“Brantley?”
Keeping his eyes forward, Brantley pulled off his sunglasses, set them on the dash, and rested his hands on the steering wheel. “Look, Reese. I don’t know what happened this mornin’ for you. I know it was a pleasant surprise for me. But I’m not—”
“Brantley.”
Shocked by the demand in Reese’s tone, he looked over, saw that Reese was leaning over the center console.
“I figure there’s only one way for me to know what I felt.”
“How’s that?” Yeah, his voice was all raspy and shit. So what?
Reese’s eyes lowered to his mouth at the same time he reached for Brantley, his hand sliding behind his neck, tugging him toward him.
He didn’t resist, not minding in the least that Reese wanted to manhandle him. However, he didn’t initiate the kiss, figuring this was another of Reese’s experiments.
“It doesn’t feel wrong,” Reese whispered, his breath fanning Brantley’s lips. “But it’s foreign to me.”
“What is?”
“Wanting someone like this.”
“Someone?”
Reese’s lips brushed his and a blaze instantly ignited in his veins, swimming through his body at an alarmingly high rate of speed. More electricity sizzled down his spine when Reese licked his way into his mouth. Their tongues met, tangled. Slowly at first, then moving more intently. Searching, seeking, exploring. Brantley tried to hold back, to give Reese the reins, but he couldn’t. Although he would not push the man, he wasn’t above finding his own pleasure in the moment.
It was his taste, he decided. Peppermint, to be exact. It was addicting, the combination of mint and man, a slow seduction that kept him captivated, made him want only this. More would be overwhelming, but this … the way Reese kissed him so fervently, with such care and leisure, as though he wanted to be right here, right now … it was unlike anything Brantley had ever experienced.
“Christ,” Reese muttered, tilting his head and leaning in.
Brantley felt the shudder go through Reese, his body hardening all the more. To know Reese was turned on by this, craved it … that was enough to have his cock throbbing against his zipper.
They were inhaling one another at that point, their mouths fused together, Reese’s hand curling tightly behind his neck as though he feared Brantley would move away before he was ready.
Little did Reese know, but for the first time in a long damn time—maybe ever—Brantley had no desire to go anywhere. In fact, he could easily see himself content to let this play out at its own pace.
After all, who knew where it might go.
***
Reese knew he was playing with fire. More than likely, he would get burned, but not even the risk of incineration could get him to stop. Never had he been so drawn to any one person—man or woman. Never had anyone made him ache this desperately, feel this much.
And it wasn’t that he hadn’t had his share of lovers. More than, in fact. But not a single moment stood out to him the way this one did. Only a kiss, at that. But it was enough to hold him there, suspended in time for eternity.
They were both panting by the time their lips separated, though Reese wasn’t sure who drew back first.
“What did you mean,” Brantley rasped, “when you said someone?”
Reese met his eyes, searched them, tried to find the solitude he could sense behind the tumultuous storm brewing there. There was no doubt in his mind Brantley was a test he would never pass, but maybe the tutoring would be worth it.
His breath slammed into his lungs when Brantley’s hand lifted, then so very gently cupped the side of his face. It was a move he never would’ve expected from such a hardened man, but it was a comfort, nonetheless.
“I’ve never wanted like this. Not even a woman,” he admitted, the words escaping on a rough whisper. “And kissing you … it’s all I can think about. Your mouth…”
Why he was rambling, especially waxing poetic about a kiss, Reese didn’t know.
The smile that pulled at Brantley’s mouth was so full of promise and mischief, he couldn’t help but return it.
“And to think … it’s just gettin’ started.”
That was one way to look at it, sure. Reese knew there was more exploration needed before he could go all in with whatever this was, but he was certainly on board with the idea.
A knock sounded and they both jumped apart. Reese felt the heat consume him, his face likely red from embarrassment. There, standing in front of Brantley’s truck, was JJ. She was smiling, her gaze bouncing between them before she shouted for them to get a room.
Fuck.
“Relax,” Brantley said, smiling over at him as he exited, closing the door gently behind him.
Easier said than done, Reese thought as he sat there, trying to get his body under control.
Taking deep breaths to slow his respiratory system and settle his heart rate, Reese finally got out of the truck, sauntering around to meet JJ and Brantley in front of it.
