Be Loved (At Last, The Beloved Series Book 3)

by Stella Starling

  Ridiculously happy.

  “Mrs. Potts was right,” he said, grinning at Shane like a fool. “She always said we’d make the magic happen.”

  “Well, if I’d known this is what she’d meant, I probably would have been a lot more interested in science,” Shane said. He snickered, adding, “Especially anatomy.”

  He trailed his fingers downward, skimming over Brandon’s abs in the kind of exquisite torture that Brandon would be more than happy to subject himself to on a daily basis. A noise that was part-laugh, part-moan escaped Brandon’s throat before he could stop it. There was so much he wanted to do with Shane, an abundance of erotic delights that he wanted to experience with the only man he’d ever loved, and he was feeling none of the epic patience he was supposedly known for.

  He wanted everything.

  He wanted everything… now.

  Despite that, Brandon couldn’t move. Couldn’t make himself stop touching Shane, rubbing against him, kissing him. He reached around to cup Shane’s perfect ass, pulling him up—closer, tighter—and lost himself in the perfection of Shane’s mouth again. He loved the way Shane responded to him. The quiet, needy little whimpers that he was making were going to drive Brandon crazy.

  The best kind of crazy.

  “Brandon,” Shane gasped, his hands clutching at Brandon’s shoulders as Brandon indulged himself with Shane’s mouth, then moving lower… to his jaw… to his throat.

  He sucked on the fluttering pulse he found there, inhaling that juniper-and-rosemary-and-Shane scent that turned out to taste even better than it had always smelled.

  “Oh my God,” Shane said, letting his head fall back, granting Brandon easier access. “I need you… Brandon, please. I need you.”

  “That’s not going to be a problem, honey,” he said, grinning. The words were music to his ears. “Because I am totally yours.”

  He made himself stop kissing Shane long enough to help him out of his clothes, shedding Yoda and his lightsaber along the way. It felt both totally natural and a little surreal to be getting naked with his best friend. Not that they’d never been naked around each other before, but, when it had happened in the past, Brandon had always felt obligated to look away.

  This time, though, he didn’t have to.

  Shane seemed to be feeling the same. Brandon could swear that he felt—in an entirely literal sense—the touch of Shane’s eyes as they raked appreciatively over his body. It was almost as good as his hands. Well, okay, not quite that, but there was something decadently wonderful about knowing that it was a two-way street.

  But then, when Shane met Brandon’s eyes, an odd look passed over his face. “Shower?” he asked, glancing away as if he was suddenly… what? Self-conscious. Around Brandon?

  That was so unnecessary it was almost funny. Still, the last thing he wanted was for Shane to feel uncomfortable. “Sure,” he said, doing his best to ignore his raging hard-on.

  And Shane’s.

  A shower would be good, though. Not as good as bed—shower sex was definitely more sexy in theory than in practice, in Brandon’s opinion—but then again, Shane was looking less like he wanted to get it on in the bathroom than like he might need a little more time to get used to the whole idea. And regardless of how hard he was, or how long he’d waited for this, Brandon’s top priority was and always would be to give Shane what he needed.

  “Everything okay?” he asked, leading the way to the bathroom. He turned the shower on, adjusting the water temperature while he waited for Shane’s answer.

  And waited.

  And… waited…

  “Shane, if you don’t want to—”

  “I do,” Shane said adamantly, cutting him off. As if to emphasize the point, he grabbed Brandon’s hand and pulled him into the shower. His face went red, though, as he turned away from Brandon, twisting under the warm spray like some kind of wet dream. His obvious discomfort, though, distracted Brandon from enjoying the sight.

  “Please tell me what’s wrong, honey.”

  “Nothing’s wrong,” Shane said, reaching for him.

  Brandon laughed, grabbing Shane’s wrists and holding him away. “You suck at lying, Shane.”

  Shane rolled his eyes. “It really is nothing. It’s just that… I know I’m not your usual type. I mean, I know I’m not the kind of guy you’re normally attracted to—”

  Brandon laughed. Uh, no. Seriously? He looked down at his painfully hard erection. But even without that… could Shane honestly believe that?

  “What?” Shane asked, turning even redder.

  “Shane, you have no idea.” Brandon still had Shane’s wrists in his hands. He used his grip to wrap Shane’s arms around himself, then pulled him close. “You are the guy I’m attracted to.”

  Shane smiled, but he didn’t look like he believed it… which wasn’t going to fly.

  “I’ve seen the kinds of guys you go out with, Brandon,” he said, wriggling out of Brandon’s arms and reaching for the bath sponge. “They’re the opposite of me.”

  He squirted some shower gel on it and started doing something ridiculously sensual to Brandon’s chest, which almost distracted him from what Shane had just said.

  Almost.

  “Exactly,” Brandon said, putting his hands against the slick tile on either side of Shane’s head and trapping him in between. He pressed against Shane, stopping the sponge action and leaving no possible doubt about just how attracted he was feeling, right at that particular moment. “I’ve wanted you for so long, Shane. Going for someone who reminded me of you would have been more torture than I could have stood. Too much of a reminder that I couldn’t have the real thing.”

  Shane went still, his eyes going wide. Then his gorgeous smile broke free, warming Brandon like the sun.

  “Seriously?”

  “Mm-hmm,” Brandon said, leaning in to nuzzle Shane’s neck again. Warm, wet, and—finally—his for the taking.

  How many times had he stopped himself from fantasizing about exactly what they were doing? Much like dating men who would have reminded him too much of Shane, letting himself go there, even in his own mind, would’ve made it too hard.

  But now? All those fantasies he hadn’t let himself have? They would have paled in comparison to the reality. There was no way they could have come close to the actual feel of Shane’s body pressed against his, especially now, when they were so close, when it felt so perfect, that they really and truly seemed made for each other.

  Perfect for each other… but hadn’t Brandon always thought that?

  He ran a hand down Shane’s back, settling it on the tight curve of his ass and squeezing… just because he could. Shane had managed to get them both excessively soapy, and the slippery slide of their bodies against each other threatened to end things more quickly than Brandon would have liked.

  Shane wasn’t helping.

  He dropped the bath sponge and pressed himself even closer, grinding against Brandon until Brandon honestly thought he was going to lose it like a horny fifteen-year-old. Shane’s hands slid down to his ass, and Brandon reached between them, his soap-slick hands fumbling to wrap around both of them at the same time.

  Shane moaned, long and loud and totally uninhibited, and thrust into Brandon’s hand, his cock sliding through Brandon’s tight grip and feeling like literal heaven against Brandon’s pulsing erection.

  Brandon gasped, burying his face against Shane’s neck as the overload of sensation almost made him come.

  “Oh my God, Brandon,” Shane said. “Please don’t stop doing that.”

  “Wait,” Brandon groaned, even though he was the one who was stroking them together… and couldn’t seem to stop.

  It was so good.

  It was Shane… and it was so… damn… good.

  Shane moaned again, half-laughing as Brandon’s hand contradicted his words. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to wait, Brandon,” he said, laughter and lust and love all crowding together in his voice. “Oh my God, Brando
n, I really… don’t think… I—oh!”

  Brandon hadn’t even noticed that the water had been cooling off, but when it suddenly went from tepid to ice cold, Shane jerked in his arms, cracking up.

  “Okay, maybe I can?” he said, shivering as he pulled away from Brandon’s grip.

  Brandon grinned. A cold shower was exactly what he’d needed to slow things down. He reached behind Shane to turn the water off, then grabbed two towels off the rack as they stepped out, wrapping one around Shane before planting another kiss on that gorgeous, still-laughing mouth that he doubted he’d ever get enough of.

  Then he forgot all about his own towel when Shane shimmied out of the one Brandon had given him and grabbed his hand.

  “I’m going to call that a sign,” Shane said, pulling Brandon back toward his bedroom.

  “That I need a bigger hot water heater?”

  Shane looked over his shoulder, sexy as sin, and rolled his eyes. “It’s a sign that, now that we’re finally doing this, we should do it right.”

  “I don’t think there’s any version of me and you, together, that qualifies as wrong,” Brandon said, meaning it. “But I’m game for doing whatever you want, Shane.”

  Shane paused as they reached the bed, turning to face him. “I love you,” he said, cupping Brandon’s face and looking into his eyes. “I think I forgot to say that, earlier, but I really do. I think I always have.”

  Brandon’s heart did a slow roll in his chest, and, for a moment, he wondered if he actually was dreaming. But then Shane’s look of sincerity morphed into something more wicked, and when he touched him, and Brandon’s cock jerked against his stomach, fully recovered from their impromptu cold shower.

  Nope. This was definitely not a dream.

  Thank God.

  Thank… God.

  Brandon grinned, smoothing Shane’s wet hair back from his forehead and kissing him like he could inhale him. “Just tell me what you want to do, honey,” he said, breathing in the taste of him. “Anything.”

  Shane laughed, leaning into the kiss. Then he pulled back. “I want sex?” he said, giving Brandon a cheeky grin as he wrapped a hand around Brandon’s cock. “Please?”

  Brandon laughed, although it came out more like a breathless groan. “I am totally down with sex,” he ground out, trying not to thrust into Shane’s hand and get himself worked up too soon again. “Top or bottom?”

  Shane blinked. “Um, bottom? I honestly don’t think I’ve ever had anyone ask me that before. But… you really don’t care?”

  “Oh, I care,” Brandon said, maneuvering Shane down onto the bed. Shane scrambled backward, his eyes hot and needy as he watched Brandon come after him. Brandon grinned, settling on top of Shane because he honestly couldn’t stand even one more minute of not feeling all that gorgeous skin against his. “But what I care about is being with you, Shane. That’s all. I just want to be with you.”

  “Oh my God,” Shane said, wrapping his arms around Brandon. “I’m just as bad as all the guys who automatically assume I’m going to bottom, aren’t I? Because I’ve honestly never pictured you doing that.”

  Brandon grinned, rolling his hips against Shane because, well, he kind of had to. “I never have. But for you? I meant it. Anything, Shane.”

  Shane laughed breathlessly, squirming beneath him until their cocks lined up, and then—heaven—starting to rock his hips, too. The friction made Brandon’s eyes roll back in his head, and he was glad Shane had already told him his preference, because all of a sudden his patience utterly deserted him.

  He groaned, stretching one arm out to reach the drawer of his nightstand while doing everything in his power to avoid breaking contact with Shane. Still, if he didn’t get his hands on a condom and lube, he was likely to explode before he could follow through.

  “I want you inside me, Brandon,” Shane said, wrapping his legs around Brandon’s hips as he arched up underneath him. “I guess I’ve never imagined it any other way.”

  “So, you’re saying you’ve imagined this?” Brandon asked, finally grabbing what he needed. He popped the lube open with one hand, grinning down at Shane with a feeling of fierce… not possessiveness, exactly. Rightness. This was right, on every level, and he felt blessed beyond words that it was finally happening.

  Well, blessed… plus so horny that he was having trouble seeing straight.

  “Oh, yeah,” Shane answered, grabbing Brandon’s head and pulling him down for a hot kiss that went on and on and on. Long enough that it almost made Brandon forget what he was doing.

  Almost.

  He reached down to prepare Shane, finding his soft hole with slick fingers and swallowing down the little cries of pleasure that Shane gave him when he applied a little pressure. He wanted more, but he wanted this, too. He wanted to always be the one who drew those sounds out of Shane. He pushed a finger inside, and then another, sure that he could happily do this for hours, days… forgoing food or drink or air and just living off Shane’s pleasure.

  “Oh my God, you’re going to kill me, Brandon,” Shane panted. “Enough with the epic patience. Please. I need you to fuck me.”

  Brandon groaned. That worked, too.

  Shane pushed him off, just enough to roll the condom he’d managed to get his hands on down Brandon’s cock… and then he pulled him close again, teasing him with dirty little whispers… hot eyes… firm hands…

  Patience? Yeah, no. Not anymore.

  Brandon grabbed Shane’s legs, pushing them up. Shane wrapped his hands around his knees and held them back, biting his lip and looking up at Brandon like everything he’d ever dreamed of. Brandon applied more lube, then—when Shane urged him on again—he pressed his cock against Shane’s entrance… pushing… inside…

  A tiny part of him still couldn’t quite believe that this was really happening.

  But, oh yes. Oh… yes. It was.

  “Shane,” he gasped, the tight heat enveloping him in the closest thing he’d ever experienced to perfection. “I’m not going to last very long, honey.”

  He’d wanted Shane for too long. Over the last hour, his body had gone from tired through wired to land at a kind of blissful pleasure that he could already tell was going to send him over the edge faster than he’d like.

  “Me, neither,” Shane panted, his body welcoming Brandon in like it had been waiting for him.

  Brandon wrapped a hand around Shane’s cock as he thrust home, determined to get him there, first.

  “Oh… God,” Shane moaned, rolling his hips up farther and then making the sexiest sound Brandon had ever heard.

  A sound that told him he’d managed to find exactly the angle Shane needed.

  “Brandon… Brandon… Brandon. Yes, please. Just like that.”

  Hearing Shane say his name in that tone was almost too much, and Brandon drove himself deep, setting up a hard, fast rhythm that had his balls tightening almost before he could take a breath. Shane was gorgeous. Gorgeous. And he was panting… gasping… moaning… for him.

  Brandon wanted to give him everything.

  “I love you,” he said, the words rasping and raw as he drove them both closer and closer to exactly where they’d both always wanted to be. His whole body started to tighten with the coiled promise of a shattering orgasm, and he dug his fingers into Shane’s ass, holding onto him tightly as he pistoned his hips in time with Shane’s luscious cries.

  He wasn’t going to last.

  Was not going to last.

  “Shane… please, honey… I need… I need you to—”

  “Oh, God, Brandon.” The end of Brandon’s name was lost in a shuddering cry as a visible wave of pleasure moved through Shane’s long, lean body. Gorgeous. “I’m coming for you. Brandon, oh… my… God, I’m… I’m—nnnnnnnnggggghhh.”

  The hot gift of Shane’s release spilled over Brandon’s hand, setting him free of the tight hold he’d kept on himself. He groaned, burying his face in Shane’s neck as he thrust home, pumping his own release into the c
ondom in an endless tide of rapture so intense that, for a moment, his vision whited out.

  And then it was over, and he collapsed on top of Shane, bracing his arms and rolling at the last possible second so that they ended up on their sides, chest to chest, still joined.

  “I love you,” Brandon said, his voice thick with the idea of sleep that threatened to overwhelm him, now that it was over. Sleep… plus bliss, and a kind of perfect satisfaction that turned out to be far, far better than anything he’d ever imagined. He knew he was repeating himself, but he couldn’t remember what else he should say. Couldn’t, honestly, think of anything else that mattered at the moment: “Shane, you know that, right? I love you so much.”

  “I know,” Shane said, his voice full of something like wonder. “And I love you, too. Can we do this forever?”

  Brandon smiled, his heart overflowing as Shane’s eyes drifted closed and he tucked himself closer to Brandon. They were finally together. Really together.

  “Oh, yeah. You can count on it, honey,” he whispered. He’d like nothing more than the chance to give Shane everything he wanted.

  And forever?

  That sounded pretty much perfect to Brandon.

  Chapter 13

  Shane

  Shane was humming as he carried the stack of folded laundry into Brandon’s bedroom. Their bedroom? Did he get to call it that, since he’d spent every one of the last ten nights there, too?

  But no. Not yet.

  Yes, he loved Brandon. And, yes—a thrill he still hadn’t gotten over shot through him as a smile split his face—Brandon loved him. But Shane wasn’t going to get ahead of himself. He still kept all his clothes and personal items in Brandon’s guest room, and neither one of them had mentioned anything more permanent than the present moment. That would come, he was sure, but—as his cell phone buzzed in his back pocket with uncanny and unwelcome timing—probably not until he found a way to get Peter out of his life once and for all.