Double Play (Hit and Run Book 3), page 11
Orion tried not to think about how Carey was probably using one of those now. “Yeah.”
Hervé shrugged. “She was smiling the whole time. We started talking, and she asked me to get her drunk, so I did. She told me about her pain and her anger, and how she had to keep smiling even though she wanted to scream because worse than pity was the way the rest of the world was afraid of being like her.”
Orion licked his lips and wrapped his arms around his middle. “Carey doesn’t want me to see him like that. It’s why he sent me away. I left to see him right before the season ended when my sister called and said he was starting on a rapid decline. I was there for three weeks before he shoved these tickets at me and told me to go figure my shit out. I don’t think he’s going to let me say goodbye to him.”
“Do you hate him for it?” Hervé asked.
Orion met Hervé’s eyes, and he nodded. “With all my heart. As much as I love him. But it’s what he wants, and the end of his life isn’t about me. I have all the rest of my life to remember the years we had together where he wasn’t in pain. He’s only got this.”
Hervé shifted and reached for Orion, touching his face before drawing him in for a kiss. “Is it wrong to do this now?”
Orion laughed and shook his head as he dug his fingers into Hervé’s hair a little further, holding tighter. “Nah. I’m pretty sure this was what he had in mind when he kicked me out. When I tell him about you, he’s going to be proud.”
Hervé made a noise, and the next thing Orion knew, the table was shoved back, and the smaller man was in his lap. Their mouths collided with a ferocity Orion wasn’t expecting, but he drank it in in deep pulls of tongue and plush lips. Hervé’s thighs were thick and strong as they boxed Orion in, and Orion wasted no time digging his fingers into Hervé’s hips.
“I need,” Hervé panted against Orion’s mouth. He mumbled something in French, then shook his head. “Sorry. My head—”
“It’s okay,” Orion said between kisses. His fingers danced up and down Hervé’s spine, almost trying to soothe him while also working him up further. “Baby, whatever you want.”
“I want you,” Hervé said on the edge of a growl, and he let out a soft, muffled grunt between closed lips when Orion shoved his shirt up and touched bare skin. “I haven’t done this since I got sick.”
Orion nodded. He couldn’t remember right in that moment if Hervé had said that or if it was just painfully obvious. Or both. But it was clear Hervé was starving for all the same things he was. He pulled back slightly, holding Hervé by the jaw with one hand as the other cupped his pert ass cheek.
“Tonight isn’t about what you think you deserve—or what you think you don’t. Tonight is just this, okay? It’s how much I want to touch you and kiss you. It’s how I want to strip you down and stroke your cock and make you come all over me.” Orion swallowed heavily against his need to just flip Hervé over and take command. “All you need to do is give me the word that’s what you want.”
“Ouais,” Hervé said, nodding and looking so flushed Orion knew he had to be dizzy. “Yes. Everything. All of it.”
“Say it in French,” Orion said.
Hervé did, and Orion surged up to kiss the words from his lips as he pulled the shirt from Hervé’s body and tossed it to the side. Instead of going further though, he stood, taking Hervé with him.
“As fun as this is,” he said, thumbing along Hervé’s jawline, “I don’t think either of us will appreciate doing this on the floor.”
Hervé let out a small laugh, turning his face so he could lay a kiss to Orion’s palm. It was slow and warm and wet, and Orion nearly lost his resolve right there. “Come to my bed.”
Orion shuddered, then gave Hervé a small push and followed him down the short corridor and into the first bedroom. It was small and quaint—and might have been claustrophobic had it not been for the fact that the only furniture in there was a bed and Hervé’s suitcases piled against the far corner.
The bed was barely big enough for the both of them, but the covers were mussed, and the sheets looked soft, and Orion had no problem imagining Hervé there curled up against the pillows. His heart ached for something he didn’t quite understand, but he shoved that aside as he grabbed Hervé by the hips and spun him.
His fingers went right for the button and zipper, getting his pants down around his knees. Hervé kicked them to the side, but when his trembling fingers went for Orion’s clothes, Orion grabbed him by the wrists and shook his head.
“Lie down.”
Hervé licked his lips, almost nervous, but he nodded and backed up until his knees hit the bed. His gaze never left Orion as he sank down, first onto his sweet, naked ass, and then he collapsed.
Orion watched his eyes—entranced by the focus in them. It was no wonder people had been obsessed with him for so long. He was tender as much as he was cruel. He was beautiful in ways that were almost painful to look at. He had weapons in his grin that could bring men to their knees, and in a jagged, careless man with nothing to lose?
Of course he tore men apart.
But Hervé’s gift had obviously come at a cost—and with a price. He had been tormented and abused, creating the monster he’d become. And every time he hurt others, he tore himself apart too. Orion damn well knew he was in over his head, and yet he couldn’t walk away.
There was something in Hervé that felt so inherently worth it, and that terrified him because he was one of the first people to tell Pietro that people like Hervé were never worth it. That they never changed. That they would always stay the same heartless bastard.
He still believed that, but there were always exceptions to any rule, and Hervé felt like one of them.
“Orion?”
He realized he’d been quiet for a long time, and he shook his head before pulling his shirt off and tossing it over to where Hervé’s had landed. His jeans were next, but he left his boxer-.briefs on as he slid one knee to the bed and stared down at his would-be lover.
“Sorry. I got lost in my head.”
Hervé blinked at him. “Regrets?”
“None,” Orion said, allowing every ounce of truth to color his tone. He reached down and gripped the back of Hervé’s knee, lifting it into a bend. He dipped his shoulders low, letting his lips trail soft kisses along the inside of his thigh.
“Putain,” Hervé breathed.
Orion chuckled and bit down lightly before pulling back. “Is there anything you don’t want, sweetheart?”
Hervé startled at the term of endearment, but when Orion met his gaze, he couldn’t get a read on his expression. “I don’t think so.”
“You like to bottom?”
“Ouais.”
“You like to top?”
Hervé huffed a laugh through his nose as he pressed his lips together. “Sometimes.”
Orion grinned and dragged the backs of his nails where his lips had been, only he didn’t stop. He traced the touch all the way to the rough hair surrounding Hervé’s hard cock. It was uncut, and the head was just starting to poke out of his foreskin, so Orion curled his hand around it and gave him a gentle stroke.
Hervé hissed, his chest arching up, but Orion laid a firm hand against his sternum and held him to the bed.
“Just feel,” Orion said.
Hervé squirmed for a second, looking uneasy before his body relaxed. “I’m not,” he started, then frowned the way he did when he was searching for words in English. Orion wished he was better at French to give the man a break. “Sex was always a performance for me. Before,” he said. “I didn’t want there to be rumors that I was lazy or bad.”
Orion breathed out a small sigh and shook his head, but he understood. It made sense. He wasn’t a celebrity—not in the acting world—but everything he did was still put under a microscope. He knew he was heading back into a world of rumors after he disappeared at the end of the season and then skipping spring training, and everyone would be watching and wondering why.
It was a heavy weight he didn’t want to think about right then.
“You don’t need to do that with me.” He lifted his gaze and met Hervé’s eyes. “As much as I want to scream from the rooftops about the fact that I got a gorgeous, sweet man in my bed—”
“In my bed,” Hervé countered.
Orion nipped at his knee until Hervé hissed, and then he licked it with his tongue. “In any bed,” he conceded, “I wouldn’t do that. This is between us.”
“It would save you from all of them judging you because it’s me,” Hervé told him.
Something in Orion snapped. He dropped Hervé’s knee and pressed his weight along the smaller man, pinning him to the bed with his whole body. He gripped Hervé’s chin with damn near bruising fingers and kissed him almost cruelly.
“No.”
Hervé let out a choking noise. “You must admit—”
“No,” Orion repeated. “I’m not ashamed of you. I’m not worried what other people might think. I spoke to Pietro and Thierry because they are my friends and I love them, and it was only fair. But whatever this is between us—it’s between us. Your past is yours.”
Hervé closed his eyes in a long, slow blink, and when he opened them, they were red-rimmed. “I’m trying.”
Orion softened, lifting himself up a little. His cock had lost some of the hardness, but he shifted his hips and let it drag along Hervé’s, and he let out a small groan because the man felt so fucking good beneath him. “I know you are. And like I said before, tonight is just this. Just us.”
Hervé nodded, and this time, Orion saw Hervé give in to this thing Orion knew he wanted. His eyes went hard, and then his body went soft, and his arms came around Orion.
One hand trailed down his back, then cupped his ass and squeezed. “I want you. Je suis chaud.”
“Hot?” Orion asked with a frown, starting to pull back.
Hervé snorted a soft laugh and tugged him back down. “Horny.”
“Fuck. I think I should try to remember that one,” Orion said with a grin. The expression quickly morphed into something a little more wanton, though, as Hervé’s fingers pulled his ass cheek aside, then brushed over his hole. He gave a sharp twitch, then thrust his hips as he captured Hervé’s mouth once more. “Is that a request?” he asked when he pulled back.
Hervé huffed and shook his head, smiling softly. “No. I just wanted to touch.”
“Well, you have my permission to touch me anywhere at any time, sweetheart,” Orion said, then eased back a little and propped up fully on his arms. “Do you have anything here?”
Hervé frowned.
“Condoms? Lube?”
Hervé flushed hard and shook his head. “No. I didn’t…I didn’t think we would go this far.”
Orion nodded and glanced down to where their cocks lay together on Hervé’s stomach, and he leaned on his left arm, curling the fingers of his right hand over both. Hervé groaned, his hips thrusting forward, and Orion grinned.
“There are plenty of ways for me to fuck you—to make you beg and scream—without that,” Orion promised. He leaned in and nipped along Hervé’s collarbone with sharp teeth. “And I’m going to be here for the rest of the month.”
That timeline was ticking down fast, but Orion knew he could make the best of it. He would make the best of it. He pulled away, lifting his hand and holding his palm to Hervé’s face.
“Lick me, sweetheart.”
Hervé moaned, but he stuck his tongue out and got Orion’s hand sloppy and wet. With soaked fingers, Orion brought his hand back down and began to stroke them in earnest, his fingers barely closing, but he kept a tight grip and did a little twist at the head.
Hervé was swearing in French, softly and under his breath, and his body squirmed like he didn’t know how to react to what he was feeling. Orion couldn’t help but wonder if anyone had ever paid him this kind of attention before.
Wanting this to be more than just a hand job that Hervé could have gotten anywhere, Orion rose to his knees without letting go. He thrust his own cock into his hand as he leaned in, dragging his tongue over Hervé’s left nipple, then his right. Hervé groaned softly, but it wasn’t the reaction Orion wanted, so he moved on.
He kissed, nipped, and licked across his body until he found the spot in the join of Hervé’s neck that made his chest rumble with a groan. Orion dug his teeth in, and Hervé began to fuck his hips hard into the circle of Orion’s fingers.
He was babbling now, a mix of French and English, and none of it made any sense, which was what Orion wanted. He looked down at the man beneath him—red in the face and glassy-eyed. His fingers were scrambling against the sheets, so Orion used his free hand and lifted one of Hervé’s hands by the wrist.
“Touch me, sweetheart. Please.”
Hervé did. He was sluggish and uncertain, but he ran his fingers all over Orion’s back, his sides, his ass. He gripped the back of his thigh with sharp nails when Orion tightened his grip on them, and when Orion leaned in to kiss him, his hand spasmed.
“Close,” Hervé eventually panted.
Orion nodded, then pulled back, trailing a touch down Hervé’s sternum, past his belly button, and beneath his cock. His balls were heavy and hot, and Orion pulled them into his palm and held them, jerking them even harder.
Hervé was shifting now, restless, chasing that feeling almost like he didn’t know how to find it, and when he finally came, he cried out almost like it was a shock. His eyes were wide and unseeing as his body arched, and then he collapsed down and went entirely limp.
Panic rushed through Orion on the heels of his own orgasm, muting the feeling even as his balls emptied. He let out a short grunt as he fell to his hands, his hips thrusting mindlessly as he searched Hervé’s face.
His lover’s eyes were closed, and his mouth was slack, and it took Orion a second to realize what had happened.
“Baby,” he murmured. He nosed against Hervé’s cheek, kissing him all over. He laid soft lips to his chin, his ears, his eyelids, and eventually, Hervé began to twitch.
He came back to himself slowly, his hands flexing first, then his hips shifting. His eyes were the last things to respond, but they opened and showed off the gorgeous, endless color that Orion was too close to getting lost in.
“With me?” he asked.
“Ouais.”
Orion kissed the word off Hervé’s lips before rolling over. “Let me clean us up.” He ignored the slight noise of protest from the bed as he walked into the water closet, and he found a sink with a used washcloth. There were worse things to wipe come off with, and he ran it under the cold tap, hissing as he swiped it over his dick and balls, and then he rinsed it a second time and walked back into the room.
Hervé was up, his eyes still a little heavy as he watched Orion cross the room, and he didn’t move much when Orion laid the cool cloth to his heated skin. He just looked down as the rough fabric passed over his limp dick, sweeping up the pools of come tangled in his dark curls.
When he was done, Orion dropped the cloth to the floor beside the bed, laughing when Hervé pulled a face. “I’ll clean up in the morning.”
Hervé blinked in surprise. “You’re staying?”
Uncertainty hit him suddenly because Orion had been the one to cross this line first with them, and he’d foolishly assumed Hervé had wanted all the rest that came with it. Not just the lust and the passion but the softness after.
“I can go if you—”
His words were cut off by Hervé wrapping hands around the back of his neck and pulling him in for a hard, messy kiss. He gave in the moment their mouths touched, and he rolled to his side, taking Hervé into his arms and holding him.
“I’m sorry. I’m not good at all the after parts,” Hervé admitted when he finally broke apart.
Orion shook his head. “I’m not used to it either. But I want to stay. I want to sleep here and make you breakfast in the morning.”
Hervé nodded, and he carefully shifted his legs off the side of the bed. “I need to take something. Medication,” he clarified.
Orion wasn’t sure if he was lying or just needed a moment to himself, but he just settled back against the flat pillow and pulled the sheets around him. When Hervé returned, he had a glass of water, which he handed off, and a shuttered look on his face.
Orion swallowed the cool liquid against his dry, rough throat, then set it down on the nightstand. “Second thoughts?”
Hervé shook his head, hesitating before he climbed between the sheets. He flicked off the light, leaving the room in the pale light coming from the street. He shuffled down, their hips brushing, and then Hervé turned onto his side and traced his fingers over Orion’s profile.
“If you change your mind…”
“I won’t,” Orion interrupted.
Hervé huffed. “Tu es trop bien pour moi.”
“I only know a few of those words,” Orion said.
Hervé shuffled closer and then kissed him on the shoulder. “If you change your mind,” he said again, “and you come to realize that this is a terrible idea, I won’t blame you. Tonight was the best night I’ve ever had, and however tomorrow goes, I’ll never regret it.”
Orion wasn’t sure what to say. He wanted to promise that tomorrow would just be another moment like this—and then another after that. And on and on until life crept back in to force them apart. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He had gotten up close and personal with just how quickly and how profoundly things could move out of his control.
So instead, with his heart beating hard against his ribs, he pulled Hervé into his arms, closed his eyes, and let sleep take him.
12
Hervé woke up in the morning. It shouldn’t have been some revolutionary thing except that he hadn’t slept through the night in a long, long while. His doctor assured him that eventually he’d get something of a normal sleep cycle back, but he was starting to wonder if maybe Orion had a magic dick. Or maybe magic hands.
Or maybe Hervé just really needed to get fucked to sleep a long time ago.
