I lifted a hand and curled it around his where it was resting on my face. I turned my head so that I could press a kiss to the center of his palm and then curled his fingers around it so that he was holding on to it. Maybe this was the moment we needed to have. Maybe this was the occasion that we needed to remember. Maybe this was the make it or break it point in us being together. The fork in the road was looming and no, it seemed there was no other choice but to pick which way to go … together or separately.

“I told you, easy is for chumps, hard is for champions. You got me here; you fixed me. Do you really think I’m going to go out there and try and undo all the work you put in? Do you think I’m going to be careless and foolhardy knowing the effect that would have on you? If anything, being with you, seeing how much you worry about not just my safety but the safety and well-being of everyone, makes me more determined to get back to work and do my job better and more aware. I don’t want anyone to hurt either, Lando.”

I stood up and the chair toppled over. Dinner was forgotten as we faced off indecision and longing at war in the air between us. Fear and love were two powerhouse combatants and it was questionable which one was going to win.

Love took the first swing as we silently moved towards one another, lips colliding and hands grasping. Fear snuck in a sucker punch though, because even though he was there with me, his mouth on mine, his tongue tangling, twisting and turning with desperation in my mouth, I could feel he was also removed. He was back in that safe place where tender hearts and fragile feelings were locked up so tight nothing, not even love, could fight its way through.

Love fired back though. It was there when he ripped open my shirt, sending buttons flying every which way across the small dining area. It was there when the kiss gentled, softened, and turned from something that was hungry and anxious into something that was satisfied and content. His long and tapered fingers landed over my heart and tapped out a beat, played a song that only he could hear and that changed its tune to something deeper and darker as he stepped closer to me.

Our pelvises touched through our clothes. Hard on hard. Anticipation rolling across more anticipation. Our breath mingled and love and fear combined into something that was equally bitter and sweet. I put my hands on his hips and tugged him even closer, so there was no room to run. I rubbed the straining front of my pants against the bulge decorating his and got a sucked-in breath and shaky hands smoothing over my chest as a reward.

We kissed again. This time smoother. This time softer. This time with love instead of fear on the tips of our tongues. His teeth sank into the bottom curve of my lip with a playful bite. It fired everything up to detonation levels inside of me. I pulled his shirt off with little finesse with the sole goal of getting my hands on those long, lean muscles that were everywhere I looked when he was naked. Every single freckle on his body knew the stroke of my tongue and the touch of my fingertips now. But it was still fun to connect them, to draw a line with my finger down, down and down ever further below his bellybutton and into the top of his pants. Those sexy little dots went all the way down to the base of his dick and a few rebellious ones even marked the taut skin of his shaft. Not gonna lie, those ones were my favorite and well on the way to making an appearance as I pulled open his pants to get them out of the way.

Fear was back in the quake of his voice when he muttered my name as he bent his head to brush his lips against the side of my neck. That was a favorite spot of mine, one that he often used to distract me. Clever boy. But not right now. Right now I was determined, focused, geared up, and intent on beating all the fear down. This wasn’t a fight I was willing to lose.

I moved forward so I could put my lips on his skin. I kissed his throat. I kissed his neck. I kissed his chest. I took a second to run my tongue over the flat of his nipple and was rewarded with it pebbling up and begging for more. I rolled my hand around his cock and took a moment to squeeze it. I always thrilled that his dick kicked into my hand ready and eager. There was never any hesitation there. I also loved that it was pale, smooth, long, and hard just like the man it was attached to.

He made a low noise in his throat as his hip involuntarily thrust into my touch. His eyes were anything but distant now. They burned bright blue and they were so intently focused on mine that I felt like he was going to meld us together with the heat in them. I was beyond okay with that.

“I like the way you touch me, Dom.” His voice was smooth as silk as it wrapped around me while he went to work on the opening of my pants.

I lifted an eyebrow and felt my lips twist into a smirk. “Then you need to let me touch all of you, Lando.” I wonder if he knew that I was talking about that carefully guarded heart of his.

My own dick made its grand entrance and wasted no time in begging for his attention. Luckily he was happy to give it all the consideration it deserved and I lost my breath and maybe a good chunk of my mind while I watched us simultaneously work each other over. Darker skin against light. Hard hands against smooth surfaces. The stretch and pull of tender flesh as it yielded and asked for more and more. Both cocks harder than they had ever been as they throbbed in time to the stimulation. I could feel his heartbeat through the thick vein running underneath his erection and wondered if he could feel mine as his fingers danced and skipped with practiced skill over my rigid member.

There was no room for love or fear now, only space for want and need.

We shared another soul-melting kiss. One that had our stomachs touching and each of us scrambling to get out of our clothes. My tiny little kitchen was going to see a lot of firsts tonight, Mom’s lasagna and a tablecloth being the least exciting of them, apparently.

I went willingly when Lando silently urged me to turn around even though it meant I had to let go of his dick and I could tell that he was close to coming in my hand. I braced my hands on the table a shoulder width apart and let my head fall forward. Love was exhausted from the fight and hung heavy around my neck.

Lando’s hand traced up and down my spine a few times, leaving bumps of anticipation and excitement in its wake. He used his knee to spread my legs farther apart and I didn’t need to look over my shoulder when I heard a ripping sound to know that he had found a condom from either his wallet or mine and was suiting up. One of his hands connected with my ass cheek in a sharp pop that did have me scowling and turning to look at him over my shoulder. God he was beautiful and fear was nowhere in sight.

“What was that for?” I didn’t mind a little slap and tickle every now and then, but we were about to fuck over the kitchen table and a long-cold dinner, that was enough of an extreme for one interlude as far as I was concerned.