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“What about your books?” Paul wasn’t giving up that easily. Adam was going to have to prove he was surplus to requirements.

“What about them? If I need an assistant I’ll hire one. You, on the other hand, will need to find another job.”

“Ah, so I’m not going to be a kept man,” Paul said with a chuckle. “Damn. And there was me thinking you were going to keep me in the style to which I wish to become accustomed.” Not that he minded working. “I’d prefer to do a job which suits my qualifications.”
Although finding one might take a while. Look how long it took me to find
this
one.

“Fair enough.” Adam leaned forward and kissed him, a simple brushing of lips. “There’s no rush. We’ll see what’s out there and when something turns up, you can apply.” He gave a quiet laugh. “I’m playing this by ear too, all right? This is all new to me. I’m relying on you to help me through the minefield. The most important thing is we’re together, and we love each other. Right?”

Paul kissed his lover slowly, taking his time, until he could feel Adam growing hard beneath him, his hips starting to move. “Right,” he murmured against Adam’s mouth. “Any chance we can continue this conversation somewhere else? Maybe your bed?”

Adam’s arms tightened around him. “
Our
bed, you mean.”

Paul liked the sound of that.

* * * * * *

Paul was in his arms, in
their
bed,
their
room. Paul
loved
him.

If this is all a dream, I don’t want to wake up.

Paul sighed. “I know I said I love it when you’re all dominant in bed, but… ” He rolled over and kissed Adam on the lips, a sweet, tender kiss reminiscent of the mood of their lovemaking. “That was perfect.” He nuzzled into Adam’s neck.

Adam had to agree.

“Before you came along,” he confessed, “I’d never made love to anyone like that. I was always the one in control. Sex was just another way of taking that control.” He kissed Paul’s head. “Look what you’ve done to me.”

“What have I done?” Paul whispered, shifting to lie on top of him, a position that was fast becoming Adam’s favourite.

He stroked Paul’s cheek. “You’ve shown me that it’s okay to let someone else have control, once in a while. That it’s okay to be tender.” He chuckled. “That making love to someone you care for beats fucking their brains out any day.”

Paul’s laugh rumbled through Adam’s chest. “Glad I’ve taught you something important, then.”

Adam curled a hand around Paul’s nape and drew him into a long, lingering kiss, loving the way Paul moved against his body. When they parted, Adam sighed with pleasure. “Love how you kiss.” He rolled Paul onto his back and lay between his thighs. “So do we get to keep the cuffs, dildos, cock rings, et cetera, in the bedside cabinet?”

“God, yes,” Paul breathed. “I meant it, Adam. I love how you are—how
we
are—in bed. I don’t want to change any of that. But how you just made love to me? I want that, too.” His lips met Adam’s in another kiss. “I love the tender Adam just as much.”

“And all my gear in the wardrobe?” he asked.

Paul fell silent for a moment. “Can it stay there? Would you mind?”

Adam smiled. “Not in the least.” Everything he wanted was right there, beneath him.

Paul expelled a low moan. “You’re… you’re getting hard.” He undulated his body, pushing up with his hips to meet the gentle thrust of Adam’s cock against his.

Adam brought his lips to Paul’s ear. “I guess some dinosaurs have more stamina than others.”

Their laughter mingled as they rolled together, the heat building slowly between them.

It was going to be a long night.

Epilogue

December

“Fuck, please, Adam,” Paul begged, writhing beneath him while Adam’s hips undulated, the movement unhurried, their slick cocks sliding against each other in Adam’s hand. Paul was breathless, body covered in sweat, balanced on the edge of orgasm where Adam had kept him for the last hour.

Adam was having a hard time holding back his own climax. The thought of what was about to happen sent electricity skittering up and down his spine. Adam had awoken Paul with his mouth around Paul’s dick, his favourite place. Listening to Paul come while Adam sucked him off was always such a high. This morning, however, the blow job was only the beginning. He’d brought Paul to the brink, only to back off and give him brief respite before swallowing his cock, feeling it bump the back of his throat. When Paul’s shivers were almost constant, he’d relented and slid lube-slicked fingers into Paul’s tight channel, going straight for his prostate. Paul’s moans had begun again in earnest, not that Adam was listening to his pleas to be allowed to come. Adam was in control of this dance, and he wasn’t ready for it to end.

Not until the final movement.

“Adam.” His lover shuddered beneath him, pulling him away from his thoughts.

Adam lowered his head and kissed Paul on the mouth. “Not yet.” He flipped them so that Paul was astride him, Adam’s dick sliding through his crack. Judging from the way tremors racked Paul’s body, his lover was close. Adam reached for the lube and swiped it over his hard-as-steel shaft. Grabbing Paul around the waist, Adam helped him to position himself above the head of Adam’s cock and then eased it into him. Adam’s heart pounded, his pulse racing as Paul sank down, burying Adam’s length inside him.

Oh my fucking God
. For the first time in his life, Adam felt the searing heat of a man’s arse around his bare dick.

Paul’s breathing hitched. “Fuck, Adam, you’re… ”

Adam nodded. “I phoned in for my results yesterday.” He pulled Paul down into a claiming kiss, reveling in the heat of Paul’s body tight around his shaft. “Happy birthday, babe. Now ride me until you come.”

Paul groaned, placed his hands flat on Adam’s chest and proceeded to fuck himself on Adam’s cock. He rocked back and forth, hips rolling fluidly, panting, losing his rhythm as he neared orgasm. “Fuck, it feels so good.” They’d discussed ditching the condoms for the last month, but now that Adam was finally there, Paul impaling himself again and again on his dick, feeling the snugness of him, the heat, the pleasure that soared in him when Paul tightened his body around Adam’s shaft…

God, it was so much better than he’d anticipated.

Paul gasped. “Not… not enough. Need…”

Adam couldn’t have that. “Lean back,” he growled. Paul shifted position and cried out, the sound rebounding off the walls, and Adam knew he was grazing Paul’s prostate with the head of his dick. “That what you need?”

“Y-yes,” Paul stammered out. “Fuck, right there. Oh God, don’t… don’t stop.”

Adam wasn’t about to stop until both of them were wearing Paul’s hot come. He grabbed Paul’s hips and pulled him down hard onto his cock. Paul howled. “Again. Do that again.”

Adam did, repeating the action until Paul sobbed, his movements growing jerky.

Adam knew the signs.

He pushed Paul down onto the bed, Adam going with him, and thrust all the way into him, arms braced, elbows locked, hips pistoning, flesh slapping against flesh. “I’m going to feel it on my cock when you come,” he panted. “Can you feel every inch when I slide it into you?”

“Fuck, yeah,” Paul moaned, hips rolling up off the bed to meet Adam’s thrusts, his legs wrapping around Adam’s waist. “You’re so hard inside me, so fucking deep.”

“Gonna shoot my load inside you, fill you up with it.” He was close, his balls tingling, high and tight, ready to empty into his lover. “Want you to come first.”

“Adam, oh my God,
shit
… ” Paul grabbed his shoulders, his nails digging in as he clung to Adam, his inner muscles clamping down, milking Adam’s climax from him. Adam groaned to feel Paul’s spunk spattering his skin, his dick untouched.

Adam cried out and froze inside him, his cock pulsing deep into Paul while Paul’s channel gripped him tightly. Paul wrapped his arms around Adam and held him, his body damp with sweat, their mouths meeting in kiss after fervent kiss. Adam didn’t want to move, so deep in Paul that he swore he could feel his heart beating. He kissed him, long, leisurely kisses, their breath mingling as they fed each other soft moans and sighs.

When Paul’s body relaxed, Adam eased out of him and pulled Paul to lie on top of him, their arms around each other. Paul sprawled over him, limbs limp.

“Wow. That was some way to begin a birthday,” he said with a breathless chuckle.

Adam kissed him. “A good way?”

Paul sighed. “Best birthday gift ever.”

Adam could live with that.

He held Paul until his weight grew too much to bear. Gently, he rolled Paul onto his back and pressed his ear to Paul’s chest, listening to his lover’s heart return to its normal rhythm. Adam raised his chin and leaned over to kiss him softly.

“I’ll save your birthday spanks for later,” he whispered.

Paul’s sharply drawn breath was music to his ears.

Adam kissed him again and let out a wry chuckle. “Just testing.”

* * * * * *

The dining room had never looked so full, with ten people sitting around the table. It had been Adam’s idea to invite their friends for a birthday lunch, and Paul had been delighted when everyone had accepted. Taylor, David, Mark and Sam sat on one side, Eric, Shane, Jason and Mark on the other. He and Adam sat together, squashed in at the end. Having two Marks could have been confusing, but not for Adam: he said their voices were so different, it was easy to tell which was which.

Paul loved how his friends had taken Adam to their hearts. It was rare for a week to go by without two or more of them popping by for a visit. Eric and Adam would often go out on the boat whenever the opportunity presented itself. As for Adam, he loved it when Paul got together with his friends. He said hearing Paul laugh and enjoy himself with them made him feel good.

“This is delicious, Paul,” Taylor said as he helped himself to more macaroni cheese and garlic bread. The others around the table murmured in agreement.

Paul held up his hands. “Nothing to do with me. Adam made it all.” Beside him, Adam buffed his nails on his shirt. Their friends laughed.

“Nice one, Adam,” David said, tearing off another piece of garlic bread.

Adam gave a modest shrug. “I’m glad you all like it. I really enjoyed preparing it, except for when I dropped all the grated cheese onto the kitchen floor, but Paul helped me scoop it all up and put it back on the plate. He said it would be fine.”

Silence fell.

Adam stared around the table. “Is that a problem? I mean, I know the floor could’ve been cleaner, but Paul was sure that wasn’t too much grit on it. Whereas I was more concerned when he told me we had mice, because he’d seen little teeth marks in the cheese.” After the silence had continued for a while, Adam grinned. “Gotcha.”

Paul shook with laughter. It wasn’t long before the others joined in.

“You sod, Adam.” Eric said, smiling. “You had me believing you.”

Adam preened. “Damn, I’m good.” He reached for the bottle of white wine. “Anyone need a top-up?”

“Here, I’ll do that.” Paul took the bottle from him. He winked at the others. “Adam’s idea of judging how much wine is in a glass is to stick his finger in it.”

“Hey! No giving away my secrets.” Adam smiled and leaned back in his chair while Paul filled all the glasses. He lifted his into the air. “Everyone? I have a toast. To the birthday boy.”

The others echoed his words, raising their glasses to Paul.

“Why aren’t your mum and dad here?” Jason asked.

“We’re having dinner with them tomorrow night,” Paul explained. Adam had met them several times already, and he and Paul’s dad got on like a house on fire. His mum had been slower to warm to him, but relations had improved once she’d gotten used to the idea of her son having a boyfriend almost the same age as her. Paul couldn’t blame her, but when he looked at Adam, he never saw the difference in their ages. He only saw the man he loved.

Adam cleared his throat. “You’ve got poor taste in friends, Paul, I have to say. They turn up to eat our food and not one of them brings you a present.” He coughed to mask the words, “cheap bastards” and coughed again. Loud laughter rang out from their guests.

Paul dug him in the ribs with his elbow. “Hush, you. The invites did not say ‘please bring gifts.’ They just said, ‘bring yourselves.’”

It was Taylor’s turn to clear his throat. “We were waiting until dinner was finished before we handed over our presents.”

“Oh, I see,” Paul groused. “And if the meal had been crap, I suppose you’d have kept them all.”

There was a moment’s silence, followed by splutters and coughs.

“Trust me,” Shane said amid chuckles, “there is no way these particular gifts will be going back home with us.”

Adam laughed. “This sounds good.” Paul gave him another dig. Adam leaned closer to whisper, “Before you give me bruised ribs, just remember who you sleep with—and what I keep in the bedside cabinet.” He grinned.

More splutters greeted his words. Paul knew his face must have been glowing, it was that hot. “Adam, TMI?”

Mark burst out laughing. “Oh, that ship has long sailed. Taylor saw to that.”

Paul glared at Taylor, who flushed uncomfortably. “I might have told Eric and the gang about your… dark side,” Taylor said with an apologetic expression. The others snorted and chuckled.

Adam nearly choked on his wine. Paul was tempted to give him another dig but remembered his lover’s warning. He had a bad feeling about his unseen gifts.

“Me first!” Taylor had apparently recovered from his bout of shame. He handed Paul a small box wrapped in silver paper.

Paul tore off the wrapping, opened the box and… stared. “It’s a leash. A chain leash.” Adam snorted and Paul guffawed. “Don’t you go getting any ideas about putting a collar on me and leading me around the house with it.”

Taylor gave a small cough. “Uh, Paul? It wouldn’t be attached to your neck. This goes with it.” He handed over a second gift.

His heart pounding, Paul opened it and gaped at the contents.