“I thought it was called a punty,” I murmured, distracted by his nearness.
Felix’s eyes widened. “Yes, it is. They’re the same thing.”
I leaned closer to him and reached across his body to another tool. The scent of his sweat nearly brought me to my knees. It was a complete contradiction to the bookworm I’d met in my study. This guy was all man, and he smelled like he’d been hard at work using every muscle in his body. My dick was hammering in my pants.
“And this one?” I breathed into his ear.
His body shuddered, and he began to stammer.
“It’s, ah… it’s… ah… this one is—” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment before continuing. “Jacks. Like the other one.”
His chest was heaving breaths in and out, and his pulse flitted frantically in his throat. While I stared at it, he swallowed. Hard.
“You’re still sweating,” I murmured against the thundering pulse point.
“It’s… it’s hot in here. I’m… hot.”
“True enough.”
My tongue came out to draw a line down the cord of his throat, to taste the salty residue of his hard work. The sharp intake of his breath echoed in the cavernous studio, and the only other sound was the faint hiss of the gas furnace nearby.
“God,” he groaned. “Good god, Lio.”
“Mmm. I want to lick every damned inch of your body right now. Do you have any idea how sexy you are?”
He continued to gasp as my hands roamed across the curve of his denim-clad jeans and up onto his moist lower back under his shirt.
“I’m filthy with glass dust,” he muttered. “Need to shower.”
“Later,” I said, pulling him into my arms and aligning our hips together. I noticed he had a leather apron on, and I quickly untied it and set it on the worktable next to us. When I pulled him close again, I felt his cock press into my inner thigh. “Fuck.”
My hands wandered down into the back of his jeans, causing his cock to get even harder against my legs. Despite my mouth all over his face and neck, he seemed to be in a kind of passive trance. His hands rested on my chest, but he wasn’t grabbing me and kissing me back with the same fervor he’d done the night before.
I pulled back and cupped his face to look at him. “Felix, are you okay?”
He stared at me for a minute before shaking his head. “No. I’m not.”
My heart dropped. “What’s wrong?”
“You left. Without a word. I assumed that meant… you know,” he trailed off, and his eyes flicked away.
I blew out a breath. “I’m sorry. I know I did, and you didn’t deserve that. That was shit.”
Felix stepped back from me and began putting away the tools in a nearby crate with sections labeled for each one.
“It’s fine. You didn’t owe me anything, Lio. It’s just that I don’t… I mean, I didn’t want… I’m not really good at the casual-sex thing. I’m sorry. I know that makes me lame, or whatever, and I’m sure you’re used to guys who are more put together and know the score, or something, and—”
I cut him off with a hand on his shoulder. I stood behind him and noticed a damp curl against the slim tendons on the nape of his neck. I ghosted my thumb over it, trying to touch it without actually touching him.
“Don’t apologize. You don’t have anything to apologize for, Felix.” My voice sounded rough in my ears. “I’m the one who’s sorry. For making you feel that way.”
“What way?” he asked, turning to me.
“Like that’s all it was,” I muttered softly.
“Wasn’t it?” he challenged.
I felt my nostrils flare as the truth of it left a bitter taste in my throat. What else could it be but a one-time thing? Even if I could admit to wanting more, I couldn’t allow myself anything more than physical with Felix. So that was it—one last fling with a gorgeous man before accepting my life with a nice woman. But I couldn’t tell him any of that. And, besides, something inside of me knew I was fooling myself.
“Maybe at first,” I began. He turned back around and moved quickly to switch off the gas to the furnace. “Felix, wait. It was at first, maybe. But then I got to know you more, and it… it freaked me out a little. I wasn’t expecting to… like you like that. And the fact of the matter is… I’m not in a position for something more than physical right now.” Or ever, I thought.
I could see his face from the side and noticed his jaw ticking in frustration like he was holding back from saying something.
“Talk to me, Felix.”
He threw up his hands and laughed. “This is ridiculous. I’m acting like some stupid kid when the truth of the matter is, what else could it be but just physical? We live in different countries, and I don’t even know your fucking last name!”