CHAPTER EIGHT
Jesus Christ, Mary, and Joseph, that kiss.
That. Fucking. Kiss.
Asher had thought the sweet kiss back at the café had been memorable, but the one in his garage had been like grabbing onto a live wire. He hadn’t meant to do it. He’d told himself not to do it. Then, he’d done it anyway.
And the award for utter and debilitating lack of self-control goes to…
Cameron’s taste still lingered on his lips, a heady combination of tequila and caramel coffee, which shouldn’t have been appealing, but made his dick hard, nonetheless.
He wanted another taste. Then another. He wanted to be greedy, to take and take until he drowned in it.
He wanted Cameron naked against the nearest flat surface—vertical or horizontal, it didn’t much matter.
Leading Cameron through a dimly lit hallway that connected the garage to a mudroom at the back of his kitchen, he kept his hands to himself.
If the guy called a cab and went straight home, Asher wouldn’t blame him.
Yes, no. Hot, cold. Stop, go. Since setting eyes on him at Outlaws, he’d been throwing out more mixed signals than a faulty brake light .
The problem was he didn’t know what he wanted.
His dick was all in favor of stripping them both down and letting his hips do the talking.
His mind did cartwheels, excited and intrigued by the first truly interesting person he’d met in a long time.
His heart—no, fuck that guy. His heart couldn’t be trusted.
“Are you hungry?” The recessed lighting in the kitchen turned on automatically when they entered, and Asher grinned at the awestruck look on Cameron’s face.
“Not really.” His eyelashes fluttered as his gaze dropped to somewhere near Asher’s sternum. The tip of his tongue darted out to wet his lips, and his voice vibrated a little when he spoke. “I do want to kiss you again, though.”
Asher managed not to groan by swallowing his tongue, then coughed and sputtered like a goddamn virgin.
It was awesome. Super sexy. He didn’t know how Cameron hadn’t jumped him already when he was serving up moves like that.
“I’m sorry,” Cameron offered immediately, a pink flush working its way up his neck. “I thought…I thought you…that you…”
“I do,” Asher assured him, finding his confidence in Cameron’s uncertainty.
Boldly, he took one of Cameron’s hands and brought it to his straining erection, letting him feel the proof of his desire.
“Trust me.” The raspy quality of his voice didn’t surprise him, but the underlying need to soothe and reassure did. “I really do.”
Cameron’s gasp echoed through the empty kitchen, and his fingers flexed, cupping Asher’s cock through his jeans.
Whether purposely or instinctively, Asher couldn’t be sure, but he didn’t waste time analyzing it.
Closing his eyes, a harsh moan spilling from his lips, he held the hand in place and rocked forward, seeking more friction.
Another hesitant squeeze drew his eyes open, and he nearly came right there in his spotless kitchen when he saw the look on Cameron’s face.
Eyes wide and glassy, pupils blown, lips parted—he already looked like a debauched angel, and Asher had barely touched him.
With a soft growl borne of desire and need and things he couldn’t name, he released the hand on his cock, grabbed Cameron’s face, and slanted their mouths together.
He didn’t wait this time, didn’t ask for permission.
When Cameron’s lips parted on a near-silent gasp, he plunged between them with his tongue, sweeping inside his mouth, desperate for just one more taste.
He wanted Cameron under him, over him, naked and writhing, stripped out his preppy clothes. Hair mussed. Lips swollen. Cheeks flushed with lust rather than nerves. He couldn’t wait to see the straitlaced computer analyst unbuttoned…completely undone.
Tilting Cameron’s head back to change the angle, he thrust deeper, harder, a promise of things to come. Every moan and whimper that spilled from Cameron’s mouth went right to his dick, until the ache in his balls bordered on actual pain. Still, he didn’t stop. One more taste. Just one more.
“Please,” Cameron whispered, trembling as he arched against him.
Asher nearly lost his fucking mind. If Cameron was anyone else, he wouldn’t have hesitated. He’d have him right there, bent over the kitchen island with his pants around his ankles, pounding into his tight body until they both collapsed from exhaustion.
Cameron wasn’t just anyone, though. He was different…special. No matter how hard he’d tried to deny it during the past week, with Cameron in his arms, his taste on his tongue, the truth couldn’t be ignored.
Sighing with a mixture of frustration and acceptance, he eased out of the kiss and pressed his forehead to Cameron’s while he struggled to tame his raging lust. This beautiful, mystifying, kind man wasn’t one of the club boys he could bring home, fuck, then send on his way in the morning.
He never felt guilty about using those guys because they used him right back.
Everything felt different with Cameron, and Asher had just started to realize that maybe different wasn’t so bad.
“What would you like to do?” The question hung between them, and he shook his head at how that must have come across after such a blistering kiss.
“Bowling,” he clarified, “or air hockey. We could go for a midnight swim.” He shook his head again.
Being half naked and wet with Cameron wouldn’t help his self-control. “A movie?”
As usual, those hypnotic blue eyes gave away everything. The glaze of lust morphed into confusion, then the blue darkened with uncertainty. Asher watched it all play out with fascination until the concern bled into a sadness that constricted his chest and twisted his stomach.
“Oh, uh, a movie sounds good.”
“Great.” He should have just left it at that.
He’d never cared before, but the dejection in Cameron’s tone broke him.
“I’m not great at this,” he admitted, and the honesty felt surprisingly good.
“I don’t date. I don’t do commitment. Relationships are messy and complicated, and frankly, I’ve never wanted to put in the work. ”
“I get it.”
He didn’t, not really. Sliding a knuckle under Cameron’s chin, he urged his head up and brushed their lips together in a soft kiss. “You’re different,” he promised. “I want to do this right.”
Cameron’s eyes sparked with hope before he shifted his gaze downward. “This?”
The words felt so foreign, Asher had to roll them around in his brain a few times, and still, they didn’t sound right. Honesty had worked the first time, so he decided to just go with more of that .
“I want to watch a movie, maybe cuddle a little.” He couldn’t stop the grin that stretched across his face. He never cuddled, at least not clothed. He thought he might like it with Cameron, though. “I want to wake up in the morning and make you breakfast.”
“You cook?” Cameron batted his lashes innocently.
Fuck, he was gorgeous.
“I do.” Not a lot or well, but he could make scrambled eggs.
Eggs were a perfectly acceptable breakfast food.
“I want you to spend the day tomorrow,” he continued.
This honesty thing was getting easier. “I’ll even show you my library.
” He chuckled when Cameron’s whole face lit up.
“Then, tomorrow night, I want to take you to Swerve.”
The light dimmed a little, and he tilted his head to the side. “We’re going to the club?”
Asher nodded, his mouth going dry. Out of everything, his next admission would be the hardest. “I want everyone to know you’re mine.”
“Holy shit,” Cameron breathed after a long, pregnant silence. “You’re serious.” Not a question. “You’re talking about an actual relationship?”
Hearing it out loud made it seem more real, more intimidating, but Asher breathed deeply through his nose and nodded. Maybe he’d hate it. Maybe in a week or a month he’d wake up and realize he really wasn’t built for monogamy. Hell, maybe he’d be terrible at it .
He’d never know unless he tried, and with Cameron, he really wanted to take that chance.
“Are you sure about this? I mean, you’ve known me for a whole five minutes. You seem really calm, but I can’t help thinking you’re going to freak out any second.”
“I’ve never been afraid to go after what I want.” With his fingers still under Cameron’s chin, he urged him closer, claiming his lips again, lingering just a little longer this time. “I want you.”
The attraction had been instant. From the first time he’d set eyes on Cameron, he’d wanted him.
He hadn’t expected the connection, the abrupt and intense sense of familiarity, like some missing piece in his life had finally settled into place, but he wanted to see where it could lead if he stopped fighting it.
“There’s something different about you,” Cameron confessed.
“Something I wasn’t expecting. I’m not going to pressure you for more than you can give, but I don’t want to think about you having sex with other guys while we’re doing this—” He waved his hand around vaguely. “—whatever it is we’re doing.”
Good, because Asher felt the same way. God, he still wanted to punch Scott in his stupid, smug face. “Don’t worry. I’m not sleeping with anyone else.” He could at least offer that much…for now. “So, movie?”
It had clearly been the right thing to say, because Cameron grinned, and just like that, the tension of the night melted into something warm and pleasant. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
~
Led down a corridor wide enough to drive a tank through, Cameron vibrated with nerves and anticipation.
When Asher stopped in front of a cream-colored door with bronze trim and a matching knob, he didn’t know what to think.
They were supposed to be watching a movie, which he’d assumed meant they’d be going to Asher’s ridiculously large theater room.