Promises of Eternity, page 10
Gabriel had seen Holden shirtless about a hundred times, but this was the first time that Holden felt like Gabriel was really looking at him. He could feel his cheeks reddening. This felt a little like he was being assessed and he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to feel about that.
Gabriel threw his shirt somewhere on the floor and smiled at him.
Holden looked away from him. “What?”
“Nothing,” Gabriel said. “Just enjoying the view.”
“Stop it.”
“Okay,” Gabriel said. There was a pause before he spoke. “Do you want to take this to bed?”
Holden closed his eyes. When he had kissed Gabriel, he didn’t think about what would happen if Gabriel actually kissed him back.
He had been sure that Gabriel would reject him, but now Gabriel was going along with it, looking at him with more lust that Holden had thought was possible.
“It’s okay,” he heard Gabriel say. “We can stop. Do you want to—”
He interrupted Gabriel by kissing him on the mouth again. The very idea of stopping made his heart drop to his stomach. He didn’t want to stop, he wanted to see this through.
“No,” Holden said. “I don’t want to stop.”
He grabbed Gabriel’s hand and started to pull him toward the bedroom. Gabriel groaned and Holden turned to look at him.
“Turns out punching people in the face hurts your hand,” Gabriel said. Holden laughed, letting go of him.
Gabriel grabbed his wrist and kept following him into the bedroom. Holden couldn’t help but smile as he walked into the bedroom, turning once to look at Gabriel, who was staring at him.
“What?” Gabriel asked.
“I don’t know,” Holden said. “Won’t this change everything?”
“Yes,” Gabriel said, without hesitation. He wrapped his arm around Holden’s waist and nuzzled into the back of his neck. His breath was making Holden purr under his touch. He could feel Gabriel’s hard cock pressed into his ass and he practically gasped when Gabriel pulled him even closer. When he spoke, he spoke quietly into his ear. “I want you so much. But I—”
“I want you to,” Holden said. He turned around and started to undo the buttons on Gabriel’s jeans. He wasn’t thinking about it, but he just dropped to his knees in front of him as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Gabriel’s jeans were around his ankles and Holden could see the outline of his cock inside his gray underwear.
Holden looked up at Gabriel’s face. Gabriel nodded, so Holden nuzzled into the inside of Gabriel’s legs. He could hear Gabriel moan softly when his face brushed against his covered cock.
He wasn’t doing this to tease him, but he needed to pace himself, and it wasn’t as if Gabriel was rushing him.
He stuck his fingertips under the waistband of Gabriel’s boxers and moved them down his legs. He bit his lower lip, looked up at Gabriel’s face, then slowly ran his tongue over Gabriel’s cock.
Gabriel shuddered when Holden’s tongue touched him. He ran his tongue down the underside of Gabriel’s cock then he wrapped his lips around it, his eyes wide open as he looked up at Gabriel.
Gabriel’s gaze was locked on him as Holden sucked him off, moving his head back and forth over the length of his cock slowly. He loved the way that Gabriel tasted, sweet and salty and like himself, but the thing that was making him feel more turned on than anything else was the way that Gabriel’s face looked, all flushed and red and gorgeous.
Gabriel threaded his fingers through Holden’s hair and Holden started to go at it harder, and Gabriel was moaning and throwing his head back. Holden could feel how hard his cock was in his mouth, he could taste the precum on his tongue, and he could hear Gabriel’s breathing getting faster and shallower.
Holden looked up at him and Gabriel moaned again. “I’m going to come,” he said. “Do you want me to—”
Holden didn’t let him finish his question, instead, he went back to sucking him off, even more quickly than before this time. He wanted Gabriel to come in his mouth, he wanted to taste him. He needed to feel his come on his tongue.
Gabriel groaned and moaned, and he said something but Holden couldn’t quite catch what it was.
It didn’t matter though because Gabriel was coming in his mouth, and he was salty and sweet and amazing, and Holden could feel his own cock throbbing as he tried to stayed with his face firmly in place so that Gabriel could come into his mouth.
When he moved away, he swallowed and wiped his lips with the back of his hand, smiling. “You taste amazing.”
Gabriel stood there, gasping and trying to catch his breath. He tilted Holden’s face up and smiled at him. “You’re so good at that.”
Holden grinned.
“Get up,” Gabriel said. “It’s your turn.”
Gabriel extended his hand and helped Holden up to his feet. He kissed Holden on the mouth, and Holden was sure that he was going to come just from the way that Gabriel was kissing him, from the way that he was tasting himself on Holden’s mouth and from the way that his tongue felt next to Holden’s.
Gabriel moved his face away from Holden’s, touched his cheek with his finger and then dropped down to his knees gracefully. Holden groaned as Gabriel kissed under his bellybutton and sent a shiver down his spine.
He moved down slowly, far too slowly, because Holden was already feeling like he was about to come.
He unzipped his jeans, moved them down his legs, and did the same with his underwear. He grabbed Holden’s cock in his hands and moved his mouth so that he was covering his dick, licking vigorously, moving his head back and forth.
There was no communication this time, because Holden had been so close when he was sucking Gabriel off--after the kiss and from the way that Gabriel was sucking him off, there was no way that he was going to be able to hold back for much longer.
Holden groaned as he felt the orgasm building up inside of him, from his core to the end of his fingertips, all warmth and fire. For a second, he felt like he couldn’t hear anything, like he couldn’t see anything, like all that was real was his body and what Gabriel’s mouth was doing to it.
Gabriel slowly moved away from him, flashing him a toothy smile. Holden couldn’t help but laugh slightly, then Gabriel swallowed, stood up and kissed him on the mouth again. This kiss was less desperate. It was sweeter and it wasn’t the lead up to anything.
Holden moved away from him and took a deep breath. “That was…”
“Yeah,” Gabriel said.
They both looked at each other until Gabriel cleared his throat. “Do you want… can I stay? We still have to talk about some things and…”
“Stay,” Holden said. “Stay.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Gabriel was sitting up in Holden’s bed, holding a cup of newly made tea.
An icepack was balanced precariously on his head, but the painkillers had kicked in and he was feeling better about it. He looked at Holden, who was on his phone, dicking around on the internet.
Gabriel swept his hair away from his face. “I like the way you look with black hair,” he said. “Though I miss your blond hair too.”
Holden looked at him. “It’ll grow out.”
“Yeah,” Gabriel said. “You’ll look sexy with long hair.”
Holden smiled at him, biting his lower lip and Gabriel sighed. He wasn’t quite sure how to start this conversation.
He wasn’t even sure that he wanted to, because if Holden told him that it was just a one-time thing, or worse, that he was a rebound, Gabriel wasn’t sure if he could take it.
It was one thing to provide emotional support to his best friend, but the sex had been completely earth-shattering and it had finally convinced Gabriel that any silly ideas that he might have about the two of them simply being friends were just that, silly ideas.
“We need to talk,” Gabriel said.
Holden sighed. “I know we do.”
“I need to know where I stand,” Gabriel said. “And I can take it. If you say that I’m not someone that you want to be with, or if you say I’m just someone after Sean, I can take it. I mean, it would be hard but…”
Holden was shaking his head. “Gabriel, be quiet for a minute.”
Gabriel clamped his mouth shut.
“I want this,” he said. “I want you. It’s taken me so long so get here, but I finally get it. You were right there in front of me, talking to me about how you were always going to stay, and I realized that I don’t need to be afraid about never finding someone that puts up with me.”
Gabriel smiled. “Why is that?”
“Because you put up with me,” Holden said. “Even when I don’t deserve you.”
Gabriel shook his head, his heart sinking. “I wish you wouldn’t talk like that about yourself.”
“But it’s true,” Holden replied. “I’m… difficult.”
“You’re not difficult,” Gabriel said, rolling his eyes. “You’re you, and you’re sweet, and you feel things so intensely, and I love that about you.”
Holden laughed. “You can have it.”
Gabriel shook his head. “I don’t want to have it,” he said. “I want to be there for you when it happens, though. And I can’t be there for you if I don’t talk to you.”
“What do you mean?”
Gabriel shook his head. “I was so jealous of Sean,” he said. “But mostly, I wanted you to be happy. I really wanted you to be happy, and I didn’t realize that I was getting in the way of my own happiness.”
“What do you mean?”
Gabriel swallowed. When he spoke, his voice was trembling. “I love you, Holden. And not as a friend, though you are my friend, and I don’t want to lose that. I want to be with you. I thought… I thought that was the best I could do, but today made me realize that it wasn’t and I can’t keep pretending this isn’t what I want.”
Holden looked at him curiously.
“What?”
“I just, I thought you were a commitment-phobe,” Holden said.
Gabriel laughed. “I’m only a commitment-phobe because I haven’t found the right person,” he said. Then he spoke quietly, his heartbeat going so fast it felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest. “But I was wrong, Holden. It wasn’t about not finding the right person. It was about the fact that I already had and I just… I don’t know, I was too blind to know it.”
Holden looked at him, his eyes wide. “You never seemed to want to take it further.”
“Because I didn’t want to push you away,” Gabriel said. “Let’s face it, you’re skittish.”
Holden hit his side playfully.
“You are,” Gabriel said after groaning. “And watch it. I’m healing.”
Holden nodded, sighing. “I am,” he said. “I don’t get less skittish when I’m in a relationship.”
“I know,” Gabriel said. “But that’s okay.”
“Is it?”
“It is, Holden,” Gabriel said. “I’m always going to be here for you, okay?”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, of course I’m sure,” Gabriel said. He kissed the top of Holden’s head. “I’m always going to be here for you, okay?”
Holden watched him, his eyes wide.
“I’m serious,” Gabriel said. “I’m always going to be here.”
Holden shook his head. “Doesn’t sound pleasant.”
“You’re silly,” he said.
“Yeah, no, I’m not,” Holden replied. “I have to live with myself, but you don’t.”
Gabriel laughed. “I don’t have to live with you, Holden,” he said. “I just want to. I was so jealous when you were getting married, but I thought it had to be because you were getting married, and I was falling behind.”
“It wasn’t?”
“No, silly,” Gabriel said. “It was because you weren’t getting married to me. Then you bolted and I thought you were so broken-hearted…”
“I wasn’t broken-hearted,” Holden said. “My pride was. Do you want to hear the most stupid thing about this?”
“What?”
“He told me how much he loved that I didn’t make him sign a pre-nup,” he said. “And I thought it was so silly and romantic.”
“But you don’t have anything,” Gabriel said, cocking his head.
“I know,” Holden said. “I think he thought that because my dad is who he is, I was set to inherit millions.”
Gabriel snickered. “But your dad is so young.”
“I know,” he said.
“Sean is an idiot,” Gabriel said.
“You really think so?”
“Yes,” Gabriel said. “I really think so.”
Holden leaned up to kiss, kissing him softly on the mouth. “It’s so weird that it took us this long to get here.”
“But we’re here now, right? And I love you,” Gabriel said. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
Holden breathed deeply. “I know,” he said. “I love you too. And I’m not going anywhere either. Never again.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
THE END
Author’s Note
First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to read my book. I hope that you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you like my work, you should know there are ways you can support me without spending any money at all. I wouldn't be anywhere without your help. Authors rely on readers like you.
Seriously, your support and your feedback is what keeps me going, so thank you.
Would you like to support me in other ways? Here are some other ways you can do that.
Leave me a review. These are incredibly important, and you can leave me a review on Amazon or Goodreads. You can also support other reviewers! If you find a review of one of my books you like, you can always mark it as helpful.
Join my reader club. When you join my reader club, you get five free exclusive stories, a bunch of freebies and exclusive discounts! You can also always write me back. If you’re interested in being part of my ARC team, this is how to do it.
Connect with me on social media. You can visit & like my Facebook page, or if you’re interested in me rambling about the writing process—and why wouldn’t you be?—you can follow me on Twitter.
Tell your friends about my book. If you love my books, please tell people about them! Whether you tell them on Goodreads, Twitter, your blog, or in real life, word of mouth is an amazing compliment and I appreciate it more than I can say.
Host a book reading party. You can get together with your friends and discuss your favorite one of my books. Or your least favorite. Hey, I’m not picky.
If you like this book, you might enjoy my other books:
Famously Gay (Celebrity M/M Bundle)
Includes:
Maxx Neon
Kings and Butterflies
On The Beat
Also available:
Until We’re Home
The Powerless
Switch
Literary:
Welcome To Crash
The Whole Trying Thing
Anthologies:
Into The Mystic, Volume Two
Six Worlds
Lina Langley, Promises of Eternity
