Before I could think, he leaned in. And that curve touched my lips.
My thoughts became vapor. His mouth parted, infusing me with an impossible heat. I melted; in moments, I had opened to him, taken his tongue, met it with my own. Of its own accord, my hand clasped his nape. God, his hair was so soft in my fingers. Touching his slender body, drinking in the eagerness of his kiss, made me tremble.
I almost pushed away, defended myself from the intensity. But Hei ended the kiss as smoothly as he’d begun it, creating just a breath of space between us. We crouched on the floor in the cherry-pink lights, foreheads touching, me still cupping his neck.
“That was a little presumptuous of me.” His voice glittered with hints of self-deprecating laughter.
I wasn’t about to complain. But uncertainty spiraled in my gut. “I’m more worried about you being harmed, considering. Are you all right? After what happened with Kadzuhikhan? We don’t have to do anything—”
“Shhh.” The hints became a chuckle. “I’m fine. If you are?”
He sounded almost shy, despite having kissed me twice. “I just don’t want to...” To be part of that. The world that did this to people. That had betrayed me, emptied me out and turned me into this. “To hurt you.”
Hei edged closer until his arms were slotted over my shoulders, lips pressing heat along my neck. “You won’t. I want you.”
My heart felt like it’d come back to life as a bird too, fluttering rapidly in my rib cage. My cock was already stiffening, so swiftly that it was probably nudging Hei. I gulped. “Will you stand up?”
He cooperated but remained against me, and my hands naturally slid down his back as we rose. Soon my arms were around him, bracing his elbow and the small of his back. He tilted into my chest, the pounding of his heart like a song. I whispered into his ear. “How do you want it? I have more experience with lovers who like roughness. But I can be as gentle as you like.”
Hei’s head shook. “It doesn’t matter.” He squirmed, and it became plain that he was peeling his shirt off. It dropped, revealing an expanse of soft brown skin, kissed by the gem-light. Sleek patterns of muscle decorated his slim torso. Such elegant, beautiful arms. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever seen arms like that on anyone—tender, but firmly shaped, making pleasing ripples and curves as they moved.
His fingers burrowed under the hem of my leotard, and in seconds we’d divested me of it. Our bare skin was touching almost everywhere it could. It felt like giving him my name again, exposing my need and my emptiness.
Shaking, I dove in.
My grip pulled him in maybe a touch too hard. But he seemed to reach for it, desire it. My lips closed on the skin of his neck, kneading rough attention into it. The bruises I might leave flashed through my head, and I remembered my own strength. Then Hei’s voice rose in a whimper—needy, unguarded—and it shredded my reservations.
I plunged down to the waist of his trousers, fumbling with the buckle. Lapping up his body heat like blood, I ripped the belt open. A satisfying clatter followed. “Oops. Almost broke that. If I damage any of your clothes you can send me the bill.”
He only chuckled.
He felt good. All but completely naked against me, skin smooth and inviting, his delicate frame vibrating. The tips of his fingers stroked my back, hair, dotting me with pleasant cold. His breath flared with urgency.
“Turn around.” My request rumbled like a growl.
He obeyed, my hands all over him, positioning him so his hips fit against my groin. I had no intention of hiding my erection, instead making sure it was centered on his firm, round ass. Sweet fucking ripe peach.
No teeth. I didn’t want even a suggestion that I might want his blood. Easy enough, because I didn’t, but it might have usually been exhilarating to nip him a little. Instead, I gently fisted one hand in his hair, holding just enough that his head was tilted up. A shivering gasp escaped his mouth. My tongue trailed down his neck, shoulders. And with my free hand, I slipped into his pants, peeling them down his thighs.
A mirror would have been perfect just then. Hei, stripped bare-ass naked except for a band of rolled cloth, my fingers underneath to keep control of my motions. His hair in my grip, breath heavy and trembling. From my vantage, I traced an amazing flush down his cheeks and the hollow of his décolleté.
I spoke so he’d feel the purr in my throat. “I want you too.”
He arced, that pretty bottom rubbing harder on my cock. Fuck. That was just about perfect. He took hold of my hips behind him, used them for leverage as he ground his backside into me. He was practically mewling. “Please. Ari.” Gasps punctuated his speech, and honestly—hearing him say my name was delicious. “Please fuck me. Fuck my ass. I want you inside me.”
Goddamn. He might as well have been grating my mind into ribbons, slowly reshaping it into a knot of desire. Fuck, fuck. “All right.” I had to control my breath, keep it even enough to speak. “I want to fuck you too. But I didn’t bring anything to...ease the way.”
He tried to turn around, as if to face me, but the motion was relaxed enough that I accepted an impulse—seizing his neck like a puppy’s, reverting him back into position. Naked ass against me, the sweet curve of his spine just under where my mouth rested. He whimpered. “I—I...please. I’ll do anything.”
Holy shit. Think, Ari. I couldn’t risk hurting him. Maybe we could get close. With quick efficiency, I opened and slid down my own leggings. The underpants followed suit, and I kicked both off, enjoying the rush of nudity.
That first instant of unclothed contact was like dipping my senses in liquid sex. His ass was so smooth, tight, radiating so much heat. My sensitivity jumped, the suddenly throbbing flesh of my cock slipping into his cleft and finding purchase there. It took no time at all for a wet streak to form, my pre-come slicking between his buttocks. The feeling of my cock bare seemed to push him to the edge. He began whimpering more loudly, his body humming with tension.
Fuck. I craved him so badly it was painful. I wanted to hear him squeal with delight. I wanted my whispers to leave a mark. “Hey. Hold still.”
He did, though it was impossible to fully obey, as severely as he was shaking. But it was easy enough to spit a few times in my hand, then massage the saliva between my member and his cleft. Soon I was sliding back and forth with ease, and the flash of heat and quivering flesh told me I was grazing his asshole. Mm. Perfectly smooth. I wanted to bend him over, take a good look at that tight little ring. But then I’d have to stop fucking against him, and it didn’t seem worth it at the moment.
“Will I see you again?” My voice didn’t seem recognizable to me, it was so low and thick with lust.
Hei hesitated, maybe trying to think through his arousal. “If you want to. Ari. Please, I—I want to see you again.”