Page 39 of Melting His Grumpy Heart
Ru seemed to sense his hesitation. “Second thoughts?”
Jake hesitated before shaking his head. “No. It’s just… it’s been a while.” Those nameless, anonymous encounters, immediately forgotten, they meant nothing. But this? This was different. The admission cost him something, a small surrender of the control he’d maintained for so long.
“For me too.” A hint of nervousness flickered across Ru’s face.
The shared confession hung between them. Jake reached out, tracing the line of Ru’s collarbone with his fingertips, watching goosebumps rise in the wake of his touch.
“We can take it slow,” he said, though every cell in his body screamed otherwise.
“Or we could not.” Ru’s smile was somehow both wicked and sweet, and Jake chuckled, melting the tension holding his shoulders tight.
He backed Ru towards the bed, savouring the anticipation building between them. When Ru’s legs hit the mattress, Jake’s hands dropped to the loose joggers Ru wore. It was the work of moments for every shred of clothing to fall to the floor, leaving Ru naked under the winter light.
Jake was mesmerised. The lean strength of Ru’s body, the contrast of dark hair against pale skin, his arousal and want, forhim, unashamedly and fully exposed. But it was Ru’s eyes, sure and steady, wanting yet not demanding, that caused Jake’s breath to catch. “Beautiful,” he said, the word inadequate, as he brushed a thumb across the bruising marking Ru’s face.
“Even though I look like I’ve gone ten rounds and come out the loser?”
“My poor bruised and battered boy. You need to let me take care of you.”
A flush spread across Ru’s chest, up his neck and into his cheeks; he let his gaze drop. A spear of fire hit Jake hard as basic, primitive want entwined with a burning need to protect and hold, and keep safe. It felt like a punch to the gut, and he sucked in a deep, hard breath to centre himself.
“Hey.” Ru nodded to Jake’s jeans. “Think these might need to go.” He reached for Jake’s belt, glancing up before he undid the buckle, then button, drawing down the zip over the hard ridge of Jake’s erection, swallowing as he pushed denim and cotton down muscled thighs.
“God,” Ru whispered, eyes traveling from Jake’s chest down to where he was hard and ready. “You’re…”
“Yours.” Christ, where had that come from… But as Jake gazed down at Ru, the truth of the word hit hard. “Yours,” he said again, little more than a whisper, “for as long as you want.”
Ru moved backwards onto the bed, pulling Jake with him. They landed together on the sheets, Ru underneath. Their bodies aligned, the full-length contact of skin on skin electric, drawing groans from them both.
Jake braced himself on his forearms, looking down at Ru spread beneath him, dark hair stark against the white pillowcase. “Tell me what you want,” he said, needing to hear it, needing the sharp clarity of words.
Ru reached up, cupping Jake’s face between his palms. “You,” he said simply. “However you want me.”
Claiming Ru’s mouth in a deep and breathless kiss, Ru pulled him closer, every sigh, every whimper, urging Jake on.
The kiss was everything, but it wasn’t enough.
Jake settled his weight more fully between Ru’s thighs, feeling him hard and hot against his hip, the friction as they moved together sending shockwave after shockwave to his cock. The frantic urge to take Ru dug its claws into Jake as their rutting picked up pace, growing more and more desperate. It would be over before they’d even begun. He wanted to savour, to taste, to draw out every moment. He wanted to chart each inch of Ru’s body until he knew it as well as his own.
Jake pulled back, his body screaming in protest, before he dropped to Ru’s throat, trailing kisses all the way down until he reached Ru’s pulse point, sucking, licking, and sucking again, stretching the skin.
Ru’s hands tightened on his shoulders, a shuddering sigh rippling through him.
“You like that?” Jake murmured against Ru’s hot skin.
“Yeah,” Ru breathed. “Do it again. Harder.”
Harder.
The demand unleashed something savage within Jake. He sucked hard, feeling the blood rise to the surface, leaving a bruise that would linger for days… Ru, carrying his mark…Making Ru his, and his alone… Something ancient and basic stirred deep inside, urging him to take and possess.
Jake kissed, and licked, and sucked his way down Ru’s body, across the planes of Ru’s chest, into the slight dip between his ribs, and over his lightly muscled stomach. Ru’s fingers were in his hair, not pushing but holding on, his breathing growing more uneven with each new discovery Jake made.
When Jake rimmed Ru’s belly button with the tip of his tongue, Ru arched off the bed with a gasp.
“Hmm, sensitive.” Jake licked and lapped, sucked and kissed. “Important to know,” he murmured against Ru’s hot, sweat slicked skin. “Essential.”Kiss. “Information.”Suck. “Gathering.”Lick.
“Oh, fuck,” Ru gasped, his voice shuddery.
