Page 32 of Sparring Partners
A plate was placed in front of him, followed by a pint glass and a jug of water, slices of lemon bobbing at the top. Sitting down opposite, Adrian filled their glasses.
Murmuring his thanks, Luca drank deep. “I needed that, thank you,” he said, setting the empty glass down.
Biting into his sandwich, Luca couldn’t help but moan his appreciation. Nutty sourdough, rich creamy butter, and the sharp tang of cheddar was a taste bomb exploding on his tongue. When had a simple sandwich tasted so damn good?
The sandwich, big and thick as it was, was gone in seconds.
Luca glanced up, and caught Adrian’s unapologetic gaze trained on him, his eyes slightly narrowed and as watchful as ever. A slow smile lifted the corners of Adrian’s mouth.
“Better, now?” Adrian asked quietly.
Luca nodded, his throat too thick to speak.
Adrian reached for the water jug, pulling his T-shirt loose from his jeans, exposing a band of tanned skin over taut muscles which were?—
Luca’s pulse quickened, thumping an urgent beat, as a thrill exploded in his chest. A glimpse of tattoo, bright and colourful. Tattoos… Of course a man like Adrian would have tattoos.
Adrian laughed, low and deep, dragging Luca’s gaze away from the tantalising ink. Adrian was smirking. Luca’s face heated. Of course the man was bloody well smirking.
“I went travelling, after university. Or, more accurately, once I’d ditched the godawful graduate trainee corporate job. I got it done in some back street parlour in Bangkok. God alone knows how I didn’t pick up an infection.”
“Never been tempted, myself.” In the quiet of the kitchen, his voice sounded too loud.
“Don’t blame you. I entertained big plans to make myself into a living, breathing work of art, but it was so bloody painful I soon binned that idea.”
“I’d better go.” Luca pushed himself up. Still thinking about bright ink on taut skin, his movements were clumsy and uncoordinated. The chair toppled backwards and crashed to the floor.
Adrian got to his feet. “Go? Are you sure that’s what you want?” He tilted his head to the side. Assessing, and as watchful as ever.
“I…” Yes. No.
Adrian moved around the table, his movements quick and fluid. With barely scant inches between them, the aroma of rich, warm earth, the salt tang of sweat and, underneath it all, the deep, masculine scent of musk, it was a potent and heady combination. Luca breathed in deep, powerless to stop, as Adrian stole away the gap.
“Or maybe you’d rather do this,” Adrian murmured, as his warm, strong hand found the back of Luca’s neck, easing him forward until their lips met. The pause was so tiny it was no more than a suggestion. It was Luca’s last chance. He closed his eyes, tired of the lies he was telling himself. His lips parted, and the world exploded.
Tongues twisted, hot and wet. Luca snaked his arms around Adrian, anchoring himself as he sought to deepen the kiss. Firm, confident hands gripped his backside, tugging him in closer. Luca moaned into their feverish kiss as his body plastered to Adrian’s, as he crushed his pulsing cock against Adrian’s solid shaft, desperate for nerve tingling friction.
Luca gasped, breaking the kiss, as Adrian’s hands somehow found their way past the tight running shorts, his hands warm as he kneaded and squeezed. Luca’s breath came in short, sharp bursts, as he met Adrian’s level, steady gaze.
“What do you want, Luca?” Adrian murmured as he laid a line of small, soft kisses along the side of Luca’s neck, along his jaw bone, up to his lips. “Tell me what you want.”
Luca shuddered as battened down need, want and frustration, and for the expert touch of not just any man, butthisman, overcame all of his defences.Tell me what you want…Adrian’s question echoed through him.
This. He wantedthisnot to stop. He wanted to surrender himself, to plunge into the oblivion of raw sensation. He wanted to be stripped down, milked dry. He wanted to be sated. And as he pulled away from Adrian’s teasing kisses and gazed into eyes made dark with desire, his body screamed that he wanted it all fromthisman.
“Your mouth, on me.” Luca’s words were little more than a rasp, dragged across his arid throat.
Adrian’s eyes narrowed. Luca’s breath caught, and his cock throbbed, painfully tight. Adrian eased Luca’s shorts down, taking the briefs with them, and Luca hissed as they dragged across his swollen cock. Luca toed off his running shoes and kicked them aside, the shorts following.
Luca gasped as he was hitched up onto the table, the wood cool against his skin.
“Cold?” Adrian tilted his head to the side, his lips lifting in a smirk. “I’ll heat you up.” Easing Luca’s thighs apart, he stared down.
Luca’s cock bobbed against his lower stomach. Flushed, with a thick vein running its length, the head a shade darker, and shiny. Wetness glistened at the slit.
“Oh, Jesus,” Luca ground out as Adrian wrapped his palm around his length, tunnelling his fist as he stroked. Adrian’s hand, warm and firm, the skin of his palm rough and calloused, sent waves of pleasure vibrating through Luca as they rubbed against his so-sensitive-it-hurt cock. The air in the room seemed charged, every breath a little heavier than the one before, every glance loaded with promise.
“Adrian, please…”
