Every Shade by Nora Phoenix

6

Look, Las was no virgin. He might not have been the most experienced man in the gay scene—far from it—but he’d had sex. Multiple times. Enough times that he knew what to expect. Except AJ didn’t follow those expectations at all.

Las had thought he’d go straight for it—no pun intended—but instead, AJ had resumed kissing him. Granted, his kisses made Las weak in his knees, and he caused Las to create sounds he’d never heard from himself before. His skin was on fire, his body feeling like it was too big to be contained, too restless. He twitched, shifted, seeking…something.

Writhing.

That’s what he was doing. He’d never writhed before, but he was now, his body shifting and twitching underneath AJ’s as it craved more.

“Hush, baby, I’ve got you,” AJ whispered against his lips, his breath dancing over Las’s mouth, then his cheek. AJ wrapped his lips around his ear, his teeth gently scraping the delicate line of his ear shell. Las shivered, his hips reaching upward instinctively.

AJ’s tongue followed his teeth, and Las had to clench his jaw to keep himself from crying out when AJ licked a hot trail down from his ear to his throat, finding a spot so sensitive it made Las squirm. Then AJ closed his mouth around that same spot and sucked hard. The blood rushed from Las’s head for a second before storming back in, making his head spin.

“Did…did you just give me a hickey?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

AJ lifted his head, studying Las’s throat before meeting his eyes. “It seems I did.”

It was a wildly territorial thing to do, something primitive that Las had always thought was either for teenagers or for men who needed to show their dominance. He’d never thought it sexy. Until now. The idea of AJ marking him made his cock grow even harder, which he would’ve said was impossible if asked beforehand.

“Should I apologize?” AJ asked.

Las touched the mark on his throat. He couldn’t see it, but he felt the tenderness of it, the slight throb that indicated he’d see the result in the mirror that evening. He pictured himself, standing in front of the large mirror in his bathroom with AJ’s marks all over his body. His heart skipped a beat. “No.” He dropped his hand and turned his head sideways, exposing his throat to AJ. “I like it.”

The growl coming from from AJ’s mouth was almost feral, and it made Las’s blood pump even faster, his heart rate speeding up more. “The things you say,” AJ said. “It’s making it fucking impossible to go slow.”

“Why would you need to go slow? I’m not a virgin.”

The look AJ gave him made him melt on the inside. There was fire there, want, but also something more. Tenderness. Protectiveness. “You deserve slow, baby.” The protest that had been on Las’s lips died when AJ found a new spot on his shoulder to lick and suck.

Las’s shirt was pushed up to facilitate AJ’s unhurried exploration of his body, then pulled over his head. AJ’s mouth was everywhere, and he had to be ambidextrous, his hands kneading and stroking, touching and pinching, playing with Las until every nerve he had was alive and tingling. The front of his pants was wet, his cock leaking copiously, but Las had stopped caring.

He’d been worried about AJ’s reaction to seeing him naked. Well, his upper body anyway. He wasn’t anywhere close to being ripped or even toned, but AJ didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he let out these approving hums and murmurs as he mapped every inch of Las’s body, running his hands through his chest hair, the thick happy trail downward that he’d considered manscaping but had never gotten around to.

He hadn’t ‘scaped down there in ages either, seeing no need as he had zero plans to score. Until now. But every thought of embarrassment or worry over that was gone when AJ slipped a hand under his waistband and reached inside. “Mmm, you’re so hard for me…”

Las groaned, the sound impossible to hold back when AJ’s hand wrapped around him. Then his thumb rubbed Las’s slit, and he moaned even harder.

“So wet already…”

“AJ…”

Las bucked, his hips moving up to pump his cock into AJ’s hand. AJ let out a chuckle. “A little more patience, sweetheart. We’re not there yet.”

Oh god. How slow was he planning to go? Las would spontaneously combust if AJ kept this up. “AJ… Please.”

“Mmm, I like it when you say my name like that.”

“I’ll say it as many times as you want me to, just please…”

AJ pressed his thumb down on Las’s slit, hard enough to make his balls quiver for a second. Oh god, he shouldn’t like that, should he? His mind might have been confused, but his body wasn’t, a wave of heat pulsing through him so strong, it felt like he was seconds away from coming.

“Do whatever you want,” Las said breathlessly, closing his eyes.

The pressure on his crown decreased.

“God, you’re stunning.” AJ’s voice was low and throaty.

That made Las open his eyes again, and he found AJ staring at him with fire in his eyes. No one had ever looked at him like that, with so much want and need. His heart stumbled, and he was enraptured by the look in those brown eyes. This was really happening. AJ was going to fuck him.

Then it hit him, and the wave of embarrassment was so big, it made it hard to breathe. His cheeks grew hot as his mind raced with how to bring this up with AJ. He had to say something. But before he could, AJ’s hand stilled.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Las said quickly. It was a bold lie because something was wrong, but how could he say this without bringing the whole thing to a grinding halt?

“Baby, I can see on your face something happened, so tell me. Do you want me to stop?”

“No. Yes. No. I mean, I need five minutes.”

AJ rolled off him instantly. “Okay.”

It made Las’s eyes water, this easy acceptance. AJ didn’t even ask questions but simply honored Las’s statement without needing an explanation. It made him want to provide one all the more, no matter how humiliating and mortifying this would be.

“I… I haven’t had sex in a long time,” he said softly.

AJ cocked his head. “You told me.”

“I wasn’t expecting a hookup.” Maybe AJ could read between the lines?

AJ frowned. “Me neither, but hurray for spontaneity?”

Oh god. He’d have to spell it out, wouldn’t he? He sat up, forcing himself to meet AJ’s eyes. “I haven’t prepped.”

There, he’d said it. He held his breath, waiting for AJ to reply. He saw it register with AJ, and the man’s eyes softened. “Gotcha. Go take care of it, sweetheart. I’ll wait for you in your bedroom, okay?”