“You can bring the lamp over if you need better light. And I have another I can get if you need more.” The monstrous chandelier hanging over the bed gave off decent light, but I had no idea if it would be enough for camming.
“I think this will be enough. A bit mysterious and dark, since I’m in a new location.”
“Do you want me to light a fire?”
“Really?”
“Sure, if you want. Might make for some nice atmosphere.”
“Yeah, if you don’t mind.” He grinned happily.
It didn’t take long to light a small fire, and when it was crackling, I turned to Eli. He was sitting on my bed with his phone in his hand and a serious expression on his face.
“Everything okay?”
“Fine.”
“Is that an actual fine or an automatic one?”
“Both.” He sighed and tossed his phone aside. “Just work stuff.”
“Like what?”
“There’s a cammer in Seattle who wants to film together. I’ve told him no, but he keeps sending me messages. It’s not a big deal, just annoying at this point.”
“You don’t want to make partnered content?”
“I’m not opposed to it, but not anytime soon. But I wouldn’t do it with him. He’s not my type.”
“No?” I tried to sound casual.
“No. And he’s into some stuff that’s not exactly appealing to me.”
“Like what?”
“Like tying people up and tickling them until they pee.”
“That’s… a pretty specific kink.”
“There’s an audience for everything.”
“Will this work?” I waved around the room.
“Yeah.” A smile tilted his lips. “It’s like being in a fancy hotel. Like a vacation from reality.”
I loved how something as simple as a fireplace and a big bed could make him so happy.
“I’ll take my shower so you can get to work on time.”
“Thanks, West. For being so cool about this.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Not everyone is okay with sex workers.”
“I’d be a hypocritical asshole if I had an issue with you camming, since most of my orgasms happen while I’m watching cammers.”
He squirmed, lifted his knees, and hugged them. “Fair enough.”
“I’ll be out in a bit.”
“’Kay.”
I didn’t think about much as I scrubbed off the past few days. I definitely didn’t think about how Eli would be naked and jerking off on my bed in the near future. And I certainly didn’t think about how much I wanted to watch.
As I turned off the water, my dick was rock hard. I could have jerked to take the edge off, but I would have probably thought about Eli, and it felt wrong to fantasize about him when he was in the next room.
“Shit,” I muttered and wrapped a towel around my waist. I’d forgotten to bring clean clothes with me.
I scooped up my clothes, padded out of the bathroom, and tossed them into my closet hamper.
He looked up from his phone and made a strangled sound. “Why are you all wet and naked?”
“I’m not naked. I’m in a towel.” I grinned at his wide-eyed expression. “I forgot to bring clean clothes with me. And I’m wet because I was in the shower.” I went to my dresser and tugged open a drawer. “I’m about to drop the towel, so either avert your eyes or enjoy the view.”
He made a noise that was halfway between a squeak and a gasp. Laughing, I pulled off my towel and placed it on the dresser. Not bothering to hurry, I leisurely tugged on a pair of boxer briefs and sweatpants. When I turned around, Eli was staring at me.
“You didn’t avert your eyes.”
He tossed his phone to the side and stood. “Did you want me to?”
“No. Did you enjoy the view?” I asked huskily.
“I did.” He dragged his tongue over his bottom lip. I tracked the movement, and my dick throbbed.
I leaned back against the dresser and rested my hands on the wooden surface.
He dropped his gaze to my bulge. “Are you hard because of me?” he asked, his voice so soft it was barely above a whisper.
“Yes.”
He swallowed. “I feel weird.”
“Weird?”
“Just… weird. I want…”
“What do you want?” I asked, not daring to breathe as he raked his gaze up my frame.
He was so beautiful, and the wonder and longing on his face were doing things to my insides.
“Please don’t hate me.”
“Hate you—oof.”
My ass hit the dresser as Eli’s lithe body slammed into mine. He grabbed my cheeks in his slender hands and kissed me.
Before I could move to kiss him back, he jumped away, one hand over his mouth, his eyes wide in what looked like horror.
“I’m sorry,” he blurted.
“Don’t be sorry. Not unless you didn’t want that.”
“I wanted it,” he whispered.
“Do you want to try again?”
He nodded and stepped closer.
I was dizzy with need, and it took everything in me not to drag him into my arms and kiss the shit out of him.
As much as I wanted him, I needed to let him set the pace and go at his speed.
“West.” He leaned closer. His warm breath ghosted over my lips, and I shuddered at both the needy undertone of his voice and his closeness.
Everything about him turned me on, and knowing he’d initiated this, that he’d kissed me, made me feel ten feet tall.
He wanted me.
I closed my eyes as his soft hands cupped my cheeks, gentle this time.
The first brush of his lips over mine was soft and fleeting but so achingly perfect I had to bite back a groan.
I lightly gripped his hips and held him as he angled my face to the side and brushed another kiss against my mouth, then another.
He moaned and pressed his lips to mine harder, prolonging the contact as he pushed his hard dick against my thigh.
Taking a chance, I parted my lips and moved them against his. He mimicked what I was doing, letting out breathy little sighs and moans. He grew more confident, meeting my kisses and not just responding to them.
His tongue brushed mine, and a shockwave of need shot through me. The second touch tore a growl from deep in my throat.
Eli moaned eagerly and swept his tongue into my mouth. His technique was sloppy and unpracticed, but his enthusiasm was so damn hot I could barely think straight.
He whimpered in my arms, rubbing his tongue over mine in a way that was both eager and shy, like he was trying to let go but wasn’t quite sure how to.
Unable to stay passive any longer, I cupped his chin with one hand and held him still so I could kiss him exactly how I wanted.
He moaned and clawed at my back, trying to get closer as I ravaged his mouth.
“Is it too much?” I panted against his lips.
“No.” He hitched one knee up and wrapped it around my hip. “More.”
“Fuck.” I slid my hands under his firm ass, lifting him as I spun us around.
He let out the cutest squeal, and I deposited him on the dresser. “This okay?”
He dragged me forward for another soul-searing kiss and wrapped his legs around my waist.
Holy shit. I wasn’t going to survive this. His eagerness was such a turn-on. Knowing he not only wanted me but was also enjoying my touch, my kiss was heady as fuck.
I could easily lose myself in him, but that wasn’t what either of us needed. Holding him close, I slowed my movements until our kisses were deep and languid.
Fuck. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gotten lost in kissing without the pressure to do more.
I sank into it, letting my entire focus zero in on the man in my arms. The way his lean body fit against mine, how his strong hands ran over my back and gently scratched my skin, leaving trails of fire in their wake.
The little moans and sighs he couldn’t seem to control, the way he hooked his ankles together under my ass, locking us together.
His taste, his scent. Him.
Time and space melted away as we continued to kiss. My dick was so hard it ached, and zings of pleasure and a bone-deep feeling of satisfaction moved through my chest.
Kissing had always been the precursor to more. I liked doing it and was never stingy with my affection when I was with someone, but my mind had always been on what would happen next.
But with Eli, I didn’t want more. Well, that wasn’t true. I wanted everything, but in this moment, kissing him was enough. I wanted him to experience every moment of my attention, to be able to explore and learn and figure out what he liked.
I’d never been with a virgin before, and his complete lack of experience was at the forefront of my mind as I dragged my lips over his jaw and kissed his neck.
Even if this wasn’t his first kiss, it was his first kiss with me. I refused to rush things or push him into more. And the caveman part of me loved how I was one of the few people who got to share this with him.
“West,” he moaned and ran his fingers through my damp hair.
I licked and kissed and nibbled on his neck, relishing every little sound I coaxed out of him.
I sucked his earlobe into my mouth and gently worried the skin between my teeth.
“Shit!”
He froze, his body still and rigid.
I pulled back, my head spinning. “Eli?”
He flushed bright red, his eyes wide and crazed.
“What’s wrong?”
He shook his head and tried to scramble away from me.
“Wait.” I pressed my hands to the wall and caged him in with my arms, not touching him but not letting him get away until I knew what had triggered his reaction. “Did I hurt you?”
He shook his head and stopped trying to get away.
“Was it too much?” Had I spooked him? I should have stopped sooner.
He shook his head again.
“Eli. Talk to me. Please.”
“I…” His face was beet red. “I got a little too excited.”
I blinked as I processed his words. “You got close?” I asked carefully.
“Not just close.” He covered his crotch with his hand, his face flaming even brighter.
“You came?”
He squeezed his eyes closed and nodded.
He’d come from kissing me? His erection had pressed against my stomach while we’d been making out, but he hadn’t rubbed it on me or anything. He’d been that turned on by my kisses?
Fuck, that was hot.
“Did it feel good?” I asked, my voice husky and low.
He nodded, his eyes still closed.
“Look at me,” I said gently.
He shook his head.
“Please.”
He cracked one eye open. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.”
He peered up at me, his expression seeking and raw and so damn vulnerable.
“Do you have any idea how hot it is that you came from kissing me?”
“It is?” he asked in a small voice.
“So sexy.” I smoothed a lock of his silky hair back from where it had fallen over his eye and tucked it behind his ear. “I was close too.”
“You were?”
“Really close.”
“It was good for you too? Even if you didn’t…”
“So good. Every second was perfect.”
“Do you want me to…” He glanced down at my bulge.
“No.” I pressed a soft, chaste kiss to his lips. “I don’t need more. Kissing you was enough.”
“But you’re still hard.”
“It’ll go down on its own.”
“Are you sure? It doesn’t seem fair that I did and you didn’t.”
I tipped his chin up so I could look into his eyes. “Sex isn’t transactional. It’s not about making things fair or doing something that’s expected of you. I loved kissing you, and it’s so hot you came. I don’t need an orgasm to enjoy being with you. And I never want you to think you have to reciprocate or do something just because your partner did. Not with anyone, but especially not me. Okay?”
He nodded, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Have you ever kissed someone like that?” I asked softly.
I didn’t really want to hear about his past kissing partners, but I had a feeling he needed to talk things out so he could process everything he’d experienced.
“No.” He swallowed. “I’ve been kissed, but I’ve never been the one doing the kissing. It was nice before. I liked it. But it wasn’t anything like that.” He wet his lips with his tongue. “I had no idea it could feel like that.”
“Me either,” I said honestly.
He arched an eyebrow.
“I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed kissing that much. Maybe never.”
“You’ve probably kissed a ton of people.” His eyes clouded.
“Not a ton.” I dropped my other arm from the wall now that he wasn’t a flight risk. “Not a lot, actually.”
He scrunched up his face adorably. “No?”
“I spent most of high school at an all-boys school. Got really good at handies and BJs, but not a lot of kissing going on in the dorms.”
He bugged his eyes out, and I chuckled.
“You sequester a bunch of hormonal teenage boys together, and there’s going to be experimenting. Most of the guys weren’t even bi-curious, but a hand is a hand when you’re horny and desperate.”
“I guess it makes sense. What about college?”
“Long make-out sessions are more of a teenage thing, I guess. Most of my partners were eager to move on to the next thing. Or ghost me.”
“You got ghosted?”
“I did. It would seem not everyone agrees I’m good at kissing.”
“They’re idiots because you’re amazing.”
A tendril of pride shot through me at the matter-of-fact way he said it.
“Glad you think so.”
He snickered.
“What?”
“I’ve never come before going on cam.”
“Will it make it harder?”
He laughed at my unintended double entendre.
“I mean, will it make your job more difficult?”
He shot me a smile that was half-playful and half-shy. “Not more difficult, but definitely harder.”
I looked between us. He had a semi.
My dick throbbed, and I drew in a shaky breath. I’d meant it when I’d told him I didn’t need to come to be with him, but my dick was still ready and raring to go.
“I’ll let you get to work.” I stepped back to give him enough space to hop down off the dresser. “I’ll be in the living room if you want some company when you’re done.”
“Yeah?” He perked up. “I’d like that.”
Warmth and affection filled my chest. “Me too.”
We stared at each other for a few beats. I turned on my heel, strode away, and closed the door behind me.
Shit, I hadn’t put on a shirt or socks. Whatever. I had some clean clothes in the dryer I’d forgotten to put away before the power had gone out.
Heat prickled my cheeks as I made my way down the stairs and toward the laundry room, trying not to think about how Eli was getting naked on my bed. I liked knowing he was going on cam after I’d made him feel good. That the flush on his cheeks and the sparkle in his eyes were because of me. Like a little secret that was just between us.
Like tangible proof that I’d claimed him. His viewers got to see what he showed them. They knew his cam persona, but I was the only one who got to see the real him.
Shaking my head, I yanked the dryer door open and rummaged inside it. I was getting ahead of myself. A kiss between friends didn’t have to mean anything. Time to dial back the lust before I said or did something that could tank our friendship.
We might not have been back in each other’s lives for long, but he was special to me, and I refused to be one more person who let him down.
