After putting the plates and glasses in the dishwasher and tossing the napkins in the trash, Mike returned to the living room, prepared to head out. He turned to Frost who’d left the kitchen as well, remembering that they’d arrived there on the back of Aiden’s bike. “Do you need a ride back to your place?” he politely asked.
“No, but thanks. I’m crashing on his couch tonight.”
Stardust rose from said couch. “I’ll walk you out.”
In the foyer, Mike grabbed his vest from the bench, holding onto it rather than putting it back on. Waving goodbye to Frost, he opened the door and stepped outside, Stardust following close behind. They were silent as they made their way to his truck, the light tinkling of the chains on Stardust’s boots the only sound in the quiet night other than their footsteps. When Mike reached his truck, he stopped and turned around. Stardust slowed to a stop a few feet away. He could get in his truck and go, but he wanted to talk to Stardust for a few minutes more. Remembering his curiosity from before about his partner’s name, he decided to go ahead and ask him about it.
“Should I keep calling you Stardust?”
“Only if you want to. But if you don’t, my name is Aiden. Aiden Saliette.”
Mike stuck his hand out. “Hi, Aiden. I’m Mike. Nice to meet you.”
A small smile curled Aiden’s lips. He drifted closer and accepted Mike’s handshake.
“Nice to meet you, Mike,” he said with that smile still teasing.
“Does this mean you’re going to stop calling me beefcake?”
Aiden ran his gaze over him from head to foot, his eyes lingering on Mike’s biceps before he answered.
“Absolutely not,” he teased. “But I am going to stop calling you Riley.”
That answer caught Mike off guard, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise before his expression softened into a genuine smile. “I appreciate that.”
They both went quiet again. The conversation was at a nice, natural ending point. Mike could go home. But he didn’t get in his truck. Didn’t even make a move to open the door.
Instead of leaving, Mike spoke into the silence. “Looks like we have more kisses to forget about.”
That comment instantly changed the mood—charging it with tension that crackled in the air between them.
“Hmmm...” Aiden tilted his head to the side as he hummed soft and low in his throat, the dangling gold earrings gently swinging with the movement. “The thing is... I don’t think I can.” Aiden took a step closer, watching Mike with a steady gaze. “Can you?”
Mike’s answer was immediate. “No.”
Another step.
“And do you want more kisses from me?”
“Yeah. I want to kiss you right now, actually.”
Aiden gave another one of those low, sultry hums, the sound of it tugging behind Mike’s navel. He leaned in, resting a palm against Mike’s chest. Without his vest, the heat of Aiden’s palm burned as if it were a brand on his skin. When Aiden lifted his face, lips softly pursed, Mike lowered his head, ready for another kiss. But Aiden didn’t kiss him. He stayed just out of reach—close enough to feel the soft warmth of his breath but too far to connect.
“Before we kiss again,” Aiden whispered. “You should know that there’s something specific that I want from the men I share intimacy with. And I’m not sure if you’re capable of giving it to me.”
“Tell me what it is that you want.” Mike’s desire was obvious in the roughness to his voice but he didn’t care. There was no point in hiding it anymore. “I’m positive I can give it to you.”
Aiden pulled his plump lower lip in between his teeth, then slowly released it to smile up at Mike.
“I like your can-do attitude.”
Mike was normally a patient man, but here now, with the promise of a kiss hanging in the balance and possibly more on the horizon, patience went out the window. “What is it that you want?” he prodded.
“What I want from my partners is for them to let me take charge. To submit and give up their control to me. I tell them what I want and how I want it and they give it to me.”
The fingers on Mike’s chest drifted down as Aiden spoke, grazing over his stomach, tapping at his belt buckle...and then lightly brushing over his cock. Mike sucked in a breath at the intimate contact but he didn’t move an inch to escape it. He wanted that hand on him.
“They worship my body,” Aiden continued. “They praise me and please me. Sometimes they sit patient and quiet at my feet until I give them permission to touch me.”
