Page 27 of Love Around the Corner

“I know you well enough,” Alfie said carefully, “but if you’re having second thoughts…?”

“No.” Leo grabbed his hand, keeping him in place. “No, I just— I need to know that you want this. That you wantme—Leo Novak, owner of a failing bookstore, pompous prick. Semi-Grinch.”

Relaxing, Alfie leaned in to kiss him again. Wired tight, was Leo Novak, and pretty adorable with it. “I do want this,” Alfie said against his lips. “I wantyou—Leo Novak, owner of a soon-to-be successful bookstore, occasionally pompous prick. Andreformed-Grinch. I want you a lot. Right now. Right here.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Good enough?”

“Yes,” Leo said after a pause. “Yes, God, I want you too, Alfie. So much.”

“Then what are we waiting for?”

They stripped themselves and each other, sweaters, undershirts, and shoes left in their wake as they stumbled toward the couch and tumbled onto it together. Alfie had Leo under him, which he liked, one thigh between his legs as they rocked together. In the glow of the Christmas lights, Leo’s body was beautiful—silken skin, lightly muscled, an interesting trail of dark hair leading down beneath his jeans, hard pink nipples the same color as his lips. He moved with sinuous grace, hips arching as he looked for more friction, the tempting jut of his hipbones making Alfie’s mouth water.

He leaned down and kissed Leo’s mouth, pillowed his head in the crook of one arm and let his other hand trail down over that sensuous body, over ribs and the plains of his stomach, the curve of his hip to the small of his back. Beneath him, Leo moaned and squirmed against him, arms around his neck, kissing him deeply. After a while, Leo pulled back. “Sit up,” he whispered in a rasping, kiss-ravaged voice. “I want to see you.”

Breathless, Alfie sat up, straddling him. He was so hard he had to unbutton his jeans to ease the pressure, and Leo’s eyes widened, teeth biting at his lower lip in a way that almost undid Alfie right there.

“Look at you,” Leo whispered, fingertips trailing over the ridges of muscles on Alfie’s body. He was in good shape and he knew it, but it had never meant anything until this moment with Leo’s hands on him and his eyes bright pools of want. “All this time,” Leo whispered, “I wondered what you’d look like. And look at you, you’re gorgeous.”

Alfie smiled, taken aback by the idea that Alfie had thought anything about him beyond disdain for the past year. Not that he was complaining.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” he said, running both hands over Leo’s body, loving how he arched up in response to the touch. “Fuck, you’re so hot.”

“And this,” Leo whispered, his fingers drifting down to the head of Alfie’s cock, freed from his jeans but not his underwear. He shuddered under that gentle touch, had to struggle for control. “Can I…?” Leo looked up at him. “I want to suck you. Can I?”

“Fuck, yes. Are you sure?”

Leo only nodded, sitting up as they shifted around, and then sliding to his knees on the floor between Alfie’s thighs. With eager hands, he freed Alfie’s cock and for a moment just knelt there, gazing up at him with eyes darkened by desire, the Christmas lights glinting on his black hair and ivory skin. Alfie didn’t think anyone had ever looked so beautiful. “Leo,” he said, reaching out to touch his face. “God …”

For an instant, Leo leaned into that touch, then he closed his eyes and bent down to brush his lips over the head of Alfie’s cock. He almost jerked right up off the sofa, had to fight the urge, sucking in deep breaths as Leo kissed and licked his way down the shaft and back to the top before finally, finally taking Alfie into his mouth.

“Oh fuck!” It came out as a shout, his fingers clenching into Leo’s hair. “Not gonna last,” he gritted out. It had been too long, he’d been wound tight with unresolved tension for months, his body was urgent with the need for release.

But Leo seemed much the same, the fingers of one hand clamped firmly on Alfie’s hip, his other holding the base of his cock as he sucked and moaned and let Alfie thrust lightly up into his mouth. Stars began to dot his vision, the tension building unbearably in his thighs and stomach, along his back, down his arms. “I’m coming,” he warned as the tension boiled over, “Leo. Fuck, I’m—” He tried to pull him off, but Leo just went deeper and Alfie jerked up once, hard, as he cried out and emptied himself into Leo’s throat.

It felt like it lasted forever, that he was floating up and out with the snow, with the lights, weightless as the tension broke and pleasure suffused him from head to toes. And then he was sinking back into his body, aware of Leo’s head resting against his thigh, of the thundering of his own breathing, and the sharp rise and fall of Leo’s back under his hand. Of Leo’s desire, still raw and unfulfilled.

Bones like honey, Alfie made himself move, curled his fingers into Leo’s wild crop of hair, found his cheek and lifted his chin. “Your turn,” he said, slow as molasses.

“You don’t have to—”

He didn’t bother answering that, simply slid himself off the sofa and lay Leo on his back on the rug. “So beautiful,” he murmured, tracing a hand over the angles of Leo’s face. Alfie leaned in and kissed him, tasting himself, raw in that kiss. It would have been enough to stir him, had he not been so totally spent. Even so, his body flooded with a low heat beneath his skin.

Leo was breathing fast. “Alfie,” he said. “Alfie. Oh God, I should…” He broke off when Alfie pressed a kiss to his chest, took a hard pink nipple into his mouth and sucked. Then worked his way lower, mouthing down his ribs to his stomach, kissing the arc of his hip, sucking in a mark that would last, and heading down to that perfectly slender, beautiful cock. He looked up through his lashes, saw Leo staring at the ceiling, chest rising and falling.

“Shall I?” Alfie asked, just checking.

After a pause Leo nodded. “Yes,” he whispered, looking down to meet Alfie’s gaze. “God help me, yes. Please.”

Alfie smiled, stroked a hand over Leo’s cheek. “Relax,” he said. “I’ve got this.”

And he did. He loved this, was good at it, and Leo sank back with a soft sound as Alfie took him down in one swift, deep plunge. It had been a while, but he hadn’t forgotten how. Leo, it turned out, was a screamer, kept up a constant babble of obscenities as Alfie drove him closer and closer to the edge. At one point, Alfie found Leo’s hand with his own, threading their fingers together as Leo tensed, hips jerking as they found their rhythm, and then with a final shout –“Oh God, Alfie please”—he came, fingers clenching around Alfie’s hand as he spent.

Alfie took every drop, kissed him as he softened, and then crawled up his body and dragged him limp and boneless into his arms. “Christ,” he said, when he could find words. “That was…”

Leo buried his head into his shoulder, one arm sliding tight around Alfie’s waist. “Perfect,” he whispered. “Oh God, Alfie, it was perfect.”

Why he sounded so devastated, Alfie couldn’t say. But sex took some people that way, toppled all your emotions and it took a while to get them settled again. So he just held Leo close, pressed his lips against his shoulder and waited for the storm to pass.

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