Learned Behaviors (Higher Education)

by Jayce Ellis

  Or he could do both. He squeezed Matt’s shoulder again, and moved one side of the headphones back to expose his ear. “How much longer you got?”

  Matt blew out a noisy breath, twisting his neck to each side to get what sounded like some satisfying cracks. “Couple more hours, at least.”

  Jaq raised a brow at that. Matt had been up here for over an hour already. “World gonna end if you don’t respond for another hour or so?”

  Matt frowned, settled his headphones around his neck, and finally turned in his chair. “Why? You need something?”

  “Yes.”

  “What?”

  “You.”

  Matt’s eyes narrowed and a slow grin spread, his tongue darting out to lick his lips. Then those same eyes darted back toward his screen.

  Jaq sighed. “Matt, take a break.”

  He ran a hand over the top of his head. “I want to, but—”

  “Take. A break.” Jaq pushed the chair back and straddled his lap, then pulled the headset all the way off and set it down next to the laptop. He wanted to chuck the thing, but he knew how much they cost. No thank you.

  “You want me to take you to the bedroom and make love to you?” Matt asked, his fingers finding the hem of Jaq’s polo and pulling it out of his slacks.

  Jaq groaned at the feel of Matt’s bare hands against him. They hadn’t had sex except that first time, what with Matt being out of the office so much. When he’d been in town, he’d been exhausted. They’d barely managed to watch a movie or show before he passed out. A few blow jobs was it, and he was needy.

  Jaq rolled his hips and let his head fall, touching his forehead to Matt’s. He hated asking, even though he knew he wouldn’t be denied. “No,” he finally said. “I want you to fuck me.”

  Matt’s fingers on him tightened, then one hand snaked down the back of his pants. He squeezed an ass cheek, his breath heavy against Jaq’s. “Get these off,” he muttered.

  Jaq stood and stepped back, unfastening his belt and stripping in record time. Matt didn’t, remaining fully clothed while fishing out his dick. Matt knew that did it for him.

  “Taste me,” Matt said, holding his cock at the base.

  Jaq groaned and fell to his knees, ignoring the twinge of pain as he hit the floor. The carpeting here was nice, but not that damn plush. He took Matt’s dick in his mouth, hollowing his cheeks and sucking hard.

  Matt scooted down in the chair and spread his legs as wide as he could with his pants still on. He placed both hands on Jaq’s head and pushed up until Jaq choked. Jaq pulled back, flipped Matt off, then went back to work.

  Matt chuckled, the sound dark and rich, and pumped his hips into Jaq’s willing mouth. When he pried Jaq off with a loud pop, Jaq looked up and found his eyes dark, his mouth open and breathing heavy.

  “Come here,” Matt muttered, standing and pulling Jaq to his feet. “Bend over.”

  Matt pointed to the white leather couch and motioned for Jaq to lean over the back of it. Fuck yeah.

  Jaq did as asked, bracing himself against the back of the couch while Matt disappeared, returning with lube and condoms. Matt greeted him with two smacks on his ass, and he let his head fall forward, spreading his legs wider.

  “That’s it. So goddamn sexy,” Matt whispered behind him.

  Jaq heard the pop of lube, and jumped when a slicked finger circled his hole before pushing in. One finger quickly became two, then the sound of Matt donning the condom before applying more lube to his dick.

  Matt laid a hand on Jaq’s lower back to steady him, then pushed in. Breath left Jaq in a rush, a low groan that turned into a mewl. He didn’t know who needed this more, Matt or him, but they’d both been under the gun, enough that even getting down here had felt, at some times, more like work than a vacation. Jaq needed to remind Matt why they were here, what they could do for each other.

  “Breathe out, baby. Let me in,” Matt whispered, his body draped over Jaq, his breath a low croon in Jaq’s ear. The sensation rippled through him and he moaned.

  Jaq sucked in a breath and released it slowly. Matt took his time, but didn’t stop until he’d bottomed out.

  “Holy fuck,” Jaq whispered.

  Matt gave him a minute to acclimate, then gripped him hard with one hand on his shoulder. “Hang on.”

  Jaq braced himself while Matt started pounding. In and out, with no finesse. Just pure, raw, unadulterated need. Jaq’s head fell and he let Matt take him. This was what he wanted, what he needed.

  Matt seemed to need it too, taking out the frustrations of never-ending work on Jaq’s ass. He let go of Jaq’s shoulder and gripped both ass cheeks, spreading them wide and pumping even faster. He smacked Jaq again, and that sent him over the edge. He came, splattering the back of the couch, his ass clenching around Matt’s dick. Matt stepped back, bringing Jaq with him until he could only grip the back of the couch with his hands and, if anything, thrust harder into him until, with a hoarse shout, he stilled and came.

  When he finally came down from his high, Matt pulled out and helped Jaq stand, wrapping an arm around his waist and bringing him flush against Matt’s chest.

  “Jesus, that was amazing,” Jaq murmured between soft, plaintive kisses.

  Matt’s hand was wrapped around Jaq, playing lightly with the hair on his stomach down to his spent cock. “You’re amazing,” he whispered. “Thank you.”

  Jaq hummed, then Matt bit the back of his neck gently before licking over it with his tongue. “You need to clean the back of the couch,” he said, nipping the fleshy part of Jaq’s ear.

  Jaq nodded his assent, then stopped. “I’m not licking the back of the fucking couch, Matt. I have no idea who’s been there before me.”

  Matt laughed, the sound lighter than he’d heard in weeks. “Fair enough. We’ll save that for some other time, then.”

  Jaq didn’t reply, but his dick tried to perk up at the thought. Matt walked off toward the bathroom, somehow managing to look sexy even with his dick still hanging out of his pants. Jaq went to the bedroom and put on his pajama pants, then waited until Matt came out of the bathroom with a washcloth to clean off the couch before speaking.

  “You want to stay up here or get dressed and rejoin the crew?” He was perfectly content to stay where he was, especially as exhaustion more than started to creep in on him.

  Matt smiled. “You’re done for, I can tell.”

  Jaq didn’t argue, instead climbing in the bed and leaning against the pillows, his hands behind his head. “True. Why don’t you come in here and show me that making love thing you were talking about earlier.”

  Matt crossed the room and stood next to the bed. “I’ll be in soon. Let me just finish up what I’ve got going on.” He started to walk away, but Jaq grabbed his wrist.

  “Don’t stay up all night, Matt. You have a whole team. Not everything is on you.”

  Matt smiled, but the strain that had evaporated just minutes before was already creeping back onto his face. “I won’t. I promise.” He pressed a kiss to Jaq’s lips and walked out of the room.

  Now why didn’t Jaq believe that for a moment?

  Chapter Seventeen

  Notwithstanding the fact that Matt’d taken Jaq again during the night—and how the hell he’d gotten it up would forever remain a mystery—they were both up bright and early the following morning, working. He felt a twinge of regret over having commandeered the suite area, while Jaq took a spot in the corner of the bedroom, sitting in the plush chair adjacent to the bed. He’d forgotten—though how, he wasn’t entirely sure—that Jaq was overseeing more than one product launch as well. But Jaq didn’t complain, and Matt went back to work.

  At some point they ordered room service and took a short break to eat, but other than that, the morning, Thanksgiving morning, was dedicated to massaging last-minute nerve attacks.

 
; They’d had ample opportunity to review all the designs. Patti had been ecstatic about them, and so had Nichole on Matt’s end. He had no doubt that the launch would be a massive success, but the overwhelming feeling of joy that would usually accompany this was missing. Over and over in Matt’s mind, the only thing on his mind, was now what?

  Once he had no reason to be in DC regularly, would he find himself back here? Or would he return to Fredericksburg, and would the relationship they were building start to fade? He didn’t know, and he didn’t like the anxiety not knowing gave him. He’d taken to splitting his time between Fredericksburg and Rosslyn to monitor Steven, to make sure he hadn’t found some way back into Matt’s files, and that had been stressful enough. He couldn’t imagine that as the makings of a healthy long-term relationship.

  He was also, for the first time since his promotion, reconsidering his long-term plans with Bernhardt. The mess with Steven bothered him more than he’d let on. Wiltshire had been willing to throw an entire launch to make sure his future son-in-law was set, and Nichole didn’t seem like she’d be able to stop it. He had no interest in doing that for another twenty years, not even another five, and that gave him something to think on. Matt shook his head and tried to concentrate.

  After a few more hours of willful focus, Jaq emerged from the bedroom and squeezed his shoulder. “Hey,” he said. “We said we’d stop working at lunchtime, right? It’s one o’clock. Time to hang it up.”

  Matt blinked. Yes, that had been his idea, but it had been more of a suggestion than anything. No doubt he intended to work until he had to get dressed for the dinner this evening, and the look on his face must have said what he was unwilling to. Jaq stepped back, his hands on his hips, his face already taking on that irritated but resigned look he remembered from Di.

  “Matt, this is supposed to be a vacation. Your entire family is here. Take a break and spend time with them.”

  “I see my family plenty.” He sounded like a petulant man-baby, and he hated himself a little in that moment.

  “No, you don’t,” Jaq insisted. “The only one you see is Angela. Natalie is in California, Josh is getting married, and it’s a four-hour drive to get down here. Take a break already.”

  He wanted to argue, but Matt knew that, on this, Jaq would embody persistence. He nodded and stood up, his legs creaking from hours in the chair. “You’re right. Want to join me?”

  Jaq gripped the top of his head, his eyes cutting to the bedroom. Matt sensed a sadness emanating from him, and that was the only thing that kept Matt from lingering on how Jaq’s biceps flexed in that shirt. “Nah, I gotta try and call Tanisha again.”

  Tanisha’s name on Jaq’s lips gave Matt pause. That was something he needed to do. He’d come upstairs before Halo had arrived. Jaq hadn’t mentioned whether he’d seen her, but Matt needed to let Angela know he was here and explain their relationship.

  He pushed back from the chair and into Jaq’s arms, wrapping his hands around Jaq’s waist and pulling him close. “Why don’t you stay here and call Tanisha and your mom? I’m going to see if I can track down Angela.”

  Jaq’s eyes brightened, and Matt felt a wave of relief. He didn’t think Jaq would ask him about the girls reuniting or anything like that. He knew Jaq was just happy that he was making the effort to reach out to her. Matt took Jaq’s lips, a soft peck that deepened and lengthened until their bodies were both hard and throbbing against each other, and Matt was tempted to say the hell with it and drag Jaq back to bed. But Jaq was an adult, and he broke off the kiss and stepped back.

  “Go,” he said, a hoarse chuckle escaping him. “Go before we don’t go anywhere.”

  He adjusted himself and Matt’s eyes zeroed in on the sight of his dick, hard and tenting the front of his sweats. He stepped forward and Jaq scrambled back toward the bedroom door. “Go,” he repeated with another laugh.

  Matt adjusted himself as well, waiting until he looked decent and not debauched before leaving the room. There was no one on the elevator, for which he was grateful as he tried to figure out what to say. He hadn’t come up with anything by the time he reached the lobby, but he ran smack into Halo as soon as he rounded the corner from the elevator banks.

  “Dad! Hey,” she finished, almost as though she wasn’t sure whether he was happy to see her.

  “Hey there,” he said. “You already have lunch?”

  “No. Headed there now.” She paused and looked up at him before continuing. “You want to eat together?”

  Matt smiled. “That’d be great.” He held his arm out for her to lead and followed her into the restaurant and a small table in the corner. Chances were slim they’d make it through the meal uninterrupted, but if they sat in the front they might as well just give it up.

  They took a seat and ordered drinks, then Angela spoke. “So, I see you brought a date.” There was no hint of malice or anger in her voice. Actually it bordered on a mischievous amusement.

  He chuckled, a hoarse thing full of nervousness. “You ran into Jaq last night.”

  She nodded. “Imagine my surprise when I walk in with Mom and see Mr. Reynolds sitting by himself in the corner. I’m looking for Tanisha and everything, then Mom tells me he’s your guest.”

  “He is.” Matt took a deep breath. “We’ve been seeing each other since not long after Parents Weekend. Is that a problem for you?”

  “Why? Because I used to bang his daughter?” They both winced and Angela hurried to apologize. “Sorry! Sorry,” she said again. “I know you don’t ever want to think about that kind of stuff.”

  “I’m not naïve enough to not know what happens in college,” he said. “Your mother and I did have three children in fairly rapid succession.”

  Her nose crinkled. “Eww, Dad, don’t.”

  “Now we’re even.” He paused, considering what she’d said earlier. “Why’d you think Tanisha would be here?”

  Halo crossed her arms over her chest and looked off to the side. “I don’t know.”

  “Had you invited her?”

  She nodded, still unwilling to face him, and Matt felt the weight starting to hunker onto his shoulders. Whatever had happened between them, it had been serious. He should’ve guessed as much from how Halo had talked about their breakup, but he’d chalked it up to first-love agony. Part of him found it hard to imagine, given the short period of time they’d known each other.

  Is it really so hard to believe? It’s no different than you and Jaq.

  The realization brought him up short. His brain was right. It was the same thing, and Matt knew how hard he was falling. Had fallen. And he was an adult with grown kids and decades of loving and losing under his belt. This had to be one of Halo’s first significant relationships gone bad.

  “I won’t press, but you know I’m here, right?” She glanced at him and nodded, her eyes watery with unshed tears. “Is there part of you that wishes she were here now?”

  Angela’s breath was noisy as she let her hands fall to the table. “It’s just, everyone here is all booed up, and I feel like the only solo. Even you’re here with someone.”

  “Gee, thanks,” Matt said wryly.

  “No! I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just...” Her voice faded and she didn’t finish the sentence.

  “You miss her?” Matt ventured. She nodded again, and this time a single tear fell. She swiped it away and looked at her finger, as though she was offended by its very existence.

  He understood. It had been a long time since he’d felt the comfort of having someone there for him, someone to come home to. Someone who was excited to see him. These past few weeks of coming back to DC, spending evenings with Jaq, even though about all he did was pass out, were refreshing. Exhilarating. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to let that go. He damn sure knew he didn’t want to let it go. Not next week, not next year, not anytime soon.

  “You’re not
upset about me being here with Jaq?” he asked, needing to know for sure that one relationship wouldn’t harm another.

  “Mr. Reynolds. I don’t care what you call him, it’s going to be Mr. Reynolds. And no, I’m not upset.” She paused, quirking her lips to the side, and shook her head. “It’s weird, like I should’ve seen it at the restaurant or whatever, but good.”

  Halo had been far too engrossed in Tanisha to pay attention to them. Matt nodded, relief coursing through him. And then his phone rang. Halo rolled her eyes and chuckled, like this was to be expected, and Matt fished his phone out of his pocket.

  “Goddammit. Halo, I’m going to have to take this, sorry. You mind?”

  “No, Dad, I’m good. I’ll see you tonight?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it.”

  * * *

  In the past twenty Thanksgivings Jaq had been through, from Sara’s pregnancy through now, there had been a couple of real shitters. This one was a strong contender for the worst.

  Jaq had called home, hoping Tanisha would drop by before she went off with friends. She answered, said hello, and promptly handed the phone off to Gran. No amount of pleading with his mother could convince Gran to put her on the line, and even though her sympathy for him was evident, she did not budge. Jaq should be glad for that, that Tanisha had someone as staunch and as fierce a supporter as Gran on her side. But, goddamn, he wanted to talk to his daughter.

  Matt walked in grinning, gave him a thumbs-up that he guessed meant that things had gone well with Angela, and went straight back to work. Hell, he’d been on the phone when he walked in, so Jaq couldn’t even tell him they weren’t supposed to be working anymore. That one o’clock time frame had been a cutoff for the day, not a break in the proceedings. But Jaq wasn’t even sure it was worth fighting, especially if it led to Matt being resentful.

  He was at a loss. He needed to do something with himself, so he grabbed some shorts and a T-shirt and went downstairs to find the gym. He prayed it was empty, but alas, no. He recognized Chandra, the bride, as well as Natalie and Diane, and someone he assumed was a friend or relative of Chandra’s.