Wrecked

by Deanna Wadsworth

  “God, you’re so tight.” Mathew didn’t seem to be in a hurry as he slowly moved in and out.

  He felt so cherished, special, knowing that no other man had given Mathew this before. Knowing that he belonged to Mathew like no other.

  Once seated deep, Mathew leaned over and kissed his spine again, running his palms over his ribs. He laid his cheek against Rief’s naked back, panting and trembling as he held Rief in a gesture so caring, it broke all of his walls. But when Mathew remained immobile too long, Rief clenched down on him, hoping to spur him into action.

  The man shuddered. “Damnation!”

  Chuckling, he did it again. “You like that?”

  He nodded fast, his hair ticking Rief’s back. “I need to move.”

  “Yes! Yes!”

  Then finally, he began to thrust, but it was too slow, too gentle. Rief wanted the man to take charge, claim him. He wanted to belong to Mathew the way he’d always been a slave to his image.

  Rief reached behind for Mathew’s hip. When Mathew slid forward the next time, he slammed back as hard as he could. Pain shot through his ass and groin. “Harder!”

  Mathew buckled over with a gasp. Then he was kissing his back again, hugging him and caressing his belly with his fingertips. He stroked his shaft, pinching the tip and catching his balls with his two smallest fingers. “You’re sure?”

  “Goddamn it, yes!” He growled in frustrated need. “Please, just make me feel.” All command disappeared from his voice as passion took its place. “Make me feel alive.”

  There was only a moment’s hesitation, and Mathew finally gave him what he needed. He moved a few times, hitting that spot deep inside and making Rief grunt.

  “More,” he begged with each thrust.

  Then Mathew slammed in, a quick staccato of movement, a flurry of thrusts. Crying out, Rief clutched at the blankets, bracing for the impact he needed so badly.

  Mathew tightened his grip and slammed in harder. “Oh, Rief!”

  Hearing that pleasure roused a hotter fire in Rief’s groin, making him know this man was real and in his bed. Inside him. He accepted Rief and all the things his own family cursed him for. He bit his lip to hold back tears. Men weren’t supposed to cry during sex, but there was something going on between them that was far more intimate than just the act of lovemaking.

  Mathew was healing him.

  And then there was nothing but the delight of Mathew being inside him and the sound of his huffing gasps growing shorter in his ears. Fire consumed him. Mathew buried himself deep into Rief, then pulled out, the rim if his organ catching deliciously before ramming back in and sending lightning to his very toes. He clutched Rief’s hips and lower back, forcing his entry deeper.

  The world disappeared around Rief, and he jerked his own cock, knowing that sweet moment of pleasure was coming. His back strained, his inner thighs stretching as Mathew buried himself over and over inside his ass.

  “Damnation, this feels good.” Mathew grunted, fingers digging into his flesh.

  Rief let out a breathless laugh, looking over his shoulder. He nearly spilled his seed at the sight of Mathew fucking him, body flushed from exertion and his lower lip clenched in his teeth. He threw back his head, slamming in.

  Rief groaned, never wanting it to end.

  Without warning, Mathew pulled out, leaving Rief sobbing for more.

  “Get on your back. I wanna see you.” Mathew pushed his pliable, lust-weakened form onto his back.

  Obediently he raised his knees and Mathew fit between, sliding inside him once more. They both groaned when he pressed Rief’s thighs up, getting closer.

  Their eyes met, and when Mathew shuddered, Rief felt it inside his ass. Mathew stroked his face, eyes full of wonder. “Oh, Rief, thank you.”

  He loved the ragged way Mathew breathed his name, as if he were something unspeakably precious. Savoring the pleasure the new position gave him, Rief lifted his legs, forcing that cock even deeper. He seized Mathew’s ass, keeping him close, the muscles clenching beneath his hands as he thrust. Mathew went wild, pounding him, pushing Rief’s legs back, filling him harder and harder every time.

  Pleasure built inside him, and he felt his balls churning. As if Mathew could read his mind, anticipate his desires, he took hold of Rief’s cock. Though he wanted to watch Mathew, etch the image of his powerful lover claiming him into his mind, Rief couldn’t keep his eyes open. With a hiss, he lost himself to the delight of a cock in his ass, hitting his spot, and Mathew pumping his prick.

  With every thrust, every groan, Rief imagined he could hear the sounds of his heart repairing itself. Stitching the wounds years of unfair hatred and judgment had caused him.

  God, what will I do when he leaves me?

  A sob broke his lips, and he cried out, “Oh, Matt!”

  “I can’t last much longer,” Mathew said, his voice strained. His oiled hand squeezed tight up Rief’s shaft, moving quick and firm.

  Rief convulsed, a flurry of desire moving through in his every limb. With a grunt, he let go, the rush of sees spurting from his cock and pulsing in rhythm with Mathew’s strokes. His head spun from such a violent release, and he barely registered when Mathew joined him in one hard thrust. Gasping, he tensed down on his ass as that warm load emptied deep inside, filling him and marking Rief as owned, body and soul.

  The hand on his cock stilled, and Rief lay there, completely boneless and melted to the bed, covered by Mathew as he tried to catch his breath. Then lips were kissing him. “Was it good, Rief? Did I do it right?”

  He managed a sigh. “Perfect.”

  Raining more tiny kisses across his brow, Mathew held him close.

  Rief squeezed his eyes shut, savoring the tender affection. Please, God, don’t take him away from me. I need him so bad....

  Eventually Mathew withdrew. Though it may have been a first, God must have been listening, because Mathew never released his embrace, as if he too were desperate to stay connected. It was heaven to be held like this. Each breath unable to be distinguished from the other. There was no thought. The only thing in existence was the cadence of their hearts and the rhythm of the sea splashing outside his home.

  Fearing his voice might crack from emotion, Rief whispered, “Thank you, Matt.”

  He kissed him sweetly, then burrowed into his chest. “I’m just glad I did it properly. I don’t ever want to hurt you.”

  “No,” he corrected, throat suddenly tight. “Thank you for staying, for not leaving me after....”

  Mathew propped up onto his elbow and examined his face, unnerving Rief somewhat, for he seemed to see past all his carefully crafted walls. “Didn’t I tell you nothing could make me hate you? Didn’t I promise to take care of you? How can I do that if I leave you?”

  “Can you blame me for fearing the worst?”

  “No, I cannot,” he said with a sigh. With a smile, he climbed from the bed.

  Rief watched him intently, fearing he might reach for his trousers on the floor, but he only blew out the candles on the table. Before he could ask Mathew’s intentions, he slipped back into bed, curling against Rief.

  “I will never turn my back on you, Rief,” he whispered, drawing the sheet over their bodies. “I’m afraid that you are stuck with me.”

  A breathless chuckle escaped him despite the pain in his heart. “You have that the other way around, Matt. I think you’re the one stuck with me.”

  “Perhaps we were destined to be here, together.” He yawned deep, patting Rief’s chest sleepily. “Yes, that is the truth I will take away.”

  Eventually, Mathew slept, but Rief didn’t want to miss a moment of this night. He listened to him breathe, the faint snore a welcome sound in his lonely bed. Studying the face lying across his chest, he wondered if Mathew had broken his nose and made a note to ask. There were so many things he wanted to learn about this man, but there wasn’t enough time.

  There would never be enough time.

  Vision blurring, Rief b
uried his face into his hair and pulled him closer, imagining if he didn’t the man might slip back into the deathly clutches of a storm-tossed sea.

  In the treacherous part of his mind, a harsh truth whispered to Rief.

  Mathew may have accepted his abilities and his body, but that didn’t mean Rief would ever deserve the heart of someone so good and pure. No matter how perfect tonight had been and no matter how much Mathew meant his vows of commitment, in the end he would lose Mathew. Whether to a ship sailing across the sea, the woman he was engaged to, or to the hatred of a society that did not approve of men like them.

  It didn’t matter. The outcome would be the same.

  He didn’t need the sight to tell him either.

  In the end, all Rief would be left with were inanimate drawings. Now that he had tasted acceptance and love at the hands of this man, those mere images would never be enough to keep the darkness at bay.

  When Mathew was gone, it would swallow him completely.

  Chapter Twelve

  “But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine.”

  —Thomas Jefferson; 3rd American President (1801-1809)

  Mathew woke to the sound of coughing.

  Blinking a few times, he shifted to discover Rief sitting upright in bed, waving his arms in front of his face. Mathew panicked and looked around for evidence of smoke. Squinting into the morning sun, he found nothing amiss.

  “Rief?” He placed a soothing hand on his back, patting him to help him clear his throat.

  Eyes watering, Rief remained lost in the throes of a dream. “The candles, are they—”

  “I blew them all out last night,” he assured him, stroking his warm skin. “I believe you were just dreaming.”

  Slowly Rief nodded, and his breathing calmed. “Yes, I guess so. I thought we forgot to blow out the candles.”

  “No, all is well.” He kissed the faint sheet wrinkle marring Rief’s cheek. “You were dreaming.”

  An ethereal smile lit up his face. “You, here, in this bed... am I still dreaming?”

  “I am quite real.” He chuckled and trailed his fingertips down the center of Rief’s chest. Touching the warmth of his olive skin, seeing his gentle smile first thing in the morning—all of it did feel like a dream. “Did you think I was something you imagined? Another painting perhaps?”

  “Perhaps. Do you know how many times I’ve dreamt of waking up to you lying beside me?”

  “A hundred?”

  Sniffing with amusement, Rief replied, “A million maybe.”

  Last night’s strange confession, the drawings, and the way they had made love—all of it seemed so surreal in the light of day. A snatch of time too special, too secret, to even be real.

  Truly, this was a dream. One Mathew never wanted to wake from.

  He reached for Rief, and as if they had been lovers all their lives, they fell into an easy, loose embrace. He buried his face in Rief’s neck, inhaling the scent of sex and sleep from him. “Can’t we just stay here forever?”

  Rief sighed. “If only we could. But you really should go before someone sees you.”

  “Any risk is worth it to do this,” he said, joining their lips together.

  They kissed long and slow, a man’s normal hardness upon wakening stirring for more. He gripped Rief’s supple bottom, caressed his warm back, and lost his fingers in the silken hair on his neck. When Mathew took a hold of his growing erection and ran the head over that taut belly, Rief coiled a leg over him in answer, grabbing at his hip and pressing closer.

  Stroking his face, Mathew smiled. “How is it that I have found a man such as you? You are so handsome and kind. And brave.”

  Rief closed his eyes, dropping his head onto Mathew’s chest. “You call me brave, but I am afraid.”

  “Of what?” He kissed Rief’s head, lightly caressing his shoulder.

  “There are no more shadows to hide in, Matt. I’ve laid bare everything to you. Showed you the demons inside my very soul. Yet you’re still here.” He raised his face but would not meet his eye, his countenance pained. “Why?”

  “I could pretend to be altruistic.” Mathew drew his chin up, forcing Rief to look at him. “But the truth is I need you too. There are things about you that I might never understand. A part of me wants to know how you have been painting me all this time and why. But the bigger part just wants to accept what has happened as truth and not waste our precious time questioning everything. I want to take you in my arms every moment I can.”

  With a soft moan, Rief clung to him for a moment. Then he rolled over. “Take me again before you go.”

  Mathew groaned when that ass brushed against his cock. Already pretty stiff from being so close, his groin throbbed at the sight of such submissive posturing.

  Sideling up to him, he brushed Rief’s mussed hair off his face before cupping it possessively and kissing him. An intensity of emotions roared inside him knowing Rief trusted him enough to share his secrets. It made Mathew want to protect Rief’s heart while bringing every pleasure to his body he had ever been denied. He would give anything to this man, anything to make him heal and to prove, more than any drawing, Mathew would give Rief peace. Their time together would surpass any joy Rief experienced while painting him.

  He would be immortalized, not on a canvas, but upon Rief’s very soul.

  Drawing back, Mathew asked in a pant, “Where is the oil?”

  Rief found it and poured some in his hand, passing it to Mathew to coat his cock. He stared, enthralled at the indecent pleasure on Rief’s face as he plunged his own fingers into his ass with expert precision.

  “Please,” Rief begged, laying on his side and raising one leg.

  Never before had Mathew heard a more rousing word, nor seen such an erotic sight. He’d first believed buggering was something done to a woman or someone less than a man. Perhaps doled out as a punishment.

  How foolish he had been!

  This morning, he saw everything so differently.

  To all outward appearance, Rief was the heartier of the two. Big and masculine. Yet pleading for a cock inside him did not make him less of a man, nor did it render him weak or feminine. His need to release all control, to be vulnerable before Mathew, made him incredibly enticing. Mathew had been living in fear most of his life, but when they were in this bed, he was empowered. Bold and courageous, just as Rief painted him.

  There was no greater or lesser between them. Being connected this way made them both whole.

  Taking position behind Rief, Mathew caressed his ass, where suntanned skin met lighter. Rief trembled when Mathew massaged his moistened hole. Lining up his cock, hard and ready, he ran it along Rief’s crack, savoring his shudder of anticipation. Then he drew his palm up and over his sculpted back muscles then down, sliding fingers between the globes of his ass and reaching farther to give his balls a firm squeeze.

  “Oh shit!”

  “I’m sorry, too rough?”

  Rief chuckled. “Not at all. I like it.”

  “Promise that you will tell me if I hurt you.”

  “I promise,” he said impatiently as he stroked his cock.

  Mathew chewed his lip and ran his fingertips over Rief’s opening, the wrinkled flesh warm and slick with oil. Inviting with the promise of an ecstasy the likes of which he’d never imagined possible. He circled the hole, trying to show the proper patience to ready him. He would sooner take a bullet in the chest than hurt Rief.

  “Just get it in there and fuck me,” Rief begged.

  Last night he’d been cautious, unsure about this act, but now he realized Rief liked a firmer hand. What was more, Mathew enjoyed being in charge of their pleasure. Dominating him, and making this manly creature desperate with wanting.

  He took hold of his shaft, guiding it toward that tight, welcoming entrance. At first nothing happened when he pressed on it. Then Rief’s body yielded and
his head sank inside. They both moaned. Rief’s round, full cheeks framed his shaft as it disappeared within. The intense snugness was almost enough to drive Mathew over the edge. Somehow he held it off, groaning from the resistance. So wet and warm. So incredibly tight, it was almost painful. Wanting it to be good for Rief, he pushed in, aiming for that spot that made him go wild.

  He savored the sight of his cock sinking in and out of the tight valley of Rief’s bottom. Loving the heat and the clenching, he arched his stomach so there was more space to watch. He pushed the mounds of his ass up and out, kneading them and loving their muscular feel in his hands. Finally, unable to wait another moment, he gripped those globes and began to thrust fast.

  “That’s it,” Rief whispered, his head buried in his arm, body trembling. “Please, don’t show me any mercy. I want to feel you when you’re gone.”

  Mathew faltered as if he’d received a blow.

  Gone.

  Reality eclipsed pleasure, stealing his breath. Soon this island, Rief, and their little world of manly pleasures would be rendered a memory, barely warm enough to stave off a chill on the coldest English night. Sure they could write to each other, and perhaps Mathew would travel back this way, but their physical union, this perfection could only happen here in Key West.

  It was so damn unfair! He’d found this kindred spirit far too late for either of them to be saved from the neglect and loneliness of their lives.

  Frustrated, he slammed all the way to the hilt.

  Rief slid his top leg up to brace himself, jutting his ass out. “Oh yes! Harder!”

  Needing to bury the pain of their reality, give himself over to this beautiful pleasure he would soon be denied, he shifted until Rief was almost on his belly, one leg spread up and out while his body almost crushed the hand moving over his cock. Taking hold of his shoulder, Mathew used that leverage to go deeper, to lose himself. But he was already lost. He’d been lost the moment Rief smiled at him.