Chapter 32
When they arrived at Rhys’s house, Mallow wandered around for a little while checking out the new environment, but fairly quickly, she settled on the fleece blanket Rhys had put on the couch for her and fell asleep.
“It looks like she’s happy here,” Caleb said.
“Good. I want you to be happy here too.” He was fidgeting and wandering around, obviously nervous about having Caleb in his space.
“I am.”
“Okay.” Rhys played with some espresso cups displayed on a shelf. “Do you want me to show you around or start dinner or—”
Caleb moved in behind him, put his hands on Rhys’s shoulders, and spun him around. “I want you to show me your bedroom. I’ve missed you. I want you before dinner.”
“You do?” Rhys’s eyes were wide as he steadied himself, placing his hands on Caleb’s chest.
“I do. What do you think about that?”
“I think that sounds amazing.” He took Caleb’s hand and led him to his bedroom.
As curious as he was about Rhys’s home, Caleb didn’t bother to look around. He could study the room later; right then, all the pent-up need and longing of the last several days erupted. He pushed Rhys back onto the bed, then climbed on top of him. Rhys groaned as their bodies came into contact.
They awkwardly worked to get their clothes off between kisses and the urgent need to grind their hips together. Finally, they were both fully undressed, and the feel of Rhys’s naked body against his was sending Caleb into outer space. He needed Rhys so badly.
“Lube,” he demanded.
Rhys pointed to his nightstand.
Caleb leaned over and pulled open the drawer. He saw the lube and condoms, but also a sizeable dildo, as well as a more modest one. “Wow. We’ll have to play around with these another time.”
“Oh my God. I didn’t think—”
Caleb laid a finger on Rhys’s lips. “I love it.”
“Yeah?”
Caleb nodded. “It’s so fucking hot to think about you using these.” He grinned at the flush that moved up Rhys’s neck and into his face, then sat back on his heels as he dropped the lube and condoms beside him on the bed.
“Hold your knees up.” Rhys’s mouth fell open as he stared at him. Caleb gave him an encouraging smile, then used his mouth to relax Rhys and open him up. Rhys was whimpering, trying to lift his hips, clearly needing so much more by the time Caleb was done.
Caleb slicked up his fingers and demanded Rhys ride them. He worked his hips up and down, then Caleb pressed against the sweet spot inside him, and he cried out. “Can’t wait. Please.”
Caleb laughed as he squeezed out more lube to coat his cock. “Are you ready?” he asked as he pressed the tip against Rhys’s hole.
“So ready. I’ve missed you. Missed this.”
“You missed having my cock inside you?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t have to wait anymore.” Caleb pushed in slowly, and Rhys gasped, clinging to him but not fighting.
Caleb kept pushing forward until he was fully seated. Rhys squirmed under him. His hand went to his cock, and he began to jerk himself off, but Caleb grabbed his wrist and pinned it to the mattress.
“Not yet. Right now, all you get to feel is me fucking you. I want you thinking about how you need this.”
“I do. I need you…”
Rhys whined when Caleb pulled back. He wrapped his legs around Caleb’s ass, trying to push him back in with his heels, but Caleb was determined to move slowly. He was determined to drive Rhys insane.
“More. Please,” Rhys begged.
“You’ll get more, but there’s no need to rush this. We have all night.”
“We can do it again. It doesn’t have to just be one time.”
Caleb smiled. “It was never going to just be one time, but I’m going to enjoy you as slowly as I want to.”
“You need this too. Please. Please fuck me.”
That seemed to do it. Caleb growled, bracing himself on his arms and driving hard into Rhys. He cried out at the force of it, but it was exactly what he wanted. Caleb fucked him hard and deep, then rolled them so Rhys was on top. “Ride me.”
Rhys did, and it felt so good. He ran his hands up and down Caleb’s chest.
He squeezed Caleb’s sides with his thighs, and he was able to control the pace completely.
Caleb kept his hands on Rhys’s hips, but he didn’t force him down.
He let Rhys take what he wanted until he was so close he couldn’t hold back anymore, and then Caleb jerked Rhys off as he worked himself on Caleb’s cock until he was shooting his load all over Caleb’s chest. Seconds later, Caleb finished inside him.
He collapsed on top of Caleb, and they lay there panting for what felt like ages. “I should make dinner now.”
“No, you should let me enjoy having you on top of me.”
Rhys sighed. “Okay.” He could do that. He could slow down and relax because he trusted Caleb.
When his breaths had slowed, he pushed himself up so he could look down at Caleb, and he brushed his fingers over Caleb’s cheek. “This was so good.” He decided to just go for it. He’d already taken so many risks that day. Why not another one? “I love you.”
Rhys froze as soon as the words were out, already regretting his decision, but Caleb was smiling.
“I love you too. I’ve known for a while.”
“So did I, but then I fucked it up.”
“You could have, but you didn’t. You took the time you needed to be sure.”
“I guess I did.”
He sat up fully and moved off Caleb. “I don’t really want to get up, but I’m hungry, and, like I said before, we have all night.”
Rhys showered quickly, then headed to the kitchen to begin preparing dinner.
Caleb joined him after his own shower. He came up behind Rhys, set his hands on Rhys’s waist, and kissed his neck. Rhys groaned, leaning into the kiss, loving the way Caleb’s warm breath tickled him and how solid he felt pressed against Rhys.
“That smells so good,” he said.
“I didn’t make it.” Rhys needed to make that confession immediately.
“That’s fine. I didn’t expect you to make me dinner.”
“I just didn’t want you to think I did. I wanted to be honest. I’m hoping I can do a better job of being honest with you.”
“I’m so glad I’m here. I’m so glad you came to talk to me yesterday.” Caleb placed a light kiss on Rhys’s temple. “I love you. I know things are happening fast with us, and it’s a lot.”
“No.” Rhys turned in Caleb’s arms and met his gaze. “This is real. It’s really fucking real.”
Caleb smiled. “Yes, it is.” He glanced at the pots on the stove. “I’m guessing maybe Tessa’s asking me about my favorite meal was part of the planning for tonight.”
“It was.”
“I didn’t think much of it, because I didn’t think you wanted to see me.”
“I did. I wanted to see you so much. I was just scared, but I’m really going to try hard to talk to you when I’m scared and not run away. I can’t promise I’ll be perfect, though.”
“I don’t expect you to be perfect. I’m not perfect. Maybe I should’ve come after you. I don’t know. Maybe I should’ve told you how I felt earlier, and then you would’ve known, but we’re here now together. And you’re making me my favorite dinner.”
“I got the sauce and meatballs from a restaurant in Portsmouth. They’re supposed to have the best Italian food along the coast.”
“You drove over there just to get me spaghetti sauce?”
“I wanted the best for you. I even thought about driving to Boston.”
“That would really have been too much, but we should go to Boston for a day or two soon.”
Caleb wanting to show Rhys his home city made Rhys feel warm all over. “I’d love that.”
“Would you also love for me to tie you up in a barn?”
Rhys sputtered and nearly knocked the container of sauce off the counter. “What?”
“I saw the book you picked up from Jonah, Roping the Cowboy. I couldn’t resist flipping through it. There’s a lot of inspiration there.”
“Oh my God. I should have hidden it.”
“No. I’m going to read it too, and we can compare notes.”
Rhys’s cheeks were bright pink, and Caleb was thrilled with his reaction.
“I… I need to focus on dinner.”
“Okay. We can have reading time later.”
He finished cooking the pasta, made their plates, and poured them each a glass of wine he had been told would go perfectly with the sauce.
When they sat down to dinner together, the atmosphere felt as intimate as their charcuterie dinner at Cloud Nine, which was the time he’d felt closest to Caleb, more so even than when they were in bed together. “I like having dinner with you like this. I want to do this more often.”
Caleb laid a hand over his. “Me too.”
Mallow chose that moment to wake up from her nap, stretch, and come racing into the kitchen. She wove in and out of Caleb’s legs, then Rhys’s, making it clear she wanted dinner too.
Rhys smiled down at her. “She is really the cutest. Tell me about finding her.”
“I’d seen or heard her in the alley a few times, but I hadn’t caught more than a glimpse as she’d run. The night of Jonah’s party, she was right by the back door. It took some time, but I managed to catch her and bring her in.”
“And you knew right then you were keeping her?”
“Yes. This time, I was going to have a cat.”
“I hope I never meet your ex.”
Caleb smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look as angry as when I told you about what he did.”
“I hate him. No one should ever treat you or a sweet animal like that.”
“I’m just so glad you love Mallow and don’t mind having her here.”
“I’m honored to have her here.”
“Good. I’d eventually like to get a dog too.”
Rhys smiled. “We could get a dog.” He clasped his hand over his mouth. He was taking things way too far. “I mean, you can get a dog, or—”
“Maybe someday, we can get a dog, but I think Mallow is enough for now.”
Rhys nodded. “Right. Sometimes I get ahead of myself.”
“I don’t mind. I like that about you. I like how you see the future all laid out.”
“I never saw this, though. Us being together.”
“You must have, or you wouldn’t have come to talk to me today.”
“I wanted this. I just wasn’t sure it was something I could have. I didn’t think I could be lucky enough to actually find someone who would put up with my grumpiness and… everything else.”
“Rhys, I’m not putting up with you. I’m enjoying being with you. I love you.”
He couldn’t remember feeling this happy in a long time. “How did I get so lucky?”
“I’m asking myself the same thing.”