So, it occurs to me it’s Tuesday, and I owe you a Tickle, since I copped out last week. This one is from the Christmas novella that currently has me in a mad panic, because it comes out on December 3. Eek!

Shawn took advantage of Rob’s temporary distraction to slide his hands under his boyfriend’s sweater, moving it smoothly out of the way so he could run his fingers up the groove of his spine. Rob jumped and let out a strangled whimper, but continued his explorations down Shawn’s neck.

“You warm enough?” Shawn whispered.

“Yeah.” Rob sat back and peeled of his sweater. “You. Shirt off, too.”

Shawn sat up in a half-curl and pulled his t-shirt over his head. “You want more off than this?”

Rob tilted his head to one side and was quiet for a moment. “No. Not yet. This is nice.” He stretched himself out again on top of Shawn, warm skin against warm skin. “Slow burn. We’ve got all night. Unless you’re worried about Santa catching us.”

Shawn squirmed underneath him, feeling himself grow even harder at the sensation of Rob’s chest against his and Rob’s nipples rubbing past his own. “I think he’d understand.”

“Good.” Rob bent once more to Shawn’s mouth, only this time his tongue slid out to skim delicately over the inner surface of Shawn’s lips. It was barely more than a hint of pressure, the tip flicking along the sensitive nerve endings, but it coaxed a needy groan from Shawn’s throat. He opened his mouth wider and moved one hand up to cup the back of Rob’s head, bringing him close enough for a real kiss.

Rob laughed and then moaned as Shawn took charge, his tongue stealing in to tease at Rob’s. Shawn slid his other hand over Rob’s ribcage, dragging his fingernails lightly over the hollows between the bones. Rob arched into the touch, his hips shoving downward to rub against Shawn’s hard-on.

Shawn broke the kiss. “This is going to be more like spontaneous combustion if you keep that up.”

“So long as it’s your clothes that go up in flames. Maybe we better get them out of the way, just in case.”

“What happened to slow burn?”

“It suffered from spontaneous combustion.”

This is probably the sweetest thing I’ve ever written, except for maybe Jamie and Henry, which we can talk about next week, if you like. 🙂 Feels strange to suddenly have so many stories out.

But, you know what? I’m really looking forward to some down time. By that, I mean time that isn’t tied up in revisions, or promo, or anything like that. New words, new characters to meet, new worlds to explore. I’m starting to think about the steampunk again…