“Can I stay over tomorrow night, Sir?” he asked, almost dreading the answer.
Joel rolled on top of him, smiling down at him. “You can’t distract me getting ready in the morning. I have to be out of here early.”
Fen nodded. “Me, too.”
Joel nuzzled noses with him and Fen felt himself slip even closer toward love. “Okay. Sure, if you want to.”
“Can you spend the whole weekend with me?”
“What about your niece?”
“That’s okay. Not like we’ll be naked in front of her. Heck, we’ll be lucky if we can keep a diaper on her. She’s in a nudist phase.”
“Wait, how old is she?”
“Eighteen months.”
Joel laughed, his head resting on the bed. “I don’t know why I thought you said she was eight for some reason. Sorry. I was wondering how can you not keep clothes on an eight-year-old, and why does she need a diaper? You order them to wear clothes at that age.”
Fen laughed with him and wanted to run his hands all over Joel, wanted to stroke his arms, his abs.
His cock.
Except he let out a yawn and realized it was after ten. “Sorry. Guess I should head home.”
Joel got up with him, pulling on shorts and grabbing his keys, not only walking him downstairs, but all the way to Fen’s car. “Text me when you get home, baby, okay?”
Someone else to worry about him if he disappeared.
Someone who made him feel like he wasn’t alone anymore. “Yes, Sir. Absolutely.”
And when Joel smiled and stepped back while Fen got in, he stared into Joel’s blue gaze and realized he was lying to himself if he tried to deny he wasn’t in love with the guy already.
Chapter Eleven
Tuesday morning, Fen sat at his desk and didn’t look away from the project he was working on when his phone rang with his mother’s custom ringtone. He blindly grabbed for his phone and drew it to him.
“Hello, birth-giver.”
She laughed. “You sound like you’re in a good mood. Your father’s schedule changed. Tomorrow night at seven for dinner.”
Fen reflexively hit ctrl+S and sat back. “Tomorrow?”
Damn.
There went his plan to spend Wednesday night at Joel’s and leave straight for work from there Thursday morning. His parents lived all the way up in Bradenton, and from Joel’s, that’d be nearly an hour.
Actually, there went his plan to get laid tomorrow night.
He could see the frown in her tone. “Is that a problem?”
It wasn’t required to be at family dinners, but considering how supportive his parents had been throughout the years, he tried to miss as few of them as possible. Plus he hated missing any opportunity to spend time with his little Snoobug.
“No, not a problem.” He hoped she couldn’t hear him sigh. “Change of plans, that’s all.”
“Oh?”
Shit.
He might as well get it over with, because he knew that tone of voice, too. She’d gently keep pecking away at the topic from different angles until he admitted it. The fact that he wasn’t pining the loss of Tom any longer wouldn’t go unnoticed, either.
“Mutual friends of mine got together and played matchmaker and introduced me to a guy Saturday. Really great guy. I was going to see him again tomorrow night.”
“So bring him.”
He thought he’d misheard her. It took them several weeks to invite Tom. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Okay, where’s my mom, and what’d you do with her?”
“Honey, I don’t think I ever heard you describe Tom as a ‘really great guy’ in the entire time you were dating him. Frankly, your father and I weren’t very fond of him. Bring your new guy and let us meet him.”
Why not? One more test. Besides, Snoobug would likely hate him, anyway. She’d hated Tom, but then again, she was at that age where she pretty much hated most people on sight who she didn’t spend time with every day. She still kicked and screamed when Onna’s mom and dad tried to hold her.
So far, she’d taken to Fen like crazy, even more than his parents, whom she saw several times a week, on average. Another reason he didn’t want to miss spending time with her.
“Okay, sure. I’ll talk to him.”
“Love you.”
“Love you, too.” He stared at his phone for a minute before texting Joel about it. He knew this was probably some sort of test on the part of his parents. If they extended the offer and Joel declined, they’d immediately mark a check in the Dislike category when sizing him up.
* * * *
It was nearly noon before Joel returned to his tiny, air-conditioned office just off the shop area in the marina and could check his phone for messages. He found a text from Fen.
Change of plans Wed. night. Dad’s schedule changed. Dinner @ 7 at their house. Mom told me to invite you.
Wow. He hadn’t met parents in a while. That was usually a big deal.
Then again, wasn’t Fen a big deal in his life already? He couldn’t get the guy out of his mind. Not at all. All morning, he’d been constantly distracted by thoughts of him.
Keeping his mind on his work usually wasn’t a problem Joel had.
Now all he could think about was the next time he got to see Fen—that night—and replaying what they’d done last night. Fen said he’d stop by the store and bring fixings for dinner.
I need to give him keys to the building and my apartment.
He had extras in a drawer in his kitchen, but he’d never given a key to anyone except to one of his neighbors once, when he had to go out of town but was expecting a delivery of a piece of flat-pack furniture.
Wasn’t this kind of instalove usually limited to the realm of romance novels and extremely bad life choices?
Or maybe the cultures who used matchmakers were really on to something after all.
He texted him back.
What do I need to bring?
Fen must have been waiting for his response, because he replied almost immediately.
Nothing. Mom enjoys cooking. You could bring clothes and shower stuff and come straight to my place after work.
Maybe he could spend the whole night at Fen’s. That wouldn’t exactly be a bad way to spend the night.
Better than a quick handjob and heading home alone.
Hell, he didn’t want to be alone anymore.
That sounds like a plan, sugar. I need to grab lunch and get back to work. See you tonight.
Fen responded with a series of smiling emoji faces, which made Joel smile.
Frickin’ adorable.
* * * *
Fen struggled to keep his mind focused on his work for the rest of the afternoon. He’d packed to spend the night with Joel and was eager to be with him again.
This isn’t healthy, is it?
To be this hung up on someone so soon?
Wasn’t this one of the key warning signs of subfrenzy?
But his mind kept circling back to the fact that the Frightful Five had vetted and paired them. If there’d been a red flag, he knew any or all of them wouldn’t have hesitated to throw it and drag Fen off for a private warning chat.
Fen also knew from what Joel had told him that he’d been given an interrogation worthy of an international war crimes inquiry.
By the time he arrived at Joel’s and made it upstairs after being buzzed in, Joel met him at the elevator and took some bags for him. “Next time, text me when you’re here, baby, so I can come help you.”
Fen felt a pleased flush fill his face. “Yes, Sir.”
Unfortunately, Joel had already taken his shower, but Fen loved that he smelled like strawberry. Once they’d set the groceries on the counter, Joel grabbed him and kissed him, hard, cupping Fen’s ass and grinding against him.
“Missed you today, sugar.”
“Missed you, too, Sir.”
Joel smiled down at him. “You know, you keep calling me Sir and you’re gon
na spoil me rotten.”
“Maybe that’s my evil plan, Sir.”
Joel grinned and patted Fen on the bum. “Let’s get dinner started. I’m starvin’.”
After dinner and cleaning up, they ended up in Joel’s bed. Fen would take the blame for that, because he’d stood at the counter and ground his ass back against Joel’s hips when the man had hugged him from behind.
That had led to a furious explosion of clothes being flung off in a trail starting in the kitchen and ending at Joel’s bed, where he’d scooped Fen up in his arms and tossed him onto the bed before crawling up on it and stalking him.
“I picked up a little something on the way home from work today, baby,” Joel said from where he’d ended up between Fen’s legs, kissing the inside of his right ankle.
“You did?”
“Mmm-hmm.” He drew a scorching circle around the inside of Fen’s left ankle with his tongue. “Side table on your right, top drawer. Toss me one, please.”
Fen fumbled around and found—
“Flavored condoms!” He’d actually packed some but they were out in his bag and in his rush to get in bed with Joel, he’d forgotten about them.
A wide smile creased Joel’s face and he held out a palm for the plastic pouch.
Fen pulled pillows under his head while Joel shoved Fen’s thighs wide apart and settled in, slowly rolling the condom down his shaft.
“Hope you enjoy this, baby.”
“Oh!” Fen struggled to keep his eyes open as Joel completely swallowed Fen’s cock to the root. Then he slowly worked his way up again, swirling his tongue around Fen’s shaft. When he reached the head he gently grazed his teeth over the ridge, drawing whimpers of need from Fen.
Working slowly, this time he licked and sucked his way down the underside of his cock, to his balls, where he had fun taking them into his mouth one at a time. All the while, Fen tried to rock his hips in time with Joel’s movements, tried to hold back, tried to savor every second of this.
Damn, the man was good! And Fen was glad he kept himself shaved down there, too.
One thought kept pulsing through Fen’s brain with every beat of his heart—if it felt that good through a condom, he could only imagine how damn good Joel’s mouth would feel bare against his shaft.
Apparently, Joel was serious about how much he enjoyed giving oral. He took his time, built Fen up several times before letting him cool off a little, keeping him at a fast simmer and begging for permission to come, even though Joel hadn’t told him—this time—that he had to wait.
Fen completely lost track of time as he lost his damn mind to this man’s magic mouth. Finally, Joel chuckled. “You can come, baby.”
He swallowed Fen’s cock to the root once more, at the same time grabbing handfuls of the back of Fen’s thighs and squeezing, hard, fingers digging in.
The combination of mind-blowing pleasure and pain short-circuited Fen’s brain. He grabbed Joel’s head and started fucking his mouth as the orgasm slammed into him, driving the breath from him even as he tried to hold back his relieved cry. His cock filled the end of the condom, and Joel released his grip on Fen’s thighs, to hold the condom closed around the base of Fen’s cock. Still, as Fen’s cock grew limp in his mouth, Joel continued holding it there, smiling even with his mouth full, those magic blue eyes twinkling with evil Dominant mischief as he watched Fen recover.
Releasing Joel’s head, Fen sat up and grabbed Joel, kissing him. “Dammit,” he whispered. “That was…fuck.”
“Good?”
He stared at him in disbelief. “Good? That was like the gold-star standard right there!”
Joel sat back on his heels and patted Fen’s hip. “Go clean up and get back here.” He pointed at his own cock. “He’s ready to meet your mouth.”
Fen did, eagerly climbing onto the bed. Joel sat propped up against the headboard, knees bent and thighs wide open.
Hell, Fen’s mouth was watering, ready to get a taste of him.
Joel held up two pouches. “Strawberry, or banana? Only two left. I didn’t want to get a bunch of this kind if they tasted gross.”
“Either.” Fen held out his hand and ended up with banana. His hands trembled with eager excitement as he ripped the pouch open and started rolling the condom down Joel’s shaft.
* * * *
Joel hoped he didn’t prematurely explode and ruin’s Fen’s fun. Fen kept one hand around the base of Joel’s cock and with the other played with his sac. There was no sexier sight in the world than watching his cock disappear between Fen’s eager lips.
Fen kept his gaze focused on Joel, knowing exactly what he was doing to him with every swipe of that sweet tongue of his.
The only reason Joel hadn’t taken the risk of going down on Fen bare was that he didn’t want his boy assuming that risk himself in return. And Joel knew damn well Fen would have begged to suck Joel raw if he’d sucked Fen like that.
Not that Joel honestly believed the rest of the results would come back anything but neg, but he would always put his boy first, and that meant setting a good example.
Considering he’d already screwed up by not being able to hold back longer on sex, in this way, at least, he could remain steadfastly firm. They’d have their results by next week at the latest. No hardship to have Fen’s sweet naked body in bed with him even without being able to suck him raw.
He already had ideas he wanted to try, websites he wanted to visit and toys to shop for. He didn’t need to fuck Fen’s ass when through the miracle of kinky science there were countless jack toys out there already that could serve as more than adequate replacements.
Oh, the fun they could have together trying them all.
But not yet. He wanted to make sure Fen’s trust in him was absolute. If he tried to introduce toys like that too soon, he worried Fen might think he was trying to play a game with him and coax him down the road to trying anal, and that was absolutely not what he wanted to do.
It was, as far as Joel was concerned, something forever off the table. And he was absolutely fine with that.
Fen was sexy and playfully eager. Joel held back as long as he could before Fen’s skilled mouth finally drew him over the edge. When Fen knew Joel was coming, he went deep, nose pressed against Joel’s pubes and with every bit of his cock down his throat.
Oh, wow!
Finally, he was too sensitive and pulled Fen off his cock and up into his arms, where he could kiss him and snuggle, wrapping his arms around him and completely engulfing his slim frame against his body.
“So fucking good, baby,” Joel breathed, unable to believe his life had finally brought him this bit of good luck.
“Want me to get you a washcloth, Sir?”
“No, I’ll get up in a minute.” He looked into Fen’s face for a long, quiet moment. “I’m so glad you’re spending the night. I don’t want you to leave.”
“So you’ll spend the night with me tomorrow?”
Joel smiled. He couldn’t have refused him, the hopeful look in Fen’s face tugging at Joel’s heart. “Of course I will, baby. All night long. It’s the only place I want to be—with you.”
Chapter Twelve
In the light of day, Joel wasn’t feeling so brave regarding meeting Fen’s family.
Especially Fen’s dad.
When Joel packed clothes the next morning, Fen insisted he could wear shorts and a T-shirt, but Joel wanted to make a good impression.
Especially since Fen’s dad was a cop.
He knew the man would likely be hard to impress and potentially look for any flaw to hold against him. They were overprotective parents who, had they known about Fen’s college experience, likely would have kept him living at home as long as possible after he graduated.
That was based on his own feelings, of wanting to build a safe bubble to keep Fen in. If he could afford it, he’d make Fen a stay-at-home husband, one less worry on his mind every day, being able to know his baby wasn’t driving in rush hour traffic.
Which he also understood was a totally irrational response, but something about Fen brought those feelings out in him in a way he’d never felt before.
Ever.
If he felt like that, unless Fen’s parents were complete and utter assholes, he couldn’t imagine they didn’t feel at least a little like that themselves.
He’d finally settled on a casual button-up short-sleeved shirt and nice khaki shorts. At least the double engine overhaul job at work threw enough curveballs at him throughout the day to keep his mind focused, for once, on that and not on Fen or the dinner that night. It was only after work, as he was driving to meet Fen at his place, that his anxiety crept in again.
Maybe this was the “bad” thing that would jinx this whole perfection. Maybe Fen’s family would hate him, tell Fen to get rid of Joel, end of story.
Because it seemed impossible, new-relationship energy or not, for things to be going this well this soon. Sure, it’d been less than a week, and yes, the Frightful Five had a great track record.
But…really?
Did he finally get the happily ever after with an adorable guy who seemed custom-made for him?
Fen stepped into the shower in the master bathroom to help Joel scrub off. Which had led to them jerking each other off and then almost running a few minutes late. He let Fen drive because, honestly, he felt too nervous.
“You’re sure we shouldn’t bring dessert, or a gift, or…something?”
Fen arched an eyebrow at him. “Nope. I swear my parents aren’t jerks, Sir.”
“Please don’t call me Sir in front of them.”
“I wasn’t going to, no worries.” He smiled. “My big, bad Dom is terrified right now.”
“Fuck yeah, I am. Your dad’s a cop. He hates me, he’ll make my life hell until I leave.”
Fen reached over and patted his thigh. “Mom told me on the phone yesterday that she and Dad didn’t like Tom, and I didn’t even know that. Take that as proof that even if they don’t like you, it doesn’t change anything between us. I swear they’re not like that. Neither are George and Onna.” He laughed. “It’s the Snoobug you’ll have to worry about. Naris. If she hates you, don’t get upset, because she hates most people right now.”
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