A Walk Through Fire (32 page)

Ash started to shiver, nervous at what he was about to say. In their last conversation before he’d died, Keith had told him not to wait to tell Drew he loved him. Even Jordan recognized it long before he had.

“Drew?” Ash’s lips were buried in Drew’s silky curls.

“Hmm?”

“I have to tell you something.” Ash flung his hip over Drew’s leg, forcing their cocks to rub up against each other.

“I think I know already.” Drew’s voice caught in his throat as Ash pulled away from his touch. “What’s wrong? Do you feel guilty about being together because of what happened to Keith? I don’t think he’d mind. And I really need you, Ash. So bad. I need you inside me.”

“Wait.” Ash’s voice croaked out hoarse and thick. “I want you too, but that wasn’t it.”

Drew sat up, his green eyes wide and curious. “I’m listening.”

Ash took Drew’s hand and pressed his lips to the long, slim fingers. “Baby, you need to understand how, from the day I saw you, my life turned upside down. I didn’t plan it, and I fought against it at every turn. Knowing you and getting close to you has made me a better man. Not perfect, I’m far from that. I’m a work in progress, but any improvement is solely due to you.”

Drew smiled, then bent over andkissed him. “You’ve changed me too. And I’ve never been so happy as when I’m with you. But why would you fight it?”

“Because I didn’t deserve it,” he cried out, covering his face with his hands. “I’m selfish and a complete bastard. But most of all, I’m not a good person, not like you. I see the worst while you’re always looking for the best.”

Now Drew took him into his arms, cuddling him like a child. “Shh. You have no idea how good you are. It’s all there, in the work you do with the kids, the time you’ve spent with Stevie, and the love you show my grandmother.”

“But—”

“Stop.” Drew placed warm fingers over Ash’s lips. “Stop putting yourself down and regretting the past. Feel the future, live it, and embrace who you are. Accept that you are needed, wanted, and loved.”

Ash couldn’t wait any longer. He sat up and took Drew’s face between his hands. “I love you, baby. I never thought I’d have the right to say it to anyone, and I sure as hell know I don’t deserve to love you, but I want you to know how much I love you.” He kissed Drew, hard and hungry, pouring into it all the love he’d kept locked inside him all his life, since he was a child. Ash kissed Drew then, capturing his warm mouth, slipping his tongue inside, twisting, tangling, and thrusting with Drew’s until they broke apart, panting and shaking.

“Ash,” Drew whispered, a smile breaking out across his face. “Oh God, I love you too. So damn much. Since this morning when we made love, I wanted to tell you but thought I’d wait until after the party when we were alone. You know, Keith told me he knew I loved you and urged me to tell you. Telling you this today is like his validation of our love.”

Drew pushed him down on the bed and straddled him. “I love you so fucking much it hurts. It’s like I woke up and the whole world changed around me while I slept. For the first time in years, I’m alive. You did that for me.”

Then, Drew stretched his lithe body over his and laced their fingers together.

While they lay there, chest to chest, belly to belly, their cocks swollen and full of need, Ash played over in his mind what Mr. Frank had said to him, about how he needed to let go of his pain and learn to love. He hadn’t understood it then, but now he realized what the man meant. It didn’t make Ash a bad person to love Drew, even though he didn’t yet know where Luke and Brandon were. By taking on the abuse they might have suffered, he’d gained strength, a knowledge that no one would ever use him again. Loving Drew and being loved in return was a precious gift, as they’d seen tonight. A gift that in a moment in time could be snatched away, leaving behind devastation and unimaginable heartbreak.

“I love you so much, Drew. Forever. Even if I’d died tonight, it was all worth it to have had you for this time.”

“Shh.” Drew still lay on top of him, his weight negligible. Their hands entwined, like a lovers’ knot, binding them forever. “Don’t say that.”

But it was true. Forever, whether in life or death, this was it for him. Love. He could’ve wept from his happiness but was too ashamed for Drew to see his tears. Instead, he rolled over, so Drew was underneath him, and with their hands still clasped together, began to kiss Drew, starting at his neck. He nipped and sucked at the tender skin of Drew’s collarbone, then moved down to his chest covered in that fine silky hair. Drew’s nipples were already tight brown buds, but Ash drew one into his mouth, knowing how sensitive Drew was. He was rewarded by a moan and the jerking of Drew’s cock beneath him, already impossibly hard and heavy.

“Oh God, Ash, please.” Drew gasped, bucking his hips up. “Fuck me.”

“Not yet, baby.” Ash kissed and tongued Drew’s other nipple, then swirled his tongue down Drew’s stomach until he came face-to-face with his beautiful, hard cock. “I need to taste you.” He slid his tongue over the glistening head of Drew’s cock and licked its straining length. Little cries of pleasure burst from Drew’s mouth, but it wasn’t enough for Ash. He wanted Drew to scream and explode with pleasure. To always remember this night when they first said “I love you.”

He took Drew deep within his mouth, loving his sweet, musky smell and the tangy, salty taste of him. The man was downright edible, and he intended to get his fill. Cupping Drew’s balls in his hand, he rolled one sac, then the next with his fingers, stroking the sensitive skin behind them, tantalizing the fine, sweet crease of his ass.

“Ash, please,” Drew cried out. “Now. I can’t hold on much longer.”

“Yes, you can, baby. I’m gonna suck you so hard you’ll see stars behind your eyes.”

He bent over Drew and took his entire hot, rigid length into his mouth, sucking hard, drawing his tongue up and down the sensitive underside and puckered veins. Ash tickled and tormented Drew’s balls and his tight little hole with one hand while slowly stroking his own hard and heavy erection with the other. Using his own slippery precum, Ash wet his fingers and slipped one inside of Drew, smiling around his lover’s cock as he heard him groan with pleasure.

“Ash, please, please.” Drew panted.

Ash didn’t answer, merely slid in another finger and reached upward, twisting within the hot, velvety sheath of Drew’s ass to brush his gland.

“Fuuuck,” Drew screamed and came, spilling into Ash’s mouth, shoving his cock hard down Ash’s throat.

Ash loved every hot, dirty second of it. Still licking his lips after swallowing Drew’s cum, he kissed Drew. “Now, baby. Now I’m gonna fuck you so hard you won’t be able to walk.”

Drew whimpered, eyelids fluttering, his body soft and pliant. Ash loved him like this, all warm and sweet. He took Drew’s legs and put them over his shoulders, then reached for the condoms and bottle of lube on the night table. Drew’s hand stopped him.

“No.”

Confused. Ash stopped. “What do you mean, no?”

Drew took Ash’s hand and played with his fingers. “We’ve both been tested within the last month. I haven’t been with anyone in almost a year, and we’re both clean. I want to feel you tonight.”

Ash sucked in his breath. He’d never gone bare before. Ever. “Baby, I love you so much, but you don’t have to. It doesn’t mean I love you any less because we use a condom.”

“I know. And I love you too. I want to feel your skin next to mine. I’ve never gone bare either and always wondered what it would feel like. Even with my ex-wife, I used a condom because she didn’t want to feel me come inside her. Now I want my first time to be with you. I want it all with you, the love of my life.”

Tears welled in Ash’s eyes, and he kissed Drew on the mouth, long, slow, and deep. “I want everything with you, baby.” He placed his hands on the bed, bracing himself on either side of Drew’s head, and stared down into his face. “I love you.”

Drew leaned over and kissed Ash’s right arm, touching his mouth to each of the scars that twisted around his wrists. Ash trembled. “Want you now.” As his tongue swept across the marks, some faint, others ridged and raised, Drew moaned. “I’ll never stop wanting you.” When Drew transferred his attention to the left arm, Ash’s trembling increased as Drew’s wet, warm tongue kissed the damaged skin.

“Make love to me,” Drew murmured against Ash’s wrist. “I need you.”

“Need you so much, baby.” Ash reached over to the night table for the small bottle of lube and drizzled the slick liquid over his fingers, erection, and Drew’s tight opening.

At his touch, Drew moaned and pushed against his hand. “Ash, please.”

“I’m here; don’t worry. I have you.” And he always would. He pushed inside him, loving the heated clasp of Drew’s channel as it pulled him in like a silken slide. “Oh, baby, you feel so good.” He buried himself in to the hilt and rested for a moment, unable to think of anything but the fact that his skin and Drew’s were touching.

“Move, please. God, Ash, I can’t…” Drew’s head thrashed side to side on the pillow as Ash began that heated push-pull, gliding his aching, impossibly hard cock in and out of Drew’s tight ass. The suction and caress of Drew’s bare skin against his cock caused him to thrust deeper, his strokes more deliberate as he moved, slow and precise, angling to hit Drew’s sweet spot. He knew he’d succeeded when Drew’s knees shook above his shoulders and his hands ripped at the bedsheets, clawing for something to grab on to as he cried out over and over again.

Pleasure roared through him as his entire body and his cock throbbed and pulsed. He battered inside Drew, hammering away at him. “Love you, baby. You’re mine, all mine.”

“Yes, yours, all yours.” Drew grabbed his arm with his hand. “Forever.”

One last push and he came, erupting inside Drew, filling him with his creamy essence. Drew writhed, begging and pleading for release, his own cock once again hard between their naked, sweat-slicked bodies.

It took only a few strokes before Drew ejaculated, shooting across his stomach and chest. With that, Ash collapsed on top of Drew, heart hammering, his breath coming in heaving gasps. Not caring one bit about the sticky, sweaty mess between them, he pulled Drew hard against him, needing to feel Drew’s arms around him.

“You’re incredible.” Drew kissed his shoulder, and Ash smiled.

“Funny, I was about to say the same thing.”

“Hmm. I’m not that original. Let me think.” Drew continued to place small kisses on Ash’s shoulder, and Ash reveled in this post-loving aftermath.

“Oh yeah. I love you.”

His smile growing broader, Ash nuzzled Drew’s hair. “You do, huh? How about we take a shower and you show me how much you really love me when we’re naked and wet together?”

Drew pulled away from Ash to smile into his eyes. “I’ll start the water.” He swung his legs out of bed. “It’s going to be a long day, I’m afraid, so afterward we should get some rest.” His smile dimmed. “I still can’t believe it happened. I feel guilty that Keith died trying to protect me.” Drew’s eyes glinted with wetness. “I shouldn’t have gone over there myself. Keith would still be alive if I hadn’t run off to confront those fucking bastards.”

“Oh, baby, come here.” Ash held out his arms and took Drew to his chest. “Keith knew the risks; he took them every day when he went out there. Life is all about the choices we make and the risks we choose to take.” He kissed Drew soundly. “I’ll help you get through this, I promise. I’d do anything for you.”

It was true. His life had been a walk through fire before he met Drew. It had burned him, leaving scars and nothing but scorched earth behind. Only by meeting Drew had he learned what was important in life and how every day was a gift that shouldn’t be taken for granted. While he’d never forget his past, learning to live with it was proof a person could come through hell and back, sometimes stronger than ever.

“I love you, baby.” He kissed Drew. “Now, I remember someone saying something about doing anything for me, and I need to shower with you.” He slapped Drew’s ass, then caressed its smoothness. “Go start the water.”

Drew slipped out of his arms and kissed him. “Yes, sir. Whatever you want.”

Ash tracked Drew’s lean, naked body as he walked to the shower. “You, baby. I only want you.”

Loose Id Titles by Felice Stevens

A Walk Through Fire

Rescued

Felice Stevens

Felice Stevens has always been a romantic at heart. She believes that while life is tough, there is always a happy ending just around the corner. She started reading traditional historical romances when she was a teenager, then life and law school got in the way. It wasn’t until she picked up a copy of Bertrice Small and became swept away to Queen Elizabeth’s court that her interest in romance novels became renewed.

But somewhere along the way, her tastes shifted. While she still enjoys a juicy Historical romance, she began experimenting with newer, more cutting edge genres and discovered the world of Male/Male romance. And once she picked up her first, she became so enamored of the authors, the character-driven stories and the overwhelming emotion of the books, she knew she wanted to write her own.