Free Drawing Closer by Jane Davitt

uncertainty in Gray's voice. "No. I want to stay." Gray kissed him, a light, damp kiss, flavored with the fresh tang of come. It brought back memories and Charles shivered
    and tugged Gray closer. "I want to stay," he repeated.
    "Cool," Gray murmured, his natural resilience seemingly back. "G'night. Sleep tight."
    Charles lay awake in the unfamiliar room until Gray, with a grunt that might have been an
    apology, rolled over, starfished out, and fell asleep.
    Drawing Closer - 49

Chapter Six
    The scritch-scrape of Gray's pencil as he shaded in the soft folds of the sheet trapped under
    Charles' arm woke his subject. Gray sighed as Charles moved, the position he'd held for twenty
    minutes lost.
    "Another five minutes; that's all I needed."
    Charles opened his eyes, blinked, and yawned. "Good morning to you, too," he muttered.
    "Good morning, Charles," Gray said gravely. "Did you sleep well?" He dropped the sketchpad and pencil on the bed and grinned. "You drooled on me."
    Charles groaned, squeezing his eyes closed. "God save me from early morning chirpiness."
    "It's ten o'clock." Gray watched Charles, wondering, a little uneasily, if he was going to leave in a flurry of insincere assurances that he'd call, yes, it'd been great. Gray had woken in too many
    beds and said just that to feel entirely safe.
    "It is?" Charles yawned again and opened one eye. "Coffee?" he asked hopefully.
    "Depends," Gray replied, picking up his sketchpad again and clutching it to him for comfort.
    "How long are you going to stick around after you've drunk it?"
    "Long enough." Charles propped himself up on one elbow and touched Gray's knee. "Come
    here." The sketchbook was abandoned again and Gray leaned in as Charles kissed him, a light
    press of his mouth that left Gray wanting more. Charles rubbed his thumb caressingly over
    Gray's jaw. "You shaved and you brushed your teeth. I feel at a distinct disadvantage."
    "I've spent the last twenty minutes wishing you'd wake up so I could touch you. You look fine
    to me."
    Charles glanced down at the sketch Gray had made. "Good God."
    "What?" Gray asked defensively.
    "You -- do I really look like that?"
    Drawing Closer - 50
    "Like what?" From where he was, the sketch was upside down, but that didn't matter. He'd
    drawn Charles, defenceless, vulnerable, frowning slightly, and that was how he'd been until he'd
    woken up and his face had smoothed out automatically.
    "Never mind," Charles murmured. He gave Gray a charming smile. "I really would like a coffee, if it's not too much trouble."
    "It's not." Gray hesitated, hoping that Charles would say something, maybe kiss him again, but Charles was resolutely not looking at the sketch and managing to look as unapproachable as he
    had in class, despite being naked in Gray's bed. He got off the bed, hitching up the boxer shorts
    that were all that he was wearing. "Coffee. Right."
    "Black," Charles called after him. "And may I use your bathroom?"
    Gray lost it at that. He turned, strode over to the bed, and kissed Charles hard, remembering a
    dozen kisses from the night before with Charles' lips open and eager on his. He pulled back,
    breathing quickly. "You can do whatever you want, just stop being so fucking polite."
    "I'm sorry," Charles said softly after a moment. "I'm just suffering from a slight case of the morning after. I don't mean to be -- I'm sorry."
    "Yeah," Gray snapped. "It's awkward for me, too. I'm just not as good as you at pretending stuff didn't happen. Which it did. On this bed. In the hall."
    "In the shower?" Charles asked.
    "What? We didn't..." Gray watched Charles' mouth curl up in a smile. "Oh. Yeah. We can do that."
    Charles pushed the covers away and stood up, flexing his shoulders and wincing. "Your bed--"
    "Yeah, it sucks," Gray said, taking in the sight of Charles, naked in the sunlight. "Big, but the springs are shot. God, I want you."
    That got him a startled look, as if Charles wasn't used to hearing that, or maybe wasn't used to
    people