Chapter Nine

 

 

 

Clark fussed with his cell phone as he stepped from the restaurant. He’d worked his shift plus half of someone else’s because they’d called in saying they had an emergency. Exhausted, he was quickly losing his patience with the fact that his Android kept crashing. Turning off the phone, Clark dumped it in his pocket and looked up. He lost his breath seeing Tae leaning against the hood of his car, sunglasses on, arms folded across his chest. How could he want to fight his attraction for such a man?

The wind picked up Tae’s dark hair and pushed it back and forth. Clark was transfixed by Tae. For an eternity, he couldn’t move. His brain wasn’t speaking to his feet. He knew Tae was watching him in that cool, unassuming way he always stared at Clark. It was the kind of look that made Clark wonder what was happening inside the man’s head. Clark smiled, shook his head and glanced both ways before jogging across the street. He stopped before Tae then reached up and removed Tae’s sunglasses. Clark stared into Tae’s brown gaze for a silent moment. The only sounds around them were cars zooming by. From somewhere in the distance, a siren wailed until it faded.

“Hi,” Clark said.

Tae kissed him in reply, and Clark moaned then melted into Tae’s chest. In that moment, Clark gave in to the emotions surging through him. He wrapped his arms around Tae’s neck and threw himself into the kiss, deepening it and whimpering in delight.

“Can I take you to dinner?” Tae asked. “It doesn’t have to be my place. I know you don’t want…”

Clark shook his head. “Stop. After the day we had yesterday? Tell me what we’re doing here. Are we only messing around because you think this is what will repay me for what I did, or do you genuinely want to date me?”

“Yesterday was the best time I’ve had with a man—I want to date you, Clark.”

“No one really does that anymore.”

“If this is going to work, Clark, I want to do it right. You deserve the build-up, the foreplay.”

Clark laughed softly before kissing Tae. “Thank you for saying that. I never thought I’d meet a man who believes in such a thing.”

“Who have you been going out with?”

“How much time you got?”

Tae arched an eyebrow.

“Okay,” Clark said. “First, I need to get home and change, take a shower. The last thing I need is for me to smell like French fries on our date.”

Tae smiled. “I like French fries.”

Clark chuckled and leaned in for another kiss before climbing into the car beside Tae. He reached across the console and looped his fingers with Tae’s. Though Tae said nothing, he did lift their hands up to kiss the back of Clark’s. The ride to Clark’s was quiet, but the moment they were inside, Tae had him against the closed door, ripping at his clothes and moaning with each bit of skin to come bare.

“Damn, Tae…”

“I told you—I wanted both.” Tae nibbled down Clark’s jaw line before sucking on his chin. “I’ve never craved another man the way I do you. It scares me.”

“Okay. Let’s do it again, Tae. See how terrified you are in the next few minutes.”

“Clark…”

Clark laughed. “Here’s what I’m thinking. We’re going to build something, but it’s not going to be boring or typical. We’re going to have some fun.”

“I’m game.”

Clark set to work getting Tae naked. When he was bare for Clark’s eyes, Clark licked his lips then circled Tae, taking in his body. Every hardened slope, every trembling muscle—all of it drove Clark crazy in the best of ways. Unable to stop himself, he leaned in to worship Tae with his mouth. A kiss here, a lick there, a suck on places Clark remembered being sensitive from the first time they’d made love.

“Clark.”

In response, Clark slid down Tae’s frame to pull his dick in. He licked the length of the shaft, long and slowly, ensuring he left a nice lather of saliva. Clark kept that up until Tae gripped the back of his head and pushed his head down. Tae slipped deeper into Clark’s throat. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d taken a man that far in, but with Tae, he relished what he was doing. He fought to keep his eyes from rolling back and glanced up to watch the way Tae’s mouth fell open. The look in his eyes spurred Clark onward and though he gagged a few times, he didn’t care.

“Damn, Clark.”

Clark released his prey to breathe but didn’t stay away too long. He bowed his head to kiss the tops of Tae’s feet, against his ankle then up over the soft hair that covered each leg. He licked the tender spot at Tae’s knees before dragging his mouth to the insides of Tae’s thighs. Sucking and swirling his tongue against the flesh, Clark continued up until he could pull Tae’s balls into his mouth.

“Fuck, baby,” Tae whispered. “I’ve never—oh, right there. Suck…”

Clark sat on the floor, stuck his head between Tae’s legs and pushed back until he was sucking on Tae’s crack. Then Tae bent over and Clark thought he’d lose his mind. The supple cheeks spreading for him was the only invitation Clark needed. He delved between them, lashing the rim with his tongue then pushing inward.

“Yes!” Tae cried, pushing his ass back, forcing Clark’s tongue deeper. “That’s so good.”

Clark tossed himself into what he was doing until Tae’s fingers found his hole. Whimpering, he spread his legs and tried concentrating on what his tongue was doing and not what Tae was making his body feel. But the deeper the finger went, the more he found he had no control over what was happening anymore. The seduction he tried doing to Tae had quickly turned around.

“I want to be fucked,” Clark whispered.

“Is that so?” Tae teased, withdrawing the finger to suck it only to push it back in. “Tell me again.”

“I want to be fucked!”

“Show me to your bedroom, baby.”

With Tae’s help, Clark pulled himself from the floor and led Tae through the apartment to the bedroom. He rummaged through his drawer for a sealed box of condoms and lube. He dropped them on the bed and sat on its edge. Tae picked him up and tossed him onto the middle of the bed. Clark moaned at the sudden roughness. Then, instead of taking his clothes off, Tae ripped every piece from his body and tossed the pieces behind him.

He spread his legs for Tae, allowing his lover to prepare him. When his hole was slick, Tae knelt between Clark’s legs and entered him slowly and deliberately.

“Mmm,” Clark moaned, hooking his legs against Tae’s hips and rolling into him. The movement caused Clark’s body to suck Tae in, pulling him deep and hard against that spot inside that curled Clark’s toes. “Shit.”

Sweat rolled from his body to disappear into the sheets beneath him, but all Clark could think to do was drag his nails over Tae’s back and beg him for more. Pressing his face into Tae’s neck, Clark writhed against him, taking him and purring with pleasure.

Tae wrapped strong arms around Clark’s back, pushing Clark in. Clark clung to his lover, relishing the feeling of Tae’s heart hammering against him, and inhaling the intoxicated scent of their bodies colliding. All of it was too much. Without warning, Clark’s dick twitched between their bodies and sent spurt after spurt of hot, sticky cum surging against their chests. He moaned and cuddled into Tae, licking lazily at Tae’s neck.

“I will never get bored of the way you react in my arms,” Tae whispered, kissing the side of Clark’s head. “Now, roll those hips for me, baby. Make me come.”

Sighing, Clark lifted his head, gripped both Tae’s shoulders and did what was asked of him. He rode his lover. With their gazes locked, Clark felt it the moment the condom expanded inside him and Tae’s body went stiff.

 

* * * *

 

Tae lay in Clark’s arms, enjoying the soft caress of Clark’s fingers against his chest. For the first time since he’d started dating, Tae felt an ease and comfort in another man’s arms that made his heart swell. He hung on to Clark a little tighter, neither speaking. The only thing passing between them was air. He enjoyed the peace in the small bedroom as it slowly darkened from the dying sun.

“So this is your bedroom,” Tae whispered, turning his head to drop a kiss to Clark’s forehead.

“Yup, home sweet home.”

“It’s nice. Warm.”

Clark kissed his nipple and Tae moaned. “You hungry?”

“Mmm.”

“Okay,” Tae said, climbing from the bed. He didn’t get far before he stopped and hurried back. He rolled them over to trap Clark beneath his frame. Clark laughed, tangling his arms about Tae’s neck. “It feels so good to hear you laughing in my arms.”

“You’re a sweet-talker.”

Tae smiled and kissed him deeply then, inhaling as their tongues swirled about each other’s. Though he didn’t want to, Tae managed to get them both in the shower then dried and dressed.

 

* * * *

 

He took Clark to his favorite restaurant where they were seated by the window overlooking the lake. He watched the perplexed look on Clark’s face while he perused the menu. When the expression didn’t go away, Tae reached for Clark’s hand. “Something wrong?”

“Yeah,” Clark replied, turning the menu over to look at the back.

When he didn’t say anything else, Tae chewed on his lower lip. “Baby?”

Clark looked up. “Um, there are no prices on this menu.”

“Don’t worry about it. This is my treat, remember?”

“Sure, but who buys things without knowing how much they are paying?” Clark leaned in to whisper hoarsely, “How do you know if they’re ripping you off? And what is a tartare?”

Tae laughed softly. “Really, it’s okay. Do you want to try the tuna tartare?”

“I don’t know what’s in it, so no.”

“Aside from tuna?”

Clark wrinkled his brows. “Smart-ass.”

Tae laughed. In the end, Tae ordered the bourbon chicken with rice pilaf. Clark, on the other hand, took a little longer to order, but eventually, he got the Mongolian beef with rice pilaf.

“What do you want to do with your life?” Tae asked as they ate.

Clark seemed thoughtful for a while before tapping the corners of his mouth with his napkin and shrugging. “I wanted to become a teacher.”

“What happened to that dream?”

“Kind of died after I graduated teacher’s college up to my eyeballs in student loan debts and no jobs.” Clark lifted his glass of white wine to his lips, but spoke before taking a sip. “I supplied here and there, but nothing really panned out. The field is full of teachers, just not enough schools to go around.”

“Have you ever thought of teaching abroad?”

Clark nodded. “Just never really followed through. The idea of being in a foreign country alone is terrifying.”

“What if you had someone in that country with you?”

Clark leveled his stare on Tae.

“Tae…”

“I’m not trying to throw money at you.” Tae placed his fork on his plate. “I have connections. You want a job in your field, am I right or wrong? Look. I cannot get you the job. I can get your foot in the door. Everything else is up to you.”

Clark sighed. “Let me think about it?”

Tae reached across the table to kiss him then changed the conversation to other things. For the first time since they’d met, the words flowed between them easily. The laughter that wrapped its way around them filled Tae with hope.