Caleb went wild at the Korean words flowing from his lips. “Mm, yes,” he whispered, sucking harder. His silky spit dripped down Mason’s cock and pooled around Caleb’s hands. Mason threw his head back and gasped, his toes clenching the hardwood floor in vain as he backpedaled up the stairs, but there was no escape.
Caleb gripped his hips and deep throated him again. A storm of ecstasy came crashing down around Mason’s quivering hard-on. He bucked and surged deeper into Caleb’s mouth. Caleb huffed around his thick shaft and slowly released him inch by inch. A line of pre-cum clung to his mouth, and he stared up at Mason with vulnerable eyes.
Caleb stroked him with his hand as he sucked him off. He held the back of Caleb’s head and thrust into his mouth. Every time he thought he would explode, Caleb pulled away. Mason writhed on the stairs, chest heaving. His pelvis rocked back and forth to a fast tempo.
Caleb rose and brought Mason’s bare foot to his mouth. His tongue darted out to lick his toes, making Mason squirm. When he sucked, Mason gasped. A tight string of pleasure raced from his foot to his core. Like everything else Caleb had shown him, Mason enjoyed the new sensation. He closed his eyes and let go.
Slowly, Caleb eased Mason’s foot over his muscular chest and down his washboard abs to his cock. Mason felt the steel shaft throbbing against the sole of his foot, and he experimentally stroked him. He curled his toes around him, slid the arch of his foot over the velvety skin. He rubbed up and down, listening to Caleb’s hushed breaths come faster.
Caleb brought Mason’s legs to his shoulders and kneeled on the stairs on top of him. They stared into each other’s eyes as Caleb moistened a digit and probed Mason’s ass to stretch and prepare him. The familiar sting made Mason quiver in anticipation. His lips parted on a moan. He rested on his elbows and tilted his pelvis forward to receive him, and they both looked down to watch Caleb’s massive erection breach the passageway.
Mason felt every muscle in his body relax for the thrill. He hummed unconsciously as Caleb pushed harder. He gasped when the tight constriction allowed entry. Then, Caleb leaned back and doused his erection in spit.
“Yes,” Mason breathed.
Caleb held his thighs back and made love to him with a languid forward sway of his pelvis. In and out. Mason’s mouth fell open in bliss. In and out. Faster. Mason’s ass puckered around the thick spear penetrating him, and Caleb’s face clenched in a grimace of pleasure as his knees went weak. Mason’s thighs fell from his shoulders to lock around his hips.
Caleb laid on top of him with a groan. They kissed fiercely with grunts and sighs of excitement and exertion. Mason wrapped his arms around Caleb’s neck and ground against him. They broke the kiss but pressed cheek to cheek throughout. “Take all of me,” Caleb groaned. Mason’s eyes rolled back in bliss, and he did as instructed.
His body felt impossibly full with Caleb’s erection inside him. He met him thrust for thrust. He ran his fingers through Caleb’s hair and pulled him closer. Their chests brushed and burned where their skin touched, and the tension became a fever that needed to break. Mason reached between them and touched himself.
As soon as his fingers met his skin, he climaxed. Mason stammered in shock, shuddering uncontrollably. He clutched his cock tighter. His jizz fired over Caleb’s quivering abs and seemed to drive him crazy. Caleb growled his name and fucked him harder. “Come for me,” he whispered fiercely against Mason’s lips. “Come for me, baby.”
The pool of ejaculate soaked them both as Caleb held Mason closer and reveled in his orgasm. The apartment echoed with Mason’s loud gasps of pleasure. Caleb groaned and kissed Mason’s neck, feeling his pulse beat erratically. He could not let the moment pass. He eased out of Mason’s body to lick the last drops from his still quaking erection. Mason screamed his name and bucked.
“I’m not done with you,” Caleb moaned.
He grabbed Mason’s shoulder and turned him over on the stairs. Caleb reentered with a soft whimper and molded against his lover’s body from behind. Using the stairs for leverage, Caleb continued the mind-blowing sex. He ran a hand down Mason’s side as he kissed his shoulder. Caleb gripped his hips and guided him to take the long, hard strokes that would push them both over the edge again. He could not believe how amazing it felt.
“Duh!” Mason groaned. “Duh sse gae!”
“Oh, my God! You’ll make me come all over you if you keep talking like that!”
“Harder,” Mason whispered.
Caleb wrapped his arms around him and hugged him tighter as he gave him what he was asking for. They slammed together with violent ecstasy. The combination of fast, hard and tight almost made his body let go. Mason trembled and squeezed him tighter, and Caleb growled and bit down on the back of his shoulders. He never wanted it to end.
In the Jeep, when Caleb had asked him to stay, he had not gotten the answer he wanted. But, here, that did not matter. It had been a long shot to expect Mason to put his life on hold for him. Caleb would take whatever he could get. Even if it meant falling deeper and more dangerously in love every time they touched.
Mason turned his face, blindly seeking his mouth. Caleb kissed him. Mason’s tongue swept over his lips. They nipped and sucked, clinging together passionately, breathing raggedly, and Caleb knew what would happen next. He groaned as his body tensed and his pelvis flexed forward.
He pressed his cock along the crease of Mason’s taut ass and watched his jizz erupt in a geyser and spill over Mason’s perspiration-dampened skin. Caleb grunted as waves of pleasure rocked him. He swayed weakly, almost falling. He stumbled to the stairs beside Mason and stared him in the eyes. “How am I going to live without you?” Caleb whispered breathlessly.
“You have me,” Mason replied softly, caressing his face. “I’m right in front of you.”
Caleb took pleasure in running a bath for his lover in the deep-basin tub. He poured scented oils and lit candles around the bathroom sink. Mason stepped into the room and placed his cellphone near the candles. A love song played quietly from the device as Caleb gestured to the water and watched him sink in clouds of billowy steam. It was an unplanned romantic memory to add to the lengthening list of perfect moments together.
“I want to draw you,” Caleb said, smiling gently.
Mason grinned and waved dismissively. Caleb ran for his sketchbook. “Is this something you’ll add to the collection?” Mason asked. Caleb chuckled.
“No. This will remain private…I’ve missed you so much.”
“So I’ve heard,” Mason murmured drowsily. He rested his head on the ledge of the tub and watched Caleb sketch his picture. “What was the overall theme of the collection, aein?”
“A-in?” Caleb tried out the unfamiliar word.
“It means sweetheart. What was the overall theme of the collection?”
Caleb chuckled. “Whatever you took away from it. You know I hate assigning meaning.”
“I know what it meant to me, but what did it mean to you?”
Caleb hesitated and avoided looking at him. “Let’s just say, for a change, I did not paint reality.”
“You want to get old with me?” Mason whispered.
“I’m allowed to dream, am I not?” he asked teasingly. “Anyway, how is the writing coming along?” Caleb finally met his gaze.
Mason shifted in the tub and rested his chin on his crossed arms on the ledge. “We could do this, you know. It doesn’t matter whether I’m traveling or in the office, or you’re painting or promoting your art, we could make a relationship work.”
“Not long distance. Distance makes lonely people do crazy things,” Caleb stated. “You might find yourself in a hotel room with a lover who isn’t me.”
“Are you afraid you’ll see other people?”
“You’re all I see.” The pencil scratched the rough surface of the paper and a smile tickled the corners of Caleb’s lips. “Twenty-one obsessed paintings later, you’d think that would be obvious. When I left New Hampshire, I tried to get out and
meet other people, but I couldn’t drum up any enthusiasm. What about you?”
“No one,” Mason murmured.
“I’ll be faithful to you.”
“We’d have to have a relationship first.”
“I belong to you. You belong to me. We have no idea what the future holds, so let’s leave it at that for now,” Caleb said. He turned the sketchbook around so Mason could see what he had drawn.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever told you, but I’m totally in awe of you.”
“I’m sure my egotistical ass noticed that right away!” Caleb laughed. “Thank you. The new, humble me greatly appreciates your high esteem.” Caleb bowed as he slipped out of the bedroom.
Two weeks. He had him for two weeks. He did not want to think beyond that.
Due to his work assignment, Mason had the luxury of being invited to many of the same art events Caleb attended. They raised no suspicions and to all appearances, they were two friends connected by a love of the arts. Behind closed doors however, it was an entirely different story.
Mason barely had time to schedule his blog posts in batches. He spared an hour every evening to write for the travel magazine. As soon as he was free, they tumbled in bed together. Before sleep each night, he called his parents to report on his travels, but he did not mention Caleb O’Hara, their former renter.
The days passed in a bliss-filled haze, and Mason remembered the hard, long months of wishing for exactly what he had now. He remembered the nights when he would go to bed with Caleb’s hand-painted bookmark clutched to his chest or listen to classical music to feel a connection. Of course, that was the future he had to look forward to. After two weeks, his would be back on the road and it would be like nothing had never happened. As if the twenty-one paintings were not all of him, and like Caleb was not his be all and end all.
Mason was sitting in the Jeep waiting for Caleb to wrap up an event when his cellphone rang and he saw the number flash across the screen. It was Robert, the person who had orchestrated the reunion. He smiled in pleasure and answered his brother. “Back from the honeymoon already?”
“Still in Fiji. It’s everything you told us it would be and more. I was calling to see where you are.”
“Take a wild guess,” Mason laughed.
“You found him!”
“In San Francisco. Thank you for the link, Robert. I even managed to score a legitimate reason for being here. I’m working on an assignment for Traveler’s Heights. Unfortunately, I have to hit the road again soon. I have other assignments out of country.”
“Yeah, but you two settled your differences, and you’ll live happily ever after once you finish the magazine gig, right?”
“Honestly, married life is making you more of a romantic than me, and I’m meant to be the family dreamer,” Mason said. “I don’t know, Robert. He wants me to stay with him, but I’d have to give up the job with the travel magazine. My agent pulled a lot of strings to get me in there, and I need to firm up my resume.”
“Well, why can’t he just travel with you?”
“He needs to be here with his art. Twenty-One and Counting is blowing everyone’s expectations away. They’re calling it an unqualified success. Meanwhile, we’ve been trying to keep a low profile the whole time I’m here so reporters won’t run with the story of us being together. I feel like I’m holding him back.”
“In my opinion, this thing has been secret long enough,” said Robert. “Let it out into the light. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“Mom and Dad finding out?”
“You can’t keep your preferences a secret from them forever.”
“I know. They already have their suspicions, but I have some experience with keeping them from knowing for certain. Mom is traditional, Robert. You know she won’t go for it, and Dad is set on me giving up the writer’s life, taking an office job and settling down. If they know Caleb and I are together, there will be hell to pay.”
“It was kind of hell you being without him, too. I was there every step of the way, remember? You can cloak it, shield it or call it by another name, but if it’s the real deal, it usually shows, and it should! I know you’re trying to gain experience and forge ahead with your writing career or your career in finance—whatever you decide—and I know this relationship thing is new for you. You have a lot of things to wrap your head around so you can make some tough decisions about where you want to go next, but can I give you some advice?”
“You will anyway,” Mason chuckled.
“Remember that life is about living in the moment and enjoying every second of it. When you find that thing or that person you love, you don’t worry about who agrees with your choices or who doesn’t.”
“Go on.”
“You can write anywhere in the world, Mason. Even San Francisco.”
Mason nodded, staring out the window as Caleb strolled around the corner with his hands in his pockets and a bemused smile on his face. “I hear you, hyung,” Mason murmured. “I have to go. Caleb and I have a date tonight. I’ll talk to you soon, though.”
“Don’t leave the country without coming to see me first.”
“Of course. I’ll visit New Hampshire before I leave.”
Mason ended the call as Caleb climbed in the car. “Alright! Now that the work stuff is out of the way, there’s somewhere I want to take you.”
“You hinted that it might be a bit out of my comfort zone,” Mason said. He had been wondering about the secretive date all evening.
“I think once you get used to the idea, you’ll see it’s not what you expected. This place gets rave reviews. Very discreet. We can be a couple in front of other people for a change. What do you say?” Caleb grinned. Mason leaned across the center console and kissed him lightly.
“While I’m here, you can take me wherever you want me to go.”
“If only I could convince you to stay,” Caleb murmured.
Mason smiled and sat back, shaking his hair out of his eyes. “I’m giving it a lot of very deep thought.”
“Well, let’s see if a trip to a sex club will get us from maybe to yes.”
Mason raised a brow. “A sex club?”
Caleb sped down the highway with his eyes on the road. “I want to fuck you for the world to see. But what happens at the sex club…stays there. It will never get out.”
Mason was surprised to find that the idea appealed.
Chapter 17
Caleb woke up in Mason’s arms and smiled drowsily as the sunlight flooded in through the window. He pulled the curtain closed so Mason could get his rest. His cellphone buzzed faintly from the dresser, but he did not want to move. The blissful sex they had had the night before had involved a rigorous workout that had him achy but entirely sated.
“I’m coming. I’m coming,” Caleb whispered, forcing himself out of bed. He grabbed the phone as it stopped ringing, scrolled through his call history and discovered it was Gregoire who had called. Caleb hit redial and padded out of the bedroom. “Why the heck are you up so early?”
“I wanted to break the news to you personally. Congratulations! You’ve been invited the Wellington Foundation Ball next month. That’s the good news. Now for the bad news.”
“It’s barely after eight over here. Can’t it wait until after my morning coffee?”
“Are you sitting down?”
“Stop being overdramatic, Gregoire. Spit it out.”
“Vido has been invited to the event, too. He is also running a concurrent showing at the Gallery de Duchamp, and he’s actively trying to divert attention from your Twenty-One and Counting exhibit. Although I discouraged it, he informed me he’s looking out for his best interests. I can’t believe he accused me of playing favorites.”
Caleb snorted and ran a hand over his face. “He’s a kid. What did you expect? He still thinks whining and an unshakeable sense of entitlement will get him everywhere.”
“There’s one teeny tiny other problem…He may have,” Gregoire pause
d before spitting out the rest of the statement, “told a reporter about your secret relationship with Mason Sinclair.”
“What?” Caleb barked.
“Remember that day I asked you about your muse while you were still in New Hampshire? Vido was here in my office during that phone call. Of course, I had no idea he would retain that information and try to use it against you.”
“Goddamn it, Greg! I’ve been walking a tightrope over here trying to keep up with publicity while keeping Mason out of the limelight, and you let Vido Charles break the news? Did he make it seem like a scandal?”
“Not entirely. He may have sort of implied the hype should go to the muse more so than the artist. A direct quote might be—”
“A direct quote?” Caleb growled.
“—From the Society Pages, ‘It would take a talentless hack to screw up what nature so perfectly designed. It’s no wonder O’Hara fell for him. I would give an arm to get M. Sinclair on my canvas.’”
Caleb saw red. “The only thing saving that bastard right now is distance from me.”
“Calm down. Don’t get in your knickers in a knot. This could work to your advantage. A little stir around your muse will keep the buzz going on the West Coast no matter what Vido does over here. His latest exhibit’s success hinges greatly on how he performed last year. He doesn’t exactly have a game changing body of work this time. So, why not encourage the press to snoop a bit?”
“You’ve been after that since day one,” Caleb accused.
“Because the only thing that sticks in a person’s head like a brilliant piece of art is a brilliant story behind the artwork. Consider it, Caleb. You got romanced by a darling twenty-one-year-old on holiday in New England. He swept you off your feet and managed to drag the emotion from you that was sorely lacking in your work. I know my marketing and believe me, that’s a story that sells.”
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