"I'm so sorry," Seth quickly added, ignoring the acrid taste of self detest lingering at the tip of his tongue. "For using you like that."

"Seth, stop."

Seth held Leonardo's gaze. "I needed you to know before you make any big decisions concerning..."

"Do you always do that?" Leonardo stared. "Having sex with different people as a form of distracting yourself? I'm not judging."

He was so judging.

Seth was silent for so long and Leonardo thought it was his way of pushing the question away. "Sometimes I guess." he finally replied, wincing.

They stared at each other wordlessly till Leonardo broke the uncomfortable silence. "I see." he said looking as if he was lost in a myriad of thoughts.

"You have all the right to be mad."

"Mad? No, I'm not mad, maybe a little disappointed." Leonardo paused to look at Seth once more. "Like I said before, I do like you, Seth. But, I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of you and neither do I want you to take advantage of me. I don't know if it's making any sense."

"Makes perfect sense." Seth's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Tell me why you needed a distraction."

The last thing Seth wanted to do was excavating a rotten grave. It was a no man's land. Leonardo was asking for too much. Instead of talking, Seth got up from the couch and headed for the balcony. He needed air.

"Seth."

Leonardo followed him at the balcony. For some unknown reason Leonardo now wanted to unveil Seth's inner layers, the not so pretty ones that were hidden from everyone else. He wanted the unfiltered version of Seth Mickelson.

"I don't want to talk about it," Seth muttered brokenly. "I–I don't want to."

"Seth..."

"I said I don't want to talk about it!" Leonardo was a bit taken aback with the sudden emotional outburst. "Please don't make me." Seth pleaded desperately. Already his body was slightly shaking, his mind was digging back to his worst memories and the toxicity was too much for him.

Without a word, Leonardo cushioned Seth into a tight embrace. Seth did not fight against the hug, he allowed himself to melt into Leonardo's body heat. Seth's eyes pinched shut as he breathed deeply into Leonardo's faint cologne. Seth made a mental note to ask Leonardo which cologne he wore. His scent grounded him.

"No one will force you to do anything you don't want Seth." Leonardo murmured as he rubbed Seth's back soothingly. "I'd never do that to you."

Leonardo wrapped his arms around Seth even tighter. "Fancy hot chocolate? It will make you feel better."

"Yes," Seth croaked, lifting his head up to meet up with Leonardo's gaze who was filled with so much concern. "Please." He shot him a weak smile.

. . .

"Damn, this is the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted." Leonardo raised a brow at Seth. For someone who was sulking just about twenty minutes ago, Seth looked fine. "Have you tasted it? Here, take a sip."

"I made it, remember?" Leonardo chuckled amusedly. It wasn't a bland hot chocolate. This was rich, intense flavored and the marshmallows melted easily on Seth's tongue making him moan helplessly. "This is some hot chocolate alright?"

"Yeah?" For a moment Leonardo's mind went blank, his voice sounded rough, he couldn't help himself but to stare at Seth who somehow managed to pull off an innocent aura with his fingers curled around the steaming mug. "It's amazing." Seth muttered then looked at Leonardo with an approving smile.

"Glad you like it." Leonardo said, trying so hard to shake the inappropriate images engulfing his brain. Seth's little moans were erotic. What made it even worse, the resident was clearly oblivious to the hunger and lust being reflected in Leonardo's irises.

"Hey," Seth nudged Leonardo tentatively. "Tell me what's bothering you?"

"Stop doing that." Leonardo's voice came out as a strangled whisper.

"What do you mean?" Seth swallowed hard when Leonardo moved closer to him. "Those moans, you're driving me insane."

Seth unconsciously flicked his tongue on his wet lips in a sensual way ever imagined. Leonardo now had a huge dilemma between his legs.

"Seth, you're turning me on." Leonardo groaned, his eyes now settled on Seth's lips. No matter how many times he'd tasted them, he simply couldn't get enough.

Seth placed his now empty mug on the kitchen counter, covering the remaining gap between them. "And that's a bad thing because?" he was now a breath away from Leonardo.

"Don't blame me for my next—" Leonardo's statement instantly blurred to nothing when Seth pressed his lips at the base of his throat.

"Your next what?" Seth was peeking at Leonardo with a smug look on his face.

Leonardo went still, allowing Seth to search for his eyes. Every dendrite in his system was sizzling with palpable need. Seth saw it too.

"Please don't go there." Leonardo visibly shuddered at Seth's warm breath surging dangerously close to his neck. Just the resident's mere presence did inexplicable things to him. Thinking was surprisingly an arduous act around the guy.

Seth completely pulled away. "Do you really want me to stop?"

A thoughtful look lingered on Leonardo's face, debating with his mind on what to do. "No."

Hot impassioned lips engulfed Leonardo's Adam's apple and sucked sensually. Leonardo wondered if it was ever going to stop, the strong sense of wanting Seth. Even if he wasn't there, the resident always managed to haunt his night dreams and day thoughts reducing him to a desperate horny teenage boy. He wanted Seth so much his chest tightened and his fingers ached with wanting to touch him, again.

"Seth." A low agonized moan tore out of his throat.

Leonardo was a mess, his heart and lungs were struggling to do their designated jobs. Seth was such a perilous zone. He wasn't sure if he could handle him.

Seth drew himself from Leonardo a bit. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Leonardo was failing to keep his voice stable. He gazed down into Seth's sparkling eyes which shone with something he couldn't comprehend.

"For being an asshole this past week."

Leonardo smiled. "That makes us equal now."

Laughing, Seth leaned in to press a sweet kiss on the other man's lips. They had slow kissed before but this one was even slower, passionate and leisurely as if they owned the world's clock. Seth left no doubt of who was in charge, he reached down to squeeze Leonardo through his jeans making him pull away with a deep growl. "Seth..."

The resident's eyes seemed to penetrate Leonardo's soul as he kissed him again. Seth's hands were shaking as he fumbled and hassled to get rid of Leonardo's jeans acting as a barrier. He wanted to touch him. It was a sweet heavenly torture for both of them.

"Take them off." Seth ordered breathlessly.

"Bossy much?" Leonardo smirked, purposely taking longer to do as instructed just to rile up the impatient resident.

"Come on Leo, help me." Leonardo thought it was cute, how Seth managed to act like a professional sex maniac but still got shy in the process. Innocence laced with pleasurable peccadillo.

The jeans however disappeared followed by black boxer briefs. "I want to taste you." Seth spoke, voice filled with so much determination.

"Do your worst." Leonardo whispered.

Seth didn't need much coaxing. He brought himself on his knees, eyeing Leonardo's dark gaze and enjoying the look of contentment on his face. It was in this moment that he wanted to watch the man climax, he wanted to witness him losing all his bearings.

His first lick was tentative, it drew an involuntary tremble out of the Italian man's body making Seth's chest burst with an unfiltered sense of pride. Leonardo had pictured Seth's lips wrapped around him before, but reality was far much better than a fantasy. He never wanted to come so desperately in his life. Seth ignited a wild fire in him which could never be extinguished.

"That feels really good baby," Leonardo's hands dropped to Seth's face, stroking along his jaw whilst he worked on his heavy balls. He had never ached for anyone in such a way before. Seth was driving him out of this world and God his mouth felt so good. "Holy shit! Do that again!" He couldn't explain what exactly Seth had done to him but it made him want to unravel his offering.

Leonardo's breath tingled inside his throat. He couldn't breathe. Seth was teasing, flicking his tongue whilst his hands moved up to cup his ass. Seth took a fleeting glance up to see Leonardo's reaction and seeing his head thrown back in a trance-like abandonment gave him an urge to satisfy him. He was now a man on a mission.

He did justice to the head, licking every inch of the man's sensitive flesh before inviting him deep inside his hot wet mouth. Seth was completely focused on working his boss's orgasm stroking what he couldn't fit inside his mouth using a shaky hand.

"I wish you could see how hot you are right now." Leonardo almost cried out when Seth swallowed around him taking him way deeper than before. Whatever happened to his gag reflex? Leonardo couldn't help but wonder. Not that he was complaining, he had a lot to do, including keeping his sanity.

Having Leonardo locked in place and begging for more was such a fierce turn on. "Seth! I'm going to come if you continue doing that!" Leonardo's heart was thumping ferociously inside his chest. He was a doctor and he knew this was not a recommended heartbeat. Seth did that to him, he was going to kill him at that rate.

Leonardo's teeth clenched tightly. He felt a familiar intense explosion shooting straight to his throbbing erection. Seth knew he was close then he sucked the hell out of him, his strokes becoming even more urgent and filled with vigor. The feeling was incredibly insane that Leonardo fell apart right there, spurting relentlessly inside Seth's mouth. He couldn't control his own body's shaking, this was too much. Seth had officially ruined him for anyone else.

At the last drop, Seth licked the man clean before pulling himself up. Seth just had to acknowledge how good Leonardo tasted, there was a hint of sweetness, the man obviously ate healthy. Seth couldn't erase the picture of Leonardo's face as he was lost in euphoria. Seth made a secret vow to always lead Leonardo into nirvana just to see his face whenever he lost it.

"Are you all right?" Leonardo hadn't said anything for a while now. A minute or two had almost passed in silence.

"Hey, talk to me." Seth chuckled softly. "Are you—"

"I need a moment to process what just happened." Leonardo finally breathed as he stared at the smiling resident in uttermost awe. He'd never come from a blowjob before. This was an ultimate first for him.

"Did I do okay?" Seth sounded wary.

Leonardo's eyes widened, "Are you kidding me?" It was a breathless laugh. "You were—are amazing."

"That means I don't owe you now." Seth released a taunting grin. The Italian man was wrecked and rubbled but he was too content to give a flying. On a normal day he'd have wanted to wipe Seth's grin off his face by fucking him straight into delirium. He was too satiated and worn out for that. No one had ever managed to make him feel weak and helpless as Seth did.

"You paid your debt generously." Leonardo reciprocated Seth's grin.

The next hours were spent in Leonardo's bedroom, both doctors lying on the bed as they talked and laughed. Nothing sexual, both simply enjoying each other's presence. Seth was totally engrossed and relaxed as he listened to Leonardo telling him more about himself, his family and bits and pieces of his college experiences.

Seth was staggered at the fact that Leonardo was thirty-five. There was a full decade between them but that did not seem to put him off. He'd grown in the country side of Milan on a vineyard. His grandparents were into winery business for years and later on passed the legacy down to his father who then expanded the franchise all over Europe and America. They both cracked hard when Leonardo mentioned he only studied medicine just to get on his father's nerves since he wanted him to run the Bravucci Empire alongside his twin brother Giovanni.

Seth shared a bit, including his tight friendship with Marianne and his experiences at Oxford too. He told him about his cousin Charlie who was trying to work his way up as a radio presenter and part time DJ. Leonardo had grasped a few only because Seth was very reluctant in divulging much about his immediate family. He'd only mentioned that his mother was in a group home since he started med school and his dad had passed on, that was that.

Leonardo had a lot of questions but he didn't want to force anything.

It was a surreal experience not only because Seth had blown his mind into oblivion. He had gotten to know tiny little important details of the resident who was such an enigma to him. A little was still okay.