by Aiden Bates
I drew a sharp inhale.
“Being without you just isn’t something I can live with.”
I pressed closer to him, so I could almost feel his heartbeat thumping right through both of us.
His voice rumbled in his chest when he spoke again. “Please forgive me, Grady, so I can spend the rest of our lives showing you how much you mean to me.”
It was everything I wanted to hear. I lifted my head and looked at him then dropped my gaze to his soft, inviting lips. Without warning, I pressed my mouth to his and kissed him, closing my eyes as relief and joy flooded my system. He gasped, and I drew back.
“I forgive you,” I said. “Of course I forgive you. You’re all I want.”
Rome grinned before he claimed my mouth with passion and the decisiveness I’d come to find so sexy from him. His tongue slid along mine as he claimed me as the man for him.
“I love you, Grady Caldwell,” he said as he looked deep into my eyes. His eyes shone with the colors of sun-kissed woodland, and I smiled back.
He drew away, my fingers still entwined with his. “May car’s parked in your parents’ garage. Should we tidy up here and head back to my place?”
As I nodded, he picked up one of the candles, and blew it out then repeated the process until his circle faded to black.
I pressed my fingernails into my palm—a reality check that I was actually sitting beside Rome, his scent of leather and danger swirling in the air around me. The familiar landscape raced by outside the windows as we reversed my journey to family dinner, and now a different sense of love and safety and comfort filled me. Being with Rome felt like home.
We didn’t fall through the door to his house in a fit of passion, and he didn’t slam me against any walls as soon as we got inside, but he didn’t let go of my hand once after he’d locked his car until we reached his living room.
“Coffee?” he offered.
“Coffee?” I repeated and lifted my eyebrow. I’d been hoping for a little more than coffee, but it felt awkward to ask.
Sudden anxiety hummed in my head, and thousands of wings beat in my stomach.
Rome moved closer. “Well, I was hoping to keep you up all night…”
I chuckled and pressed my palm to his cheek. “I don’t think you need coffee for that.” Then I cupped his dick with my other hand. “Just this.”
He closed his eyes, sudden tension in his face. “Thank you for forgiving me, Gray.”
“I don’t just forgive you, I love you,” I said.
He dropped his head and nuzzled against my neck before placing an open-mouthed kiss there. He touched his tongue against my skin, and I shivered, clutching his head to me.
My cock stood straight up, craving his touch, and when he pressed to me, his cock ground against mine. I gasped and moved with him, my movements kind of frantic as I sought the kind of pleasure I only wanted to find with Rome and his body.
Rome paused nibbling at my neck and panted a noisy breath. The sound sent excitement whirling through me, and I whimpered softly.
“I want you, Gray,” Rome said. “Do you want me, too?”
“Want and need,” I replied.
He began to tug my T-shirt from the waistband of my jeans. I never made the same kind of effort for family dinners as Adrian did, apparently. As I thought of my brother, I smiled at the stunt my entire family had pulled.
“My mom must really believe in you to cancel family dinner for you.”
Rome huffed a strangled laugh. “Yes, she must. Now stop thinking about your mom when I’m holding your cock.”
“But you’re not—”
He chuckled and unfastened my jeans then wrapped his fingers around my hard-on. “I am now.”
I gasped and thrust gently toward him.
“Shall we go somewhere more comfortable? I’d rather not fuck you on the floor.”
“I thought it was love,” I whispered as I met his eyes.
“Oh, it is,” he said seriously. “I fucking love you.”
He tugged on my dick, leading me to his bedroom.
“Hey!” I laughed. “You’ll stretch it.”
He glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow, the expression sending a shot of desire to the base of my cock. It pulsed in Rome’s hand.
“Well, look at that,” he murmured. “Maybe I am stretching it.”
As we walked, I yanked my T-shirt over my head. Rome pushed the door to his room open and we stepped inside.
“Get on the bed,” he instructed. “I want you naked, and I want you naked now.”
I backed away from him and shook my head. “Nuh uh. You need to be naked, too. I want to look at you. It’s been too long.”
“You want to look at me or you want to watch?” He stroked his hand over the front of his pants. “You want to watch me, Gray?”
I pressed my teeth to my bottom lip and nodded. “Yes.” But my throat had dried, and the word barely emerged from my mouth.
Very slowly, Rome began to undress, and I mirrored his movements, sliding my pants off, my underwear and socks, until we both stood naked in his bedroom.
“Can you see how much I want you, Gray?” His voice was a soft, sexy whisper, and it sent fresh desire skittering through me. Gooseflesh prickled my skin.
I nodded, my cock throbbing as I looked at his body. “Touch yourself for me,” I urged him.
“Okay.” He nodded, his face calm as he ran his open palm up the underside of his cock. “Wait.” He stopped his movement, and my eyes flicked back to his. “Lube, or no?”
I nodded. “Sure, use lube.” I slid my tongue across my lower lip as he walked to the cabinet next to his bed, his dick bobbing with every step he took.
He opened the drawer, and it rumbled quietly on the rails. Then he reached in and pulled the bottle of lube out. I closed my eyes, waiting to hear the cap click open. The sound excited me because it signaled upcoming pleasure.
When I looked again, he poured lube into his palm and made a fist a couple of times, warming and spreading the silky liquid. When he reached for his cock again, he gasped.
“Fuck!” He gave himself a firm stroke and tossed the lube to me. “Don’t make me jerk off alone, Gray.”
I poured lube into my own hand and copied him, reaching for my cock. The moment I touched myself, electricity jolted through me, and I groaned.
“That’s right.” Rome’s gaze never left my dick as he worked his own, and as we both drew our fists up and down, we walked slowly closer to each other, as if attracted by magnetic force.
Eventually, we stood almost chest-to-chest, and Rome covered my hand with his. “Touch me,” he murmured. “I want to feel your hand on me.”
I slid my hand down him and cupped his balls.
He closed his eyes and moaned. “You have no idea how much I want to be inside you.” His hand worked my cock and I picked up my pace on his as he stepped even closer, wrapping his free arm around my back and lowering his head to kiss me.
His kiss was punctuated by our gasps of pleasure, and it was easy to press my tongue into his mouth, sliding it over his tongue and exploring his teeth and the soft skin on the inside of his cheeks.
He changed the position of his hand so he held both of our cocks, jerking them together, and my knees buckled slightly.
“Now will you get on the bed?” He still spoke softly.
“Yes, please.” I would have done anything he wanted.
He threw the comforter back theatrically and gestured for me to climb on. “Lie on your side.”
I did as he asked, and the mattress dipped as he climbed onto the bed behind me and the quiet rip of a foil packet sounded in the room. A shiver ran through me as he pressed his lubed-up fingers between my ass cheeks and touched against my hole.
I squirmed against the sensation and he chuckled, the sound deep and enticing against my ear. He nudged his finger inside, and I squirmed again, relishing in the stretching feeling.
“Touch. Your. Cock,” he whispered
, each word punctuated with a period as he nuzzled against my neck.
I closed my eyes and let my head drop against his shoulder as he traced his fingers around my hole and added a second inside.
“I can’t wait much longer.” He nuzzled me again and licked his tongue along the edge of my jawline.
“Don’t wait. I don’t want you to wait.” The words were a plea, and I held my breath as he pushed his cock inside me.
I worked my hand over myself quicker, faster, my breath coming in spurts and pants as Rome pushed forward, rubbing over my prostate and turning my insides molten.
He groaned as he did it again, and one of his hands gripped my hip. “I wanted this to be slow, Gray, but I’ve missed you so much. I don’t know if I can keep it slow.”
“I want it fast.” I worked my cock furiously, sliding my hand from base to tip and slowing over the tip. “I want to hear you come.”
“Fuck, Gray.” His rhythm stuttered. “Say that again.”
“I want to hear you come.”
“Jesus.” He increased his thrusts, his sweat-slicked skin slapping against mine. “I’m going to come,” he gasped out. “Oh, fuck, I’m going to—” He broke off into a low groan and thrust a couple more times before he held still, and he breathed in rapid gasps.
It was such a sexy sound, and as I heard him, my cock pulsed in my hand as an orgasm tightened my muscles in a vice-like grip before releasing them as cum spurted over my fingers and onto my abs.
Rome pressed his cheek to mine. “We need to do this again as soon as possible.”
I chuckled. “Let me recover from this occasion first, maybe?” My chest still heaved up and down with heavy breaths.
“Hmm.” He made a considering noise. “Well, I guess we do have plenty of time.”
“Our whole lives.” I smiled. “I love you, Rome.”
“I love you too.”
24
Rome
February
I checked my watch. If I didn’t go now, I’d be late for my dentist appointment and then that would impact my date with Grady. I couldn’t believe it. Three months. It had been three whole months since his family agreed to move their usual Friday night family dinner to a restaurant in town to allow me to try to win Grady back.
And Grady had described in great detail just how big a miracle that was. Apparently, Caldwell Family Dinners—always spoken of with full-on capital letters and in a slightly hushed, awe-inspired whisper—were right next to sacred in Vanessa Caldwell’s book, and as immovable as Christmas, or that was what Grady said, anyway. He thought I’d achieved nothing short of a modern-day wonder.
He said it was definitely a date for our diaries, and as much as I tried to laugh his statements off, he remained serious and earnest about them. It had definitely earned me big respect points for how far I was prepared to go for him, anyway.
And I would have gone further. So much further for the opportunity to talk to him and show him how much I loved him. I didn’t know what I would have done, and I was glad I hadn’t had to find out, but I would have thought of something, because I’d loved Grady for so long, and I just wasn’t prepared to lose him.
At the mere thought of Gray and his sparkling blue eyes and soft blond hair, my chest loosened, and I knew without looking that the smile on my face was a goofy one.
“Hey, man. Wipe that Grady-smile off your face. Don’t you need to get to Kane’s first?” Coop looked through my doorway and referenced first my boyfriend and then my dentist, and I groaned.
“Don’t remind me.” I’d been visiting Kane Abbot’s practice for years, and he was great, but the sound of his drill as it seemed to echo through his whole building sent a chill right through me. Just the memory of it gave me a whole body shudder that I fought to hold in.
“Think of Gray as the reward,” Coop advised.
I laughed as I headed out the door. I had absolutely no problem doing that.
I drew up in the last parking spot and headed straight in. I was ten minutes early, but it gave me time to freshen up and wash my hands, so after I checked in, I headed to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth, something I always did before sitting in Kane’s chair, and glanced in the mirror. Yeah, I’d been right—it had been a goofy smile, and it was still there.
I couldn’t wait to tell Kane about Gray. Everyone knew a Caldwell, so he’d have an opinion on my guy—and hopefully a good one.
I shouldered my way through the door and turned back toward the waiting room, ready to sit in the familiar wipe-clean seating. But as I rounded the corner, I stopped.
Kane. Kane kissing a guy. A much younger guy, it looked like. And it wasn’t a slow, luxurious kiss. It was hurried and almost…furtive.
Well, well. The sly dog. I turned away, ready to keep his secret and quiz him about it later. But I stopped again as Kane spoke in a low, urgent voice.
“I… We can’t do this again, or I’ll be forced to terminate your position.” Something in his tone sounded almost desperate. “We can never be anything more than a fling. Please accept that.”
“I’m not sure you mean that,” a familiar voice replied with a chuckle, and I spun around.
“Adrian.” His name slipped from my lips as I saw him glaring up at Kane, his jaw set, his hand resting lightly on Kane’s chest as they both breathed heavily.
Adrian paled as his eyes widened. His shock at seeing me was dramatic and almost laughable.
Next to him, Kane also turned ashen, his skin almost translucent, and his eyes were also huge, but panic lurked in their depths.
“Rome.” Adrian squeaked my name then flattened his lips into a tight line and shook his head, the movement slight and small, and I groaned.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit. I’d promised Gray no more secrets. And I’d meant it with every part of my heart, but I had a horrible feeling that Adrian was about to ask me for a favor I wasn’t sure I wanted to be part of.
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Love Lessons
Brotherly Love: Book 3
Aiden Bates & Ali Lyda
© 2020
Disclaimer
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are all fictitious for the reader’s pleasure. Any similarities to real people, places, events, living or dead are all coincidental.
This book contains sexually explicit content that is intended for ADULTS ONLY (+18).
