“Like I said, life. What’s your point?”
“My point is that being with me is dangerous.”
Reaching out, Josef set his hand on Alex’s thigh, thumb stroking. “For men like us, being together is always dangerous. You know that. But I think, if we face it together, it’s a risk worth taking.” He stilled his hand. “Question is—do you?”
There was a pause that felt eternal. Even the clock on the mantelpiece seemed to hesitate, breath held. And then, in a rush, Alex said, “Christ, of course I do,” and reached out his arms.
Josef went to him, on his knees between Alex’s thighs, hugging him hard, breathing in the scent of his hair, his skin, as he buried his face in Alex’s neck, kissing him there. Feeling Alex shiver in his arms and give a single, stifled sob, Josef held him tighter. “Shh,” he said, “it’s all right.”
“Sorry,” Alex breathed, not letting go, speaking into Josef’s shoulder. “It’s just—I thought you were lost to me.”
“No,” Josef said fiercely. “Never.”
Alex pulled away, far enough that Josef could see his face. His pallid skin had colour now, a pink flush that chased away the dark circles beneath his eyes—eyes that glittered dark blue and beautiful. “Josef,” he said softly, lifting a hand to his face. “My Joe, can we truly have this?”
Josef smiled into those eyes, feeling his heart find its rhythm. The same as Alex’s, beating in tandem. Together. Together against the world. “Yes,” he said, cupping Alex’saristocratic, annoyingly perfect face in his palm. “Now kiss me, you idiot.”
And he did, gently at first but swiftly igniting, burning away all the fear and trauma, consuming everything that had come between them until nothing was left but desire, untarnished by anything that had gone before.
Desire, and more.
Josef didn’t dare name the feeling burning behind his breastbone, but it was there, nonetheless. Deep in his heart, beating steadily. And he understood that he stood at a fork in the road, that he was consciously choosing the path to a future that glittered bright and full of danger.
A future he could only have with Alex.
The only future he wanted.
THE END
