CHAPTER TWELVE
Thankfully, Graham had been right, and the coast was clear when Thad knocked quietly on Graham’s door an hour later.
Graham let him in and although Thad had half-expected Graham to grab him and kiss him immediately, he merely closed the door behind him and turned away.
“Everything okay?” Thad asked with a frown.
“Disappointed in the way I played.” Graham sat heavily on the edge of the bed. He’d changed into sweats and a tee and looked casual and comfy, if miserable.
“I get that,” Thad said carefully as he took a seat beside him, studying his expression. “But you do realize you’re the only reason the team had a chance, right?”
“But if I hadn’t flubbed the shot in the first period …”
For a while, Thad listened while Graham dissected every mistake he’d made.
Thad let him, because that was his process.
This wasn’t the first time he’d sat quietly and listened while Graham broke down every tiny mistake he made in a game.
But it was the first time Thad could cup Graham’s face with his hands when he was done rambling and say, “I hear what you’re saying. But let me tell you what I saw.”
Thad proceeded to counter Graham’s critique with praise of what he’d seen and interspersed each point with a soft kiss. By the time Thad was done, Graham was smiling, his expression relaxed and his shoulders softer. Less tense.
Graham lay back, dragging Thad down onto the sheets with him. “You have some good points,” he said huskily.
“Yeah?” Thad propped himself up on one elbow and grinned at him, relieved it didn’t seem like Graham wanted to end things between them. He traced his thumb along Graham’s cheekbone, the catch of blond stubble against the sensitive pad sending a subtle zing of pleasure through his skin.
“Yeah. I like this new style of pep talk too.” Graham grinned back, reaching up to run his fingertips along the shell of Thad’s ear.
He shivered.
“There are some advantages to being more than your friend now,” Thad admitted.
Graham chuckled. “How often did you want to do that before? When did it start for you?”
“Oh,” Thad said. “Shit, I don’t know. A while before we kissed for the first time. I never thought it would happen but …”
He brushed his fingers against Graham’s temple, still a little stunned they were doing this. That these soft, tender feelings for Graham were something he got to experience, much less act on.
He’d had no idea what it was like to look at someone and feel this way. To think only of what he could do for them and not what they could do for him.
To never wonder if they had an ulterior motive. Because with Graham, he knew better. He never did.
“I didn’t think it would happen either, obviously.”
“That’s because you were afraid of all this Thaddness,” he teased.
Graham snorted, then wrapped an arm around his back and pulled him closer. “Shut up and show me some of these other advantages to being more than friends with you.”
Smiling, Thad did as requested, dipping his head to kiss Graham.
Everything was soft and easy for a while, though Graham let out a quiet groan and held him tighter when Thad placed a few damp, lingering kisses on the side of his jaw and throat.
“Yeah?” Thad murmured, brushing his nose against the fragile skin there.
“Mmm.” Graham shifted on the bed, digging his fingers into Thad’s back.
Thad drank in every little hitch in Graham’s breath when he found a sensitive spot or used his tongue to tease at the fleshy part of Graham’s earlobe.
Was that a place where he’d ever taken his time in the past? Had he ever taken this much time with anyone before Graham?
Thad wasn’t a selfish lover but there had been little time to linger with Teddy, little opportunity for softness or sweetness. And the hookups he’d had since hadn’t really offered him that either. Most people were happy to get fucked, then politely kick him out of their place.
And he’d been fine with it at the time. Thought it was what he wanted. But was that only because he hadn’t known what else was out there? Or was it because of who he was with now?
Because this … this was a revelation.
Thad liked the lazy, unhurried exploration he could make of the column of Graham’s neck, the familiar scent of his skin filling his nose and leaving him lightheaded.
Thad licked across a spot at the base of Graham’s neck where it met his shoulder and felt Graham shudder under him.
“I wish you could leave marks,” Graham whispered roughly.
Thad shuddered too.
Because, fuck, he hadn’t wanted that before either but he fucking did now. Wanted to suck and lick until everyone could see Thad had been there. To warn anyone else from trying to go there again. To show everyone Graham was his.
God, what had he done to deserve this?
“Fuck,” Thad whispered again and pressed his face against Graham’s throat before the desperate urge to mark Graham up passed.
Graham settled a hand in Thad’s hair, carding through it with his fingers. “You like that idea, huh?” he whispered.
“Yeah,” Thad rasped. He wasn’t ready to say how he felt to Graham. Why he wanted all that. But he could admit that much.
He tugged at the neckline of Graham’s shirt to get at his collarbone and drag his tongue wetly across it. He blew air across it, watching as Graham shivered and bit his lip, eyes closed, head thrown back.
So he did it again.
When he sat up, Graham let out a quiet sound of protest.
“Hey, I’m not going anywhere, baby,” Thad assured Graham as he pushed up his shirt to get at the skin of his chest. He loomed over him for a moment, grinning crookedly down at him. “Or are you my dirty boy?”
The full-body shudder that wracked Graham’s body made Thad’s heart speed up.
Oh fuck that was hot.
“I want to be,” Graham whispered, looking at him. An angel ready to be debauched by the devil.
Thad buried his face against Graham’s chest, breathing him in for a moment to steady himself.
Fuck, this wasn’t going to be easy to hold back. And at this rate, Thad was going to spontaneously combust before they did anything.
If this were anyone else, he’d have their clothes off and legs spread, balls-deep in them already. But this was Graham.
And Thad knew it would be so, so much better if he took it slow. If he gave them both time to adjust to this change. If he gave Graham the care and attention he deserved.
So Thad lifted his head and licked Graham’s nipple.
Even in the dim lamplight, it was pink and perky, going hard at the first swipe of his tongue. Under him, Graham squirmed, letting out a breathy little “oh” when Thad dragged his teeth across it.
He twisted under Thad, his hands going to Thad’s hair again, greedily demanding more.
But Thad resisted for a moment, looking Graham in the eye and giving him a smug smile.
“You like that,” Thad observed with satisfaction.
“Yeah. Yeah, they’re really sensitive.” Graham bit his lip. “Do it again.”
So Thad kept going, swirling his tongue and flicking. Gently nibbling. Biting down harder.
He could feel every restless shift of Graham’s hips. See the way he arched into the sensation as Thad alternated between his nipples.
Thad braced an arm across Graham’s hips to pin him in place and kept going. And going. Until Graham’s nipples were reddened and puffy, standing up in stiff peaks from his chest and he twisted under Thad hard enough to nearly shake him off.
Graham let out a desperate little gasp and tugged at Thad’s hair. “I can’t … fuck, I can’t take anymore.”
He sounded so frustrated and desperate Thad felt an answering thrum of need in his body. He glanced down to see the tent of Graham’s cock in his team-branded sweats. Thad was suddenly grateful that they were gray instead of black. The lighter fabric showed the damp patch on them.
Thad’s mouth watered, wanting nothing more than to yank them down and suck Graham off until his eyes rolled back in his head and he yelled Thad’s name.
But he forced himself to go slow. “What do you need?” he asked, sitting back on his heels. “Tell me what you want.”
“Fuck, anything,” Graham pleaded.
“You shouldn’t say that to a guy like me,” Thad said, because fuck, Graham had no idea what he could do to him. What he wanted to do.
“I trust you,” Graham said, his tone turned stubborn.
Thad groaned and surged forward to give him a quick hard kiss before he settled his hand over the front of Graham’s sweats, loving the soft, needy gasp he let out and the way he bucked into the touch.
For a few moments, Thad mapped out the length and width of Graham’s cock through the fabric, squeezing gently and feeling his immediate response.
Graham whined when Thad let go but he pressed their mouths together to reassure him he wasn’t going anywhere, then slipped a hand under the stretchy waistband.
Graham’s cock was hard and sticky at the tip, and Thad had made a few slow, firm strokes up and down his length before it hit him Graham wasn’t wearing underwear.
He’d planned for this.
“Dirty boy, indeed,” Thad said appreciatively.
Graham moaned.
With his free hand, Thad fumbled in his shorts for the lube he’d stashed there. “Gonna get you all slick,” he rasped as he pulled away long enough to spread some gel on his palm. “And then give you the best fucking handjob of your life.”
Was that cocky of him to say? Yeah, probably, but he’d become somewhat of an expert on the under-the-covers, surreptitious action to prevent the corrections officers from noticing and he damn well knew his way around a cock.
Graham shimmied his sweats down to mid-thigh and Thad grinned at him. “Eager,” he said appreciatively.
Graham shrugged and Thad would bet if the light was any brighter in the room, he’d have seen a flush of mottled color on Graham’s cheeks.
Thad got a slick hand on him and Graham let out a moan—a little too loud this time—so Thad covered his mouth with his own, muffling his sounds and kissing him deeply as he stroked.
He went slow at first, light, languid glides with a little tease of his fingers against the flared head.