Page 16 of Small City Heart
Chapter Five
Morning sunbeams fell in stripes through the blinds and gilded Charlie’s skin with gold. Patrick itched for his camera. He’d left his bag in the living room last night, so he slipped out of bed to retrieve it.
When he returned, Charlie was still dead asleep. Patrick sat gingerly beside him in bed, camera in hand. It was inappropriate to take pictures of Charlie without permission while he was vulnerable, so instead he stared.
Patrick had found the firefighter-pride tattoo last night, but Charlie’s body was a work of art on its own. He had thick dark hair dusting his muscly chest, stomach, legs, and forearms, and Patrick had enjoyed having that roughness pressed against his smoother skin. Add to that Charlie’s perfect cupid’s bow lips, sexy stubble, and outrageously long eyelashes that cast shadows on his sharp cheekbones—the man was a walking, talking advertisement for firefighter calendars everywhere. He was ridiculously, unfairly attractive. It practically hurt to look at him, especially contrasted against crisp white sheets in the morning sun.
Patrick felt funny. Almost melancholy. That had been some of the best sex he’d ever had. It hadn’t felt like he was shredding a piece of himself, of his dignity, when he’d let himself fall apart in Charlie’s arms. Not like it had with his boss, Richard. With Charlie, his stomach hadn’t ached with wrongness. There had been no judgment.
Charlie had also been perfectly happy to get rough one moment and cuddly the next, which was Patrick’s own brand of kryptonite. It had seemed special.
Itwasspecial.
Patrick was smart enough to know this level of chemistry didn’t come around every day, and his stupid heart yearned to make this last longer.
But their night together hadn’t meant anything to Charlie. He’d said as much, and Patrick didn’t want to broach the subject now and open himself up to a world of hurt.
Patrick must have made a noise, probably a moan of longing, because Charlie’s eyes fluttered open and he greeted Patrick with a sweet smile.
“What are you doing?” Charlie’s voice was raspy.
“Staring at you, wishing I could take your picture, and getting a boner over your perfect eyelashes.”
“You can take my picture.”
“You sure?” Patrick lifted his camera and took a close-up of Charlie’s face. “I feel like I’ve propositioned you when you’re defenseless.”
Charlie laughed, and Patrick clicked away, moving onto his knees to get a better angle.
“I’m not defenseless. I’m sleepy.”
“You’re gorgeous.”
“Stop flirting.”
“Why?” Patrick said with a grin. He fixed the sheets around Charlie, arranging them so they appeared effortlessly messy but also covered his dick. As much as he’d love some Charlie North nudes, that wasn’t something he was up to negotiating this morning.
Eventually, Charlie stretched, showing off the whole glorious length of his torso and ripped arms before rolling onto his stomach with ahmmmph. “Come back to bed.”
“I’m in bed.” Patrick tugged the sheet down until it barely covered Charlie’s ass, which was quite impressive under the flimsy cotton, all round and bubbly. Patrick stood so he could get shots of Charlie’s whole body.
It wasn’t until Patrick had been snapping pictures for a good three minutes that Charlie snuck a hand to his cock. The sight of his ass thrusting, his back rippling with movement, was what finally made Patrick put his camera down and yank the sheet off.
God, Charlie’s butt was even better like this. Patrick grabbed it and smiled as Charlie moaned. All that undulating muscle was making Patrick lightheaded. He squeezed and separated Charlie’s cheeks, seeking that perfect secret part of him.
“You want to fuck me?” Charlie asked.
Patrick’s head jerked up at that, and he shivered. Last night, Charlie had acted toppy, so this was a surprising turn of events.
“Is that what you want?”
“I like it both ways, but being fucked when I’m all sleepy and relaxed is my favorite.”
“Oh, so I can do all the work, is that it?”
Charlie laughed and buried his face back in his pillow. He was still thrusting into his hand.
Patrick spanked him lightly. “Stop that.”
