Page 58 of Love Spell

Noah laughed.“What about … the city and … dinner and stuff?”

“Just say the word.”Timo licked his nipple.“We can go out whenever you want.”

Noah slid his fingers through Timo’s hair, realising he wasn’t hungry for anything but this moment and this man.He would say the word later.

Instead, later, when they were hard again and Timo wordlessly passed a condom to Noah, Noah rolled it down Timo’s shaft with only a hesitant, “It’s been a while since I’ve done this.”Massive understatement and withholding information, but the best he decided he could do.Gazing at his work, Noah swallowed.He was sweating again as they lay on the sheet in the now dark room, lit only from outside city lights, curtains still open and window also coaxing in that breeze.

“Are you worried?”Timo sounded amused as he handed Noah the lubricant to rub on him.“I hope I’ve adequately demonstrated how considerate I can be.”

“You’ve certainly demonstrated how conceited you can be.Can you shrink your dick, too?”

Timo chuckled.“Honestly, Noah, is that what you want?”

Noah caressed him with the gel.“No.Except for right now.Just for right now, yeah, it honestly is.”

Still laughing at him, Timo kissed his brow.“Relax.I’ll take care of you.”

To Noah’s surprise, he did.Timo was shockingly patient with him, as good as his word, taking so long, kissing and caressing, often talking to Noah, they might have been trying to fall asleep together.

Grateful that Timo had already got off with him twice in the last several hours, not wishing to test Timo’s good intentions otherwise, Noah found he was able to relax enough with time to let Timo fill him.Timo’s composure only slipped when he could properly thrust, the easy rocking of his hips giving way to pushing deeper, saying in a gasp how much he needed Noah.

“You have no idea.I’ve been dreaming about you — every fucking night.I’ve wanted you so much, Noah.”

The last few minutes were almost too much: Timo fucking him with a fierce intensity borne of suppressed lust and anticipation, while his staying power was thanks to his own recent satiation and fitness; a perfect physical machine.Once he claimed Noah with the burning rhythm he craved, Noah could only hold on until Timo came in him, saying Noah’s name, kissing and biting him, still thrusting, skin damp with sweat.

He seemed to want to be as slow to pull away as he’d been to get started, loath to leave Noah, as Noah had been to leave him.At last separated, he met Noah’s mouth again with long, deep kisses before moving lower to take Noah down his throat.

Then just lying together in the darkened room, city sounds of traffic and people, sirens and dogs, almost lost to them from their lofty perch, simply curling their bodies together as if used to it, Timo’s arm around Noah’s chest, perhaps even lacing fingers together.

There was still that walk and dinner, but he wasn’t sure how much more he could get out of this evening with Timo beyond simply being together.He’d not been with anyone like that since Caleb, his first and only love, and that had also been fleeting, been before college, whole lifetimes ago, before Noah had the sense to understand and acknowledge how precious their bond had been.

Timo didn’t ask.Noah thought to tell him no, but Timo once more surprised him.It turned out he needed no time to get Noah hard and change his mind.This annoyed Noah, proving Timo right, even though Timo didn’t know that Noah had been considering saying no.

Timo could still make him want more, no matter what had already happened between them.It was unnerving because Noah liked to think both that he had a greater measure of control over his own responses than this and that Timo didn’t get to call all the shots.

Noah would have to push back at some point: make sure he wasn’t the comet’s tail in this relationship.Was this a relationship?Or just a mess?Hadn’t he already pushed back?He’d said no on the train and Timo, if not respecting that, had at least backed down.He’d put the condom on himself, which Timo also hadn’t predicted.

Yes, Noah was standing up for himself.It was only in his head that Timo was taking charge of everything, as he had all along.Hadn’t he told Noah they could do whatever Noah liked, go out whenever he liked?

Maybe that was the problem.People who were honest didn’t usually make a point of saying how honest they were.People who saw themselves as equal partners in a twosome didn’t usually make a point of saying the other party could do whatever they liked.

The trouble was, even with the warning bells sounding in the back of Noah’s mind, Timo was being as good as his word.Timo was, in fact, a fantasy incarnate.Noah had nothing whatever to complain about.

What was it that Noah didn’t approve of?I wish you wouldn’t be so perfect.I wish you wouldn’t keep getting me aroused.I wish you weren’t so good at this.

It must be Noah.Noah was the one who couldn’t accept that someone was this smitten with him.Timo would move mountains for him and Noah still didn’t believe that.Hadn’t Timo said as much?Do you find it so difficult to believe that someone could be attracted to you?

The truth was, Noah didn’t find it difficult to believe.He found it impossible to believe.

The love spell had been the answer, an explanation that not only made sense in a weird, paranormal way, but also had a solution: the spell could be lifted.

What was the solution to how Noah was beginning to feel?What was the solution to the force of nature that was Timo?

Look at him — he was in goddamn Paris and this, whatever else it was, was a fantasy worth submerging into.If Timo occasionally struck an awkward chord with his own insistence of what a nice guy he was, then Noah was just as guilty for mistrusting this moment when there was no reason and nothing at stake.

A fun, sexy weekend in Paris emerging from Noah finally striking a small jackpot at work.Just let it go and have fun.Noah was aware that he wasn’t good at having fun.The world was too dangerous, too unpredictable, and Noah had learned many years ago that no one would watch his back for him.He couldn’t trust anyone.He couldn’t love anyone.He could face down a mountain, but he couldn’t afford risks when it came to human beings, the most dangerous of all beasts.

But just now?Just for this weekend?For the first time since he’d been seventeen, couldn’t he try?Couldn’t he pretend that this one time, for two small days, he might actually be safe?

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