Page 51 of Squad Ghouls

He was too fucking cute.

Ugh.

“What were you doing before this, then?” Owain asked.

I sighed. “Chasing that feeling you were talking about. I could make it happen. I’d be successful and take care of my mum and everything would work out for me. I was dead sure about it.”

“And it didn’t work out?” Owain asked gently.

“Not exactly. Turns out running a team-building, retreat-style property hinges on a bunch of overgrown finance bros acting like adults.”

“They don’t, I assume?” Owain said.

“Not even a little bit. Companies aren’t really funding outings like that anymore, and I was covering a lot of damage done to the property and the entertainment stuff I had. It just wasn’t… I kept coming up short and so…” I shrugged.

“Did you lose a lot?” he asked softly.

“Everything I had.” His cute face fell and that full lip stuck out in a sad little pout. His chin wobbled slightly and I realised I did not want to see him sad. Ever, if I could help it.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

I leaned into him and nudged his shoulder with mine.

“I’m not,” I said, and he snapped his head to the side to look at me in question. “Led me to you, didn’t it?”

He blinked at me once, twice, the stars reflected in his eyes, and then he moved. Before I could work out what he was doing he was in my lap, arms around my neck.

He rested his forehead against mine. His cold thighs bracketed my hips and I spread my palms on his naked skin.

He felt real, solid. Like something I could hold on to and not let go of.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him in. My lips found his and I swallowed the soft, startled gasp he let out. I kissed him with zero hurry this time. With no eyes or ears around to see or overhear.

I tugged his bottom lip between mine and ran my tongue over the cool flesh. He was shivering, but something told me it wasn’t the cold getting to him.

“Ryan…” he whispered when I nipped at his lip and my mind spun with how good my name sounded coming from him.

I licked my way inside his warm mouth, the contrast between the heat of it and the chill around us making me groan. I couldn’t recall a single kiss that had ever felt like this, and I’d had so many of them. Not one of them had made me feel like I would overflow. Like I was a glass being poured into until not another drop could fit.

He squirmed in my lap and I felt him harden against me. My own cock filled and pressed between his legs. His hips rolled and he reached between us, aiming to touch me.

I gripped his wrist, as gently as I could, shocked at what I was doing. He pulled back from the kiss to look at me.

“You don’t…” he started, but I stole the words with another kiss.

“Let me just have you,” I said to him, releasing his wrist and running my hands over every part of his body I could reach.

“You can. You can take whatever you want.”

“Just this,” I said, pressing my thumb in the middle of his bottom lip before replacing it with my lips. “And this.”

I held him closer.

“Just you,” I said, leaning in to kiss him again. He melted against me, pliant and trusting and acting as if I deserved him.

And I swore I would. I had no idea how, but I’d find a way to be worthy of keeping him.

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