“My God, and now he’s making jokes,” Aidan said with a surprised laugh.
Sean backed away, a warm smile on his face as he backed up toward the kitchen. “It’s almost like I have a sense of humor.”
“The question is where have you been hiding it,” Aidan said, unable to help his delighted smile.
Sean cocked his head before rounding the corner and disappearing out of sight. “Maybe there’s other things you haven’t seen too.”
17
Sean
Sean jerked awake, realizing he was in the dark and not quite sure where he was. For a moment, his thoughts jerked back to the dark cave where he’d sat for what he was told had only been half a day, and his heart skipped a beat. Then the light from the TV registered in his mind along with the soft presence pressed against his side.
Looking over, he couldn’t help the bemused expression that crossed his face as he caught sight of Aidan leaning against him, out cold. The man’s expression was one of peaceful sleep, bathed in the flickering light of the TV, as his chest rose and fell evenly.
Despite the intensity of the kiss, neither one of them had been in much of a rush to do anything more. Sean had ordered them something from a local restaurant, and they had haggled over what to watch in the meantime. After the, admittedly cute, delivery guy had dropped off their food, they had settled on an old Western flick, chewing away at their pizza.
As the night went on, they’d stopped paying as much attention to the TV. Sean himself was still pretty worn out from the harrowing trek through the wilderness. His sleep had been punctuated by odd dreams, and he always woke up with strange emotions flitting through his head. He supposed it had been inevitable that he would have fallen asleep on the couch.
What he hadn’t been expecting was to wake up with Aidan curled up against him.
It might have been a little strange to find Aidan so cozy, comfortable, and close, but it didn’t stop Sean from appreciating the sight. Sean reached down, running a gentle hand over Aidan’s face, smiling as he watched the man’s face twitch and shift at his touch.
Aidan’s eyes opened slowly, gazing up at Sean in confusion. “Time is it?”
The groggy, half said question brought a smile to Sean’s face. Despite having seen Aidan look worried, scared, and even opening up about his recent struggle with a commanding officer, Sean didn’t think he’d ever seen the man look quite so vulnerable. As he watched Aidan try to make sense of where he was, and what was happening, it struck Sean that every other time he’d seen Aidan wake up, he’d been instantly alert and ready to go.
Sean smiled. “Late. You want to go to bed?”
Aidan blinked owlishly at him. “With you?”
“Yeah, it’s gotta be more comfortable than this couch.”
The couch was nothing to brag about, but Sean had gone the extra mile when it came to purchasing his bed. When they’d first been stationed at Fort Dale, he’d told himself they weren’t staying for good, so there was no point in buying expensive furniture. His bed, however, had cost him a great deal, as he reasoned that if he was going to be Stateside again, he might as well have the most comfortable bed he could find.
Aidan nodded. “Alright, lead the way, Staff Sergeant.”
And there was that wry sense of humor again, laced into his words as he pushed up from the couch. It didn’t carry the same irritating edge to it, though, and Sean could see the playful light in Aidan’s eyes even more clearly than before. He wasn’t sure if it had always been there, and he’d simply missed it, or if Aidan was finally comfortable enough not to be a total shit.
Sean stood up, steadying Aidan with a hand around his waist. “I think just Sean will do.”
Aidan looked up, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Sean.”
It was said so softly, and far more gently than he’d ever heard Aidan speak to him before. A shiver ran down his spine as he led them down the dark hallway toward his sparsely furnished bedroom. They might not be so sure about what possibility there was in the long run, but Sean could already feel an entire shift in their dynamic. There was still desire, pooling in his gut, warm, and electric. Yet he could see something bright and playful in Aidan, and maybe even something he could see himself falling into if they were given the opportunity.
Aidan stopped in the bedroom doorway. “Right, wasn’t expecting that.”
Sean laughed softly, walking around him to flop down onto his huge bed. Immediately, the soft bed let him sink into its comforting embrace.
“Yeah, it’s a whole lot of bed,” Sean said.
“You know, I might have expected you to sleep on like...a cot, or maybe a big old rock you dragged into the room.”
Sean snorted. “I wasn’t cranky from a lack of sleep...well, not totally. Even a big, comfy bed isn’t enough to chase the bad dreams away.”
Aidan’s face softened. “Clint?”
Sean nodded. “But I haven’t had any terrible dreams about him in a couple of days.”
“Did you before?”
“Every night.”
“Damn.”
Sean smiled reassuringly. “It’s alright, I think...I’m going to be okay. Maybe falling off the side of a cliff did me some good.”
“I want to make a joke about you hitting your head and knocking something into place.”
“Doesn’t that count as making the joke?”
Aidan cocked his head. “What did you dream about...when you were in that cave?”
It was an astute observation, though Sean supposed he’d helped lead Aidan to the question. He wasn’t going to say that his strangely vivid dream of Clint had made anything hurt less because it hadn’t. Clint had been one of them, a brother in arms, and someone Sean was going to miss dearly. But even with the pain still throbbing in his heart, there was also the sensation of less weight bearing down on him.
Sean held his hand out, shaking his head. “Him.”
It was all he was willing to say at that point, not quite willing to admit that he’d had a conversation with a dead man in his dreams. He expected Aidan to push him, but to his mild surprise, Aidan nodded, taking his hand. Sean gave him a tug, pulling Aidan closer and making the man fall forward. Sean scrambled to catch him before they crashed together.
Aidan hovered above him, snorting. “Smooth.”
“It’s been a while, okay?” Sean said, flushing slightly.
Aidan smiled. “Well, it’s good that I don’t mind giving you a little practice.”
Sean’s heart thudded harder as Aidan let himself fall the last few inches gently, bringing their lips together. Without missing a beat, Aidan settled his hips between Sean’s legs, parting their lips to dance his tongue across Sean’s. Heat flooded Sean, shoving away the last tendrils of sleepiness as his body awoke to the man’s touch.
“I think I still have a promise to keep,” Aidan murmured, dropping his mouth to nibble at Sean’s jaw.
Another shiver tingled down Sean’s spine, and not just from Aidan’s teeth playfully nipping at him. It had been a couple of years since the last time he had bottomed. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy the times he had, but it was always difficult for Sean to get into it with someone else unless he knew them very well. Sean shoved the nervous thoughts away as Aidan’s mouth reached his neck, telling himself that if he could trust Aidan to lead his men, then he could trust Aidan inside him.
Aidan’s hands skillfully undid the button to Sean’s pants, his fingers sliding beneath the band of his underwear. Letting out a slow breath, Sean raised his hips and let Aidan tug his underwear and pants off. Before settling back down, Sean tugged at his shirt, tossing it off the bed with the rest of his clothes.
Aidan, too, had removed his shirt, undoing his pants. “Seen your body a few times, but seeing it in a bed is something else.”
Sean laughed, running his hands over Aidan’s taut stomach. “First time I saw you in the shower, I felt like some teenager who’d never been turned on by someone else
before.”
Aidan cocked his head. “Really?”
“Yeah, it was...distracting.”
Aidan bent forward, laying a gentle kiss on Sean’s stomach. The soft kiss was followed by a nibble at Sean’s side, drawing a low chuckle out of him as his body tried to decide if the touch tickled or simply felt good. From how hard his cock strained against Aidan’s chest, though, he was going to guess he was definitely not feeling too ticklish.
Aidan hesitated in his downward trip, looking up at Sean. “I didn’t think to bring anything with me.”
“After your promise?” Sean asked with a smirk.
“I was coming to talk. I didn’t, well I didn’t come with any expectation of anything else.”
Despite how much they were obviously sexually compatible, there was something endearing about the idea that Aidan had come simply to talk. Sean wouldn’t bother to pretend he was any good at intimacy, or of saying the right thing, but he hoped the smile he gave Aidan was enough to show what he was thinking.
Sean glanced at his bedside table and grunted. “Uh...I have lube.”
Aidan hesitated. “Just lube?”
Sean glanced at him, trying to read his face and failing. “Yeah.”
“Is that...okay?”
Sean frowned. “I mean...you were the last person I had sex with, and that was the first time in over a year.”
Aidan chuckled. “I was a little too busy overseas to worry about getting laid...well, not for a lack of trying on someone’s part.”
Sean personally thought it was pretty noble of someone to deny such a strong pass from a commanding officer, especially knowing what it could do for his career. He also suspected that Aidan wouldn’t have been too comfortable being complimented on it, especially since he was still smarting from his former commanding officer’s campaign to ruin him.
Sean shrugged. “And we get exams done regularly. If you say we’re good…”
Aidan gave a soft snort. “I’m good.”
“Then, so am I.”
Aidan smiled, holding his hand out. “Then, lube please.”
Still trying to ignore the fluttering in his gut, Sean rolled over and opened the drawer to retrieve the bottle of lube. He handed it over, and he hoped he was doing a good job of hiding his nerves. Despite everything he’d thought about Aidan, he’d never once thought of the man as a liar, a cheat, or a manipulator, just one hell of a pain in the ass and a smartass. If Aidan said he was safe, then they were safe.
But holy hell, Aidan was about to fuck him.
Sean had been so distracted by his thoughts, he hadn’t realized Aidan had been preparing himself. It wasn’t until the cold press of Aidan’s fingers beneath him that Sean realized they were moving forward.
Before he could do more than jerk in surprise, he watched as Aidan bowed his head, gripping the base of Sean’s cock with his free hand and pulling it to his mouth. Sean let out a low groan as Aidan’s lips wrapped around the head, nursing gently on the sensitive tip with slow, teasing movements of his tongue. Sean’s hips jerked as he felt a single slick finger slide into him, his body going tense for a moment before he willed himself to relax.
The next finger was a little easier, but Sean still had to fight his body, trying to force it to let go of all the tension. Aidan was already ahead of him though, bowing forward to take Sean into his throat, and curling his fingers inside him at the same time. Sean let out a low bark of surprise, his nerves flaring to life as pleasure flooded his body. The combination of the squeeze of Aidan’s throat and the fingers brushing the sensitive nerves inside him set Sean’s body aflame with pleasure.
“Oh shit, forgot about that,” Sean groaned, reaching down to stroke Aidan’s head.
Aidan chuckled, the sound vibrating around Sean’s cock as the man slipped a third finger into him. It slid in far easier than the other two had, and Sean’s now sensitive body welcomed the strange feeling of being opened up by Aidan’s touch. Sean pushed his hips toward Aidan, both burying the man’s fingers in him completely and shoving his cock deeper into the man’s throat.
Aidan backed off with a splutter and a laugh. “My gag reflex isn’t that great.”
Sean laughed shakily. “Sorry. Just feels so good.”
Aidan gave his fingers a careful wiggle and curl. “Here’s hoping the rest of me can live up to the expectation.”
If Aidan topping him was anything like him bottoming, Sean suspected they were going to do just fine. The memory of Aidan, breathless and desperate, pushing against Sean’s thrusts without concern, had Sean wondering if they might have the energy for another round after this one. It was still a little strange to think of how that had been the point where everything had begun to change, the first domino to fall into the next, until the next thing he knew, he had the man in his apartment, first talking about something more between them, and now preparing to fuck him.
Aidan’s body was technically smaller than his, but not by a whole lot. It wouldn’t require any acrobatics for them to switch positions, and Sean raised his legs to give Aidan better access as the man pushed himself up. Sean was, however, glad that no matter how nice and respectable Aidan’s cock was, it wasn’t quite the same size as Sean’s. He still wasn’t sure how the other man had taken it so readily in the alley, but considering how everything had turned out, he was glad he had.
“You got that look,” Aidan said, stroking his cock with a layer of lube.
“Look?”
“Like you’re thinking.”
“I’m thinking I’m glad you’re not hung like a horse.”
Aidan reached down, running a finger over Sean’s cock. “Like someone else we know.”
“And how it felt to fuck you.”
Aidan smirked, positioning Sean’s legs. “That was fun. We’ll have to do it again sometime.”
“Alley and all?”
“And you pinning me to the wall like my life depended on it.”
Sean’s heart raced, and he nodded. His attention was diverted as he felt the press of Aidan’s cock against him, eager to be where his fingers had been seconds before. The pressure built for a moment, and then with a gasp, Sean felt him enter. Warmth flooded his guts as Aidan slid forward, stretching him a little more than his fingers had. The difference wasn’t too noticeable, and instead of burning and pain, Sean felt the strange pleasure of being opened and filled.
Aidan let out a low breath, gripping onto Sean’s thighs. “Oh! You weren’t kidding. It has been a while for you.”
Sean nodded, curling his legs around Aidan’s waist and drawing him closer. Taking the obvious hint, Aidan leaned in toward Sean, sliding the next few inches inside him gradually. Sean lay there, marveling at the sensations that filled his body, and how smooth a ride it was to have someone bare sliding into him.
Aidan felt good.
When Aidan’s hips finally pressed against his ass, Sean let out a low moan. Aidan’s cock filled him completely, and Sean would swear he could feel the man throbbing inside him. Reaching up, Sean pulled Aidan down into another hungry, but slow kiss, tightening his legs around the man’s waist and holding him there. He savored each sensation and treasured the sight of Aidan’s lust-filled expression above him.
Without saying a word, Sean released his leg’s death grip around Aidan, letting the man move freely. The first stroke was smooth and careful, Aidan testing the waters as he drew back and pushed deep into Sean once again. Sean wriggled as Aidan continued, his body’s nerves firing erratically, driving pleasure from one end of him to another. On the third thrust, a little more sure, and delivered with a bit more force, Sean’s back arched and he let out a strangled gasp as Aidan’s cock slid along something deep inside him.
“There we go,” Aidan said.
Sean hadn’t realized that Aidan had been looking for the right angle to hit the entire time. But as soon as Aidan began to move in earnest, Sean was glad he had. Their bodies slapped together, not in the fevered, blind need with which Sean had fucked
him, but with the passion and heat of two men savoring their newfound and open desire for the other.
Sean’s body sang with pure ecstasy as Aidan thrust down into him. His cock was rock hard between them, smearing his stomach with pre-cum as Aidan’s thrusts jostled it. Sean held tight to Aidan, gripping him as he tried his best to speak the words of encouragement he thought he deserved. All he managed were low, desperate cries, and eager moans as Aidan continued to thrust deep and hard.
His stomach tightened, his leg muscles coiling up as though he were ready to make a leap. Sean’s eyes snapped open, breath catching as he caught sight of Aidan’s face in a shaft of moonlight from the nearby window. His dark blue eyes caught the silvery light, blazing with need, desire, and undiluted pleasure. His bottom lip was caught between his teeth, a thin layer of sweat glistening on his forehead.
“Oh shit,” Sean groaned.
Aidan took hold of the back of Sean’s head and yanked him up into another hungry kiss. Sean cried out into Aidan’s mouth, his body going rigid as his cock jumped between them. Warmth spattered against his stomach and chest as he came hard, his grip on Aidan became ironclad as he held the man tight against him. Aidan’s own cry was equally muffled, as he thrust hard one final time into Sean, coming deep.
As the potent ecstasy bled from his body, leaving him feeling both weak and satisfied beyond words, Sean let out a low chuckle. “That…”
Aidan finished for him. “Was something.”
18
Aidan
Never once would Aidan have thought that being stuck in a relatively small space with Sean for three days would have been anything he’d call pleasurable. Yet pleasure was exactly one of the first words he would have used. He would have also happily thrown out pleasing and relaxing right before it, with a small, secret smile on his face.
Sean lolled against his shoulder. “I think we should get food.”
Aidan hummed thoughtfully. “Does that involve putting on clothes and or leaving the apartment?”
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