It was ridiculous for him to talk to his plants as he rinsed out a baking dish, still dressed in elements of his work suit with the sleeves of his button-down rolled up above his elbows, a flowery apron covering it all, and it was even more absurd for him to imagine the row of squat succulents staring flatly at him in return.
“What?” he demanded, as if they had called him out. “I can cook for a friend, can’t I?”
The largest of his hens and chicks seemed to cluck at him.
He grinned back at it.
“Alright,” he admitted, blushing. “I like him. I haven’t felt like this about anyone in ages.”
The bunny ear cactus seemed to giggle in an echo of the feelings bubbling within him.
Those feelings were so big that when the doorbell sounded a few seconds later, Desmond nearly jumped out of his skin. He put the wet baking dish aside and turned to practically run for the door, flushed with expectant warmth.
He could tell from the outline in the frosted glass that Javier had arrived even before he threw open the door to see the gorgeous, exhausted man waiting on his doorstep with a bottle of wine in one hand.
“I hope you like—” Javier held up the bottle, but stopped as his eyes swept over Desmond’s apron and rolled-up sleeves.
“Yes, I like,” Desmond said, bursting into a smile. He wanted to grab Javier by his tie and yank him into the house.
“Wow.” Javier stepped over the threshold, backing Desmond up a few steps. He shut the door behind him without looking at it. His eyes were trained on Desmond, drinking him in. “That apron.”
“I can take it off if it’s too much,” Desmond said, grinning more and more, his heart doing crazy things in his chest. He should not feel like his entire world had been tipped on its side simply by welcoming a man into his home, but he absolutely did.
“No,” Javier said, putting the wine on a small table in the hall, then moving forward, grabbing Desmond’s hips. “Keep the apron on. Everything else comes off.”
It was pure madness, but Desmond didn’t care. Every plan he had to make scintillating conversation as Javier sat in the kitchen, watching him cook, was blasted to high heaven. Every bit of restraint he possessed vanished into oblivion as they reached the bottom of the stairs and Javier yanked him close for a kiss.
You are a partner at a prestigious financial firm and a respected businessman,Desmond tried to remind himself as Javier devoured his mouth and dropped his hands to grope his arse.
Fuck that. He was a red-blooded man with a brilliant, hot as sin model in his arms who liked him and wanted him. He slid one hand into Javier’s hair and circled the other around his back as he kissed him in return.
“Anything in the oven?” Javier asked breathlessly, pivoting like he would head upstairs.
“No,” Desmond answered, staring at Javier’s plump lips.
“Good.”
Javier hoisted Desmond into his arms so deftly that Desmond’s cock threatened to burst through the front of his trousers. He gripped Javier with his legs as the surprisinglystrong man carried him up the stairs, his mouth barely leaving Des’s.
“This is okay?” Javier panted as they reached the master bedroom.
“Very okay,” Des panted, loosening his legs so he could stand and walk backwards toward the bed. “Condoms and lube in the drawer. I might have prepped before you came over.”
His face burned hot as he admitted that, but he hadn’t wanted to leave anything to chance.
“Amor mío,” Javier purred, reaching under Desmond’s apron for the fastenings of his trousers.
Desmond couldn’t get out of his clothes fast enough or get Javier out of his. Not even in his heady university days had he thrown caution to the wind so quickly or thoroughly by jumping straight into bed with a man the second he’d shown up on his doorstep. He couldn’t help himself now. Javier was everything he needed to counteract the bristly ball of tension that had been living in his gut all day, all year, for his entire life. He needed to touch the man, slide his hands and mouth all over his fit body, and have Javier touch and fill him in return.
In the end, the apron came off, as well as the two of them tumbled into bed, frantic and desperate for each other.
“I’m not going to last if you keep doing that,” Desmond panted, gripping the sheets as Javier kissed his way down his chest and stomach while nudging his legs farther apart.
“Baby, we’ve got all night,” Javier said as he reached Desmond’s groin, then grasped the base of his cock to hold it at the perfect angle for sucking.
Desmond nearly arched off the bed and made a sound the entire street probably heard as Javier enveloped his dripping tip in the warmth of his mouth. It had been so long since someone had thought of his pleasure first that he nearly lost it then and there.
He forced himself to keep steady and let Javier take what he wanted, but he had to close his eyes to do it. If he had watched the way Javier’s lips closed around him, the way his strong body spread and arched between his thighs, and, God forbid, the way his eyes flashed with lust as he looked up at him, he would come immediately and spoil the best sex he’d had in ages.
