“They keep their maintenance keys where just anyone can get ’em.” Rory paused. “Well, anyone who can see the history of a combination lock.” He paused again. “That might just be me.”
“You stole a maintenance key.” Arthur blinked. “You stole a key and broke into my flat?”
“Ah.” Rory bit his lip. “When you put it like, it sounds kinda bad.”
Arthur crossed the last of the distance between them and darted in, taking Rory’s face in his hands as he kissed him over the back of the couch.
Rory made a needy sound deep in his throat. Despite his grouching, Rory’s kiss was sweet, his skin warmed from the blanket he’d been reading beneath, his lips parting willingly under Arthur’s.
Arthur pulled back, just an inch. “Badisn’t the word I was thinking,” he promised quietly. “Christ, I didn’t know where you were. You could have told me the doorman was being an ass, I would have done something about it.”
“I don’t need to be calling more attention to you.” Rory’s long eyelashes fluttered as Arthur ran his thumb gently over Rory’s chapped lower lip. “And I was trying to leave you alone.”
“What?Why?” Arthur went in for another, deeper kiss, one he hoped would chase that terrible thought right out of Rory’s head. Rory made that desperate sound again and leaned in for more, but Arthur pulled back. “When did I ever sayoh Teddy, won’t you fuck off and leave me alone?”
“You were with your ex—”
“I wouldn’t—”
“And Itrustyou, so I wasn’t gonna give you a hard time.” This time, Rory pulled back. “I was letting you do what you gotta do for your family, but I wasn’t gonna let some doorman keep me away either.” He looked seriously into Arthur’s eyes. “I’m in your aura,luce dei miei occhi. I’m never gonnareallyleave you alone.”
Arthur stared back, a bit breathless. “I was worried,” he finally said, which wasn’t really a response. “And I missed you.”
He hadn’t realized he was going to say that. From the way Rory’s eyes widened, then softened, Rory hadn’t expected him to say it either.
Arthur smiled, a little awkward, and then admitted, “But you are one hell of a delight to come home to.”
Rory broke into a smile, and then they were both closing the inches to kiss again. The couch between them was green velvet with gilded trim and with a high, carved back, something else his parents’ designer had picked for the apartment. It dug uncomfortably into Arthur’s ribs as he leaned over it, but he ignored it in favor of deepening the kiss.
“I’m sorry I made you wait,” he managed to say against Rory’s lips.
“It’s okay—”
“No. It’s not.” Arthur pulled away long enough to straighten and slid his coat and suit jacket off together, letting them fall to the floor as he scrambled around the side of the settee, dodging the side table.
Rory started to get to his feet, but Arthur stopped him with a hand on his chest. “Stay right there,” he said, pushing gently but insistently until Rory was sitting again on the couch.
Rory’s tongue darted out and wet his lips. His cheeks were flushed, and behind his now-crooked glasses, his eyes were nearly black and glittering like gems. “You really think this couch can hold both of us? You’re pretty big.”
Arthur was tempted to find out, and more tempted to pull Rory down to the floor on top of him and try all the things they hadn’t yet. But he’d already taken so many of Rory’s firsts; did he have the right to take them all?
Not tonight. Until he knew what Rory’s choice was, he’d stay with things he knew Rory wanted. He put his hands on the back of the settee and his knee between Rory’s knees, forcing them apart. “I think we’ll find out. Eventually.”
“Eventually?”
He nudged his face against Rory’s cheek, bumping his glasses. He left them alone so Rory could see. “First, I think you should let me apologize for taking so long tonight.”
Rory shivered. “But you already said sorry.”
Arthur pressed a kiss to his neck, under his ear, then another one lower on his throat. He wore no tie and the top of his shirt was unbuttoned, letting Arthur trail kisses over his neck and collarbone as his fingers found the waistband of Rory’s trousers. “I can do better than words.”
“Oh.” Rory’s breath hitched and he arched off the settee, wordlessly begging. “You don’t have to—”
“No one said anything about have.” Arthur slid his hand inside his trousers, drawing one of those lovely groans. “This is all aboutwant. As in, I’ve wanted to do this all day. I’ve wanted to be here all evening. I want you, Teddy.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“—still say we should wait, but if you absolutely must, here it—”
