Fic: Gathered Together, 5/7, Rated R
Title: Gathered Together
Author: Courtney
Email: css576@yahoo.com
See part one for additional disclamiers and all that jazz.
Michael was still gaping like a fish when the others came bursting through the door, everyone talking at once. Cook felt a wave of relief at the intrusion because he really didn’t want to be interrogated by his friend at the moment. He moved to the living room and insinuated himself into the current conversation.
As it turned out, the snow had picked up shortly after they’d all arrived at the slopes, so the group had been forced to call off their skiing adventure. No one seemed incredibly disappointed, though, since the temperature had dropped about ten degrees as well and they were all freezing.
Brooke and her husband Dave offered to make lunch for everyone so they disappeared into the kitchen to fix soup and sandwiches while everyone else curled up in front of the roaring fire that Jason had going. Ramiele was in the middle of a story about some crazy Filipinos who had chased her all over Manila, when David finally reemerged from the bedroom.
He came downstairs and found a seat beside Syesha, which just happened to be across the room from Cook, who was sandwiched between Carly and Ramiele. Cook cursed himself for not thinking to save a seat beside him for the younger man.
David looked across at Cook and caught his eye, offering a shy smile that told Cook he had not changed his mind about the conversation in the kitchen. Suddenly, Cook felt like he was WAY too close to the fireplace.
“Alright gang, come and get it,” Brooke called as she and Dave brought a tray of grilled cheese sandwiches and a huge tureen of soup into the dining room. Everyone got up and filtered towards the table. Cook hung back, touching David’s shoulder as the others walked past.
“Later,” he promised in the younger man’s ear. He didn’t have to see it to imagine the face-splitting smile that spread across David’s features.
They ended up sitting with Cook at one end of the rectangular table and David in the seat to his right. Unfortunately, Michael was sitting to Cook’s left so he knew he couldn’t be too overt with his actions towards David. Michael was already like a bloodhound on the scent of something; he’d never let it rest until he got an answer.
The meal was pleasant enough for everyone, save for Cook and Archuleta, who continually got caught completely zoning out the conversation around them. More than once, Cook heard his name and was jolted back into the present, torn away from his daydreams about pulling off David’s shirt and running his hands down his chest and-
“Cook!” Damn it.
He turned towards the voice. Jason was asking him something. What the hell had he been saying again? “Sorry, what?”
“Are you okay, dude?” Jason asked and suddenly all eyes shifted to Cook. Well, all eyes except for David’s. His eyes were focused intensely on his soup.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Cook assured them. “Just, you know, tired. The tour’s finally catching up with me, I guess.” He wasn’t sure if they all bought it, but at least they stopped staring at him and went back to their conversation. All except Michael, of course, who fixed Cook with a look, then cut his eyes to Archuleta. He just nodded and smirked. Cook just hoped that David hadn’t seen that look.
* * * * *
“We have to have a bachelor party!” Jason insisted. He, Cook, David, Michael and David Ray were downstairs playing pool while the girls were somewhere upstairs doing what Carly called ‘girl things’ in preparation for the following day.
“He’s already had one, the first time he was a bachelor,” Cook pointed out.
“So? Come on, it’ll be awesome,” Jason insisted.
Michael shrugged as he set up his next shot. “Fine by me, mate. What did you have in mind?”
“Um . . . well, I hadn’t really thought that far ahead,” Jason admitted.
“We could get one of the girls to do a striptease,” Cook laughed.
“Eh, aside from you and Archie here, I think the rest of us could manage to get a striptease from one of those girls anytime we wanted,” Michael said. David flushed bright red and Cook tried not to think about Archie and stripteases. He couldn’t handle that right now.
They’d been hanging out with the others for the entire day and it was starting to wear on them both. Cook had tried to sneak in some alone time with the younger man, but so far all of his efforts had been thwarted. And Michael was acting extremely smug, which never led to good things. Cook hoped he had the good sense to keep his big mouth shut for a while.
“So, no strippers,” Jason said. “No porn because the satellite is out and I don’t really want to sit around with you guys and watch porn anyway. No offense,” he added.
“None taken,” David said and Cook and Michael both chuckled.
“So, what’s left?”
“We could drink,” Michael said.
“We get you drunk the night before your wedding and Carly will be out for blood,” Cook said. “Sorry man, but she’s a lot scarier than you.” The other three men nodded in agreement.
“Well, what then?”
“What are you guys up to?” Carly asked as she descended the stairs into the basement where the pool table was located.
“Planning Mikey’s bachelor party,” Jason told her.
“Oh?” she said with interest. “What do you guys have planned?” she asked as she moved over to Michael’s side and slipped her arm around his waist.
“Nothing, actually. We can’t think of anything to do,” Jason admitted.
“Hmm, well if you guys are having a bachelor party then we’re having a bachelorette party. And if you can’t think of anything to do at your party, you can always come upstairs and join ours,” she offered. She turned, reaching up to kiss Michael’s cheek, and then she swatted his ass and smiled sweetly before turning to go.
The guys all looked at one another for a few seconds, and then Dave and Jason shrugged and followed her path upstairs. Michael rolled his eyes as he set aside his pool cue and nodded at Cook and David. “Alright then, let’s go to a bachelorette party,” he said and they shuffled upstairs to join the others.
* * * * *
Cook had never been to a bachelorette party before. He’d also never played a drinking game without alcohol before, but since Brooke, Dave and David didn’t drink and Syesha couldn’t, they all decided to stay sober.
“I never . . . drove a car,” Ramiele said. Everyone, except for her, groaned and took a drink of their beverage.
“Girl, how have you never learned how to drive?” Syesha asked.
Ramiele shrugged. “Just never needed to. And now, I have someone to drive me. Okay, Jason, you’re next,” she announced.
“Okay, uh . . . I never . . . saw Carly naked,” he said with a grin in the aforementioned woman’s direction. Carly barked a laugh and she, Michael, Syesha and Ramiele all drank. Michael raised his eyebrows at the two girls.
“What?” Syesha asked. “We shared an apartment with her and she has an exhibition problem.”
“Really?” he said, looking at Carly and shaking his head. “Nah, I never thought it was a problem.” He bent to kiss her and she smiled.
“Okay,” Jason said, “Uh, Archie, your turn.”
David looked startled to hear his name and glanced around the group for a moment. “Um . . . I, uh . . . I never . . . snuck out of my house,” he finally said. Everyone drank save for he and Brooke.
“Okay, this is getting pretty lame,” Michael interjected. “Let’s get down to it, shall we? I never . . .” he glanced wickedly at Cook and grinned. “I never kissed a boy.”
Cook rolled his eyes, but raised his glass, as did everyone else in the room . . . except for Brooke’s husband and David.
“Really?” Michael said as he looked at Archuleta.
“Why is that weird?” Brooke asked. David looked like he wanted to crawl under the couch. Cook tried to think of something to say to save him from being the object of scrutiny.
“Um, I never . . .” What the hell, he thought. What had he never done? “I never told someone I loved them if it wasn’t true.” Cook didn’t drink. He wasn’t sure who else did or didn’t because he couldn’t stop watching David, praying that he didn’t develop a sudden thirst.
David set his drink on the table, untouched. Cook felt his shoulders relax and his lip twitched in a half grin.
Brooke cleared her throat and said, “Whose turn?”
“Mine,” Carly announced. “I never liked this game,” she said as she took a big swig from her glass of juice. Everyone else followed her lead, except for Cook and David. They just looked at one another and smiled.
* * * * *
After that, they decided to play cards. They played Texas Hold ‘Em, using M&Ms as money and Brooke ended up with almost the whole pile of candy in front of her.
“Wow,” Jason said after she flipped her pocket cards and trumped his hand for the fifth and final time, taking the last of his candy into her pile. “Something we should know, Brooke?”
The blonde just shrugged and said, “I used to play cards with my brother and sister on long trips. I guess I got good at it.”
“I’ll say,” Michael said. “I think we all concede to you, my dear.” The others nodded in agreement.
“Well, I don’t know about the rest of you,” Carly said, “But I have a wedding to go to tomorrow. So, I think I’ll get to bed.” She looked at Michael as she rose from the couch and he nodded his agreement. Cook knew them well enough to know that they were not running off to sleep, but he didn’t care as long as it meant that he and Archie could head upstairs soon as well.
“I think I’ll head on to bed, too,” David said as he got up from his spot on the couch. He’d been sitting next to Cook since the poker game started and Cook instantly missed the feel of their legs brushing against one another.
“We should probably all get to sleep,” Cook said as he stood, as well. The others nodded and everyone rose and began carting used dishes into the kitchen.
By the time Cook entered the bedroom, David already had a few minutes head start. He’d ducked into the bathroom, so Cook changed quickly into his pajama pants and a tee shirt and sat down on the bed to wait. Finally, the younger man opened the bathroom door and stepped back into the room.
He was wearing the same pajama pants and shirt he’d been in the night before. Still, Cook looked him up and down as if he were seeing him for the first time. David ducked his head and his skin flushed under Cook’s scrutiny. The older man couldn’t sit still any longer. He got up from the bed and moved forward, reaching out to grab David’s hands as they stood face to face.
“I’ve been thinking about this all day,” he admitted in a hoarse whisper.
David nodded rapidly, his eyes focused somewhere on Cook’s chest. Cook released one of his hands and reached down to tilt David’s chin up until their eyes met. David licked his lips and stuttered out a breath.
“You okay?” Cook asked softly.
David started to nod, but it ended in more of a shrug. “I’m . . . this is new, ya know, for me,” he admitted quietly, his eyes once again darting away self-consciously.
“Hey,” Cook said softly. “Hey, David.” He waited until their eyes met again and said, “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Nothing,” he stated firmly. “I’m completely fine with that.”
David nodded again and, again, licked his lips. “I want to, I just . . . just, not too fast, is that okay?” He sounded remarkably similar to his seventeen-year-old self and Cook felt a new rush of love for the man before him.
“Like I said, whatever you want.”
They moved slowly to sit beside one another on the bed. Cook reached up and began gently rubbing David’s shoulders through the fabric of his shirt, trying to ease some of the tension that was radiating from his body in waves. David only flinched a little at the touch, then he quickly submitted to Cook’s hands, closing his eyes as Cook loosened his knotted muscles.
After a couple of minutes, David reached his hand up and placed it over Cook’s hand on one of his shoulders, stilling the movements. He curled his fingers, giving Cook’s hand a slight squeeze. They both turned, moving in synch to face one another. Cook brought his other hand up and pressed it to David’s cheek. The younger man’s eyes fluttered closed as he leaned into the touch. Cook was mesmerized by every move, unable to look away from David even for an instant.
“I meant what I said before,” David whispered as he opened his eyes to look back at Cook. “I wasn’t lying when I said that I loved you. I’ve always loved you,” he admitted.
Cook wanted to say something, to say that he loved David, too, but he couldn’t get the words out. His throat had closed around a huge lump when David spoke and Cook had to blink rapidly to clear his blurry vision again.
“Please kiss me,” David asked softly and Cook knew those were the words he’d been waiting for. Slowly, cautiously, he leaned forward to close the distance between them. This time, there would be no interruption.
He felt David’s breath ghost across his lips, felt David’s hands on his shoulders pulling him forward just slightly. Then, he felt David’s lips graze his own, and it was like nothing he’d ever known.
The kiss was soft and tentative, unlike Cook would have ever thought their first kiss would be. After so many years of pent-up emotion, he would have figured they’d attack each other that first time. But, he found that he didn’t want to rush one moment with David. He wanted to savor everything, every touch and smell and taste of him. He never wanted to let David go.
Their lips were pressed to one another, neither moving much at first, then Cook felt David’s mouth slowly open under his and he took the invitation he’d been handed. He deepened the kiss, licking lightly at David’s lips and teeth, driven on by the feel of David’s hands moving to his neck, his fingers brushing lightly through the hair at his nape.
When David slowly slid his tongue into Cook’s mouth, the kiss turned into something more intense. Suddenly, the younger man seemed to gain confidence, clutching reflexively at Cook’s shirt as their tongues tangled. Cook heard a breathy moan escape from his partner and it stoked his own desire tenfold.
He leaned back slowly against the mattress, pulling David with him so that the younger man was lying across his chest. Their lips parted as they each tried to catch their breath. David’s forehead was pressed to Cook’s as they breathed together.
They kissed until they had memorized each other’s mouths completely. Cook couldn’t remember ever enjoying kissing another person quite so much. Each touch of his lips to David was like staking his claim to the younger man. He kissed his cheeks and his eyes and his nose. He kissed across his forehead and down his neck. He sucked at that spot behind his ear that made David squirm deliciously and brought forth a sound that made Cook’s toes curl.
They never went beyond kissing that first night and Cook was fine with that. He was just content to have David close enough to finally touch. At last, he felt like they could take their time; neither of them was going anywhere.
Several hours later, they were both exhausted and ready to close their eyes. Their lips were kiss swollen and they were clinging together, each trying to touch as much of the other as possible. Cook was on his back with David resting his head over Cook’s heart. David’s hand had slid under Cook’s shirt and rested on the warm skin of his stomach. Cook had one hand at David’s waist, resting on the exposed skin of his back. His other hand cupped the back of David’s head.
Cook ran his fingers through David’s dark brown hair and whispered, “I love you, too.” David turned his head slightly and pressed his lips to Cook’s chest. Cook could feel his lips curve into a smile even through the fabric of his tee shirt. He tightened his hold on David, never wanting to let him go. Before long, they were both asleep.
* * * * *
Part 6
Author: Courtney
Email: css576@yahoo.com
See part one for additional disclamiers and all that jazz.
Michael was still gaping like a fish when the others came bursting through the door, everyone talking at once. Cook felt a wave of relief at the intrusion because he really didn’t want to be interrogated by his friend at the moment. He moved to the living room and insinuated himself into the current conversation.
As it turned out, the snow had picked up shortly after they’d all arrived at the slopes, so the group had been forced to call off their skiing adventure. No one seemed incredibly disappointed, though, since the temperature had dropped about ten degrees as well and they were all freezing.
Brooke and her husband Dave offered to make lunch for everyone so they disappeared into the kitchen to fix soup and sandwiches while everyone else curled up in front of the roaring fire that Jason had going. Ramiele was in the middle of a story about some crazy Filipinos who had chased her all over Manila, when David finally reemerged from the bedroom.
He came downstairs and found a seat beside Syesha, which just happened to be across the room from Cook, who was sandwiched between Carly and Ramiele. Cook cursed himself for not thinking to save a seat beside him for the younger man.
David looked across at Cook and caught his eye, offering a shy smile that told Cook he had not changed his mind about the conversation in the kitchen. Suddenly, Cook felt like he was WAY too close to the fireplace.
“Alright gang, come and get it,” Brooke called as she and Dave brought a tray of grilled cheese sandwiches and a huge tureen of soup into the dining room. Everyone got up and filtered towards the table. Cook hung back, touching David’s shoulder as the others walked past.
“Later,” he promised in the younger man’s ear. He didn’t have to see it to imagine the face-splitting smile that spread across David’s features.
They ended up sitting with Cook at one end of the rectangular table and David in the seat to his right. Unfortunately, Michael was sitting to Cook’s left so he knew he couldn’t be too overt with his actions towards David. Michael was already like a bloodhound on the scent of something; he’d never let it rest until he got an answer.
The meal was pleasant enough for everyone, save for Cook and Archuleta, who continually got caught completely zoning out the conversation around them. More than once, Cook heard his name and was jolted back into the present, torn away from his daydreams about pulling off David’s shirt and running his hands down his chest and-
“Cook!” Damn it.
He turned towards the voice. Jason was asking him something. What the hell had he been saying again? “Sorry, what?”
“Are you okay, dude?” Jason asked and suddenly all eyes shifted to Cook. Well, all eyes except for David’s. His eyes were focused intensely on his soup.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Cook assured them. “Just, you know, tired. The tour’s finally catching up with me, I guess.” He wasn’t sure if they all bought it, but at least they stopped staring at him and went back to their conversation. All except Michael, of course, who fixed Cook with a look, then cut his eyes to Archuleta. He just nodded and smirked. Cook just hoped that David hadn’t seen that look.
* * * * *
“We have to have a bachelor party!” Jason insisted. He, Cook, David, Michael and David Ray were downstairs playing pool while the girls were somewhere upstairs doing what Carly called ‘girl things’ in preparation for the following day.
“He’s already had one, the first time he was a bachelor,” Cook pointed out.
“So? Come on, it’ll be awesome,” Jason insisted.
Michael shrugged as he set up his next shot. “Fine by me, mate. What did you have in mind?”
“Um . . . well, I hadn’t really thought that far ahead,” Jason admitted.
“We could get one of the girls to do a striptease,” Cook laughed.
“Eh, aside from you and Archie here, I think the rest of us could manage to get a striptease from one of those girls anytime we wanted,” Michael said. David flushed bright red and Cook tried not to think about Archie and stripteases. He couldn’t handle that right now.
They’d been hanging out with the others for the entire day and it was starting to wear on them both. Cook had tried to sneak in some alone time with the younger man, but so far all of his efforts had been thwarted. And Michael was acting extremely smug, which never led to good things. Cook hoped he had the good sense to keep his big mouth shut for a while.
“So, no strippers,” Jason said. “No porn because the satellite is out and I don’t really want to sit around with you guys and watch porn anyway. No offense,” he added.
“None taken,” David said and Cook and Michael both chuckled.
“So, what’s left?”
“We could drink,” Michael said.
“We get you drunk the night before your wedding and Carly will be out for blood,” Cook said. “Sorry man, but she’s a lot scarier than you.” The other three men nodded in agreement.
“Well, what then?”
“What are you guys up to?” Carly asked as she descended the stairs into the basement where the pool table was located.
“Planning Mikey’s bachelor party,” Jason told her.
“Oh?” she said with interest. “What do you guys have planned?” she asked as she moved over to Michael’s side and slipped her arm around his waist.
“Nothing, actually. We can’t think of anything to do,” Jason admitted.
“Hmm, well if you guys are having a bachelor party then we’re having a bachelorette party. And if you can’t think of anything to do at your party, you can always come upstairs and join ours,” she offered. She turned, reaching up to kiss Michael’s cheek, and then she swatted his ass and smiled sweetly before turning to go.
The guys all looked at one another for a few seconds, and then Dave and Jason shrugged and followed her path upstairs. Michael rolled his eyes as he set aside his pool cue and nodded at Cook and David. “Alright then, let’s go to a bachelorette party,” he said and they shuffled upstairs to join the others.
* * * * *
Cook had never been to a bachelorette party before. He’d also never played a drinking game without alcohol before, but since Brooke, Dave and David didn’t drink and Syesha couldn’t, they all decided to stay sober.
“I never . . . drove a car,” Ramiele said. Everyone, except for her, groaned and took a drink of their beverage.
“Girl, how have you never learned how to drive?” Syesha asked.
Ramiele shrugged. “Just never needed to. And now, I have someone to drive me. Okay, Jason, you’re next,” she announced.
“Okay, uh . . . I never . . . saw Carly naked,” he said with a grin in the aforementioned woman’s direction. Carly barked a laugh and she, Michael, Syesha and Ramiele all drank. Michael raised his eyebrows at the two girls.
“What?” Syesha asked. “We shared an apartment with her and she has an exhibition problem.”
“Really?” he said, looking at Carly and shaking his head. “Nah, I never thought it was a problem.” He bent to kiss her and she smiled.
“Okay,” Jason said, “Uh, Archie, your turn.”
David looked startled to hear his name and glanced around the group for a moment. “Um . . . I, uh . . . I never . . . snuck out of my house,” he finally said. Everyone drank save for he and Brooke.
“Okay, this is getting pretty lame,” Michael interjected. “Let’s get down to it, shall we? I never . . .” he glanced wickedly at Cook and grinned. “I never kissed a boy.”
Cook rolled his eyes, but raised his glass, as did everyone else in the room . . . except for Brooke’s husband and David.
“Really?” Michael said as he looked at Archuleta.
“Why is that weird?” Brooke asked. David looked like he wanted to crawl under the couch. Cook tried to think of something to say to save him from being the object of scrutiny.
“Um, I never . . .” What the hell, he thought. What had he never done? “I never told someone I loved them if it wasn’t true.” Cook didn’t drink. He wasn’t sure who else did or didn’t because he couldn’t stop watching David, praying that he didn’t develop a sudden thirst.
David set his drink on the table, untouched. Cook felt his shoulders relax and his lip twitched in a half grin.
Brooke cleared her throat and said, “Whose turn?”
“Mine,” Carly announced. “I never liked this game,” she said as she took a big swig from her glass of juice. Everyone else followed her lead, except for Cook and David. They just looked at one another and smiled.
* * * * *
After that, they decided to play cards. They played Texas Hold ‘Em, using M&Ms as money and Brooke ended up with almost the whole pile of candy in front of her.
“Wow,” Jason said after she flipped her pocket cards and trumped his hand for the fifth and final time, taking the last of his candy into her pile. “Something we should know, Brooke?”
The blonde just shrugged and said, “I used to play cards with my brother and sister on long trips. I guess I got good at it.”
“I’ll say,” Michael said. “I think we all concede to you, my dear.” The others nodded in agreement.
“Well, I don’t know about the rest of you,” Carly said, “But I have a wedding to go to tomorrow. So, I think I’ll get to bed.” She looked at Michael as she rose from the couch and he nodded his agreement. Cook knew them well enough to know that they were not running off to sleep, but he didn’t care as long as it meant that he and Archie could head upstairs soon as well.
“I think I’ll head on to bed, too,” David said as he got up from his spot on the couch. He’d been sitting next to Cook since the poker game started and Cook instantly missed the feel of their legs brushing against one another.
“We should probably all get to sleep,” Cook said as he stood, as well. The others nodded and everyone rose and began carting used dishes into the kitchen.
By the time Cook entered the bedroom, David already had a few minutes head start. He’d ducked into the bathroom, so Cook changed quickly into his pajama pants and a tee shirt and sat down on the bed to wait. Finally, the younger man opened the bathroom door and stepped back into the room.
He was wearing the same pajama pants and shirt he’d been in the night before. Still, Cook looked him up and down as if he were seeing him for the first time. David ducked his head and his skin flushed under Cook’s scrutiny. The older man couldn’t sit still any longer. He got up from the bed and moved forward, reaching out to grab David’s hands as they stood face to face.
“I’ve been thinking about this all day,” he admitted in a hoarse whisper.
David nodded rapidly, his eyes focused somewhere on Cook’s chest. Cook released one of his hands and reached down to tilt David’s chin up until their eyes met. David licked his lips and stuttered out a breath.
“You okay?” Cook asked softly.
David started to nod, but it ended in more of a shrug. “I’m . . . this is new, ya know, for me,” he admitted quietly, his eyes once again darting away self-consciously.
“Hey,” Cook said softly. “Hey, David.” He waited until their eyes met again and said, “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Nothing,” he stated firmly. “I’m completely fine with that.”
David nodded again and, again, licked his lips. “I want to, I just . . . just, not too fast, is that okay?” He sounded remarkably similar to his seventeen-year-old self and Cook felt a new rush of love for the man before him.
“Like I said, whatever you want.”
They moved slowly to sit beside one another on the bed. Cook reached up and began gently rubbing David’s shoulders through the fabric of his shirt, trying to ease some of the tension that was radiating from his body in waves. David only flinched a little at the touch, then he quickly submitted to Cook’s hands, closing his eyes as Cook loosened his knotted muscles.
After a couple of minutes, David reached his hand up and placed it over Cook’s hand on one of his shoulders, stilling the movements. He curled his fingers, giving Cook’s hand a slight squeeze. They both turned, moving in synch to face one another. Cook brought his other hand up and pressed it to David’s cheek. The younger man’s eyes fluttered closed as he leaned into the touch. Cook was mesmerized by every move, unable to look away from David even for an instant.
“I meant what I said before,” David whispered as he opened his eyes to look back at Cook. “I wasn’t lying when I said that I loved you. I’ve always loved you,” he admitted.
Cook wanted to say something, to say that he loved David, too, but he couldn’t get the words out. His throat had closed around a huge lump when David spoke and Cook had to blink rapidly to clear his blurry vision again.
“Please kiss me,” David asked softly and Cook knew those were the words he’d been waiting for. Slowly, cautiously, he leaned forward to close the distance between them. This time, there would be no interruption.
He felt David’s breath ghost across his lips, felt David’s hands on his shoulders pulling him forward just slightly. Then, he felt David’s lips graze his own, and it was like nothing he’d ever known.
The kiss was soft and tentative, unlike Cook would have ever thought their first kiss would be. After so many years of pent-up emotion, he would have figured they’d attack each other that first time. But, he found that he didn’t want to rush one moment with David. He wanted to savor everything, every touch and smell and taste of him. He never wanted to let David go.
Their lips were pressed to one another, neither moving much at first, then Cook felt David’s mouth slowly open under his and he took the invitation he’d been handed. He deepened the kiss, licking lightly at David’s lips and teeth, driven on by the feel of David’s hands moving to his neck, his fingers brushing lightly through the hair at his nape.
When David slowly slid his tongue into Cook’s mouth, the kiss turned into something more intense. Suddenly, the younger man seemed to gain confidence, clutching reflexively at Cook’s shirt as their tongues tangled. Cook heard a breathy moan escape from his partner and it stoked his own desire tenfold.
He leaned back slowly against the mattress, pulling David with him so that the younger man was lying across his chest. Their lips parted as they each tried to catch their breath. David’s forehead was pressed to Cook’s as they breathed together.
They kissed until they had memorized each other’s mouths completely. Cook couldn’t remember ever enjoying kissing another person quite so much. Each touch of his lips to David was like staking his claim to the younger man. He kissed his cheeks and his eyes and his nose. He kissed across his forehead and down his neck. He sucked at that spot behind his ear that made David squirm deliciously and brought forth a sound that made Cook’s toes curl.
They never went beyond kissing that first night and Cook was fine with that. He was just content to have David close enough to finally touch. At last, he felt like they could take their time; neither of them was going anywhere.
Several hours later, they were both exhausted and ready to close their eyes. Their lips were kiss swollen and they were clinging together, each trying to touch as much of the other as possible. Cook was on his back with David resting his head over Cook’s heart. David’s hand had slid under Cook’s shirt and rested on the warm skin of his stomach. Cook had one hand at David’s waist, resting on the exposed skin of his back. His other hand cupped the back of David’s head.
Cook ran his fingers through David’s dark brown hair and whispered, “I love you, too.” David turned his head slightly and pressed his lips to Cook’s chest. Cook could feel his lips curve into a smile even through the fabric of his tee shirt. He tightened his hold on David, never wanting to let him go. Before long, they were both asleep.
* * * * *
Part 6