by J. M. Colail
“I’ll show you swift,” Jack mumbled through a mouthful of Julian, turning quickly and pressing Julian up against the truck almost as if in homage to their first physical encounter. “How’s that?”
Julian hummed happily into his mouth, his hands creeping up the back of Jack’s shirt under his jacket, raising goose bumps along the skin there. Jack returned the favor by loosening his grip on Julian’s shirt, instead spanning his hands across Julian’s chest until he found the two almost-flat nipples and tweaked them, eliciting a moan.
“Very swift,” Julian admitted, back arching at the contact, exposing his long throat. Jack licked it. “But not as swift as this.”
Julian hooked his thumbs into Jack’s belt loops and pulled, sending Jack crashing into him, crushing their bodies together against the truck. Jack could feel Julian’s erection through the material of the loose sweatpants he was wearing, and having surreptitiously watched him dress, he knew damn well Julian wasn’t wearing anything under them. The thought affected him more than he’d expected and he moaned, his own hard prick jerking against Julian’s belly.
“Jesus,” he said appreciatively, running one shaky hand up Julian’s neck and face to nest in those soft, dark curls again. God, he loved Julian’s hair. He wasn’t sure what it reminded him of, but it was fucking hot.
“I wasn’t finished,” Julian complained, eyes flashing suddenly. Before Jack knew it, he’d reversed their positions so that Jack was leaning heavily against the side of the pickup, and Julian was pressed flush against him.
Not that Jack was complaining. Far from it. The uncharacteristic display was a definite turn-on. “How about now?” Jack growled, yanking him closer by the hair and pulling his lips into a bruising kiss.
Julian moaned into his mouth, rubbing his erection into Jack’s thigh. Christ, this kid was going to be the death of him. Julian’s hands skimmed down Jack’s chest and stomach, fingers probing the waist of his jeans. “Nope.”
Fuck. Jack groaned appreciatively as Julian popped the button on his jeans open one-handed, peeled back the denim and slid his hand inside, grasping his erection loosely. Jack managed to grab a generous double-handful of Julian’s ass as the younger man stroked him firmly, mouths still locked in a searing kiss.
After another few seconds, Julian shoved him roughly away, slithering down Jack’s body until he was kneeling on the pavement. He reached up and hooked his fingers into the waist of Jack’s jeans and tugged them down, taking his boxers with them.
Jack’s cock jutted proudly into the cool night air, a drop of pre-come oozing from the tip. Julian wasted no time before leaning forward and taking Jack deep into his mouth.
Cursing, Jack leaned back against the truck, his hands fisting in Julian’s hair again, guiding that hot, perfect mouth down over his throbbing shaft again and again. Julian made a contented noise that reverberated all the way up Jack’s cock and sat tight in his testicles. “Fuck, that feels fantastic.”
Julian reached a hand around to cup Jack’s balls, rolling them gently in his palm as he suckled the head of Jack’s dick. His tongue felt amazing, licking little circles around the slit, then tracing back down to outline the pulsing vein on the underside. Julian’s right hand curled around the base of Jack’s erection, holding him steady when all Jack really wanted to do was let go and thrust down that luscious throat.
Someone had fixed the streetlights, and Jack could look down and see everything clearly, from the dark gaze in Julian’s eyes to the slender fingers curled around his prick. Jack took deep, gulping breaths of the rain-fresh night as Julian sucked him, feeling the slight scrape of teeth against his glans. The dark was filled with the soft noises of sex, shallow breathing, muffled groans, and wet suction.
Jack watched, fixated, and Julian watched him—dark gaze unwavering, rhythm never faltering. When he moved his hand away from Jack’s shaft, Jack hissed in protest—until Julian opened his throat and took him all the way down, swallowing the head of his cock and moaning. Jack was almost too caught up in the sensation of wet heat enveloping his dick to notice Julian reaching down to pull his own erection out of his sweatpants.
It was a ridiculously erotic sight, and it made Jack twist Julian’s curls between his fingers even harder. “Damn,” he groaned, unable and unwilling to keep himself from pumping his cock in and out of those full lips. “I had no idea you were such a cockslut.”
The answering moan left little doubt as to exactly how much Julian was enjoying what he was doing. Mouth open, Jack stared down at Julian, stomach tightening as Julian simultaneously sucked him off and jerked his own dick. He would have sworn he could smell the pre-come leaking from the tip of the younger man’s swollen member.
In a haze of lust, Jack bit his lip hard, fucking Julian’s mouth. “Fuck, baby, you’re so good,” he crooned, feeling his balls draw close to his body. His toes curled up tight in his running shoes. “God, I’m so close, gonna come. Wanna come in that sweet mouth of yours.”
Julian jerked against him, and Jack’s breath left him in a rush as he realized Julian had just shot his load all over the pavement. His knees nearly gave out as he thrust one more time into the wet cavern before his balls emptied into Julian’s throat.
Jack leaned against the truck, insensate, trying to catch his breath, for God knew how long. After an indeterminate time period Julian rose and joined him, leaning his head on his shoulder, pulling Jack’s jeans up as he went, but not bothering to fasten them.
“Should you be doing that?”
Julian gave him a sheepish look. “As a doctor, I should know better, yeah.”
Somehow Jack knew that wasn’t the end of it. “But….?” he prompted.
“As your doctor, I’ve seen your test results, and I’m not worried.”
Huh. Cute. Awkward. Definitely a little weird, but cute. “This whole parking lot thing,” Jack said, attempting conversation. “Fetish of yours?”
Julian’s laugh was muffled against Jack’s jacket. “One of yours, more like. I just go along with it because I have a fetish for you.”
“I appreciate your indulgence,” Jack said dryly. He reached down to make sure he was tucked into his boxers before zipping and buttoning his jeans. Then, a little awkwardly, he wrapped his arms around the other man, who, he now noticed, had not put on a coat. It wasn’t that warm. “Doc, do you have some kinda death wish? You’re gonna catch your death. Aren’t you supposed to be smarter than that?”
“Sorry. If I’d’ve known you were going to molest me in the parking lot, I’d’ve worn a cock warmer.”
Laughter bubbled up inside Jack and he shoved Julian playfully. “Smartass.”
“Uh-huh. That’s not all it is.”
The man was incorrigible. Jack thought maybe he liked it that way. “Come home with me,” he said impulsively, almost regretting it the instant he said the words out loud. Fuck, it was going to be a lot harder to keep this secret than he’d originally thought—and even harder to keep it casual.
“I can’t.” The doctor was still speaking into his shoulder. It was kind of adorable.
Jack didn’t know whether to be disappointed by the answer, or relieved. He settled on a bit of both. “Okay.”
Julian must’ve been able to sense part of what he was thinking, because he pulled far enough away to look Jack in the eye. “I want to; don’t get me wrong. But I’ve got to work in the morning, and I haven’t got anything with me except hockey clothes, and I don’t think my patients would appreciate that. Never mind my co-workers.”
Snickering as he imagined Dr. Dan’s reaction to that, Jack felt some of his misgivings give way. It was definitely going to be a challenge not to get too close to this man, a challenge he could sense he was already failing. Damn it, he was in a good mood and he wasn’t going to think about it right now. “All right, Jitterbug, up you get. You’re not the only one who has to work in the morning, and if I don’t make it home soon, Robot’s gonna tie herself in knots trying not to go on the carpet.�
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He could almost hear Julian’s smile in the night. “You named your dog Robot?”
“My next-door neighbor named my dog Robot. She used to walk really stiffly when she was just a puppy, before I put carpet down so she wouldn’t slide all over the hardwood.”
“Hallie Klein?” Julian asked, adjusting himself as he leaned against the truck, next to Jack.
“Yeah. You met her at the bar the other night.”
Julian smiled. “She was the only person there I wanted to dance with besides you.”
Damn. Jack felt his face heat, and was glad for the darkness. The last thing he needed was to be accused of being a teenage girl. “Been carrying a torch for me, have you?”
“Something like that.” Julian glanced over at him, eyes mischievous. “Bet you’d like to know where I was carrying it.”
Groaning, Jack tried to discourage his cock from taking an interest. It was a losing battle. “If you’re not coming home with me, you’re not allowed to talk like that.” He leaned over and planted a firm kiss on Julian’s mouth, allowing himself to be pulled in further. Then he gave Julian another little push away from his truck, and swatted him on the ass. “Get going, before I refuse to take no for an answer.”
Julian blew a ridiculous kiss in the darkness. “See you later, hot stuff. Call me.”
Chuckling to himself, Jack fished his keys out of his pocket. Maybe the next few days wouldn’t be easy, but he was willing to bet they’d be fun as hell.
Chapter Ten
BRUSHING THE snow from his hair, Julian stomped into the kitchen, toed off his boots, and put the groceries on the kitchen table. He was not ready for winter, but winter didn’t seem to care; it was more than ready for him. This morning he’d been obligated to put the tire chains on the trucks, just in case he slid through an intersection on his way to the damn grocery store. The only person in town happy about the onset of the snowy season was Mr. Bender, and that was because it meant people would stop driving to other towns to get more variety in their groceries.
Luckily, Julian had managed to snag the last box of strawberries Roz had begged him to pick up, pointing out that he and Jack had devoured the last ones without saving her a single berry. Bender’s Grocery hadn’t had any more in since then, and that had been over two weeks ago. Julian suspected these would be the last of the season, and he was tempted to keep them for himself, but knew what Roz would likely do to him if he tried.
“Roz?” he called. “You wanna help with dinner?”
Roz breezed into the kitchen, dressed in her Saturday night best, putting in an earring. “Dinner? Nah. Got a hot date.” She winked at him, and then spotted the groceries. “Oh, my god, the strawberries.” Forgetting about her earring, she grabbed the little plastic carton and had it running under the kitchen sink before Julian could even comment. “I can’t believe you and Jack ate all the ones I bought last time. I was so jealous.” She picked the biggest one of the bunch and took a huge bite of it, sighing. “God, they’re perfect.”
Julian shook his head. A container of strawberries was a small price to pay for all the wonderful things Roz had done for him over the past few weeks, and he was more than happy to pay it. Jack still wasn’t exactly comfortable eating with him in public, and they didn’t go to the convenience store together to pick out videos to watch or anything overtly coupley like that. Neither of them had even stayed overnight yet, which had troubled Julian at first, before he had come to realize Jack wasn’t going anywhere. They had planned to once; Julian had had his bags packed and even brushed his teeth before bed, but he’d received a page on his cell phone notifying him that Star and Melanie Hamilton’s oldest had a fever of a hundred and four, so that had put a stop to that night.
However, if Roz was going out tonight, maybe she could drop him off at Brenda’s. He’d meet up with Jack and they could take things from there. “Where are you off to? Seeing anyone I know?”
Roz shook her head, swallowing the rest of the gargantuan fruit. “Couple girls from work and I are going out in Copperfield for a late-night movie, then maybe a club. One of them has a cottage there, so we’re staying the night.”
Good for her, Julian thought. Roz had never been one to befriend other females easily. Other women were often jealous of Roz’s good looks and easygoing nature, and the fact that she got on a little too well with men made some of them resent her even further or slander her behind her back. Julian had missed the worst of those years, Roz’s last two years in high school, because he’d been out of the province, but she’d called him in tears a time or two after being confronted by a friend regarding a faux pas she hadn’t realized she’d made, such as talking to so-and-so’s boyfriend at lunchtime. Because she found it difficult to identify with women her own age, Roz had a lot of male friends—and a lot of boyfriends, which had given her a further reputation. It would probably be good for her to go out and have fun with someone with a uterus. “Have fun,” he told her, “You deserve it. You’ve been working too hard; I can tell you’ve been exhausting yourself.”
“I need to hire a second swimming and aquafitness instructor,” she admitted, biting into another berry.
Outside, a car horn honked. “That’s my ride,” Roz told him cheerfully, pecking him on the cheek. “See you tomorrow, little bro. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
Julian didn’t bother asking about things she wasn’t physically capable of doing. She was out the door before he realized she’d taken the entire box of strawberries. “Safe sex!” he shouted after her.
Roz flipped him the bird as she climbed into the passenger seat of an old Jimmy.
He had the phone in hand before he could overthink it, and was dialing Jack’s number from memory almost before he’d even made up his mind to do so.
“It’s me,” he said when Jack picked up the phone. He looked at the bags of groceries on the table, then at the empty kitchen. He didn’t much feel like cooking a meal for one….or even two. “You want to pick me up on your way over?”
“WHERE’S YOUR sister? Doesn’t she usually come to these things with you?”
Julian looked up from his Guinness-and-mushrooms steak to see the fiddle player standing opposite him. He kicked out the chair across from him so the other man could sit down. “She’s out with the girls,” he explained. “She doesn’t get along with a lot of them, so she tends to take advantage when she can. I think they went to Copperfield for the night.”
“Ah.” Roy grabbed the chair and sat, flexing the fingers on his left hand. “I guess you were cramping her style.”
Snorting, Julian shook his head. It was more likely the other way around, if privacy and time apart were what Roz had wanted out of her impromptu vacation, but he wasn’t going to explain that to Roy. Besides, he was pretty sure that hadn’t been her motivation at all. “Probably,” he agreed anyway, but he put down his fork and knife in an unspoken challenge to pursue the subject further.
Thankfully, Roy had the sense to quit while he was ahead. “How are you adjusting, anyway? It’s got to be a big change from Toronto.”
Jack chose that moment to join them at the table, and Julian caught his eye for a second before answering. “Yeah, it is, but it’s definitely got its perks.” He looked around. “Where’s Hallie, anyway? Don’t you usually bring her along?” He hadn’t seen the girl all night, and Roy had stayed for both sets, when he normally headed home after the first. Julian had been picking at the remains of his dinner for almost an hour.
“She’s at a sleepover,” Roy explained. “Her first. She’s trying to cut the apron strings already.”
No wonder he was still at the bar, Julian thought. He couldn’t bear to go home to an empty house. Julian could relate to that.
“Poor Roy,” Jack said sympathetically. “Want me to give you a ride home so you can sit in the dark and mope?”
Roy opened his mouth to retaliate just as Julian shot Jack a warning glare. Thankfully, Roy was distracted by Brad waving him over to
the bar before he could accept the offer. Brad’s eyes were fixed on the television screen, where the Oilers and the Flames were locked in a two-all game with three minutes left in the third period. Roy gave Jack a brief, unconvincing glare and made his way up to the barstool. “Five bucks on Edmonton.”
Jack snickered, kicking Julian under the table. “Delusional. Come on, help me get the stuff in the truck and I’ll take you home.”
Pulse pounding, Julian stood to help him take down the equipment. The two microphones and mic stands, effects pedals, and patch cords all fit neatly into a gig bag whose primary function was to cart them back and forth to Brenda’s. By the time Julian had finished packing up the smaller bits and pieces, including harmonicas in two different keys and a tambourine (watching Roy play the tambourine still made him laugh, though he couldn’t have said exactly why), Jack had loaded up everything else except for the older acoustic-electric guitar.
Julian hoisted the gig bag on one shoulder and waved good-bye to Brenda, who was just coming out of the kitchen with a dish tub to collect the dirty flatware from behind the bar. She gave him a covert wink as they passed, and for once Julian managed to grin in return without blushing.
Once everything was in the truck, the night seemed to grow quiet, as if all sound was muffled by the still-falling snow. Jack was the last one in the cab, and huffed a breath that made the interior windows fog for a minute before he turned to look at Julian. “You’re sure you want to do this?”
Julian raised his eyebrows at him. He felt oddly secure in his belief that, for the first time in weeks, Jack wasn’t trying to get him to back off. Maybe they were making progress after all. “Hey, I’m the one who’s a bear in the morning hours you like to wake up in. I should be asking you that question.”
Jack started the truck, and Julian gratefully put his hands on the heater. “I’m sure I’ll find a way to get you up before ten,” he said innocently.