Miles’s mouth went dry, and he knew what he wanted—what he needed—to alleviate the drought.
“Tell me…” Alex started, and it didn’t matter what came next. Miles would tell this man whatever he wanted to hear. And then Alex smiled, as if he knew he had Miles exactly where he wanted him. “Are you thinking about women right now?”
Alex let his palm fall on Miles’s inner thigh, his thumb teasing at the hem of his briefs.
“No,” Miles said, taking care not to breathe in too deeply—or out for that matter—fearing a sudden movement would upset this suspended animation they seemed to be in. And as much as he wanted to obliterate any space left between them, he would not escape this moment. No more easy way out. If only for a short weekend, Miles was going to let go. He was going to let this man know everything, to give himself over to possibility.
And then he would leave.
Alex’s palm took to massaging his thigh, the movement slow and deliberate and completely maddening. Then that rogue thumb brushed right over his balls, and Miles hissed in a breath. This guy wasn’t playing fair.
“How about other men?” Alex asked, his voice like melted chocolate that Miles would willingly lap up. “Are you thinking about other men?” Alex wasn’t asking these questions out of jealousy. Miles could hear that in his voice, in the reassurance and confidence of his tone. Alex knew that in this moment Miles wanted only him. It wasn’t Alex who lacked trust. It was him.
If spontaneous combustion in humans did, in fact, exist, Miles was sure it was caused by the voice of one Alexander Karas. And maybe the tips of his fingers had something to do with it, too.
Miles placed a palm on Alex’s cheek, and he felt skin as hot as fire. He ran a thumb over that bottom lip, the one that was demanding to be kissed, and Alex licked the tip of Miles’s thumb.
“I swear to the fucking gods on Mount Olympus…” Miles said. “That since you sat down next to me on the plane, I have thought of no one but you. I have wanted no one but you. And if I had my way, I would have no one but you for as long as you’d let me.”
He didn’t wait for a response but instead pulled Alex to him, using only enough restraint so as not to devour the man whole.
Teeth grazed skin, and tongues danced in a kiss so wild and full of passion that Miles knew for certain if this were another place or time, this would be the person he’d fall for—the one who would see all of him and still want him.
Alex slid his hand up inside the leg of Miles’s briefs, cupping and massaging and teasing that space between front and back. Everything inside Miles twisted and tangled in agonizing pleasure. Alex’s hand left him for an excruciating few seconds, the time it took to remove Miles’s underwear completely.
“It was getting in the way,” Alex whispered against his neck as he kissed him on the collarbone as Miles lay bare.
An open book ready for reading.
Alex stroked Miles from root to tip, his thumb swirling the wetness, and Miles knew the answer to the unanswered question, to the one thing that would send him over the edge with no chance of making it back.
“Yes,” Miles said. “I want you inside me.”
Alex kissed him, hard at first and then whisper-soft, both hungry and gentle. Ever since Alex asked for an all-access weekend pass, something shifted. Miles knew that letting him in would be too much.
But Alex knew. And still wanted him. Miles had almost let him in already.
Alex led him from the bed to his shower, where they washed away any barriers left between them, a wordless cleansing of all the thoughts that had kept Miles from considering a moment like this.
Back in Alex’s bed, there was no more need for consideration. He rolled Miles to his side and pulled him to his chest. His hand traveled the length of Miles’s torso, fingers swirling in the fine hair that dusted his chest, following the narrow trail to where he was long and rigid and pulsing with need.
Alex prepared him gently, his fingers slick with lubrication, driving him mad yet only making him want more. Again the tease and then the departure, but Miles laughed when he heard Alex rummaging through the nightstand drawer. Seconds later he felt Alex’s length against his back and then heard the sound of foil tearing.
Alex kissed his neck, warm breath tickling Miles’s skin.
“All dressed up and someplace incredible to go,” Alex said, and Miles chuckled. Then Alex wrapped his hand around him again, nudging him open from behind and entering with ease.
“Jesus,” Miles gasped, reaching back to tangle his fingers in Alex’s hair.
“What happened to swearing on the Olympians?” Alex asked, and Miles’s chest shook with silent laughter and a bliss like he’d never known.
“Fucking hell,” Miles groaned as Alex pulled out halfway and sunk in to the hilt, all the while stroking Miles from bottom to top. “Whatever or whoever you want me to swear to, consider myself sworn.”
Alex rocked against him, his hand never missing a beat, though Miles was sure his heart skipped at least one or two. He ran a hand down Alex’s leg, feeling the long scar that spanned the length from his knee to his shin. Alex had shared with him an event that altered his life, and Miles wondered if today could be one that altered his. He craned his neck to find those lips he craved, whispering to Alex as he did.
“You’re in,” Miles said just as Alex thrust deep, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head as Alex hit that perfect spot inside. He wondered if Alex understood, if he’d even heard him at all, or if he was now too caught up in coming so close to the edge.
Alex slowed the rhythm of his body yet pumped Miles’s length harder. Close. He was so close, every part of him a pinprick away from combustion.
“You’re in as well,” Alex said, and those were the last words Miles heard before total oblivion.
Alex had more than understood. He’d felt it, too.
Miles lay watching the beautiful man next to him doze for “just five more minutes” before the day truly began.
This couldn’t be real because no one fell this fast. Miles would roll his eyes at anyone who said otherwise. Yet here he was, wondering how getting his heart broken all those years ago could even compare to saying good-bye to Alex.
And then there was that familiar, niggling feeling. The one he knew would rear its ugly head eventually. He may have let Alex past his barriers, but tomorrow he could construct them again.
Relief. That’s what the lightness he felt was. As much as he let his guard down, Miles had an impenetrable safe zone. It was called home.
Greece wasn’t real. It was fantasy, and he could live in this fantasy world for a few more hours. But no matter what Alex told him this morning, tonight, tomorrow—it would all change if they tried to do this for the long haul, and Miles had the scars to prove it.
“I’ve got to get dressed for the ceremony,” he said, kissing Alex softly on the mouth.
Alex let out a groggy, “Mmmmmm,” against Miles’s lips as he kissed him back. “As soon as the serving begins tonight,” Alex told him, “I’m officially off duty, and don’t think I won’t steal you away as soon as humanly possible.”
“I’m planning on it,” Miles said. Because he was. And because he knew good-bye would be the hardest to bear, he also planned on being gone before Alex woke in the morning.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Elaina
Elaina finally kicked everyone out of her room. Her makeup was done, and the dress was on. Holy shit, the dress. Elaina wasn’t one for false modesty, and since no one else was in the room, she admitted to herself that she did look spectacular. The dress had been her mother’s—and her grandmother’s before that. Now she stood in awe of the person in the mirror, wrapped in history in the hopes of embarking on her future.