A Younger Man (22 page)

“What?” His visage falling, Noah shoved his cock against his belly, covering it with his hand and forearm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to push.”

At the sight of Noah, Zane’s heart constricted terribly. “No.” He rushed forward, planted a fast kiss on Noah’s wonderfully firm lips, and then went back to doing up his clothes. “It’s okay; it’s not that.” As always, they ran out of alone time far too fast. “I saw your watch and the time. I’m already fifteen minutes behind schedule.” Zane had only meant to come over this morning for a few minutes to share a kiss and say good morning.

Circling the bush on the side of Noah’s house—something they’d used for cover from the gravel road—Zane walked backward, toward the lake. “I have to go get the kids up, dressed, fed, and to the youth center in record time or I’m going to be late for work.” Thank God Zane had put on his sneakers this morning instead of his flip-flops. He would have to sprint along the edge of the water back to his place. “I’m so fucking sorry, Noah.” Zane couldn’t help his stare slipping to Noah’s hand and what he knew was an incredible erection still pumping full of blood, hidden from his sight. “I shouldn’t have started something without the time to finish it.”

Ruddy faced, Noah winced, but he also shook his head. “Forget it. It’s on us both. I should have been aware of the time too.”

Stalling in place, memorizing the stunning picture that was Noah, with no shirt and his jeans and underwear holding midthigh, Zane felt his heart kick back into high gear all over again. “It’s hard to remember anything when you start kissing me,” he admitted, finding Noah’s fine brown gaze and holding it with his own.

Noah offered a lopsided smile, one that caused somersaults in Zane’s belly. “I’m familiar with that concept in relation to you.” Noah’s voice was too grittily sexy for words.

Good Lord.
Zane swallowed thickly, and his legs went a little weak. If he stood here a second longer, he would run straight back to Noah and throw all his responsibilities out the window. “Sweet talker.” Zane spun away, unable to stand looking at Noah, all his gorgeous muscles, and his warm eyes a second longer. “I’ll meet you at the job site tomorrow, bright and early!” he shouted as he started his run around the lake. “Bye!”

Zane had a whole day working with Noah tomorrow. He might need this day and night alone in between to get his libido back in check. He’d gone twenty-four years without any kind of sex or romantic intimacy. Yet now, he was no longer sure he could stand to be in Noah’s presence for twenty-four minutes without opening for the man and making their bodies one.

Noah had awakened Zane’s dormant desires. Lately Zane did nothing but think about how Noah would help him quench every last one.

*

His feet bare, his jeans and underwear held up by his hand, Noah watched Zane get smaller and smaller in his trek back to his cabin; a growl of unresolved need slipped free. His cock had not dwindled in the slightest and he knew this time not even jerking off—at least not without Zane as an audience to help him along—would satisfy, even temporarily, the urge to mate. Noah needed Zane’s ass or nothing at all.

If I don’t get the chance to pound away at him soon
—Noah sucked in air as he painfully worked his full erection back into his jeans—
these blue balls are gonna kill me
.

Problem was, when the blood eventually moved back to his brain and he had time to think with something other than his cock, Noah knew that having sex with Zane scared the shit out of him as much as not taking him left him frustrated. Noah loved every kiss and touch Zane offered; each soft peck or deep taking left him light-headed. But within that contact, Noah was constantly bombarded with signs of Zane’s inexperience. Worse than even Zane’s lack of sexual knowledge, though, was that when Noah slipped deep into the throes of his need for Zane, no matter the younger man’s virginity, Noah pushed aggressively without thinking, as when he’d just tried to shove his cock down Zane’s throat for a deep, full blowjob. In that moment, Noah should have realized Zane had never seen any cock up that close before, let alone ever tried taking one in his mouth. Yet just then, when seeing Zane’s full red lips parted around his dick, one thought had taken over Noah’s mind:
I need to feel him swallow my cock. Right now.

“Fuck.” As that shameful realization flooded Noah, his erection finally started to soften.

As if cruel fate thought Noah might need more help, a shrieking catcall whistle filled the air. Noah jerked into a spin, searching for the source of the sound.
Double fuck.
Noah’s attention stopped at Sirus’s cabin, and his heart sank with a thud into his stomach. On the porch, Grey whistled again, and lifted a cup of coffee in Noah’s direction.
Son of a bitch.

One thought on his mind, Noah stormed around the side of the lake, his hard-on no longer even remotely an issue. Noah’s big hyacinth bush had well covered him and Zane from someone coming up Noah’s gravel drive, but it allowed a clear view to one cabin.
This one.
Taking the handful of porch steps two at a time, Noah stalked to the table where Grey sat. He slammed his hand against the surface, and with his voice scratchy from emotions boiling inside him, Noah pointed at the grinning hazel-eyed tycoon and growled, “I don’t know how much or what you thought you saw—”

“Oh,” Grey’s grin above the rim of his coffee cup was truly devilish, “I saw all of it.”

Noah got down into Grey’s face, and his lips barely moved as he spoke. “If you turn what you saw into so much as a whisper of gossip I swear to God I will beat you down so hard Sirus won’t recognize you when I’m finished.”

“Relax, Maitland.” Without blinking or pulling back, Grey kicked out the chair next to him, offering Noah a seat. “Why would I tell anyone? Other than Sirus when he wakes up, of course.” Then Grey finally leaned back, and when he did he let his attention drift down Noah’s body, pausing at his derriere. “Nice ass, by the way. Looked good from this distance.”

“Holy Christ.” Heat filled Noah’s face, but he eased into the chair anyway, still glaring at Grey. “I swear I’m itching to beat the shit out of you anyway. Every time I see you, you give me a dozen reasons to do it.”

“I’d say you’re just pissed I got Sirus,” Grey murmured, “but from what I saw just now you’re doing a damn fine job of working your way past that.”

Sitting up straight, Noah snapped, “What I feel for Zane has nothing to do with Sirus.”

Like a man who knew his place in the world and was damned comfortable and happy in it, Grey smiled, a real one this time, not one full of cockiness. “That’s good to hear,” he said, his voice now gentle and warm.

“And I’m not ashamed or anything.” Noah felt compelled to explain himself. He shoved his hands through his hair and tipped his head over the back of the chair, looking toward the morning sky, searching for words that would allow for private things to remain so, while also releasing some of his worries. “It’s just that this is so fucking new,” his gaze slid to Grey, holding on that hazel interest, “and I don’t know how Zane feels about sharing what we’re doing yet—not that we’ve done anything.”

“I don’t know about that.” Grey’s dark brow shot up, and that annoying grin reappeared. “It looked like you were doing some fun shit just now.”

“I don’t … I mean…” A rumble Noah could not contain escaped, bruising the morning air. He absorbed the easy confidence emanating from Grey and bit off a clipped, “Fuck.”

The know-it-all glint slipped away from Grey’s eyes; a depth of clarity and focus took over, showing the man Noah figured Sirus must see in Grey all the time. “You mean you haven’t had full-on sexual intercourse yet.” Antagonism no longer colored Grey’s tone.

Noah nodded, but it felt jerky and stiff. “Right,” he said with an unsteady exhale.

With a small nod in return, Grey then pulled his mouth in a hard line before he spoke. “You just said a million things by only saying that one word and looking like you are right now, my friend.”

Crap.
Suddenly the keen intelligence and shrewd nature of this man shone too brightly in his knowing stare. “I should go.” Noah pushed to stand.

Grey whipped his hand out and held Noah in place. “You’re scared, Noah,” Grey told him, as if he could see into Noah’s mind. “You want him. You’re scared of how much you do, and that fear is holding you back from pursuing anything more than what you’ve done so far. You’re hesitating because you want to top him so goddamn hard you think it could make your dick blow clean off if you don’t get him soon. The need is raging so damn deep inside you that you’re sure you’re going to hurt him when you finally do take him. Am I right?”

“He has no experience, Grey.” Christ, Noah hated himself for spilling Zane’s personal information, but he didn’t know how to explain his fears without sharing that pertinent part of the facts. This time, Noah didn’t try to hide from Grey’s scrutinizing stare. “I mean
none
.”

Grey paled a bit, and he wiped at his mouth and jaw. “Shit.”

“I know.” Jesus, if this man could see the magnitude of that information, then Noah felt certain he had reason to worry. “When I get close to Zane, the need starts to fuel everything I do. I’m so fucking scared that the aggression inside me is going to take over when I’m with him, and it will rule what happens. Zane’s not tiny or slight or thin by any means, but he is smaller than me. And what if my control slips, even for just a moment, and things go bad? That’s a thousand times more pressure than I ever thought I’d have going into sex when I made the choice to come out, and you already know how fucking nervous I was before I even met Zane.”

Half an hour ago Noah had been full of testosterone and hard as a rock, more than willing to fuck Zane right against the support beam of his cabin. But his senses had returned now, and Zane’s innocence and sweet naïveté—conveyed in almost every shyly eager move he made—flooded Noah with uncertainty. Lifting his gaze to Grey’s, Noah whispered in a sandpaper-scraped voice, “I’m terrified I could tear him open or hurt him in ways I don’t even know to imagine yet.”

“You’re going way too far to the extremes now, Noah,” Grey replied, his tone much too rational for Noah’s peace of mind. “You have added pressure, for sure, but you’re not going to scar this guy for life.”

Noah surged to his feet, his emotions ruling everything inside him. “You can’t say that! You have no fucking idea what could happen.”

Grey shot to stand too, and he got right in Noah’s face. “Of course nobody can say for sure,” he hissed at Noah, his voice dangerously low but clear, his eyes flashing. “But I’ve been that scarred, damaged young man you are so afraid your lack of control and raging desires are going to turn Zane into, so I can fucking say with some expertise that I know what the eyes of an insensitive, irresponsible jerk look like. You do not have those eyes, Maitland. More than that, you don’t think the way a guy like that thinks. You have a heart that is ridiculously big, and an unflappable honor that goddamn terrified me when I thought Sirus might have an interest in you.” Quiet authority filled every word shooting past Grey’s lips like bullets. “If there was one man who might have had a shot at taking Sirus from me, it would have been you, and I know it. I’ve spent too goddamn much time thinking about you, Noah, much to my irritation, so I’ve observed your character and the man you are. That is how I know you would never hurt this person you care about and want so much. I had to trust Sirus with my hang-ups about sex, and when I did, being with him, in every way, trusting him, cleared up a whole lot of the screwy views I had about sex and love. But if you’re not willing to give Zane a chance to open himself up and show his trust in you, then when you’re alone yanking your dick in the dark and wishing it were him, you only have yourself to blame.

“Now,” Grey straightened and patted down his bare chest and stomach, as if smoothing an expensively tailored shirt, “I’ve admitted way more to you than I ever planned to do with any man other than Sirus in this lifetime, so it’s fucking time you showed me some gratitude for pointing you in the right direction, yet again,” he growled, “and get the fuck off my porch so I can go get back in bed with my husband.”

From behind them, a clearing of a throat sounded. Both men whipped their heads toward the front door. Sirus stood there, clad only in low-slung jeans, his eyes suspiciously moist.

His stare locked on Grey, Sirus said in a raspy voice, “You’ve never called me your husband before.”

Defiant, almost angry sounding, Grey spat, “I don’t care what this state says, or if it’ll ever give us a paper that legally allows me to call you so.” He stalked Sirus, adding, “You are the person I trust and believe in most in this world; you are my partner for life; you own my heart, and that makes you my husband. Don’t ever forget it or think you’re getting away.”

Sirus touched Grey’s face, head, and shoulders over and over again, everywhere, as if he couldn’t believe this handsome man stood before him. “I love you more than I can ever say.” Sirus spoke the vow softly, but his adoration for Grey filled the air as if he’d shouted it.

Grey swooped in and claimed Sirus’s mouth with a hard, fast kiss. He locked his arms around the bigger man’s waist and guided him over the threshold, in complete control. “Take me to bed and show me how much.” Grey moved in for another kiss.

From the porch, Noah grinned as he watched, amused by, but also now in complete understanding of Grey’s possessive nature in relation to Sirus. “Grey…” Noah called; something fitting filled his thoughts in just that exact second, and he had to share.

“I gave you good advice, asshole,” Grey muttered without turning around, his mouth pressed against Sirus’s chiseled cheek. “Now go away.”

Although still so uncertain of the power of his attraction to Zane, Noah warmed inexplicably inside as he thought about the first night Zane had come to his cabin and admitted to his feelings. “I know it bugged the hell out of you when Sirus designed that sculpture for me as a housewarming gift when I finally moved into the cabin.” Noah’s mind’s eye, full of Zane with his arms wrapped around that enormous slab of carved wood, holding on tight while he pushed his stunning ass into Noah’s face, begging for a fucking, would be something Noah would never forget. Noah moaned softly where he stood, his cock stirring anew just with the small memory of their too-brief coming together. “I want to share a little something about that sculpture now.”