Monday, February 10th

Eden sighed again, his eyes drifting back to the painting. “I don’t think now is a good time. I don’t think I can...”

As he spoke, Kell approached him and carefully took the bag from his shoulder, then boxed him in, guiding him back against the brick wall.

“You’re right. I love my wife.” The instant of vulnerability was gone, the smirk back on his face. “I knew you had sense. But we’ve been divorced over three years. And this is just physical, isn’t it? Or are you expecting me to love you instead?”

Eden swallowed at those words. They were blunt and teasing, but layered with something bitter, something Kell was trying hard to suppress.

“I like you, Rose.” That playful tone hid nothing now. It was sweet and honest and a finger caressed his jaw, following the line down his neck to his collarbone. “You’re beautiful and intriguing. But I don’t do relationships. If you have other expectations, you’ll need to find someone else.”

“I don’t want a relationship.” The response came out hushed and Eden felt weirdly nervous saying it, but he meant it. He had never wanted a relationship with anyone. It was a hassle and wasn’t worth the inevitable, and most likely painful, end. And right now he was almost certain it was the same with this man.

Kell huffed out a small laugh and came closer, the hint of warm mint filling his head. “Then what’s the problem?”

Dark brown pierced into him and Eden forgot the woman in the painting. He forgot everything and reached out, pulling Kell in, lips and tongue on his. The taste emptied his mind and made his heart race.

Suddenly, his shirt was gone, thrown to the floor. Without hesitation, he copied the move and his hands skimmed across bare chest. A clear T of short, soft, dark brown hair ran down smooth skin, and as the thin strands parted around his fingertips, an intoxicating scent of cedar and citrus wafted into his nose. Continuing over firm, undefined abs, the trail disappeared below the waist of buttoned jeans. He fumbled to correct that, then pulled at the zipper.

Kell shifted him off the wall and pushed him to the bed, collapsing on top of him but never breaking their connection. Eden shimmied back, rushing to undo his own pants and letting friction drag them away as he moved. Crawling over him, keeping lips on lips and tongue on tongue, Kell trapped him between arms and legs. Heat radiated down, surrounding him in a suffocating fog of desire. It made his head light, but all of his senses sharpened and focused. Nothing existed beyond this. Eden tore at the open jeans above him, forcing them below Kell’s thighs. With his palm, he pressed against the exposed boxer briefs and smiled, feeling what he had felt earlier. How long had it taken him to get hard this time? He liked to act calm and collected, but this, twitching under Eden’s hand, was genuine.

Kell released a delicate moan in reply, an unexpectedly gentle sound that made Eden shiver. Then fingers were at Eden’s waist and thigh, one hand spreading his legs open as the other traced between them. He wasn’t any less obvious. Caged behind a wall of fabric, he groaned out his own rougher noises, begging for freedom at each subtle stroke. Kell chuckled, just mocking puffs through his nose, and Eden closed his palm, wrapping tight around him in revenge. A heavier breath blew against his cheek before Kell broke free, taking in air and smiling down at him.

“No touching,” he ordered, guiding Eden’s hand up to rest on the pillow. “I want to spend as much time inside you as possible.”

Eden almost choked at the statement and unquestioningly moved his other arm away. After another quick kiss, Kell’s head was between his thighs, hands making space and fingers releasing him from his prison. He felt tongue and lips, teasing at first – the tip, under the rim, skimming up and down each side. Then he was surrounded by warm breath and a wet mouth.

Kell took his time but Eden didn’t want foreplay. He couldn’t count how many times his dirty mind had imagined this moment. Now, everything he’d lusted after was in front of him. A mess of dark brown hair and flushed tan skin nestled between his hips, and he couldn’t hold back. He thrust upward into Kell’s throat. All he heard in response was a small huff of a laugh, then felt teeth as punishment. He grunted and jerked, but his wish had been granted and the two moved together until Eden couldn’t take anymore.

“Hah, fuck, no... I'm-” Over a week of limited self-control and repressed longing burst into Kell.

It was followed by the most satisfying freedom, but it wasn’t enough. Barely giving his partner enough time to swallow, Eden’s hands were at Kell’s chin and tangled in his hair, pulling him up the mattress.

“You taste good,” Kell purred, the playful smile now soft and seductive. “Sweet.”

Eden smiled back. “Yeah?”

He bit at a lip, then gently entered with his tongue, tasting himself mixed with the lingering mint. It really was sweet. Another clear sign he had lost his mind, but right now, even that made his heart pound against his chest. As they kissed, he pulled Kell’s briefs down to his knees, then slipped his own off, eagerly kicking them away. In one quick motion, he flipped Kell onto the mattress. Resting on top of him, he rocked slowly back and forth, then leaned down to Kell’s ear.

“I feel like I’ve waited a lifetime for this,” he whispered. Lifting his head, he saw the same look swirling in that dark brown he had seen in the classroom. He trembled, overly sensitive to every touch of Kell’s hot skin on his, but watching that loss of composure gave him such pleasure and relief. He didn’t want to slow down. He couldn’t.

Kell’s arm shot out, rummaging around inside a bedside table drawer, and finally pulled out a condom and lube. His eyes widened when Eden snatched them away.

“I’ll do it.”

Kell let out a heavy breath as mouth and fingers moved down his body, then latex lightly covered him. Using only his lips, Eden pushed the wrapping down deep into his throat, listening to his partner moan yet again. It sounded beautiful echoing in his ears. Everything about him was beautiful.

Before he could continue, hands were at his jaw, tearing him away and forcing him forward.

“I want to fuck you so badly,” Kell breathed in his ear and his smile grew wide. There was no cool restraint or mischievous charm in that voice. It was vulnerable and desperate, and sexier than any flirty grin the man could ever give.

He held the tube of silicone close to Kell’s face. “Do you want to, or do you want me to?”

Without a word, Kell took it and wet his fingers. He reached back, spreading the liquid lightly over him, then easily slipped a finger inside. A second, then a third, he gradually pushed further in. Eden let out his own moan, falling to his elbows and dropping his head over Kell’s shoulder.

“Enough,” he choked out, biting at Kell’s neck. It probably wasn’t enough, but he couldn’t take the waiting anymore.

After a quiet laugh, the fingers were gone, immediately replaced with something wider, nudging, and then stretching him open.

“Fuck. You’re still so tight.”

Eden didn’t care. There was a tearing pain, but it didn’t feel painful. Instead, a faint panic gripped at his chest. He was so close to having everything. With the slightest smell of sweat drifting up from Kell’s hair and a salty taste on his tongue – there wasn’t time to worry about pain.

He shifted himself onto his palms, then up onto his knees. Barely noticing the flash of shock in his partner’s eyes, he plunged himself down, sitting firmly over Kell’s hips and thighs. Letting out a loud cry as he took him all in, his crazy mind was certain he had never felt so good.