Lustful Gaze (London Loves #6) (14 page)

He smirked at Harry. “Ready for a dip?”

Harry pulled off his trousers and dropped them on the pile of clothes. Edward carefully undid the scarf and folded it neatly before adding it to the pile. Harry removed his expensive watch and sunglasses, and threw them down with everything else. Then Edward held out his hand and they strode together towards the water, quickening their pace as they neared, so that eventually they took a running jump. Edward relished the thrill of flying through the air, then he splashed down into the freezing murky water and shrieked as it prickled his skin with its chilly grip. He darted his gaze around for Harry and saw that he was grimacing in pain and jumping up and down in the chest-high water, as it rippled around his torso. Edward stretched his legs down and touched the silty floor, then paddled over to Harry.

“You okay?”

“Fine! It’s just bloody cold!”

Edward burst into giggles of elation. “You didn’t expect it to be warm, did ya?”

Harry laughed. His teeth chattered and his jaw already sounded numb. “We must’ve crashed right through the layer of ice, huh!”

Edward sloshed his arms out of the water and wrapped them around Harry. “Let me warm you up!”

Harry sunk into Edward’s body. It felt amazing to touch him like this – even though he was shaking from the cold. They both
could
reach their feet down to the bottom, but actually, they raised their legs and floated in a little bundle, desperate to retain as much heat as possible in each other’s arms. Edward hugged Harry close and kissed him on the lips – which were starting to turn blue.

“Hey, you wanna get out?” Edward asked.

“No.” Harry gazed into his eyes. “I like it in here with you.”

They bobbed around together, and Edward relished the feel of Harry’s wet skin against his. He wondered whether he’d be able to get away with moving his hand down to grope Harry’s ass, but Harry suddenly pulled away and splashed over towards the bank.

This sudden severing of their secure connection smacked Edward hard in the chest. He swam over to join Harry near the water’s edge. “You okay? Did
I
do something wrong? You can’t read minds, can you?”

Harry chuckled. “No, you’re sweet, Edward. Adorable.”

Edward beamed. “Thanks.”

Harry traced his fingers through the water. “In India, if you dunk yourself in the River Ganga, it washes away your sins from this life and all previous lives.”

Edward laughed. “All previous lives, too? So it’s like a ‘get out of jail free’ card for your religion, huh?”

Harry forced a smile. “You refuse to understand me.”

Edward rested a hand on his damp shoulder. “No. You don’t have any sins, Harry. You’re perfect.”

“You are, too. I know what you think about yourself, but you really are a great guy.”

A flash of contentedness zapped through Edward and he suddenly felt as if he was home; connected with himself. He
loved
himself. He gazed down at his rippling reflection in the pond and saw another Edward smiling up. “Oh shit, I just saw him!”

“Who?”

“Nothing. Just someone Scott was talking about.” Edward laughed, trying to shrug off this strange moment. He sprang to life and grabbed Harry around the shoulders.

“What was it you were saying about dunking?” he said.

“No!” Harry shouted – even though he wasn’t resisting at all. He even had time to cover his face as Edward pushed his head under the water. Edward dunked himself at the same time, enjoying the feel of the liquid sloshing around him. They both shot up like phoenixes rising – reborn. Edward wiped the water from his face with his wet hand and pushed his damp hair out of his eyes. Harry’s quiff was completely flattened now, but he still looked gorgeous.

They laughed together. Harry placed his fingers on his forehead. “My hair – it’s totally ruined!”

This made Edward laugh even more. He noticed Harry shiver. “Come on, let’s get dry.”

They hauled themselves out and flopped down on the grassy bank, dangling their feet into the cold water. Harry reached up and tried to style his hair.

Edward hugged his own goose-bumped body. “You look great.”

Harry let his hair be and smiled. “Thanks.”

Edward leaned in to kiss him, but Harry suddenly stood up and squelched back towards their clothes. Edward tried not to let the rejection hurt too much. This was all new to Harry. Hopefully he was just feeling nervous. Edward padded over to join him and they sat in the sunshine, both knowing they couldn’t just ignore what they’d started. The sexual tension between them now was as thick as December fog.

Edward spoke first. “How much kissing did you do with that girl you tried to have sex with?”

“Not much.”

Harry reached behind him and grabbed the scarf from the pile of clothes. Edward expected him to use it to dry his hair, but instead, he unfurled it and wrapped it around Edward’s shoulders. 

“Keep you warm,” Harry said, leaving his arms around Edward. “Suits you. Nice colour on your skin.”

“Thanks.”

Edward tenderly gripped Harry’s arm and moved his face towards him. Harry hesitated, then he leaned forward and kissed Edward on the lips. Edward smiled as the lust rushed through him. But it was purer than usual. Enchanted.

Harry pulled away. They grinned into each other’s eyes.

“I like how it feels to kiss you,” Edward said.

Harry grinned. “Me too.”

Edward held Harry’s hand, then he kissed him again, more boldly this time. He pressed his lips against Harry’s, and eased his tongue into that gorgeous mouth, sending dazzles of elation throughout his body like a lightning rod conducting a powerful jolt.

Then they were kissing and kissing – tongues intertwining and lips hungrily writhing against each other. Harry tasted exquisite. He let out a gentle moan and his arms fell around Edward’s shoulders. Edward pulled Harry against himself and the kiss increased even more in passion, causing time to freeze and space to blur. An urgency to fuck Harry burst up through Edward, but he knew he needed to take this slowly – it was awesome to be here with him, kissing in the sunshine.

Edward gently pulled Harry down by the shoulders and they dropped to the grass, then they continued kissing, on their sides, in each other’s arms. Edward grabbed the dupatta from his shoulders and pulled it over their hips, wrapping it tightly around Harry’s gorgeous butt and binding them together. Edward reached down and eased Harry’s damp boxers down to his thighs, allowing his hard cock to bounce free, then he quickly pushed down his own underpants, too – kicking them down to his ankles. He wriggled forward and pulled Harry close. Harry’s straining cock brushed against the tip of Edward’s own erection – surging intense arousal through his soul.

The grass smelled of glorious childhood summer days, making Edward feel nostalgic, but as Harry grinned, a key of present-moment affection twisted deeply inside Edward’s heart. Edward kissed him on the lips again, then lowered his face and nibbled the soft skin of Harry’s neck, collarbone, and chest, as his hands caressed their way down Harry’s svelte body, desperate to get his cock in his hand. As Edward glanced down, he saw that Harry’s cock was light brown, smooth, and perfectly formed – just like the man himself. He grasped Harry’s erection in his fingers and started to tug it in the rhythm that he’d practised so many times on other men. But this was different. He was under no obligation to please Harry – but he wanted to, more than anything in his entire consciousness right now. Harry’s pleasure was all that mattered. And he seemed to be getting his wish, because Harry gasped with joy and threw him a far-out smile, then he wriggled in to suck Edward’s earlobe. Edward sensed that Harry felt timid about touching
his
cock, but he was straining with excitement, so he squeezed Harry’s erection lovingly, then took his own cock in his other hand – unable to resist touching himself now.

Harry’s arm fell around Edward’s back and he groped his ass, which delivered lustful delight through Edward’s tense body. He wondered whether Harry might probe his crack with a finger and massage his rim, but it he didn’t seem very confident – and that was okay – there was plenty of time to teach him how to please a man. What fun they could have practising together!

Edward thrust his hips forward and pressed his own cock against Harry’s, grasping both erections in his hands and sending pure pleasure into Edward’s brain. He started to move his hands in a sensuous rhythm, gripping their cocks and enjoying the sizzling sensation of rubbing them together. He leaned closer to Harry and hungrily kissed his mouth, face, and neck. It felt amazing to be jerking them both off at the same time – to know that he was pleasing Harry just as much as he was pleasing himself right now. Harry looked delicious – with spellbound delight plastered over his face.

Edward’s wrists shot with pain, because the rhythm was so fast, but he refused to stop. It felt as if Harry’s cock belonged to him – they were part of each other – they owned each other’s pleasure. The feel of Harry’s cock rubbing against Edward’s own jolted his desire upwards, and he realised he was going to come soon. He glanced at Harry’s face and saw that he looked utterly possessed – he was grinning and panting; loving the experience. Harry’s body tensed suddenly and he started to ejaculate, which caused him to topple forwards, pushing Edward back, so that he rolled on top of him. The feel of Harry’s fit body pressing against his own – and ejaculating over him – threw Edward’s lust into overdrive, and he groaned with joy, as their sticky discharges burst out and merged over Edward’s fingers.

On his back now, Edward opened his eyes and grinned up at Harry, who was pinning him in place. Harry gazed down at him and they both giggled.

“I didn’t know people did that!” Harry said. “Both at the same time. Wow, that was amazing!”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” Edward said.

Harry ran his fingers through Edward’s hair and kissed him tenderly on the nose. “I really did – thank you!”

Edward snuggled into Harry’s arms, relishing the lightheaded feeling that his orgasm had incited. “Thank
you
! I feel like my sins have been washed away. From this life and my previous lives.”

Harry squeezed him tight. “I feel like that, too. Pure. Full of light.”

Edward reached up and held his hand. “You’ve got lovely fingers. Artist’s fingers.”

“Thank you.”

Edward sucked Harry’s index finger. It was soothing somehow. As they lay there together in the sunshine, he started to drift into a spongy post-orgasmic snooze, but Harry spoke, pulling him back to reality. “I think we should appropriate ourselves for Scott and Paul.”

“I don’t know what that means, but it sounds horny!”

Harry chuckled. “I mean, we should do for them what they did for us.”

“They didn’t do anything for me. I already knew it all… Wait, are you saying you wanna have sex with me in front of Scott and Paul?”

“Yes.”

“For more practise?”

“No, because I’m ready. And because I really, really like you.”

Edward glanced up into his eyes. “I really, really like you, too. And to be honest, I was a virgin before I became a sex worker. It’ll be nice to have sex with someone who… you know.”

“Really, really likes you?”

“Yeah! Hey, er, we should probably get some practise in, though. If we’re gonna do this for Scott and Paul. If they even
want
us to! Maybe we can surprise them.”

“I agree. Practise is a great idea.”

Edward crawled up and kissed him.

Harry’s phone rang making them both jump. “Shit, my father! I’d better go.”

Edward’s happy bubble burst as reality clawed its way back in. “Will you come over tonight? I’m cooking biryani.”

Harry caressed his cheek. “Definitely!”

Scott stood behind the counter at the gallery, wishing he was a better liar. He wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to appease Mr Sawhney, who’d swaggered in a few minutes ago, demanding to know where Harry was. Scott was grateful for the slab of marble between them, but he wasn’t so happy that Mr Sawhney was leaning on it as if he owned the place – which he possibly thought he did.

Mr Sawhney held up his hands. “Well, where is he exactly? He’s not answering his phone and he said he would meet me at five o’clock!”

Scott swallowed, refusing to be intimidated. “I told you – I don’t know. About an hour ago I sent him to get some…
thing
and I haven’t seen him since. He’s probably on his way back as we speak. Or perhaps he’ll just go straight home from…
there
.”

“But he’ll need to come here to give it to you. And also he’ll come to say goodnight. He does have manners, you know.”

“I know.”

Scott glanced out of the gallery’s huge windows. His heart soared with joy as he saw Harry ambling this way. His heart plunged again, though, as he saw what a mess the young man looked. His hair was scruffy and he look as if he’d dressed in a hurry. He was carrying a plastic bag with the logo of a local pharmacy emblazoned on it, so at least they could pretend it contained whatever he’d gone to collect… Scott had no idea how they were going to explain why he looked such a state. But at least Edward wasn’t with him – that would’ve been hard to explain.

Harry pushed open the gallery door and swaggered inside. It looked as if he’d absorbed some of Edward’s cockiness this afternoon. Scott was happy to see him so confident, but maybe his father wasn’t the best person to practise being assertive on.

Harry halted as he saw his father and threw his hand to his hip. He gazed at him from behind his sunglasses. “Hello, papa.”

“Harry, what happened? You’re wet.”

“It was raining.”

Mr Sawhney glanced out the window. “But there’s not a cloud in the sky.”

“It was raining in Hampstead. A flash shower.”

“Why were you in Hampstead?”

Scott intervened. “That’s where I sent him, Mr Sawhney. Right, Harry?”

Mr Sawhney turned to look at Harry, who shrugged insolently. Scott shot him desperate glance behind his father’s back – willing him to play along – but he suddenly spotted a red mark on his neck, which was unmistakably a love bite. Oh
shit
!

Mr Sawhney was pinning his son down with a firm glare. “So where is it, then?”

“What?” Harry asked.

“The thing you got for Scott?”

“Oh, er…”

“Had they run out?” Scott asked, trying to control his panic.

“Er, yes, sorry, Scott, but I couldn’t get…
it
. Anyway…” He held up the carrier bag. “I’d better do my hair. I stopped off to buy some products.”

Scott prayed that he really
did
have hair products in there and not a huge box of condoms. But Mr Sawhney didn’t seem interested in the bag, thank god. It probably went without saying for him that Harry would want to style his hair.

Harry propelled himself over the gallery floor towards the back storeroom, where he probably planned to lock himself in the bathroom and wait for his father to leave.

“Open the window, please, Harry,” Scott called. “I don’t want the paintings warping from your hairspray fumes!”

“Wait, Haroon!” Mr Sawhney barked. “Come back here
now
, and stop behaving like an insolent child. Firstly, I want you to apologise to Scott for coming back empty handed and for looking like a state. What would your mother say if she saw you like this?”

“It’s really okay,” Scott said.

“Sorry, Scott,” Harry muttered. He tried to keep a straight face, but Scott saw a smirk creep in at the sides of his mouth. Scott pressed his fingers against his lips and tried not to giggle at Harry’s subversiveness. What was it about
Edward’s
influence that turned grown men into rebellious schoolboys?

“And second,” Mr Sawhney continued – oblivious to Scott and Harry’s smirking. “You arranged to meet me today at five. It’s now a quarter past. I don’t care where you were and what you were doing. You must always call me to say if you’re going to be late. How would you like it if a person kept you waiting an extra fifteen minutes?”

“Sorry, father.”

“Right. Now the reason I wanted to meet you today is because I have some news. Mummy-ji and I have planned a surprise party for you, to celebrate your future.”

Harry dropped the surly act and allowed his genuine happiness to show at this news. “Really? To celebrate my university placement?”

“Yes. We never celebrated your eighteenth properly, did we? Because you were still in India, and because of the stress over you wanting to do the art course. But now we can celebrate you becoming a man, this Saturday. Right?”

“Right, okay. Well… thank you.”

“Yes. We’ve invited two hundred guests – friends and family. And you may also bring a guest.”

Without waiting for a response from Harry, Mr Sawhney spun to face Scott. “And you’re welcome to come to the party, too. As a thank you for all you’ve done for my son. What do you say? How would you and your wife like to come to an authentic Indian party?”

The art gallery shrunk around Scott, squeezing him tight. “My wife?”

“Yes, yes. Bring her along.”

“Mr Sawhney, I… I’m married to a man. I’m gay.”

Time seemed to unravel as Mr Sawhney stared at him impassively – scrutinising him like a half-squashed bug.

Scott refused to break eye contact. This was one issue that he’d never recoil from. “I just assumed you knew.”

Mr Sawhney sprang back to life and let out a hearty laugh. “Oh, well, it’s no problem, of course! You bring along your man to the party. You’ll be made to feel most welcome.”

Scott glanced over at Harry. Harry rolled his eyes despairingly, then strutted off out the back.

Scott smiled amiably at Mr Sawhney. “We’d love to come – thank you.”

Mr Sawhney clapped his hands satisfactorily. “Great! We’ll see you on Saturday. I’ll wait for Haroon. There’s something funny going on with that boy at the moment, and I won’t rest until I find out what it is.”

Without bothering to ask if it was okay, Mr Sawhney strode out the back after his son, leaving Scott standing there reeling about what was going to happen when Harry finally plucked up the courage to tell his dad not only about his sexuality, but also that he was falling for a former rent boy.