Page 64 of Wear It Like a Crown

“That’s such a line,” Leo reprimanded, but he couldn’t help the twitch of a smile around his mouth.

“True, though,” Joshua told him. “I just want you. Whatever you want.” His pinkie dipped below the waistband of Leo’s jeans, brushed over bare skin and came to rest on the bump of Leo’s tailbone. The implication had Leo’s thoughts stutter to a halt. Fuck, yes. Yes, he wanted that. Wanted to feel Joshua any way he could, wanted—so much, too much. Had never wanted anyone quite like this.

Rocking his hips down, he watched Joshua’s lids drift shut, could feel the outline of Joshua’s cock even through the denim. Joshua’s lips parted on a hitched intake of air. Leo dipped down to suck on Joshua’s bottom lip, and his ribcage felt split open, like the crater of a volcano which… No, okay, that made no sense at all, what evenwasthis tangled mess in Leo’s head? Thoughts spinning like dust motes, catching random rays of light.

He pulled back enough to form words, words that he had to drag up from the tips of his toes. “Want you inside. Can I ride you? Can wedo that? I want—in your big, fancy bed, make this so good for you.Josh.”

Joshua’s hips rocked up, and he turned his face away, into the backrest of the sofa. His body shuddered on a slow breath, seeming sooverwhelmedthat Leo wrapped him up in a hug, their chests aligned, no space left between them.

Leo didn’t ever want to let him go.

He pushed the thought away and hid his face against Joshua’s neck. “Can we?” he repeated, barely above a whisper.

Joshua’s response consisted of tumbling both of them off the sofa. He bore the brunt of the fall, muttered a softly surprised “Ouch” that had Leo chuckle against his jaw.

“Smooth, little prince. Gravity is such a confusing concept, isn’t it?”

“Shut up.” In spite of it, Joshua was grinning, straining off the floor to rub their hips together just once, cheerfully, before he pushed at Leo’s chest. “Up, up. Naked in my bed. Want you very much, please.”

Leo’s chest hurt with how lovely he was.

He scrambled to his feet and offered a hand to help Joshua up. Their fingers fitted;theyfitted. But Leo couldn’t afford to think like that.

With a little tug, Joshua led the way to his bedroom and Leo stumbled after him, vaguely disoriented. The moment they were inside, Joshua shed his shirt without any hesitation, messing up his hair as he pulled it over his head. His jeans followed suit, and he bent over to peel them down his thighs along with a pair of skimpy boxers briefs, then toed off his socks. Leo swallowed dryly, staring. Fuck, he wanted to map out every inch of Joshua’s body with his mouth and his teeth. Leave a mark. Leave several marks.

Never like this. Never wanted anyone the way I want you.

“Your turn,” Joshua announced, stepping into Leo’s space to undo the button of his jeans, tug down the zip. Leo rid himself of his T-shirt and gave an involuntary shudder when Joshua wedged a hand into his trousers to cup him through the fabric of his boxers. Joshua’s mouth found his again, and for a short while they stayed just like that, kissing, with Joshua completely naked and moulded to Leo’s front, Leo’s jeans unzipped, Joshua’s thumb rubbing slow circles around the head of Leo’s cock. The tendrils of slow, burning heat thattwisted in Leo’s belly had become a tangled mess ofwantandmoreandyou.

He bumped Joshua towards the bed, the sheets gleaming in the golden glow of a reading lamp. The window at its head was open, letting in a rush of night air, and there was a curtain to section the alcove off from the rest of the room, the rest of the world.

Joshua went down easily. One of his hands wound around Leo’s bicep to drag him along. Leo paused to take it all in: Joshua sprawled on the sheets, staring back at him with dark eyes and his expression so open. Leo wanted to give him everything, everything.

He lowered himself to straddle Joshua’s hips and ducked in for another quick kiss. At this point, he’d lost count of how many there’d been. “You’ve got lube? Condoms?”

“Yeah.” Joshua sounded a little breathless, gaze sliding down Leo’s body before it returned to his face. He blinked a couple of times, then smiled and stretched underneath Leo to reach the bedside table.

“Do we need to”—Leo dug his knuckles into the tattoo on Joshua’s hip, right next to the curve of one hipbone?—

j“close the shutters? Neighbours?”

“Big tree.” Joshua dropped lube and a tinfoil package onto the sheets, his smile widening. “Just us.”

Now that Leo was listening, he could hear the whisper of leaves outside, stirred by the same breeze that cooled his flushed face. He pressed down against Joshua’s cock, caught the way Joshua’s lashes fluttered and his body stilled.

Reaching for the lube, Leo snicked off the cap, then paused. This was—how did—okay, he hadn’t done this in a while, couldn’t even remember the last time he’d opened himself up with someone else watching. Did Joshua expect a show? Or would he prefer that Leo make it quick and efficient—the sooner Joshua could push inside, the better? Jesus, it had been years since Leo had needed to read a sex partner, interpreting small clues to make it good for them.

No. Stop, this was nothing like that.

Joshua couldn’t befurtherfrom a client. Leo had never had sex with someone he trusted without question, but he did trust Joshua. Wanted him so much. Was stupidly, impossibly in love with him. His own desirewas hopelessly entwined with Joshua’s, all muddled up, making it difficult to tell things apart. Blood rushed in Leo’s ears, everything just a little new and overwhelming.

A touch to his mouth brought him out of it.

“Can I?” Joshua thumbed at Leo’s bottom lip, smiling as he nodded at the lube. Leo needed a second to understand the question.

“You want to do it?” he asked, just to be certain. “Like, open me up?”

The corners of Joshua’s mouth curled up into a full-blown grin, dimples pressing into his cheeks. Leo wanted to lick whisky out of them. “I want to lick whisky out of your dimples,” he said, hardly aware of his own voice, utterly trapped, and Joshua’s eyes found his.