Page 72 of A Matter of Time

I slid my leg between his, and he lifted my chin with a gentle hand. Then his mouth was on mine, and I was rolled onto my back and kissed tenderly, slowly, as he took his time to taste me. He worked his way down my throat to my chest, suckling my nipples in turn before his hot, wet mouth slid over my flat stomach to my cock. He took me in slowly, drawing out and then back, his tongue swirling over my skin before he took me in deeper, licking me with long strokes of his tongue, sucking hard, his hands digging into my thighs and calves. I hoped he would leave bruises, because I craved his marks on me.

When I felt the clenching inside, the tingling, I told him to stop. I felt like my heart was going to burst. His eyes never left mine, and I cried his name as I shuddered in his hands and he swallowed all I had. Afterward, he rose and pinned me to the bed under him.

“I love the noises you make when you’re happy.”

I just grunted because my brain wasn’t working yet, my body boneless and liquid under his…ready to melt into him.

“Your eyes get so dark, and when you say my name… I’ve never wanted anyone like I want you, Jory. I don’t even think people are supposed to feel like this. I think⁠—”

“Shhh,” I said, pushing against him so I could roll him over on his back.

“No.” His voice was cracking, filled with emotion, arms wrapping around me, stilling my movement. “I don’t want you to—I don’t need… Just lie here with me.”

I was quiet, reveling in the difference between the boys I had slept with and the man who now held me in his arms. All my other lovers had expected a quick return for any gift given, but Sam’s desire ran to pleasuring me simply because it made him happy to do so.

“Sam, I⁠—”

“Listen, I don’t want you seeing the doctor, and you’re sure as hell not going out of town with him.”

Wait. “Who?”

“The goddamn doctor.”

“How’d you know I⁠—”

“I listened to your messages.”

“Oh.” I shifted onto my side, and he immediately spooned around me, his thighs against my ass. I didn’t want him to see me smile. “He bought me a plane ticket.”

“I don’t care if he bought you a fuckin’ pony,” he assured me, the annoyance clear in his voice. “You go nowhere with him.”

“Yessir, Detective.”

“I already went and packed up all the rest of your clothes, so⁠—”

“What?” I tried to move, to turn back so I could see his face, but he wasn’t having it. He was so much stronger than me that if he wanted me down, I was down. If he wanted me immobile in his arms, that was where I would be. “You packed the rest of what?”

“You heard me,” he said gruffly, almost growling. “I told you I got all the crap from your bathroom this morning, but I went back and got every stitch of clothing you own. It’s all in my guest bedroom. I put your laptop in the living room, and I grabbed your MP3 player and all of your books. You don’t have much stuff.”

“No.”

“I got your comforter too, ’cause I figured you liked it.”

“I do like it but⁠—”

“You can’t stay in your apartment. I mean, I went there without a key and got your stuff. Think about it.”

“Yeah, but⁠—”

“I want you to be safe,” he said as his mouth closed on my shoulder. The man could not keep his hands or his mouth off me.

“I’m not five, Sam.”

“No, but…you need looking after.”

“But what are you going to⁠—”

“For now you’re here ’cause I gotta watch you. That’s all anybody needs to know.”