“Islept my wayinto my job,” Liam said, laughing a little with bitterness and embarrassment.
Josh’s grin was one of the sexiest things Liam had ever seen.“You,” he said with another one of those sensualboops,“are as bent as the rest of my family.”
He said it with a sort of predatory gleam in his eyes, and Liam swallowed, suddenly knowing what it was like to have Josh Salinger’s full and adult attention on him.
“What is it about my nose?”he asked, suddenly as shy as Josh had been in the beginning.
“Freckles,” Josh said immediately.“I told you I adore them.”
Liam hid his face on the pillow between them.“Those weeks on the damned ship, you said nothing about loving freckles.”
“More and more kept popping out,” Josh said, sounding like a baffled yet delighted child.“It wasamazing.I was afraid you’d start covering your face completely in zinc oxide to scare them away.”
Liam glanced up and smiled.“That’s you,” he said, his voice gruff.“It’s your entire family, really, but you’re the one who makes me feel it right here.”He rubbed his chest through the sleep shirt he’d put on after they’d showered.
“Feel what?”Josh asked, and he cupped Liam’s face again, his thumb brushing Liam’s lips.
“Worthy,” Liam murmured.
“You are,” Josh confirmed, inching closer.“Did you tell me that story, the one about sleeping with your married boss, to make sure?”
“Sure of what?”Liam asked.
“Sure I wouldn’t reject you.That if I knew the worst thing about you and still wanted to be here, you could trust me?”
There was no lying here.“Yes,” Liam whispered.
“I’m still here,” Josh murmured, and moved closer, until their lips brushed, their breath mingled, and the air between them was full of the last year of unspoken promises.
Josh had promised to get better.
Liam had promised to be there when he did.
And now here they were, alone and—
This time as Josh’s mouth found his, Josh took the initiative, plundering with his tongue.Josh’s injured shoulder was between them, so Liam pushed up on his own elbow, covering Josh’s body so Josh could use his uninjured arm to shove under his T-shirt, to palm his skin, to squeeze his shoulders, his biceps, then lower, lower—
“Ah!”Liam sighed, thrusting up against the bed, his cock hard, the kiss still raging between them.
Josh pulled back and grimaced.“Gah!Stupid shoulder,” he muttered, and Liam took over the kiss for a moment, kissing him until he was slack and pliant, which didn’t happen often with Josh Salinger, Liam was starting to realize.
Liam felt the urgency in his loins again and pulled back, noting Josh’s scowl.
“If you’re pulling away to go jerk off in the bathroom, so help me?”
Another hard kiss on that playful, swollen mouth, and Liam lifted his head and grinned.“Would you trust me?Iwasseduced by an older, more experienced man, you know.I’ve got tricks up my sleeve.”
And again that scowl, but this time Liam resisted it as he wiggled down the bed and thrust his own hands up under Josh’s T-shirt.
“There was no older, more experienced man,” Josh sighed, gasping as Liam’s thumbs, then his lips, found his nipples.Dear Lord, they were delicious, and Liam tugged and pulled and nibbled on them until Josh’s fingers tangled in his curly hair and a surprisingly strong grip pulled him off.“I am going to come from that,” he breathed.“And that would be a shame, because after that kiss on the balcony tonight, Ireallywant to see you naked.”
“Same,” Liam panted, kissing his way down a concave tummy.It was flat and soft now, but Liam knew Josh was working for muscle tone, eating protein when he could stomach it, dancing and running as much as his healing body would allow.
Liam was done waiting for a perfect body.He didn’t care if there were love handles or he could count ribs (fuck, he couldalmostcount ribs).This young man was more than his body, more than his abilities.His heart—that playful, exasperated warrior’s heart—had been the thing Liam remembered from that first night, catching Josh in his arms.Even illness hadn’t dimmed the fire in him, and now Liam wanted that fire for his own.
With some maneuvering, Liam tugged at the flannel sleep shorts and gazed at the sexy black briefs underneath.He glanced up Josh’s body and grinned, gaze flicking to the briefs.
“Prepared, are we?”
