Echo (15 page)

Cole nodded his head. "
Are you all right?
I think so."

Anderson climbed to his feet. "I'll be right back." He held the condom on his cock as he walked out of the room. A proud, handsome man without even a hint of shame.

Cole just lay on his stomach. His ass ached, but endorphins made it so he didn't even mind.

He grinned. He wasn't a virgin anymore!

He rested his cheek against the floor and waited until he heard the sound of Anderson padding back into the room. He raised his head and made to turn over, but Anderson pressed a hand against the small of his back, stopping him.

"Let me check and make sure you're all right," Anderson said. His touch was almost clinical as he wiped Cole's ass with a damp towel, then carefully felt his hole. "Just a little redness, but no tearing or anything. You look all right." He sounded pleased.

There was a "plop" sound as Cole saw a small towel thrown on the floor next to the couch. Then Anderson was wiping him down with another towel, making sure to clean every bit of his skin before rolling him over and going over his front.

Cole lay limp on the floor, just looking up at Anderson's intent expression. He shivered when the damp cloth was laved over his cock and balls, but didn't help or hinder. He just watched Anderson, marveling at the fact that just moments ago this man had been fucking him.

"Thank you," he said.

Anderson gave him a surprised look. "What are you thanking me for?" He tossed the used towel over with the other one, not seeming to care that they would get the carpet wet. "I'm the one that should be thanking you."

"
I'm the one that should be thanking you
," Cole grinned. He reached up and pulled Anderson down beside him. "Whatever. Come here. I'm kind of tired."

"We should go to bed," Anderson said, but lay down beside Cole, pulling him close.

They lay naked in front of the fire, Cole's head tucked under Anderson's chin. They didn't have any coverings, but it was warm enough that neither minded. Especially when they were cuddled up together, their limbs entangled.

As he drifted off to sleep with the rushing sound of Anderson's heart beneath his ear, Cole couldn't help thinking that he'd probably just experienced the world's most perfect first time. And if anyone wanted to fight him about it, he would happily use the scientific method to prove them wrong.

His lips curved in a secret smile at the thought of having sex with Anderson over and over again.

CHAPTER TEN

He had never felt as content waking up in someone's arms as he did when he woke up next to Cole. There was just something so
right
about it.

Early morning light came in through the window curtains and the gas fire had the room almost too warm, but he really didn't want to move. So he just lay there with Cole resting against his chest, gazing up at the ceiling and contemplating the definition of contentment.

He'd always thought he was a pretty happy guy. But now he knew what true happiness was and it was something he planned on keeping forever.

Cole made a murmuring sound and stirred against him. His eyes slowly blinked open and he lifted his head. His hair stuck up everywhere and he was absolutely adorable; it was a remarkable transformation: sexy ingenue to human teddy bear. "What time is it?"

Anderson figured it must really be love because he didn't even mind the fact that Cole had morning breath. He pressed a kiss against Cole's forehead, swiping a hand over his head to try and smooth out his hair. "I don't know what time it is, but do you want to get up and have some breakfast now?"

Cole sat up and Anderson had to fight to keep from groaning in disappointment and pulling him back down. "
But do you want to get up and have some breakfast now?
That actually sounds like a really good idea. I'm hungry."

Anderson couldn't help pouting a little as he got up too and followed Cole around the room collecting his own clothes. Once he was dressed, he made sure to switch off the fireplace, then led Cole down to the kitchen.

He wasn't exactly the world's best cook, but with Cole setting the table and mixing up the orange juice, he managed to scramble some eggs with diced ham, bell peppers, mushrooms, and mozzarella cheese. It wasn't exactly the hardest thing ever, since everything had already been chopped up and left in little containers in the fridge.

He probably should have been offended at the idea that Laura didn't think he would be able to make food from scratch, but the sheer convenience of it all wiped away any complaints he might have had.

He carried the plates over to the table and set one down in front of Cole. "There you go. Practically breakfast in bed."

"
Practically breakfast in bed
. More like breakfast
out of
bed." Cole poked at his food with his fork before taking a bite. He made a humming sound of appreciation. "It's good."

"Don't sound so surprised," Anderson said, taking a bite of his own food. "Now eat it all. You need to keep your energy up for later," he leered.

Cole rolled his eyes, but continued to eat his breakfast.

After eating, Anderson quickly washed the dishes while Cole went to brush his teeth and shower. As soon as he was done, he ran up the stairs to catch a shower of his own.

They were going to go back to his dad's place so they could tell him just how much they loved the house. He figured it was kind of owed considering his father had just spent millions of dollars and at the very least deserved a "Thank you."

Though he definitely wasn't telling Cole how much the house cost. He could already tell that blatant displays of wealth kind of freaked the guy out, which was the complete opposite of what he wanted to do.

He showered and pulled on jeans, a tee shirt, and green sneakers. He just had to hope that Cole wouldn't completely freak out the first time he saw his shoe collection. Then again, he'd noticed that Cole had some collectible toys and he hadn't lost his mind over it.

Anderson found Cole waiting for him in the second living room. He was just kind of standing next to the couch, his cheeks pink as he looked around.

"Reenacting what we did in your head?" Anderson asked.

Cole glanced at him with a blush. "
Reenacting what we did in your head?
I still can't believe we did that." He ducked his head. "It was pretty hot."

"Yeah." Anderson slung an arm over Cole's shoulder, pulling him close against his side. "And I want to do it over and over and over again with you. What do you think about that?"

"
What do you think about that?
" Cole met Anderson's eyes through his lashes, his face still tilted downward with embarrassment. "I think that I might like that. A lot. There are tons of things I've read about that I wouldn't mind getting some first-hand experience with."

Anderson pouted. "You make it sound like I'm some new toy you're playing with. Will you just throw me away when you're done playing?"

Cole laughed and rose up on his toes to press a kiss against Anderson's mouth. "
Will you just throw me away when you're done playing
? No, I think I might just keep you around awhile."

Anderson grinned, his mind still stuck on the idea that that kiss was the first time Cole had kind of taken the reins. It was a good sign for the future.

"Well, we better get to my dad's house now before he sends out someone to find us," he said, pulling Cole toward the door. "He's gonna want to know what we thought of this place and he'll want the info now."

Cole's cheeks suddenly
burned
, they were so red. "
He'll want the info now
. He's totally going to know that we did it," Cole breathed, his eyes wide and glassy.

Anderson gave him a bland look, then snorted and shook his head. "One thing about my dad: he's not going to care what we got up to. As long as you don't say anything, he's not going to try and embarrass you."

"
He's not going to try and embarrass you
," Cole echoed. "Yeah, but he's just going to know what we did. I mean, that's so embarrassing."

"You're adorable, you know that?" Anderson said. "Come on, let's get over to my dad's house before he starts calling."

Cole still looked frozen with mortification just at the idea that people would know they'd had sex. It was so funny.

Anderson reached out and set his hands on Cole's shoulders, turning him so he could look him right in the face. "If you start getting super uncomfortable, tug on your ear and I'll run interference."

"
I'll run interference
. What are you now, Carol Burnett?" Cole shook his head, pulling away. "Let's just go and get this whole deal over with." He went to find his shoes.

Anderson stared after him for a moment, then snorted a laugh.

Cole was perfect.

By the time they got to his dad's house, Anderson had managed to get Cole calmed down some. He was even quieter than usual, but at least he didn't look like he was going to throw up or anything.

Of course, as soon as Cole was out of hearing range, George drifted up close. "So, things are going well with your... friend, am I right?"

Anderson gave his father a flat look. "He's a very nice man. Please do not scare him off." He glanced toward where Cole was insisting on helping Laura set out the food. "I really like him."

George's eyes almost had a physical weight as he looked at the side of Anderson's face. "I haven't seen you this happy in a long time. He's a nice kid and he really seems like he's good for you."

"Ya think?" Anderson asked.

"Yeah. You've been happier the last couple of days." George sighed. "I've never really bought into the idea of someone falling in love at first sight or anything like that, but it really seems to be working for you."

Unable to help himself, Anderson grinned, a bubble of laughter forming in his chest. "Yeah, it's working out real well so far."

"Wipe that goofy look off your face before he sees you," George said.

Anderson gave his father a short glare, but couldn't maintain it. Not when he was this happy.

* * *

There was this strange dissonance about being back home. Even though he'd only spent a couple of days away, just having had Anderson all to himself made everything feel a little weird.

On Saturday he played video games with Jeremy, and Anderson popped by for a couple of hours which was nice, though he had to run off because he had some paperwork he had to finish over the weekend. On Sunday his mother appeared like clockwork and clicked her tongue at him as she dusted behind the refrigerator and rearranged his silverware drawer until he couldn't find a butter knife later. He spent Sunday night putting everything back the way it was before her cleaning spree.

Finally it was Monday and he dressed in his work clothes and headed in to the office. He just had to hope that no one realized he'd blown off a day of work so he could spend it being thoroughly debauched.

No one asked him anything. They were all people that didn't know him and didn't seem to care about what he did in his off-time. He could only be relieved.

Once again, Anderson grabbed him up for lunch and they went to the cafeteria where they split a gourmet pizza. Anderson didn't even complain when Cole peeled all the toppings off and ate them one-by-one, though he did roll his eyes a little and hand him an extra napkin.