He bolted upright, breathing heavily.
“Hey,” Gamble said, touching his face. “You had a nightmare. Are you okay?” he asked.
Clearly, he wasn’t.
Poe was shaking, and there were tears in his eyes.
“No,” he whispered. “I’ll never be okay again.”
Gamble remembered feeling that way three months ago when he showed up at Poe’s home, and was so broken that he believed himself unfixable.
Poe had proved him wrong.
“What can I do for you?” he asked. “Just tell me, and I will.”
Poe looked up at him.
He knew he was going to have to leave this man. He knew he was going to have to go back to England and take over for his parents.
Oh, he didn’t want to, but he knew he would have to say goodbye to him.
And that hurt more than anything.
What he needed was one last moment to remember when he finally had to walk away from the first person he’d ever loved like this.
“Please just hold me,” he whispered. “I need you.”
That was all Gamble had to hear.
He opened his arms, and Poe went into them, clinging to his bare chest. His mouth sought out Gamble’s, and he kissed him.
Oh, and there was desperation and need in that mating of mouths.
Gamble opened himself for Poe, knowing that he needed him. He would be anything and everything for this man.
Because he loved Poe more than anything.
He wanted to be with him, and as soon as this mess was over, he would be.
Gamble had found the one person who gave him peace and safety, and now, he would give it back.
As the heat went up in the room, Gamble let Poe have his wicked way with his body. There was no freaking way he was saying no to that.
His hands wandered, and there was pleasure, lust, and need in those caresses.
Someone moaned, and they rolled around on the blanket that Poe had been sleeping on.
In the darkness of that grotto, Gamble let Poe take what he needed.
Love.
Because he knew it healed.
“Poe,” he whispered, as the man was moving down his body, leaving wet, openmouthed kisses on his flesh.
The need was growing, and both men felt it to their souls.
Poe was in control, and he needed this moment. This was his goodbye to Gamble. As soon as he could, he was leaving the US, and he knew that he wouldn’t ever see him again.
