Chapter 28

Ian laughed again. “Really, Corey. You look…”

His voice trailed off, and Corey waited, long moments where the only sounds were their breaths and the far away traffic beyond the hotel and the clatter of something dropped down the hall. Corey felt gentle hands on his brow, smoothing down his hair, and then tender lips touched his—tentative, unsure, but strong, impossibly soft.

A kiss this time, definitely a kiss. Corey melted back into the couch, hands reaching blindly to caress Ian’s chest and shoulders and neck. He pulled his friend down to him, opening his mouth as Ian’s tongue licked inside. Gently, Ian touched Corey’s face. “You look beautiful,” Ian murmured, kissing Corey’s cheeks, damp with tears Corey didn’t know he had cried.

Then those velvet lips kissed his eyelids, barely touching the wounded flesh, and Corey sighed shakily. Suddenly he saw again, saw Ian’s eyes behind his, chocolate and endless, staring back at him, seeing him.