Travis shifted a bit closer. “Oh, really?”
“Not at all,” Jonah said, keeping his eyes on Travis’s. “But what I am interested in is why Laurie seems to hate you.”
“Yeah, he does, doesn’t he?”
“Mmm-hmm. And what’s the story there?”
Travis shrugged and dragged one long finger down the center of Jonah’s chest. “Why don’t you ask him?”
“I already did.”
Travis laughed. “And he wouldn’t tell you?”
No, he wouldn’t. Jonah had asked one of the nights they stayed at the guesthouse. Laurie’s immediate reaction had been to shut down and brush the question aside. It’d hurt, but the look in his eyes prevented Jonah from pressing the issue at the time. Of course, Laurie’s refusal to answer served only to make him even more curious.
When Jonah stayed silent, Travis’s fingers started toying with the hem of his shirt. “What are you gonna give me if I tell you?”
Jonah smirked and tried to make it as cocky as the ones Travis normally gave him. “Good, old-fashioned gratitude.”
“That’s not enough. I’d prefer a good, old-fashioned blowjob.”
Jonah rolled his eyes. “So not happening.”
Travis shrugged again and backed off a few steps. “Well, you can just go on wondering then.”
“Okay. If that’s how you wanna be.” Jonah turned on his heel and started walking away.
“You and Laurie, huh?” Travis called out after him. “You know I had that ass first, right? Yeah, I tore that little boy pussy up, and I made it really memorable. He ain’t never gonna forget me.”
Jonah meant to keep walking. Honestly, he did. But before the idea even registered in his brain, he was already halfway back to where Travis stood. He kept going until they were less than a foot apart, and that arrogant grin goaded him into throwing a punch that Travis never saw coming.
He felt the crunch of bone under his knuckles with almost unholy satisfaction.
Travis stumbled back a few steps and fell to his knees, his hands flying up to clutch at his nose. “Fucking asshole!” he yelled. “I think you broke my nose!”
Or at least that’s what it sounded like, though Jonah couldn’t be sure because Travis’s voice was nasally and muffled by his palms.
“Yeah,” Jonah growled, halfway tempted to kick the bastard while he was down. “And you won’t be forgetting that anytime soon, will you? Fucker.”
Jonah turned to head back to the bonfire, but froze before he could take a step. Laurie and Marc were standing a few feet from where he stood, both wearing similar expressions of shock. Jonah smiled at them, not bothering to look back at Travis, who was cursing and muttering behind him. “Ready to go?” he asked with false cheer. “I think it’s about that time, don’t you?”
He didn’t stay to see if Marc and Laurie agreed. By the time they made it out of the woods, he was already waiting for them at the car.
CHAPTER 6
Aside from when Marc asked Jonah what had happened between him and Travis, and Jonah refused to answer, the drive back to the lake house was made in absolute silence. Laurie was still buzzed from the beer and Jell-O shots he’d had, but what he’d overheard of the confrontation between Jonah and Travis sobered him considerably. He’d only caught the tail end, and Marc had too, though he was playing dumb because he knew how humiliated Laurie had been by the entire thing with Travis the summer before last. Laurie hadn’t wanted Jonah to hear it like that. Hell, he hadn’t wanted him to know about it at all. Too late for that.
God, when he’d spotted Jonah following Travis into the woods, it was impossible to say which was the stronger emotion—fury at Travis, or the sense of betrayal from the idea that Jonah was sneaking around behind his back. It was lucky Marc had been beside him right then. Nothing good would have come from Laurie tearing off after them in a mindless rage. Instead he and Marc had gone together and kept their distance just to see what would happen. The last thing Laurie expected was to show up as Jonah was planting his fist in Travis’s face. Not that it hadn’t filled him with a perverse sense of pleasure to see it. Of course, that still didn’t answer the question of why Jonah had gone with Travis in the first place. Laurie had every intention of asking once they were alone again.
Marc dropped them off in front of the house with a “see ya later,” and turned the car around to go back the way they’d come. Laurie knew he’d made plans with that blonde from the rave, but Jonah looked a bit lost as he watched Marc’s taillights disappear.
Laurie reached out and grabbed Jonah’s upper arm. “Come with me to the guesthouse.”
“But what if Marc comes back and realizes we’re both gone?” Jonah asked, but he didn’t put up any resistance as Laurie started to tug him along.
“I don’t care. We need to talk.”
“Yeah.”
Laurie released Jonah’s arm, and Jonah fell into step beside him. When they got to the guesthouse Jonah withdrew the key from his pocket and unlocked the door. After the third time they’d spent the night there, he’d stopped putting it back and just kept it on him at all times. Right at that moment, Laurie was immensely grateful for that fact. His patience was gone. He needed his hands on Jonah and he needed it as soon as possible. But there were other things they had to get out of the way first.
The second they were in the bedroom, Jonah turned on him. “So…you and Travis.”
It wasn’t a question. Laurie answered anyway. “Yeah.”
Jonah crossed his arms. Normally his expressive face showed everything he was feeling, but Laurie couldn’t get a read on him in the semi-darkness of the room. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Why were you going into the woods with him?” Laurie returned.
“I asked you first.”
Laurie sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. “It was a long time ago.”
“It happened here, right? In the guesthouse. That’s why you got weird when I suggested it that night.”
Laurie hesitated then nodded. “Yes.”
Jonah was silent for a few moments. “I went with him because I knew something had happened between you guys. I was hoping he would tell me what.”
“It’s in the past, Jonah. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Did he rape you?”
The raw tone in Jonah’s voice made Laurie flinch, rather than the question itself. “Not exactly.”
“But he hurt you.”
“Yes.”
Laurie watched Jonah’s throat work as he swallowed convulsively.
“I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me,” Jonah said, the words thick with emotion.
Laurie was glad then that if he couldn’t see Jonah’s expression clearly, it meant Jonah probably couldn’t see his either. He was pretty sure the look on his face would be some combination of pain and remorse. Yeah, maybe he should have told Jonah given the circumstances. But it wasn’t a story he was proud of. “I’m sorry.”
“Fuck, don’t be sorry! I just…I wish I could go hit that stupid shithead again.”
Laurie shrugged. “He’s not worth it.”
“But you are! You’re worth it to me. He hurt you and it makes me want to hurt him back.”
“Don’t waste your anger on him. Believe me, I’ve wasted enough of my own.”
Suddenly Jonah was in front of him, his hands gripping Laurie’s shoulders. “I hate that you were hurt.”
Laurie wrapped his arms around Jonah’s waist and pulled him close. “It could’ve been a lot worse. It was my fault, too. I should’ve been more careful. This is why I told you that it’s okay to wait for the right person instead of rushing into things.”
“That’s why I waited for you,” Jonah whispered. Then his lips were on Laurie’s, soft and gentle as the brush of butterfly wings, and all thoughts of Travis were lost in the warmth that spread through Laurie’s body at that simple touch.
For a while that’s all it was, softness and comfort, slow touc
hes that were meant to soothe not arouse. Laurie couldn’t say exactly when the touches grew bolder and the kisses evolved into something more. Jonah’s hands seemed to be everywhere—on his ass, pulling his shirt off, yanking his belt free and shoving his pants down.
Their frantic strip got held up when they got to the shoes. Jonah was able to easily kick off his well-worn pair of Ed Hardy high-tops, but Laurie’s combat boots proved to be a bigger challenge. It took a minute, but then they were naked on the mattress, bodies flush together. Jonah was practically undulating beneath him and Laurie knew right then that just jerking or sucking each other off wouldn’t be enough.
Laurie grabbed the lube from the drawer of the bedside table and gave Jonah an inquiring look.
“Yeah.” Jonah nodded and jerked Laurie’s head down for a quick kiss. “Yeah. Right now. I’m ready.”
Laurie chuckled against his mouth. “Not yet. But you will be.”
****
Jonah quivered as Laurie lived up to the promise in those words. Laurie licked him and sucked him, pressed two slick fingers inside and twisted and stretched until Jonah didn’t know whether to cry or to beg. All he knew was that he’d passed ready about three exits back. Next stop: desperation.
“Now, Laurie.” Jonah moaned and rocked his hips, alternately grinding down into Laurie’s touch and thrusting up into his mouth. “Now.”
Laurie pulled off his cock with a messy, porno-quality pop that made Jonah’s entire body break into goose bumps. “Yeah.” He flexed his fingers one last time and Jonah shuddered. “On your side.”
Jonah followed Laurie’s instructions and adjusted the pillow under his head as Laurie settled onto the mattress behind him.
“Draw your legs up.”
Once again, Jonah obeyed. He pulled his knees up to his chest then trembled when he heard the click of the lube being opened. A few seconds later, the blunt tip of Laurie’s cock was at his entrance. Jonah tried to press down, but Laurie’s hand gripped his hip and held him still.
“You sure?” Laurie murmured, his lips brushing the sensitive skin below Jonah’s ear.
“Yes.”
“Try to relax. I’m gonna go nice and slow.”
Jonah nodded and closed his eyes. He tried to will the tension from his muscles, but he couldn’t help from clamping down the moment Laurie tried to breach that first tight ring of muscle. He felt Laurie’s groan as it rumbled from his chest.
“It’s okay.” Laurie’s hand moved soothingly over his hip, and the touch helped to calm Jonah somewhat. “Push out a little bit…yeah, just like that.”
Jonah whimpered as the head of Laurie’s cock finally slipped in. It hurt more than he’d thought it would, and he was abruptly glad for all the time Laurie had spent preparing him despite his impatience. After that, it wasn’t so bad, though. Not so much pain as discomfort and pressure, but Laurie took it slowly enough that Jonah’s body had adjusted to the feeling of being penetrated by the time he was all the way inside.
Laurie’s arm curled around Jonah’s waist and a soft kiss brushed across his nape. “Okay?”
“Mmm-hmm…”
“Tell me if it’s too much.”
“Just move. I wanna feel it.”
Laurie withdrew nearly all the way and slid back in. A few more of those careful thrusts, steadily increasing the pace each time, and then his hips snapped forward and the head of his cock hit Jonah’s prostate just right. Jonah cried out and arched his back. His erection, which had flagged due to the initial pain, hardened in a tingling rush.
“Y-Yeah,” Jonah said shakily as he reached down to take his dick in hand. “Harder.”
Laurie complied, and the depth and force of his thrusts increased. Jonah moaned long and low at the slick stretch, the aching pressure as Laurie pushed forward and the exquisite relief as he pulled back. And when the underside of Laurie’s cock brushed that sensitized bundle of nerves inside him, Jonah bit his lip and quaked at the agonizing, bone-melting pleasure. It started as a pinprick and spread up his spine and through his limbs, like dye moving over fabric, slow and drenching.
Jonah’s dick pulsed and he jerked it roughly as he shoved back against Laurie’s pelvis. He couldn’t believe how quickly the feeling had gone from discomfort to bliss, but Jonah’s mind was still screaming for something else, something more. “Laurie, I…I need…”
“What do you need, Jo?” Laurie’s voice was breathless and strained.
“I want…” Jonah trailed off, embarrassed to ask for what he wanted, even as his body begged for it.
“Tell me.”
“I want you on top of me. I want you to hold me down and just…take me.”
Laurie made a tormented sound. “Shit. But I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t. Please, Laurie.” Jonah turned his head and met Laurie’s mouth for a hot, tongue-tangling kiss. “Please.”
“Okay.” Laurie gave Jonah another fierce kiss and slowly withdrew. Jonah whimpered at the empty ache he left behind. “On your stomach.”
Jonah rolled over and shoved the pillows aside so he could rest his head directly on the mattress. He felt the bed shift as Laurie moved and then Laurie’s fingers gripped his hips, tilted them up, and his cock slid back inside in one slow, torturous glide.
Unlike the first time, Laurie didn’t pause to let Jonah’s body adjust. His hands settled on Jonah’s shoulders, pressed him down, held him immobile, and he set into a pounding that robbed Jonah of both breath and coherent thought.
Jonah gripped the sheets and squeezed his eyes shut. The change in position brought some of the pain back, but not enough for him to ask Laurie to stop. Never that. Laurie was giving him exactly what he’d wanted and he knew it wouldn’t be long before it got good again. And it wasn’t. Soon the feel of Laurie’s weight on him, those strong hands holding him still, that hard, steady tempo, sent him spiraling toward ecstasy once more.
Jonah groaned and spread his legs as wide as he could, tilted his hips even more so that thick cock rubbed his sweet spot at the perfect angle. And, oh, yeah, that was it. That was it right there. Jonah heard Laurie gasp, felt that relentless rhythm falter, and realized that Laurie was just as close as he was. One more deep thrust and Jonah came, almost sobbing from the intensity, the warmth of his release pooling on the sheets beneath him.
Laurie went still as Jonah’s muscles spasmed, and judging from the noise that escaped him, the moment was as amazing for him as it was for Jonah. His hips jerked once and Jonah felt a rush of heat as Laurie followed him over the edge. Laurie moaned as if something inside of him was breaking, his fingertips digging into the muscles of Jonah’s shoulders. After that, the harshness of their breathing was the only sound in the room.
When Laurie finally withdrew and collapsed beside him, Jonah shifted so they were face to face. He was sore and tired and a bit, well, soggy, but Jonah couldn’t remember ever being happier. And if Laurie’s blissed out expression was any indication, then Laurie was right there with him. Laurie’s eyelids were half-closed, his cheeks pink from exertion. His lips were dark and swollen from rough use, his hair damp and clinging to his forehead with sweat. But to Jonah, he’d never looked more beautiful.
“I love you.”
Laurie’s eyes snapped open. His lips parted, but Jonah shook his head and pressed a finger to Laurie’s mouth to keep him from speaking.
“You don’t have to say anything. Just…I wanted you to know.” Jonah laughed lightly. “I think I’ve been in love with you since I was thirteen years old.”
“Jo—”
“Don’t say anything, okay? Just hold me.”
Laurie’s arms wrapped around him and Jonah snuggled against his chest. With the sound of Laurie’s steady heartbeat in his ear, he felt safe. Warm and protected. Nothing could touch him. Nothing else mattered. He wished they could stay that way, just the two of them, forever.
He was drifting on the edge of sleep when the soft sound of Laurie’s voice made him stir. “Jona
h?”
“Hmm?”
“Me, too.”
Jonah blinked and lifted his head. “Huh?”
“I love you, too.”
Jonah gave Laurie a drowsy smile. “Yeah?”
Laurie’s lips quirked and he dropped a light kiss on Jonah’s chin. “Yeah.”
“Good.” Jonah laid his head on Laurie’s chest again, closed his eyes, and hoped he wasn’t dreaming.
CHAPTER 7
Jonah spent the next morning bouncing between guilt and euphoria. Laurie was his. Finally. Laurie loved him. Him. God, it felt so surreal. How long had he dreamed of hearing those words? A lifetime, it seemed. And Laurie had said them more than once. He’d whispered them again while they showered together before leaving the guesthouse. As his soap-slick hands moved over Jonah’s body, cleansing and rubbing away all of the little aches and pains, he’d said them, just loud enough to be heard above the water.
Jonah kissed him then. The kisses led to more touches, and the touches led to Laurie palming both of their cocks and jerking them off together under the warm, pulsing spray of the shower. All things considered, not a bad way to start the day.
Then the guilt came. For the first time since their relationship started, Jonah regretted inventing “Dirk.” Regretted the story he’d told to gain Laurie’s sympathy. What would have happened if he’d just been honest and laid his cards on the table instead? There was no way of knowing. But he owed it to Laurie to come clean. The idea of maintaining the lie didn’t sit right with him anymore. He knew he probably should’ve admitted the truth to Laurie at the very beginning, before they’d gotten sexually involved.
What will he think of me? Jonah hoped Laurie would be understanding, maybe even think it was funny. God, I hope so. I can’t lose him now. But he couldn’t just let it go either. It wouldn’t be right. On top of that, there was a fair chance Laurie would eventually find out anyway. If Laurie ever mentioned “Dirk” to Jonah’s parents, the jig would be up. Jonah had a close enough relationship with them that they would’ve known about any boyfriends…or lack thereof. And if Laurie found out the truth from someone else? Well, Jonah didn’t even want to think about that.
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