Unconditionally
Page 6
“Take it!” Luca interrupted before Gus had time to tell him any details. “It sounds perfect for you.”
And it did. Gus had the biggest heart of anyone Luca knew and was unhappy about the fact that he worked too much to have time to volunteer and help the less fortunate. And Luca knew the clinic Gus was talking about: they offered daytime services only. No more night shifts. No more weekends.
No more exhausted husband. Luca was on board.
“It would mean less money,” Gus said.
Even though Gus argued against the idea, Luca could hear a spark of hope in his voice, an alertness he hadn’t heard in weeks. Maybe months.
Luca narrowed his eyes as irritation bubbled up inside him. It was clear Gus had given this a lot of thought but hadn’t even mentioned it to him. All because of the money?
He slammed his glass down. Then he grabbed Gus’s and slammed that, too, for good measure. He let go of his husband and squirmed out from behind him, positioning himself in front of Gus, with arms crossed over his chest.
“Gustav, what the hell?” Luca hissed. “Money? That’s your excuse?”
“But—”
“Your mom bought this house for us. Sure, she claims it’s a good investment, but we both know the truth! We pay her peanuts. The café does incredibly well, you know that. And we have savings if something happens.”
“But—”
“Shush!” Luca untangled his arms and made a zip-it-gesture in front of Gus’s mouth. Gus chuckled, and the happy sound defused Luca’s annoyance. He’d missed that sound. “Oh, honey,” he said and crawled over to Gus, straddling his husband’s hips. He gripped Gus’s chin and looked him straight in the eyes.
“Let me get this straight. And you answer with yes or no only. No buts. Understand?”
Gus nodded.
“Good. The director offered you a job?”
“Yes.”
“Not a volunteer position?”
“No.”
Luca rewarded Gus’s obedience with a kiss.
“You will get paid?”
“Yes.”
Another kiss, one lingering a little longer. Luca didn’t break it until Gus whimpered.
“So you’ll have an income, I’ll have an income, and your mom will still refuse to let us pay real rent?”
Gus nodded and leaned in, clearly expecting a kiss for being a good boy, but Luca held off.
“And you’ll work shorter hours?”
Gus hummed in confirmation, but it was an impatient sound. He leaned in even more, closed his eyes, and puckered his lips. Luca had to bite back a giggle at the sight of his husband wordlessly begging for a kiss. He relented and gave Gus what he wanted. It was a ghost of a kiss, but enough to coax a happy sound out of his husband.
“Do you know what would be great about you working less?” Luca asked after breaking the kiss. Gus shook his head. “You’d have more free time. Time to spend with our kids.”
Gus’s eyes flew open, and he yelped. “Really?”
Luca nodded. “Take the job.”
“Okay,” Gus whispered without hesitation.
Something settled inside of Luca when Gus agreed. It was as if someone had opened a valve and let out all the worry and anxiety.
Luca collapsed against Gus’s shoulder. “Okay,” he whispered back.
He swallowed around the lump in his throat and blinked. This was not the time for crying, even if they were happy tears. He had a plan, goddammit.
“Now that that’s out of the way, we move on to part two of my plan,” he murmured against Gus’s neck.
“There’s a plan?”
“Of course, there’s a plan.”
“So what’s part two?”
Luca could hear the amusement in Gus’s voice, and he smiled.
“Part two is a nap, and part three is where I show you my new underwear.”
“New underwear?”
Gus’s hand wandered down Luca’s back, all the way down to the waistband of his sweats. Gus pulled them down, intent on going directly to part three of Luca’s well-laid-out plan. Luca didn’t mind, happy Gus’s energy seemed to be returning. He wished he’d done this earlier and not waited all this time.
“I love you,” Luca whispered.
“Lace!” Gus exclaimed and tried to peek over Luca’s shoulder to see the famous underwear, and Luca burst out laughing. He shimmied out of the sweats and watched as Gus’s eyes bulged at the sight of the red lacy manties clinging to his hips and ass.
He turned his ass to Gus and wiggled his hips and laughed again at the desperate groan coming from his husband. He looked over his shoulder and saw Gus’s wide grin and the hunger blazing from his eyes.
And he knew everything was going to be fine.
No.
Everything was going to be perfect.
THE END
ABOUT NELL IRIS
Nell Iris is a romantic at heart who believes everyone deserves a happy ending. She’s a bona fide bookworm (learned to read long before she started school), wouldn’t dream of going anywhere without something to read (not even the ladies’ room), loves music (and singing along but, let’s face it, she’s no Celine Dion), and is a real Star Trek nerd (“Make it so”). She loves words, poetry, wine, and Sudoku, and absolutely adores elephants!
Nell believes passionately in equality for all regardless of race, gender, or sexuality, and wants to make the world a better, less hateful, place.
Nell is a forty-something bisexual Swedish woman, married to the love of her life, and a proud mama of a grown daughter. She left the Scandinavian cold and darkness for warmer and sunnier Malaysia a few years ago, and now spends her days writing, surfing the Internet, enjoying the heat, and eating good food. One day she decided to chase her lifelong dream of being a writer, sat down in front of her laptop, and wrote a story about two men falling in love.
Nell Iris writes gay romance, prefers sweet over angst, and wants to write diverse and different characters.
For more information, visit nelliris.com.
ABOUT JMS BOOKS LLC
JMS Books LLC is a small queer press with competitive royalty rates publishing LGBT romance, erotic romance, and young adult fiction. Visit jms-books.com for our latest releases and submission guidelines!