Chapter Seven #2
Graham had been so close to having it all. He’d been on the cusp of joy and a family. Instead, he’d lived alone in hell for seven years.
“I’m sorry I gave you an ultimatum,” he whispered. “I would have been your husband. I would have had my heart,” he added. “I was so close to being loved for the rest of my life instead of being…THIS.”
Michael felt horrible.
This wasn’t faked.
There was so much emotion here.
Yes, Riley cried and begged for forgiveness, but not once did he carry the blame. It was always someone else’s fault.
HIS.
But with Graham, he was taking ownership. He was being the bad guy when Michael was just as much to blame. After all, he could have come back.
Instead, he’d never checked on him.
He’d abandoned him.
As he cried, Michael reached down, and pulled him up. He picked him up in his arms, and carried him to the bed. There, he crawled into the blankets and held him.
“I was so close,” he whispered. “I was twelve hours away, and I could have had my greatest dream and the best treasure in the world,” he whispered. “I almost had you. I almost had the best thing in the world, and I threw it away with an ultimatum. How do I live with that?”
Michael held him.
In that moment, he knew.
He still loved him.
While he’d seen countless horrible things, there was that overwhelming need to forgive and go back into that storm.
With Graham.
When he lifted his chin, the man’s lower lip quivered. There was so much pain there.
Michael wanted to free him from that.
Gently, he found his mouth, and curiosity won out. He wanted to know if it would feel the same.
If they were the same.
He wanted to know if they could pick up right where they left off, or if they were beyond redemption.
Michael was willing to put it all on this one, last gamble.
With that gentle kiss came a fire that had always been there. It rose up, stoking as the heat and flames filled them.
Michael deepened the kiss, controlling it. He let that part of him out, and he waited to see if Graham would respond to him.
And a miracle happened.
He did.
That lust wound around them, and time was erased. It was just like the last time they made love. All of those feelings were there, and Michael opened himself up for heartbreak one last time.
In the pain, he found the strength to do it.
As he kissed him, Graham let everything fall away. If this was his last time with D’Artangnan, then he’d treasure it. Like the dreams he’d had all night, he dove in, needing that contact with him.
He needed this man to be whole.
He’d tried to live without him, and Graham knew it wouldn’t work. All he could hope was that if he opened himself up for this, they might make it work.
Because living without him…
It was torture.
As they kissed, Graham moved instinctually into the man’s body. All the time apart fell away, and it was the most familiar thing in the world.
This he knew.
This he craved.
As he felt D’Artangnan’s arms wrap around him, time moved backward, and he was back in that small apartment, just the two of them.
And there was calm.
In the fire, there was peace.
The kiss was wild, it was wicked, and both men poured EVERYTHING they had into it. If there would only be this one moment, they’d make it count.
In a way, it was both of them asking for forgiveness.
With love.
With heat.
With passion.
Together, they made the heat in the room go up, and that was only with a kiss.
As Michael broke the kiss, he stared into Graham’s eyes.
“Don’t do this if you don’t mean it,” he whispered. “I can’t be hurt again.”
Oh, he meant it.
There was nothing he meant more.
“Is this it, and then you’re gone?” he asked. “Because I can’t do this and let you go again. I won’t survive.”
Michael knew what he wanted.
Again, those years fell away.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said.
In that moment, he was willing to do whatever it took to make sure this time, he did the right thing.
By their relationship.
By Graham.
His hand slipped to the man’s thigh, where the tattoo had been placed all of those years ago. When he touched it, tears filled Graham’s eyes.
He couldn’t believe he was being given this second chance, and he knew he’d not let it go to waste.
EVER.
Instead of saying anything more, he went back into the storm, sealing his mouth to his.
The kiss was even more heated.
And that said it all.
Because he never stopped loving this man, Graham clung to him with all he had. He wrapped his arms around his neck as he kissed him like he was trying to climb into his body.
Michael held on, and he knew what he wanted. They were both gross from the lake, so he’d get them cleaned up, so they could get dirty all over again.
Picking him up, Graham wrapped his legs around his hips as he kept kissing him.
As Michael walked toward the bathroom, he had to use his hands to feel his way there. Graham was assaulting his mouth with heated, delicious kisses.
Oh, and he wasn’t going to ask him to stop.
When they reached the bathroom, he fumbled with the shower controls, but Graham was to the rescue.
He broke the kiss, reached in, turned the water on, and then went right back to forcefully devouring his mouth with heat and need.
Holy shit!
Michael couldn’t think.
And he didn’t want to.
Somehow, he managed to break the kiss, and as he did, he stared into Graham’s eyes.
“Shower. We’re gross. Then, bed. I need you.”
Oh, well, fuck yeah.
There was no way he’d tell him no. Graham had needed this man for so long. He’d counted the days they were apart.
Now, he’d count the seconds of pleasure that they could give to each other. Everything else fell away, and he didn’t think about anything else.
Together, they stepped into the water, and reluctantly, Graham unwrapped his legs from his hips.
They both grabbed soap, and together, they did something they hadn’t in a long time.
One of Michael’s favorite things in the world was showering with Graham—or it had been.
Now, he was going to enjoy that flash from their past. They both deserved this.
As their hearts knitted back together, he wanted the man to know.
“I’m sorry I hurt you.”
Graham blinked.
“I deserved it.”
Gently, he put his fingers over his lips, and stared into his green eyes.
“No, Graham, you absolutely didn’t. I need you to stop believing you were the bad guy in all of this. We share this equally. It was both of us.”
Graham’s heart skipped.
This was D’Artangnan to his core. He always was honorable, and kind. He’d never make anyone hurt intentionally.
So, he let him lead.
He simply nodded.
And let the man take care of him.
His fingers slipped across his flesh, and he gently soaped up his body. The whole time, Graham shook from the pleasure alone.
He was hungry for his man.
No.
He was starving, and Graham had been abstaining from these emotions for a very long time. They threatened to overwhelm him.
And he wanted it.
Graham wanted all he had to offer.
As D’Artangnan soaped up his body, he moved to his erection, and that’s when his head dropped back.
Oh, holy Hell’s bells.
There was an absolute difference from when some stranger touched him, and this man did. Every single nerve ending was screaming in pleasure, and he was overwhelmed.
And not thinking.
Had he been, he’d be worried about protecting D’Artangnan from all the countless, unprotected one-night-stands he’d had.
Instead, he was only thinking about this one moment.
“I’ve missed your body,” Michael whispered, as the man leaned back against the wall and let him touch him wherever he wanted.
Graham whimpered in pleasure as they stood under the shower and the cascade of warm water.
It washed over them, but neither paid any attention to that, since they were both focused on the other man’s hand on Graham’s erection.
“Maybe I’m dead,” Graham muttered. “That has to be it because this can’t be real.”
Oh, Michael understood.
Just hours ago, he came here alone and broken, and now, he was considering the future. This wasn’t just sex for him.
No.
This was the start of something new.
He knew instinctually if they were to survive their past, they had to step off of that path, and onto a new one.
Together.
He found his mouth, as his hand did wicked things to Graham’s body.
As their mating of mouths continued, they were both driven wild with heat and lust.
Hands wandered.
Fingers stroked.
Someone moaned.
That was when Michael couldn’t wait any longer. What he craved was seeing if this man still tasted the same.
So, he took a chance.
Releasing his erection, and going to his knees in front of Graham, he let his mouth take control. The second he began the blowjob, it all fell into place.
Again.
His heart stopped hurting.
Michael could feel Graham shaking, and he could taste the precum that was beading at the tip of his erection as he blew him.
Graham’s hands were in his hair, and he was breathing heavily.
Yeah, he was desperate for this moment. All of him wanted to know if it would be like it was.
Would Graham be submissive?
Or would they have to figure it all out again?
A part of him prayed it would be the same. The best sex he’d had in his life was with Graham because they were open and honest with their needs.
They didn’t hide the truth.
They both liked fucking. Him taking Graham, and Graham being taken.
Well, he was about to find out.
Because he wanted to press him to the wall, and take him like he once had.
Desperately.
Graham couldn’t breathe.
“Oh, fuck me,” he muttered, as he stared down, and saw the most beautiful thing in the whole world.
D’Artangnan taking what he wanted from his body.
As the man used his fist, pumping away as his mouth worked his erection over, Graham couldn’t look away.
“YES!” he shouted as he was being milked.
Someone was brutalizing his erection—just like he had all of those years ago.
Some things never changed.