Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Idrive with the best care and attention into London, faithfully following the GPS to Will’s neighborhood.
Despite Will being an anxious passenger at the best of times, he drowses a little on the way back, leaning his head on a pillow against the window.
Right-hand drive is definitely not second nature to me, but it’s easy enough to get in the rhythm of things, even if I have to consciously think about making right turns or translating give way signs into yield.
There’re a few road markings that I don’t know what they mean, but we arrive safely on Will’s street.
At last, he stirs, sitting fully up. He runs a hand through his hair, getting his bearings as I creep along.
“I’m assuming it’s free-for-all street parking?” I ask.
“Yes.” Will nods, gesturing at the line of cars parked on either side of the street beneath leafy trees and impressive pale Victorian brick buildings. “It might take a couple of tries since it’s Friday night.”
Before long, I’ve parallel parked to Will’s satisfaction. “Arrived safe and sound,” I announce, grinning at him. “Now what?”
“If you don’t mind getting the suitcase, I can manage everything else.”
“Deal.”
Will finds his crutches in the back seat. He makes his way up to the front door. I lock the Land Rover with a flash of lights to enable the alarm, rolling the suitcase along, then carry it up the front steps as Will unlocks the front door.
Trailing him inside, I step over the fallen letters on the entry mat.
I gather the envelopes and set them on the hall table, then take the suitcase into the bedroom.
I put the suitcase on the bench at the foot of the bed, along with his messenger bag.
Then it’s Will’s turn to follow me, I discover as I turn around to go find him.
We’re caught in the dim light of the bedroom, the light falling from the entry hall behind him, the glow of the London night from the half-shut wooden shutters over the windows. Will leans against the doorframe, watching me.
And I love gazing at him in this moment, the way the light catches his face, the fall of his hair over his brow, his expression a little wistful. And more than that, full of longing. There’s something bittersweet in it. Probably because this most likely is a limited-time offer.
Watching Will, I swallow hard, wanting to remember this moment too.
Wanting to memorize everything about it and him and how incredible it feels to be together right now.
In the distance, we hear a car go down the street, a dog barking, people walking past outside, laughing on their way to Friday night plans.
The summer heat lingers after dark. There’s a time before Will, and everything after.
At last, I go to Will, catching his face between my hands. Ever so slowly, I brush my lips against the heat of his mouth, till he whimpers with desire. His body is taut with want.
“Come here…” I draw Will to me, kissing him reverently so he knows how important he is to me. After this week of high tension and stress, of being apart and wondering if I lost everything sacred. Like I’ve lost where my heart lives.
Will shudders, leaning into me, and then I lead him over with teasing kisses to sit on the bed. We explore each other leisurely, as if we have all the time in the world. Together, we make something whole. And right now, this is everything. More than everything, being here with the man I want.
“I love you, Will.” My mouth sears a path along his jaw, his throat, and I call his name again. My hand runs along his stomach as he shudders, tracing the tension in his body, down to the outline of his cock already pushed against the fabric of his jeans.
He leans his forehead against me, gripping my shoulders like I might disappear from view right in front of him. “I love you too. I want you so much it hurts.”
“I’m right here.” My assurances have a time limit, though, and we both know it. Like we can hear the minutes ticking past.
I draw Will into a deeper kiss as he wraps his arms around my neck, burying his fingers in my hair. He presses into me.
Every nerve is alert to him in my body, highly sensitized.
The way we kiss is transcendent, his heat and mine entwined into right now and tomorrow and yesterday.
With fingers that are usually so steady, they tremble as I unfasten his jeans and cup the strain of his erection through his cotton boxers. He jerks hard into me.
“Yes,” Will breathes. “Please.”
I help him out of his underwear, his jeans. He sits waiting for me on the bed once he’s stripped off his shirt and taken off his prosthesis, watching me undress. And there, in the spill of light, he glows. All we see is each other.
Then we’re kissing again, entwined on the bed. Skin to skin, we’ve exposed everything that matters, most of all our hearts, and there’re no words that can catch this feeling, how important it feels to be with him right now, here, together.
Mine. And ours.
With increasing urgency to our kisses, we settle against the pillows face-to-face on our sides, his leg over mine. It’s not long before he rolls onto his back, pulling me on top of him.
Will’s eyes are dark with desire, his cheeks flushed, as his breathing catches with my steady teasing. His cock is already seeping in my hand. When I go down on him a couple of minutes, he arches his back and cries out my name.
His erection strains, hot in my mouth. I thrill with every moan and shudder Will makes as I flick my tongue around the head of his cock. I tease his balls as he shivers in response, then work a beat with my mouth and hand as he whimpers.
I lift my head long enough to admire Will for a long moment. And fuck, he’s really hot.
“God, I love you, Dylan.”
Then I suck him without mercy, till he gasps, and writhes, and clutches the blankets. I find the lube and a condom, pausing.
Before long, I’ve teased him open as he lies on his stomach, with lube on my fingers, my arm around him as he shudders. “Yeah, like that,” I breathe, encouraging him.
We move onto our sides, and I at last enter Will.
And I’m overwhelmed with the sensation of him, hot and gorgeous, and fucking hell, it’s everything I can do to not come in this moment.
He’s incredible, and what we have might have a limited time, but I want him to know how much I want him. How much he matters.
With reverence, we move together, my fingers tracing the curve of Will’s balls, running along the length of his shaft, teasing the tip of his cock till he gives a broken moan. The sensation of him is beyond description, the familiar scent of his skin as I bury my face against the nape of his neck.
We’re both breathing raggedly as I thrust, ready for release a few minutes later, but then I suddenly withdraw. Will cries out at the sudden absence of me. “Please don’t stop…”
“I want to see your face.”
“You…” He’s lost with pleasure, dazedly turning his head to glance over his shoulder back at me.
Gently, I put Will onto his back again, shifting between his thighs. I rake my fingers along them, clutching him. “I need to see your face.”
“Oh God,” Will manages as I stroke his cock with teasing fingers, watching him splayed before me like a gift to unwrap and a treasure to keep. He presses his head back into the pillow, groaning nonsense words. He’s delightfully flushed.
“Yeah, babe. Like that.” My fingers encourage him.
“Fuck.” Will arches his back again, and then I press myself into him, press deep till he’s moaning my name, drunk on the ecstasy of our bodies locked together. And I push deep, rocking with him, gripping his thighs.
Soon, he can’t take it anymore and comes explosively a moment later, all over his stomach and his chest and mine. Till I follow him, too, as the bed creaks with the effort of our movements, the rhythm we make together, gasping hard as we soar.
When the blood stops pounding in my ears, dizzy with the exertion, I collapse down on him for a moment before shifting to my side, my leg and arm over him. Belatedly, I deal with the condom, then shift back to drape my arm over his chest. To rake my fingers along his jaw.
Will gasps, his sides heaving for air. He stares at the ceiling.
I can’t quite speak yet too.
“I hope I didn’t ruin your migraine recovery,” I manage when I’ve got enough air in my lungs again.
He laughs.
“I love you, Dylan,” Will manages finally in the darkness, interlacing his fingers with mine over his chest. “Please. Don’t leave. Stay here with me.”
“I’ll do everything I can to stay,” I promise him, but that promise isn’t enough.
For either of us. No matter what our hearts and bodies want. Too many unanswered questions lie ahead.