Page 12 of Merrick

“That depends.”

“On?”

“Am I going to see you again?” he asked.

Wilder dragged his thumb across the front of Merrick’s chin. “That’s up to you.”

“What do you want, though?”

“I think I want you,” Wilder said softly.

Heat burst to life, burning through every joint, every limb, every inch of skin. Merrick fought himself under control, notentirely sure why Wilder’s simple interest and approval hit him so hard.

“Then yes,” he answered.

They’d fucked twice but hadn’t kissed, Merrick thought, as Wilder leaned in and turned his face to the side. Wilder had a good hold on him, his hand sliding along the curve of Merrick’s neck to keep him in place as their lips slowly and finally connected. The kiss was beyond chaste, a delicate press with no tongue and no heat. There was something so breathtakingly simple and necessary about it that Merrick’s knees went weak.

He moaned, fisted Wilder’s tie in his hand, and Wilder’s tongue slicked across his lower lip before pushing past his teeth and into his mouth. Wilder wrapped his arms around Merrick and stopped him from sinking down onto his knees, kissing Merrick and pushing him against the edge of the counter to get a better angle. The kiss deepened, and Wilder reached down between them, taking Merrick’s already hard again cock into his hand.

“Are you going to be okay with this when I go or will you need to go fuck to get it out of your system?” Wilder asked.

The question caught Merrick off-guard. Wilder had just said he wanted him, but in the next breath asked if Merrick was going to go out and fuck somebody else. They hadn’t talked about being exclusive. They hadn’t talked about being anything, but it was such a fresh approach that Merrick wasn’t sure what to do about it.

“I…I’ll probably go home and jerk off in the shower and then go to work.”

“Do you have time to paint before work?”

“Maybe. Probably.”

“Why don’t you do that instead?” Wilder proposed.

Merrick swallowed hard, their mouths still close and his throbbing dick still cradled in Wilder’s huge hand.

“I could do that.”

“Okay.” Wilder squeezed. “And you’ll be okay with that?”

“I think…very okay.” His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. “Do you really want me?”

Wilder chuckled, his eyes crinkling around the edges like he found the question amusing. “Very much. But…”

There was always a but.

“I’d like to have a conversation with you before we take things further than we already have. I…”

“You’re a Dom,” Merrick supplied, grimacing when the word left his mouth. He had no idea if that was what Wilder had been planning to say. For all Merrick knew, he could have been about to say he had to work late or take a trip out of town or something.

“I am,” Wilder said. “And before we do this again, I want you to understand what that means…for me and for…you, for whoever I’m with.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.” Wilder smoothed his hand over Merrick’s cock and pressed another kiss against the corner of Merrick’s mouth. “Go home and paint, shower. Would you come back later tonight for dinner?”

Oh, God, this was really happening.

“Yeah,” Merrick agreed. “I’ll come back.”

CHAPTER 6