He splayed the top of his jeans wide open, challenged by the sultry face Quinn was giving him. Couldn’t help the smile that crept up his lips to make a full-fledged grin. Quinn had seemingly forgotten his mission. “Going to get stuff?”
Quinn swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “What? Right, the condoms and lube.” He shook his head as if he needed to clear it. Zach liked being the power behind that motion. “Don’t go away.”
“You said that already.” Quinn seemed to be worried Zach would take off if left alone. Not an unbelievable fear. How did the man know him so well after so few interactions?
“I know. Don’t do anything either. Just stay still.” He shot from the room like an arrow from a bow. So maybe he was afraid he might miss something. It would make him hurry this along.
Though he was tempted to strip to see the surprise on Quinn’s face when he returned, Zach stood perfectly still, listening to Quinn fumble around in the other room. There were a few muttered epithets.
What are you doing? Have you lost your mind? What has possessed you?
He looked up at the ceiling. Without Quinn here in front of him, it was hard to remember he’d told himself he’d give this a chance. Hard to keep the doubts at bay. The ones that always plagued him about any type of relationship, especially since his military service. And it was easy to go soft. His erection floundered without Quinn to keep it going.
He was bisexual. How many had he hurt with his inability to commit to only one sex? Others might not have that problem, but he sure did. And though they’d talked a big talk the other day with Josie, he didn’t see a threesome working out for anything long-term. There weren’t threesomes around them; they were all couples.
Which you could never be. Not for any length of time. There’s too much you want.
He wanted it all. At the same time. Josie and Quinn had seemed open, but reality would set in sooner or later. They spoke big words, but when it came down to it, could they go through with all three being together at the same time?
Yet a part of him wanted to believe he could have it this time. He wanted to drink the drink they were sipping from and go along with this. With this fairy tale of a happy ending. That they could all be together in some sort of three-way relationship and be joyous.
Tonight.
He’d let himself believe it tonight. Maybe tomorrow. But eventually life would rear its ugly head, and the thought of being with them would go away. He’d find a way to screw it up.
Happiness always left.
But this evening, he’d allow himself to be carried away in the dream of the naive. He’d be with Quinn. Let himself enjoy their time together. It had been so long since he’d been with another man. His last relationship had been a woman. A good woman.
Who you screwed over to chase a man who was straight and didn’t give you the time of day. And who never would have even considered this. Neither of them would consider what Josie and Quinn seem to be.
But this isn’t about that. This is about getting to know Quinn and Josie. Who aren’t Talia and Ernest.
Maybe tonight he could focus on Quinn and not have any thoughts about a woman, because he knew he’d be with Josie eventually. Maybe that could fix his problem, and then he could have a long-lasting relationship. After all, there was no way they’d agree to a complete threesome no matter what they said. He’d never tried things this way. Maybe it could work without going all the way.
As if on cue, Quinn darted back into the living room. He still seemed to be hurrying. He rubbed his knee with a muffled curse. “Stupid nightstand drawer.” In his hand were lube and a box of condoms. “Sorry. Had to search around a little bit. Been a while.”
It had been a while for Zach too, but that was a wonder Quinn didn’t have a lover in his bed every night. Life was full of fools. Zach had watched him dance, wanting him more than any other who stalked across that stage, shaking their booty.
Why?
What was it about him that called to something in Zach? His countenance was appealing, his personality winsome, and that had come across when he danced. He put himself into his performance. All of him hung out from body to soul. In looks he was Zach’s type, but in personality he wasn’t. He’d tended to go for tough guys and good girls. Neither Josie nor Quinn fit with whom Zach had been with in the past.
Maybe that was a good thing.
Zach had felt dead inside for a while. So naturally someone so full of life must appeal to him. He studied Quinn. Yes, he was brimming with a joie de vivre so few enjoyed. That had to be it.
Josie had the same quality. Despite being so different from Quinn. There was a spark in them both that shone through in everything they did. The first time he’d noticed Josie, she’d been dancing with abandon. Quinn often did the same thing in his shows. They both moved with a free spirit like no one was watching. Only Zach had been.
Zach wanted them to catch him on fire. He wanted to sample some of their flame and see if they’d share with him something he’d lost a long time ago. Maybe they’d ignite him.
Or maybe he’d extinguish them. He’d put out the thing in them that called to his being. He’d done it before.
No, he wouldn’t think like that. Not tonight. He banished any negative thoughts.
Instead, he examined Quinn from head to toe. Delectable. Things started to harden yet again. Just the man’s presence was enough to make Zach go back to erect. God help him when Quinn was unclothed. He’d squirt out like some untried teenager.
Quinn’s gaze shone through a hue of bluish tinged with green. He had unusual eyes. They must change color with what he wore, because Zach could have sworn they’d been blue the other day. Today, green had almost taken over, as he was wearing a light-green T-shirt with jeans.
Quinn’s feet were bare. A pair of sandals resided by the door as if waiting for someone to go out. He’d been expecting a date, not a full-fledged screwing like this on their first phase.
“You sure about this?” Zach didn’t want to ask the words for fear of denial, but he had to. Quinn hadn’t been anticipating this, though neither had Zach. Maybe they should use those shoes and forget about this. “Tonight and being with me.”
Quinn nodded. “Yep, yep. Never been surer.” He walked around Zach as if circling him and sizing him up for weakness. “You’ve been watching me a while now at Temples.”
“Yes.” Zach kept a wary eye on Quinn but didn’t let him get around to his back, keeping Quinn in front of him at all times. He slowly pivoted around on one foot.
“So do you bottom? Or top?” Quinn stopped his erratic circle but continued shimmying in place almost as if to music Zach didn’t hear. Leave it to Quinn to get right to the question at hand.
“What do you think?” Zach lowered his zipper, splaying his jeans aside even more. He pulled down the flap ever so slightly, not revealing anything but a bulge. It had the effect he wanted.
Quinn’s gaze had dived down upon the first centimeter of the zipper and wouldn’t shift back up. “Top. You’re a top all the way.” He licked his lips as soon as the words exited his mouth.
“Dammit, you got it in one.” Zach lifted his hand, ignoring Quinn’s gasp. Was the sound because he’d removed his hand or because of how much Quinn could see?
“That could be a problem.” Quinn’s voice dropped so Zach could barely hear what he said.
Zach reached the second button of his shirt—first one unbuttoned—and began to undo them one by one with painstaking slowness. “Oh?” He kept his gaze on Quinn’s face, watching every nuanced response.
“I’ve only bottomed once. Usually I’m a top.” Quinn arched a brow, not nearly as captivated by the shirt show as he had been when Zach’s hands were at his pants. So he wanted to see dick, did he?
“Not a problem.” Zach finished his shirt and tossed it off to the side. He didn’t even notice where it landed. All his focus was on Quinn. Sooner they got this straight, the better. “Just a lesson.”
“A lesson?” Quinn’s gaze wandered down Zach’s bare chest. He froze on the point where the hair went under Zach’s jeans before his gaze shifted back to Zach’s face. He arched a brow.
“That I always win. I always get what I want.” Zach moved forward with all the speed his tired body could muster. “Every time. And I will top you.” It would be a test. He had a feeling Quinn would demand Zach earn the hard-won privilege. Which he would do.
Now it was his turn to circle Quinn. He walked a wide arc around him, like a predator circling the prey. Unlike Zach, Quinn didn’t move with him. He let Zach be at his back. That was his second mistake. The first was telling Zach he’d been a top, which naturally issued the challenge. “I bet you do.” Quinn sent an invitation with his expression as he glanced behind himself at Zach. “Maybe not with me.”
“Really?” Zach moved in against Quinn’s body, pressing his front to Quinn’s back. He nipped his earlobe and then the side of his neck. “Always. I bet even with you, I’ll get my way.”
He felt Quinn’s shudder before he rubbed his heavy erection against Quinn’s back. Back and forth. He held Quinn tightly, showing his strength, both of body and of want. Quinn had to know who he was dealing with.
It wasn’t nearly enough, probably for either of them. Quinn wasn’t naked, and Zach still wore his jeans. Zach ached, he was so hard. He wanted to plunge his cock into Quinn and take him harder than he’d ever been taken before.
He moved his arms around Quinn’s side until he reached the bottom of his shirt. Snagged the shirt from its position under Quinn’s jeans. Moving back, he tugged the shirt from Quinn’s body, exposing all the golden skin.
Even looking over his shoulder, he could see the excellence that was Quinn. The muscular pecs. The golden smattering of hair that coated Quinn’s flat stomach and trim hips. He was a few shades lighter than Zach’s tanned skin, and the contrast was thrilling.
Gorgeous.
Josie would be lighter than him but darker than Quinn. She would fit between them in so many ways.
He could see the bulge under Quinn’s pants where his erect cock pressed up against the confines. Soon it would be free. Soon both their cocks would be free. And Quinn would do a different type of dance.
Zach hadn’t even gotten to the good stuff yet, and he wanted Quinn badly. The stuff he hadn’t gotten to see yet even when Quinn danced. They couldn’t get completely naked at Temples. There were laws that governed how much they could take off. Break those rules, and Temples could lose its liquor license, the kiss of death for a bar in this town.
Just how big was Quinn? He couldn’t wait to find out.
He brushed his hands over Quinn’s chest, just lightly touching all over. He found one nipple and teased it out from being flat. Pinched him hard. Quinn jerked before settling down. A squeeze on the other side earned a moan.
“I always get what I want. I’m persuasive.” He tweaked both Quinn’s nipples at the same time.
“I see that.” Quinn’s voice was a breathy whisper.
“So you wearing a thong tonight?” He muttered the words against Quinn’s ear. That was what he wore at Rose’s revue.
“Why don’t you find out?” Still breathy. Still hushed. But there was a firmness to those words. An issued challenge.
“I intend to.” He’d find out a lot of things before this night was over. What Quinn was wearing under his jeans was the first thing. “I’m going to top you. I’m going to jerk you off. I’m going to fuck you.”
“You talk a lot, Army Man. But I’m not seeing a lot of action.” Quinn leaned back against Zach’s body.
Dammit but the man was mouthy. He lowered his hands down Quinn’s front to his jeans. Shifted his body so he was leaning over more and could reach. He undid the snap to Quinn’s jeans and unzipped them.
Hair and skin revealed themselves with each centimeter the tab went down. An unforeseen event.
“Commando.”
“Yep.” Quinn’s voice didn’t sound as strangled as it had been. “Yep, I go that way much of the time.”
Zach had to close his eyes against the humming in his head. All those times Quinn wasn’t dancing, he wore nothing under his pants.
Zach should have pushed him. Should have found long before now what Quinn wore under those jeans. Maybe he should thank Rose. If she hadn’t told him Quinn was bisexual, he might have walked out when he found Josie and Quinn together. Would have figured he’d gotten what he deserved and so had Josie. A man who could love and want only her, as opposed to Zach, who always seemed to want more.
He moved away from Quinn. “Take those off.” He wanted to see the full unveiling of Quinn’s thick cock. Wanted to see the clothes slide from his body, not at an angle but dead center.
Quinn laughed and moved away. He placed his hands on his hips and slid them down alongside the part Zach wanted to see. “Take these old things off? Is that what you’re asking me?” He sounded teasing with lilted speech.
“Yes.” What hoops would he make Zach go through to get him naked? Zach didn’t think they’d be fun.
Quinn’s gaze met Zach’s. Full-on. Not evasive. No guilt. Nothing but desire. “Okay.” He began to shimmy, moving back and forth. And with each shake of his hips, he slid his pants farther down his legs.
No rigmarole. Simple stripping. With a move he’d seen Quinn do before in Rose’s show.
Quinn used his hands to drop his pants to the floor, thrusting his hips forward as they pooled around his ankles. He looked down. “This goes better with stripping pants. Tight jeans don’t cut it.”
Only they did. He was sexy as anything Zach had ever seen. His cock was long and thick. Reddened. It rose up against Quinn’s stomach. A thin layer of fair-colored hair was smattered along the base of his cock. Zach’s cock pushed along the top to his pants, seeming to want to be free.
Quinn shucked his feet from the confines of the pants and finally slid them fully off. He stood naked before Zach.
Zach couldn’t pull his gaze away from Quinn’s cock. Didn’t want to. He wanted to lap his tongue around it. And he would.
He turned his gaze to the windows around them. The shades and curtains were drawn. Good, because he didn’t want to give the neighbors a show. Especially in Quinn’s neighborhood.
Quinn clucked his tongue. “Okay, Army Man. It’s your turn to take off your pants.”
Zach had been intending to do that, but he stopped. He stared down Quinn. “Why don’t you come over here and help me?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” Quinn was at his side in two seconds. He scooted closer to him and tugged on the upper portion of Zach’s jeans.
Zach lowered his hands over Quinn’s. He settled his fingers across him and plastered his mouth to Quinn’s. Each kiss was a delve in and gave as much as he took from Quinn. He finally broke his mouth from Quinn’s. “Finish.”
Quinn took a second as if collecting his thoughts and then lowered his hands again. He slipped the material over Zach’s thighs and to his feet. Zach lifted each foot, and Quinn slid the jeans from Zach.
Zach stood exposed in front of a naked man. He waited for the usual guilt to start, but it didn’t. Maybe he was finally growing to accept who he was. Girls were simpler, because that was expected. When he’d gotten his first erection over a boy, he’d been stunned and surprised. He’d not expected to like both sexes. He hadn’t wanted to. Had fought it for years, even up until now. But he couldn’t change who he was.
Quinn whistled in appreciation as he circled Zach again. His gaze seemed particularly drawn by Zach’s cock. “Nice piece.”
Zach shook his head. “Just me.”
“Yep, yep, it is.” He came up against Zach in an embrace that pressed their bodies together.
Zach hissed at the feel of the man’s body touching him. Too good. Their cocks brushed against each other. Not to mention the words. Quinn liked him back. It was an amazing thing.
Imagine Josie between us.
He squashed thos
e thoughts that might be his answer. Tonight was about him and Quinn, and this might never go any further. He wouldn’t think about a future. Only tonight. And he needed to focus on Quinn. Not have thoughts of Josie. Because if he couldn’t keep those out, they had no chance.
Zach slipped from Quinn’s arms and located the lube. He undid the cap and poured a handful in his palm. “Like cherry, do we?” It was flavored. “And warming? Really?”
Quinn’s grin was fierce. “If you haven’t had the warming kind, you haven’t lived.” He rubbed a hand down his chest. “Course, if you haven’t had me, you haven’t lived either.”
“That’s about to change.” Zach peeked at his dripping hands. “On both fronts.” Part of him still expected Quinn to call this off. To put a halt to what was going on between them.
“Yep.” Quinn went to the couch and stretched out on it. He elongated his body as much as possible. “Yep, all yours.”
“Should we put down towels or something?” Zach indicated the wetness in his hands.
“While I appreciate the sentiment, this is a removable slipcover. I have another one like it. Doesn’t matter what gets on it. I can wash it.” He beckoned with one finger and arched a brow. “No cold feet now.”
Zach didn’t have cold anything. All of him was burning up. He took a step toward the couch, then retrieved the bottle of lube and the condoms and put them closer.
After placing one finger at the top of Quinn’s chest, Zach started running that finger down, winding a curvy path.
Quinn sucked in his stomach when Zach reached that portion of him. He shifted his hips too, as if shoving his cock toward the hand that was so near.
Zach slowly moved his finger back up Quinn’s torso. He left an oily path of lube as he slowly wound up and down the man’s chest, coming almost to touch Quinn’s cock but then moving away before actual contact.
After the fifth close encounter, Quinn let out a long groan. “You’re killing me, Army Man.”
“Am I?” Zach didn’t let out the smile that was brimming. He couldn’t. He ached to stretch his fingers around Quinn’s cock. To clasp him.
Dear Rose 3: Winter's Risk Page 6