Page 106 of Wear It Like a Crown

He rolled off. “Get naked,” he ordered, almost too soft for a command, but Joshua complied instantly. With a bright look at Leo, he shucked his shirt and shuffled out of his trousers, then lay back on the duvet in tiny shorts.

“Naked,” Leo repeated, more confident.

Grinning, Joshua shoved the shorts down his legs and let Leo study him in the full brightness of the morning. His skin, still pale, was bound to bronze over the course of the two weeks ahead—two weeks that Leo would get to spend with him, right by his side. Already, he longed to trace tan lines that were yet to take shape.

“So beautiful,” Leo repeated, and fuck, it was sappy, but he didn’t care. Not when it made Joshua smile softly, cheeks red.

“But will you still love me when I’m no longer young and beautiful?”

It took Leo a moment to work it out, then he snorted. “Did you just quote Lana Del Rey while lying naked on a huge hotel bed on the top floor with a view of the ocean?”

“Sure did.” Joshua sounded perfectly smug, and Leo couldn’t, justcouldn’thelp leaning over him for a quick kiss.

“Well,” he said, sitting back on his haunches. “When you’re no longer young and beautiful, you’ll still be rich. So there’s that.”

“Hey,” Joshua drawled, eyes laughing.

Leo dipped down for another kiss and told him, close enough for hisbreath to tickle Joshua’s skin, “Of course I’ll still want you, Princey. Happily ever after, isn’t that how it’s supposed to be?”

“So we’re a fairy tale after all,” Joshua murmured, and Leo released a chuckle, then let his fingernails catch on the bump of Joshua’s collarbones. Joshua went still before he exhaled in a rush. Ah.

Leo did it again, more purpose behind it. This time Joshua shivered, gaze glued to Leo’s face. Shit, if Joshua continued to be this open and responsive, there was no way Leo’s resolve would last, no way he’d be able to take his time when all he wanted was to be closer.

Well. He’d just have to practise, then. Build up his immunity.

“Why are you smirking?” Joshua asked, noticeably breathless.

Leo shook his head and slid his hand lower, kissed the resulting gasp right out of Joshua’s mouth.

As it turned out, Joshua truly did prove a challenge for Leo’s willpower—moving into each touch, sighing at each mark Leo left in his path, hissing when Leo bit down on a nipple, then soothed the skin with his tongue. Fully untouched, Joshua’s cock was leaking precome already, and Leo was no better off; once he’d rid himself of his clothes, the friction on his dick, sheets sliding against his skin as he moved around Joshua, had his breathing come in quick, sharp bursts.

Never like this.

At Leo’s command, Joshua rolled onto his stomach and spread his legs. He was tightly coiled energy, yet pliant under Leo’s hands. Leo draped himself over his back, his cock slotting into the gap between Joshua’s thighs, and pressed his hips down. Christ, he could come like this. Make a mess of Joshua’s body.

“Can’t wait to be inside you,” he said, his voice rough even to his own ears. “Can’t wait to fuck you, make you mine. No one else gets to see you like this, yeah?”

“Yours already.” Joshua twisted his head to look over his shoulder, eyes glassy and lips plump and red, bitten. “No one else, Leo.”

Leo’s heart gave a dizzying lurch. He lifted himself up, rolled off Joshua to lie down next to him and study his face from up close. “It’s mutual. You know that, right?”

Joshua watched Leo for a heavy moment before he smiled. “Iknow.” He paused briefly before he added, all politeness if it weren’t for the spark of mischief in his eyes, “Now fuck me, please.”

Please, Leo’s brain echoed, and Jesus, Joshua was just too fucking much, too good to be true—and yet here they were. Leo reached out to twine a corkscrew curl around his finger, tugging, and watched Joshua’s lashes tremble and his eyes lose focus.

It took Leo several moments to find his ability for coherent speech. He needed to say this, though, needed Joshua to know everything. No holding back, not anymore. Leo’s throat felt tight, his voice a rough whisper. “Just so we’re—I mean, full disclosure. I’ve had sex with exactly one person in the last six years, and that’s you.”

Joshua’s smile widened. “I love you,” he mumbled, the contours of the syllables slightly blurred.

“Same.” Leo remembered to get some air into his lungs. His head was as empty and light as a hot air balloon. Draping himself over Joshua’s back once more, Leo pressed him into the bed with the weight of his own body. He considered dragging it out just for the hell of it, but his resolve crumbled when he nudged the dry tip of his thumb against Joshua’s rim, and Joshuashudderedinto it. He turned his head for a glimpse at Leo’s face, and Leo felt his skin crawl with molten heat, was probably flushed down to his collarbones.

Fumbling for lube and a condom, he settled between Joshua’s legs to work him open with his fingers. With sunlight streaming all around them, tangling in Joshua’s hair, everything felt slow and warm and golden, far removed from the distant noise of traffic. Leo shaped soundless words against Joshua’s skin, combined it with sharp nips at the sensitive skin between Joshua’s thighs, and Joshua responded with gasps and sighs, twitching against the sheets.

By the time Leo coaxed Joshua up on his hands and knees, he seemed barely able to support his own weight.

“You ready, love?” Leo asked softly, a palm between Joshua’s shoulder blades, steadying him with the other hand gripping his hip.

Joshua gave a choked laugh. His voice sounded wrecked. “Been ready for hours.”