you're the little thing, my saving grace

Chapter 13

"So, Pete?"

Pete begins to suspect that he provoked Vegas for nothing. The younger man does not let go of him, holding him tightly by the shoulders and breathing into his face.

"I don't know..."

"Really? You took a step towards me, and now you want to hide back in the hole? That's not going to work, Pete. And throw in an excuse like 'you're still a child to me' — too. Because I haven't been a child for a long time. I'm an adult man, Pete."

"Then, as an adult man, you should understand that for me this is not some kind of temporary adventure."

Pete bites his tongue, realizing that in the heat of the moment he said more than he wanted to, much more than Vegas should have known.

"I'm more than serious about you and my feelings, Pete. But I do not know how you feel about me. I would like to know, I would like you to let go of yourself, stop holding back. I'm sure you're suffering inside," Vegas's palms slide lower over his shoulders.

Pete twitches in his grip, but Vegas holds him tightly, not allowing him to break free.

"No, you can't escape, I warned you."

"Vegas. All I can think about right now is how to sort out everything that's piled up."

"You're not going to be able to figure it all out at this particular moment anyway. But you can figure yourself out. I'll help you."

Vegas bends his head even lower and touches Pete's dimple with his lips:

"It's all from a lack of affection and care, Pete, all your distrust and tension. I know what it's like to live in lack of love. But no matter how hard it was," now Vegas is not just holding him by the shoulders, but completely embracing him, pulling closer to himself, "the image of you, my saving grace, has always lived in my heart. And you know, sometimes it seemed to me that…"

"Shut up already!" perhaps unexpectedly for both of them, rudely and desperately, Pete interrupts him, and then grabs him by the neck and presses his lips to his mouth himself.

Vegas is stunned. But it's a pleasant stunning. Laughing into a kiss, he quickly whispers "that's the kind of Pete I like" and takes the initiative in his hands and lips.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm doing," as if coming to his senses, Pete wants to back off again, but Vegas doesn't give him time to doubt.

Pete does not understand how suddenly he finds himself pressed against the edge of the kitchen counter, and then Vegas, pushing the dishes away, places him down on the edge at all. He pushes Pete's legs with his knee, so that they part and Vegas is now between them.

"Actually, you've just ruined my beautiful love confession, but I'll still have a chance to make it, I'm sure," Vegas presses his forehead to Pete's forehead, so that Pete has double vision, "but for now, just trust me and your heart."

Pete closes his eyes, his body begins to relax and go limp in Vegas' arms. And then the lips are under his lips. Vegas is affectionate, gentle and caring. And he's right. He's damn right. Pete missed all this so much.

They don't break off the first real kiss for a long time. They intertwine with tongues, cling more tightly to each other. Vegas hooks his hand under Pete's knee and wraps one of Pete's legs around his thigh. This maneuver takes Pete's breath away. Vegas. His adult, passionate, strong and brave Vegas.

"Pete," Vegas lowers his lips to his neck, biting into it as if it were the same kiss that had been postponed for ten years. "Pete."

Pete is really starting to let go of himself. Much more boldly, he strokes Vegas' shoulders and back, kisses his temples and cheeks, returns to Vegas' lips again and happens to be the first to press against them. Vegas greets him with heat in his eyes and a beautiful blush on his cheeks, Pete hides a smile on his lips. And then his heart is washed, like living water, by a wave of overflowing tenderness. Vegas takes his hand and brings it to his lips to gently kiss his open palm and wrist. At some point, his kiss turns from delicate to insistent, and when he tears his lips off Pete's wrist, a hickey turns scarlet in that place. Pete opens his mouth, but he can't protest. Vegas grins mysteriously and moistly licks the scarlet bruise, and then presses Pete's hand to his cheek and mumbles an apology. Pete exhales and only now decides to speak:

"Is everything all right?"

The fact is that Vegas is still between his legs, and the bodies of both have long been hot. Of course, Pete understands where everything is going, but for some reason it seems to him that this is not the most necessary thing for both of them right now.

Vegas hugs him again, resting his chin on the back of his head. Pete thinks he just doesn't know where to put his hands, but in fact he consciously hugs Vegas back. To be here, burying his hot face in the slightly trembling neck of Vegas… Pete almost agreed with his inner voice: this is exactly the place where he wants to be here and now. And they can stand like this for a long time, warmly and sincerely hugging after so many years of separation and waiting, and not even notice how somewhere on the kitchen table an annoying vibration breaks the phone.