Kiss Me Read online

  It wasn’t what Alejandro would have chosen for their third date, but considering they’d shut themselves in for the first and spent the second at his sister’s restaurant, he knew he couldn’t begrudge Mal’s wishes to spend time on his own turf. And Runaway was a nice gay bar, if a little off his beaten path. It would be interesting to see how well they worked surrounded by their peers. Alejandro had lost more than one boyfriend because they couldn’t deal with the attention he got.

  He took his time getting ready. Leather was too obvious, so he opted for white slacks and a green T-shirt that molded over his arms. Hair stayed down. He would’ve had to be an idiot not to see that Mal preferred it that way. It would be damp and annoying by the time they got done dancing, but to impress Mal, he’d live with the mild discomfort.

  Promptly at seven, the knock came at his door. Alejandro smiled as he went to answer it. He loved that Mal was so punctual.

  Mal wore jeans again, but these were dark blue, and a black Rolling Stones T-shirt. His one nod to the holiday was a small green and white pin. Kiss me. I’m Irish. Mal grinned and touched it pointedly.

  His eyes devoured Mal. It took only a couple seconds for him to step forward, cup Mal’s face, and devour his mouth as well.

  Mal immediately responded to the kiss, his hands going to Alejandro’s arms. If Alejandro had any doubts about Mal’s desire, they were firmly laid to rest as their tongues tangled, and Mal’s teeth scraped against Alejandro’s lips.

  “Does that mean you missed me?” Mal gasped when Alejandro broke away.

  “Absolutely.”

  “You don’t have an early call tomorrow, do you?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  As delicious as he looked, Alejandro was tempted to ask to forget the rest of the night and drag him back into his apartment. But Mal had made special instructions. He had done the asking. Alejandro was going to respect that.

  “It means you’re going to have to work very hard to peel me off you tonight.” He locked the door, slipping his keys into his pocket as he took Mal’s hand. “No early call, no sister hovering in the background. No excuses.”

  “I don’t plan on trying to peel you off me at all.” His fingers tightened around Alejandro’s. “Of course, I fully expect most of my friends to spend the night trying to get your attention.”

  “They’ll be out of luck.” As they headed out to Mal’s car, he couldn’t resist lifting their hands to his mouth in order to brush his lips across Mal’s knuckles. “Tonight, I’m all yours.”

  Mal caught his breath. “I think that’s the best thing you’ve ever said to me.” He unlocked the car door and Alejandro unwillingly released his hand. “We can leave early tonight, if you’d like.”

  He slid into the passenger seat, contemplating Mal’s words. He’d been trying to take things slowly, to keep this real instead of something that was just about fucking. The more time he spent with Mal, the more that seemed possible. But just touching him drove Alejandro crazy. This was their third date. That was waiting enough.

  “What are your plans for tomorrow?” he asked as Mal started the car. “Do you have any place you have to be in the morning?” His mouth twitched. “Church maybe?”

  Mal laughed. “No, no church. I don’t have anything planned for tomorrow except recovering from tonight.”

  The offer just popped out of his mouth.

  “You’re welcome to recover at my place if you want. Unless there’s stuff you need to get done before we leave for San Francisco on Tuesday.”

  Mal brought the car to a stop and looked over to Alejandro. He studied his face for a moment before smiling. “I’m all ready to go. I’d like to stay with you. Do you happen to know any surefire hangover cures?”

  Anticipation of falling asleep curled around Mal flooded through him. “I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”

  As Mal drove, he told Alejandro about the gig he’d lined up in San Francisco. “Now I can write off the whole trip,” he added with a laugh. By the time they reached Runaway, the small parking lot behind the building was full, and so was the alley. “Thank God for valet parking.”

  Once they were out of the vehicle and the keys were turned over to the valet, Mal took his hand again.

  “So we don’t get separated when everybody mobs around you,” Mal explained.

  Runaway was ready for the party. Over the door, a big sign proclaimed, “Happy St. Patrick’s Day!” Four-leaf clovers plastered over the windows, and the throb of music played at deafening decibels blasted into the street when Mal opened the door for him. Alejandro felt like he was walking into a work gig. He didn’t normally hang out at gay bars or clubs anymore; the recognition factor made him uneasy, especially in Los Angeles. He dealt with it professionally, of course, but that didn’t mean he liked it.

  Tonight would be an exception. For Mal, he’d smile and mean it.

  He let Mal guide the way. The other man seemed eager to reach the party already raging inside, and though more than one person did a double take when they saw him, Alejandro deliberately set aside the last of his trepidations about a night out on the town. Mal had had difficulties from the start believing Alejandro wanted to see him. If proving it to the public was what it took to finally get through to him, then so be it.

  “The darkest beer they have,” he said when Mal asked him what he wanted to drink.

  “One heffi and one stout,” Mal said, just barely over the roar of the music.

  “Sorry, we’re only serving one kind of beer tonight.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Green.”

  Mal laughed. “Then two of those!”

  As the bartender turned away, another hand fell on Mal’s shoulder. Mal spun around with a smile, greeting a man who was a little bit taller and looked to be a little bit younger than Mal himself. “Hey, look who showed up.”

  The other man grinned widely. “Told you I’d be here. Who’s this?”

  “Oh, Jay, this is Alejandro. Alejandro, this is my friend, Jay.”

  Though he smiled and extended his hand in greeting, Alejandro saw the exact moment recognition dawned in Jay’s eyes. Mal watched them intently, obviously trying to gauge the reaction, but Alejandro just let it slide without acknowledgement.

  “So Mal’s friend,” he said instead. He released his hand and casually reached around Mal’s waist, slipping his hand into the far back pocket. It was obvious, but that’s what was going to be called for tonight, apparently. And he didn’t want anyone to doubt exactly why he was there. “Does that mean you’re the one I hit up for all the juicy details on how to wrap him around my little finger?”

  Jay snorted. “Are you kidding? I’ve been trying to do that for months now.” He looked pointedly at where Alejandro’s hand disappeared. “It looks like you’ve been a bit more successful than me. Maybe you should tell me one of your tricks.”

  “Maybe that’s because you’ve got your eye on about a half dozen other guys,” Mal cut in.

  The grin never left Jay’s face. “You know I’ll dump them all for you.”

  Alejandro bit his tongue. Players like Jay were exactly why he didn’t usually bother with the scene anymore. And as tempting as it was to make a cutting remark, he knew he couldn’t. Not if he didn’t want to fuck with his career.

  “I guess I’ll just consider myself lucky then,” he said. He leaned back against the bar, deliberately aligning his hips with Mal’s. “Very lucky.”

  Jay’s eyes narrowed for a moment before he was pulled away by a young Asian guy, laying a wet kiss right on his lips. Mal waited until they were safely from hearing distance before saying, “I promise, he’s the worst one here. Everybody else is pretty all right.” Mal turned to face him, pressing his body against Alejandro’s. “Can I talk you into a dance?”

  His cock was already hard, and the rough edge of Mal’s fly only sensitized him further. On the dance floor, it would only be worse. And so much fucking better.

  Grabbing his beer,
Alejandro downed half of it before setting it back on the bar. “Your wish is my command,” he said, lacing their fingers together.

  The music throbbed around them and the strobe lights followed the rhythm of the drums. The dance floor was already crowded, though not quite full, and Mal had no qualms about pushing through the writhing bodies to find a clear spot on the floor. Mal started dancing immediately, but the longer they stayed on the floor, the more Alejandro realized that his date was not the one attracting attention.

  Hands began brushing along his body. He was sure it was accidental at first. A touch along his arm. A brush against his hip. Each one just drove him closer to Mal, until he had his arm locked around Mal’s waist and was grinding their cocks together. For that, Alejandro wasn’t going to complain. He already knew from hours of making out on his couch that Mal was deceptively muscled. Now he also had the reminder that Mal’s cock would feel like heaven buried in his throat, and sheer nirvana splitting his ass.

  It wasn’t long until the heat and sweat and physical contact began to make Alejandro heady. The unmistakable stench of pot began to drift over their heads. When he needed a breather, he’d drag Mal back to the bar, where they would quickly down another beer, then dive back into the sea of flesh. Each time they ventured onto the floor, people began to take more and more liberty with Alejandro’s personal space.

  It was easy to block out the others if he concentrated on Mal. For every new touch, he took one of his own. Someone touched his ass, he slipped his fingers beneath the back of Mal’s waistband. Someone else pressed into his side, he caressed Mal’s chest, seeking out a single hard nipple.

  And when he caught the eye of someone winking at him, Alejandro finally yielded to the desire to taste Mal’s skin. He bowed his head and licked a path of sweat along Mal’s jaw, ending at his ear.

  “If you told me to drop to my knees right here, right now, I’d do it without batting an eyelash,” he whispered.

  The music drowned out Mal’s moan, but his entire body shook with a long shudder. Mal tugged at his shirt, untucking it, and seeking out Alejandro’s heated flesh with his slick fingers. Every touch fanned the desire already flaming through his body.

  “Want you,” Mal gasped. “So much.”

  Alejandro cast a discerning eye around the bar. He was just drunk enough—and definitely horny enough—not to care about fucking in public tonight. But hell if he was going to do it on the middle of the dance floor.

  When he spotted what he wanted, he turned back to Mal. His mouth went dry at the lust gleaming in Mal’s eyes, but he managed to keep from ignoring his decision not to fuck then and there long enough to return his mouth to Mal’s ear.

  “You get us over to the corner by the dart board, and I’m all yours.”

  Mal nodded and gripped his hand tightly. It was more difficult to get off the floor than it was to get to the middle. Each person they passed reached for them, almost indiscriminately. Bodies grinded against Alejandro, hands reached for Mal, and almost everybody required a kiss as payment for passing. Mal didn’t let anybody deter him from his goal, but he didn’t protest either, and he didn’t seem to notice, or mind, when a few began to follow them.

  As soon as they reached the cooler corner, Mal cupped the back of Alejandro’s neck and found his mouth.

  This, this hot, sweet suction, this was what Alejandro had been waiting for, yearning for, ever since taking Mal’s hand outside his apartment. They molded together, and he ran his hands up and over Mal’s chest, wishing the cotton T-shirt wasn’t in his way. He wanted to feel their skin rubbing against each other, sweaty and salty so that he had to lick them clean. He wanted all of it, and now, six months of waiting, anticipating, bubbled over to make him heedless of whoever might be watching.

  Mal was obviously on the same page. As soon as Alejandro lifted his head to gasp for air, Mal peeled the T-shirt over his head. His mouth was hot and wet, and it seemed to be touching him everywhere. After a few hazy seconds, Alejandro realized that it wasn’t just Mal’s hands and mouth on him.

  “Feel so good.” A trail of wet kisses led to Alejandro’s ear, and Mal’s breath blew hot across his neck as he spoke. “Nobody feels like you do.”

  He was dizzy with desire. This was better than the best sex he’d ever had on set. Fuck, it eclipsed anything that happened there, and he wasn’t even naked yet. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d wanted someone as badly as he wanted Mal.

  He needed to show him.

  Pushing Mal against the wall, Alejandro pinned him there by the shoulders long enough to keep him from moving away, mouthing wet kisses over his shirt as he began to move lower. Fingers caressed his cheek, but the lighting was dim and it was impossible to tell just who was doing the touching. He didn’t think it was Mal. Mal had his fingers knotted in Alejandro’s hair. He kept them there even after Alejandro was on his knees, lined up perfectly with the object of his desire.

  He looked up at Mal through his lashes and waited until Mal met his eyes. Then, slowly, deliberately, he leaned in and ran his teeth along Mal’s denim-covered erection.

  Mal might have said something. He might have even groaned. The only thing Alejandro knew for sure was that Mal’s fingers tightened against his scalp until his skin tingled. Alejandro continued to mouth him through his pants, sinking his teeth against his flesh when Mal jerked his hips forward. Alejandro glanced up again just as a shadowed face moved closer, the stranger’s mouth descending onto Mal’s.

  A flare of jealousy ratcheted through him. He didn’t mind hands pawing over him—he was used to it—but the thought of anybody but him kissing Mal tonight made him see red. Abruptly, he broke his hold on Mal’s cock, pushing off the men who’d approached to pet him as he prepared to blow Mal, and straightened to shove away the stranger.

  “He’s with me tonight,” he growled. And to prove his point, he slammed his mouth to Mal’s.

  All their earlier kisses had been hungry, but this one was completely possessive. Alejandro kissed him like he wanted to obliterate the memory of every kiss, every person, who touched Mal before that moment. Mal matched him, followed his lead, didn’t pull away or hesitate to respond. Alejandro’s lips felt a little swollen and raw when the kiss finally ended, and Mal’s breath was coming in harsh, ragged gasps.

  “We don’t have to stay.”

  He searched his eyes, dark and fathomless. “I thought you wanted to have a night out with your friends tonight.”

  “I did, but not half as much as I want to be with you.”

  “I have no idea how we’re going to get back to my place without pulling over.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jay lurking in the background. Alejandro grabbed Mal’s hand, scooped up his shirt, and began dragging him away from the corner. “But damn if I’m not going to try.”

  Chapter 5

  They made it back to Alejandro’s without pulling over, but it wasn’t easy. Mal didn’t keep up with Alejandro’s drinking, so he felt comfortable driving. But he wasn’t in danger from the alcohol in his system. Alejandro’s fingers and mouth and soft promises did more to distract him and make his head spin.

  He had known that the party would probably degenerate to sex. It did every year. He hadn’t expected Alejandro to kiss him like that. It never occurred to him that Alejandro would be so…possessive. But as soon as Alejandro kissed him, Mal knew he didn’t want to be in the middle of a lot of nameless flesh. He didn’t want mouths and hands pulling his attention away from Alejandro. There was no person in that room he desired as much as Alejandro, and nobody worth staying for.

  As soon as Alejandro’s door closed behind them, Mal was drawn to the other man’s body, his mouth watering, his fingers tingling. Was it even possible to get enough of Alejandro? Mal didn’t think so.

  Alejandro helped him get out of the shirt he’d stripped off him at Runaway, his long hands folding over Mal’s fingers. His head tipped back as Mal latched onto the sharp edge of his shoulder, and he shuddered when
Mal dragged his teeth down to a dark nipple.

  “You drive me crazy,” Alejandro muttered. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you all week.”

  Mal worked Alejandro’s belt free without lifting his head, lapping his tongue over Alejandro’s salty skin again and again. He couldn’t stop his sigh of satisfaction once he worked Alejandro’s pants open and grasped his hard cock. His skin was smooth, and his flesh throbbed. Mal had to take a step back and look at him. He had seen Alejandro so many times before—during shoots, developing pictures, and in his movies—but Mal couldn’t remember any of that. Because he had never seen Alejandro like this—hard for him.

  “You’re just so…” Mal’s voice was thick. “Amazing.”

  Alejandro reached forward and grabbed a belt loop, tugging Mal back against his body. “My turn,” he said.

  His breath was sweet as he bent his head. With his fingers busy at Mal’s waist, he licked a wet trail down his neck, sucking at the softer tissue at the base of his throat. Mal scrambled to hold on, hands clutching at Alejandro’s bulging biceps. He couldn’t hold back the moans, even when Alejandro lifted his head again to find Mal’s mouth.

  “Tell me what you want.” He pulled out Mal’s cock, fisting both their lengths together. “Because I can’t decide. I want it all.”

  Mal might have had a wide array of fantasies, fueled by his own imagination, as well as knowing exactly what Alejandro was capable of, but he forgot all those. He really only wanted one thing—to be as close as possible to Alejandro. He wanted to feel Alejandro’s smooth skin and muscled chest against his. He wanted to lose himself in endless kisses. He wanted to be totally surrounded and overwhelmed.

  “I want to fuck you,” Mal breathed.

  “Oh, thank God.” Alejandro licked along Mal’s lower lip, his strong hand squeezing their cocks even more tightly. “You have no idea how badly I was hoping you’d say that.”