Page 125 of Off the Pitch

I’d just have to deal with the burn out the way I always had: tea, biscuits, and zero hours of sleep.

Because that was how healthy adults functioned.

From somewhere behind me I heard the front door opening, which meant Hugo was back, and for a moment, a tiny pang of regret struck me—I should have asked him to buy more biscuits on his way home.

“Hey,” he said, his voice soft in my ear before he pressed a kiss to my temple. “How’s it going?”

“Would you like an honest answer or a fake-honest answer?”

“An honest one,” he said with a chuckle.

“Well,” I said, looking up at him from my spot in the padded desk chair he’d recently bought me. There were little dark circles under his eyes and that worried me. He’d been pushing himself far too hard and worrying constantly about his recovery. He really needed a break, but I wasn’t quite sure how to tell him that. Perhaps if I told him my worries, he’d be more willing to share his—a quid pro quo situation. “If I’m honest, it’s all a bit shit. I have more projects than I’d like, and usually that would be fine, but every time I look at a screen my brain seems to shut down. I mean I can barely remember how to draw anything, and I just feel completely exhausted, even though I’ve been getting plenty of sleep.” I felt my skin flush slightly. The last few days I’d slept better than I ever had in my life while curled in Hugo’s arms. I felt so warm and safe there, and he smelled divine. Every time he was near me, my pulse fluttered, and my stomach turned as if filled with a million butterflies. I’d even started to feel other things… things that were decidedly more sexual and less romantic.

The other night Hugo had kissed me deeply while we’d been curled up together. His hand had wrapped around my waist and pulled me close to him. As his tongue had slid into my mouth, I’d felt my cock twitch in my pyjamas for the first time in… well, eons. I’d almost wanted to stop kissing him to celebrate because starting to develop sexual feelings for someone you were dating was something to celebrate. At least it was in my case.

But then he’d very gently nipped at my lip, and all my thoughts had evaporated into bliss.

I hadn’t told Hugo what I’d felt, almost afraid it had been a one-time thing, but I had told Volt, who’d talked me through the teeny, tiny freak-out I’d experienced the next day.

I wasn’t scared though. If anything, I wanted it to happen again.

“You need a break,” Hugo said.

“Indeed I do,” I said. “But I won’t be getting one anytime soon. Usually to destress, I paint, but I didn’t want to bring my paints here because I tend to be rather messy, and I didn’t want to ruin your lovely flat.”

“You could paint here,” Hugo said. “I wouldn’t mind at all.”

“That’s very sweet of you,” I said, sighing deeply. His eyes were full of concern, but there was a tiny smile tipping the corner of his lips. Lips that were so plush and delicious I just wanted to kiss them. “How did I get so lucky?” I murmured as I reached out to grab his shirt and pull him gently down towards me, pressing a deep kiss to his mouth.

“You’re amazing,mon coeur, that’s why,” Hugo said, his lips millimeters from mine.

“No, that’s you.” I pulled him into another kiss, feeling bolder than I ever had before. I slid my tongue across his lips, slowly pushing into his mouth. He tasted of peppermint, probably from the sweets he kept in his car, and I couldn’t get enough. I stood, practically launching myself into his arms but unwilling to leave his mouth for even a moment.

A surge of want filled me; hot and strange but in the best way.

“Hugo,” I said, surprised to hear my voice that breathy and soft. His face was flushed, eyes wide with unspoken desire and something inside me snapped. I kissed him again, standing on my tiptoes to claim his mouth as we staggered backwards and collapsed onto the sofa in a jumbled heap of limbs with Hugo underneath me, our bodies pressed together, his hands around me, holding me close.

I nipped softly at his lip, remembering the way it had made me feel. Hugo groaned against my mouth and my whole body jolted as if I’d been struck by lightning. I wanted to hear that again, wanted to make Hugo feel good. I’d never felt anything like this before in my entire life. It was like my blood was on fire and every kiss, every tiny touch fanned the flames.

How could I not want more?

“Kit,” Hugo panted, pulling back to gaze up at me. “Is this… are you okay with this?”

“Yes,” I said, leaning down to pepper his face with kisses because I couldn’t bear to stop touching him even for a moment. Was this what desire was truly like? An unbridled feeling of sheer joy and want. Is this what everyone else felt? “Yes, I am. Otherwise I wouldn’t be kissing you.”

“Well,” Hugo said, his voice wavering as I kissed down his throat. “I just… I just wanted to check.” He gasped as I slid my tongue over a spot under his jaw, and I smiled to myself. I liked that sound as well.

I wondered what would happen if I kissed that spot or even sucked it gently. There was really only one way to find out, so I pressed my lips to the heated skin of Hugo’s throat, sucking it softly.

“Fuck,” Hugo said on a groan, his voice low and shaking.

“Do you like that?” I asked, looking down at him with a wry smile. I wanted to know what other sounds he would make and what else he would enjoy. I was curious, almost eager to explore, and I wondered if Hugo would let me.

“Yeah,” he said. “I do.”

“That’s good,” I said. I kissed down the other side of his neck to see if he reacted the same on that side. “Because I like it too.”

I teased the skin at the base of his throat, near the collar of his t-shirt. We were both still fully dressed, and I had no real desire to strip him down, not yet anyway. That still seemed liked too big a step, and besides, I was having fun with what I was doing, and I didn’t want that to change.

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