His heart soared.
Vasily wanted him.
Mother didn’t have much experience, but it seemed as natural as breathing to cup the back of Vasily’s head in one palm and hold him in place. He leant forward that last fraction of an inch, eyes closing as he did so, and pressed their lips together in a chaste kiss.
Vasily’s mouth was soft and he tasted of custard, and it took Mother’s breath away. He pulled away after a few seconds, his lips tingling, and Vasily grinned widely. Then, with none of the shyness Mother might have expected, Vasily clutched at his shoulders, pulled him close and kissed him again, more firmly this time. His tongue pressed, clumsy but persistent, against the seam of Mother’s mouth, and he yielded to the pressure.
Vasily licked his way inside, teasing, exploring, their tongues brushing together—andhow,exactly, was the act of pressing two mouths together this good? It made no sense, but one kiss from Vasily and suddenly there was a fire burning low in Mother’s belly, heat in his veins, and a desperate need for more.
Mother put everything he had into the kiss. Something like lightning raced through him when he slid his hand down Vasily’s spine just like he’d imagined, moving so they were pressed against each other, making Vasily moan into his mouth.
They kissed until Mother had to pull back, his breath coming in short gasps. In all honesty he wanted nothing more than to keep doing what they were doing, but his cock was hardening in his trousers with an unaccustomed urgency. If Vasily kept making noises like that and touching him the way he was, Mother wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop what they’d started—and Vasilyhadonly asked for a kiss.
Vasily’s eyes were dark pools, the pupils blown wide, and his cheeks were flushed. He let out a shaky breath. “I, um. That was. Yes.” He laughed, high and breathless, and leaned back against the door.
“It was,” Mother agreed, voice cracking. He clenched his hands against his sides to fight off the temptation to drag Vasily in and taste him again.
Eventhinkingabout kissing Vasily had his cock throbbing against his lacings.
Vasily stood there biting his lip, one hand cupping the obvious bulge in the front of his trousers. He stepped forward, draping his arms around Mother’s neck, and then he was kissing Mother again, gentle and soft and careful like he was something precious.
The rasp of Vasily’s unshaven skin against Mother’s cheek had his heart racing and his blood heating, and he suddenly understood all those times he’d come across Felix and his king in the stables with their shirts untucked and their faces flushed.
If kissing someone you cared for felt like this, how was anybody meant to resist it? And if this was what kissing was like, what would it feel like to get Vasilynaked,to run his fingers through that thatch of blond chest hair and trace the muscled lines of his back?
His cock bucked against his lacings, and Mother wrenched back, panting, before he ended up spilling in his trousers. Vasily’s brow creased. “What is it?”
He shook his head, holding up one finger, and when he trusted himself to speak, he said, “It was only meant to be a kiss, Vas.”
Vasily looked pointedly down at the obvious bulge in the front of his own trousers. “What if I want more?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.
Mother’s heart raced and his cock firmed at the prospect. “More?”
“More,” Vasily said. His tone was firm even though he was blushing to the roots of his hair, and Mother wantedsobadly to say yes.
But underneath the sheer overwhelming want he felt right now, there was one simple truth that rang out. Vasily was something special. Mother desired him, yes, but he wanted more than doorstep kisses and one night. So he closed his eyes and took several slow, deep breaths until he had himself under some semblance of control.
He opened his eyes to find Vasily staring at him, wearing a hurt expression that made his heart clench. “It’s not that I don’t want you, lad,” he said, his voice rough. “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone. But I don’t do”—he waved a hand up and down Vasily’s body— “this. Well, Ididn’t,”he said, “but you have me feeling things,wantingthings, that I never have. And I don’t want to rush.”
Vasily’s expression cleared. “So, this isn’t you saying no?”
Mother hesitated before deciding that if he was telling the truth, he might as well tell the whole truth. “I don’t want a quick fumble in a doorway, Vasily. I want this tobesomething. I want to—” He cleared his throat. “I want to court you,” he said firmly.
The lad’s face broke into a wide smile. “I want that too.”
Mother’s heart raced the way it did when he was on horseback, exhilaration washing over him. “Then we’ll do that.”
Vasily licked his lips. “With kissing? And all the rest of it?”
“With kissing, and all the rest of it, in time,” Mother agreed, smiling so hard his face hurt. “Whatever you’d like.”
Vasily stepped forward and tipped Mother’s head to the side, nuzzling at the tender skin there and sending a thrill running through him that made his cock throb with renewed interest. He cupped Mother’s face in one hand, his eyes wide. “Is…was that all right?”
“It was bloody marvellous,” Mother rasped out, right before he tangled his fingers in Vasily’s long hair and kissed him again, a messy clash of teeth and tongues that was more enthusiasm than style but somehow still managed to be the better than it had any right to be.
Vasily moaned into his mouth, and Mother took a moment to preen over his stunned expression when he pulled back. Then he forced himself to say, “I think you’d better go before we get carried away.”
Vasily blinked slowly, like he was coming back from somewhere far away. “Right. Yes. Going slow.”
