Aftermath by Bailey Bradford (most important books of all time txt) 📗

Lee stared back at him with a blank expression, which confused Darren to no end. He’d been sure the man wanted him, but maybe it’d only been his own lusty thoughts that had made it seem so. It wasn’t as if he knew Lee well enough to know if that second smile had been just another tool to manipulate Darren into being alone with Lee. He took a step backwards, then another and another still until his back hit the door. Lee frowned but didn’t come any closer.

Darren stood waiting, little shivers racing up his arms and legs as he wondered what Lee was going to do.

Lee wasn’t sure what had happened to send Darren from aroused to afraid so quickly. He tried to figure out where he’d gone wrong in the last six feet or so of their walk to the office. Darren had seemed willing—eager, even—to be alone with Lee, right up until Lee had forced himself to tamp down the desire that had threatened to shatter his control. If he hadn’t, he’d likely have had his cock buried balls-deep in Darren’s tempting ass already. So maybe the rapid switch on his part had triggered the fear he could almost scent in Darren?

Lee took a cautious step forward and Darren tensed, his shoulders hunching as he clenched his hands together until the knuckles looked so sharp against the skin Lee wondered how they didn’t break through.

“Are you afraid of me?” Lee asked, taking another step closer.

Darren’s eyes flared, widening as he shook his head. “No, no I—I just…” Darren shifted his weight from foot to foot, looking at some point over Lee’s shoulder. “I don’t know,” he confessed softly, tipping his head down, a thick fringe of hair tumbling free to hang over Darren’s eyes.

Lee felt an odd tug in his chest as he closed the distance between them. He started to reach for Darren’s chin then settled for placing his hand along the satiny smooth skin of his jaw. A little pressure had Darren lifting his head, and Lee gently brushed the hair away from Darren’s eyes. The confusion and fear he saw in those brown eyes made Lee want to make all sorts of rash promises, but Lee knew better than to let his emotions make him stupid. Instead he slowly traced the bruised skin, feeling a slight bump under Darren’s chin. “What happened here?”

Even if he hadn’t been touching Darren, Lee thought he would have been able to feel the heat of the man’s blush. “I fell,” Darren mumbled. “Got spooked and dropped the eggs then ended up doing this.” Darren’s fingers ghosted over his own, setting a fire blazing along the nerves in Lee’s skin. He caught Darren’s hand before the man could let it drop to his side. Darren’s gaze shot to his and Lee leaned in cautiously, not wanting to scare him, not when he ached to feel those parted lips against his.

Darren’s blue-veined lids dropped closed as he tipped his face up. The silent offering was all the permission Lee needed. He lifted Darren’s hand, pressing it to the door beside Darren’s head while sliding his other hand down Darren’s elegant neck. The skin was so soft, like warm satin under Lee’s palm. He thought he’d never feel anything smoother until his lips touched Darren’s, then Lee knew he was in trouble, his tenuous grasp on his control shredding as Darren moaned and opened wider for Lee’s probing tongue.

Like a switch flipped inside him, Lee’s cautious approach vanished as lust thrummed through him with every heartbeat. He pressed against Darren from knees to chest, pinning him roughly as Lee claimed his mouth. Lee pushed at Darren’s jaw, tipping his head for a better angle, then he swept his tongue in and tasted every bit of Darren he could reach.

Darren clutched at Lee’s shoulder with his free hand but didn’t try to move the one Lee had in his grasp. Lee slid a thigh between Darren’s, or tried to, only to become frustrated when the apron got in the way. Cursing as he brushed his lips over Darren’s, Lee trailed his hand down from Darren’s wrist, wishing the man hadn’t worn a long-sleeved shirt. Wishing he wasn’t wearing anything at all. Lee wanted to feel more of Darren’s soft skin, wanted to lick every inch of it and listen to the sounds Darren made each time Lee discovered his erotic spots.

Darren whimpered and touched his lips to Lee’s as Lee traced the ribs he could feel through Darren’s shirt. Lee couldn’t stop himself from sliding his hand around to grab Darren’s ass. The taut mound fit perfectly in his hand, and Darren shuddered from head to toe when Lee squeezed, his fingers pressing hard against the seam covering Darren’s crease.

“Jesus,” Lee muttered, his cock spurting a knee-weakening burst of pre-cum as Darren writhed against him. “You’re going to burn me alive, you’re so fucking sexy.” Lee didn’t care if they weren’t the smoothest words—they were the truth and that was what mattered. No one had ever brought him to the edge so fast before.

Darren opened his eyes as Lee found the hem of the apron with his other hand, completely unwilling to let go of Darren’s ass. Lee shoved the apron aside and immediately found Darren’s long, thick erection. Lee hummed his approval as he palmed the length, almost grinning at Darren’s whimpered, “Yes, please!”

“I’ve got you,” Lee promised, because for now, he did. He felt the warm moist spot soaking the denim where Darren’s cock had leaked. Lee was sure he had a matching spot of his own. “How much longer do you have to work?” He pressed the tip of Darren’s dick with his thumb, pleased with the way Darren moaned and thrust into the caress. “When do you get off?”

“Oh, God,” Darren gasped. “Soon, if you keep doing that!”

Lee chuckled and repeated the touch, his other hand clenching the swell of Darren’s ass hard enough to bruise.