I moved easily with him, the tension thick and hot between us already. My cock was hard, stretching my underwear in a thick line along my thigh. My heart thudded, and more than anything, I itched to run my hands along that soft, warm skin.

Gideon caressed my cheeks with his palms, rubbing his fingertips along the short hairs at the back of my neck. By the time we hit the bed, I was already unbuttoning his blazer and shoving it off his arms, impatiently working on his shirt next.

“So many fucking layers.”

“Sorry. Next time, I’ll go naked.”

I snorted with laughter as I fumbled with buttons around Gideon’s belly. “One layer only,” I instructed my boss -- my boyfriend. “T-shirt and boxers. That makes for easy access.”

The whole while, he kept touching all of my bare skin, running his hands along my shoulder and over my chest and stomach, down my thigh, up my sides…

It was driving me wild not to feel Gideon’s warmth blanketing my own directly yet, and I growled under my breath as I fought with his pants next.

He nudged my hands away. “I’ll get those,” he promised, looking amused.

“Fine.” I hauled him in, a hand on each cheek, to kiss him hard instead.

He licked his way into my mouth, panting for breath while he squirmed to kick his underwear and pants off.

“Yes,” I moaned against his lips, then sucked on the tip of his tongue until his hardness rubbed against my thigh.

Oh, that was impossible to miss.

Then his 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 our bodies with the friction as we rubbed up and down against each other, grinding and reveling in naked bliss.

“Oh god, you feel amazing,” he moaned into my mouth, still kissing me until my lips just about hurt.

I couldn’t keep my moan quiet, and I didn’t want to. I ran my nails lightly up his back and arched mine, finally breaking away from the kiss to try to catch my breath.

With that wicked smile, it was clear Gideon had no intentions of letting me. He kissed gently along my jaw, then down my throat and along my neck. Before long, those warm lips were pressing kisses along my collarbone.

My chest heaved for breath, and that was before his tongue swiped across a nipple.

“Fuck!” I exclaimed, my breath rasping in my throat. “Oh, sweet Jesus. Gideon!”

“Mmhmm?” he hummed, his lips closing around one sensitive nub.

It only took a few flicks of his tongue before need was throbbing through my body. I ground up into his stomach as I gasped for breath. “You little… holy fuck.”

Gideon sucked firmly now, pinching his lips around the skin. A wave of heat crashed through my body, my muscles tightening and twitching with arousal. I was on edge now.

His hand wandered across my thigh and between my legs, his fingertips trailing under my cock and along my balls. I moaned sharply with approval, spreading my legs.

“I haven’t fucked a single guy since we met.”

Gideon’s murmured confession left me even more breathless than warm breath across my damp skin.

“Me neither,” I managed, then caught my breath at the slow play of fingertips across my nipple at the same time as another finger stroked around my sensitive hole. “Oh, Christ. You wanna skip the condoms again?”

“If you’d like me to.”

I nodded once, sharply, and strained to lean down for another kiss against his lips. “I want you.”

He leaned over to the bedside table, giving me the perfect chance to kiss his nipples in return -- one, then the other.

“Hmmm.” When he sank back to his elbows over me, he grinned at me. “I’ll let you do that more someday.”

“Good.” I wanted to kiss Gideon from head to toe, explore every inch of that strong body, make him come undone from pure bliss…

But tonight, I was happy to let him slide two wet fingers inside and crook them, breathing out deeply at the half-filled feeling.

Oh god, he was good.

I closed my eyes to enjoy the fingertips rubbing slow circles inside me, the electric tingles and jolts that sent through my body, and the extra tension that coiled in my belly and muscles as a result.

I let out a quick exhale through my lips once Gideon’s fingers were out of me, then shook my head as I cracked my eyes for a peek at him. His hand was stroking up and down his shaft, spreading a thin layer of glistening liquid along it.

God, he was sexy. When he caught me looking, he winked, and that simple gesture -- despite my own nakedness and vulnerability -- was what made me blush.

He chuckled deeply, and then his warm firmness was pressing into me. It was impossible to describe how utterly I was filled with that thick, velvety, hot shaft -- not just physically, but how it fulfilled the need inside me.

I was almost dizzy with pleasure. I moaned my encouragement, running my hands up and down Gideon’s back while his hands settled on rubbing slow circles against my hips and thighs.

Almost perfect.

Then he was moving, each quick thrust into me building up the heat under my skin and the itch to kiss him again.

“Gideon--”

Before I could finish the request, he was right there, his lips gently pressing across mine.

This was perfect.

I kept our kiss slow and dirty, sucking on his lips and tongue and rubbing our noses together now and then to catch my breath before I dove in for another kiss. Thrust by thrust, the bed shaking under me, the heat tingling under my skin crashed through me.

I ached with the need to move, to help Gideon, and overwhelm him just as I felt. “I wanna ride you,” I moaned.

No sooner had the words left my lips than he rolled us over swiftly, his hands steadying my shoulder and hip.

I braced my knees, then winced as my hip strained.

“You all right?”

“My hip’s a bit weird. Comes with being partly double-jointed.”

As I’d expected, Gideon’s eyes widened. He looked like he was imagining all the possibilities.

“We’ll explore that later, too.” I winked, shimmying my weight until I was steady again. Now I was ready to go. I rose and fell quickly, keeping my hands braced on the bed on either side of his head while I watched the expressions flit across his face.

God, he was beautiful.

“I’m so close,” he whispered, his hands running over my ass. He squeezed and kneaded, then slid both hands up along my back. “Oh god, you’re beautiful. I love you.”

Then, his eyes widened like he hadn’t meant to let that slip. It was his turn for a rare, full blush.

I lowered myself to my elbows, then pecked his lips with a few light, teasing kisses. “I love you, too.”

I had never been more certain of anything. I was invested in Gideon like I’d never felt in anyone else, and I even thought I could like the man I was becoming around him.

Cheesy as it was, he was making me a better person, just by being around him.

“I’m so glad,” he moaned against my lips, his expression melting into sincere joy. Then, he kissed me thoroughly.

I moved fast and hard, my heart hammering with the thrill of the admission. My body was tense with pleasure throbbing through my body, Gideon’s thick length so hot inside me.

His hand, and those strong, delicate fingers, wrapped around my length to jerk a few quick times, helping me along. I moaned sharply and nodded slightly to thank him, and he kept stroking at the same quick pace.

I needed… no, not just needed, but wanted him.

That was my last thought before I clenched around him, my hips stuttering and shuddering as the heat flooded through my body and my head rolled back, my body arching.

I could barely brace myself against the tidal wave of muscle shudders, the pure blackness devoid of thoughts except Gideon and his body and his love.

“Yes! Fuck, yes,” I panted as I gasped raggedly for breath, my body pulsating and clenching around him.

“Oh, fuck, yes,” he growled, his voice deep with arousal. My eyes widened when I realized he was on the edge.

And then he came deep inside me 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, Gideon was beautiful.

I stared, my hips gradually stilling as he pushed up into me, his feet braced on the bed. With each thrust, I felt warmer and wetter inside, and my cheeks were hot with embarrassed pleasure in that whole new feeling.

Sliding out of me, Gideon’s eyes fluttered open and he pulled me down by my cheek for another deep kiss.

We were wrapped up in each other, limbs hopelessly tangled, and I couldn’t stop giggling under my breath. Gideon’s eyes sparkled playfully, and he snaked his leg between mine every time I tried to free myself.

I love him. I love everything about him.

I pressed kisses against his 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 my spine and I hummed under my breath. “You can say that again…” I teased.

“I love you, too,” he repeated, then kissed the tip of my nose.

Oh my god. He’s… touchy-feely. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised at all. I laughed, pushing him away. “Even now?”

It was hard to put into words my guilt at everything I’d done -- the way I’d treated those around me until the last second, when I saw everything careening out of control; my self-confidence growing into arrogance; and most of all, turning my back on the man I owed the most.

Gideon’s eyes were soft as they flickered across my expression, reading all the things I couldn’t say. “Especially now,” he murmured.

I let out a long sigh and closed my eyes, trying to let the tension drain from my body. The words, usually so hard for me, slipped out easily. “Thank you.”

His arms snaked around me. The scent of him, the warm, strong arms around his middle, the lips pressing gently against the back of my neck…

Here in my boyfriend’s arms, I was safe at last.