Chapter Seventeen #2
Marcos stared at the counter. “Sorry I freaked out last time I was here.”
“It’s cool. If you didn’t go home and get blackout drunk after, then you did better than I did the first time.”
Marcos glanced up. “That bad?”
“Yeah.” Sebastian exhaled sharply through his nose. “Though, my first time wasn’t with someone as hot as me, so…”
Marcos laughed, spinning in his chair to face Sebastian, bringing his forehead into Sebastian’s chest. “You think pretty highly of yourself.”
“Yeah, well, someone has to.”
The joke came out easily enough, but it caught somewhere after. He felt Marcos shift, and his forehead lifted from Sebastian’s chest and his eyes came up.
“I think moderately of you.”
Sebastian felt his stomach trying to pull his heart down as he stared at Marcos, hearing the lightness in his voice despite the heaviness in the air.
“I can work with that,” Sebastian muttered, bringing his lips to Marcos’.
The kiss started softly because neither of them seemed ready for anything else. Marcos’ mouth met his without hesitation, but the pressure stayed light, almost careful. Sebastian let his hand move from Marcos’ back to the side of his neck, thumb settling near his jaw.
They moved with each other gently, letting the moment sit soft at the edges. Marcos’ legs widened a little, and Sebastian slid between them.
Marcos was the first to pull away, his hand tracing between the buttons on Sebastian’s shirt.
“I want to try it again,” he murmured, and Sebastian’s breath caught. “More of it.”
For a second, Sebastian couldn’t move, and he felt his skin tighten beneath his clothes before he forced himself back into the moment.
“Wild guess, you’re not talking about the grilled cheese,” Sebastian joked, and he felt Marcos’ shoulders jolt in what he assumed was a laugh. “Are you sure?”
Marcos nodded. “It’s the same. Right?”
Sebastian stifled a laugh, though a choked sound still came out. “I mean, more or less.”
“Wait, I don’t have to,” Marcos started, his eyebrows furrowing as he watched Sebastian. “You know…”
“Because I’m nice, I’m not going to make you finish that sentence. But no. You just do what you would normally do.”
Marcos bit his lower lip. “What I’d normally do?”
“Oh, my God.” Sebastian laughed, but stopped when he saw Marcos’ face shift. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you. It’s just… I’ve never seen you like this.”
“Is it a turnoff?” Marcos grimaced, and Sebastian ran his hand down his cheek.
“No, no. It’s cute.”
“Cute? I don’t think I’ve been called cute before.”
“Hmm, how about handsome? Sexy?” Sebastian’s hand traced along Marcos’ jaw and fell onto his chest. “Is this helping?”
“I think I’d rather just kiss you.”
“That works too—”
Marcos cut Sebastian off, firmly bringing their lips together.
The surprise caused Sebastian’s mouth to part, and Marcos’ tongue darted inside, sliding against his.
The kiss changed quickly, as if Marcos had found a place to put the embarrassment and decided force was easier than sitting under it.
Sebastian’s hand fisted in his shirt, pulling himself closer, and Marcos’ hands ran up the back of his neck, fingers tangling in his hair as he pushed off the chair.
The change in position caused Sebastian to lose balance, having to tilt his head up to compensate for Marcos’ height. He quickly steadied himself, letting go of Marcos’ shirt and wrapping his arms around his body instead, splaying his fingers out across his back.
The kiss deepened, and they shuffled across the floor as Marcos pushed with more pressure.
Sebastian let Marcos take the lead, letting himself be lead through his apartment.
Marcos’ hands stayed in his hair for another few seconds before one dropped to his waist, gripping there with more certainty.
Sebastian felt the counter brush the side of his hip, then the open space near the hall as Marcos kept walking him back without seeming to know where he was going.
“Where’s your bedroom?” Marcos asked as he pulled away.
Sebastian didn’t answer. Instead, he grabbed Marcos’ wrist and pulled him past the kitchen and down the second hall, and through the door into his bedroom.
He turned as they entered, gazing up at Marcos, licking his lip.
Marcos looked around quickly, not taking in much, or maybe taking in too much and not wanting to show it. The bedroom light caught the edge of his cheekbone, the faint uncertainty in his eyes, the breath that passed through him as Sebastian took a step back toward the bed.
“What now?” Sebastian asked.
Marcos followed, fingers fiddling with the buttons on Sebastian’s shirt. “Can I be cute again?”
Sebastian smiled, watching Marcos’ face and knowing exactly what he meant. “Alright. Here.”
Sebastian tugged on the hem of Marcos’ shirt, pulling it up over his head.
Marcos lifted his arms when Sebastian guided him, his shirt catching briefly at his elbows before Sebastian freed it and threw it on the floor.
His hands returned at once, running over Marcos’ muscles before he could stop himself.
Marcos’ skin was warm beneath his palms. His chest rose quickly, though he was trying to keep his breathing even, and Sebastian could feel the effort in him.
Sebastian let his hands move slowly. Across Marcos’ shoulders first, then down over his chest, following the lines he had already learned under water.
Marcos swallowed, then followed Sebastian’s lead, slowly unbuttoning his shirt.
His fingers fumbled on the first button, and Sebastian didn’t comment.
The second came easier. By the third, Marcos’ focus had narrowed, his eyes following each bit of skin as it was revealed.
Sebastian rolled his neck back as Marcos worked his way down.
When the last button came free, Marcos pushed the shirt off Sebastian’s shoulders, letting it drop to the floor.
Sebastian stood there in front of him, bare from the waist up, feeling the cool air of the room across his skin and the heat of Marcos’ gaze everywhere else. He took his glasses off, throwing them carelessly onto the shelves before he brought his hand to Marcos’ face again, drawing him back in.
Marcos met the kiss quickly. Sebastian gave it to him, mouth opening beneath the firmer pressure, hands sliding over Marcos’ bare chest before he spun them and guided him toward the bed. Marcos followed, not smooth enough to hide the nerves still sitting in him, but not pulling back either.
They stopped once the back of Marcos’ knees hit the mattress.
Sebastian pressed closer, and Marcos’ hands found his waist, then his back, then lower again, like he couldn’t decide where he wanted to hold.
The kiss turned rougher with the awkward shift, their mouths moving harder as neither of them gave ground.
Marcos’ fingers spread across Sebastian’s bare skin, warm and a little unsteady, and Sebastian felt the change in him with every second they stayed there.
The uncertainty not gone but starting to blur around the edges.
Marcos lowered himself onto the bed’s edge, and Sebastian adjusted with him, straddling Marcos without breaking the kiss. Marcos’ hands caught at his hips at once, a rough breath leaving him against Sebastian’s mouth, and Sebastian smiled into it before kissing him harder.
His hands moved around the back of Marcos’ head, fingers tugging at his curls as he tried to get closer. Marcos made a low sound and shifted underneath him, hips lifting by instinct. Sebastian felt the hard line of him through the dress pants.
Sebastian rolled his hips once, slow and deliberate, and Marcos’ hands tightened on him. He moved beneath Sebastian with more confidence. His mouth opened wider. His grip on Sebastian’s hips became less careful, and he pushed back firmer into the next kiss.
The pressure Sebastian gave against Marcos’ mouth made them fall slowly onto the mattress.
Marcos went first, back hitting the bed with a breathless sound, and Sebastian followed him down, catching himself with one hand beside Marcos’ head. His knees stayed close to Marcos’ sides, keeping most of his weight off him.
Marcos chased his lips when Sebastian pulled back.
He stayed just out of reach, looking down at Marcos. Marcos’ curls had spread messily against the bedding, his eyes still half-closed, his mouth wet from kissing. His hands had landed on Sebastian’s thighs and stayed there.
“Still want to be cute?” Sebastian asked, grinning.
“Yeah,” Marcos murmured, his hips bucking into Sebastian.
The motion dragged Sebastian’s gaze down. Marcos was straining against the front of his pants, the fabric pulled tight enough that there was no hiding how badly he wanted this. Sebastian bit his lower lip, heat curling low in his stomach, before he brought his attention back to Marcos’ face.
He kissed him again, fleeting.
Then his mouth moved to the side, running along Marcos’ jaw and up to his ear.
Marcos’ breath hitched when Sebastian’s teeth grazed lightly there, and the sound went straight through him.
Sebastian did it again, slower, letting his lips drag over the warm skin below Marcos’ ear before working down his neck.
Marcos tipped his head back.
Sebastian took his time there, kissing along his throat, then lower, over the place where his pulse kept jumping too hard under the skin.
He felt every sound Marcos tried to swallow.
They moved through his chest before they reached Sebastian’s mouth, caught somewhere between breath and moan, and Sebastian wanted to pull each one out of him properly.
His hand ran across Marcos’ chest, fingers spreading over the muscle there before finding one nipple.
Marcos’ stomach flexed.
Sebastian glanced up, then let his thumb brush over it again.
Marcos’ eyes were closed now, his brow drawn in, mouth parted around a breath he seemed to have forgotten to finish.
Sebastian lowered his mouth and took the nipple with his tongue, flicking over it once before closing his lips around it.
“Fuck,” Marcos breathed.