29. A Little Appreciation Here
A LITTLE APPRECIATION HERE
Asher
There’s no hot sleeping dad in the den when I return. The house is dead quiet. So I head toward the guest house where a light burns in the living room.
Mark isn’t on the couch, though.
And he’s not in his bed.
Hmm.
I find him in the last place I look. But it’s also the best place. He’s in my bedroom, lying on his side of the bed, possibly reading a book. Huzzah!
“Hi honey, I’m home,” I say. And then I want to kick myself. I can hear Flip’s voice in my head, telling me it’s dangerous to toy with Mark.
I’m not, though. He knows the score. He laid down the rules. I merely agreed to them, since they suited me. No one gets hurt. Everyone gets off.
“Mark?”
He doesn’t stir. My hookup is sleeping.
I tiptoe into the room and circle the bed. His dark eyelashes touch his cheeks. I switch off the lamp, but as my eyes adjust to the dark, I still admire him in the moonlight. Asleep, he looks younger than his twenty-seven years.
Quietly, I unbutton my shirt and then toss it onto the chair. Then I remove my slacks. And, why not, my underwear. Retracing my steps, I slip into bed behind him.
His skin is warm and smooth against mine. I take a deep breath of Florida nighttime air and Mark’s shower soap. It’s a potent combination if there ever was one. Then I press my lips to the back of his neck and lay down a soft, openmouthed kiss.
“Mmm,” Mark murmurs. And when I put a hand on his bare hip, he covers mine with his own.
“You do snore,” I whisper.
“Do not.”
I grin against his shoulder. Then I kiss him slowly right behind his ear. He inches a little closer, his body seeking me out.
“How was your drink with Flip?” he slurs.
Aggravating . I’m not going to share that, though. “We drank a very peaty scotch. I think there might be hair on my chest that wasn’t there before. Feel free to check.”
“Okay.”
I wait for him to roll over.
He doesn’t.
“Baby?”
“One sec. I will rally for 33A.”
“. . . And 33B, and 34A,” I tease. “I’m going to make a bar chart with your data, baby.”
He doesn’t laugh.
“Mark, I just made a spreadsheet joke. A little appreciation, here.”
Nothing. He’s out again.
I hitch my body closer to his, pressing my chest against his back. And that’s when I discover that Mark is starkers under my sheet. He’d set himself up in my bed, naked.
How sexy is that? His confidence just does something to me.
I reach up and run a hand through his hair.
He sighs happily.
Kissing the back of his neck again, I tick through my options. I could wake him up in the most time-honored way. With a blow job, of course.
Or I could just . . . not. As sexy as Mark’s naked body feels pressed to mine, it’s comfortable to lie here beside him. It washes away the aggravation. With him right here, I can feel my own annoyance drifting out to sea till it’s gone.
My mouth comes to rest against his shoulder, and I take a slow taste of his skin. The soundtrack of the night is his steady breathing.
My heart rate slows. This is nice too.
Nice . It’s not something I thought I was looking for. I don’t seduce men with the goal of cuddling them at midnight while the bay laps against the beach.
But it’s hard to deny the pleasure of this moment. I haven’t had a night like this since Garrett?—
And, yup. There’s a lesson learned. I’m not the kind of guy who can pull off the nice, domestic couple stuff. I’m shit at it.
This is just a stolen moment. An oasis in the disco desert.
I lay my head on the pillow beside Mark’s and curl an arm around his waist.
Flip’s voice pops back into my head. What are you doing?
Shut up , I tell my inner Flip. He can keep his opinions to himself. I’m not bruising Mark’s heart. I’m not bruising any part of him. (Unless he asks me to. And these days, the good handcuffs are padded.)
I’m a gentleman.
And I’m going to be somebody’s godfather. Maybe that’s Flip’s way of nudging me toward his style of adulthood.
Maybe his comments were more about his big life changes than my shortcomings.
That must be it.
On that thought, I fall asleep snuggled up to Mark Banks.