The Delicious Series: The First Volume

by Stella Starling

  “You’re a flame in my heart.” Mace’s deep voice startled him out of his reverie, the words making Danny’s pulse race as he turned to face the other man. “It’s a camellia,” Mace added, nodding toward the gorgeous red flowers. “They do better outdoors, but as long as you pot them up every few years…” He cleared his throat, almost looking nervous. “The red ones mean ‘you’re a flame in my heart.’”

  Danny blinked, willing his heart to slow down. Pushing aside foolish wishes and reaching for his mad again.

  “Mace, God, you can’t keep saying stuff like that! You can’t keep—” Getting my hopes up. He looked away, turning his back to Mace as he brushed his fingers over the velvety petals. Giving himself a chance to blink away the hurt. Mad. Mad. He was mad, dammit. “I wish you could just be horrible, so I could hate you,” he whispered, all the hurt inside him ignoring his determination to be mad, instead.

  “I’m sorry,” Mace said, coming up behind him. Too close. Close enough that Danny could feel the heat of his body. Close enough that he’d brush against Mace if he just shifted his weight.

  “You’re sorry that you’re not horrible?” he asked, forcing himself to hold utterly still.

  “I’m sorry I hurt you, Danny.”

  God, was it that obvious? “I’m not hurt,” he insisted, whirling around to face Mace and hating that the words came out sounding like the lie that they were. “I’m mad.”

  “You should be mad,” Mace agreed, his lips tightening for a moment before they opened to release more hurtful words. “I never should have touched you. It won’t happen again.”

  Oh, God. Danny shouldn’t have come. He could tell he wasn’t going to do well with the whole mad thing, and hearing Mace finally come clean with his feelings was just too brutal.

  “I need to go,” Danny said, trying to step around the solid wall that Mace was currently impersonating.

  “No,” Mace said, not moving out of the way. He grabbed Danny’s arm to hold him in place, clenching his jaw in that way that Danny had already learned never boded well for the next part of the conversation. “Please wait, Danny. I know why you’re here. I owe you an apology, and probably Gavin, too.”

  Danny blinked, thrown by the apparent non-sequitur. “Gavin?” he asked. “What does Gav have to do with anything?”

  “You love him.”

  Danny nodded, waiting for the rest of the sentence. The part which would explain why they were talking about Gavin when he’d thought they were busy breaking up. Well, okay, technically not “breaking up” since they’d never been together outside of Danny’s dreams, but at the moment he couldn’t think of a better word for the painful ending of the fantasy he’d been living in for the past few weeks.

  “Of course I love Gavin,” Danny said impatiently when Mace continued to stay maddeningly silent on the matter. “But why on earth would you—”

  His mouth snapped closed mid-sentence, hopefully in time to stifle the little squeak of excitement that had just flared to life inside him. Because it would be stupid to get his hopes up all over again, right? Yes, Danny’s brain was hardwired to look for a happy ending, but this was real life, and Mace couldn’t really think that… well, it would be too much to hope that it had all just been… that Danny had just gotten his heart bro—well, battered and bruised, at least, over something that amounted to a misunderstanding, right?

  He nibbled on his lip, trying to find the answer he wanted on Mace’s face.

  Which was impossible. God. How did Mace do that total lack of expression thing?

  “You do know that Gavin is my best friend, right?” Danny finally asked cautiously, eyes locked on Mace’s inscrutable face. Refusing to blink in case he missed something. Hoping, even though he should probably know better. Mace didn’t react, so Danny added the should-have-been-obvious-because-hello, “He’s not, um, my boyfriend.”

  Someone who was already holding completely still shouldn’t have been able to freeze in place, but somehow, at that, Mace managed it. And then he finally cracked.

  “I saw you with him.” Mace’s fingers tightened on Danny’s arm for a split second, and then he gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head, as if denying what he’d just heard. “You love him,” he went on insistently. “And I saw the two of you together. He was holding you. He kissed you. I saw it.”

  “Gavin kissed me?” Danny repeated back, laughing before he could stop himself. “Um, no. I mean, did he? If he did, I guarantee it wasn’t the way I think you mean. Gavin is my friend, Mace. Do you actually think I’d have been all over you if I had a boyfriend?” Danny could feel himself blushing, but for once he didn’t even care. “God, I’m not like that,” he added. Because, really.

  Mace was staring down at him as if he were speaking a foreign language, but after a too-long moment during which Danny felt like he was teetering on a single stiletto and could really, really use the other glass slipper now, please, Mace’s gaze lost its probing intensity and warmed with a different kind of intensity altogether.

  “He’s not your boyfriend.” Mace made it a statement rather than a question, as if he simply needed to hear it again.

  Danny smiled. He couldn’t help it. “That’s right. He’s not my boyfriend.”

  Something dangerously happy start to bubble up inside him as they stared at each other, and then, God, Mace gave him that slow, sexy smile that Danny had quite honestly thought he wouldn’t see again and the flutters that Danny had only ever felt with this silent, maybe-not-so-straight man burst to life inside him all over again, as lush and vibrant as the gorgeous garden Mace had turned his home into.

  “So you’re… available?” Mace asked, his voice laced with something heady and delicious that rumbled just below the surface.

  Danny nodded, having trouble thinking straight with the way Mace was looking down at him. Especially when he ran those gentle-but-rough hands up Danny’s arms and started backing him toward the window. Crowded close enough to make Danny think it might be safe to let himself believe this was finally happening. Pulled Danny toward him as if the night before really had been just some sort of horrible misunderstanding.

  Except—

  “You’re straight,” Danny breathed out, remembering the ex and needing to hear that he’d been wrong about that, too.

  The corner of Mace’s lips quirked up. “I don’t think so,” he said, dropping his eyes to Danny’s mouth.

  “But you said you had a girlfriend,” Danny reminded him, pretty sure that he couldn’t handle it if his hopes got crushed yet again.

  Mace shook his head. “Ex-girlfriend.”

  “Right,” Danny said. “But…”

  Hard to think. Mace had dipped down to nuzzle the side of Danny’s neck, and his hands were roaming over Danny’s back, pulling him even closer. It was, um, distracting. Deliciously so.

  “A girlfriend,” Danny managed after a moment, just wanting to be sure it was really and truly safe to believe this time. “Who was not male.”

  “Mm-hmm,” Mace agreed.

  “So, you’re… what? Bisexual?” Danny asked. “I mean, I’m assuming… Mace… are you… oh, God… you are attracted to me, right?” Mace was doing things with hands and lips and mouth and tongue that made it impossible for Danny to catch his breath. Delicious, decadent things that answered his question without needing words. But Danny still wanted them, and for once, Mace decided to give him those, too.

  “Yes,” he said, straightening up to look in Danny’s eyes. Giving him a smile that was somehow both hot and tender at the same time. “I’m attracted to you, Danny.”

  Danny licked his lips, desperately wanting to get back to the part where Mace’s mouth was on his skin but also needing to know for sure that this seemingly-perfect moment wasn’t going to suddenly end up with yet another painful misunderstanding.

  “So last night, when you left…?”

  “I’m sorry,” Mace said, cupping his jaw so tenderly that it ached. Not where Mace was touching him, but
deeper, in the part of Danny’s heart that had always held out hope but had never, not truly, believed. Mace ran a callused finger over Danny’s cheek, as soft as the kiss of a butterfly’s wing. “I didn’t want to, Danny.”

  And Danny believed it, because for once, he could read Mace. He was sure of it.

  Something inside him relaxed. It was like Mace had finally connected his feelings back to his face, and there was no way to doubt that he really meant it when he looked at Danny like that. Like Danny was everything.

  “I didn’t want to leave you,” Mace said again. “In fact, I can’t—” he shut his mouth abruptly, the tips of his ears turning red as he looked away for a moment.

  “Can’t what?” Danny pressed, his heart pounding. “What were you going to say, Mace? This isn’t going to work if you keep not saying things. I mean, assuming you want it to work. Which you do, right? Because you were just kissing me. Which was—God—I really, really want to do more of that, but…” Danny took a breath. It would be easy to get distracted by the fact that Mace was still holding him, still touching him, looking at him with actual feelings showing in his eyes, feelings for Danny, but he needed to focus. “This is important,” he insisted, which made Mace give him that slow smile again.

  Danny’s breath hitched.

  Wait, no.

  Not. Going. To. Get. Distracted.

  “The not-talking thing just messes it up between us,” he made himself say instead of throwing himself at the man who… who might just want him after all. “You need to talk to me right now, Mace, not go into your silent mode. I need to know—”

  “Okay,” Mace said, cutting off Danny’s rant. Still smiling down at him without a hint of holding back this time. “But you have to give me a chance. What I was going to say was that I didn’t want to leave, and that I can’t imagine ever wanting to leave you, Danny. But I didn’t say it, because that seems like too much, too soon. Even though it’s also true.” Mace’s ears got even redder, but he kept talking, just like Danny had asked. “Last night, I only left because I thought you were with Gavin. And I’d like to think I would have managed to stay away, but I don’t honestly know whether I could have.”

  Danny couldn’t breathe, and he pressed his lips together, trying to contain the grin that he could tell was going to be too big if he let it loose. He was tempted to pinch himself just to see if this was one of his ridiculously over-the-top romantic dreams, because it wasn’t at all what he’d expected when he’d marched across the street from the bakery. Although really, if this was a dream, he was going to die. But… God. What if he was still asleep? He might still be lying in bed right now. It wasn’t even noon yet, plus it was Saturday. Danny always slept in on Saturdays. Not to mention that he’d left his apartment looking like something the cat had drug in, which so wasn’t like him.

  Oh... God. He hadn’t even thought about that when he’d come over.

  Danny tried to shove his bangs out of his face, knowing it was hopeless. It was the whole reason hair products had been invented. The just-rolled-out-of-bed look might work for Mace—which it did. Really, really well, actually. God, the man was sexy—but on Danny, it wasn’t exactly…

  Mace captured his hand, holding it still, and then he kissed him, so damn sweetly that it almost made Danny’s heart stop.

  “You look beautiful,” he murmured when the kiss was done, as if he’d read Danny’s mind. He was looking down at Danny like he was… cherished. “You always look beautiful to me.”

  “How do you know what I’m thinking?” Danny asked, wondering if he’d ever be able to catch his breath around this man. Almost scared to feel so happy. “How can you always see me so well?”

  “Because,” Mace answered, giving Danny a smile that was slow and sexy and achingly sweet. “When you’re around, Danny, you’re all I can see.”

  10

  Danny

  Mace’s hands slipped under Danny’s shirt, the rough texture of his fingers feeling almost electric as they skimmed up his sides. Danny obligingly lifted his arms, and as soon as his shirt came off Mace stepped back, running one of those big hands down his chest while he stared almost reverently at Danny’s body.

  “Is this okay?” he asked.

  Okay? Danny had been braced for a totally different outcome from his impulsive decision to confront Mace, and he was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that this was really happening.

  “If you dream a thing more than once, it’s sure to come true,” Danny said, Princess Aurora’s words of wisdom popping out of his mouth before he could stop them. As good as that one sounded, Danny hadn’t really believed it before, but clearly he shouldn’t have doubted any of his girls.

  Mace’s eyes crinkled. “That a yes?” he asked, skimming his fingers down over Danny’s stomach to trace the pale line of hair there.

  Danny was already so turned on that the touch was almost too much, but at the same time not nearly enough—especially when Mace was looking at him with an expression that gave testament to what he’d said before.

  You’re all I can see.

  “Yes,” Danny said, laughing out of pure delight. “God, do you have any idea how much I want you?”

  He grabbed Mace’s hands and pulled them around his own waist, stepping forward into Mace’s arms. Finally. And oh, God. With Mace’s bare chest and the way he instantly tightened his hold on Danny… well, there just wasn’t anything better than the feel of skin-on-skin, was there? Danny wanted more of it, wanted all of it, was determined to take full advantage of the moment he’d already spent a million different daydreams fantasizing about. And this time, Mace was clearly on board, too.

  He ran his hands up Danny’s spine and cupped the back of his head, leaning down to fit their mouths together again, his kiss hot and hungry and everything Danny wanted.

  Well… maybe not everything.

  Danny was so hard he was almost at risk of embarrassing himself, and he slid his hands down the firm contours of Mace’s back, fitting them over the perfection of his ass and yanking him closer.

  Mace groaned, and the sound moved through Danny like some kind of erotic vibration. It shot straight down to his cock, making it throb with the need for more. More friction, more contact, more Mace. And this time, he was actually going to get it.

  Mace wanted him. He’d said so. And he’d just spent the last few minutes kissing Danny like he was trying to inhale him. If Danny had still had any doubts, the delicious feel of Mace’s cock as it lined up with his own would have killed them right off. Mace was hot and hard and pulsing, rubbing his impressive length against Danny’s straining erection with a fierce urgency that couldn’t be mistaken.

  Mace wanted him.

  And oh, God, Danny wanted him right back.

  “Danny,” Mace was whispering the word against Danny’s skin as he licked and bit and sucked his way down his throat, repeating it over and over as if he’d forgotten that other words existed... or else simply didn’t need them.

  The way he said Danny’s name sounded like a blessing.

  Like a plea.

  Like magic.

  He ran his hands down Danny’s back, gliding them over the curve of his ass, and then moved them lower, cupping him.

  “Oh my God,” Danny gasped, his cock throbbing so hard for a moment that it was almost over.

  “Yeah,” Mace said, grinning as he grabbed the backs of Danny’s thighs and lifted him up like he weighed nothing, hauling him even more tightly against his body and eliminating every inch of space between them.

  Danny wrapped his legs around Mace as he swung him away from the window and moved toward the couch, pretty sure that he’d just died and gone to heaven. “I swear, Mace, if you stop this time I’m going to have to kill you.”

  His voice had been far too eager and breathless to actually sound like a threat, and when Mace laughed, the sound did all sorts of wonderful things to Danny’s insides.

  “Does it feel like I want to stop?” Mace asked with a
wicked smile, standing over him and pulling Danny’s hand to his cock once he’d lain him out on the couch.

  Danny eagerly wrapped his fingers around the thick length, making Mace’s hips jerk forward. The teasing light in his eyes changed to something hotter as Danny stroked him through his sweatpants, and the hiss that escaped his mouth was so damn sexy that Danny almost came just from that.

  “Fuck, Danny,” Mace gritted out, thrusting against his hand. “You’re going to… fuck.”

  Mace dropped his weight on top of Danny, pinning him against the couch and capturing his mouth again in a hot, desperate kiss that all but consumed him. Danny moaned, releasing his grip just long enough to push at the waistband of Mace’s sweatpants.

  “Off,” he managed, panting into Mace’s mouth. “Please, Mace. God… I need to feel you.”

  Mace managed to get rid of them before Danny had even finished getting the words out, and then he was palming Danny through the too-tight denim of his jeans, too; thumbing open the button and doing his damnedest to make Danny explode.

  “You, too,” he said. “I want to see you.”

  “Hurry,” Danny begged, lifting his hips so Mace could pull his jeans off. “Please.”

  God, there was so much he wanted to do with this man, but most of it would have to wait. He’d wanted this for too long, and there was no way he was going to last much longer once they both got naked.

  Which was finally now, thank you sweet baby Jesus.

  “Danny,” Mace said, staring down at him with blown pupils. “Oh, fuck, baby. Look at you.”

  He trapped Danny’s wrists in one of his hands and stretched them over his head, letting his other hand glide down Danny’s chest in a maddeningly slow caress. Mace’s rough fingers grazed Danny’s nipples, and Danny arched up into the touch, whimpering a plea that earned him another hot smile.