Page 86 of Playing By Ear

“Hmm, the back of my left knee is unnaturally sensitive. Maybe you should check?”

“Turn over.”

Jamie did, and Perry felt the bump of his toes against the mattress as he waved his lower legs in anticipation. He caught Jamie’s left calf and held it so he wouldn’t get kicked in the face.

“Sorry, got excited.” Jamie grasped a pillow and pulled it to his chest. “I’ll be still now.”

Perry moved to lie between Jamie’s legs. First he slid his fingers upward from Jamie’s left heel. Jamie quivered at this touch.

“Ticklish?” Perry asked.

“Only in the best way.”

Perry kissed the warm, soft, hairless spot behind his knee. Jamie uttered a contented murmur, and Perry added a careful nip, delighting in the wriggle it provoked.

“Find everything okay?” Jamie asked, already breathless.

“Inconclusive. I’ll keep looking.” With lips and teeth, Perry worked his way up Jamie’s muscular thigh and over the lower curve of his arse, each inch producing a stronger tremble. “I think I’m on the right track.” He parted Jamie’s cheeks and kissed the inside of each one. “Oh, here we are.”

With a twirl of Perry’s tongue, Jamie began to quake. “Oh God,” he choked out, “please tell me these walls are soundproof.”

“Mm-hm.”

Not since that first day in Buchanan Street, when Jamie belted out the chorus of “When Doves Cry,” had Perry heard him reach such heights. The next time he saw Jamie perform, he’d need something to cover his lap, because he’d surely get rock hard at the sound of that falsetto.

When he sensed Jamie was ready for more, Perry found the lube bottle. “Turn over.”

Jamie acquiesced with an “Mmmaguurd,” or something like that.

Perry explored him with fingers until he was supple and pliant on the inside—and begging on the outside.

“Please…” Jamie’s thighs lifted, the left one nudging Perry’s right elbow, urging his touch to deepen. “I want all of you.”

“All right, then.” Perry brought the condom close to his own eyes to check he wasn’t putting it on inside out—he could do it by feel, but best to confirm with something this important. He slipped it on and added what he thought was enough lube, erring on the side of too much.

Jamie pulled back his knees, spreading his thighs wide. Though Perry couldn’t see his exact expression, he could tell Jamie’s eyes were fixed on him. He moved into position, paused on the precipice, then let Jamie’s body envelop him as it yielded to the barest of pressure.

“Oh.” Jamie pulled in a shaky breath.

“Okay?”

“Mm-hmm.” The word ended in a drunken-sounding laugh.

Perry leaned forward to bring his face near Jamie’s, transfixed by his widening sky-blue eyes and fluttering amber lashes.

His gaze must have grown a bit too intense, because Jamie’s brows dipped together. “All right?”

Perry’s heart raced from more than mere lust. “I’m fine, I’m just—” Really fucking falling for you. “I’m fine.”

Jamie’s eyes seemed to search his. “I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered.

Perry almost pulled away. Was that the fear lurking beneath all these worries, that he’d lose Jamie again? “I know you’re not.”

“Do you know?” When Perry didn’t answer—couldn’t answer—Jamie touched his cheek and drew his thumb over the edge of his jaw. “Most of the time you cannae see the way I look at you, but if you could, you’d see someone who’s dead mad about yourself.”

Before Perry could reply, Jamie drove his hands into his hair and pulled him into the most ardent kiss yet. Down below, he parted another inch, making them both gasp. Perry had to steel himself to keep things slow and easy when the most insistent part of his body wanted to plunge deep and fast.

But for the parts of him that mattered most, this was enough. Kissing Jamie, being wrapped in his embrace as their skin traded heat for heat, was already everything Perry needed in this world. That, and the certainty that no matter what happened here, Jamie would still be in his life tomorrow.