The Delicious Series: The First Volume

by Stella Starling

  The man did love to torture him.

  But it was always worth it.

  “Roll over,” Gavin said, before it really did become too late. “It will be easier that way, your first time.”

  Ben let go of him, doing as he’d asked, and when he spread himself out on his stomach, arching his back to look over his shoulder at Gavin with a look of pure, unadulterated lust, Gavin literally lost his breath for a moment. Ben was truly the hottest man he’d ever seen, but he also did things to Gavin’s heart that he’d never anticipated. To have him laid out before him, wanting him, trusting him, willing and eager for Gavin to have his way with him, was almost more than he could take.

  His cock throbbed with an almost painful excitement, but instead of urgency, Gavin was suddenly overcome with the desire to slow everything down and just savor the moment. He’d truly never expected to have someone like Ben in his life; someone who made him feel both treasured and empowered, someone who didn’t try to change him in any way, but still managed to make him feel like a better version of himself when they were together. Someone who just fit with him, in every possible way.

  A surge of emotion hit him, eclipsing the compelling need of his body, and he smoothed his hand over the hard contours of Ben’s back, wishing he could freeze time and hold onto the feeling forever.

  Ben was still watching him over his shoulder with that meltingly hot gaze, but then he smiled, and Gavin’s heart did another one of those familiar, slow rolls. Everything he was feeling was reflected right back at him, and a delicious shiver passed through his body, reigniting his sense of urgency. Gavin grabbed for the lube, using it liberally on himself before reaching for Ben again. Ben sucked in a breath as he spread the cold gel over his entrance, then hissed with pleasure when Gavin pushed a finger back inside.

  “Jesus, why didn’t I know how good that would feel?” Ben gasped, pushing back against him.

  Gavin laughed, adding a second finger and then reaching around to stroke Ben’s cock when he tensed at the unexpected stretch.

  “You okay, babe?” he asked, determined to make it so.

  “That’s… a lot,” Ben panted. Then Gavin found his prostate again, and he moaned. “God, Gavin… yes. Please do it. I need to know how you feel inside me.”

  Gavin was almost shaking with need. He pulled his fingers out, rubbing the head of his cock over Ben’s quivering hole for a moment as he forced himself to take it slow, and then finally—finally—easing his way inside.

  Ben shuddered underneath him, the vibration moving all the way through both of them.

  Holy.

  Fucking.

  Christ.

  Gavin’s eyes almost rolled back in his head, and he dug his fingers into Ben’s hips to remind himself to Take. It. Slow.

  Ben’s ass felt as good as it looked. No, better. Infinitely better. Perfect.

  He simultaneously wanted to fuck the man into the mattress and hold himself utterly still until Ben had a chance to adjust to him. No matter how amazing it felt to finally be inside him this way, Gavin desperately wanted—no, needed—it to be good for Ben, too.

  “Can I… are you…” Gavin was having trouble forming any words that made sense, but as always, Ben knew what he needed.

  “Yes,” Ben answered him with a delicious moan, shifting his hips and sending a hot wave of pleasure arcing through Gavin’s body with the motion.

  Ben was ready for him. Thank God. Thank fucking God.

  Gavin wrapped an arm around Ben’s waist as he finally let himself move, thrusting into the perfection of the other man’s body with a hot gasp. The feeling overwhelmed him, and for a timeless moment he lost himself in the ecstasy of friction and heat and delicious, sensuous pleasure of being joined—body, mind, and heart—with the man who he knew he’d never get enough of. He ran his hands over Ben’s sweat-slicked back as they fucked, sliding them across that tight, glorious ass and gripping his hips as he searched for the perfect angle to give him what he needed. Ben’s breath sped up, coming in hard, panting gasps, and then he moaned—long, and low, and sexy as hell—telling Gavin that his cock had found just the right spot.

  “Gavin, Jesus. Holy… God, I love you,” Ben gasped when Gavin hit it again.

  “That’s… your prostate, babe,” Gavin panted, his laugh coming out more like a groan as his hips slammed forward at the unexpected words.

  Hearing it sent a fierce surge of joy through him that just about did him in. There was no way he was going to make it if Ben was prone to saying things like that, even if it was only inspired by the heat of the moment. He reached around for Ben’s cock, needing the other man to come before he lost it completely.

  “Gavin,” Ben groaned the word when Gavin’s hand closed around his shaft, and he thrust into his fist, his whole body trembling with coiled tension.

  Gavin hit his prostate again and without any further warning, Ben exploded, a hoarse shout heralding the hot jets that shot out as he came. His cock pulsed in Gavin’s hand, his body shuddering with the force of his release and finally giving Gavin permission to let himself go.

  “Oh my… God,” Gavin shouted, driving himself deep.

  He no longer had to hold himself back—not with this man—and his orgasm rose, hot and fast, swamping his senses like a tsunami, a wave of bliss that felt endless and deep and so fucking sweet that for one… perfect… moment… he lost track of where he ended, and where Ben began.

  And then it was over, and Ben had managed to roll over and dispose of the condom and wrap him in his arms before he’d even caught his breath. He was still caught in the afterglow, and with Ben smiling at him like they were the only two people in the world—tracing his lips, leaning down to kiss him, holding him like he never wanted to let him go—Gavin honestly thought it might never end.

  “I love you, Gavin,” Ben said. “I wasn’t just saying that because of—”

  “Your prostate?” Gavin teased, his heart swelling with emotion so quickly that it felt like his chest couldn’t contain it.

  Ben laughed. “That was… incredible,” Ben said, grinning down at him. And then, “Jesus, Gavin. If you give me a minute, just thinking about you inside me is going to get me hard again.”

  “A minute?” Gavin asked, propping himself up on his elbows. Ben loved him. Loved him. Gavin’s smile felt like it was going to split his face. “We’ve got all night, babe.”

  “But what if I want more than all night?” Ben asked, cupping Gavin’s cheek as the laughter in his voice switched to something warmer. Something sweeter. Delicious. “I miss waking up with you, Gavin. I want that to happen every day.”

  Gavin swallowed, feeling the hot prick of tears behind his eyes. He’d never been one to cry, but honestly. Ben was… everything. Gavin nodded, at a loss for words. He wanted that, too, and for the life of him, he couldn’t think of any good reason to wait. Especially if—

  “You really love me?” he asked, wanting to hear it again.

  Ben smiled, pulling Gavin’s hand to his chest and spreading it over his heart. Gavin could feel it beating under his palm, steady and true, just like the man he loved.

  “You’re already in here,” Ben said, covering Gavin’s hand with his own. He laced their fingers together as the rhythm of his heartbeat echoed his words. “But I want you in my home, too. I want you in my kitchen. In my life. Always. I love you, Gavin. Please, say you’ll stay.”

  “Okay,” Gavin said, smiling up at him. Beaming. Glowing. “I’ll stay.”

  And, because he believed in full disclosure, he added, “And, Ben, I love you, too.”

  And it was the truth.

  The full, delicious, forever truth.

  Epilogue

  Ben, Six Months Later

  “Shit,” Jeremy said, hunting through his pockets. “This is going to make me cry, isn’t it?”

  Ben grinned, handing the man a handkerchief. Jeremy accepted it gratefully, and true to his word, his eyes grew moist as Danny and Mace turned to face each o
ther under the flower-bedecked arbor at the front of the small chapel.

  “Please tell me you have more of those,” Emily whispered from his other side, smiling gratefully when he handed her one.

  His sister-in-law rubbed the truly impressive curve of her pregnant belly absentmindedly with one hand, dabbing at her eyes with the other. She and Danny had become great friends after he’d designed her wedding cake over the summer, and she’d sworn up and down that—due date or no due date—she wasn’t going to let her baby be born before she had a chance to dance at his wedding.

  “Oh my God, Mace and Danny look amazing,” she said, blinking furiously as her eyes welled up again. She leaned against her husband’s shoulder, sighing happily. “So in love.”

  She was right. Danny was practically glowing, and his quiet husband-to-be’s normally impassive face had a look of utter rapture as he took Danny’s hands in his and the ceremony began. Still, Ben’s gaze kept drifting away from the two men who were pledging their lives to one another, captured by the one who had turned his own life into something he’d never expected.

  Something he never wanted to let go of.

  Gavin was Danny’s best man, and as he stood next to him, beaming at his best friend’s happiness with his dimples on full display, Ben couldn’t make himself look away. He slipped a hand into his pocket, fingering the leather cord that Emily had given him when she arrived; the same one that had originally held Hannah’s engagement ring, and then her own.

  A little thrill went through him as his fingers caressed the worn leather, and he hoped it would be as lucky for him as it has been for his siblings.

  He didn’t want a single morning to pass without hearing Gavin tease him about sleeping late when Ben wandered into the kitchen to find out what kind of magic his boyfriend had worked there before the sun came up. Didn’t want to gather with his family around his mother’s table to share their troubles and triumphs without Gavin at his side. Didn’t want a single day to go by without Gavin looking at him exactly the way he was right now, with so much love that it made Ben’s breath catch in his throat.

  As Danny began to speak his vows, Ben promised himself that he would do whatever it took to earn that right.

  Every day.

  For as long as Gavin would let him.

  “My dream wouldn’t be complete without you in it,” Danny was saying, his eyes shining up at Mace.

  “Tiana,” Emily whispered under her breath. “Princess and the Frog.”

  Ben grinned, not surprised to find that Danny was quoting his beloved Disney princesses in his wedding vows. As the ceremony continued, though, Ben couldn’t keep his mind on the grooms.

  Not when Gavin was shining so brightly in front of him.

  Can’t take my eyes off of you.

  The lyrics to his parents’ wedding song played in his head, and as Gavin’s attention shifted back to Danny, Ben suspected it would always be true. Danny finished his vows, and the smile on Gavin’s face shone with happiness for his friend when Mace lifted Danny’s hand to his mouth and kissed it softly.

  Ben loved watching Gavin.

  Loved seeing how much he cared about his friends.

  Loved that he insisted on making fresh breakfast sandwiches for Ernie before their morning runs in the park.

  Loved the way he teased Ben’s siblings, and spoke his mind, and let Ben steal kisses when he forgot to care about PDA.

  He just loved… Gavin.

  “Oh, God,” Jeremy complained next to Ben with a little sniffle. “They did not say ‘kiss the groom’ yet. I hope you have more handkerchiefs, Ben, otherwise I don’t think I’m going to make it through Mace’s vows.”

  Ben stifled a laugh, hunting through his pockets but coming up empty. He gave Jeremy an apologetic shrug, and the other man mumbled a soggy “damn” under his breath, his eyes already started to tear up again as Mace’s deep voice rumbled out and filled the small room with his love for the man he was marrying.

  “Danny, there was a time when I thought that the day I first met you was the best day of my life,” Mace said. “But I was wrong. And it wasn’t the day I told you I loved you, either, or the day you said yes, or any of the five hundred and seventy-two days that my life has turned into something beautiful because of you, baby. It’s not someday in the future, and it’s not even today. The best day of my life has become every day, simply because you’re in it. And from now until forever, until death do us part, I want to spend each and every one of those best days doing the only thing that matters. Loving you.”

  Mace and Danny exchanged rings, but even when they were finally pronounced husbands and given the official go-ahead to “kiss the groom,” Mace’s words kept ringing in Ben’s ears. They were just as true for him as for the man who had spoken them… every day that he got to be with Gavin turned into Ben’s new best day.

  And he wanted more of them.

  He wanted all of them.

  A lifetime’s worth.

  He wanted to hold Gavin’s hand, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, for all the days of his life. As the ceremony ended and he made his way over to the man he loved—lacing their fingers together and fitting Gavin against his side and feeling his heart fill to bursting when Gavin grinned up at him with more love than he’d ever hoped to find shining in his eyes—Ben touched the leather cord in his pocket, almost too impatient to wait.

  “I love you,” Ben whispered, leaning down to kiss him.

  Because really, with Gavin looking at him like that, he simply had to. And when Gavin ignored his own no-PDA rule and kissed him right back, Ben smiled against his lips. He would wait, and he would do it right, but when he did ask, he trusted that the answer would be yes.

  Because, by some delicious, unexpected miracle, Gavin loved him, too.

  ❦

  Falling

  From the back cover

  “You’re the best fake boyfriend I ever had.”

  “Love exists… in books, at least.”

  There’s no way bookstore owner Jeremy Bennett is going to his ten-year class reunion after accidentally drunk-posting on the reunion’s Facebook page and making himself sound a) much more interesting than he actually is, by b) claiming to do the kind of things he actually only reads about, and c) worse, also claiming to have a super hot boyfriend, when in reality, d) his dating history is more like the bastard love child of a trainwreck and a what-not-to-do reality show.

  “I’m no good at romance.”

  When one of Nick Roberts’ personal training clients mistakes him for the boyfriend of a new gym member, Nick decides to play along on a whim. After all, he can’t let the guy die from embarrassment, and besides, even though Nick isn’t gay, he has a feeling that the story behind the mistaken identity might prove to be the most fun he’s had since moving to Tulsa.

  “I went from faking it to feeling it. Don’t tell me this isn’t real.”

  Falling for your fake boyfriend is a guaranteed dating fail. Unless the stars align…

  Falling is a gay romance novel of approximately 86,000 words containing a drunken post on social media, a case of mistaken identity gone right, a whole lot of mud, some seizing of the day (among other things), and the kind of happily-ever-after that a certain book-loving romantic was pretty darn sure he’d never find in real life, and definitely not with a straight boy like the one he ended up falling for.

  For Fran, because she loves them

  1

  Jeremy

  When the little bell on the door of Delicious announced Jeremy’s arrival, Lucy was behind the counter, boxing up a dozen cupcakes. She had the bakery’s phone propped between her ear and shoulder, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise as she took in the sight of him in workout clothes. It sounded like she was dealing with a mixed-up flour delivery on the phone, but she didn’t let that stop her from attempting an entire conversation with Jeremy based solely on wildly squirming eyebrows and a series of exaggerated facial expressions.

  It
was no wonder Jeremy’s friend Gavin trusted the woman to manage his bakery. Her ability to multitask could legitimately be classified as a superpower.

  “What?” Jeremy asked defensively, looking down at himself. “I exercise.”

  She snort-laughed, doing her best to disguise the sound from the vendor she was on the phone with while still subjecting Jeremy to the full force of her disbelief. And okay, fine, maybe claiming he exercised wasn’t entirely accurate, but it was on his list of self-improvement goals, and there was no time like the present to start. Especially because a) he’d just broken up with yet another disaster of a boyfriend, and therefore had some time on his hands, b) summer was coming, and even though, in a perfect world, Jeremy would get to wear sweaters and jeans year-round, that wasn’t going to fly in the heat and humidity that Tulsa was preparing to inflict on him in a couple of months, and therefore, c) he was much more likely to find his next trainwreck-of-a-boyfriend-who-just-might-finally-be-The-One if he managed to tone up before shorts season officially hit, and d) for real, he didn’t even care if that was shallow, although of course he wouldn’t say no to finding True Love along the way, and besides, e) Gavin had a free guest pass for the gym he went to, and f) it was much less intimidating to think of going to the gym with a friend, because g) the truth was, Lucy was right, and not only did Jeremy not exercise regularly, but he was also clueless about what to do with all the machines and weights and things that were sure to be found there, so g) …

  Wait, had he already done “g”?

  Well, whatever. The point was, Gavin had promised to help him figure out all the intimidating-looking exercise equipment. He even claimed it would be “fun,” which—for all that Gav was generally a straight shooter—Jeremy was pretty sure was stretching the truth. For the sake of getting his ass in gear, though, Jeremy was going to pretend to believe him until proven otherwise, because left to his own devices, Jeremy was a great planner… but follow through? Not so much.