Gathered Up. Annabeth Albert

with the intersection of our dreams and reality.”

      “Yes. That.” Dishes done, I leaned against the counter. “And sometimes reality sucks.”

      “Yes, yes, it does.” Ev groaned and told me a bit about that day’s treatment for Mira. I liked that we could be a sounding board for each other. Even when he was venting, I still loved his voice, and I could picture him gesturing with those long, elegant fingers.

      Eventually, I migrated to the couch, stretching out. I groaned because it felt so good to finally be off my feet.

      “Was that your spine popping?” Ev asked.

      “Yes. Forget steak. My kingdom for a massage.” Of course my mind went straight to his sexy hands and how much I wanted them on me.

      Ev made a sound halfway between disgust and interest. “Massage is…nice. But I do not like oils. Nothing slippery on the hands.”

      “Just skin is fabulous.” Fuck. The thought alone was enough to get me half-hard.

      “Showered is nice,” Ev mused.

      “You’re right. You are picky.” I laughed. “But if it gets me a massage, I’ll shower right the heck now.”

      “You.” Ev made a tsking sound. “You are not angling for a massage. You want the happy ending part.”

      “Guilty. So guilty. Couldn’t you use…a happy ending?”

      “Perhaps.” Ev yawned. “I do not like oils on me either. But touch is nice.”

      “You’ve never told me what you are in to,” I prodded a bit. This cautious dance toward the sexy talk we were doing was the most thrilling thing I’d done in weeks.

      “Hmm.”

      “Come on. You’ve had a long dry spell. What do you miss most?”

      “Kissing. I miss kissing.” Ev sighed. “I like…enthusiastic kissing.”

      “Is that code for you like tongue or is it your delicate way of saying you like the sort of kisses where you’re practically devouring the other person?” Okay. Forget half-hard; I was all the way there now.

      “Both.” There was a shifting noise and I had a feeling Ev wasn’t any more comfortable than I was.

      “I’m an…enthusiastic kisser,” I told him with no false modesty for me. I was good at my job, decent with the kids, but I was fucking fabulous in bed. Particularly with a guy who wanted to eat me alive. Even if he didn’t quite want to admit that yet.

      “Of that I have no doubt.” Ev’s voice went a bit deeper. “And apparently you like bossy kissers?”

      “Yes. Please. Take control of my mouth. Fuck me with your tongue and I’m a happy man.”

      “What if I…the other person…wants to kiss a long time? With clothes on?”

      “You mean grinding for forever and I don’t get to come?” I groaned, pulse speeding up. “That sounds fucking fabulous. Don’t mind my begging to come while you do that. Make me wait.”

      “Begging is…a bonus.”

      “Knowing you, though, no one gets to make a mess in their clothes right?”

      Ev made the tsking sound. “Towels are nice. I’m not opposed to the grinding…concluding with skin to skin. I simply enjoy taking my time. Also, swallowing is a good way to minimize mess, I’ve found.”

      “Yeah? Want to hold me down and suck me off?”

      Ev’s next sound was far from a tsk and more like a rumble of approval. “You are dangerous, Brady, very dangerous.”

      “Why? Am I turning you on?” My hand wandered over my fly. Not stroking, just firm pressure. We’d danced past sexy talk, far out of the friend zone, now meandering into something dark and heady. I pressed hard against my aching erection as I waited to see how far Ev would let himself go.

      “Perhaps. I told you some things, now you tell me. What is your favorite thing?”

      “Uh. The long, slow grinding ending in oral that you just described sounds amazing and hits a lot of my buttons. For the record, I’m totally good with…mess. And I like giving oral. Love getting my throat fucked. Being pinned down while grinding or getting my throat fucked, that gets me going.”

      Ev was silent a long moment. Perhaps I’d pushed him too far. “Tell me about this throat fucking. How do you like it?”

      Aw yes. I’d never had phone sex, but I had a feeling we were about to head in that direction. “Where are you right now?”

      “In my bed. With a closed door. Are you going to ask me what I’m wearing next?”

      “Knitted underwear?” I laughed as I headed for the bathroom— the one room with a lock. My usual jerk-off method was a locked door and a longer-than-necessary shower.

      “Sorry to disappoint. Pajama bottoms. I worry Hala Mira could need me in the night.”

      “Hey, you don’t have to apologize to me. I share a room with a ten-year-old. I’m going to the bathroom now, though. And locking the door.”

      “You require a locked door to tell me about giving head?”

      “I require a locked door, a quiet house, and about three hours to show you,” I countered. “Fuck, Ev. I want you to wear me out.”

      “Oh, I could. Do not doubt that, Brady. You want me to wear your throat out? Use you so much you need me to feed you some gelato after?”

      “Fuck yes,” I whispered. “I’d like it if you were on the bed or in a chair and I were kneeling in front of you. Or you were standing in front of me. Me on my knees is the key thing.”

      “You ever try with your head over the edge of the mattress? It happens that this bed is the perfect height for that…”

      “Oh yes. Tell me more. I want to jerk off while you fuck my throat like that.”

      “Ah. But I don’t want that. Perhaps we will need to find other occupation for your hands.”

      Oh man. Ev knew how to turn my crank big-time. “I’m good with having my hands tied.”

      I could tell from his inhalation that it worked for him, too. “How flexible are you?”

      “Bendier than I look. I had to do yoga stretching exercises to rehab a skateboarding injury. Turns out I dig it.”

      “Nice. Very nice. I like your mouth very, very much.”

      “Like the beard? Because if you want my mouth more…exposed, I can work with that. Beard is pure Northwest laziness on my part.”

      “The beard is…part of the appeal. Your mouth is very full and your beard always seems like it’s…teasing. I think I want your hair down, though, yes?”

      “Go for it.” Getting into it, I pulled my hair free of the ponytail, let it flop against my shoulders. Spit gathered in my mouth like I really was about to get a go at Ev’s cock. Fuck. Just the thought had me throbbing. I unzipped to get a little more breathing room. “I want to—”

      Knock. Knock. Knock. “Brady, are you in there? I don’t feel so good,” Jonas called through the door.

      Fuck. I kept my curse to myself. “Just a minute, buddy,” I called.

      “You need to go?” Ev said in my ear. “I understand.”

      “Yeah, I’m sorry.”

      “Another time, Brady, another time.”

      Even if he just meant the phone-sex version of the fantasy, part of me thrilled to his words. And I was pulling hard for the in-person version. Somehow, some way, I was going to get my mouth—and other parts—on Ev.

      Chapter