Page 79 of Break the Rule
“I’m not a stalker. I just know what’s beautiful.”
“You’re delusional,” Eden whispers, bringing his other hand up to Charlie’s face. He smooths his palm across Charlie’s cheek, cradling it in his hand before rising on tiptoes to kiss Charlie. It’s nothing more than a brush of lips, nothing like their earlier kisses, yet thrilling in its hesitancy.
Normally the urge to deepen the kiss, to let it lead to more, would drive Charlie to seek more. For once, he’s content to live in the moment, relishing the sweetest of Eden’s mouth.
When he pulls away, Eden looks almost embarrassed, his pale cheeks flushed pink.
“I told you that you’d wanna kiss me before the night was over,” Charlie grins.
“Fuck you,” Eden huffs.
“You have, and you liked it,” Charlie reminds him, daring to lean down and steal a kiss. Just a little one.
“Fucker,” Eden mutters, deepening the kiss with a swipe of his tongue and a pair of very talented lips. When they separate, it’s Charlie’s turn to blush, his entire body thrumming with the kind of euphoria he’s only used to experiencing post-sex.
“Stay,” Charlie blurts.
Eden stills, the fingers he’s got wrapped up in Charlie’s shirt loosening. “You want to fuck again?”
“I want you to stay the night. We don’t have to have sex.” Charlie almost laughs. God if Andrew could hear him now. Is he really begging a man to sleep over and not for sex? This might be one of the most surreal moments of Charlie’s life.
“What do you wanna do, braid each other’s hair?”
“Mine’s a bit too short,” Charlie points out, ruffling his own mess of waves before eying Eden’s gorgeous hair. Despite the many threats sent his way about touching it, the urge is damn near overwhelming. He’s got it mostly up today in a messy ponytail, long strands framing his delicate face. Charlie would give anything to slide his fingers through those blonde locks.
His thoughts must be easy to read because Eden narrows his eyes at Charlie.
“Try to braid my hair and see what fucking happens.”
“I know you think that’s a threat, but you’re just so cute that it’s hard to take it seriously.”
“Cute.Cute? Fuck you. That’s it, I’m leaving,” Eden grumbles.
Despite those words he doesn’t move a muscle. If he needs Charlie to beg him to stay so he feels in control, Charlie will.
“Stay, please.”
“Why?”
“Because I want you to.” Charlie reaches out, brushing his fingers against Eden’s. Eden’s eyes drop down with clear distrust to where their hands are touching, but he doesn’t pull away, so Charlie lets his pinkie curl around Eden’s. “I want you here with me. I’m not ready to let you go.”
“Stalker,” Eden mumbles. It doesn’t escape Charlie’s notice that Eden’s pinkie twitches, as if trying to hold onto Charlie’s, too. “What, are you gonna paint me in my sleep or something?”
“To be fair, I could paint you whether you were here or not.”
Eden waves his other hand towards the wall of paintings. “Yes, I see that quite clearly.”
“I think you like them.”
“You would think that,” Eden says with a roll of his eyes. He chews on his bottom lip before sighing. “I don’t have any pajamas or anything.”
“You can wear mine. Well, my clothes. I sleep naked.”
The idea of Eden in Charlie’s clothes makes his pulse skyrocket. He’s so much smaller than Charlie, so delicate and lanky that even Charlie’s lithe build is bigger than his. The mental image of Eden in nothing but one of Charlie’s t-shirts nearly has him panting.
“Why does that not surprise me?”
“Does that mean you’ve spent time thinking about me?” Charlie grows bolder, turning his palm toward Eden's so they’re almost holding hands now. “You have, haven’t you? Did you dream about me? Jerk off thinking about me?”
