Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 51803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
“Ha-ha, Nicky, you’re a regular laugh riot. Look, I’m tryin’ to be serious here, okay?”
“Okay,” Valenti whispered. “I’m sorry. You’re worried about the case, right? About our cover?”
“Yeah ...” His partner sighed and made a movement that Valenti knew meant he was running a hand through his hair. “Ya know -- you were worried about blowing our cover tonight, but you actually did pretty good. I mean, that kiss was a stroke of genius.”
“You think?” Valenti asked uncertainly. “I wasn’t sure if Conrad bought it or not. It’s not like I really knew what I as doing ...”
“I know, and that’s the problem. God knows what we’ll have to do tomorrow or the next day to pull this thing off, and we don’t know the first thing about how to go about it. With each other, I mean.” O’Brian’s voice was low and worried in the darkness, and Valenti had to admit he was probably right.
“Yeah ... But what can we do? It’s not like we get a lot of practice kissing other guys,” Valenti pointed out, rolling over to face his partner in the dark.
“That’s exactly the problem, Nick -- we don’t know ’cause we don’t get any practice. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not something I wanna be practicing as a general thing, but this time -- well, I think we might have to make an exception.”
“Sean, what exactly are you talking about?” Valenti felt as though two billion butterflies had suddenly taken up residence in his stomach, and he was getting that can’t-get-a-deep-enough-breath feeling again as he considered his partner’s words. What exactly did O’Brian want to do? And how far did he want to go with it?
“I’m talkin’ about kissing, Valenti. Just kissing.” O’Brian replied a little too hastily, and Valenti noticed that he had backpedaled to the use of Valenti’s last name, as well. “You did a terrific job tonight, but you caught me off-guard, and I bet my reactions showed it,” O’Brian continued. “I though maybe we should practice a little -- just to make it look more natural tomorrow, ya know?”
“Well, I guess ...” Valenti tried to sound reluctant, as though kissing his partner was the last thing he wanted to do. “Um ... how do we start?”
“By getting a little closer, for one thing.” O’Brian’s tone was so matter-of-fact that it dispelled a lot of Valenti’s nervousness, and he closed the gap between them less awkwardly than he could have imagined possible. O’Brian looped an arm around his neck, and the two men lay close in the darkness, their upper bodies touching, although there was still plenty of room between them from the waist down.
“Now what?” Valenti asked nervously. Feeling the warmth of his partner’s skin, the wiry mat of hair on O’Brian’s chest rubbing against his own smooth chest, was startlingly erotic, and he could feel his body beginning to react helplessly to the stimulation.
“Now I’m gonna kiss you, babe,” O’Brian breathed in his ear, and that was all the warning Valenti got before those hot, full lips covered his and he was tasting his partner’s mouth for the second time that night.
Their first kiss in front of Conrad had been hungry and forceful, Valenti pouring out his frustration and need as he took his partner’s mouth ruthlessly. But now, with O’Brian doing the kissing, he found it was softer -- still strong and demanding, but gentle at the same time. Almost as though his partner was asking him to open himself to the kiss, to give himself up to the experience and let go of his doubt and shame for a while and just enjoy what was happening.
Valenti responded wholeheartedly -- how could he not? He was naked in bed with his best friend -- the man he loved most in the whole world, and he had been given carte blanche to show his feelings without having to worry about the consequences and repercussions of his actions.
He found that he was kissing O’Brian back -- more than kissing him back. He was exploring his partner’s mouth, tasting him, taking him, owning him in a way that he had never been able to do before. His hands roved over scratchy, warm skin, connecting with a sleek, naked flank ... a flat, furry chest ... well-muscled arms. O’Brian’s body was firm and muscular -- satisfying to touch and caress and completely unlike the smooth, hairless skin and soft, yielding form of a woman.
“Whoa, babe ...” O’Brian’s breathless voice broke his trance, and Valenti became suddenly aware that he had rolled the smaller man under him and was pinning his partner firmly to the mattress. He was holding O’Brian’s arms over his head, and the compact, muscular body was stretched out under Valenti’s own lankier frame. Valenti’s cock, as hard as a bar of lead, was rubbing against his partner’s shaft, which was in a similar state of arousal.