“Maybe sex isn’t enough,” Lucas ventured slowly.
His heart was beating so hard in his chest he was sure that Andrei could hear it. Was this really the best time to bring this up? Andrei was already having trouble with Lucas’s world and here he was trying to drag him deeper. But Andrei’s insecurity about his place in Lucas’s life was driving him to pull Andrei in closer. Fuck, he needed this man like he needed air.
“What do you mean?” Andrei had become incredibly still as if waiting for Lucas to drop a massive bomb on him.
“I know we agreed to just sex—”
“Monogamous sex,” Andrei corrected, bringing a small smile to Lucas’s lips.
“Monogamous sex, but I don’t know if that’s enough. I want…more.” Lucas paused and licked his lips. “I will admit that I don’t know exactly what that ‘more’ is just yet but I think it includes things like brunch with people I would like to consider my friends and being able to introduce you as my boyfriend. Not just a friend. I want people to understand that you are important to me.”
Andrei’s face had become pale and his lips parted in surprise. Brilliant. This was going over just brilliantly. Lucas cursed himself for not thinking this through, for not planning it a little better than just springing it on the man as he was dealing with the weight of being involved with someone like Lucas. Fuck. And then the added weight of being involved with a man in a city that wasn’t exactly known for being progressive.
“Just think about it. I certainly don’t expect you to decide anything right now. I…” Lucas stopped and frowned, still cursing himself at how lame he sounded. Hadn’t Andrei just accused him of being smooth? No such luck now. “I just wanted to toss that out there. There’s more between us than sex and I want that. Also, if you’re not ready to come out to the public…that’s fine too. It takes time. It’s enough that you told your parents. The rest of the world doesn’t matter. You have to do it at the pace that you’re comfortable with.”
Before Andrei could answer, Lucas tapped on the window with his knuckle and the driver instantly opened the door so Lucas could slide out. He stepped away from the car, taking a moment to button his suit jacket and tug at the cuffs of his shirt, settling his appearance once again. He aimed for fashionable perfection with a mix of the untouchable in his bespoke suit. He needed to have his so-called suit of armor in place again so the world couldn’t possibly guess that the man stepping out of the car behind him had rattled Lucas so completely.
It was on the tip of his tongue to say fuck the brunch and shove Andrei into the car so they could escape back to his tower where Lucas could spend the rest of the day convincing Andrei that they could be happy together. Instead he just gave Andrei a small smile when he was standing on the sidewalk beside him before leading the way through the doors to the posh, art deco restaurant located inside the Cincinnati Netherland Plaza hotel. He just had to not think about Andrei’s utterly unreadable expression. Had he just killed what they had? Figured. Lucas had warned Andrei that he was going to fuck this up in amazing ways. He’d just assumed that it would take him a little longer.
Tamping down his anger with himself, Lucas stopped at the hostess station and indicated that he was with the Lynton party. As he stood there waiting for the young woman to check her computer screen for the location of the Lynton’s table, warm, rough fingers slid down along his palm before threading between his. Lucas’s head whipped around to face Andrei, who looked at him with a bland expression, but there was something in his eyes as his fingers tightened among Lucas’s, holding his hand.
“Are you sure?” Lucas asked, his voice rough, like his throat had been rubbed raw with a cheese grater.
Andrei finally smiled at him, the laughter returning to his beautiful dark eyes. “I think I like the idea of the world knowing that you’re mine. I want more, too.”
Without a thought to where they were, Lucas slid the fingers of his free hand into Andrei’s hair, knocking it loose as he pulled him in for a rough, possessive kiss that had Andrei melting against him, his free arm snaking around Lucas’s waist. For a moment, they were lost in each other, the world slipping away and Lucas was happy. He needed Andrei more than his next breath. It was becoming harder and harder to hold back words that rose in his chest every time they were together. But he would, for now.