I love it.”
“I can see how much you do.” Auggie took everything in the large hall in.
Thor put his own jacket on one of the hooks over the padded bench, and then did the same with Auggie’s. They both took off their boots and put them in the cubby built for them.
“So this opens up into the main hall of the house.” He walked Auggie to it and stopped to point the rest of the place out.
“Great room is through that door to the right. The door straight ahead is the kitchen. There’s a dining room between the kitchen and Great Room, but you can only get to it from either of those rooms. To the left is the den, and beyond that is a media room.
At the back of the house is my studio. The staircase there leads up to the bedrooms upstairs.
It’s a lot more house than I really need, but I just love the bones of it, the history.
I fell in love the moment I saw it, and honestly, that was before I even set foot into the place. ”
“It’s gorgeous,” Auggie told him, clearly taking it all in, gaze wandering over everything.
“I will take you on a proper tour,” he promised, “But first I really do want to show you my paintings. I haven’t been this inspired in ages, maybe ever.”
Auggie’s cheeks heated. “You’re a successful artist—I find that hard to believe.”
“No, it’s true. These are also the most personal I’ve ever painted.
” And he had to admit to feeling vulnerable about them.
Oh, he didn’t care if the general public or his usual patrons liked them or not, but these were inspired by Auggie himself and Auggie’s reaction to them would mean a hell of a lot, good or bad.
So he was surprisingly nervous about it.
“Now you’re making me nervous again.” Auggie slipped a hand back into his and squeezed tight.
He led Auggie through the kitchen into the back room that was nothing but windows, both walls and ceilings.
“Holy crap, it’s just windows!”
“It is. You should see the light in the daytime.” Right now, though, despite the moon shining brightly outside, it was a little hard to see anything, so he went back and turned on the switch in the kitchen that lit up the floor lamps in the studio.
The two newest paintings were on easels, the rest of the recent ones were scattered around the room against the windows, against the table and the two chairs the room boasted.
They were all bright, abstract, and to him, told the story of his feelings for Auggie.
Several were abstracts of Auggie himself, but most were of the emotions Auggie drew out of him.
The latest one he’d been working on, but not quite finished yet, spoke of hope and potential.
Auggie gasped, looking around slowly. His mouth opened and closed a few times, but he didn’t say anything.
“What do you think?” Thor finally asked.
“These are really because of me?” Auggie asked, turning to look at him. Auggie’s eyes were liquid with tears that hadn’t spilled yet.
“You were my inspiration. What’s wrong?” The paintings were full of yearning and hope and lust and love and the joy of finding a boy of his own. They were definitely not supposed to make Auggie cry.
“They’re the most beautiful paintings I’ve ever seen.” The tears spilled over, running down Auggie’s face.
Thor moved to Auggie’s side to wipe the tears away. “So these are happy tears?”
“Happy, touched, overwhelmed. This is really what you paint when you think of me?”
“My painting is one of the few places where I am one hundred percent open and honest. I can’t paint anything but my true self.”
Auggie threw his arms around Thor and clung to him. Thor wrapped him up in a tight hug, rocked Auggie, petted him. “It’s okay. Shh. It’s okay.”
“Thank you for showing me,” Auggie said, wiping his eyes. “No one’s ever seen me like this.”
“That’s okay with me. I don’t want to share you.” He bent and brought their lips back together.
Auggie continued to cling to him, with hands and lips, and he deepened the kisses, the electricity from earlier still there, sparking between them in the most exciting way.
He took a couple of steps backward, nearly stumbling when he found the chair he’d been aiming for. He managed to get them angled correctly, though, and sat in the chair instead of falling next to it, bringing Auggie down with him.
Auggie straddled his legs, and he let his hands drop to Auggie’s waist so he could pull them together. Moaning for him, Auggie slid his tongue along Thor’s. He sucked on it, and Auggie’s hips followed his lead, rocking into him with each suck on Auggie’s tongue.
Sweet noises filled the air as Auggie whimpered and moaned for him, pliable in his hands.
“Open our slacks,” he murmured against Auggie’s lips before diving in for more kisses, devouring Auggie’s mouth and riding the zinging sensations that flowed from their lips and through his body.
Auggie’s touch fumbled against him, but his boy didn’t hesitate, working their buttons open, their zippers down.
“Now fish us both out,” he ordered.
Whimpering, shivering, Auggie obeyed, pulling Thor’s cock out first. The slender fingers were warm and gentle, wrapping around him, feeling him up quite thoroughly.
He finally growled out, “You too.” No way he was letting Auggie get him off without being right there with him.
Another shiver shook Auggie’s body in his arms, but again, Auggie did as he was told, tugging his own cock out. The hard heat slapped against Thor’s as it was pulled from the confines of Auggie’s jeans.
Growling out his need, he grabbed Auggie’s hand and wrapped it around both their cocks, then wrapped Auggie’s hand with his own. He guided their movements, nipping at Auggie’s lips as he stroked them faster and faster.
Auggie cried out into his lips, cock growing harder against his own, and he knew it wouldn’t be long. He swiped his thumb across the tip of Auggie’s cock and shot out the order to come.
“Do it now, Auggie.”
Auggie’s entire body tightened and he came, spunk shooting up over their hands, filing the air with Auggie’s scent. That’s all Thor needed, and he came too, his hand squeezing them both as hard as he could while more heat sprayed up between them.
Auggie’s head dropped to his shoulder, his boy panting hard, body still moving, rocking the slim hips against him in ever slower movements.
He slid his free hand up and down along Auggie’s back, soothing his boy as Auggie’s movements finally stilled, his breathing evening out.
He pressed a kiss to the side of Auggie’s head.
Auggie finally sat back, eyes blown as he looked up at Thor. “Wow.”
He smiled, nodded. “You can say that again.”
“Okay. Wow.”
Chuckling, he hugged Auggie tightly against him. “Let me find something to clean us up.”
He reached around, knowing there were cloths on the table next to them and some of them were even clean. He grabbed one, chuckling as he wiped them clean, imagining that he’d grabbed a dirty one and he was now painting them with all the colors of his canvases.
“What?” Auggie demanded, looking a little belligerent.
“Easy, boy. I was just thinking of what would happen if I’d grabbed a used cloth, painted both our cocks and hands.”
Auggie giggled for him, the sound bright and happy. Oh. He needed to hear that again. He needed to hear that often. He vowed to himself that he would. Making Auggie happy and carefree and laughing would make a meaningful and fulfilling lifelong goal.
Now he just had to convince Auggie.