7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

LEWIS

"Assholes," I mutter as I shove my phone into my back pocket and hoist the bag of garbage over my shoulder, the sound of a motorcycle tearing loudly through the alley behind the shops. I push the door the rest of the way open and step out to toss the trash into the dumpster, only catching a fleeting glimpse of one of the Ink Slingers assholes just before he rounds the corner and peels away.

I hurry through the rest of closing up with Arrow on my mind the whole time. By the time I'm in my car, heading home, my cock is hard against my thigh and my stomach is dancing with excited impatience.

I pull into the parking lot of my apartment building, and Arrow is already waiting for me there. He's leaning against his bike with his arms crossed over his chest, his biceps bulging in his worn t-shirt. How is he even hotter than I remember? That should be impossible, but fuck, he really does look lickable. My mouth waters at the thought of tracing every inch of his tattooed skin with my tongue.

I tug at the collar of my t-shirt to cool some of the sweat beading on my skin, but it doesn't do a damn thing. I get out of my car and give him a smile as I look down to fiddle with my keys, trying to find the one that opens the main entrance to the building. My hands tremble just enough to make the task difficult.

Sure, we've already hooked up twice, but this time feels different. It was planned ahead of time, for one thing, and that's like a level . Plus, there's a whole-ass world of difference between a hurried grope-fest in the car or against the wall and me inviting him into my apartment, into my bed, where we can take our time.

A shiver of lust rushes through me, and Arrow's hand wraps around mine unexpectedly, stopping the jangling of the keys. I didn't even hear his footsteps.

"I don't have to stay if you're having second thoughts," he says softly.

I swallow down a laugh. Would it kill this man to throw out just one red flag already so I'll know what I'm working with? Narcissist? Serial cheater? Dude who scratches his ass at the table in a fancy restaurant? A hint would be nice.

I look up at him and lean in a little closer, tilting my face up. Arrow bends down, stopping with our mouths barely an inch apart, his warm breath fluttering over my lips, his eyes searching mine.

"I'm not having second thoughts," I say, sliding my fingers underneath his t-shirt to feel his warm skin again. "I want you to come up." A brush the tip of my nose against his and give him a teasing smile. "For a little while, anyway."

A smile twitches on his lips. "Okay," he says, plucking my keys fully out of my hands and then handing them back to me holding them by the correct key so I don't have to keep fumbling.

"How'd you know which key I needed, weirdo?" I tease.

"Big square keys are always the right ones for the main door," he reasons.

I breathe out a laugh and give him a light nudge in the chest. As tempting as it is to drag him in for a kiss right here in the parking lot, I'd much rather get him alone first.

I lead him inside, flipping on the light and toeing off my shoes just inside the door. Arrow follows suit, stopping to untie his boots and slip them off. I glance around my apartment, trying to remember the last time I actually had a guy over… other than Rowan, obviously, but he doesn't count. My place is basically a shrine to my one true love—plants.

"Want to meet my babies?" I ask. Arrow cocks his head and I chuckle, moving into the living room. I run my index finger lovingly over the broad leaf of my fiddle leaf fig. "This is Notorious FIG." I gesture to the pair of pothoses next to it. "Plants Armstrong and Keanu Leaves."

He laughs loudly and bends down to point at the jade plant on the lower shelf. "Let me guess, Morgan Treeman?"

"No, but I'm going to have to remember that one." I chew on my bottom lip while he carefully looks over each and every potted plant. "Most people just think of plants as ornamental, but they're so much more than that," I blurt.

Arrow raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

"They can communicate with each other," I explain. "Some scientists are even starting to consider that they may have actual intelligence and the ability to make choices in the service of their own survival, like which types of pollinators to attract and who to crossbreed with. People talk about how we domesticated plants, but if you think about it, they domesticated us. Human society started on the basis of farming. That's how we went from hunters and gatherers to setting down roots and trending towards specialization, thanks in part to barley and hops."

"Beer?" Arrow says with a chuckle, and I nod enthusiastically.

"Exactly. The fermentation process takes time, and we couldn't continue to be nomads if we wanted to get properly drunk. So we started to tend to crops and help them propagate, we crossbred them to make them stronger, and we spread them across the world to places they never would have made it on their own. And we still depend on them for everything. We wouldn't have food if it weren't for plants." I realize I'm babbling and bite down on my tongue to stop myself. "Thanks for coming to my extremely seductive TED talk."

I let out a weak laugh and Arrow straightens to his full height. I'm suddenly aware of how close we're standing, all alone in my apartment. The air between us crackles and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as goose bumps crawl along my skin, even though I'm hot enough to start sweating again. I sway towards him, putting my hands on his chest and bunching his shirt in my fists. The warmth of his skin radiates through the thin fabric, and I swear I can feel the wild flutter of his heart beating against his ribcage. Mine thunders just as fast, rushing in my ears with a roar just like the engine on his bike, deafening and thrilling at the same time.

"That's fascinating," he says.

"Don't lie. You're thinking what an absolute nerd I am right now." I invited him over here to prove that I'm smoother than I've been letting on, and instead I end up blathering at him about plants.

I swallow hard, and Arrow's calloused hand moves to cup the back of my neck. He drags his thumb over the pulse in my throat, sending a hot shiver through me. I don't wait for him to pull me closer or crash his lips into mine, I'm too impatient for that. Launching myself into his arms, I claim his mouth. He catches me with his hands on my ass and a soft, surprised laugh against my lips, hoisting me closer as I wrap my legs around him and tangle my fingers in his hair.

The taste of his tongue hardens my cock in seconds, and the rumble of his muffled grunts makes me ache with an embarrassing amount of neediness. I kiss him harder, nipping his lips and tangling our tongues. He keeps pace with just as much greedy enthusiasm, kneading my ass with both hands and matching the intensity of my kiss. My cock throbs against his stomach and I squirm in his arms to grind against him. I'm tempted to keep things simple, to ask him to fuck me right here in the living room, up against the wall, fast and dirty just like our previous hookups.

"Where's your bedroom?" he asks in a hoarse, breathless voice.

I jerk my head towards the short hallway behind him then kiss him again, sucking his lip and dragging my tongue over his. I tighten my legs around him as he carries me down the hall.

ARROW

Finding Lewis's bedroom by feel alone without prying my mouth from his is a fucking feat, but it's like when a mother finds the strength to lift a car off her baby—extrasensory abilities triggered by desperation manage to get me through. The blush that spread over his cheeks when he realized he was rambling was enough to make me want to devour him, but, dammit, it also made me even more curious about who he is.

Is he a botanist? Just a plant enthusiast? How does he spend his days? And why does he always taste so damn good?

When my knees hit his bed, I set Lewis down carefully and crawl over him. We inch up the bed together between fierce, rough kisses and gropes, tugging at each other's clothes. I break away from his mouth to lick and suck along the smooth edge of his jaw and down the slender column of his throat. Fuck, I can't get enough of the taste of him. I want to gorge myself on every inch of him like the glutton I am.

The breathy moans and throaty, impatient sounds he makes go straight to my dick, tightening around my balls and stoking the heat in the pit of my stomach. I grab the hem of his t-shirt and yank it up over his head, reluctantly pulling my mouth away from his skin just long enough to get it off and toss it aside.

Lewis's fingers tangle in my hair as I run my tongue along the ledge of his collarbone and make my way down to his smooth, bare chest. I make circles over his pec with my tongue, getting closer and closer to his taut pink nipple. He squirms under me, arching his back and tugging on my hair, trying to hurry my progress. I chuckle against his skin and he growls low in his throat.

"Tease," he groans, arching his hips up again, trying to grind against me but coming up short thanks to the way I'm hovering over him. "Touch me, lick me, bite me, just fucking… please ," he pants.

"Mmm." My mouth waters and my cock throbs. I like him begging. I like him as desperate for me as I am for him. "I know you don't think you got me all the way to your bed for another quickie."

I flick the tip of my tongue against his nipple and his breath catches. I switch to the other and do the same thing, leaving both of them glistening. Lewis makes a frustrated sound, but he doesn't argue, just grabs a handful of my shirt and yanks it roughly over my head.

"It should be illegal to be this hot," he groans, running his fingers through the dark gray hair on my chest and ghosting his thumbs over my nipples in an attempt to tease me right back.

I grin and blow a hot breath over his nipple. It tightens even more, turning a darker shade of pink as he makes another impatient noise. I clamp my teeth around it, and he jackknifes his hips off the bed with a strangled sound.

"Oh fuck," he pants.

I alternate between licking and biting for a few minutes until his skin is glistening with sweat and his hips are jerking involuntarily. Leaving his nipples wet and puffy, I continue my journey downward, savoring every inch of his skin along the way. There's something earthy and floral about the way he tastes, like he's been lying naked in a garden all day. His skin is so unbelievably soft that it almost feels like a sin to put my roughened hands all over it knowing there are oil stains under my fingernails and calluses on most of my fingertips. He writhes under my touch though, like he can't get enough of it.

I nip at his hip bone when I reach it, tugging at the button on his jeans at the same time.

"You know what I've been thinking about all week?" I ask gruffly, getting the button loose before slowly tugging his zipper down over the bulge of his erection.

He shakes his head and arches his hips, making it easy for me to hook my fingers in his jeans and tug them down, taking his briefs along with them. His cock springs free, deep red and already damp with precum.

In truth, I've been thinking about a lot of things. How to keep myself from getting too invested, for one thing. But I'm not going to tell him that part. If he wants this to be about sex for now, I can definitely play that game. Happily. As long as I'm the only one in his bed.

That thought sparks a jealous heat in my gut, and I bite down harder on his hip bone, drawing a hiss and then a low moan from him. I soothe the spot with my tongue and look up at him.

"I've been thinking about fucking you with my tongue until you beg for my cock."

His dick visibly jerks, the veins throbbing with obvious enthusiasm for that idea.

"I'll beg for your cock now if you want," he offers, grabbing a fistful of his sheets and canting his hips so his cock bobs just inches from my lips.

Yes . Beg for it, beautiful. Let me know I'm not the only one losing my goddamn mind right now.

A laugh rumbles in my throat, and I click my tongue against my teeth.

"Now where would be the fun in that?" I grab his hips and, without warning, flip him over in one smooth motion.

Lewis gasps, then wraps his arms around his pillow and spreads his legs, tilting his hips in an unmistakable offer. My cock throbs eagerly and I palm myself through my jeans. A little patch of blond hair surrounds his tight pink hole, peeking out from between his perky ass cheeks in this position. I shuffle onto my knees and grab his ass in both hands, kneading his cheeks and tugging them apart for a better look. His hole flutters and clenches under my gaze, making a groan rise in my chest and coaxing a generous slick of precum from my slit.

His back rises and falls with his rapid breaths, but other than that, he looks like he's made himself comfortable for a leisurely rimming. I bite back a laugh.

Think again, sweetheart .

I grab his thighs and hoist him up. He gasps again, whipping his head around to see what I'm doing. He's light enough that it's not even a strain to maneuver his thighs over my shoulders, bringing his pretty little hole right to face level while he scrambles for purchase with his hands on the bed.

"What are you—"

His question dies on his lips, turning into another gasp and then a long, low moan as I bury my face between his cheeks and attack his hole with my tongue. I don't waste time teasing like I did with his nipples. No, I dive in like a starving man because that's exactly how I feel. Starving. And Lewis is the only thing I'm interested in consuming.

I lap at his quivering rim with flat, full drags of my tongue, from his taint to his hole and back again. I nip at the swell of his ass cheeks and dig my fingers into his hips, my moans muffled against his hole when I dive back in to lick him deeper. He mewls and whines and curses, giving little jerks of his hips to ride my tongue, his cock bouncing with every one. My drool runs down the crease between his cheeks, trickling down to his taint and over his balls, already drawn up tight.

His hole softens and I shove my tongue inside of him, fucking him with it just like I promised. His ring of muscles squeezes around my tongue and my cock pulses with every deep, thrusting lick.

Lewis chants my name, finally finding balance with his hands on my thighs, jerking his hips back to meet my tongue, grinding himself against my face. His thighs quake on my shoulders.

"Please, Arrow, fuck me. Oh my god, fuck me," he pants, his hole clamping around my tongue and relaxing again.

I give him a few more licks then flip him back over, tossing him onto the bed on his back. He laughs and drags in heavy breaths, reaching for his cock with a shaking hand and using the other to point at the bedside table. He can't seem to get any words out, but that's okay, I know what he's getting at.

I yank the drawer open, taking note of the impressive dildo that's stashed inside. Maybe we can have some fun with that another time, but for tonight I grab the bottle of lube and a condom and nudge the drawer shut again. I toss the supplies onto the bed and crawl back on top of him, eager for another taste of his mouth, desperate for more of those breathy sounds around my tongue, fucking craving him like I haven't craved anyone in a long damn time. Maybe ever.

He meets the kiss, undoing my jeans while our tongues knot and our lips find a hungry rhythm, his damp cock dragging against my stomach, leaving streaks of precum sticky on my skin.

"I can't get enough of you," I murmur against his lips as I shimmy out of my pants and kick them aside. "You've been stuck in my head since that day on the side of the road."

He shivers and lets out a whimper, giving a little shake of his head like he wants to argue with me or insist I'm lying. I nudge his thighs apart with my legs and settle against him, cock to cock, mouth to mouth again, his legs wrapping around my middle and his hands greedily roaming over my bare skin. I roll my hips, dragging my erection against his, groaning at the feeling of hot, silky steel against hot, silky steel. The head of my cock catches against his and I swallow his moan, meeting it with a muffled, hungry sound of my own.

I reach blindly for the condom and reluctantly break the kiss so I can tear it open. I roll it down my shaft and then add a generous amount of lube while Lewis stares up at me with heat in his eyes and his hand on his cock. He strokes himself slowly, his cockhead bulging with every upstroke, precum pearling on his slit and trickling down his length.

I line up, notching myself against his hole and bracing my other hand next to his head. A flash of vulnerability in his pretty blue eyes gives me the slightest second of pause—not because I think he wants me to stop, but because something in the look makes me think he needs something more . The right words, the right… something that I don't know him well enough yet to guess.

A feeling clenches inside my chest. I want to know him well enough to know exactly what he needs. Will he let me get that close eventually?

"What are you waiting for? An engraved invitation?" he snarks breathlessly.

I let out a hoarse laugh and push forward, easing through the tight outer ring of muscle and sinking into the welcoming heat of his body with a moan. All higher-level thinking leaves the building with the shuddering gasp he lets out, stroking himself faster as I fill him in a single thrust. All I have now is the primal need to hear him scream my name and that same craving for the taste of his lips.

The bed creaks underneath us, the slap of our skin and the chorus of our moans filling the bedroom along with the musky smell of our sweat. Our mouths crash together in a sloppy kiss, our lips jarring with every thrust that bumps our noses together and knocks the breath out of my lungs. It's a blur of wandering hands and whispered words like yes, and please , and more, more, more as I fill him over and over again.

Lewis works his hand over his cock wildly now, bucking in time with my rhythm as he snaps his hips up, riding my cock in search of the pleasure building inside of him.

"Yeah, beautiful, use my cock. I want to feel you come. Jesus, you're fucking incredible," I groan, heat building in my gut and creeping up my spine.

He gasps my name just the way I need to hear it and bites down on his lip so hard I'm not surprised by the tang of blood that hits my tongue with the next messy kiss. His thighs tense and start to quiver, and his hole tightens around me, constricting so hard I practically see stars. And then, with a shout, he falls apart. A hot splash of his cum hits my stomach and his inner muscles start to pulse around my cock, dragging me right to the edge right along with him then pulling me over into the abyss of pleasure on the other side.

I grunt his name and bury my face in the crook of his neck, breathing in the earthy scent of his skin as my cock throbs and pulses, matching the waves of his orgasm with shudders of pleasure all my own. I grind inside of him until my balls are empty and my body is completely spent. Even then, it's hard to convince myself to pull out and let go of him. I shudder as I ease out and he lets out a little whimper.

I tie off the condom and toss it onto the floor to deal with it later, then I collapse on the bed next to him. He rolls over onto his stomach and turns his face towards me. I put my hand on his back, trailing up and down, gently following the slope of his spine with my fingers while we both catch our breath.

"If you were trying to get me to stop pursuing you, you should know you completely failed," I murmur, kissing his shoulder before dragging my tongue over his skin to lap up the beads of sweat forming there.

He chuckles and pushes his damp hair off his forehead. "I definitely save the good stuff for the elite few who actually score a date with me," he teases.

I bite back a jealous growl at the thought of anyone else putting their hands on him.

Our eyes meet in the dim light, and that vulnerable expression is back again. I drag my fingers up to trace the shape of his lips, and he purses them to kiss my fingertips.

"You're sweet, Arrow. I had a lot of fun tonight."

I grimace and then turn it into a wry smile. "Is that your way of politely telling me to get the hell out now?"

He laughs again. "It's my way of saying I'm glad I texted you this time and that I hope we do this again."

The tension in my chest eases a fraction.

"Casually," he reminds me.

I swallow hard, a few beats of silence passing between us while I try to work out whether I should risk blowing up a nice moment with too much honesty.

"What?" he asks, smoothing his index finger over the crease forming between my eyebrows.

I blow out a breath. Fuck it. Balls to the wall, even if it blows up in my face.

"I'm fine with casual, but I'm shit at sharing. You're not my boyfriend, I can live with that, but if there's going to be someone else tangled up in your sheets tomorrow…"

"There's no one else." He narrows his eyes. "That goes both ways though. I'm not going to be some princess in a tower if you're out sticking your dick in anything that moves."

"That's not a problem." I bite back a chuckle. He's fucking crazy if he thinks I've bothered to remember anyone else exists since laying eyes on him.

"Good." He leans over and brushes a kiss to my lips, then grins. "Now get the hell out."

I bark out a laugh. "Alright, I'll go. But you're not getting rid of me that easily, Lewis." I sit up and take his chin in one hand, leaning down for a slightly harder kiss before standing up and gathering my clothes.

I'm not sure, but while I zip up my jeans, I'm pretty sure Lewis whispers, "I hope not."