“What’s the problem?” Jared asked.
“It’s silly,” Gabriel said with an embarrassed sort of laugh. “You’ll think it’s silly.”
“I promise I won’t,” Jared said.
When he started thinking Gabriel wasn’t going to tell him after all, Gabriel finally spoke. “I liked watching you with Jules. He’s mine and you’re mine, so it was—it was perfect. It’s just…You’ve barely looked at me all day.”
Despite his promise, Jared nearly laughed: Gabriel couldn’t seriously be jealous of an infant—that was too ridiculous even for Gabe. But the naked honesty in Gabriel’s voice gave Jared pause. Gabriel had always been possessive of him, but it had never been that bad. Never.
Moving closer to him, Jared ran his fingers through Gabriel’s hair and brushed his knuckles against his ear. “I’m not leaving again, baby.”
Making a soft noise, Gabriel leaned into the touch and turned his head, nuzzling into Jared’s fingers. Goosebumps ran up Jared’s arm, his cock straining against his boxer-briefs. Having Gabriel in his bed was always a turn on, but such a needy, downright submissive behavior made him instantly hard. His body was interpreting Gabriel’s neediness the wrong way, and he wanted. He wanted to shove Gabriel under him and rut against him—into him—until they both were sore and exhausted.
Trying to distract himself, Jared said, “I didn’t look at you much because I didn’t want to make it even more awkward for you.”
Gabriel stopped nuzzling his fingers and stiffened.
“So are we going to talk about it?” Jared said.
Gabriel actually moved away from him, which was perplexing in itself. Jared couldn’t remember the last time Gabriel had been the one to pull away.
“About what?” Gabriel said.
“You know what.”
“Nope, I don’t.”
“Gabe.”
Gabriel mumbled, “There’s nothing to talk about. So I walked in on you; big deal. I’m not—I’m not freaking out or anything.”
“Is that why you’ve been blushing every time you looked at me?”
“I wasn’t blushing.”
“You were.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Gavriil.”
Gabriel heaved a sigh. “Fine, maybe I was. It was just kinda weird. I mean, I looked at you and remembered seeing your…”
“Dick.”
“Yeah,” Gabriel said. “I mean, when you see someone doing that…it changes the way you see them, right? It’s kinda intimate. It would freak anyone out. So yeah.”
Jared didn’t understand why Gabriel sounded so defensive and awkward. Gabriel was hardly a prude. Walking in on someone jerking off shouldn’t have been such a big deal; all guys jerked off.
Unless…unless seeing him aroused had finally made it real for Gabriel. Too real.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to molest you or something,” Jared said flatly, acutely aware of the distance between them. Now Gabriel’s strange behavior suddenly made much more sense. “I’ve wanted you for years and managed not to jump you.”
“Don’t be silly—I don’t think you’ll molest me.”
Jared’s brows furrowed. He peered into the darkness. “Then what is this all about? Why are you freaking out on me?”
“Never mind. It’s nothing.”
“It’s obviously not nothing.”
“Look, just leave it, okay? Something happened and it freaked me out. I don’t really understand it either, so I don’t wanna talk about it—yet. When I figure it out, I’ll tell you. I promise.”
“All right.” Jared lifted himself on an elbow and reached out. He found that Gabriel was lying on his stomach a foot away. Gabriel’s muscles stiffened when Jared touched his back.
Jared pressed a kiss to his nape, inhaling Gabriel’s scent. “Just remember that you can always talk to me.”
“I know,” Gabriel whispered. Was it Jared’s imagination or was he really shivering?
Frowning, Jared pulled back and lay down again.
“I’ll sleep here tonight,” Gabriel said.
“Thanks for informing me,” Jared said dryly, but truth be told, he was relieved. No matter what was bothering Gabriel, it wasn’t bad enough to make him avoid Jared.
“You’re welcome,” Gabriel said, yawning.
Before long, his breathing evened out. Jared smiled. Gabe kept complaining about insomnia, but he always fell asleep easily whenever they shared a bed.
Muttering something in his sleep, Gabriel suddenly rolled over and sprawled half on top of him, doing his best octopus impression. His parted lips touched Jared’s nipple.
Fucking hell.
Jared tried to fall asleep, but it was an exercise in futility: he couldn’t relax.
He breathed deeply, trying to will his erection away. It didn’t work. It couldn’t work when Gabriel was all over him and Jared’s throbbing cock was pressed snugly against Gabriel’s stomach. Jared swore quietly through his teeth, the need wrapping around him like a coiled rope and frustration building in him with every passing minute as Gabriel’s proximity and scent drove him crazy. His fingers literally trembled with the urge to touch Gabriel’s smooth skin and slide under his boxer-briefs to knead his pert ass, and he couldn’t keep his imagination from running rampant. He imagined spreading Gabe’s cheeks open and burying his face against them, delving deep with his tongue until Gabe was trembling and his little hole was loose enough for Jared’s cock.
Gabriel mumbled something sleepily, his lips brushing his hard nipple again. Jared hissed. It was going to be a long night.