The Delicious Series: The First Volume

by Stella Starling

“Looks like you don’t hate me for leaving you stranded with him after all,” Cash said to Gavin, throwing a pointed look at the proprietary hand Ben still had settled on his hip.

  “Best thing that ever happened to me,” Gavin answered, grinning.

  “I told you you’d thank me.”

  “See? Now that’s something we should drink to,” Danny said, eyes sparkling. “I’ll just go…”

  Danny’s fiancé had come up behind him while he was talking, and when he wrapped his arms around the slender man and pulled him back against his chest, a blissful look crossed Danny’s face. He quite obviously lost his train of thought, melting back against Mace with a happy little sigh. Gavin stifled a laugh. His best friend was just as infatuated with the quiet man who’d stolen his heart now as he had been from the day he’d met him the year before, and Gavin couldn’t be happier for him.

  “You running off again, baby?” Mace asked, a small smile hovering around his lips.

  “I can stay,” Danny said, sounding a little breathless as he twisted around in Mace’s arms to face him with the glowing smile that he reserved for the man he was planning on marrying.

  “Well, we’ve lost him,” Jeremy said, laughing.

  “I’ll go get the drinks,” Gavin offered, knowing Jeremy was right.

  “I’ll come with you,” Cash offered. Then, under his breath, “Five… four… three…”

  “Me, too,” Ben said promptly, playing right into Cash’s hands.

  Gavin rolled his eyes, stifling another laugh. Cash didn’t bother to stifle it.

  “Unless you don’t want me to come,” Ben said a little stiffly.

  Gavin laughed, shaking his head. Oh, Lord. Cash really had gotten to Ben. But just so there wouldn’t be any doubt…

  “I always want you to come, Ben.”

  Ben’s eyes went hot, and Danny laughed, coming out of his love-induced daze long enough to get in an “I-told-you-so.”

  “See what I mean, Ben?” he asked, winking at Gavin. “You are in for a fun night.”

  “Stop it,” Gavin said, laughing. It wasn’t the drinks that turned him on, it was just Ben. But… fine. Maybe he did loosen up with a few shots in him. It was his birthday. He was entitled.

  “What?” Danny asked, trying to look innocent. “It’s true,” he called after them as they headed to the bar.

  Cash grabbed Gavin’s arm as they walked back inside, holding him back a little as Ben went on ahead.

  “You got your happy ending after all, huh?” he asked, nodding at Ben’s very-nice rear view.

  Gavin laughed. “God, Cash. You’re too much.”

  Cash grinned, shaking his head. “For once, I didn’t mean it that way. Just… good for you. Really. I know you thought it wasn’t going to happen, and I’m just happy to see it.”

  “Gives you hope?” Gavin asked, remembering what Cash had said about his own unrequited feelings for someone.

  “Nah,” he said, a flash of pain crossing his face before he put his usual laid-back expression back in place. “My case is hopeless, but it’s still nice to see things work out for someone else.”

  Something caught Cash’s eye, and he nudged Gavin, pointing toward the bar.

  “You might want to go collect your boyfriend,” he said, grinning.

  Gavin’s eyes snapped to Ben, and he almost laughed. Seriously? Gavin’s ex, James, had sidled up next to Ben and was eyeing him like he was candy.

  “I haven’t seen you here before,” Gavin heard him say to Ben as he and Cash made their way over. James ran a hand up Ben’s arm, adding, “Did you lose my number and had to come looking for me?”

  Ben glanced down with a look of annoyance, then he caught sight of Gavin coming up behind him.

  “Excuse me,” he said to James, shaking him off and reaching out to tug Gavin against his side with one of those smiles that always made Gavin want to jump him. “Sorry,” he whispered, sliding a thumb across Gavin’s lips before he leaned down to break the no-PDA rule.

  At first, Gavin wasn’t sure what Ben was apologizing for, and then, after a minute, he didn’t care.

  Ben slid one of those huge hands around the back of his head and pulled him close, kissing him the way he always looked at him: as if nothing else existed. Gavin’s heart did one of those slow rolls, and erotic tingles shot from his lips straight down to his cock, taking him from mildly turned on to holy fucking horny in the space between one breath and the next.

  Gavin loved the fact that his friends had come together for his birthday, but as Ben slid his other hand down to Gavin’s ass and pulled him even closer, he was tempted to drag him out of there immediately and get on with the other “fun” part of the night that Danny kept teasing him about.

  “Gavin doesn’t do PDA,” he heard James say spitefully.

  Gavin ignored him. The magic of being in Ben’s arms was making him perfectly content for the moment to pretend the rest of the world wasn’t there, and he let the conversation next to them roll off him in favor of the delicious things Ben was doing with his mouth and hands.

  Cash laughed. “Apparently, he does for Ben,” he said.

  “And who are you?” James asked, his voice switching from pissy to lascivious as Cash caught his attention.

  “Just someone else Gavin wasn’t interested in,” Cash said, not sounding all that put out by it.

  “Oh?” James asked, managing to load the simple word with all sorts of innuendo. “Maybe we should compare horror stories, hm?”

  Gavin couldn’t help himself. He laughed, breaking the kiss as he rolled his eyes at his ex’s endless ability to be an ass. Ben grinned down at him, then picked up a couple of the shots waiting for them on the bar.

  “I like this theory of Danny’s,” Ben said, handing one to Gavin with a sexy little half smile. Then he turned to Cash, casually adding, “I wouldn’t bother going there if I were you. I hear James has a tiny, crooked dick.”

  Gavin spewed the drink he’d just raised to his mouth. “Oh my God,” he said, doubling over with laughter as James muttered “asshole” and stomped off. “I can’t believe you just said that, babe.”

  Ben shrugged, looking a little sheepish. “Cash did me a good turn. I’m just trying to return the favor.”

  “Thanks, man,” Cash said, grinning as he clapped Ben on the shoulder. “I’ll leave you two to it. I’m going to go look for a distraction that isn’t—” he held up his pinky finger, waggling it with a laugh. He gave them a mock salute with it, then lost himself in the crowd.

  “I still can’t believe you said that,” Gavin said, lips twitching.

  “I can’t either,” Ben admitted, going a little pink. “But he took a little too much pleasure in giving you those drugs at the hospital. I couldn’t help myself. Sorry.”

  Gavin grinned up at him. God, he loved this man. “Okay,” he said.

  “Does that mean I’m forgiven?”

  “That means you don’t have to be.”

  “Okay,” Ben repeated back, smiling as he handed Gavin another drink.

  Gavin laughed. “Do you want me to get me drunk?”

  “I want a lot of things,” Ben said, smiling down at him in a way that made the rest of the world disappear again.

  “Keep looking at me like that, and I’m pretty damn sure you can have them,” Gavin said, seriously rethinking his stance on public displays of affection.

  Ben laughed. “As promising as that sounds, it’s your birthday, and I want to give you what you want.”

  Gavin grinned. “I’ll hold you to that later, babe,” he said, grabbing a double handful of drinks. He nodded back toward the patio. “But let’s go deliver these, because right now, I want to dance.”

  Gavin crowded up behind Ben as he tried to unlock the front door of his house, plastering his body against Ben’s back and squeezing his delectable ass.

  God, he had a glorious ass.

  Ben looked back over his shoulder, eyebrows shooting up to his hairline, and Gavin gave him e
xtra points for not quoting Danny’s alcohol-makes-Gavin-horny theory at him. Instead, Ben just gave him a hot smile that made Gavin’s toes curl and his cock twitch and his heart do that slow roll in his chest that always seemed to happen around this amazing, sexy, utterly perfect man.

  “Didn’t you say you were going to give me whatever I want for my birthday?” Gavin asked, slipping his hands around Ben’s waist to work on his zipper. Ben sucked in a sharp breath as Gavin’s fingers brushed his cock through the denim, the heat in his eyes ramping up a few notches at the contact.

  “Believe me,” Ben said. “Nothing would make me happier.”

  “Mmmm, well, I hope so,” Gavin said, grinning. “I want you naked.”

  “Here?” Ben teased, finally getting the door open. “Or can we wait until we get in the house?”

  “If you insist,” Gavin said, only half kidding. And not just because he was tipsy.

  Well, okay, maybe a little bit because of that.

  True to his word, Ben pulled his shirt over his head as soon as they were inside. Gavin kicked the door closed behind them, the sight of all that gorgeous skin only making him desperate for more, faster. He grabbed Ben and pushed him against the wall so he could get back to work on his zipper. Ben “helped;” his hands roamed all over Gavin’s body in ways that were both distracting and arousing, but failed to actually move either of them any closer to naked. Gavin’s cock was straining against his own jeans, and he cursed impatiently, earning his boyfriend’s husky laughter.

  Ben whispered teasing, wicked comments in his ear, but when Gavin leaned in to suck on the pulse that beat so enticingly at the base of Ben’s neck, his laughter dissolved into a sexy moan that sent Gavin’s sense of urgency off the charts.

  He didn’t just want to get Ben naked, he needed to.

  Being out at the bar had been fun, but—PDA-restrictions or not—Ben’s hands had been on him all night. Between that and all the hot looks, stolen kisses, and the sheer fucking sexiness of watching the other man move on the dance floor, Gavin’s night had been a study in slow torture. In fact, naked would have to wait, because as soon as he managed to free Ben’s cock—half-hard and fully mouthwatering—Gavin lost whatever shred of self-restraint had kept him from jumping Ben out on the doorstep.

  He dropped to his knees, yanking Ben’s pants down just far enough to take him into his mouth.

  “Jesus,” Ben gasped, his thighs shuddering under Gavin’s hands as his hips jerked forward.

  Gavin moaned in pleasure when he felt Ben’s cock swell inside his mouth, stretching his lips and pressing against the back of his throat and making his own go impossibly harder in response. Ben’s head fell back against the wall, his mouth dropping open, and the deep, sexy sound that tumbled from his lips almost had Gavin coming in his pants. He pulled back, letting the thick length slip almost all the way out of his mouth, then sucked him deep again, doing his best to swallow him whole. Ben’s whole body trembled, and when he looked down at Gavin, running his thumb across Gavin’s lips and making that delicious sound again—half-groan, half-plea—Gavin decided he could happily suck the man’s cock forever.

  He loved the taste of him.

  He loved the sound of Ben’s pleasure.

  Loved knowing that he was making him feel good.

  “Gavin. God. That’s so… damn… good,” Ben panted. The last word—plucked straight from Gavin’s thoughts—was drawn out into another one of those sexy moans, and Ben’s hands skimmed over Gavin’s face, his hair, the back of his neck, as if he couldn’t decide whether he wanted to slow him down, or grab on for better leverage. “I’m not going to last if you keep this up,” Ben groaned, his hips starting to thrust against Gavin’s face.

  Tempting.

  So fucking tempting just to finish him here, to let Ben fill his throat with the salty sweetness of his release, to have the satisfaction of swallowing down every drop he could milk out of him. But… God. Gavin’s cock was pressing painfully hard against the tight confines of his own jeans, and he wanted more.

  He wanted to fuck the man.

  He forced himself to pull off. Torture.

  “Mmmm… not yet,” he said, unable to resist running his lips down the length of Ben’s cock again, even though he’d just told himself he was going to stop. “I still need you naked.”

  Ben hauled him to his feet, crushing his mouth down on Gavin’s as he yanked him close and ground his cock—still wet and throbbing from Gavin’s mouth—against his stomach.

  “Jesus, I want you,” Ben growled, dragging his lips down Gavin’s jaw as he somehow managed to get the rest of his clothes off without breaking contact.

  “Bedroom,” Gavin panted once they were both finally naked, making a mental note to suggest that Ben stock every room with lube and condoms for the future. But that would have to wait. Ben was obviously feeling the same sense of urgency, because instead of answering he scooped Gavin up and headed for the stairs, taking them two at a time.

  “I kind of miss getting to do this when you had your cast on,” Ben said as they reached his bedroom.

  “You’ve got to admit that the cast made some things harder, though,” Gavin teased. As soon as he set him on his feet, he pushed Ben down on the bed and climbed up to straddle him. Not a position he could have managed with his broken foot.

  “I think I can manage to get hard, even without it,” Ben said, moving Gavin’s hand down to his erection with a wicked smile.

  Gavin grinned back just as wickedly, stroking him in a slow, firm rhythm that he knew from experience would make Ben crazy.

  It worked.

  “God, Gavin,” Ben groaned, thrusting into his hand as he kneaded Gavin’s ass, not-so-subtly urging him to shift positions. “Please tell me you’re about to ride me.”

  Gavin’s cock jerked against his stomach, and he almost said yes… but his boyfriend had promised to give him whatever he wanted for his birthday.

  He leaned forward, almost losing it when the motion brought their cocks together—

  So.

  Fucking.

  Good.

  —and grabbed the lube and a condom from the nightstand. Before he could do anything with them, though, Ben flipped him onto his back, stretching his arms over his head and grinding against him with a desperate urgency that made Gavin forget what he’d been going for, forget everything except the feel of the man on top of him, turning his insides into a writhing coil of frantic need that demanded the release Ben’s unbelievably hot body was promising him.

  “Gavin,” Ben was whispering the word against his throat, repeating it again and again, like a prayer of sensuality. “I want… everything.”

  “Yes,” Gavin moaned, knowing exactly what he meant.

  Or at least, hoping he did.

  And then Ben kissed him, swallowing Gavin’s gasping breaths as his hips slowed to a maddening roll that was going to be his undoing. He arched up, almost ready to let it happen, but—God—he still wanted more.

  “Ben,” he groaned, pushing against him until Ben finally rolled off, wheezing out a laugh that sounded more like a groan.

  “Sorry,” Ben said, running a hand down Gavin’s chest as he looked down at him like he wanted to roll right back on. “I got a little carried away.”

  Gavin pushed him onto his back, reaching for the lube and spreading some on his fingers. Ben’s eyes lit with anticipation, and he reached down to stroke himself as he watched, which was… inspiring.

  “It’s my birthday,” Gavin reminded him, pushing Ben’s legs apart so he could settle between them.

  “Just tell me what you want,” Ben said, his voice thickening with arousal as his hand slowed on his shaft.

  “I want to fuck you, babe,” Gavin said, easing a hand down to tease Ben’s hole with his slick fingers as he watched for his reaction.

  Ben’s eyes widened in shock for a moment, his breath quickening at Gavin’s touch, and when his cock jerked in his hand with unspoken excitement, Gavin grinned, k
nowing he was going to get his way. A delicious red flush of desire was spreading across Ben’s chest, and even though he looked a little nervous, he’d already started pushing back against Gavin’s fingers, looking for more.

  “But only if you want me to,” Gavin added, sliding a finger inside him.

  “Oh my God,” Ben gasped, his hands fisting in the sheets on either side of him.

  It was the first time Gavin had gone there, and the tight heat of Ben’s unbelievably hot ass as it hugged his finger made him moan with excitement. He wanted to feel it gripping his cock. Wanted to drive into him and show him how good it could be. Ben started to grind himself against Gavin’s hand, clearly not averse to the idea, and Gavin crooked a finger, hoping to encourage him.

  “Jesus H. Christ,” Ben gasped, arching off the bed.

  Gavin grinned.

  And then he did it again.

  “Do you know how much I love your ass?” he asked, reaching down to stroke himself with one hand while he played with Ben’s prostate with the other.

  Ben’s eyes rolled back in his head, his mouth dropping open as a look of pure bliss spread across his face. Good lord, he was literally the sexiest thing Gavin had ever seen. He honestly didn’t know if he’d last long enough to fuck him, assuming Ben let him.

  “Do it,” Ben panted, grinding even more urgently against his hand. “Jesus, Gavin, I want you to do it.”

  Gavin slipped his fingers out, loving the little whimper of disappointment he got, and leaned over to plant a hot kiss on Ben’s mouth.

  “Are you sure, babe?” he asked, even though he honestly thought a “no” at this point might kill him.

  Ben laughed, although it came out sounding more like a groan. Instead of answering, he grabbed for the condom Gavin had pulled out earlier, biting open the little foil packet and yanking Gavin closer so he could roll it onto his cock.

  “Don’t make me beg, now that you’ve started,” Ben said, stroking Gavin once he had him covered.

  “God, Ben,” he laughed, thrusting into his boyfriend’s fist with a throaty moan. “I’m not going to last long enough to do it if you keep that up.”

  “Yes, you will,” Ben predicted, giving him a hot smile as he subtly tightened his grip on the upstroke.