by Z. Allora
Grateful for Drake’s response, Blaze tried not to sniff when he added, “Anyway, fans eventually started tossing stuffed dragons onto the ice. It was like my mom and dad were raining dragons down on me from heaven. Again, dumb, I know.”
“No, it’s not.” Drake squeezed his hand tighter. “Thank you for telling me.”
Blaze shook off the stupid notion that he’d revealed too much with someone he didn’t really know. He could only hope the information wouldn’t be used against him in the future. Though Drake didn’t seem to be the kind to do that, but what did Blaze know? “Um, yeah. When did you start playing guitar?”
“Always. I used to sit on the floor wherever my dad laid his old acoustic and plucked the strings before I could do more than drag it behind me.”
Blaze could see the adorableness of that image, and he couldn’t help but grin. “I guess you weren’t the type of kid who needed to be forced to practice by his parents.”
“Nah, they used to have to pry the guitar from my hands so I’d do other things.”
The waitress gave Drake his soda. She poured the sake and set it in front of Blaze.
“Thank you,” Drake said to her as she left, then tilted his glass to Blaze. “To you.”
“To me?” No one ever toasted him unless he won a competition.
“For being absolutely everything I’d ever imagined you to be and more.” Drake clinked his glass to Blaze’s cup.
Oh…. His desire to kiss Drake took Blaze’s breath away. Usually that wasn’t the focus of his fantasies, but right now, taking Drake’s face between his hands and gliding his lips over Drake’s plush mouth rode him hard.
Speaking of riding hard, he’d like to do that too, but for some weird reason the desire to kiss Drake became a higher priority. So weirdly unexpected but kind of nice… kissing… maybe there was something to the whole connection thing.
Blaze didn’t know what to say, so he drank the sake. Drake followed Japanese tradition and poured him another cup.
Finally, he was determined to drag the conversation back to the safety of Drake’s passion, so he said, “Thank you. Please continue telling me about your music.”
Drake studied him, giving him his entire focus. “The chords make sense to me, and music can make people smile.”
“You’re good at making people smile.” Blaze didn’t mean to say that aloud. Oops, he needed to be careful if he wasn’t going to become enamored. His heart whispered, You mean, more than you are already?
“I like making you smile.” The words weren’t meant as a bold declaration. Drake seemed to be stating a fact.
That was sweet. No! It had to be a line. Blaze pressed his lips together.
Drake grinned at him. “You’ve got so many beautiful smiles.”
“What do you mean?” He needed to call bullshit on this immediately. Otherwise he might start to believe this nonsense.
“There’s your accomplishment smile when you win.” Drake settled back in his chair.
“My what?”
“You know, your ankle is acting up yet you’re still able to pull everything together and give an incredible performance.”
Did he? Welcome to his life. “Which ankle?”
Drake put his elbow on the table and leaned his face on his hand. “Which year?”
Wow…. “Point taken, but I think we should circle back to you maybe being a stalker.”
Drake snorted and waved him off. “There’s the rueful smile that you wear when, no matter what you do on the ice, nothing works, but you continue and leave whatever you can give out there. Like two years ago at World’s.”
Blaze covered his face at the memory. He had hit a chip in the ice and went down, then had problems shaking off the fall. “The Gods of Ice were not kind that day. I didn’t even medal.”
Drake kept right on with his detailed list. “Then there’s your unguarded smile I’ve only seen since meeting you in person when you talk to Luke or Anna, maybe a couple times last night under the stars.”
Blaze caught his breath. God, he shouldn’t want whatever this was because—
“There’s the patient smile the toddlers in your class get when they have your full attention.”
Blaze tried to glare but failed. “Well, you know my smiles or you’re full of shit.”
“And then there’s the one I like the best.”
“Which is?” Blaze didn’t bother to keep the suspicion out of his voice.
“It’s a little shy, like you don’t know if you should smile or not.”
Blaze would not melt from these observations, but his heart was totally not on board with this assessment. “When do I do that?”
“Right now.” Drake reached across the table and ran a finger along Blaze’s jaw.
Blaze pulled back and tried to school his face. “Our dinners are here.”
As their server set their food in front of them, Drake said, “Saved by the waitress.”
“YOU SURE it’s no trouble letting me stay here again tonight? I really could get a hotel,” Drake offered for the fifth time as Blaze unlocked his door.
“That seems silly. Why would you do that?” Besides, if he stayed, maybe they could fuck a second time, which would be after they rested from the first time. Blaze petted Ice and gave him a treat.
“I guess.” Drake set down his guitar and a few bags filled with clothing he’d nabbed from his rental’s trunk. “So where can I find the bedding?”
What? Maybe there was a sexy bedroom trick he wanted to do with Blaze. “On the bed?”
Drake chuckled. “No, I mean your extra linens.”
“For?”
Drake scrunched his face as he pointed to the sofa. “To make this up for my bed.”
“Why would you—I thought—that we would….” Blaze stared at Drake. Weren’t they going to have sex, not even one time? Confusion seeped in.
“My father told me if I liked someone, to never sleep with them on the first date.” Drake spouting that utter nonsense while being endearingly sweet should be against the law.
Had Blaze hit his head? Maybe he’d accidentally drunk too much sake. “What? I thought you and I….”
Images of holding Drake’s hair as reins as he fucked his ass had been taunting Blaze throughout the day. Though during dinner, his wishes-and-needs list had shifted to wanting to taste those lips and to find out how the lip ring felt. Would the silver be cool or body temperature? He longed to hear Drake’s pleasured moans of surrender.
“And I hope we will.” Drake stepped into Blaze’s personal space and smiled at him way too brightly for someone who’d rejected him. He tucked a piece of hair behind Blaze’s ear.
The stroke of Drake’s finger grazing the shell of Blaze’s ear made him shiver with want. God, how could such innocent contact make him hard?
Hope began to—
“But not tonight.”
Crash! What the fuck? Blaze bit down his desire for this idiot and tried to be logical. “I want to understand. You want to have sex with me, but you won’t because you don’t want to have sex on the first date because you like me.”
“Basically.” Drake nodded as if that was reasonable to him.
Did Blaze join a monastery without knowing? He pointed out, “You slept in my bed last night.”
“But not for sex.” Drake made that assertion sound perfectly logical.
“You’re going to sleep out here while I’m in there.” Having sex with my hand? This wasn’t making sense in Blaze’s world. Hell, he had such a nice time on their—at dinner. Why would Drake let a dumb rule stop them from spending quality time together? No, not quality time, fucking. Why would a stinking rule stop them from fucking?
How did Drake get under his skin this deep? Frustration and bewilderment warred within Blaze’s mind. Absently he pulled a set of sheets from the bench storage in front of his bed. “Here are extra sheets.”
“Thanks.” Drake accepted them with a smile, like he wasn’t bothered about not sleeping with Blaze a
t all.
“I guess I’ll get ready for bed.” To be in bed alone. Blaze stumbled into the bathroom and went through his nightly routine. Bathroom, teeth, moisturizer.
How was this even possible? He’d never been turned down for sex, ever.
Soft guitar music seeped under the bathroom door, relaxing him. No, damn it. He should be… pissed, not confused and a little bit touched. It wasn’t even a date, but fuck it all if he didn’t want another.
He marched back into the living room and tried not to notice how beautiful Drake looked sitting there barefoot on the sheet-covered sofa, strumming his guitar without a care in the world. “You do know I can use an app and get laid in thirty minutes, right?”
Drake glanced up at him, and his smile didn’t change. “Yeah, but we both know you wouldn’t be satisfied.”
Why, that overconfident jerk! How dare he be right? “Well, I’m not satisfied right now. So why wouldn’t I?”
“You like me.” Drake grinned at him as if Blaze’s emotional plight was a good thing. The bastard called his bluff.
The denial died long before the lie fell out of his mouth. When did he start liking Drake? Sure, they’d interacted on social media, but—
“What’s the difference between a date and a hookup?” Drake strummed a soft tune.
“I know. One makes sure you get off and the other doesn’t.” Blaze’s dick needed to register a complaint.
Drake chuckled. “Good one, but no. A hookup is with someone you can’t wait to tell your friends who you fucked. With a date, you can’t wait to tell your friends who you met.”
“What are you saying?” Lack of orgasm combined with sake might be creating a block in Blaze’s ability to use logic to make sense of things.
“I can’t wait to tell Taylor about you.”
Blaze’s frown evaporated even as he tried to keep the grimace in place. The sweetness of Drake would be his downfall and he’d end with a broken heart. But…. “Mind if I hang out with you?”
“I’d like that.” Drake patted the seat next to him.
Even if they weren’t going to have sex, at least he could listen to him play.
“And I’d like to ask you out for tomorrow.”
Another date? “Okay,” Blaze’s voice squeaked.
Chapter 8
I DON’T know why you don’t believe me, Drake texted Taylor.
How could nothing happen? You’re both guys.
Stereotype much? Taylor could be totally open-minded, but at times his determination to ride gender norms and expectations all the way to the binary station made Drake crazy.
Whatever. You & Papa Keys’ dating rules are very 1850s. The words of the text didn’t block Taylor’s scoff.
How could he make Taylor understand? Exaggerate? I really like him.
No kidding. Look, from all you’ve said, maybe he’s aromantic.
He says he’s not. I don’t think he’s used to dating. That might be an understatement.
This morning, when they’d woken up together on the sofa, twined around each other, Blaze had rushed upstairs to his brother’s, making an excuse about needing to exercise with him.
He may see your rule as less about respecting him and more about rejecting him.
I’m NOT rejecting him. Drake couldn’t think of a person he’d ever wanted more.
Meet him where he is comfortable.
I could do that. An idea began to form on how he could start their date. Later, Tay.
Drake decided to meet Blaze where he usually resided, which might be a risk, but maybe if Drake played in that realm, giving Blaze a little of what he was used to, it might be something to build on.
The basement door cracked open, and Blaze peeked around the corner. He didn’t quite meet Drake’s gaze. “Um, so yeah… I see you’ve already showered. If you’re done in the bathroom, I guess I’ll take mine.”
Drake had hoped the distance Blaze put between them would shrink, but without him doing something, it looked like that wouldn’t be happening.
“Okay. I’ll clean up out here.” He folded the sheets, then stacked them and the pillows onto one of the chairs. After putting his cup and plate from breakfast into the dishwasher, he glanced around for something else to tidy.
He gave Iceman a nice ear rub for a bit, and when the sounds meant Blaze had finished dressing, Drake walked outside. Through the french doors, he watched Blaze search the living area and his practice space.
Drake knocked on the door.
Blaze spun around and dashed to the door. “What are you doing outside?”
“Thought I’d start off date two properly.” Drake enjoyed Blaze’s shy smile, meant just for him. He stepped inside, then shut the door.
“Date two, huh? You still want to go ice skating, then out to lunch?” Beneath the snark a wariness lurked, reinforcing Drake’s instinct that he needed to ease Blaze by meeting him at his own comfort level.
“That sounds great.”
Blaze huffed out a breath. “Should I even ask how many dates until—”
Drake wrapped his arms around Blaze, dragged him close, and stared into his eyes. “I want to kiss you.”
Blaze squeaked, “Okay,” as he jumped out of Drake’s embrace. He clasped his hands in front of him and stared at the space between them.
The distance yawned like a chasm between two mountains. Drake tried to bridge the gap by taking Blaze’s hand. Not wanting him to feel trapped, Drake clarified, “Unless you don’t….”
Shifting from foot to foot, Blaze claimed, “No, I want to.”
Did he?
Blaze peered at him, and anticipatory excitement flashed past his worried expression, luring Drake to move close enough to feel Blaze’s body heat.
“I don’t want to go too fast,” Drake reassured him.
“You’re not. Jesus, we haven’t even had sex yet. This is definitely not too fast.” Blaze’s voice rose.
Somehow a lot of pressure fell onto this single kiss. This was his chance to show Blaze the magical power of a kiss, and it would be their first kiss. The one as a couple you’d always remember.
No matter what, he wasn’t going to let Blaze down. He’d pour all his affection and lust into the kiss, and maybe Blaze would understand how much he hoped this would be only the beginning for them.
Drake caressed Blaze’s smooth-shaven cheeks, then cupped his face in both of his hands. He tilted Blaze’s head a little to the right. Licking his own lips, he paused in his descent to those lush pink lips to savor his growing anticipation.
Blaze’s breath quickened.
He let his breath mingle with Blaze’s minty exhale and went hard from relishing the potential. Shared air passed between them in a way almost more intimate than a kiss.
Blaze pushed closer, his light aftershave enticing Drake to act.
Drake wrapped an arm around Blaze, and a tremor ran through Blaze, but he remained pliant.
Sweeping his tongue along his lips, Drake made them wet for what he hoped would be the best first kiss ever. He traced his lips over Blaze’s, barely touching him, until Blaze whimpered.
Drake couldn’t take the temptation a second longer and pressed their lips together.
Sparks flashed between them like the first explosive notes of a rock anthem. He dropped his hands to Blaze’s waist and hauled him closer. The rub of Blaze’s hardness against his own created a delicious friction.
A soft needy moan escaped Blaze and burrowed into Drake’s soul, making him want to give Blaze everything he desired. Those expressive hazel eyes widened and then slowly slid shut as Blaze parted his soft lips, offering Drake more.
No longer hiding his intensity, he kissed Blaze like he owned him.
On a whimper of surrender, Blaze tangled tongues with him.
Yes! Thrilled Blaze didn’t retreat, Drake guided him toward the chair and teased a finger over the bulge in Blaze’s jeans. A desperate gasp rewarded his efforts. “How about I start our second date by answering your or
iginal question?”
Thrusting his hips, Blaze groaned with lustful confusion that excited Drake. “Question?”
“How many dates until…?” He let the potential reply hang over them as he tantalized with his fingers along Blaze’s zipper again.
“Oh God.” Blaze shifted restlessly against Drake.
Gliding his lips over Blaze’s, Drake teased his fingers along the bulge behind Blaze’s zipper.
“That kiss makes me believe you could really be mine.” Drake ghosted tender kisses on his neck.
“What? I’m not yours,” Blaze sputtered. He panted, but Drake couldn’t tell if he was turned-on beyond his erection or if he was looking for an escape.
“Not yet.” Drake shared what lurked in his heart as he traced his lips over Blaze’s jaw.
Blaze offered his neck to Drake’s mouth. “There’s nothing to hope for unless it’s sex you want. I’m good at that. I can give you that.”
“Blaze.” Drake relished his name as he grazed his teeth along Blaze’s neck.
“No, Drake. There’s nothing for me to give you other than an orgasm.”
Drake heard Blaze’s statement as a challenge. Blaze played the part of the untouchable ice prince to perfection.
“Bite.” Blaze pressed his neck against Drake’s teeth.
He nipped along the column of Blaze’s neck, licked over his Adam’s apple to finally tease his tongue against Blaze’s pulse point.
“Please,” Blaze gasped.
Moaning, Drake gave him what he wanted and bit down on his neck. Blaze’s knees buckled, but Drake tightened his arms around him and held him upright.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do with you, Drake.”
Deciding clarity would be best, Drake explained, “I know exactly what I’d like to do with you.”
“What’s that?” Blaze’s voice was filled with seductive suggestions.
“Take you in my mouth and suck on you until I make you come. Then I’m going to swallow.”
Blaze’s mouth dropped open, but nothing came out. He squeezed his eyes shut.
Assessing the reaction, Drake added, “Unless you don’t want me to.”
Blinking his eyes open, Blaze shook his head. “I’ve never… I haven’t….”
