Page 46 of Snow Storm

Harley let his lips drag over the shell of Claude’s ear. “Is that a yes?”

Claude lifted up on his forearms and turned his head so he could see Harley. “Would that make you feel strange? Being under my employ…and under me?”

Harley blinked. “I…I wasn’t. Oh. Sorry. Crap.” He moved off, and it took Claude’s body a few too many seconds to come back online. He only just managed to catch Harley’s arm before he was off the bed.

“Attends,” he said, then repeated in English, “Wait.”

Harley froze, but he didn’t look over. His gaze was fixed on the floor. “I’m sorry.”

Claude carefully pulled Harley to him, reading his body language, ready to let go the moment it was clear he didn’t want the touch. But with every stroke of Claude’s fingers against his arm, Harley relaxed into him.

It wasn’t long until they were both lying down, and Claude kept one arm tightly around Harley’s waist. “Where did I mess up?” Claude asked.

Harley shook his head so quickly it had to have made him dizzy. “It wasn’t you. I’m such an awkward-as-fuck mess. Like, Iknow you were joking, but I panicked for a second that you were serious, andthenI panicked because I didn’t want you to think Ithoughtyou were serious, and…”

“Harley,” he said very gently, interrupting his babbling flow of words.

Harley swallowed heavily and looked up, shame written all over his face. Claude hated that. He hated that Harley was driven to this feeling because the people in his past had tragically and completely failed him.

“Yeah?”

Claude used his free hand to cup Harley’s jaw. “I’d like to kiss you.”

Harley’s eyes went wide as he finally met his gaze. “Really?”

“Very much.”

Licking his lips, Harley nodded and eased forward, meeting Claude halfway. It was a quick thing—tender, chaste, warm. Claude let the kiss linger for as long as it took to get Harley’s breathing back to normal, and then he eased away.

“Mon âme.”

“My…”

“Soul,” Claude said. “Not meant to be taken literally. It’s just a little stronger than darling. And that’s how I feel about you.”

Harley swallowed heavily and bit his lip. Their gazes connected again, and then Harley looked away. “I usuallydoknow when someone’s not being literal. Not always. It’s harder for me, but…but I do get it. I’m not a total hermit or whatever. I write people for a living, and the fact that my books did really well means I know something about the human condition. I think.”

“Yes,” Claude said with a smile. He traced a finger over Harley’s freckles. “I confess I haven’t read your books?—”

“Thank God,” Harley said. “Trust me, it’s so…when people I know read them, it’s hard. Like, they know me. They know mybrain is three jigsaw puzzles thrown together in one box and shaken up. And I feel like if they read my books, they’ll think I’m some kind of fraud.”

“No,” Claude said. “But I’d never read without your permission. I just meant to say that I don’t have to read your books to know that you pay attention. You understand people in ways others don’t. You’ve given me things I need that even my closest friends and family haven’t.”

“I hope you don’t mean sex.”

Claude burst into laughter, hiding the sound in the crook of Harley’s neck. “No, my sweet. No. But this tonight?” He pulled back to look at Harley. “I was in pain, and having no experience whatsoever, you took an hour and learned a skill no one else in my life has been brave enough to take on. And you are really very good at it which is kind of amazing if it really was your first time.”

Harley’s smile was a little crooked, higher up on the left than the right. “It was. It’s kind of a superpower? Like, if I’m good at something, I’m really good. If I’m bad at it, I’m really bad. There’s never an in-between.”

“Then I’m grateful I’m relaxed instead of gritting my teeth in pain,” Claude said. He kissed Harley once more. “You don’t have to panic with me. You can take everything I say metaphorically or literally, and you can ask me a hundred questions to clarify, and I won’t get tired of explaining it all to you.”

Harley looked almost afraid to believe him. “Will we have enough time together for me to ask a hundred questions?”

“I’d like to,” Claude confessed. Fuck. He had told himself to wait. He was supposed to draw this out before bringing it up. But he saw hope in Harley’s eyes, and damn him, but the thin wall he’d put up around his heart was cracking.

Claude shifted up onto his elbow, propping his head on his hand, and he looked down into Harley’s nervous gaze. He tracedthe shape of his lips with his finger, then his chin, then down, feeling the bob of his Adam’s apple.

“Say it,” Harley whispered, and Claude’s resolve shattered. “Whatever you’re holding back, just tell me. I can take it.”

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