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Freddie
Five cups of coffee had been a distraction to stop himself from thinking about kissing. A fatal flaw in his plan came from spending the next hour or so of the trip to Paddington Station going back and forth to the loo. Taine kindly didn’t smirk at him, at least not where he could see it.
Lips had never been an obsession of Freddie’s; he tended to be more of an abdomen and leg person. The taut muscles on a man could always twist his stomach into knots. It certainly explained why he’d always enjoyed watching football and rugby—players tended to have impressively muscled legs.
Taine’s lips, though.
Freddie’s eyes would drift down to the man’s mouth anytime he spoke. It had gotten to the point of being more than a little embarrassing. He couldn’t help himself; the man’s lips were full and plumper than they had a right to be. His own felt thin and small by comparison.
But Taine’s....
Hell. Stop staring.
Trying to force his mind to focus on something else, Freddie’s gaze roamed down towards one of the many black-and-grey tattoos on Taine. Visualising them didn’t do much help to re-centre himself when his brain immediately latched on the idea of where else the skin might be inked. Not. Helpful.
“They’re moko.” Taine’s deep voice broke into his self-recriminations. He gestured to the band inked on his forearm, visible with his shirtsleeves shoved up. “This is called ahu ahu matoroa. It’s meant to signify talent in sport, amongst other things. I’ve turtles along my spine and one on my shoulder, another traditional style. I’ve also got my left leg and my shoulders covered in a more modern twist of the typical Maori ink. It’s my way of paying homage to a part of my family’s ancestry. Do you have any tattoos?”
“Aside from the one on my right wrist that you’ve already seen?” Freddie pulled up his sleeve to reveal a second Doctor Who quote slightly further up his right forearm. “‘We’re all stories in the end.’ I have the Hogwarts crest on my left leg in watercolour, a nurse’s symbol with wings on my back, and one of the tailor of Gloucester from the Beatrix Potter story on my left arm. I might get a new one on my chest.”
“Of what?” Taine continued his perusal of the small mouse tattooed on Freddie’s left arm.
“Cheese.”
Taine practically gawked at his answer. “Cheese?”
“I’m a fan,” Freddie asserted defensively. “What’s wrong with cheese?”
“Nothing.” Taine seemed to shift from surprise to amusement quickly. “Do you have a dairy fetish?”
“Aren’t you hilarious.” Freddie chose to ignore the question. He grabbed his itinerary from the front pocket of his backpack. “We’ve a bit of a wait once we get to St Pancras in London before we catch the Eurostar train to Lille. Want to explore around the station a little when we get there?”
His not-so-subtle ploy to derail the conversation worked for the moment. They used their phones to hunt for a few places in London to visit while killing time before their third train departed. His excitement started to build at getting away from everything for a week—the attractive man next to him would be the cherry on top of his Bakewell tart.
The British Library near the station appealed the most to Freddie. Taine didn’t seem to mind. He’d been to London before, so it appeared more important to him that Freddie enjoyed himself.
“Are you going to continue to stare at my lips whenever you look my direction?” Taine’s voice dropped down to a husky whisper. “If you are, why don’t you bring yours a little closer to mine? You’ll see them far better with your mouth than your eyes.”
Cursing his exuberant and generally impulsive nature, Freddie leaned forward until their lips hovered a breath away from each other. One strong exhale could bring them close enough to qualify as a kiss. Taine didn’t move backwards or forwards; they both waited for the deadlock to be broken.
“Oh, why not,” Freddie muttered impatiently. He surged forward, closing the distance. His lips smacked awkwardly to the left of Taine’s, which caused the man to chuckle. “Oh, coc y gath, sorry.”
“Calm down.” Taine caught Freddie’s chin in his hand and guided him closer. His mouth controlled the connection. They had to tilt to avoid their noses mashing uncomfortably. The former rugby player’s tongue darted across Freddie’s lips and pressed the advantage. He delved expertly into their true first touch. “Now that is a kiss.”
“You should be ashamed.”
Freddie jerked away from Taine and snapped around to find a woman in her sixties glaring at them—or at Taine specifically. “Pardon?”
“You should be ashamed.” She pointed a bony finger at Taine. “Corrupting a young teenager. Is that legal? I’ve half a mind to report you. Are you okay, young man? Did he force you away from your parents?”
“A teenager?” Freddie swallowed down an irrational burble of laughter. “I’m twenty-six years old.”
“Oh. Oh, dear. I’m so sorry.” She covered her mouth in obvious embarrassment. “You look so young. I just assumed. Carry on then, loves. Never you mind me. It’s always good to see someone enjoying the pleasures of life.”
The two men stayed silent after accepting her apology. Freddie only dared to peek at Taine out of the corner of his eye once the woman had gone back to her seat. A clear mistake. It started with a snort, muffled quickly by his hand, but quickly dissolved into laughter anyway; it continued until their sides ached and they were gasping for air.
Freddie regained his composure just as the train pulled into Paddington station, forcing him to shelve any comments about the kiss. “Ready for the next stage of the journey?”
They caught the train to St Pancras. After perusing the library, they hopped on their third train of the day, the one that would take them to Lille. His excitement continued to build. The passing scenery only made it all the more thrilling for him.
“About earlier.” Taine brought him back to the humorous moment when they’d been kissing, only he didn’t seem amused. “I am too old for you. She won’t be the first person to make assumptions.”
Freddie waited until a group of passengers had walked past their seats on the way through to voice his opinion. “Too old? On what planet? I spend my days dealing with things most would find too hard to even comprehend. Guys my age? They never manage to deal with it. I might be a ‘happy bunny,’ but I’ve no time for silly nonsense. I’ve suddenly developed a thing for older men.”
“Really? Suddenly?”
“Apparently.” Freddie couldn’t help caving to the urge to lust after those lips again. “It’s a new thing, maybe it’s you specifically. Older certainly seems better.”
“Me?”
Freddie brought his hand up, dragging his thumb across Taine’s lower lip, grinning at the way the man’s facial hair tickled his finger. His laugh disappeared into a groan that he barely managed to swallow when Taine flicked his tongue across the teasing digit. “Definitely a you phenomenon.”
“Is it?” Taine caught Freddie’s wrist with his rough, calloused fingers. “We’ll see.”
