“I’m suffocating.”
“Joey?” Holding his face between my hands, I tipped his chin up and forced him to look at me. “Breathe.”
“Molloy –”
“Breathe, Joe,” I coaxed, feeling panicked now that he was panicking. “Just breathe, okay?”
Blowing out a frustrated breath, he attempted to inhale a deep breath, but stopped midway to say, “I can’t. I can’t. I need to move—“
“Shh.” Lowering myself down on his lap, I took his hands in mine and placed them on my waist. “Just breathe.” With my eyes on his, I inhaled deeply, held it there for a moment, and then slowly let it out. “Just like that.”
He never took his dark eyes off mine as his hands tightened on my hips, and he mirrored my actions, taking a deep breath and then slowly letting it out.
“Good,” I praised, settling my hands on his shoulders. “Again.”
Still trembling, Joey took another deep breath, held it there, and then slowly released.
“Just like that.” Threading my fingers through his sun-bleached hair, I stroked his cheek with more affection than was appropriate and continued to breathe in and out with him over and over again, never once taking my eyes off his.
The more he watched me, the harder I felt him grow beneath me.
From my perch on his lap, I could feel all of him straining against me, and I would be a liar if I said it didn’t make me ache.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like I want us to get naked and fuck.”
Jesus.
“Well, that’s not happening,” I whispered, feeling my entire body tremble. “So, stop thinking about it.”
“I know it’s not.” Looser with his actions now that his mind was hazed, he pulled me closer to him, fingers kneading the fleshy part of my hips, as he slowly rocked his hips against me. “But we will.”
My breath hitched in my throat.
He nuzzled my breasts with his nose. “Not today.”
I released another shaky breath.
“But we will.”
Oh Jesus.
“Shh. Focus, Joe. Keep your breathing even,” I instructed, when I could do anything but.
Inhaling a deep breath, he leaned in close and buried his face in my chest. “I’m trying.”
“Good,’ I breathed, shivering. “Keep trying.”
Achingly aware that my bra was the only thing that separated his lips from my breasts, I hailed on every ounce of self-restraint I had to help me in this moment.
His voice was muffled, and his lips brushed against the piece of fabric that concealed my pebbled nipple, when he groaned, “I miss you.”
My heart thudded violently in my chest. “I miss you, too.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, nuzzling the outline of my nipple with his nose. “For feeding her your line.”
“It’s okay.” Knotting my fingers in his hair, I cradled his head against my chest and released a shaky breath. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
Several minutes ticked by, but neither one of us moved.
Instead, I remained on his lap, holding both his head and my breath, while he focused intensely on his.
Slowly, the tremors racking his hands, racking his entire body, lessened, and I felt a mountain of relief flood my body.
Repressing a shiver, I reached down to feel his clammy forehead and found that temporary relief abandon me. “Joe, you’re burning up worse than before.”
“Hm?”
“You’re too hot.” Concerned, I let my hands trail to his damp neck, and even damper school shirt. “Holy crap, Joe, you’re drenched.”
“It’s grand,” he mumbled, still dutifully concentrating on his breathing. “It’ll pass.”
Yeah, I wasn’t so sure. “Hang on. I’ll open a window.”
I moved to climb off his lap, but he swiftly wrapped his arms around my body and pulled me back to him. “Don’t move.”
“Joe, you’re literally piping hot.” Panic began to set in when I watched a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his neck. “I could fry an egg on you. Seriously. I need to cool you down.”
“I don’t care.” He buried his face back in my chest and inhaled another deep breath. On the exhale, he whispered, “Don’t leave me.”
“Joe…”
“Please just stay.” He paused to release another slow breath, before continuing, “This is the only time it’s ever stopped. Please don’t break it.”
“This is the only time what’s ever stopped?” I croaked out, feeling my heart thunder wildly in my chest. “And don’t break what?”
“My head,” he mumbled, before adding, “The quiet.”
I don’t understand, I wanted to cry, but I held firm and remained calm.
“I promise I won’t leave you,” I told him, gently removing his tie from his neck. “I’ll stay right here. But I need to not be on your lap right now because my body is heating yours up.”
When he made no move to comply, I leaned back, causing his head to fall forward, and reached for the buttons on his shirt.
“Something’s wrong,” he groaned, hands slumping at his sides. “I don’t feel right.”
“How could you feel right after doing what you just did?” I argued, quickly unbuttoning his shirt and sliding the fabric off his shoulders, only to be greeted by the sight of dark purple bruising all over the left side of his chest, reaching all the way up to his collarbone. I sucked in a sharp breath at the sight. “Jesus, what happened?”
“Fight.”
Joey had a gorgeous chest; lean and strong, with light brown nipples and tightly carved abdominal muscles. His hips were narrow and sported those epic V-shaped sex lines that all the athletically gifted seemed to possess. A dusting of golden-brown hair trailed south from his navel, disappearing beneath the waistband of his grey school trousers.
And while his golden skin was littered with scars, I was certain that I had never seen anyone more perfect in my life.
“A fight?” Shivering, I gently placed the palm of my hand on the bruise that was covering his heart. “With who?”
“Some asshole.” Blowing out a pained breath, he covered my hand with his and whispered, “You should let me go.”
“I know I should.” With my heart hammering violently in my chest, I quickly clenched my eyes shut and willed my heart to just calm down. “But I can’t.”
“There’s something wrong,” he groaned then, shifting uncomfortably. “With my dick.”
“Is this your way of getting me to look at your dick?”
“No,” he groaned, slipping a hand into the waistband of his grey school trousers. “This is me telling you that there is something really wrong with my dick.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know.” He hissed out a pained breath and flopped back on my bed, groaning like he was in genuine pain. “Fuck.”
“Did you twist a nut?” I asked, deadly serious. “Because Kev did that once, and it’s actually really serious. If you don’t seek medical treatment, you can lose the whole testicle, Joe—“