by Sierra Riley
An unconscious shudder worked its way through Gabriel’s body, and Briar’s arm around his shoulders tightened for a moment. Being in his arms let Gabriel smell that wonderful, soapy spice that made all his tensions unwind every time.
“It wasn’t easy,” Gabriel agreed quietly. “Austin told me… I’d never have to be around Jordan. Until tonight, he never had us meet. But I guess he decided, fuck it, torture me a little… brought him along tonight.”
“Sadistic little asshole,” Briar murmured, his voice hard. He was pressing something into Gabriel’s hand. “I shouldn’t have let you go with him.”
“I wanted to. It was a mistake, but you let me make it myself.” Gabriel realized his nails were biting into his palms. He accepted whatever Briar gave him, which turned out to be a chocolate square. Once he rubbed the marks out of his palms, Gabriel popped the square into his mouth and rested one hand on Briar’s knee.
“Are you done making me watch you make mistakes?” Briar asked, his voice gentle.
Gabriel winced. Yeah, it couldn’t have been easy letting him walk away—to his ex, no less—but Briar had done it. He’d respected him that much. And everything before that… all the drinking and partying, very nearly drugs…
“I’m done,” Gabriel agreed quietly, rolling the chocolate under his tongue. Then, he winced again. “I’m sorry for fucking up.” As far as he knew, Exposed hadn’t suffered, but Briar…
If he really cared about him like he seemed to, he had.
“I’m sorry I threw you in the deep end,” Briar answered, that deep rumble of his voice soothing Gabriel in its tremors through his chest as their sides pressed together.
This was getting a little heavy. “Okay, our mutual apologyfest is done,” Gabriel grinned, licking the chocolate off his teeth and swallowing a few times.
Briar let him deflect with that humor. “Fine,” Briar teased. “You smell nice.”
“Oh, compliments. I like those better,” Gabriel grinned. The chuckle was slow, but it came nonetheless. God, even when he was reeling from shame and shock, Briar could make him laugh.
Briar rubbed Gabriel’s arm and murmured, “Bet you taste nice, too.”
Gabriel closed his eyes, but he couldn’t help laughing, clutching his bag of clothes to his lap. He hadn’t even bothered pulling on his jeans before making his exit. That line was damn smooth. “Why don’t you find out?”
“Do you want me to?”
The question made Gabriel’s breath catch in his throat. There was no question—not at all. He’d always wanted Briar, every second, in every way. Even over this last painful month of spiraling into obscurity, he’d thought about Briar.
Specifically, he’d wished Briar wanted him as more than a warm, pretty body in his bed.
“What are we?” Gabriel countered, trying to keep his voice steady. He was terrified of the answer, but after everything that had happened tonight, what was the worst that could happen now? He’d already hit bottom.
“That’s up to you. I like you… a lot more than I’d hoped,” Briar admitted. “I wasn’t planning to date again until I was at least forty. And I wasn’t planning to date another model. I also wasn’t planning on meeting you. I missed you a lot this month.”
Gabriel swallowed hard. Okay… communication. He could do this. He followed Briar’s lead. “Yeah, same. Jordan pushed me around a lot—a bit physically, mostly emotionally, you know? I was all, I won’t date, too. But you seemed… seem… different. And… Christ knows I missed you, too. Even though we only barely saw each other before, that was better than nothing.”
“So, are we doing this?”
Gabriel’s heart thudded, and he turned his head to make direct eye contact with Briar. Those blue eyes were sincere as Briar intently waited on his answer.
“Yes,” Gabriel murmured, his heart thudding with excitement as he squeezed Briar’s knee. He was rewarded with a rare, broad smile that stretched at the corners of Briar’s lips until his cheeks rounded.
“Great,” Briar murmured, then patted his knee. “We’re headed back to mine, is that okay?”
Then Gabriel’s chest tightened. Shit. He had to come clean. “Ah, yeah… about that.” Briar just raised an eyebrow, and Gabriel went on. “I don’t actually live… where I said I did.”
“I couldn’t have guessed.” The dry sarcasm dripping from Briar’s lips made Gabriel laugh with surprise. “I’ve known since the beginning.”
“Wh-why’d you even hire me, then?” Gabriel stuttered, caught completely off-guard.
“I knew you didn’t work where you said you did, too. I thought it was ballsy to lie your way up. I wanted to see if you could prove yourself on your own merits instead of your résumé.”
Gabriel flushed with embarrassment. He hadn’t exactly done that.
Briar chuckled gently and pulled him in for another half-hug. “I’m glad you didn’t work out as my executive assistant, to be honest. You would have sucked taking orders, and I’d have been a dick giving them.”
Gabriel burst out laughing, relief washing through him as he leaned back in his seat again. Briar had given him enough chances and rope to hang himself with, and he was still taking him back. He wasn’t going to use his generosity again.
“Are you getting me back to work modeling?”
“I thought about something else, actually,” Briar hummed. “I’ll talk more about it tomorrow, once we give the middle finger to those dicks’ lawyers.”
Gabriel relaxed and put his head on his new lover’s shoulder for a moment. More than feeling ashamed of his downward spiral, he was bored and restless. He wanted to work hard and earn his money, even if it wasn’t on the runway.
Hell, part of him wondered if he’d be better-suited behind the scenes, where nobody would look twice at him or expect him to power through a week of work on half a dozen salads, a few bottles of champagne, and a line of coke.
Gabriel knew two things for sure: first, that he was a damn good model, and second, that this fact didn’t mean he should be one.
The foyer of Briar’s house made Gabriel suck in his breath with shock.
Holy shit. He’d modeled for Quantum, the magazine of all the fancy pants business gays, in his own front hall? They’d brought in different furniture—more swanky dark carved woods, and the lighting had been different, but the wallpaper and tile was unmistakable.
“Hm?” Briar hummed, kicking off his shoes and nudging them into his closet.
“Just… nothing.” Gabriel followed suit.
Then, Briar’s eyes lit up with amusement. “You recognize this place?” He wasn’t helping Gabriel off with his jacket, letting his choose whether to strip it off or not.
That was kind of sweet, and totally missed the mark on what Gabriel wanted right now. Gabriel dropped his bag of clothes and stuff to the floor and shook off the jacket in a smooth snap of his arms, then handed it over to Briar. “Maybe.”
To his credit, Briar’s eyes stayed on his face and not the underwear that was all Gabriel was left in now. “You studied up on everything I’ve done?”
“…Maybe.” Gabriel was blushing, the heat crawling down his face and chest now. He knew he was turning bright red as far down as his chest, and up to his ears. “Shut up and kiss me.”
Briar’s laugh was gentle and affectionate as he snaked his arms around Gabriel’s waist, yanking him against him.
They kissed deeply, Gabriel pressing close. Despite the heat of his blush, the hallway was cool under his feet and around him.
After a few deep kisses, Briar murmured, “Want some more clothes?”
“I want fewer, actually,” Gabriel whispered against Briar’s wet lips. He ran his tongue slowly across Briar’s lower lip, then sucked it between his lips and nipped lightly.
Briar’s eyes were hazy now, his breathing rough. “Th-That way,” he whispered once he could speak again, pushing Gabriel towards a door.
Gabriel moved easily with him, the tension thick and hot betwe
en them already. His cock was hard, stretching his underwear in a thick line along his thigh. His heart thudded, and more than anything, he itched to run his hands along that soft, warm skin.
Briar caressed his cheeks with his palms, rubbing his fingertips along the short hairs at the back of his neck. By the time they hit the bed, Gabriel was already unbuttoning Briar’s blazer and shoving it off his arms, impatiently working on his shirt next.
“So many fucking layers.”
“Sorry. Next time I’ll go naked.”
Gabriel snorted with laughter as he fumbled with buttons around Briar’s belly. “One layer only,” he instructed his boss—his boyfriend. “T-shirt and boxers. That makes for easy access.”
The whole while, Briar kept touching all of Gabriel’s bare skin, running his hands along his shoulder and over his chest and stomach, down his thigh, up his sides…
It was driving Gabriel wild not to feel Briar’s warmth blanketing his own directly yet, and he growled under his breath as he fought with Briar’s pants next.
Briar nudged his hands away. “I’ll get those,” he promised, looking amused.
“Fine.” Gabriel hauled him in, a hand on each cheek, to kiss him hard instead.
Briar licked his way into Gabriel’s mouth, panting for breath while he squirmed to kick his underwear and pants off.
“Yes,” Gabriel moaned against his lips, then sucked on the tip of his tongue until Briar’s hard cock rubbed against his thigh.
Ooooh, that was impossible to miss.
Then Briar’s thumbs hooked in his waistband and hauled down his underwear, the elastic catching on his cock and then popping free.
And all that was left was skin on skin, heat burning between their bodies with the friction as they rubbed up and down against each other, grinding and reveling in naked bliss.
“Oh, God, you feel amazing,” Briar moaned into his mouth, still kissing him until his lips just about hurt.
Gabriel couldn’t keep his moan quiet, and he didn’t want to. He ran his nails lightly up Briar’s back and arched his back, finally breaking away from the kiss to try to catch his breath.
With that wicked smile, it was clear Briar had no intentions of letting him. He kissed gently along Gabriel’s jaw, then down his throat and along his neck. Before long, those warm lips were pressing kisses along his collarbone.
Gabriel’s chest heaved for breath, and that was before Briar’s tongue swiped across a nipple.
“Fuck!” Gabriel exclaimed, his breath rasping in his throat. “Oh, Jesus… Briar!”
“Mmhmm?” Briar hummed, his lips closing around one sensitive nub.
It only took a few flicks of his tongue before need was throbbing through Gabriel’s body. He ground up into Briar’s stomach as he gasped for breath. “You little… holy fuck.”
Briar sucked firmly now, pinching his lips around the skin. A wave of heat crashed through his body, his muscles tightening and twitching with arousal. He was on edge now.
Briar’s hand wandered across Gabriel’s thigh and between his legs, his fingertips trailing under his cock and along his balls. Gabriel moaned sharply with approval, spreading his legs.
“I haven’t fucked a single guy since we met.”
Briar’s murmured confession left Gabriel even more breathless than warm breath across his damp skin.
“Me neither,” Gabriel managed, then caught his breath at the slow play of fingertips across his nipple at the same time as another finger stroked around his sensitive hole. “Oh, Christ. You wanna skip the condoms again?”
“If you’d like me to.”
Gabriel nodded once, sharply, and strained to lean down for another kiss against Briar’s lips. “I want you.”
Briar leaned over to the bedside table, giving Gabriel the perfect chance to kiss Briar’s nipples in return—one, then the other.
“Hnnh.” When Briar sank back to his elbows over Gabriel, he grinned at him. “I’ll let you do that more someday.”
“Good.” Gabriel wanted to kiss Briar from head to toe, explore every inch of that strong body, make him come undone from pure bliss…
But tonight, he was happy to let Briar slide two wet fingers inside and crook them, breathing out deeply at the half-filled feeling.
Oh, God, he was good.
Gabriel closed his eyes to enjoy the fingertips rubbing slow circles inside him, the electric tingles and jolts that sent through his body, and the extra tension that coiled in his belly and muscles as a result.
He let out a quick exhale through o-shaped lips once Briar’s fingers were out of him, then shook his head as he cracked his eyes for a peek at Briar. Briar’s hand was stroking up and down his shaft, spreading a thin layer of glistening liquid along it.
God, Briar’s cock was sexy. When Briar caught him looking, he winked, and that simple gesture—despite his own nakedness and vulnerability—was what made Gabriel blush.
Briar chuckled deeply, and then his warm firmness was pressing into Gabriel. It was impossible to describe how utterly he was filled with that thick, velvety, hot shaft—not just physically, but how it fulfilled the need inside him.
Gabriel was almost dizzy with pleasure. He moaned his encouragement, running his hands up and down Briar’s back while Briar’s hands settled on rubbing slow circles against his hips and thighs.
Almost perfect.
Then Briar was moving, each quick thrust into him building up the heat under his skin and the itch to kiss him again.
“Briar—”
Before he could finish the request, Briar was right there, his lips gently pressing across Gabriel’s.
This was perfect.
Gabriel kept his kiss slow and dirty, sucking on Briar’s lips and tongue and rubbing their noses together now and then to catch his breath before he dove in for another kiss. Thrust by thrust, the bed shaking under him, the heat tingling under his skin crashed through him.
He ached with the need to move, to help Briar, and overwhelm him just as he felt. “I wanna ride you,” Gabriel moaned.
No sooner had the words left his lips than Briar rolled them over swiftly, his hands steadying Gabriel’s shoulder and hip.
Gabriel braced his knees, then winced as his hip strained.
“You all right?”
“My hip’s a bit weird. Comes with being partly double-jointed.”
As he’d expected, Briar’s eyes widened. He looked like he was imagining all the possibilities.
“We’ll explore that later, too,” Gabriel winked, shimmying his weight until he was steady again. Now he was ready to go. He rose and fell quickly, keeping his hands braced on the bed on either side of Briar’s head while he watched the expressions flit across Briar’s face.
God, he was beautiful.
“I’m so close,” Briar whispered, his hands running over Gabriel’s ass. He squeezed and kneaded, then slid both hands up along his back. “Oh, God, you’re beautiful. I love you.”
Then, Briar’s eyes widened like he hadn’t meant to let that slip. It was Briar’s turn for a rare, full blush.
Gabriel lowered himself to his elbows, then pecked Briar’s lips with a few light, teasing kisses. “I love you, too.”
Gabriel had never been more certain of anything. He was invested in Briar like he’d never felt in anyone else, and he even thought he could like the man he was becoming around Briar.
Cheesy as it was, Briar was making him a better person, just by being around him.
“I’m so glad,” Briar moaned against his lips, his expression melting into sincere joy. Then, he kissed Gabriel thoroughly.
Gabriel moved fast and hard, his heart hammering with the thrill of the admission. His body was tense with pleasure throbbing through his body, Briar’s thick length so hot inside him.
Briar’s hand, and those strong, delicate fingers, wrapped around his cock to jerk a few quick times, helping him along. Gabriel moaned sharply and nodded slightly to thank Briar, and Briar kept stroking at the same
quick pace.
He needed… no, not just needed, but wanted Briar.
That was Gabriel’s last thought before he clenched around Briar, his hips stuttering and shuddering as the heat flooded through his body and his head rolled back, his body arching.
He could barely brace himself against the tidal wave of muscle shudders, the pure blackness devoid of thoughts except Briar and Briar’s body and Briar’s love.
“Yes…! Briar, yes,” Gabriel panted, pushing himself up and down as he gasped raggedly for breath, his body pulsating and clenching around Briar.
“Oh, Jesus, yes,” Briar growled, his voice deep with arousal. Gabriel’s eyes widened when he realized Briar was on the edge. That gave him just enough strength to push himself up and down on Briar’s cock hard, taking him deep into himself while the last few drops trickled from his own cock.
And then Briar came deep inside Gabriel with a grunted groan. His head slammed back into the pillow and his chest heaved for breath.
Stripped of any self-control, his expression radiating painfully honest ecstasy, Briar was beautiful.
Gabriel stared, his hips gradually stilling as Briar pushed up into him, his feet braced on the bed. With each thrust, he felt warmer and wetter inside, and his cheeks were hot with embarrassed pleasure in that whole new feeling.
Briar’s eyes fluttered open and he pulled Gabriel down by his cheek for another deep kiss, his cock sliding out of Gabriel.
They were wrapped up in each other, limbs hopelessly tangled, and Gabriel couldn’t stop giggling under his breath. Briar’s eyes sparkled playfully, and he snaked his leg between Gabriel’s every time Gabriel tried to free himself.
I love him. I love everything about him.
Gabriel pressed kisses against Briar’s neck, gradually stilling in his arms. “God, I love you. I didn’t know you felt the same.”
“That I love you too?”
The words sent another pleasurable tingle down his spine and Gabriel hummed under his breath. “You can say that again…” he teased.
“I love you, too,” Briar repeated, then kissed the tip of Gabriel’s nose.
Oh my God. He’s… touchy-feely. Somehow, Gabriel wasn’t surprised at all. He laughed, pushing Briar away. “Even now?”