Heart (19 page)

He growled his frustration. Seb pulled him from the door and lifted him clean off the floor. “Come to bed?”

“It’s six o’clock.”

“So? Who’s going to know?”

He had a point. Seb said people went out on New Year’s Eve if they weren’t working, but they had no plans. No plans except this… each other.

It was a while before they fell naked onto Seb’s bed—the spiral staircase tricky to navigate while fused to another man—but upstairs, all bets were off. Dex yielded easily beneath Seb, reveling under his solid weight pinning him to the bed. Seb was going to fuck him, he could feel it, and he couldn’t wait.

Bare skin, bare skin. I love his skin.
Dex slid his hands over Seb’s nude back, gliding over the smooth skin and digging his fingers into the grooves of muscle. Seb thrust his hips in response and drove their cocks together. The friction roared through Dex and he moaned… moaned long and low and threw his head back, arching, stretching, feeling the tendons in his neck strain under his overheated skin.

“Please.”

Seb thrust again. “Please what? What do you want?”

“You….” Dex jerked, friction, pleasure and utter madness consuming every fiber of him. “You. I… I want you.”

Seb stared at him, and something changed in the stormy blue swirls of his eyes. “Say it again. Say it again and you can have anything you want.”

“I want you.”

The three simple words seemed to wash over Seb, changing him, easing an uncertainty in his gaze Dex had never realized was there.

Seb kissed Dex like he was his most precious thing, and then he fumbled for a condom and pushed inside Dex, slipping into his body in a slow, patient slide. Dex gasped, and for the first time ever with Seb, a yelp of discomfort escaped him. The pain hit him like an old friend. Seb was wide and long, and it seemed a lifetime since anything larger than a gentle finger had breached him this way.

Dex closed his eyes, feeling the burn spread through him like lava, seeping into his bones and rushing to the tips of his fingers and toes. Seb shifted, giving him room to breathe and make himself comfortable, and Dex wanted to cry. The way Seb let him move… let him take from him as much as he gave… he’d dreamed of this.

Seb coaxed his eyes open with a soft caress of his cheek. “All right? Tell me what you need.”

Dex could hardly hear him over the stampeding thud of his heart. He flexed his hips, shuddering at the lightning bolt of pleasure. “I….”

What? What did he need? It wasn’t a question he’d ever been asked before, and in his mind, he’d always pictured the moment they came together again as hard and fast, his face mashed into the mattress as Seb pounded him from behind. That fantasy had its merits, but it wasn’t what he craved.

Seb rolled his hips, moving his cock in and out in a long, slow motion. Dex moaned, and the pain morphed from a fiery sting to a bright spark of pure pleasure. “Again. Do it again.”

He arched his back, thrusting his hips to take Seb deeper, and Seb responded, fucking him slowly… sweetly, until the push and pull of his cock was so perfect Dex could feel nothing else.

Twenty-One

T
HE
BODY
beside Dex shifted, stealing away its precious warmth. Dex protested, still mostly asleep, and followed the heat, seeking out its soothing, addictive comfort.

He found it in the shape of curved flesh dusted with a fine layer of hair that tickled his face. He flinched, wrinkling his nose.

Seb chuckled. “Let me up, Dex. I need to get ready for work.”

“No.” Dex burrowed deeper. “You’re warm.”

“What’s that?” Seb rolled them over, covered Dex with his body and pressed his ear to his cheek. “I can’t understand you when you mutter like that.”

That’s the point.
To stop the gorjers understanding. Dex didn’t know he was doing it half the time. He wriggled out from beneath Seb and fastened his arm around his middle, tugging him closer, throwing the duvet back over him and burying his face in his chest. “Too early.”

“Only because you’re a sloth.”

“A what?”

“A lazy arse. Let me up.”

Dex scowled. Seb often made fun of him for his reluctance to leave the big, soft, Seb-smelling bed, especially when Seb was in it too. He also found great amusement in Dex’s newfound love of using him as a pillow.

“Face it, mate. You just want a bloody cuddle.”

Sad, but true. “Do we have to get up?”

Seb nuzzled Dex’s hair, inhaling him in much the same way Dex did the pillows when Seb wasn’t looking. “Unless you give me a reason to stay put.”

Dex lifted his head. They were both naked. Seb had his eyes closed, but his smirk was wide, and trapped beneath Dex’s thigh, his dick was thick and hard. Cautiously, Dex raised himself to lie over Seb, their bodies pressed together in every way possible. They’d had sex a lot since the first time—at least once every day, sometimes more—and Seb seemed to like it when he lay on top of him. “What kind of reason?”

“This’ll do.”

Seb wrapped his arms around him. In return, Dex studied him. His eyes remained closed, and he seemed pretty relaxed for someone desperate to get out of bed. Maybe it was a ploy, a ploy to get him to… to get him to what? Dex had no idea. He thought back to a few days before, when Seb had passed him a box of ingredients with no recipe or instructions.

“Follow your instincts. Do what feels right.”

For Dex, it seemed what felt right was often the first thing that came into his head. He sucked Seb’s nipple into his mouth, then bit down, remembering the sensation of Seb’s teeth grazing his own chest.

Seb tensed, arched a little from the mattress, and inhaled a shaky breath. Encouraged, Dex kissed a path to Seb’s other nipple, instinctively bearing down on the hard cock grinding beneath him. This time, Seb groaned and shuddered like a ghost had walked over his grave.

“All right, all right. Fuck work. I’m staying right here.”

Dex looked up and grinned, but he was far from done, and he took his time exploring Seb’s chest like he’d never seen or touched it before. Seb squirmed beneath him, letting him have his way awhile before he lost patience and yanked him up the bed. He reached behind him into the canny stash between the mattress and the wall and tossed a tube of lube and condom onto his chest.

“I’m all yours.”

Dex considered what it would be like to roll the condom onto himself and slide into Seb’s body. Seb had hinted more than once it was something he’d like, but Dex dismissed the thought, too caught up in the sensation of Seb’s cock pressing against him… too far gone to contemplate anything but that dick pushing inside him and consuming his soul.

He started to climb off Seb and roll onto his back. Seb stilled him. “Try it like this.”

Seb slid a finger into Dex, and then another, stretching him out, preparing him for his cock in a way that put Dex right on the edge before they’d even gotten started. Dex bit his lip, fighting for control, and when he could take no more, he pulled off and took hold of Seb’s dick.

He eased himself down, steadying himself with his hands on Seb’s chest, letting the heat and pressure of being filled rush through him. His thighs touched Seb’s hips. Seb rubbed Dex’s legs and kissed the tips of his fingers.

“That’s it. Take it slow.”

Dex watched his finger disappear into the sweet warmth of Seb’s mouth. He wanted to rock his hips so slowly Seb’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, but the sensation of Seb’s tongue dancing on his finger put paid to that.

His body moved of its own accord, falling into the primal rhythm that flowed so easily between him and Seb. Up, down, and around. Up, down, and around. It became a mantra in his head, an unrelenting chant that seeped into his limbs and took over where his brain failed.

Fucking Seb like this, riding him… it felt amazing, and until Seb gripped his wrist and guided his hand to his own cock, he pretty much forgot all about it.

Pleasuring himself was a new experience too, but he was a quick learner. He pumped his fist, tightening and twisting, watching his dick swell and seep. The first real strains of release shuddered through him. He gasped, and the steady pace of his hips faltered. Seb took over, holding him still and thrusting up into him again and again until they came within moments of each other. Dex first… always Dex first.

Dex fell, exhausted, on Seb. Seb squeezed him tight and mashed their sticky bodies together. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. That was amazing, and we’re so fucking late.”

Dex laughed, sprawled in Seb’s arms, content, and prepared to stay there forever. “That’s a lot of fucks.”

“Yeah, but you can never have enough when it’s as good as this.”

D
EX
STARED
at Rick in muted horror, unsure he’d heard right. “You want me to work on the grill?”

“Aye, lad.” Rick hardly spared him a glance from the order pad he was scrutinizing. Dex could just about decipher the word “fruit” at the top of the page, but any sense of achievement was marred by a growing wave of panic. “You’ve been with Seb a month now. It’s a new year, and time to move on. Moses will look after you.”

“Not Damon?”

“Damon’s a shite teacher. You’ll learn more with Moses.”

Rick said no more. Dex took his leave and trudged to the dessert counter to retrieve his hat and cloth. Seb met his gaze with an encouraging smile, but it wasn’t enough to dampen the raw, painful fear of being separated from him. Dex was more comfortable in the volatile kitchen than he could quite believe, but there was no denying he spent much of his time hiding behind Seb and his gentle, broad shoulders.

Grill chef Moses was a different creature altogether. Bigger than Seb, he had a deep, gruff voice and a fiery temper that sent even the feistiest waitress running back to the bar. In his own, silent way, Dex was terrified.

He approached the grill with a heavy heart, feeling the heat of it hit him even this early in the morning. The heavy extractor fans whirred above his head, and the air was thick with the scent of smoky meat.

Moses regarded him with curious eyes. “The prodigal baker coming over to the dark side, eh? Right, get your board out. Let’s get started.”

Grill prep was less involved than dessert prep, and Dex was well versed in stocking the deep counter drawers with the various cuts of meat, game, and poultry. The fish was more of a challenge. Dex could fillet a mackerel with his eyes closed, but he spent most of his morning staring at squid and wondering if he’d been dropped into another world. Bloody things looked and felt like cold, slimy jizz.

Still, at least he didn’t annoy Moses. The hardheaded chef was a man of few words, and it seemed the less he said, the better his mood.

Lunchtime service started with a bang. Four tickets came through at once, and Moses, in contrast to Seb’s easy banter, bellowed his orders in Dex’s ear.

Dex jumped a mile. Moses paid him no heed and passed him a ticket. “Put two sirloins, a fillet, and a burger on. I’ll show you how to test them when they’ve got a bit of color on them.”

“Yes, chef.” Dex slapped the meat on the grill, flinching as the fat sizzled and popped. He pressed it down with a heavy pair of tongs, waiting for the grill lines to take hold.

Moses appeared at his shoulder. “Let’s have a look. Right, see this sirloin? Give it a poke. It feels like a sponge, eh? That means it’s blue. Keep poking it, and tell me when you think it’s changed.”

Dex pressed his finger into the steak again and again, until finally, he felt the meat tighten. “Now. It feels harder.”

“That’s right.” Moses seemed pleased. “It’s rare now. It’ll be medium rare in a few more minutes, and then medium. If it feels like a brick, it’s medium well. We don’t serve well-done steak here, so don’t even ask about that.”

And so the lesson went on, and the day disappeared with it. Moses wasn’t quite the terrifying demon Dex had feared he would be, but the relentless heat of the grill proved hotter than he’d ever imagined. The atmosphere was different too: blunt, brutal, and uncompromising. At the height of a busy service, there was nowhere to hide and no time to be afraid. No amount of prep could save a chef from the weight of fifteen steaks on the grill.

At the end of his shift, Dex cleaned the section, feeling battered and bruised, but in a good way. It reminded him of being fucked by Seb—the sensation of being thoroughly used combined with total and utter exhaustion.

He glanced at the clock. By his reckoning, it was a little after ten. He frowned. That couldn’t be right. Most nights, it was past eleven by the time he washed down the countertops. He looked over at Seb, saw he was still busy plating up orders, and it dawned on him that this was how it went on the grill. Service came in a deep, intense blur, but it was over before the dessert counter had really begun. He was done for the day, but Seb had just gotten started.

Moses dismissed him, and it seemed only natural to drift over to Seb and help him, but Seb shooed him away.

“No chance. You look done in. Besides, I need to get used to doing this shit on my own again. Go home. I’ll ring you when I’m done.”