The Silver Fox (Red's Tavern 3)

“Perry,” I said, “is this what I think it is?”

“Huh?” He turned to glance. “Oh. That?”

I stared at the photo, which appeared to be a shadowy photo of one thing and one thing only. “Am I looking at a giant dong right now?”

He snorted. “It is an abstract artistic nude photograph, yes,” he said. “By a very well-respected artist out of Vienna, actually.”

“You have a big ol’ dong pic in your hallway,” I said.

“I have artwork in my hallway.”

“I like it, don’t get me wrong.”

“Get your ass over here and let me show you where the condoms and lube are,” Perry said, grabbing my hand and leading me down the rest of the hallway. We entered his bedroom, which was painted the same beautiful blue as the living room, with the same care given to decorating details.

“Your place is incredible. End of story,” I said.

He opened a door that led to a walk-in closet. It was organized well, and on one wall was a wooden shelving unit.

“Here,” he said, sliding open a drawer.

Inside, there were small labeled bins for all sorts of things—band-aids, extra toothpaste—and then my eyes landed on one bin in particular.

CONDOMS & LUBE

“Perry,” I said.

“Yes?”

“You’re meaning to tell me that you keep your condoms and lube in a labeled container,” I said, more a statement than a question. “And that means at some point, you sat down with a label maker and typed out ‘condoms and lube’ specifically for this?”

“Yup.”

“You are one of my favorite human beings I’ve ever met,” I said, shaking my head as I grabbed a couple condoms and the small bottle. “And I hope you never change.”

He was blushing slightly, but the smile on his face was wide. “I like that,” he said.

“God, you are fucking hot,” I said, looking him up and down. Even in the strange overhead light of the walk-in closet, he looked like some sort of demigod to me.

It felt so good to just say it. To not worry about what it meant about me, or why I was interested in a guy for the first time. He was hot as hell, and he’d been hot as hell since the moment I first laid eyes on him. It was as obvious as saying the sky was blue.

I saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. “I really want you inside me,” he said. I could hear the hunger in his voice.

I pressed my lips to his, pushing my body against him and backing him out of the closet toward the bed. My steps were awkward and a little fumbly because of my ankle, but for the first time in a long while, I didn’t care at all. I was so glad I’d taken the damn boot off already. I tossed the condoms and lube up onto one side of the bed.

Just watching him sit down on the edge of the bed was enough to make my heart pound a little faster. Christ, when was the last time I had wanted someone so badly? Of course I’d had sex, but my desire for him felt like so much more than that.

I really wanted to be with him. In every sense of the word. He was letting me into his life in a way that nobody ever had before, and the feeling was more staggering than I expected.

“I want you naked,” I blurted out.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” he said, standing up again quickly and unceremoniously pulling off his shirt. He stripped his pants off next, turning to the side so I could see the profile of his perfect ass and a side view of his cock, hard and standing at attention in front of him.

Delicious.

“That’s better,” I said. I knew I probably seemed a little dominant in the moment, and I definitely had no problem with that, but in reality, I was just asking for exactly what I wanted. And I was the luckiest guy on Earth, because Perry seemed to want it, too.

“Too many clothes,” he said, looking me up and down as he sat back on the edge of the bed. “Way too many.”

“Damn if that ain’t the truth,” I said. I pulled off my baseball cap and flung it onto a nearby chair. My shirt and pants were next to go, and I was careful as I balanced to take off my boxer briefs. I was hard as hell, too, and after I’d stripped, I turned back to him, palming myself gently to relieve even a small percentage of the ache.

“Get over here, you big jock,” he murmured. It made my heart do a stupid little backflip.

“Don’t have to tell me twice, Chef.”

I straddled him again, sinking into the plush down comforter around him. His skin on mine was warm and perfect, exactly the amount of contact I had needed. My cock pressed down against his as I bent down, claiming his mouth with mine again.