Where Nerves End

gaze.
Then he released a breath and looked down at our hands. “There are so many reasons we shouldnt do this.” His thumb ran back and forth along mine. “But right now, I have to admit theyre all kind of paling in comparison to the reason we should.”
I trailed the backs of my fingers along his stubbled jaw. “And that is?”
His hand slid into my hair, and just before our lips met, he whispered, “Because I fucking want to.”
And he kissed me.
Muscles I didnt even know were tense relaxed as Michaels lips met mine. My heart didnt speed up. No, it slowed down, decelerating from rapid and worried to relieved and relaxed, settling into something that was, for the first time in too long, as it needed to be.
“I am so sick of being responsible,” he murmured, his fingers sliding up into my hair. “Just once, I want to pretend the rest of the world doesnt exist, and do what I want to do.”
“Then why dont we ignore the rest of the world,” I whispered, “and take this upstairs?”
“Thought youd never ask.”

CHAPTER 18
    At the top of the stairs, Michael hesitated. His eyes flicked toward the closed door behind which his son slept. When he looked at me again, he whispered, “We have to be quiet.”
    I nodded. “We will be.” I drew him in and kissed him lightly. “Dont worry about a thing.”
I took his hand and led him to my bedroom, since that put us at the opposite end of the hall from where Dylan slept.
Once the door was closed behind us, we were in each others arms again, and I swore the room vibrated with the desperation that came from being this close to something Id needed longer than any sane man could live without it. More than once, I had to tell myself this was really happening, because seeing, tasting, feeling wasnt believing when I was this sure Id wake up or Michael would snap out of it at any moment.
But I didnt wake up, and Michael didnt snap out of it, and with every passing minute, every moment of holding on to him and losing myself in his kiss, this became real. It became real, and my need for him intensified, and we went from grasping clothes to trying to get past clothes.
The need for silence slowed us down, though. We opened every button like one wrong move might set off lights and sirens. Zippers were drawn down as slowly and stealthily as possible. I didnt dare break the kiss, not even to pull in a deeper breath, for fear of making some damning sound.
And when every stitch of distance had been removed, we sank slowly, near-silently on to my bed. My shoulder still ached, the muscles were still uncomfortably tight, but that didnt stop me from letting my hands run all over him.
He pushed himself up and met my eyes. His tongue slowly ran across his lower lip, and I wondered if he had doubts, or if he thought I did.
No doubts, Michael, I couldnt quite convince my lips to say, so I just curved my hand around the back of his neck and drew him down to kiss me.
His lips left mine, and he kissed his way down to my neck, then my chest. As he worked his way farther down, I squirmed and bit my lip, fighting to stay quiet when anticipation threatened to turn me inside out.
“Oh God, Michael,” I whispered as his lips inched past my navel. I searched blindly for his hair, and when I found it, grasped it gently, kneading his scalp just because I needed to touch him, needed to hold on to him somehow.
He supported himself on one arm and held the base of my cock in his free hand, and his mouth—oh, fuck, his mouth. His tongue drew the most incredible, spine-tingling circles around the head of my cock, teasing me until I was so aroused I was sure nerve ending was on the verge of igniting. I dug my teeth into my bent index finger, screwing my eyes shut as I forced myself not to make a sound. I held as still as I could, not daring to move, twitch, even breathe, but Michael left me almost no choice as he sucked my cock.
Maybe he was oblivious to how close I was to crying out, maybe he was beyond caring, because he didnt stop. He stroked me with his hand. Teased with his lips and tongue. Moaned so quietly I was only aware of it because of the spine-tingling vibration against my flesh. Jesus Christ, there was no way this could end without me losing it, and the more he worked my cock like “inexperienced” wasnt even in his vocabulary, the faster he sent me careening toward that inevitable release.
I bit down harder on my finger, shutting my eyes even tighter. Oh, fuck, he was amazing, and I was