NINE
At first, when Aaron’s eyes flickered open, he was sure that he must be on tour already. Why else would he be waking up in a room that he didn’t recognize? In a bed much bigger and more comfortable than his own was?
Even the light felt different here, cleaner, somehow. Aaron hadn’t spent a lot of his money, and he was still living in the small apartment that he had found after his parents’ death. His thoughts had always been, he would move when his sister came to live with him, but until then, he was good.
But there were advantages to a nice place, and Aaron yawned and stretched, glancing around him in slightly muzzy, sleepy confusion. Where was he? And why was there someone, a big, strong arm, wrapped around his waist?
And then he followed that arm up to a well-formed shoulder, and up further to a strong chin, just slightly darkened with masculine stubble. A full, seductive mouth. And then, glimmering golden eyes, looking at him with some amusement as Aaron figured out where he was.
Brad. He was with Brad. The one thing that he had told himself that he wasn’t going to do he had done. He had slept with Brad again, and not only that, but this time he had spent the night. If there was anything more forbidden than the sex, this would be it.
“Hey, gorgeous,” Brad murmured, his voice lowered with sleep, and Aaron studied his face thoughtfully. When he had met Brad, he had thought he was the most handsome man that he’d ever seen, in his severe, solemn suit which only enhanced his good looks instead of hiding them.
But Brad with his dark hair all messed up, with his face creased from the pillow, that was something else entirely. Something that his heart wasn’t going to be able to stand if he kept looking at him, and yet he couldn’t make himself look away.
“Hey,” Aaron returned the greeting cautiously, though it was probably a little bit too late for that. Talk about closing the barn door after the horse has already escaped. Not only had that horse escaped, but it had been running free for ages, and Aaron had the idea that he wasn’t going to catch it.
So did that mean that he should just accept what was going on here? Whatever it was? After all, the sex was incredible, and that date had been a surprising amount of fun. And Brad had more to lose than Aaron did, considering that Aaron was on his way out anyway.
It was a weird thought to have, suddenly. Maybe all of this time with Brad wasn’t a good idea, because Aaron was starting to have doubts. Did he really want to leave this life? Of course, there was Leah to consider, but Brad knew about Leah. Wasn’t it possible that, as a solo artist, Aaron might just have enough time to help her, too?
Ridiculous thoughts, of course. Starting a new career was a lot of work, and he was fooling himself if he thought otherwise. And yet …
Well, it was just getting a little hard to let go of, that was all. Which was probably Brad’s plan, Aaron thought suspiciously.
Only it was a little hard to maintain that suspicion when Brad leaned down and kissed him. At first, it was a light kiss, since they were both still waking up, but Aaron, at least, wasn’t prepared for the way that it made his sleepy body feel. It was like he was more vulnerable than ever to Brad, and he softly groaned as he parted his lips and let their tongues tangle together once more.
It was an odd sort of dynamic because they wanted each other as much as ever, but their limbs were still a bit heavy, their movements filled with both lust and a languorous quality that Aaron found fascinating. It was so easy just to let himself get lost in it, to let everything build between them, touching and stroking and exploring each other further.
In some ways, Brad was the best of both worlds. Someone who seemed to fit effortlessly with Aaron, and yet someone who was still very new and exciting. It was strange, but Aaron couldn’t get enough.
“Hey,” he murmured, when their complicated, sleepy kiss finally ended, leaving both of them panting. “Do you ever bottom?”
He just figured it was better to get that question out of the way, because, well, there could be no doubt that he was thinking about it. Brad had a very well formed, lovely ass, and Aaron would be lying to them both if he pretended that he hadn’t been thinking about it.
There was a long, long silence, and a subtle wariness crept into Brad’s eyes, a slight withdrawing that Aaron regretted the moment that he felt it happening. He had thought that it couldn’t hurt to ask, but maybe he’d been wrong. After all, Brad gave off some pretty toppy vibes.
“No,” Brad told him, his brows furrowed, his full, generous lips pulled into a straight line. “No, I never have.”
As far as Aaron was concerned, that was the end of it. Yes, he wanted to do it, he wanted to be inside Brad, but it wasn’t something that he absolutely needed, and he was going to take that as a sign of Brad being uninterested. But then Brad spoke again.
“I would try it,” Brad admitted, completely shocking Aaron. “If I was really with someone and trusted them.”
At first, Aaron couldn’t get past his shock, but as he slowly thought about the words, he realized that Brad was just saying that he would never do it. Aaron knew something somehow about Brad. It was almost instinctive, maybe because Aaron was the same way.
Neither of them trusted easily, if at all. Aaron at least had the other members of the Lost Boys, and if he trusted anyone, it would be them. As far as he could tell, Brad didn’t even have that.
Aaron nodded, accepting that for what it was worth. Someday, maybe, Brad would meet someone that he would trust, and he would go there, but Aaron saw no reason to think that person would be him. Besides, knowing what it would mean to Brad, would Aaron even want it to be?
So he let the strained, awkward conversation go, and he was sure that it was as much of a relief to Brad as it was to himself. Instead, he crawled on top of Brad, cupping his face and kissing him, letting it build and build until the heat, the pressure, was so much that he had no choice but to push further.
It was just so easy, whether it should have been or not. So very easy to let his body flow against Brad’s, to rub his own growing erection against Brad’s.
To let himself feel, even if it was only just sex. He’d had no way of knowing what it would be like to let that happen since he hadn’t let himself feel since the day he had found out that his parents had been killed.
“I want you to ride me,” Brad murmured, his hands settling on the curve of Aaron’s ass, tugging him closer. It was interesting, being with someone so much bigger than him because it was no problem at all for Brad to tug him around, to adjust him as he liked.
Brad shifted up, his back against the headboard, reclining back against it. Aaron straddled him, his hands pressed against Brad’s chest to steady himself. The way Brad said those words, the intimate look in his eyes, it was too much for Aaron to resist, even if he’d wanted to.
