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“I’m glad you came back.”
Richard’s whisper and warm breath raised goose bumps on Lee’s skin. He shivered a little, then twitched as another aftershock sizzled through him, drawing his muscles tight for one delicious nanosecond. His breath hitched.
He should try to respond. But his brain had shorted out from pleasure, and he was still a little-no, a lot-dizzy. Coherent thought escaped him completely, much less intelligible speech. He registered only sensation: shards of heat spiking through him, spots behind his closed eyelids, Richard’s deep voice flowing into his ear.
Finally Lee managed a sludgy hum of…agreement, maybe? He didn’t know. But he sure the hell knew when Richard’s lips curved into a smile against his neck. The feel of that warm mouth so close to his pulse set off a new round of tremors.
Lee had always thought that the frantic speed of sex leading up to orgasm was the best it could get. He loved it when the body took over, independent of the mind, and thrashed its way toward the pleasure it sought. But oh dear God, he knew now the ecstasy of patience, the bliss of control; how restraint could transport him somewhere he’d never been.
Tonight Richard showed him that. Richard with his infinite care and methodical approach. Lee been well and truly worshipped-slowly, with great diligence and adoration. Richard’s hands, mouth, and body had seemed to be everywhere all at once. He explored Lee’s every inch, brought to life a dozen hidden spots never considered as pleasure points before.
He kept Lee on a razor-thin edge for what seemed like hours, nudging without tipping him over, until Lee was alternately cursing him and begging helplessly to come. When he finally did, when Richard finally allowed it, Lee screamed and shattered into a billion pieces, back bowed off the bed, muscles locked and spasming at the same time.
Now here he was, still trying to focus his brain, long after the last cry of pleasure left his straining throat. God, he loved that Richard had ignored his pleas and kept to his own plan. His current inability to form a truly rational thought filled Lee with a warm, liquid contentment. Never again would he complain about meticulousness or deliberation. Nope. The way Richard employed those traits was Heaven on earth.
His eyelids fluttered open to see bare ceiling above him. He lay flat on his back, one arm resting over his stomach, the other in Richard’s gentle grasp, his fingers stroking lightly over the dip at Lee’s elbow. Richard had pulled his legs straight and his feet just hit the edge of the bed.
Lee might have expected to come to his senses in a graceless sprawl, exposed to the cool air of the bedroom. But he should have known better. Richard would never have left him so obscenely open as that. He would never put his lover in a position for regret or shame. It wasn’t in him. For which Lee was grateful right about now.
Lee smiled a little. Richard and his propriety. He liked certain things certain ways, and that was fine. Lee sometimes wished he would loosen up a little, but at times like this that innate decency made Lee’s heart do a little flip.
God knew had he been with anyone but Richard, the abject begging for release might have sent Lee scrambling for his clothes and ducking out the door afterward, never to return. With Richard, embarrassment was never an issue. However undone Lee became, Richard never held it over his head, never got smug. Richard only worked to make each time good. And that made every time good.
A small bloom of guilt overshadowed Lee’s contentment. He’d broken up with Richard just this afternoon. Was it this afternoon? It felt like days ago, and only minutes ago at the same time.
He felt a little sick at how he’d let fear get the better of him. He’d been so afraid that lack of time spent together and distance when he left New Zealand in a few days would pull them apart. He’d told himself that something so bright and shining was not meant to have a long life anyway. That it was best left with all the other memories that were once-in-a-lifetime.
Lee shook his head a little. He’d been wrong. This wasn’t once-in-a-lifetime. This was what lifetimes were made of. He just wished he hadn’t hurt Richard, the man who sent him spiraling to Saturn and back tonight, while he figured that out. And even though they’d resolved things, the memory of Richard’s closed face when Lee blathered his utterly stupid, completely logical reasons for ending it, was enough to keep him off that road forever. Hurting Richard again was at the absolute bottom of things Lee ever wanted to do again. Even below eating crickets.
Still, Richard had forgiven his utter stupidity, and they’d both committed to making this work. Lee, never one for extended pessimism, found little fantasies running through his mind as he lay, blissed-out, in Richard’s bed. Meeting each other at the airport, spending every moment they had together in bed, late-night phone calls, texting, Skype if they could manage it. A slow grin spread over Lee’s face. He knew his imaginings were the worst kind of sappy crap, but he liked it.
He rolled onto his side to face Richard. His grin widened as he leaned in to kiss that thin mouth. He basked in the smile Richard gave him.
“I’m glad I came back, too.”