Elliot allowed himself to be enveloped in Theo’s arm. His warm arm wrapped around his shoulders. “Okay,” Elliot said. “I can buy into that.”
Theo did up his pants again. He put himself away, and as they exited the alley, Elliot didn’t feel rejected. In fact, for some reason, he felt even closer to Theo than before.
Still, he put a hand on Theo’s ass as they walked, arm in arm, back toward Elliot’s building.
Chapter Thirteen
Theo
After a short stroll, they ended up back at Elliot’s building, riding the elevator up to Elliot’s floor and down the now-silent hallway toward Elliot’s apartment. The whole way, they touched one another. Playful touches, suggestive touches. In the elevator, Theo pushed himself up against Elliot pressed into the corner of the elevator car, and they kissed. With each little movement, Theo enjoyed himself more and more.
This was worth the money, he told himself.
But that thought, the thought of money, left him hollow. He wasn’t sure why. This was supposed to be only a night of sex, a chance for a guy new to the scene to get his dick off with a stranger, a way for Elliot to peek out of his shell and experience life the way it should be experienced. Theo was doing Elliot a favor. And that favor was going to make it possible to move out and leave the disaster that was his broken life with Reid behind. He tried to stay cold about it, even as he giggled and touched Elliot in his hidden places. He wanted to remain detached.
When he reacted in the diner and called Elliot boyfriend, he still wasn’t quite sure how to take it. It just came out. Sure, he played it off for Elliot when he asked about it. What else was he going to do? A conversation like that would have turned everything weird, and he wanted to be done with it quickly. He wasn’t even sure he was ready for a boyfriend again after the way Reid treated him. But Reid was a different beast. Reid was an asshole.
Theo didn’t think Elliot was capable of the same cold, mean streak that Reid had. It simply was not in Elliot’s nature.
The fact remained that boyfriend was his word. He said it, and it came out in the moment. Maybe what he told Elliot was right, maybe it was only his way of establishing the connection and making that connection mean something in the minds of Kurt and his idiot posse. A word driven by the desire to fight, not to fuck.
Still, there was something to suggest that it was more than that. With Reid, every time Theo talked about their relationship with others, he spoke with a tentativeness, an unspoken question to Reid about the validity of their labels. With Elliot, Theo couldn’t deny it, saying the word boyfriend was almost natural in a way that it had never been with Reid.
They were on the couch, reclining into the cushioned back, sitting next to one another, close enough that their shoulders were touching and their legs pressed tight together. Theo’s head was touching Elliot’s head.
There were nights, times during the long stretch of nights after he found out Reid had moved on. Nights where he pressed another man up against the wall, bent him over a bed, or himself bent over. A virtual stranger, aside from a first wink in a bar and a bought drink. Those nights, he poured out all his rage against Reid into the ass of that stranger. He would leave his anger spilled out onto another man’s stomach or stained on a bed sheet, wiped away with a crusty towel kept on the side of the bed. It was his way of acting out, of taking back some of his lost control. When it came right down to it, he knew no other way.
It was all an act. He’d been acting all his life. For as much as he acted like he was in control, as much as he built up the façade that he was a man of power, of strength, he really was a man who let himself be pushed and pulled along. He lived at the whims of other people.
There was something different about tonight, though. Tonight, he was ready to shove his fist into the face of that guy, all because that guy made a comment about Elliot. He didn’t care that they thought he was some kind of prostitute. He cared that they said something about Elliot.
And that was why this was so confusing to him. He found it confusing because it wasn’t all for show this time.
Sitting like this next to Elliot was—how was it? He had to think about that as Elliot traced idle lines with a finger in the palm of Theo’s hand.
Sitting with Elliot like this was comfortable. This was something he hadn’t experienced, not in a long time, anyway. Comfort. Real comfort.
And maybe that’s all it was. A fresh feeling, something new. But in the early days with Reid, did he ever experience this level of comfort?
“I recall I made a promise to you,” Theo said. He curled his fingers to grasp Elliot’s hand in his.
Elliot turned to him, his lips together in a contented smile. “What’s that?”
He grinned. “I’m supposed to be naked.”
Elliot laughed. “That you are. You did promise, and I am one to hold you to those types of promises.”
Theo leaned over and kissed Elliot. He pushed his tongue past the threshold of Elliot’s mouth, and he relished in that kiss. “I think you should help me,” he said.
Elliot’s hands were on Theo’s chest, working at the buttons of his shirt. They still kissed. Elliot was getting more confident. Theo sensed it as a progression. It was there in how he pressed forward, how his hands seemed driven by their own need to put his hands on the skin beneath his clothing.
But Theo finished the job before Elliot was able because he couldn’t wait any longer, and he pulled his shirt back over his shoulders and threw it billowing to the floor some feet away. Then Elliot was pushing him back. This came as a surprise to Theo, and he let out a laugh.
“What?” Elliot asked. He didn’t appear embarrassed though. He was grinning wide.
“I like this new you,” Theo said.
Elliot moved closer. “I think I like it too.”
Theo worked at the buttons on Elliot’s shirt. “It suits you,” he said. He pushed the fabric aside to put his hands on Elliot’s chest. Just as Elliot with eager hands, he, too, had a deep need to touch Elliot’s skin.
But he gasped in air. Elliot had the front of Theo’s pants undone, and he was already grabbing his cock, stroking it hard as Theo took in deep, shuddering breaths.
Then he leaned close to Theo and looked him in the eye. “I want you to fuck me,” Elliot said.
He stared into Elliot’s warm, brown eyes, and he grinned. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
He kissed Elliot. “If you’re sure. I mean, I didn’t let anybody fuck me until I’d been out for almost a year. I was afraid.”
Elliot laughed. “You? Afraid?”
“Yeah. Don’t judge.” Theo laughed too. “I’d heard the stories about how it hurts the first time.”
“Big, tough Theo, the guy who stood up to assholes in the diner, was afraid of a dick up his ass.”
“What?” Theo playfully covered his face. “I said don’t judge.”
Elliot grabbed Theo’s hands and moved them away. “I’m not judging.”
Theo met Elliot’s gaze, and beneath the heat that was written in the way he stared, Theo saw he was telling the truth. He wasn’t judging him in any way. The way he looked at him was honest.
Honesty that forced a moment of clarity.
“You’re a good man,” Theo said.
“And you are too.” He kissed him. “So good.” Then Elliot kissed him again, deeper, and Theo let himself go in the kiss. He helped Elliot stand, and Theo got out of the rest of his clothes. Soon they were both naked. As Elliot moved into the space of his arms, Theo couldn’t help the overriding sense of guilt over how this whole night came about. He knew he should tell Elliot. Elliot deserved to know.
But right now, Elliot was kneeling in front of him, and the tongue on the head of his cock caused all ability for rational thought to fall away, and he was only able to curl his fingers in Elliot’s hair and throw his head back and moan.
“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” They were in Elliot’s bedro
om, on his bed. He still had socks on, and he took them off to throw onto the floor.
Beneath him, laying on his back, Elliot nodded. It was a shaky nod, a nervous nod. The look in his eye told him that Elliot was committed. He was ready.
“All right. But you’re the one in control,” Theo said. “If you can’t take it, just say the word.” He bent down and kissed Elliot on the lips. “There are plenty of ways to finish that don’t require anal sex.”
“I know,” Elliot said. “But I want to try it.”
Theo nodded. “Some guys never try it, though, and that’s okay.”
Elliot put a hand over Theo’s mouth. “Would you shut up and fuck me, already?”
Theo laughed. “Okay, okay.” He reached over and grabbed a condom, and he stroked himself to full again as Elliot lay back on the bed and watched him, then he put on the condom. The lube came next, and he slicked his cock, then he squirted some onto his fingers. What worried him was hurting Elliot. He didn’t want Elliot to bear any pain. More important, he didn’t want Elliot to feel used like Theo, himself, so often did after Reid finished with him, when he lay there on the bed, on his stomach with the sense that his insides had somehow shifted, and Reid would get off him and walk into the bathroom to close the door to leave him all alone, not a word spoken between them. He wanted Elliot to enjoy it and experience it the right way, that inevitable bit of burn at the start, but then the pleasure.
As Theo moved his lube-slick hand down to the crease between Elliot’s buttocks, Elliot spread and lifted so that Theo was able get to his rosebud hole. He touched lightly over Elliot’s hole and massaged to spread the lube. Then he carefully inserted a finger up to his first knuckle. Elliot’s mouth opened, and he gasped a quick breath.
“You like that?” Theo said.
Elliot’s breath shuddered. “Yes,” he said.
He inserted his finger a little more, up to the second knuckle, and Elliot groaned on the bed. He spread his legs further. Theo bent down, still probing his anus with his finger. He took Elliot’s cock into his mouth. As he did so, he moved his finger further in.
Elliot became vocal. Theo watched him, eyes turned up, as he sucked his dick. Elliot with his head thrown back so that the only part of his face visible was the curve of his chin above the mound of his heaving chest. He was careful, slow. He didn’t want Elliot to come too soon, so he stopped.
When Theo let Elliot’s cock fall back to his stomach, Elliot stared up at him with eyes that begged: why did you stop? But Theo pushed Elliot’s legs up so that Elliot’s ankles were on either side of his shoulders, and he touched the head of his cock to Elliot’s hole.
“You want this?” he asked him.
Elliot said nothing. He only nodded.
Theo teased a little with his cock head, and then he pushed slowly into the opening. Elliot’s mouth hung agape. His eyes were squeezed shut. “Oh fuck,” he said. That made Theo wait. When Elliot’s breathing evened out, he went in a little further, moving slow but somewhat steady as Elliot learned how to take him, until he was fully inside.
Then Theo bent forward, Elliot’s legs spread wide, himself pushed deep inside. He hovered close to Elliot’s face and whispered. “Just relax. Get used to me. You’re in control.” He lowered to kiss Elliot’s lips. “Tell me when you’re ready.”
Elliot watched him. They were inches apart from one another, eyes locked. While Theo was inside him physically, he also seemed to reach down as deep as this visual connection could go, as deep as one night together would allow. To Theo’s surprise, he discovered that it was much deeper than he thought possible, and that swell of emotion caused him to kiss Elliot one more time before Elliot said in a husky whisper, “I’m ready.”
Theo moved his hips and let his cock slide out until almost the tip, then he pushed back in, an easy push where he took his time. Elliot’s hot, ragged breath lit on Theo’s cheek. His eyes were shut. In and out, slow and steady, he moved. He didn’t want to go too fast, not at the start. He wanted Elliot to know the pleasure of it more than the pain. There was pain. There was usually pain, but done right, it was outweighed by the pleasure, and Theo did everything possible to make it right.
“Like this?” Theo whispered in a hoarse voice.
“Yes. God, yes,” Elliot said. He whimpered, and Theo was certain he’d found Elliot’s prostate.
That was enough to urge him on. He rose straight to his knees, gripping Elliot’s thighs for some leverage, and he moved a little faster, fucking Elliot with more speed, more friction. Elliot’s tight ass was perfect and so hot on his cock.
“Faster,” Elliot said. “Oh God!”
And Theo complied. He pistoned in and out, sweat building on his forehead from the exertion, but also from the pleasure, a gasping pleasure at how amazing it felt.
He took Elliot’s cock in his hand, and he stroked it in time with each thrust he made inside Elliot’s ass. Elliot was stone hard, firm in Theo’s hand. As he picked up speed in the way he fucked Elliot, he stroked him faster. He spit onto Elliot’s cock to give it more lube.
Before long, Elliot balled his fists into the bed sheets, and he pulled them up. He cried out, his voice echoing off the walls of the room, and he shot a hot, milky orgasm hard enough to land on his neck and coat his chest with the pearly drops.
Then Theo felt it build inside his stomach. His entire body grew rigid, and he thrust as deep as he could go inside Elliot, and he came. His body trembled. He thought he might have made a sound to equal Elliot’s cry, but he couldn’t be sure. Then, it was over, and he fell forward into a heap on top of Elliot, his face buried into the crux of Elliot’s neck. He sandwiched the leftovers between them, and it mixed with the heavy sweat that coated his chest. He lay there, on top of Elliot, breathing hard, conscious of Elliot’s hands stroking his back and reaching up to his hair to twist and curl fingers as he breathed against Theo’s neck.
Finally, Theo lifted enough to look at Elliot. Both of them laughed and took deep breaths. He pulled himself out from inside Elliot, and he rolled over to take the condom off his dick. He tied it off, and he tossed it onto the floor. They would clean up later. For now, he wanted to lay next to Elliot, his head close to Elliot’s, while he caught his breath.
“You did good for your first time,” Theo said.
“I had a good partner,” Elliot said. A hand still caught in Theo’s hair.
“Did I hurt you?”
“It hurt at first,” Elliot said. “I expected it to. You waited. I liked you inside me.”
“Well,” Theo said, and he lifted to prop himself up on an elbow. “You’re a sweet piece of ass.”
Elliot laughed out loud. “I can honestly say that is something I have never been called before.”
He leaned over and kissed Elliot. “There are a lot of firsts tonight, huh?”
“There sure is,” he said. “A night I won’t soon forget.”
Theo laid back down, his head on the pillow next to Elliot’s. In many ways, he was new to all of this too. A fresh feeling like stepping outside on the first day of a warm spring after being stuck indoors all winter. This is how it was supposed to be.
He lay on the bed, his hand on Elliot’s chest. Not long after, he fell asleep.
Chapter Fourteen
Elliot
Elliot woke up, and he realized he was naked. Of course, he was naked. He remembered everything that happened the previous night like it was a fever dream. But it had happened, and only a few hours ago, according to the clock. Morning light filtered in through the pulled shades, a finger of sunlight stretching across the bed.
When he rolled over, he saw the sun reached up and across the strong shape of Theo’s back to enhance the hills and valleys of muscles. More muscle and the definition of muscle than Elliot had ever realized existed in a man’s back before. He had the urge to reach out and trace the straight line of Theo’s spine as it moved down to the mound of his buttocks that still covered partially by the sheets. There was still t
hat part of Elliot’s brain that held on to this being a dream, that he was still asleep, sleeping alone. The way Theo’s skin glowed in the sunlight did nothing to dispel that chimerical, mythical sense of a dream state.
Tentatively, he reached out and put a hand on Theo’s warm shoulder. Yes, this had happened. A silly sigh of relief. He was touching him as confirmation, and this all had really happened, and the giddy reality of it settled in upon him. In the space of one night, he’d gone from being a lost, scared boy to a real, out gay man, someone who had sex—hot sex—with a statuesque guy he never would have believed wanted to have sex with him. All of this was real. If he’d told himself twenty-four hours ago that he would wake up next to this man, he would have laughed himself out of the apartment.
But there was no laughter. There was only the grinning confirmation that this was real.
His stomach itched, and he rubbed at it to discover the dried flakes of left-behind semen. It was also still on his neck, and he brushed at it with his fingers. Part of him wanted to get up to clean off, but a larger part of him wanted to stay right there in bed, relishing in the warmth of Theo’s body next to him. He reached over and put an arm over Theo’s sleeping form, and he moved in closer to him. He put his nose next to Theo’s skin, and he breathed in the scent of his body, an earthy scent specifically Theo. After touching and tasting parts of this man’s body, he believed that it was now somehow part of him too, that he could pick that scent out in a crowd of people. As Elliot settled in, Theo stirred slightly. He didn’t seem to wake, but a hand curled into his own. Theo moved to lay on his side, his back to Elliot, and Theo pulled his arm closer to his chest so that the little hairs on his chest brushed against his wrist.
It seemed odd to him that, not two days ago, he had been having a conversation with Brianna about this very thing, about wanting to wake up next to a guy who he really enjoyed spending time with.
You May Have Met Him Page 13
