Page 48 of Rules to Love By

“I did, didn’t I?” Eli kissed him again, maybe not quite as possessively this time, before he moved back. “So much chocolate.”

He was pretty sure his attempt to change the focus of this had backfired somehow, and that they had very different desserts in mind.

While he was trying to stay focused on Eli’s deep brown eyes and make sense out of basically everything, like how to breathe, the door lock behind him clicked. The knob turned, and the door swung slowly open, giving Marcus enough time to gather his own weight before it opened fully.

“Subtle,” Marcus mumbled.

“Sorry?”

“Nothing.” Marcus reached for the kiss this time, hauling Eli into the room as he did, yet somehow, once more, ending up with his back to the closed door. At least they were on the inside of it now.

He didn’t protest the demanding kiss or stop him when he ground his erection against Marcus’s. And his sigh when Eli tugged at the hair at the nape of his neck to get him to lift his chin wasn’t anything other than encouraging.

Everything lost focus when Eli pushed him more firmly against the door, deliberately pinning him there so he could rut. Marcus realized he’d stopped responding to Eli’s kisses about the same time Eli eased away from him to peer into his face.

“Marcus.”

Marcus kept licking his lips, but his gaze remained far away and unfocused, as though he didn’t want to be brought back to the present.

“Marcus.” Eli cupped his face with both hands.

“Eli.” Marcus blinked but quickly surged forward to reclaim their kiss.

Eli wasn’t sure if Marcus was doing it on purpose. He clearly wasn’t opposed to the sex that seemed about to happen, but he also didn’t feel completely connected to it. Subspace was one thing, and Eli knew what that looked like. But this was too much, and too soon.

“Marcus.” He shook him ever so slightly. “Look at me.”

A flicker flashed through Marcus’s eyes. He blinked again, as though trying to banish it.

“No.” Eli remained firm. It would be easy to take what Marcus was offering, but it wouldn’t be fair. “You’re going to be part of this.” He took a deliberate step away, then another, until he could no longer reach far enough to touch Marcus.

The lack of contact finally got his attention.

“What are you doing? I thought we…?”

“Oh, we will,” Eli assured him. “You’re going to blow me, and it’ll be great. But you are going to be present for it.”

“How would I…?” Marcus tipped his head to one side.

“You have to trust me.”

Marcus frowned.

“You can’t trust me if you barely know me.”

“It’s not like I haven’t had sex before.”

“Obviously.”

His frown deepened. “Meaning?”

“Only that I know you’re hardly a virgin. Neither am I. That’s not the issue.”

“Then what is?”

“I don’t want sex with you if you’re going to zone out on me.”

Marcus leaned back against the door, hands behind him. “What are you talking about?”

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