Finding You: The Complete Box Set (a contemporary MM romance series)

by Ana Ashley

  “No, but I think I’ll change my mind.”

  Do you want to know how Joel and David celebrated their first Valentines season together?

  Keep reading for an exclusive bonus scene before the next volume in the series.

  Bonus Scene

  Joel

  February 9th

  "Shit, crap, crap." I hissed, as I accidentally touched the hot tray, before I let it fall on the metal griddle of the oven with a loud clunk.

  I closed the oven door to run my hand under the tap, already feeling frustration rising in my chest, and hoping it was only a small burn.

  All I'd wanted was to cook a nice meal for David, but it seemed I was incapable of doing even that. The vegetables were overdone, and the meat went from perfect to overcooked in the short time it took me to set the table.

  "Just take him out, my dear, I'm sure he won't mind." My grandmother had said earlier when she'd come over to help me with the recipe and preparations and noticed how stressed I was.

  I'd explained that I wanted to make it special and do it myself, since David usually did most of the cooking for us.

  I should have predicted this when all of my students somehow coordinated to turn up late for their tutoring sessions this morning, making me late in return.

  After a few minutes I assessed the state of my hand and was happy to see only the tiniest blister. Thank fuck.

  The plan had been simple, make up for all thirteen Valentines' Days David and I had missed by doing something special each day until our actual first Valentines' Day on the fourteenth.

  Coming up with the ideas had been fun, and we'd even taken turns each day. The execution? Well, if today was anything to go by, it was more than a little messy.

  So far, we'd seen the sunset sitting on our beach, we'd made a chocolate salami together to celebrate our first kiss, and visited a few tourist traps in Lisbon that I hadn't revisited in years, amongst other things.

  We were building up to the big day on the fourteenth. I could barely contain my excitement at the thought of telling David we were going to Paris in the spring. I'd even researched a few patisseries I knew he'd love to go to.

  With a deep breath, I crouched down to the level of the oven, opened the door again, and pulled out the tray.

  Delicious smelling steam billowed around me, and the sizzling noise made my mouth water, but I couldn't deny the meat did look as dry as sandpaper. I poked it with my finger, and it was as tough as nails. So much for finding the most tender piece of meat the butchers had.

  I sat on the floor next to the oven, wringing the dishcloth in my hands as if it could undo the shipwreck of a meal I'd prepared.

  "Sweetheart?" I heard as the front door opened.

  Great, and now he's early too.

  I pulled my knees up to my chest and hid my face with my arms as all the tension of the afternoon came out and uncontrollable tears of frustration escaped my eyes.

  "Fuck, Joel what's the matter, baby?"

  His sweet voice made me feel guilty for crying over a stupid meal, and that brought on another wave of tears.

  I heard a shuffle, and then I was being pulled into David's strong, comforting arms.

  He smelled of sweat and cake, my favorite combination, and I burrowed further into his embrace.

  David kissed my hair and ran his hands up and down my back.

  "I'm so sorry," I said into his chest. My voice muffled from his shirt.

  "What are you sorry for, sweetheart? What happened?" he said, his voice laced with worry.

  I pulled back to look into his warm brown eyes and sighed.

  "I tried to cook dinner, but it all went wrong and now the vegetables are overcooked and the meat is dry and—"

  He captured my rant with his lips, and within seconds everything that was wrong didn't matter anymore because, as usual, David's mouth had the power to render me speechless and melt my whole body into a puddle of pleasurable sensation.

  "Shower," he said, as his kisses trailed down my neck, his favorite part of my body. Well, second favorite. I'd probably end up with more little bruises there by tomorrow.

  A pleasurable shiver ran down my spine, causing all the little hairs on the back of my neck to stand up.

  "But dinner…" I said, although with his hands getting closer to my ass, food was the last thing on my mind.

  "Isn't going anywhere, besides," he said in my ear with a lust-filled voice that made my stomach tight with need. "I'm hungry for something else."

  It didn't take me two seconds to close the oven door and pull David over to the bathroom. Dinner was ruined, but maybe I could still save the evening.

  Despite my sudden need for David, we didn't rush the shower. Nothing gave me more pleasure than running a soapy cloth all over David's body. He was all man, strength and hard lines, but it was his heart that had done it for me. His heart was as soft as they came.

  Our eyes met as we took turns washing each other off, and all I saw reflected at me was the love I had for my best friend.

  We'd come so far in the last few months, and I knew in my heart there was so much more to come. More happiness, more fun, more road trips, more of David and I.

  "What are you thinking about?" he whispered in my ear as he sucked on my earlobe, at the same time as his hands kneaded the globes of my ass.

  I hadn't even realized that I'd zoned out while he was washing and massaging my back. Fuck, I should be the one taking care of him in that way. David was up every day before sunrise and stood on his feet until he came home in the afternoon.

  "I was thinking about that time we stayed in the hotel outside of Évora," I said.

  "Oh really," he chuckled. "Any part in particular?"

  David wrapped one arm around my waist, while the other went around my chest until his hand was on my throat, using the grip to turn my face toward him for a kiss.

  His hard cock rested in the cleft of my ass, and I pressed back onto him, a hint I was more than ready for him.

  I loved that David's slightly shorter height put his cock in the perfect place to tease my hole when we stood like this with my back onto his.

  As his tongue massaged mine in a kiss that could only be described as dirty sexy, his hands went back to my ass. I felt him separating my ass cheeks and the warm water from the shower spray together with the head of his cock brushing past my hole had all my pleasure points firing up.

  My cock was ridiculously hard and my balls felt full and heavy, as if we hadn't had sex in weeks rather than only last night.

  "David, fuck, I need you inside me," I said, reaching out behind me with my hand to point his cock in the right direction.

  "Fuck, sweetheart, I'm not doing it without any prep, I don't want to hurt you."

  We both looked at the shelf where we normally had a tub of lube, and both groaned when there was nothing there.

  "Crap, I forgot to replace it," I said, at the same time as he said, "Bedroom."

  Before I could grab a towel, David picked me up in a fireman's lift and took me to the bedroom.

  "We're still wet," I squealed.

  "I like you wet," he said throwing me on the bed and covering my body with his.

  I giggled when droplets of water fell from David's hair onto my face.

  He placed a soft kiss on my lips but when I expected him to deepen the kiss he moved down my body and went straight for my cock, taking as much of it in his mouth as he could.

  "Fuck," I said, bucking my hips to meet his mouth. He gagged slightly, but when I tried to pull back, David placed his hands on my hips to keep them in place without slowing his pace.

  I wasn't sure how our lovemaking had ramped up from a gentle simmer to burning hot, but if David didn't slow down I was going to boil over. Not that it was a bad thing, since I already knew how much David loved to draw as many orgasms out of me as he could.

  The tingling sensation at the bottom of my spine started building up.

  "Ngh… oh fuck, Baby, I'm gonna…" I was
there on the precipice of the best orgasm, loving that split moment when my body all but belonged to the man making me feel this way… until he removed his mouth from my cock and pulled my balls tight so I wouldn't come.

  "Ugh… what? Nooo… I wanna come," I whined.

  He chuckled again and kissed my poor frustrated cock as an apology before coming back up and slamming his lips on mine for a hungry kiss.

  I groaned when his erection lined up with mine and wrapped my legs around his waist to get closer.

  "Shhh, I'll give you what you want, Sweetheart," he said into my lips.

  "You always do, baby. God, I love you so much."

  With him laying on top of me like that, and our magnetized necklaces stuck together, it was as though we were complete. Two pieces joined forever by destiny, and the love of two mothers.

  "I love you too, Joel," he said before he licked and kissed a trail from my neck to my mouth. I kept him there by threading my fingers through his hair as I swirled my tongue around his.

  David had been complaining about the length of his hair for a few days, but I loved it like this, slightly longer, wavy and perfect to run my fingers through. I also loved how adorable he looked when he woke up with his hair all messed up from sleep, but then again, I loved all his looks.

  We were mid eating each other's faces off when my tummy rumbled. David stopped kissing me and even as I tried to chase his mouth he put his hand on my cheek and said, "you're hungry."

  "For you, I'm hungry for you," I said, pulling him down for a kiss. He gave in, but only for a moment before he raised his head again.

  "I should feed you."

  "No! Fucking cock-blocking stomach," I complained.

  David laughed. "But if you're hungry, why don't we have dinner first. I promise I'll give you as many orgasms as you can handle later."

  "If we finish off now, I'll make you my American pancakes with chocolate chips for dinner," I said.

  "You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Peterson," David said as he reached out to the bedside table to get the bottle of lube. He squirted some on his hand and then ran it up and down my cock.

  "What are you doing?" I asked.

  "Sweetheart, I've been hard all day wanting to feel your long cock inside me. Besides, if you don't make me come, I promise to fuck you until you come again."

  He didn't need to ask twice.

  "How do you want it?"

  "Like this," he said, laying on his belly and placing a pillow under him to raise his hips.

  I licked my lips and then ran my tongue up from his taint to the top of his crack. David cursed as I kissed and licked his eager hole as though it was his mouth, and when I finally gave him a lubed finger, he let out such moan of pleasure I wondered if he was about to come.

  "More," he begged.

  I added a second finger, making sure to stretch him enough to accommodate my cock, because I was so wound up that I knew once I was inside him I wouldn't be able to go slow or take long until I came. By the time I added a third finger, David was humping the pillow and begging to come.

  "You promised me a second orgasm, Baby," I said, as I lined up my cock to his hole and pushed in. I went in slowly, allowing him to adjust, but as soon as he was raising his hips up to get more of me I pushed all the way through.

  He was so hot and tight, I had to take a second to stop myself from coming.

  "God, you feel so good, David. It's like you were made for me."

  I started moving in and out of him, first slowly and then increasing my pace with each little moan that escaped his lips.

  Sweat ran down my spine at the same time as that familiar sensation ran up. My balls tightened and I was all but fucking David like a possessed man before my orgasm took over.

  An aftershock went through me as David pushed me back. I withdrew from his tight heat, but didn't even get a chance to see my come drip down from his hole, because in a second, I was on my back with David's lubed fingers seeking entrance.

  "I can't go slow, Sweetheart," he said.

  "Don't. I want you, David. Now."

  He added more lube to his cock and in one slow motion he bottomed out on me. The lack of proper prep was a little painful, but I loved it that way. David was a lot thicker than I was, and I loved feeling stretched as far as I could be.

  The burning sensation quickly changed to pure blissful need, and my spent cock reawakened as David began to move inside me.

  I was being consumed by David, from the way he glided in and out of me, to how his tongue plunged into my mouth seeking my own, and all the space in between.

  There was nothing in the world but the sounds of our lovemaking, our sweat covered skin slapping against skin, and our moans.

  "Open your eyes, Sweetheart," David asked. I hadn't even realized I'd closed them at some point. "I want you to see what you do to me. How good you make me feel. Every second of every day of my life with you is like this."

  I nodded, unable to respond. Tears ran down my eyes, and even without stopping his movements in and out of me, David kissed them away, telling me how much he loved me.

  My cock was hardening between us, and I was wondering how long we could hold on like this. I wanted it to be forever, but the best part of being with David was that we could do this until the end of our lives. A lifetime of building up our pleasure, falling and catching each other.

  That thought alone was enough to take me over, and as I did, David followed me there. Catching me and allowing me to catch him. I would always be there to catch him.

  We stood in the same position for a long time, neither wanting to break our connection, and even our necklaces had found their way to each other again.

  "Please tell me it will always be like this," I said, as his mouth searched mine.

  "I promise on my life," David said. "And even when we're really old, with no teeth and bad hips, every time we come together will be as special as that first kiss we had on the beach when we were fourteen."

  I laughed so I wouldn't cry at how deep in my heart his words reached.

  "How about that dinner?" he said.

  "Can't move," I groaned, and he withdrew from me slowly. We were a mess, all sweaty and dirty with come. The room smelled of sex like we'd been at it for days.

  "Let's have a shower, and I'll make the bed while you do the pancakes," he said, stretching his hand out to pull me back to the bathroom.

  "Deal. And I'm sorry about the ruined dinner."

  "I'm having chocolate chip pancakes for dinner. That's a win in my books." He grinned as we stepped into the shower.

  This time we were a lot quicker and also dried up and put some clothes on, although it wouldn't surprise me if we ended up without clothes within the hour.

  "So, what's tomorrow's Valentine?" I asked, as David came into the kitchen, since it was his day tomorrow.

  "I'm keeping you in bed all day, and we're going to love on each other, talk, laugh and eat cake until we can't keep our eyes open."

  "I can get behind that plan very easily," I said.

  He came up to me and kissed me gently.

  "Good."

  Together Again

  Finding You Book 2

  1

  Isaac

  New York — December, six months ago

  Sitting in the front row made it very hard to check my phone. Damn it! I could feel it vibrating in the pocket of my dress pants. Unable to do it discreetly, I resigned myself to wait for the current speaker to finish.

  I focused on my surroundings to stop from fidgeting in my seat. The room was warm, almost a bit too warm, a stark contrast to the chilly temperatures of December in New York City outside.

  It was less than a week to Christmas, so the room had been decorated with a Christmas tree and a few tasteful ornaments that hung from the ceiling. Christmas wasn’t my favorite holiday, but I had to admit, there was a certain charm to New York at this time of year.

  I was incredibly lucky to be here at the Liberty LGBTQ Center in Gree
nwich Village and wanted to absorb every single piece of useful information I could get my hands on. I’d met Dorian and Jean-Paul Charles, the founders and Executive Directors, last summer in Portugal.

  I’d organized a conference to raise some money and awareness for my LGBTQ Youth Center, Fundação Arco-Íris, or Rainbow Foundation as it translated into English. The couple happened to be in Portugal on holiday and came along when they saw the promotional activity we ran during Lisbon Pride. In addition to a generous donation, they’d also invited me to visit them in New York, which I was more than happy to accept.

  It took me six long months of working overtime to save up for this trip, and the hard work was paying off already. I’d been in New York for three days, and in that time, I’d visited the center, shadowed Dorian and Jean-Paul, and had made numerous contacts.

  I also spent a lot of time with the kids. Since it was both a shelter and a community center, some of the kids lived here full-time until they found permanent accommodation, while others used it socially during the day.

  Lost in my thoughts, I was brought back to the present by the simultaneous vibrating of my phone and the audience standing up. Everyone was applauding the guest speaker, a guy that at twenty-seven was making a significant impression on the political scene of the city by supporting not only the LGBTQ cause but, in particular, the younger generation, campaigning for better access to education and jobs.

  I took the opportunity to make my way out of the room as the next guest speaker was arriving on stage. My phone was still buzzing in my pocket, which could only mean one of two things. It had happened early, or there were complications.

  Once outside the conference room, I looked around to see if I could find another room to take my call in privacy. I was at one end of the corridor, and it seemed that at the other I had the option to turn left or right.

  I tried each door in turn. The first was locked, and so were the next two doors.

  Finally, just before I reached the end of the corridor, I found one that opened. I slid my finger across the phone screen to answer the call as I entered the empty room and closed the door behind me.