by Kevin Sean
“You’re funny. So, Liam, I’m sorry that I won’t be seeing you this week, but this storm is a doozy. Let’s shoot for having you tour LexTech and do interviews in two weeks?”
“Sounds great. This is an important article for the magazine, so I can come whenever works best for you.”
“Great!” I say, looking forward to spending time with one of my favorite cousins. Now that my mind is on work, another area of interest pops up in my brain. “By the way, Li, you wouldn’t have heard about any suspicious goings on at Photogram lately, would you?”
“It’s funny you should ask! Just the other day one of my writers pitched a piece about Photogram. Apparently a lot of freelancers who worked with the company have been complaining about not getting their money on time, or straight up not getting paid at all.”
“Damn, that’s terrible.”
“Why do you ask? Do you have a scoop?” I can hear my cousin switching into full reporter mode. I’d love to give him the juicy bit of gossip about Photogram stealing my ideas, but I think it’s better, for my company’s sake, to keep that information under lock and key right now.
“Nah, I’ve just heard the same stories about employees getting stiffed,” I answer breezily.
Liam must buy my fib because he doesn’t press the subject. “Listen, it’s always a pleasure to talk to you Logan, but my husband will kill me if I don’t go give him the back massage I’ve been promising all evening. We’ll talk soon, okay?”
“Of course! Go squeeze Ty’s ass already,” I laugh before saying goodbye.
After the call ends, my cousin’s words are still ringing in my ears. Even when I’ve tucked into bed and snuggled up beside Ben, they’re swirling around in my mind. Not all of us can be workaholics with a frozen heart.
I wonder if maybe, just maybe, Ben Carpenter being here with me is exactly what my heart needed to thaw.
11
BEN
I’m awoken by the sensation of soft kisses traveling down my back. Logan’s arms wrap so tight around me, and our legs intertwine. I don’t remember feeling this cozy or safe since… who knows when.
I flip around to face him. Damn, look at this beautiful specimen of a man. Those blue eyes and that perfect jaw leave me as breathless as always.
“Are you okay? After… last night?” I know it was his first time taking it like that, and I hate imagining Logan in any pain.
His smile stretches from one perfect cheekbone to the other. It’s a grin so wide and wonderful that it makes my heart beat a mile a minute.
“Okay? Are you kidding me? I’m… fucking fantastic. That was the best sex of my life.”
I scoff. He’s just saying that. “Yeah, right.”
“I mean it,” Logan says, both smoldering and serious, shooting to an upright position. He’s clasping my hand now, firm squeezes his means of communicating sincerity and satisfaction. “Really, I’m okay, Ben.”
“I’m glad to hear it. I just don’t want you downplaying something serious for my sake.”
“Well, in that case, if you want to help me out, there is something I need…” My ears perk up, eager to please the handsome man smiling beside me.
“What can I do for you, good sir?” I ask, pantomiming tipping a hat like a British gentleman. It’s dorky, but somehow Logan is still looking at me with bedroom eyes.
“I could seriously use your cock in my ass right about now,” Logan replies, the most devilish grin I’ve ever seen planted on his gorgeous face.
“Logan!” I laugh, shocked by his proposal.
“Now, Mr. Carpenter, I seem to remember you agreeing to help make sure I was okay. The thing that will most help me feel okay is getting the fucking hell pounded out of me.” He licks his lips before finishing the thought. “Do you think you can help?”
“Yeah,” I say, breathless and excited by this turn of events. I had hoped Logan would enjoy his first time bottoming, and I kept checking in on him throughout the experience, but for him to be well on his way to being a cock-hungry power bottom after taking one cock was… not what I expected. Not that I’m complaining.
I love topping just as much as I love bottoming—I’m versatile to a tee. I’ve always loved flipping and switching up who would give and would take back when I was with Zach. The only feeling which compares to fucking a beautiful tight hole is taking a powerful cock.
I’d assumed that the situation between Zach and I, where we were each happy to fuck and be fucked, was a rare one. I had never even dared imagine that it would be the case with Logan. Just thinking about the possibility of Logan and I taking turns pounding the ever-loving fuck out of each other makes my cock spring to attention and swell till it’s rock hard.
Logan, suave master of timing that he is, must have picked up on my increasing level of sexual desire because he now grabs my wrist and pulls my hand behind him, pushing my finger against his hole.
Oh, fuck yes. Just touching him here, all the tactile, tantalizing memories of Logan taking me inside of his tight entrance last night come rushing back.
“So you’re really sure?”
“Really really sure.”
This is enough for me. I flip Logan’s eager ass over, so he’s now positioned on his hands and knees. I’m in just the right position to eat his ass. So I do precisely that, digging my face into his delicious hole. While I’m eating him out, I play with the tight entrance with my fingers, loosening up so he can take every inch of me.
Before long, I can’t resist any longer. I need to fuck him. Logan’s hole tastes so good, but my cock is begging to pound him. I’ve loosened him up enough to take me, so I slide on a condom, rub on some lube, and give Logan a kiss.
“Are you ready to get pounded?” I ask wickedly.
“Readier than ever.” He responds.
I'm about to slide my throbbing cock into Logan’s tight, eager hole when… Ring. Ring. Ring. It’s a noise I’m very familiar with by this point: Logan’s phone alerting him that someone from ConnectMe needs his help.
“Fuck, I’m sorry,” Logan groans. “Just ignore it. If it’s important, they can call back later.”
“Sounds good,” I nod and spit on my fingers, massaging my saliva into Logan to relax him and re-open him. Again I prepare my cock to enter Logan, rubbing the tip against his hole and teasing him. I’ve just pushed the head in when… Ring. Ring. Ring. The phone repeats the noises again. And again. By the third time they call, I pull off the condom and pat Logan on the ass.
“Sounds like it’s important. You take that call now, and you can take this cock later, okay?”
Logan groans but nods in agreement. “Fine, fine, you’re right,” he admits begrudgingly. “I’ll try to finish all my work stuff for today as early as possible, all right? I’ll be back before you know it.” He rushes to throw on clothes and uses his fingers to comb the waves out of his short blond hair. Before he leaves, he leans in for a sweet kiss goodbye and then heads on his way.
And suddenly I’m alone all over again. This time it doesn’t feel quite so scary, though.
I begin to plan my free time today and think of something I should’ve done much sooner: tell Montana I’m okay. I forgot to let her know what my current situation is, let alone the fact that I made it to Logan’s house alive. I hope she’s not too worried.
Without further ado, I pull out my phone and dial Montana’s number. She answers right before I’m sent to voicemail and starts a video chat.
“Hey girl hey!” I call out, waving at her image on my phone screen.
“Well, hello, sunshine! You’re… giddy, aren’t you?” Her eyes are wide in surprise, and she’s upside down. I take a moment, but I see the fabric wrapped around her and realize she’s hanging from the ceiling and doing aerial yoga. Typical Montana.
“I guess so,” I blush, hoping she can’t see the red on my cheeks through her phone screen.
“Oh my god… you got laid. More than once!?” She’s almost screaming now, maybe because she’s swun
g off-camera and isn’t sure if I can hear her.
“Montana!” I thank my lucky stars that the walls are thick in this fortress-like mansion, meaning this virtual tête-à-tête between friends won’t fall victim to eavesdropping.
“Sorry, sorry… you made love.” She rolls her eyes.
“Montana!” Somehow that turn of phrase makes me cringe even harder.
“Well… am I wrong? No shame in the game, babe! I’m proud of you. You’d been off the horse way too long. But I’m not going to lie, I assumed that you were dead… or having the time of your mother-fucking life. You just disappeared into the storm and didn’t text back ever again!” Montana has now swung out of frame while doing her latest aerial yoga move. “I had half a mind to call the cops, but I didn’t want to interfere with a blossoming love story, were that the case.” She appears on the screen again, her expression serious. “So you promise you’re okay over there?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I say. That isn’t much of an answer at all, but I’m already embarrassed and unsure how much more information I can offer about my current situation without making Montana think I’ve either been held against my will or joined a cult.
Maybe I should just be upfront about mine and Logan’s arrangement: Montana’s skydiving-related sexual escapades pushed me to come out to this private island in the first place, after all. I doubt she’d judge me for my decision to wait out the storm while being pounded by a handsome billionaire. I could do way worse.
We chat for another half hour about an assortment of irrelevant topics, mostly revolving around things celebrities have posted on social media or news regarding our favorite TV shows. Montana mentions that G&J’s Bakery was on the news for giving baked goods to people in need during this trying time, which warms my heart. And makes me think of when Logan and I first met there, a lifetime and not so long at all ago. Before I know it, thinking of unicorn cupcakes has made me ravenous for lunch.
“Okay, well, listen, Monty—I have to go,” I say when my stomach rumbles for the fifteenth time.
“Oh, did your fuck buddy decide it’s time to go for another round?”
“Hey! No fair! I just need to eat something.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you do…” she snickers. Okay, I walked right into that one.
“Haha, hilarious. Listen, take care of yourself and stay safe, okay?”
“You too, babe.”
“If things get worse or this storm refuses to leave, I might need you to go to my place and feed Jade. You still have a spare key, right?”
“I think so…” The camera goes blurry and I hear drawers flying open. Is she swinging around her house to look for the keys? “Whoo! Here the keys are! Right… where… I knew I left them…” She’s panting like a madwoman.
“Okay, perfect, thank you so much!”
“You know I love Jade. I’m a sucker for a sassy cat,” Montana responds breezily while swinging from one side of the screen to the other.
“I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that and I can come home soon, but better safe than sorry—I had to ask,” I say.
“Don’t be sorry! And don’t hope that you come home soon… I sure as hell don’t! I want this storm to rage on until my friend’s vitamin dick deficiency is treated via injection!”
“Montana! I need to take a shower after hearing that!” I’m feigning being scandalized, but in reality I’m laughing my ass off. Montana is a hoot and a half.
“You know you love it. Well, anyway, now I’m the one who has to go—I’m getting a call from my old skydiving partner herself! Time for me to leap into some high-quality cooch.”
“She doesn’t know what she’s in for… listen, we’ll talk soon, okay? Love you.”
“Love ya!” she responds. She hangs up before she even has time to finish her own thought.
I put down my phone and wonder what I ought to do next. I could paint, but I just don’t feel like it. Maybe if I’m in the hideaway, I’ll be in the mood. I throw on some of Logan’s spare expensive clothes and head towards my favorite part of the mansion. I’m now a man on a mission.
After I’ve arrived in the hideaway and perused the books and paintings inside, I still don’t know what I ought to do. I could paint more portraits of Logan, but I’d rather wait until he’s modeling for me in the flesh. I’m playing a vintage kaleidoscope when I spot something out of the corner of my eye: a bright orange blossom blooming right outside the window. It looks spectacular against the colorless backdrop of the stormy exterior.
It would make a perfect painting. Just as this thought occurs to me, I spot an oblong vase on the opposite side of the room. I know immediately that I want to paint that flower in that vase.
I saunter over to the stained glass wall and swing open the glass pane separating me from the orange blossom. It’s far enough away that I have to extend my arm, but I reach for it and pluck it. I close the window behind me and place the vivid flower into the odd vase. They complement each other perfectly.
I assemble my supplies and start painting with such rapidity and conviction that it’s as if I’m compelled by a supernatural force.
The colors, the brushstrokes, the composition all flow from me with ease. The painting comes to life effortlessly. It doesn’t feel like work, it feels like I’m dancing with the paintbrush, leaving streaks of color in our wake as we waltz across the canvas.
A thought strikes me. It’s the first time in years I’ve felt inspired to paint by something besides a naked man. For years I’ve assumed I was meant to paint portraits. Now I feel compelled to expand my artistic horizons.
When the painting is finished, I stare at it for minutes on end. It’s one of the best I’ve ever done.
My reverie and self-aggrandizing ends when I look down and realize the window I got the flowers through was blown back open by the wind, leaving a wet, sloppy mess all over the room’s parquet floor. I must not have shut it all the way. Fuck.
I don’t want to be any more of an imposition than I already have been, so I resolve to clean this mess up on my own. After securing the window in place, I rush out of the hideaway in search of cleaning supplies. I’m dashing like a madman from one door to another until I have a stroke of luck and open a broom closet stuffed with mops and washcloths. Hallelujah.
As I make my way back to my mess, I hear voices. It’s Logan and Katarzyna—they’re in the hideaway.
“Holy Krakow, what happened in this room?” Katarzyna’s voice echoes out of the room.
“I hope Ben is okay,” I hear Logan say. My heart skips a beat, and I quicken my pace.
When I arrive at the hideaway, I pause for a second, regain my composure, and knock on the doorframe. “I’m so sorry about this mess, I didn’t close the window properly. I just wanted to paint the flowers I saw outside and… I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. It won’t happen again.”
“Oh, no worries! It’s not as bad as it looks. Wet, yes, but I can clean this in five minutes, tops,” Katarzyna declares.
“She’s right, it’s no big deal,” Logan assures me. “But thank you for bringing cleaning supplies. Here, we’ll all help clean,” he offers, grabbing one rag and tossing another to his housekeeper.
The three of us make quick work of the mess and within minutes we’re finished. “I’ll take care of the washcloths,” says Katarzyna before rushing out of the room. I can’t help thinking she wanted to leave Logan and I alone together.
Logan wastes no time in taking advantage of our solitude. He pulls me tight against him and plants a kiss on my forehead. “I missed you so much after saying goodbye earlier.”
“Me too,” I murmur. The overwhelming power of Logan’s presence always takes me by surprise and leaves me speechless.
“You know, we have unfinished business…” He flashes that intoxicating grin.
I nod and pull him in for a tender kiss on the lips. “Let’s go upstairs. Right now.”
Maybe I should be precautious. Maybe I should guard my heart. But I don�
�t care. This storm will not last forever, so I might as well enjoy the ride while I can. If it’s anything like the ride Logan took last night, I think I’ll need to fasten my seatbelt and hold on very, very tight…
12
LOGAN
“I’m about to cum,” Ben pants, pounding his cock deep into my hole between each word.
“Me too,” I moan back as I clutch the pillow even tighter with one hand. I wrap the other around my cock. I’m surprised it hasn’t fallen off yet, considering how much we’ve been fucking lately.
“Oh my god, yes!” He groans and throws one final thrust inside of me before contentedly collapsing on the bed.
Right on cue, my phone rings. Has Sue installed live camera feeds in my bedroom?
“Sue?” I answer, still breathless from getting fucked so hard.
“Mr. Lexington, hello. I hate to bother you, but you missed another conference call this evening.”
“Dammit, I’m sorry Sue.” Why am I suddenly forgetting so many important things? I don’t even remember what this missed meeting was about. “Was it an important one?”
“Very much so, unfortunately. Lightning from the storm struck one of our off-site storage facilities and has caused severe delays in our server response time. The engineers have been working day and night to fix it. We think we should be able to get things back up and running in a few days, but it’s likely that this will push back our release time for ConnectMeet.”
Fuck. This is terrible news on so many levels. I can’t help but wonder if Photogram will seize on this opportunity to further undermine my company.
As if Sue is reading my mind, she continues and says: “Also… there’s been another issue with Photogram.”
“Oh God,” I groan. “What is it this time?”
“Well… our deal to use Daisy Dreamz as our brand ambassador for the dating service fell through. She will do a similar set of ads with Photogram instead.”