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Barrett shrugged. “Honestly, me neither. But I know I like it. And I think that’s part of this.” He leaned in, rested his forehead against Ambrose’s. Their shared breath warmed the air between them. “The learning. Understanding each other. Taking our time.”
“I don’talwayswant to take my time.”
“No?” His lips were so close; Ambrose could almost taste his kiss. He wanted to warm Barrett’s lips with his, hold him close and breathe him in. “Would this be one of those times?”
With a groan, Ambrose surged up. Desire echoed through him but Barrett kept him steady, kept him true. Steered them into a kiss that lingered instead of tearing with teeth and soothing with tongues. It was as brilliant and bright and sure as Barrett’s smile.
When they returned to Ambrose’s house, Barrett’s nerves had stopped jangling. But some part of him still teetered on a fragile knife edge. They’d held hands on the way back down, as much as the trail facilitated such closeness. Sometimes he ran his hand down Ambrose’s back, earning him a shiver or the sight of teeth sunk into a plush lower lip.
But Ambrose was the one to make the first move.
“Let me take care of you.” Ambrose slid into Barrett’s lap, hands smoothing up Barrett’s chest, then up over his shoulders, his neck, until those long fingers tugged gently at his beard. “I did promise. I want to.” He leaned down, his mouth so close to Barrett’s. “I like giving.”
Barrett couldn’t stop his groan in time and Ambrose knew he’d won. He wasn’t attached to the beard and Ambrose seemed hellbent on helping him. It’s not like he could deny the man anything, anyways. “You’re gonna kill me, you know that?”
“Making you wonder why we’re going slow?”
“Tease.” But Barrett kept his grip gentle as he wrapped his hands around Ambrose’s hips. “Fine. You win.”
“Lucky me.”
Barrett could have easily leaned up just a little and kissed Ambrose. He wanted to. But it wasn’t what Ambrose needed right now; because as he was quickly learning, Ambrose understood his own needs pretty damn well and was willing to let Barrett see that vulnerable side of him. He trusted Ambrose to do the right thing for himself, right now. “What should I do?”
Ambrose had Barrett follow him to the master bathroom while he puttered around gathering bottles and jars. “I’d dunk you in the tub if I thought you’d be amenable to that,” Ambrose said over his shoulder, a playful grin tugging at his lips.
“Who said I wouldn’t be?”
That got Ambrose’s attention. Well, probably a combination of Barrett’s teasing tone and the way he licked his lips slowly, his gaze traveling down Ambrose’s body. He wasn’t being too lascivious but he wanted Ambrose tofeel it. Just a little. “Appealing, but I think we’ll save that for another day. It’s more…intimate in the tub.”
“Fair enough.” But they were smiling at each other and Barrett felt the fizzy pop of happiness bubble through him, just knowing Ambrose’s mind was settling. Ambrose took them into the spare bathroom where, in the corner, sat a slightly battered chair with a tall back and a footrest. It looked kind of like a barber chair but almost more like a gaming chair. Barrett was intrigued. “Should I…”
Ambrose smiled and waved him forward. Barrett settled in the heavy chair and let his arms hang off the armrests while he watched Ambrose move. Every step, every flutter of his hand, every jar he picked up from a small table on the side of the room, made Ambrose look sexy. A settled, even-keeled Ambrose was possibly the most attractive thing he’d ever seen.
If he didn’t stop thinking like this, his body was going to turn traitor and start showing off hisinterest. Barrett took a deep breath and bit down on the urge to run his palm over his groin.
Ambrose wheeled over a small cart, the little casters clicking over the dark blue tiles. “Hmmm, almost there.” He leaned forward, face so close to Barrett’s, and then there was a click. The chair back sank and Barrett was staring up at the ceiling. “Better?” Ambrose asked with a grin.
“Do this often?” Barrett replied with a startled laugh. “Special chair and all.”
“I actually picked it up at an estate sale.” There was a spark of mischief in grey eyes as Ambrose loomed over him. “For a while, I got very invested in barber lessons.”
“No shit.” Barrett could almost see it now - Ambrose rattling bright glass jars and dark brown or blue bottles, his glorious hair tied away from his face as he took his time with each client. His gaze focused but still expressive, listening while the client talked. And savoring the moments where the client had to stay silent, with a blade to their throat or hot towel over their face. He could see those hands flashing, movements confident, sure. “Did you pursue it?”
“Just for friends.” Gentle fingertips traced over his jaw, sinking into the thick hair of his beard and skimming the incredibly sensitive skin underneath. Of course, Barrett had no ideahowsensitive he’d be but Ambrose’s touch lit him up from the inside. “So, what am I allowed to do here?”
“Depends on the offer.” Barrett let his eyes drop shut as Ambrose ran his fingertips over his throat. “But if you want to shave the whole thing off, I won’t object.”
Ambrose made a little choking sound that had Barrett staring up at him, worried. “I’m good. I’m fine. But…how long have you had the beard?”
“Dunno. Three years? I usually grow it out in the fall, keep it long until May or June, then trim it back.” He shrugged. “I just let it get away these last few years.”
Those fingers were back in his beard, distracting in their gentleness. But Barrett couldn’t look away from those eyes and how they crinkled at the corners. “You trust me that much.”
Again, not a question. A statement looking for surety, seeking permission. It sent him spiraling. It made him think about Ambrose on his knees. Hunger written as a sonnet on his face while his hands drifted. Asking for permission in that easy, silent way of his. “You’re killing me, you know that?”
And now there were blunt fingernails running over his cheeks, down his jaw; just on the edge of tickling but firmer. “So if I keep this up…”
Barrett tried not to laugh but Ambrose’s smile had him chuckling. “I’m going to have to worry about other parts of my anatomy.”
