Free Cherry Pie by Samantha Kane

know what that is.”
    “You.”
    Connor’s answer made John’s heart pound. But he knew that what Connor meant was sex. He wanted sex, and John was here. He understood that. He let his hands rub against Connor’s skin, so hot and smooth and alive. He’d missed the feel of another human being in his arms. And he had the feeling that was really what Connor wanted. To be with someone, to feel someone. To not be alone.
    “Then you get me.” John rolled away just long enough to push off his underwear. He nodded at Connor’s boxers. “Get those off.”
    Connor hesitated again. For someone who’d come asking for it, he seemed unsure whether or not he wanted it. John let the thought trail off as Connor reached down and shucked his underwear. John nearly swallowed his tongue at a naked Connor outlined in the moonlight.
    He rolled over Connor again, surprising him, and reached into the top drawer of the nightstand, pulling out some lube and condoms. He set them on the bed beside them and then framed Connor’s face with his hands. “Unless you tell me no, I’m going to fuck you.”
    He was serious as a heart attack. There was nothing—barring Connor’s refusal—that was going to keep him out of Connor tonight. He could go slowly. He could do all but that with Connor. He could dance around it and give them both the lie that they hadn’t really had sex. Or he could throw caution to the wind and live for today. He’d been living that way when he packed up his life and moved from California to North Carolina. And then it seemed his life had fallen into some kind of suspended animation until Connor arrived. He’d already decided to do this. He wasn’t going to settle for halfway anymore.
    Connor’s expression was as serious as John’s. “I’m not saying no.”
    That earned Connor another kiss. A mind-blowing, toe-curling, I-can-die-a-happy-man kiss. At least for John. The tenor of their encounter changed with the kiss. Perhaps it had changed with the words they’d exchanged. But whatever the cause, there was no hesitation now. They both knew what was going to happen, and it was clear they both wanted it. Badly.
    John wanted to savor Connor’s body, to taste it and enjoy it. It was impossible simply because he was overwhelmed by Connor: by his scent, his touch, his desire, the smoothness and heat of his skin, the thud of his heartbeat against John’s chest. But he was overwhelmed most by the knowledge that it was Connor underneath him in his bed, skin to skin and cock to cock. And before the moment melted away, he wanted—no, needed—to be inside Connor.
    “Now,” he whispered against Connor’s lips, and Connor nodded. As John pulled away, Connor followed his mouth, nipping at his lips, rising to rest his weight on his hands behind him until John was too far away, and Connor had to reluctantly let him go.
    John climbed off the side of the bed and grabbed Connor’s ankle, dragging him over. “Come here,” he growled.
    Connor laughed lightly. “Or else?”
    “Or else we can’t fuck,” John said. “And that would be a real shame.”
    “Yes, sir,” Connor agreed in his deep, quiet voice. “It would.”
    He slid over, and John tugged until his legs dangled over the side of the bed. “Flip over,” John ordered, and Connor complied, rolling over onto his stomach.
    “Like this?” he asked breathlessly.
    “Just like that.” John was as aroused as Connor sounded. He’d rarely gotten to play this role with Steve. He hadn’t minded, not really, not then. But he was different now. He wanted different things from Connor. He wanted what he wanted, and he didn’t want to compromise for someone else’s pleasure. Maybe it was selfish, but he just didn’t care right now.
    He had to lean across the bed to get the lube and condoms. He pressed himself flush against Connor’s back, and when Connor shuddered beneath him, John smiled. “Soon,” he told Connor as he pressed a kiss to his nape. A shiver raced