Page 33 of Built to Last

I pulled off my shoes and unzipped my jeans in record time. I didn’t care about being neat or careful, I just wanted to be horizontal with Gilbert, both of us naked. It had been too long since I’d been immersed in him, surrounded by his scent, every nerve ending firing with pleasure. I couldn’t wait for it now.

We finished undressing at the same time and threw back the sheets together. I didn’t care about anything but getting Gilbert under me and pressing my hips down into his so that our already stiff cocks could rub together. It was rudimentary, but it felt so good to just feel him and kiss him and know that we were together without any strain or impediment coming between us.

“I love you,” Gilbert blurted, stopping me and my wandering hands in their tracks. We both froze, and I lifted up to stare down at him. “Shit,” he said, then started laughing. “That just slipped out. It’s way too early for love.”

“I never stopped loving you,” I said, stunning Gilbert and myself.

“Fuck. Really?” The vulnerability in Gilbert’s eyes was too much.

“I think so,” I said, a wide grin spreading across my face. “I was so ready to give you everything back then. I wanted to, I just…couldn’t.”

Gilbert stared up at me for a long time, one hand spread flat against my pounding heart, the other on my hip. His eyes contained volumes, and I was so ready to read them all.

Then he laughed. “Can we table this squishy conversation for later and just fuck right now?”

I laughed with him. “Absolutely,” I said, then dove down for another kiss.

It was wild and hot. We were both buzzing with years of pent-up desire. It was so obvious to me now how all the frustration and antagonism we’d been hurling at each other for months now was just passion with nowhere to go.

It definitely had somewhere to go now, though. We both knew this time was going to be quick, but neither of us cared. We kissed and groped each other like the world was going to come to an end at any second. There was so much prep we should have done, but I was willing to take the consequences to get as close to Gilbert as I could as fast as possible.

I had lube and condoms in one of the drawers just beside the bed, and in record time, they were out and open.

“I’m going to be a little tight, but I don’t care,” Gilbert panted as he rolled to his side and lifted one leg.

“If you’re sure, then I’ll be as careful as possible,” I said, clicking open the lube once the condom was on.

“Fuck careful,” Gilbert said with a growl that had me squeezing the bottle too hard and dribbling lube everywhere.

I still did what I needed to do to make sure neither of us ended up sore for a week. If things went the way I had hope they would go, then we would be doing a lot more of this in the near future and taking our time way more than either of us were capable of now.

I was completely right about how long we’d last, and just as right about how it wouldn’t matter. I slid into place behind Gilbert, caressing him as tenderly as I could as I lined up, then pushed home. Gilbert made the most erotic noise I’d ever heard and bore down on me as I worked deeper and deeper. Once we were both sure and I’d reached around to hold his rigid cock, we started to move together.

We were together, working as one for both of our pleasure. It was all the things I’d missed about being with someone and falling in love. The squeeze of Gilbert around me was heady, and I was close to the edge in no time. I was reasonably certain I was hitting his prostate as I moved, and with my hand working him at the same time in an impressive feat of coordination, I knew we were both goners.

I came first, despite my best efforts to make sure Gilbert was having the best sex of his life. I called out his name as my orgasm swallowed me. Seconds behind me, Gilbert groaned and spilled all over my hand. It was hot and messy and somehow the most beautiful thing I’d ever experienced. I was so in love with this man, and now that the two of us were together, nothing would ever be the same. It would be so much better.

CHAPTER 10

Gilbert

Nothing beats the feeling of a plan coming together, especially when it looked like it would be a disaster for a very long time.

“Not gonna lie, there were times this summer, with all the construction noise and dirt and stuff, when I thought you guys weren’t going to make it,” Linda, one of our regulars since forever, commented as she helped herself to a free glass of sparkling apple cider that Marco was offering for the grand opening of Provisions. “I’m glad you pulled through,” she added, saluting me, Sam, and Diccon before chasing after Tyler, one of Marco’s new employees, who was going around with a plate of crostinis.

I laughed and shook my head as she caught Tyler and dove into the hors d’oeuvre plate. It was easy to laugh these days, easy to feel like everything was smooth and calm and would be going forward.

“I don’t know if it was the best idea to offer free food to everyone in Common Grounds,” Kyle told Marco, who had come over from his shop to see how things were doing on our side. “Folks over here are going to eat all your samples before the party is done.”

“As long as they come over to Provisions and buy all the elements to recreate them at home, I consider it a good investment,” Marco said, smiling as usual.

“I hope you’ll get a lot of business from this party,” Sam commented, his arm around Brian’s waist in a sweetly possessive gesture.

Whether consciously or not, Kyle mimicked the gesture by sliding his arm around my waist. And I had to admit, I liked it.

After all these years, I loved being able to show my affection for Kyle openly. Not just for my own sake, but because touching me in public and making no secret of the fact that we were together seemed to relax Kyle in a way I’d never seen him let go before.

“I appreciate any business you can send me,” Marco said, glancing around at the customers enjoying their coffee and free treats from the new shop. “I just bought a house in the neighborhood, and I need all the profits I can get to keep up with the mortgage payments.”