Don't Read in the Closet volume one

by Various Authors

  Jonah searched those eyes, but he couldn’t read their expression. Looking into them sent his anxiety from a low simmer into a rolling boil. What if he doesn’t want this? he thought abruptly. What if he’s just doing this as a favor? What if he sees it as a chore? Jonah didn’t want that. Any of that. He didn’t want Laurie to feel forced.

  Unable to hold those eyes any longer, Jonah dropped his gaze to his hands, which had started wringing in his lap at some point during the conversation. “We don’t have to do this,” he said, and even to his own ears his voice sounded thin. He was going to cry. He was going to cry at the thought of what he’d almost pressured Laurie into, and Laurie was going to see him break down. Laurie was going to think he was a complete idiot. But that was okay. Jonah would rather have Laurie think he was ridiculous than ever look back at this moment and feel like he’d been used. “If you don’t want this…if you don’t want me…then we can just go back to the way things were. You can pretend I never asked, okay? I won’t ever ment—”

  “Jonah.” Both Laurie’s voice and the gentle grip on his chin made Jonah look up. He turned his head and met Laurie’s gaze, and those eyes weren’t unreadable anymore. They were filled with heat, and the sight of them made a sudden surge of lust unfurl in Jonah’s belly. “I want you,” Laurie said, and those three words were even hotter than that look. “Don’t ever doubt it.” And then Laurie kissed him.

  Such a simple word, kiss. It really didn’t sound all that special. And it was nowhere near good enough to describe what was happening between Laurie and Jonah just then. Not unless you tacked on a few extra words, like momentous, or earth-shattering, or maybe even life-altering. Because, yeah, it felt like he’d been waiting for it that long, and that kiss had just changed his entire fucking world. Laurie’s lips on his were somehow both soft and firm at once. His tongue was sneaking in little tastes, just barely there flicks that made Jonah want to scream in frustration, if he could bear to pull his mouth away long enough to do so. But he couldn’t, and eventually his patience was rewarded with the slow sweep of Laurie’s tongue over his.

  That was all it took, that slow, sensuous glide, to set them off like a powder keg. Somehow, Laurie slid further back on the bed and Jonah was straddling his lap. Their mouths fused together, locked in a desperate kiss that showed no signs of ending. Jonah pushed down, and Laurie thrust up, and they were grinding. Oh, hell yes, grinding, and it was hot and frantic and a whole other list of adjectives that Jonah’s mind was too fogged by lust to process. All he could hear in his head was a litany of more more more.

  After one particularly intense kiss that had Jonah’s cock begging to be released from the confines of his jeans, Laurie pulled away. Jonah whined and tried to capture his mouth again, but Laurie laughed and shook his head. That was okay, though, because from the sound of it, and the feel of Laurie’s arousal beneath him, Jonah knew Laurie wasn’t laughing at him. And Laurie didn’t stay away very long, only for the time it took him to strip off Jonah’s T-shirt and yank his own tank top over his head. Then they were kissing again, bare chest to bare chest, and the press of warm skin and hard muscle made Jonah’s entire body shudder with want.

  When Laurie pushed at his shoulders, Jonah gave in to his urgings and laid flat on the mattress. He spread his thighs just wide enough to accommodate Laurie’s narrow hips and his hands settled on Laurie’s ass to jerk him closer, the lengths of their cocks straining against the layers of denim and cotton that separated them. As Laurie moved above him, rocking their pelvises together, Jonah kissed any part of Laurie he could reach—the line of his jaw, the shell of his ear, the hollow at the base of his throat—before finally making his way back to Laurie’s mouth.

  They started up another one of those devastating kisses, their tongues intertwining, hot and slow and seductive. Laurie’s fingers were on his chest, trailing down, and then they were nimbly undoing the fly of his jeans. Before Jonah could even prepare himself for it, they slipped past the waistband of his briefs—black and skimpy with no superhero emblems in sight—and curled around his aching erection.

  In contrast to that molasses kiss, the stroke Laurie started on Jonah’s cock was quick and almost rough. Laurie paused long enough to lick at his hand, and then resumed both the kiss and the stroke, occasionally rubbing his spit-slick palm across the head in a smooth back-and-forth motion that made Jonah moan and writhe senselessly beneath him. Somehow it tickled and made his toes curl with pleasure at the same time, the sensation sending a thrill through his body, a sharp buzz that started in his balls and shot up and down his spine.

  Jonah couldn’t have prevented what happened next if he’d tried. Laurie’s touch, his kiss, his taste, the things he whispered into Jonah’s ear whenever they stopped kissing long enough to catch their breath. All of those things, they morphed together, built and expanded, overwhelming and impossible to resist.

  It was too much, too fast, too soon, and then, holy shit, it was happening. Jonah jerked into the tight circle of Laurie’s fist, his back arching up off the mattress as he came and came, spilling warm and slippery over Laurie’s fingers. Only afterward did embarrassment descend, swift and crushing. God, where was his self-control? There he was, living out his biggest fantasy, and he’d come undone after a couple of kisses and a few strokes of his cock. He’d already humiliated himself in front of Laurie and they hadn’t even been together for half an hour. How ridiculous was he?

  Jonah groaned and pulled away from Laurie. He grabbed one of the pillows and used it to cover his face. His cheeks were hot and his nose burned with the threat of tears. That was all he needed, to get weepy on top of everything else. How mortifying.

  “What is it?” Laurie sounded alarmed enough that Jonah had to fight back a sniffle. “Did I hurt you?”

  Jonah shook his head, but kept his face hidden. “No.”

  “Then what is it?” He felt Laurie’s fingers lock around his wrist and gently tug his arm down and the pillow along with it. “Hey, look at me.”

  After a few seconds, Jonah calmed down enough to risk a glance at Laurie. He met Laurie’s gaze and the concern he saw there eased a bit of the mortified tension in his stomach. “I’m sorry, I…I didn’t mean to…” Jonah trailed off. No matter how worried Laurie looked, he couldn’t bring himself to say it. But it turned out he didn’t have to.

  “Oh.” Apprehension dawned on Laurie’s face and he smiled fondly. He dropped a kiss on the tip of Jonah’s nose and shook his head. “Don’t even worry about it. It happens to everyone.”

  “Really?” Jonah blinked. “You, too?”

  Laurie smirked. “Yeah, sometimes. If I’m really excited.” He lifted the hand he’d used to jerk Jonah off to his mouth and sucked on one of his fingers. “You taste good. And you’re beautiful when you come.”

  Jonah trembled, both from the compliment and the visual. “Can I suck you? I wanna know what you taste like, too.”

  Laurie laughed and kissed Jonah again, fast and hard. “You don’t have to ask me twice.”

  “’Kay.” Jonah sat up and licked his lips. He was a little, well, not scared exactly—anxious would probably be a better fit—but the way Laurie’s eyes followed the action of his tongue made him feel a bit more confident.

  He reached out and undid Laurie’s fly with shaky fingers. Laurie lifted his hips so Jonah could yank down his jeans and the boxers he wore underneath. While Laurie kicked them off the rest of the way, Jonah leaned down and brushed a kiss over the tattoo on his left pec. It was the Japanese kanji for justice, chosen because Laurie planned on going into criminal law after college. Jonah traced the lines of black ink with his tongue and moved on to the light pink nipple beneath. He paused there to lick and suck then continued his downward path across the muscled ridges of Laurie’s abdomen until he reached the shallow indent of his navel and the trail of dark brown hair that started underneath.

  Jonah froze when the tip of Laurie’s erection nudged his chin, his eyes fixed on Laurie’s face. Laurie ga
ve him a small smile, sweet and encouraging, and Jonah felt his nerves ease a bit more. He really was curious about how Laurie would taste, what the flavor of his come would be like, how Laurie’s cock would feel on his tongue. Only one way to find out. Jonah took that thick length in hand and tentatively licked the head.

  He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting. Aside from the bitter tang of pre-come, it tasted like any other part of Laurie’s warm, soft skin. Jonah drew the tip into his mouth and sucked lightly. Laurie’s hips jerked and he made a quiet sound that Jonah took to be a good thing. He slid down a bit further and stopped, unsure how far back he could take Laurie’s cock without gagging.

  “You can use your hand, too,” Laurie said, his voice drawing Jonah’s gaze back up to his face. “You don’t have to try to take it all.”

  Jonah nodded slightly and refocused his attention. It was a bit tricky, but eventually he figured things out and set up a nice rhythm. He alternated between licking and sucking on the tip and used his hand to stroke the rest, occasionally slowing so he could look at Laurie for reassurance.

  Laurie reached out and touched his cheek. “That’s awesome, Jo. Keep going just like that.”

  Jonah closed his eyes and hummed, encouraged by the praise and the shudder that racked Laurie’s body. He liked knowing he could affect Laurie as strongly as Laurie did him. And he knew one day he’d be good enough to drive Laurie absolutely insane. It was only a matter of time…and practice. Yeah, I could get used to this.

  ****

  It wasn’t the best blowjob he’d ever received. Far from it, actually. It’d been obvious right from the start that Jonah only had the vaguest idea what he was doing. But what he lacked in skill he more than made up for in enthusiasm. He acted on each one of Laurie’s instructions with an eagerness to please that was a turn on in and of itself. And, of course, there was the whole fact that it was Jonah with his mouth on Laurie’s dick. Jonah licking, sucking, flicking that pink tongue across the tip and tasting Laurie’s pre-come and moaning as if he was enjoying every second. That took the blowjob from so-so to awesome, and when Jonah grew a bit bolder and gripped Laurie’s cock at the base and slapped it against his tongue with a naughty little look on his face, well…it was game over. Done deal. Finito.

  By then Jonah’s erection was already primed and ready to go again. So, Laurie rolled Jonah onto his back, stripped him of his jeans and briefs, and showed Jonah just what kind of tricks a few years of experience had taught him. But when he felt Jonah tensing under his ministrations, he pulled back, slowed it down, drew it out. As Jonah panted and whined for release, Laurie snagged the tube of lubricant from the bedside table and squeezed a small amount into his palm. They weren’t going to have full-out sex, not right then, but he had a feeling Jonah had never done this part either, and he wanted to make it memorable. He lubed up his fingers, and while Jonah was pleasantly distracted by the feel of Laurie tonguing and sucking at the skin around his balls, he carefully pressed one inside. Jonah trembled and gave a strangled cry, the muscles of his abdomen clenching as he pushed down into Laurie’s touch.

  It wasn’t long before Laurie added another finger, spreading them apart, stretching, seeking out Jonah’s prostate and touching it just so. The tremors that started in Jonah’s thighs told Laurie he wouldn’t last much longer. He pulled his ace in the hole then, and slid his mouth down to the root of Jonah’s cock, relaxing his throat enough to take in Jonah’s entire—and not inconsiderable—length. He swallowed around the head, applying steady pressure against Jonah’s sweet spot all the while. Jonah made a sound that was part-scream, part-sob, and came so hard he seemed to stop breathing for a few seconds.

  Laurie waited for Jonah’s body to relax before he withdrew his fingers. Jonah immediately turned and snuggled into Laurie’s embrace, offering his mouth up for another kiss. Laurie was more than happy to oblige. He liked Jonah’s kisses. He thought he could maybe even get addicted to them. And quite possibly already was. But Laurie didn’t want to think about that too much. He covered Jonah’s mouth with his and just kissed him until the kisses went from sultry to sleepy and slow. Then, with one last nibbly kiss to Jonah’s lower lip, Laurie pulled back and Jonah nestled his face into the crook of his shoulder and fell asleep within the span of a breath.

  For a while Laurie was too wired to sleep, his body still thrumming with restless energy. He reached over to turn off the lamp with his free arm and just lay there, caressing the silky skin of Jonah’s back and enjoying the sound of his even breathing in the darkness. The night hadn’t gone anything like he’d imagined it would. Not only had Jonah seemed inexperienced, it was almost as if he were entirely untouched. It was enough to make Laurie suspect there probably hadn’t been an ex-boyfriend at all. But that was okay. More than okay. Laurie didn’t exactly relish the idea of anyone having touched Jonah before him.

  It surprised Laurie how at ease he felt with everything that’d happened. Maybe it was because Jonah hadn’t wanted to rush into the actual sex. Laurie was grateful for that. He’d spent a good portion of the day worried he might be swamped with guilt afterward, even if Marc had given his approval. What surprised him even more, though, was that he hadn’t jumped on the out Jonah had given him earlier, when he’d said they could stop and just forget about everything.

  For one second, Laurie had honestly been tempted. But seeing Jonah all flustered and insecure, he hadn’t been able to stop himself from acting. So he’d told Jonah he wanted him, partially to take that anxiety away, yes, but also because it was the honest to God truth. Then he’d kissed Jonah, and he could’ve sworn the earth had tilted on its axis because suddenly his head was spinning and he’d fallen into that kiss with a sort of wild hunger that bordered on desperation. And he’d thought that kiss was the crème de la crème of kisses, but, no, they’d just gotten better, one after the other. It shouldn’t have been possible, and if the trend continued, he wasn’t sure that one of those kisses wouldn’t someday stop his heart. But, man, that would be a hell of a way to go.

  CHAPTER 4

  Jonah stepped back and eyed the contents of the picnic basket he’d just packed. He’d included peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chips, a container of fruit, and a few bottles of water. Had he been any type of a cook, he would have made something heartier, like fried chicken and potato salad with apple pie for dessert, but he was clueless in the kitchen and he didn’t want to risk accidentally burning the house down while his grandparents were at work. He shrugged, added some napkins to the basket, and closed it up. PB&J would have to do.

  It’d been a few days since that night in the guesthouse. He and Laurie hadn’t been able to go back again. The following day had been crazy busy for Beckett’s Adventure Company. There hadn’t been time to exchange more than a few words, and that had been in company. The night after that, Laurie and Marc made plans to go to a local bar with a couple of the other guides and Jonah didn’t have any idea what time they finally stumbled in. All he knew was that they were both in bad shape the next day, and since Laurie looked so utterly exhausted by the end of his shift, Jonah figured nothing would be happening that night either. But he’d noticed that both he and Laurie had Wednesday off, so he brought up the idea of a picnic before Laurie went to bed. Laurie’s nod and sleepy smile had set Jonah’s stomach to fluttering.

  Jonah glanced at the clock. They hadn’t discussed times, but it wasn’t even noon yet and they’d have the entire day to themselves. He’d let Laurie sleep for another hour. If he wasn’t up by then, Jonah was sure he could come up with an interesting way to wake him. Jonah wasn’t willing to wait any longer than that, though. His patience had already started to wear thin.

  As it turned out, he needn’t have worried. A soft sound drew his attention to the door, and he looked over his shoulder to see Laurie fully dressed, lounging against the frame. Sudden shyness made his cheeks warm. It was stupid, really. Laurie’s fingers had been inside him. What point was there in being shy just because they were al
one together for the first time in days? The feeling was there, though, and it showed in his timid greeting.

  Laurie outright grinned. “Did you cook?”

  Jonah’s blush deepened. “Not as such.”

  Laurie chuckled at that. “So where are we off to for this picnic?”

  “I thought we could go to the meadow. You know the one near that old barn?” As soon as the words left his mouth, Jonah started to worry that maybe the idea was a little too chick-flick for a guy’s guy like Laurie. He bit his lip, wishing he could take them back, but Laurie just smiled again and nodded.

  “You ready to go?” Laurie asked, glancing around the kitchen. “Do you have a blanket and everything?”

  “Yeah. I already put it in the truck.”

  “Cool. Let’s go then.”

  ****

  Since it was the middle of the day, traffic was light and they made it to the meadow in a little under twenty minutes. Laurie parked the old truck Jonah’s grandparents left behind for their use next to the faded barn Jonah had mentioned earlier. The sun was at its apex in the sky, the temperature probably somewhere in the low eighties if Jonah had to guess. Hot, but not unbearably so.

  They found a spot in the shade of a nearby tree and spread the blanket out. Simple as the meal was, Laurie didn’t complain. He ate the sandwiches Jonah gave him and idly munched on chips and chunks of honeydew and cantaloupe from the container Jonah brought. They talked about the classes Jonah had registered for and the dorm he’d been assigned. He’d be starting at the University of Wisconsin – Madison in the fall, the same school both Laurie and Marc attended. It was close enough to their home in Eau Claire to easily drive back for weekends and holidays, but far enough that they had to live on campus. Jonah would never tell Laurie that a huge part of his reason for picking Madison was that he and Marc were there. Granted that wasn’t the only reason—it was a good school and Jonah’s parents had met and fallen in love as students there in the ’80s—but would he have been as keen on the idea of going there if Laurie had gone somewhere else? Not so much.