More from Chapter 35:
“There is somethin I feel like doin though, Ennis...” Ellery said, his voice dropping in tone and volume, and he set down his glass, putting the smoldering cigar in the ashtray.
“Huh, what’s that?”
“C’mere, sweetie,” he held out his arms, and Ennis rose, shuffling over to the sofa. Ellery opened his knees and reached up, pulling Ennis down into a kneeling position between his thighs, his hands sliding up to smooth back Ennis’s hair and then rest on his shoulders. “I love you, Ennis. I want ta kiss you an hold you an never ever let go.”
“That was a fuckin scary thing down there,” Ennis said, his voice rasping.
“I know. I hate it that you were in danger like that.”
“Both of us,” Ennis said, resting his cheek on Ellery’s shoulder. Ellery leaned back, and Ennis moved against him, bringing his feet down onto the floor and slipping his hands around Ellery’s back, clinching him into a close embrace. Ellery tugged on him and lay down on the sofa, Ennis moving on top of him, his mouth seeking Ellery’s mouth, closing on it in a passionate kiss.
“Oh sweetheart,” Ellery whispered against his mouth, his body now completely covered by Ennis’s, their thighs tangled together, Ennis’s arms around his back, holding him close.
“Mmmm...” Ennis replied, his tongue snaking out of his mouth and flicking between Ellery’s lips, passion sparked by insecurity and anxiety, and the muzzy stimulation of scotch and tobacco.
They kissed, the only sounds in the room the rustle of denim against Ellery’s sheer cotton dress uniform, his empty holster slipping off his shoulder as they moved together in a slow grind of rising passion, the wet sound of their mouths as they tasted each other, hungry for intimacy, and small moans mingling together as they aroused, gradually but steadily.
“Ya want ta go ta bed now?” Ellery eventually managed to gasp when they came up for air.
“Yeah.”
“Want ta sleep?”
“Nope.”