Bright and Burning

[yolandekleinn]

Bright and Burning
by Yolande Kleinn
M/M, Contemporary Romance, Explicit
[Coming Sept. 18, 2025 / 7,800 Words]

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When a mysterious noise rouses Jeremy in the middle of the night, it isn't a jump scare; it's just his husband, home ahead of schedule from a business trip. Evan is obviously trying not to wake him, but Jeremy is too delighted to go back to sleep. And when a lazy cuddle escalates into a whole different flavor of intimacy, Jeremy is more than up for to the challenge.


Excerpt:

Jeremy wakes long before sunrise. He has no idea of the time, beyond the fact that it can't yet be four a.m. or his alarm would have been what roused him, rather than...

What?

He realizes he has no idea what woke him. His phone sits silent on the bedside table. And when he blinks his eyes open, the darkness of the room confirms the late hour, shadows broken only by an uneven strip of light from a streetlamp outside. The long slant of gold has been shaped into uneven patterns by the partially-closed blinds— distorted by constantly shifting drops of water clattering down the glass.

It's raining, Jeremy recognizes on a drowsy delay. But not heavily enough to wake him, and from his cocoon of lazy warmth, he wonders what pulled him from his dream. It was a pleasant dream. Something about the ocean. The deck of a ship and a drizzling mist, a sky glowing several wrong colors at once. A coral reef shimmering just beneath the waves, perfectly visible if he didn't look too closely—hazy and almost impossible to make out if he stared directly down.

Jeremy never puts much stock in dreams. But he was enjoying this one, and he finds himself disappointed at having it dashed prematurely.

His disappointment doesn't last. A car rumbles past on the street below—engine roaring loudly and jolting him closer to true wakefulness—and Jeremy realizes what interrupted his sleep. Shadowy movement, quiet and careful and obviously trying to remain unobtrusive, flickers at the edge of his line of sight.

Jeremy grins. The new arrival clearly thinks he's still asleep and is trying very hard to keep it that way.

"You're home early," Jeremy says without bothering to sit up.

The shadow gives a violent start and a loud curse, and Jeremy laughs. Delight and affection flood his chest, as his husband moves into the patch of light and sits on the edge of the bed. Evan's expression is sheepish, his mouth soft with a wry smile. Even in the faint and uneven lighting, he looks exhausted, and Jeremy wonders if he managed to sleep at all on the plane. Probably not. Evan's always been an anxious flier—and without Jeremy there to tease him and hold his hand, to distract him from the worst moments, he probably never calmed down enough to get any real rest.

Still, he looks just as pleased to be home as Jeremy is to have him here.

"My flight was overbooked." Evan reaches for him, carding long fingers through Jeremy's hair. With a gentle touch, he smoothes the disheveled chaos.

Jeremy narrows his eyes, even as he presses into the touch like a contented cat. "Shouldn't that make you late, not early?"

Evan dances his fingertips along the shell of Jeremy's ear. "I ended up on a different plane. Earlier departure, shorter layover at a completely different airport. It was a whole domino effect of alternate flights and upgraded accommodations." He grins, cheeky and bright. "The travel gods were smiling on me."

"Mmm." Jeremy nuzzles into his hand. "You should've called. I still could have picked you up." Jeremy is a light sleeper. He would've answered, and been more than willing to throw on a shirt and pick his husband up from the airport a couple hours ahead of schedule.

"I know, love." Evan finally leans down for a kiss, a chaste press of his gorgeous mouth, then pulls away far too soon. "But I didn't want to wake you."

Jeremy huffs his disapproval.

Evan breathes a quiet but high-pitched gasp of surprise when Jeremy drags him down into a longer and significantly more satisfying kiss. There's no point arguing that Evan has woken him, regardless. For one thing, Evan was actively trying to be sneaky—would probably have climbed just as carefully into bed to avoid jostling him—would have waited until morning to say hello. For another thing, Jeremy knows that's not really what Evan means. There's a difference between a momentary waking and a trip halfway across the city.

Even now, Jeremy can feel the difference in his bones, as the blurry temptation of sleep rises around him.

"Come to bed already," he murmurs. He watches quietly as his husband sits back up, studying him in return.

Evan has already shed the jeans and button-up shirt he prefers for traveling, which leaves him in a threadbare t-shirt and a pair of dark boxers. His hair, brown and curly and overdue for a trim, is a mess from all the nervous fidgeting of travel. His narrow shoulders look even smaller in the dim shadows, his compact frame inclining toward Jeremy with the pull of mutual gravity.

Evan's features, always delicate and pretty, look downright elfin in this moment, and his eyes are almost glowing in the darkness, catching the lamplight perfectly.

He's beautiful, and Jeremy's breath hitches at the sight.

Evan leans even closer, and Jeremy wonders what he sees in return, to put that soft and impish smile on his face. Jeremy's own sleep attire is just a pair of comfortable sweatpants, leaving his broad chest and shoulders bare to the cool air of the bedroom. His hair, sandy brown and defiant, probably looks like a bird's nest even after the attention of Evan's fingers. He must be giving off the aura of a big, sleepy lump, because that's what he is. Even now, grateful to have Evan so close, he can feel himself drifting.

He's on the verge of repeating his demand for Evan to come to bed, sleepy enough to doubt whether he actually spoke it aloud the first time, when Evan finally shoves the sheet aside and wriggles beneath the bedclothes. He's pushy about it, despite the fact that Jeremy is twice his size, and by the time he settles, he's tugged Jeremy firmly into place along his back.

A perfect arrangement. Jeremy snugs in tighter, slotting their bodies together and draping an arm around Evan's waist. He presses a kiss to Evan's nape, breathing him in, then hums happily when Evan's arm comes to rest over his own. A moment later, Evan's hand finds Jeremy's and threads their fingers together.

"Missed you," Jeremy breathes, nuzzling another kiss, this time into the crook of a shoulder. "No more trips without me."

Evan huffs a voiceless little laugh, all fondness and exasperation. "I wish I could make that promise. But unless you're willing to quit your job and be a kept man, I doubt we'll have much say in the matter. I don't get to choose when the boss ships me off."

Jeremy heaves a dramatic sigh. "I suppose you're right."

"I'm not going anywhere for a while," Evan points out. When he shifts his weight on the mattress, his gangly frame rubs against Jeremy in all the best places, and suddenly sleep seems farther away than it did only a handful of seconds ago.

For several long, contented moments, Jeremy allows himself to lie perfectly still and savor the tempting heat of Evan's body tucked flush to his own. He can feel the rumble of arousal waking lazily inside him—the clench in his belly—the desire rolling through his chest like a second heartbeat. But there's no urgency in it. Evan is here. Home. Right where Jeremy needs him. And that knowledge kindles an impossible ember in Jeremy's heart, making him ache with emotions so powerful he couldn't put them into words if he tried.

So he doesn't try. He just floats in the soft ecstasy of anticipation, until Evan finally takes notice of Jeremy's arousal stiffening against his backside and breathes a startled sound into the quiet.

Jeremy tightens his arm around Evan's waist and rocks deliberately forward.

"I thought you were going back to sleep." Laughter rumbles in Evan's voice, bright amusement over an undertow of intensity to match Jeremy's own adoration.

"Nah." Jeremy rocks his hips again, savoring the diffuse rush of pleasure along his senses. "This is better than sleep."

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