The Lost Boy, page 26
“Kiss me.”
To get a good angle for that, Ben held himself up on his elbow and leaned over, brushing his mouth just gently over Stan’s mouth. Still teasing. Everything slowed down so Stan could lick his way into Ben’s mouth, needing the taste of him on his tongue.
“I love you. I love you.”
Ben came first, with his face pressed to the back of Stan’s neck, leaving open-mouthed kisses and hot breaths on Stan’s skin. Stan closed his eyes and thrust up into Ben’s fist and finally came with a shout when Ben bit gently on Stan’s shoulder.
They breathed together for a moment, holding still to keep it for as long as they could. Then Ben kissed Stan’s shoulder again, peppering kisses on top of his freckles as he carefully rolled away.
“Holy moly,” Ben said, and Stan cracked up.
“Holy moly? Where did that come from?”
“I don’t know.” Ben started laughing too. “Is that a normal reaction to having mind-blowing sex? Ugh, I’m covered in come.”
Stan shook his head and rolled out of bed, stumbling on wobbly knees. “I need a shower. I have to get this makeup off too or it’ll be crusted to my face in the morning.”
“Mmm. Crusty.”
“You’re so gross,” Stan laughed.
He didn’t expect Ben to follow him into the bathroom—Ben was a “roll over and fall asleep” kind of guy. But while Stan was pinning his hair up (the styling would definitely survive the night and he could make it look nice for his meeting the next morning) Ben wandered in.
“Are you getting in the shower with me?”
“Nah. I’ll have one in the morning.”
“Okay.”
Ben still kissed his cheek and slapped his ass before returning to the bedroom. Stan liked the little routines they were building together in this home. Lots of new things, things that meant they were moving forward.
Stan scrubbed his face free of makeup, then brushed his teeth while drying off, and walked back to their bedroom naked for the second time that night.
“You’re still awake.”
“Yeah.” It looked like Ben was struggling, though. “I didn’t want to go to sleep without you.”
Stan went to their dresser and put on a clean pair of boxers. When he got into bed, he automatically rolled onto his side, facing away from Ben, and waited for Ben to turn the lights out and curl up behind him.
“Thank you for tonight,” Ben murmured.
“The sex?”
“No,” Ben laughed. “Coming to the party.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
Ben kissed his shoulder again. “I can’t wait for what comes next. All the things I get to show you.”
Stan rubbed his thumb over the ring Ben had put on his finger earlier that evening. They had a future together—the ring proved it. When Stan closed his eyes he felt like he could see the shadows of the rest of their lives….
“Me too.”
And it looked good.
Epilogue
“Are you nervous?”
“No.”
Stan poked him in the side. “You look nervous.”
“I’m not fucking nervous. Shut up.”
Stan grinned. Ben leaned over and kissed him impulsively.
Stan had found the old, private member’s club online and it had been the only wedding venue they’d agreed on. It was small and intimate, and wonderfully dramatic with dark wood panelled walls and deep rich colours.
There hadn’t been arguments about the wedding, not exactly. There had been discussions. Some of them heated. Stan wasn’t bothered about having any kind of event, and Ben surprised himself by gently coaxing Stan around to the idea of an actual wedding, with people and mist organza outfits and cake. After all the horrible things they’d been through, this was something to celebrate.
Stan reached over and took Ben’s hand.
They were going to walk each other down the aisle—walking into their future together. Behind the double doors, fifty or so of their closest friends were waiting for them.
“You look stunning,” Ben murmured.
“Thank you. So do you.” Stan took a deep breath. They could just hear the music starting. “You ready for this?”
Ben squeezed his hand. Despite how hard his heart was beating in his chest, there really was only one answer.
“Yeah. I’m ready.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
When The Impossible Boy was first released, I was very open about the fact that it had taken me over four years to write the story, mostly because I was convinced no one would want to read it. To say I was shocked at how well it was received is a huge understatement.
I never had any intention of writing a sequel, nor did it occur to me that there might be a follow-up to Ben and Stan’s story for another 18 months. Thankfully, this time it took more like four months, rather than four years, to write The Lost Boy, and I loved every last moment of writing and editing this story.
I always felt like I was cheating, just a little bit, by hinting at the band’s future success at the end of The Impossible Boy. I knew how badly Ben would cope with the pressures of the music industry and the fame that comes with it, which is why Ares didn’t see more success at the end of the first novel. When I gave myself permission to mentally peek in on where the boys would be five years after the end of The Impossible Boy, I knew Ben would be in a bad way, and I decided to write the book as a way of bringing him back from that painful edge.
I do hope that you enjoyed this story; for the longest time The Impossible Boy was my favourite book that I’d written. I think now The Lost Boy might have stolen that crown. It’s been an incredible journey bringing this story to you; being allowed to write these characters again truly was a gift. Thank you for reading.
About the author:
Anna Martin is from a picturesque seaside village in the south west of England and now lives in Bristol. After spending most of her childhood making up stories, she studied English Literature at university before turning her hand as a professional writer.
Apart from being physically dependent on her laptop, Anna is enthusiastic about writing and producing local grassroots theatre (especially at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where she can be found every summer), visiting friends who live in other countries, Marvel Comics, learning new things, and Ben & Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk.
Although her most recent work is in the LGBT Fiction genre, in the past Anna has worked on a variety of different projects including short stories, drabbles, flash fiction, fan fiction, plays for both children and adults, and poetry. She has written novels in the Teen/ Young Adult genre, Romance, and Fantasy novels.
Anna is, by her own admission, almost unhealthily obsessed with books. The library she has amassed is both large and diverse; "My favourite books," she says, "are The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood." She also several well-read copies of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park books and re-reads the Harry Potter novels with almost startling regularity.
Anna claims her entire career is due to the love, support, pre-reading and creative ass-kicking provided by her closest friend Jennifer. Jennifer refuses to accept any responsibility for anything Anna has written.
Anna’s website: www.annamartin-fiction.com
Twitter and Instagram: @missannamartin
Follow me on Bookbub for news about all my new books!
www.bookbub.com/profile/anna-martin
Also available on Kindle Unlimited:
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Until George learns that the guy he’d slept with wasn’t just ‘Alex’—he’s Alexander van Amsberg, Prince of the Netherlands.
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*This is a second edition, re-release of the October 2015 novel ‘My Prince’ by Anna Martin.
When paleontologist Nick Eisenberg gets word that someone has found velociraptor bones in Alberta, his curiosity overrides his desire to stay in London. After all, he’s one of the world’s leading experts on raptors and has always wanted to look for the velociraptor’s North American cousins. There’s only one problem: eco-conservationist Hunter Joseph, who is rallying support with the locals to oppose the way the paleontologists destroy the local landscape in their search for dinosaur bones.
Nick and Hunter have butted heads in the past and sparks inevitably fly when they meet again. But they have to figure out how to work on the same site without killing each other, especially since someone else seems determined to cause Nick even more problems than Hunter.
*This is a second edition, re-release of the December 2013 novel ‘Jurassic Heart’ by Anna Martin.
Anna Martin, The Lost Boy
