Nothing John thought is anything but true. Simon needs the encouragement. Even those quiet words of praise send an unexpected thrill running through him. Or maybe it's John's fingers combing through his hair. Or some combination of both, plus so much warm, bare skin against his.

But John's right. Slower is better. Exploring his partner's body, gauging his reactions, trying to find those things that make him sigh and curl his toes. Oh, Simon's had these random hook-ups before. But somehow, this feels so much different from all of those. Maybe because it's not being rushed, John's keeping Simon from getting lost in his own head, keeping him from feeling the guilt before he's even done anything 'wrong.'

It feels like forever that Simon simply laps at John's nipple, alternating between swirling his tongue around it and sucking on it. A few minutes that bleed on and stretch long in Simon's mind, and then he trails kisses across John's chest to offer the same treatment to the other. This time, his hand slides lower, over John's flat stomach, down further until those hesitant fingers brush oh-so-gingerly against the other man's cock.