12. Chapter 12
Chapter twelve
Aras
W hat in the ever-loving fuck am I doing? Aras’s stomach had been doing backflips since he’d first offered Dane his phone. Honestly, since he’d accidentally scrolled past Dane’s dick pic, but it had intensified with every step they took toward the main event—literally and figuratively.
The elevator opened and he stayed close to Dane, but a step of two behind. There was plenty of time to back out if his reason ever overtook his damn hormones. That, however, felt increasingly unlikely as they passed a few doors, a little alcove with ice and a vending machine, and finally stopped for Dane to pull out his key card. He slid it in, the lights flashed green, and Dane pushed the door open with a flourish. “Come see my hovel.”
Dane held the door, which meant Aras had to shimmy past him to get inside. Not an objectionable experience at all, but score one more point for his hormones. The room, as he expected—and as Dane probably expected too—was essentially the exact same as Aras’s, with a single queen bed, small desk, TV, fridge, and microwave. Bland colors and blander décor, and like all hotels, not nearly enough lighting or outlets.
Aras peeked out the window. “Think you actually got the better view. I look out on the alley behind the hotel.” This wasn’t some amazing ocean view or something, of course, but he would take a street view. Especially at night, in a city the size of Baltimore, with all the lights twinkling.
Aras turned to see Dane just standing . He looked at Aras, his face still flushed, and he had his thumbs in his waistband. The pressure pulled his jeans down just a touch, showing off the band of his underwear and another tantalizing, pale stretch of belly.
Aras nearly groaned. “Eager? I’ve already seen yours, so seems like this isn’t quite fair turnaround.” Every inch of Aras wanted to pounce, to drag Dane onto the bed and claw off his clothes and taste each part of him, one by one.
Dane shrugged, not removing his thumbs. “It looks better in person.”
“Hard to believe.” It looked damn good in the picture. Aras breathed in, taking care not to raise his shoulders, just fill up from the diaphragm. He didn’t want to look like he was nervous at all.
Then he undid his belt and the button of his jeans. “You can tell me to stop if this is a joke that went too far.”
Dane laughed, which fired a pang of nerves down Aras’s back. Then Dane smiled. “Like hell I’m going to tell a hot guy not to show me his junk.”
Tension wicked away from Aras’s body and he undid his zipper, then dropped his jeans and stepped out. “I didn’t exactly plan for these to be seen, so they’re not…good.” His trunks didn’t have holes in them or anything, but they were white with big, cartoony flowers on them. Including a rose right over the fly.
“Not good? I think I need to buy them right now.”
Aras chuckled. He started to, at least. Then Dane shimmied out of his jeans, showing off black briefs with neon blue ribbing around the legs and the fly, and that chuckle caught and turned into choking on his own spit. Very classy. Very sexy. Very in control .
“I don’t usually have that effect on men. Unless they’re on their knees already.” Dane walked to the bathroom—even through his fading cough, Aras couldn’t help but notice the way his briefs rode up a bit, showing off the bottom of two supple ass cheeks—and came back out with a small glass of water. “Drink something. If you can manage.”
Aras took a swig, then nodded. “Thanks.” He was making a terrible impression, but he just hoped he could salvage it. Save a little face if nothing else. He finished off the rest of his water, then looked down to Dane’s bulge. The front of his underwear was notably darker, right around what he had to assume was the tip of his cock. Seeing that, Aras twitched and his head went light and fuzzy. “On…on three?” It wasn’t quite a stutter, but like the phrase didn’t quite want to come out.
Dane nodded. “One.”
Aras slid his fingers into his waistband. “Two.”
“Three.”
Aras pulled them down and they dropped. Dane’s briefs were tight enough, he had to shimmy his hips side to side to get the underwear to his knees, where they finally fell to the floor.
“You were right.” Aras thought he was into Dane before. He’d been wrong. That was mild. This was animal and wild and uncontrolled like a hurricane inside his core. “It’s much better in person. I didn’t think that was possible.”
Maybe much better was an exaggeration—that picture had been enough to get them up to the hotel room and dropping trou—but it was a nice sight. Helped that he was iron hard, jutting up at an angle and shining with precum. His bush was a little damp, but still matched his mohawk, and the peek of hair from his armpits.
But that wasn’t where Aras’s gaze stuck. He traced down the soft lines of Dane’s thighs, down the harsh angles of his calves, to his toes, which curled and uncurled across the industrial-grade carpet. Then he forced his gaze back up to see Dane staring down, his cheeks somehow redder than before. As Aras traced his line of sight, he looked down at himself. At least I’m still hard .
Dane cleared his throat and looked up. “Sorry. Uh. Does it sound insincere if I say ten out of ten?”
“Yes.” Aras pulled his feet up through his bunched pant legs and took a step closer. “But I’m not going to turn down a compliment.” Not from a guy as cute as Dane. He’d give any of the guys hell if they tried to bullshit him like that. Then again, if he was comparing dicks with any of the Pine Point crew, he’d found himself in a crazy situation. They were in their thirties, and he’d gotten all of his random friend fucking out of his system when they were a lot younger. At least I sure I hope I did .
Dane took a tentative step forward, reaching his hand out low at his hip. He was shorter than Aras by several inches, so he looked up into Aras’s eyes. “You want me to feel you up?”
Aras snorted—softly, since it was blowing straight in Dane’s face—then reached around and placed his hand in the small of Dane’s back. “Feel me up? What are you, eighty?”
“You collect grandma glass and you’re calling me old?” Dane’s fingers brushed against Aras’s cock, his balls, his abdomen, and the world flashed to lightning and fire and glorious madness.