Zest: an accidental baker story (The Accidental Baker Book 2)

by Clare London

  Donnie squeezed gently, maybe more enthusiastically, and licked his lips.

  Feelings of the heart could be examined later. For now, Will didn’t want Donnie to think he was hesitating because he wasn’t keen.

  “I want to fuck you,” he said simply. “To be fucked by you. Whatever’s on offer. If I’ve been ambiguous in that, I’m sorry, because I’ve wanted you since the first day I met you.”

  Donnie paused and his eyes shone. The pupils looked dilated.

  Do I look as sexy as that? Will thought. He couldn’t imagine it. He wondered if Donnie could feel his pulse speeding up, right through his cock. But everything he said was true. Since that fateful day on the pavement outside the shops, Will could barely take his eyes off Donnie, whenever they were together. He worried that Donnie would catch Will staring all the time, would think he was weird. Donnie seemed to have no idea how good he looked, how handsome he was. Even in the sometimes eye-wateringly exotic clothes he wore. Slim, lithe, big eyes, long lashes, expression always kind. His mouth not just generous in shape but in his smiles, too. Will looked down now at the man between his knees and his heart jumped with need.

  “I don’t want to screw this up, Donnie. I don’t want to say the wrong thing, yet I want to tell you how I feel. I like you a lot—you must know that—and it makes me stupid sometimes.”

  Donnie gave a shaky bark of a laugh. “You? You’re not stupid. You run a professional business. You deal with clients and animals, and…”

  “Parrots?”

  Donnie’s laugh was warmer. “I was going to say, medical matters. You trained for years. You’re smart as well as sexy.”

  “But so are you.”

  “Yeah. Right.” Donnie’s gaze dropped away.

  Had he annoyed Donnie? No, surely not. Donnie was always at ease. Will ran his hand through Donnie’s hair and watched how Donnie’s head dropped back willingly when Will tugged daringly.

  “You said… you think I’m sexy?” Listen to him, begging for compliments! He was old, at least compared to Donnie. His hair was at least twenty percent grey and receding at the temples. His skin was creased in the wrong places, his knees cracked sometimes. He had an ugly appendix scar. Oh fuck.

  “I want to suck you,” Donnie said, so softly it was almost a whisper. “Then, maybe, fuck you.”

  Will loved the way Donnie stated it, baldly like that. “Please,” he stuttered in reply.

  With a more mischievous grin, Donnie cupped both hands under Will’s cock and slipped it out from inside the briefs. His knuckles stirred the hairs on Will’s balls—should he have shaved? Did Donnie prefer that?—tugging them against the grain so that Will’s skin goose bumped. Will wriggled on the sofa and pushed his jeans and briefs down to the top of his thighs.

  Donnie gave a gentle sigh, then placed one hand back on Will’s bare thigh. His palm was slightly but not unpleasantly damp. He dipped his head and slid his lips over the head. His voice was muffled as his tongue lapped at the rim. “Oh. It’s so good. You’re so good.”

  Will wasn’t going to challenge that. He’d only sound even more needy. Donnie’s mouth was firm but slow-moving, his hand still caressing Will’s balls as he sucked and licked. He stretched a fingertip behind Will’s balls and stroked his taint. Will had never been teased like that before: it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and his mouth go dry. Donnie’s mouth tightened: his movements felt more urgent. Will wondered if they’d make it to bed before he spilled in Donnie’s mouth and over his face.

  If it felt uncomfortable, like one of the springs in the sofa was loose and digging into his left buttock, if he worried he’d wrench his back if they made out on this piece of misbegotten furniture one more night—Will didn’t care. At least he wasn’t sneezing from the dust that usually came off the cushions.

  Donnie pulled off slowly, like licking down to the end of an ice pop. Without a word, he got back to his feet, took Will’s hand, and led him out of the living room. It was only a few steps to Donnie’s bedroom, but the first time Will had been invited inside. The bed was neatly made, the sheets smelled of a lemon freshener. Then Donnie turned him so his back was to the bed and all he could see was the doorway behind them and Donnie’s face—and Donnie pushed him backwards.

  CHAPTER 9

  Will flopped onto his back, less than gracefully. His jeans were still open, his cock hanging half out of his briefs, and his movements were hobbled. He must look a complete idiot. But Donnie’s eyes were shining as he reached to tug Will’s jeans and briefs to his ankles, then wriggle them and Will’s shoes off onto the floor.

  Donnie paused, looking down on Will’s half naked body. At his cock.

  Shit. Will knew he should have shaved.

  Then Donnie sighed, his smile wide and free. “You’re gorgeous. I knew you would be. Top off!”

  Will had a startled second to wonder if that was a modern cry for a sexual position, then realised Donnie wanted them to strip off their shirts. He squirmed out of his as quickly as he could because he didn’t want to miss a second of Donnie stripping. The shirt, his skinny, clingy jeans, his neon-coloured socks and boots. Will suspected Donnie’s briefs would be a revelation, too, and they were—"Kalvin Clein” written all along the waistband in a shameless rip-off, and covered with a print of primary coloured condoms. It was so Donnie, so amusing. Then the briefs came off and Will’s amusement turned to shocked lust.

  Donnie looked, briefly, anxious. “Is this okay?”

  “Come here. Right now.” Will barely recognised his own growl. He shimmied back up the bed—narrowly missing putting his eye out on some Christmas tree lights Donnie had strung over the headboard—and sat back, legs wide. He watched, fascinated, as Donnie prowled on hands and knees up the mattress towards him, until he nestled between Will’s thighs. Then he rested back on his heels and took hold of Will’s knees.

  Will coughed. “It’s been a while.”

  Donnie just smiled. He leaned over, to scoop up a couple of condoms and a small bottle of lube from his bedside drawer, then devoted his whole attention to Will. To stroking Will’s cock, to weighing Will’s balls in his palm, to sliding a cheeky, demanding finger—then a second, beside it—into Will’s arse. “I’ll go slow,” he murmured, twisting the fingers carefully but searchingly.

  “Don’t bother on my account,” Will gasped, as Donnie’s fingertips nudged his prostate. Tears of pleasure sprang to his eyes: his whole body was alight with impatient need.

  Donnie laughed, wriggled a few inches nearer, then nudged his sheathed cock against Will’s entrance. And then inside. Slowly. Inch by inch.

  Will reached for Donnie’s upper arms, gripped hard, and pulled him against his hips. With a gasp of his own, Donnie sank into Will, up to his balls.

  “Jesus, Will. So good.”

  Will could only grunt. The sudden burn was a shock, but the excitement sent tremors right through him. He started to rock, clinging to Donnie, needing the friction against his cock where it rubbed between their bellies. He lifted his legs higher, thankful when Donnie grasped them behind the knees. His thigh muscles weren’t as limber as they were fifteen years ago, and he hadn’t found a new gym in the area yet. He wouldn’t be able to hold any kind of a gymnastic position in bed for too long, if at all. Maybe he should join a yoga class…

  “Oh. Oh.” Donnie was moaning, muttering, making sounds in rhythm with their thrusting.

  Will couldn’t make out any sensible words, but he didn’t care. His nerves were strung tight with blissful anticipation. Conversation was far from his mind at that glorious moment.

  “Are you close?” Donnie whispered.

  “Dear God.” Will groaned as he felt the floodgates open. “T-too late!” His climax spilled from him. His thighs clenched, his toes curled, and he may have dug his nails into Donnie’s arms so fiercely he’d break the skin. Back arching, his cum splattered between them, leaving trails in the hairs on Will’s chest, spraying stray drops into the curls at Donnie�
�s groin.

  Donnie sighed. He may even have laughed softly. Then his body shuddered, his thighs tightened against Will’s hips, and he jerked above Will as he came.

  Will watched every moment of it: as Donnie’s pupils dilated to the maximum, as his belly clenched, as his head fell momentarily forward, stray hair stuck sweatily to his forehead. As he panted to a stop, his skin damp, his chest heaving. And then lifted his gaze to Will with an incandescent smile.

  It was phenomenal.

  An hour later, they were still awake, snuggled up in Donnie’s bed, naked and warm. Will was draped against Donnie’s back. That was partly because there was hardly enough room in the bed for one adult man, let alone two. Will wasn’t sure how he’d sleep here. But at the moment it was the last thing he cared about. Not with Donnie’s warm, wiry back pressed to his chest, tweaking the hairs all sort of ways, his tight buttocks in Will’s lap, teasing his cock to semi hardness again.

  Sleep was overrated anyway.

  “Have you thought about my job offer?” he murmured into Donnie’s ear.

  Donnie shifted, and for a horrible moment Will though he had annoyed him this time. What the hell was he doing, talking work when they were in bed? When he wanted to have sex again, despite the fact it’d been ages since he did it twice in less than twelve hours. But Donnie didn’t move away, just rolled over until he was facing Will.

  “I’ve got a draft contract on my phone,” Will said. It was like he had no control over his voice, just opened his mouth and let anything spill out. “Fifteen pounds an hour. Whatever hours you want.”

  Donnie’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not right.”

  “What? Isn’t it enough? It’s above national minimum.”

  Donnie was frowning. He looked—oh God—disapproving. “Will, we both know it’s above the minimum. Way above. It’s far too high for a basic reception job.”

  Will flushed. He was embarrassed, like he’d been when he was quizzing Donnie on his exams. It was a feeling like he’d stepped in something soft and messy, and if he tried to escape, he’d sink even farther. “I need someone with skills. You’ll be dealing with the public and sick animals, and medical prescriptions—”

  “Will. I don’t want pity.”

  “For God’s sake, it’s not that. I can’t bear to see you struggling.”

  Donnie’s jaw seemed to set in stubbornness. “It’s what people do.”

  He looked so brave, so proud. Will had no idea what Donnie’s family life had really been like: he suspected Donnie had only given him highlights. Or should that be lowlights? From other stray comments Donnie had made, it seemed that the siblings, half-siblings, step-siblings, whatever, all needed so many things. Not just money, but emotional support, comforting, encouraging, taking to job interviews, doctor appointments, probation meetings, babysitting, helping with decorating. And Donnie always seemed to be at the centre of this. No wonder he’d wanted to move out, to make his own way. It didn’t look like there’d ever been much help for Donnie himself.

  “Don’t look at me like that, Will.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like I’m some charity case.”

  “I don’t mean to.”

  Donnie sighed. “It’s okay.”

  He was smiling again. Did it look a bit strained, or was Will projecting his own worries? “Are we having an argument?” he asked tentatively. His family had never been good at direct confrontation.

  “Idiot,” Donnie said gently, still smiling. “We haven’t known each other long enough for that. Everything’s fine.”

  Will suspected Donnie said that a lot. Will had certainly heard him say it whenever he questioned or challenged Donnie. This had been an argument waiting to happen, no doubt about it. For a brief moment, Donnie had looked like he was about to tell Will to take his job and put it somewhere the sun didn’t shine.

  But Donnie wouldn’t do that, would he?

  Donnie planted the softest of kisses on Will’s jaw. It made the bristles tickle. “I mean it. It’s okay. I’d love to work for you.”

  “With me.”

  “Whatever. But I’ll let you know what wage you should be paying me.”

  “Donnie, for heaven’s sake. No person in their right mind would take less.”

  “So, I’m not in my right mind. That’s what you do to me.”

  Will didn’t know what to say. Now he had Donnie’s fingers on his hip, Donnie’s lips on his shoulder, Donnie’s nipple grazing his, rubbing it to a hard nub that damn near hurt. “Only if you’re sure you want the job.”

  “Well,” Donnie said with much more spirit. “I would really prefer stultifying boring days stapling cardboard and bubble wrap around stacks of print cartridges, rather than a stimulating day with a variety of clients and their pets, chatting to people and helping them out.”

  Will blinked hard. “Um. That’s sarcasm, right?”

  “You stupid arse.” Donnie sounded almost fond. He reached the couple of inches it took to meet Will’s lips with his own and kissed him properly, his tongue slick and fast in Will’s mouth. “Of course there is. I can start next Monday.”

  “I’ll look forward to it. You’ll be so good for the surgery,” Will said. And me, he didn’t dare add. Having Donnie with him on a daily basis. The tight feeling in his chest returned, but it warmed him as well. It certainly thickened his cock, nudging against Donnie’s thigh.

  “Fuck me now,” Donnie murmured into his mouth. “I can reach that other condom really easily.”

  He slung his outer leg over Will’s hip, their skin damp against each other’s. He moved with a young, easy grace that Will admired: that made his heart race and his cock shift. And who was he to argue with an offer like that? He chuckled, slid a hand around Donnie’s waist and flipped him onto his back, underneath him. “I’ll happily give your return offer the consideration it deserves.”

  “Yes, boss,” Donnie said with a grin, and reached to grip Will’s arms as his anchor.

  CHAPTER 10

  Donnie loved the surgery job from the first minute he opened the reception desk drawer and found a horrible mess of half-used sticky note pads, a scribbled password to a PC the previous vet had taken away with him, ten unsharpened pencils, and a chain of paperclips stuffed half-heartedly into a torn baggie. So much to work with!

  Will poked his head out of the door after every appointment, though Donnie didn’t think he needed to. He’d quickly discovered where everything was, and thought he was handling the clients pretty well. Then, on the latest occasion, Will winked at him and his cheeks went red, and Donnie realised Will maybe wasn’t checking up on him, just looking. Smiling. Allowing his gaze to linger on Donnie’s mouth for a second too long.

  Wow. Donnie had to turn away in case he got a hard-on from that look. One glance around the waiting area—at a German Shepherd with toothache and a hamster with bald patches—set him back on track.

  Will’s confidence in him reassured Donnie he’d been right to take the job. Though it had been a close thing when Will started all that shit about the hourly pay. Donnie was worried he’d been silly to take offence when obviously none was meant. Will had been trying to help. But Donnie was starting to second guess how people saw him.

  Why was that? Maybe it was because of dating Will. Maybe because of losing his job. Donnie had felt restless ever since the Easter incident. He’d assumed it was because of the excitement of meeting Will. But maybe it was a symptom of something else.

  He didn’t have time to navel-gaze, he realised, as a trio of yapping chihuahuas came through the door, trying to wrap themselves around their harassed owner’s ankles. Donnie had needed a job and, as Henry had often said in the past, it wasn’t like they grew on trees. Henry had implied that Donnie didn’t have a lot of choice. Even Maisie had the occasional scold that Donnie should go back to college and finish his catering course, else he’d never get anywhere. Seemed everyone had an opinion on Donnie’s life nowadays.

  Will hadn’t meant to
piss Donnie off, trying to artificially boost his salary, just because… what? Because they were fucking now? No, Will genuinely wanted him at the surgery, and he definitely needed help! Will didn’t seem to be on top of the admin side of things at all. Donnie sat at the desk, adjusting the chair to suit him, dragging over the wastepaper bin as he briskly began to sort through the messy drawers. He could see so much he could contribute, organising the records, streamlining the diary, setting up a text reminder process, moving the manual accounts records onto a spreadsheet. That was before he’d even got to interact with the clients. There was so much that suited him here.

  And being with Will. There was always that, best of all.

  Yes, he’d definitely made the right decision.

  Maisie wandered in at lunchtime. Will looked a bit disappointed—Donnie suspected he’d wanted to have his lunch with Donnie—but he smiled and nodded at the pair of them as they left to go and sit on the green across the road with their sandwiches.

  “So, tell all,” Maisie said, eyes sparkling with curiosity. “He’s really cute. How’s it going?”

  “It’s early days,” Donnie said cautiously. He wasn’t usually so coy about sharing news with Maisie, even about his love life.

  “Sez you, grinning all over your face!” Maisie almost clapped her hands with glee.

  “You’re like a kid.” Donnie laughed. “Like your friend Cara’s twins.” They were boisterous little boys: Donnie had babysat them several times. Cara and Christopher seemed to have problems keeping any other sitters