by Carly Marie
I shook my head. “Your parents are definitely standing in the waiting room. I think I forgot to flip the open sign to closed.”
His body sagged against me. “Do me a favor and knock me out.”
I barked out a laugh that echoed through the office and waiting room. “They don’t seem upset?” I said in an attempt to comfort the man, who was clearly distraught by his parents’ appearance.
Mark finally took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, turning to face his parents. “Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad.”
Elaine’s face was bright, her megawatt smile telling me all I needed to know about her being pleased for her son. She didn’t care that I was a man; she just wanted to see Mark happy. “How long?” She asked in lieu of a greeting. It wasn’t accusatory.
“A few weeks.”
Harold pointed a finger at his wife. “Told you he was happier.”
“I didn’t disagree with you! I just thought it was because he wasn’t working insane hospital hours anymore, not because he was getting it on with Jeff!”
“Oh my god!” Mark gasped, burying his head in his hands.
My cheeks hurt from the force of the blush that had spread across them. This was a side of Elaine that I’d never seen before. From the red tips of Mark’s ears, I couldn’t quite tell if he had expected it or not. I didn’t know if nosy was how I would describe Elaine right then, but firecracker was an apt description for sure.
Mark spoke through his hands, which were still hiding his face, but I caught the way he was rubbing at his temples. “We haven’t told many people yet. Hell, the kids are still getting accustomed to it. We’ve only recently told them.”
Elaine didn’t bother waiting to be let back into the office. She stormed in, gathered Mark in her arms, and hugged him so hard I wasn’t sure if he could still breathe. Then she kissed his cheek. “I’m so happy you’re happy.” Then she turned and spoke to me. “You and the kids will come over tonight for dinner with Mark and the boys?”
I blinked. “Oh, I don’t. I… I don’t want to put you out. That’s a lot of people to cook for.”
“If it was going to put me out, I wouldn’t have invited you! Come, bring the kids. If you’re dating Mark, I need to get to know you better.”
My cheeks turned red again, but at least I wasn’t as mortified as Mark seemed to be at his mom’s invitation. Yeah, she was a bit like a steamroller, but it didn’t bother me. I had forty-two years of dealing with Annie. “Can we at least bring something?”
“Absolutely not. Next time, maybe.” She winked. “Now, we need to get Harold’s car.”
They were gone five minutes later, and we were back in each other’s arms. This time, it was me holding Mark between my legs, peppering soft kisses over his jaw and down his neck as he calmed down. “If you really don’t want us there, I won’t go. Your mom’s a grown woman—she’ll understand.”
He blew out a frustrated huff. “It’s not that. I want you there; I really do. I just worry about what will be said.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’ve met Annie, right? She’s the woman who takes over my phone and texts you my lunch orders. It will be alright, as long as she keeps our sex life out of things.” I paled slightly. “She wouldn’t say anything about our sex life around the kids, right?”
Mark groaned again. “If my mother never says another thing about my sex life, it will be too soon! And I think, at least I hope, she has enough marbles left to not say something about our sex life.” He shuddered in my arms. “Eww.”
I snorted a laugh, getting a deep whiff of Mark’s shampoo. Citrus and woodsy, and all Mark. A sense of peace washed over me. Together we would get through dinner just fine. “Okay, we both have work to do and we can’t be at work late because we have a date now.” I gave him one final kiss and pushed him off me. “Back to work you go.”
“You’re mean,” Mark huffed as he made his way to the door. “See you later.”
“Later.”
Later happened to be just shy of six hours as the kids and I pulled into Elaine and Harold’s driveway as Mark and his boys were stepping out of their car. Mark seemed to have his wits about him again because he pulled me toward him with an arm around my waist. When I was flush to his body, he kissed me on the lips. “Daddy!” Eli groaned from in front of the car. “You promised no kissing!”
Mark pulled back, humor in his eyes. “No, E, I promised you I would try to not kiss him too much.”
Jenna and Seth snorted.
Eli shook his head and made for the front door. “Kissing’s gross.”
Mark leaned toward me as we followed behind. “How long do you think that will last?”
Before I could answer, the front door flung open and Elaine was standing there, her gray hair swept up into a casual ponytail. “You made it! Carl, Kathryn, and the kids will be here in just a few minutes.”
“Them too?” Mark gaped.
“Of course! Why wouldn’t they be here? They are part of this family too.”
I stifled a laugh. Mark was nervous about this meeting, but I knew Elaine, Harold, Carl, and Kathryn. They were all wonderful people, if just a bit protective of Mark. “It’s fine,” I whispered to Mark. “The evening will be fine.”
And it was. Dinner went by smoothly, no inappropriate sex questions, no overly nosy questions about our relationship. Most of the conversation centered around Jenna and Seth. Elaine and Harold peppered them with questions about school, Jenna’s school play, Seth’s basketball, and other interests. As a single parent who had never had a boyfriend willing to give my kids the time of day, having Mark’s parents making an effort to learn more about my kids was the best possible way to spend the evening.
Once dinner was over, the kids headed off to watch TV and play video games, leaving the adults alone. I’d offered to help with the dishes but backed off quickly when Elaine threatened me with a spoon. Instead of helping, Carl, Kathryn, Mark, and I all headed toward the porch at the back of the house. There were no neighbors anywhere nearby, and the wind whipping across the fields had us taking refuge under warm blankets.
Sitting on the porch swing sharing a large blanket with Mark, my head resting against his shoulder, felt normal. Carl and Kathryn were in a nearly identical position on the glider beside us. “Are things going well with you guys?” Kathryn asked after a moment.
I rubbed at Mark’s fingers, which were dangling over my shoulder. “It’s going well. I was touched that Elaine and Harold included Seth and Jenna so much tonight.”
Carl smiled fondly toward the house. “Mom and Dad are good people. They’ve always just wanted us happy.”
Mark nodded. “We’ve never been able to surprise them with anything. Boyfriend? Fine. Girlfriend? Fine. Two girlfriends?” Mark winked at Carl. “Fine.” They just take it all in stride.”
Kathryn and Carl both laughed. “That was a long time ago, asshole. Jesus, how did I manage two girlfriends? Kathryn’s enough for me. Could you have imagined if I’d tried to settle down with them together?” Carl kissed the side of his wife’s head. “Kathryn came along at the exact right moment.”
Carl apparently had quite a history there, but it proved how easygoing their parents were.
“I like hearing all the laughter out here,” Elaine mentioned as she and Harold joined us with armloads of beer and passed them out. “But you have to tell us, because I’m dying to know. How did you two get together?”
“Louie,” I said. At the same time Mark said, “I got lost.”
We both laughed but Mark took lead. “I got lost on the way to the home store shortly after I moved in and came across Jeff and his car on the side of the road outside of town.”
“Louie had a fuel leak,” I supplied helpfully.
“Jeff’s kinda persistent. Took me out to the bar as a thank you. I got drunk and spent the night at his house. It just kinda went from there.”
Harold’s eyebrows rose high on his forehead. “Spent the night on the first date, huh?”
“Oh my god! Not like that, Dad!” Mark threw his forearm over his eyes. “You’re the worst.”
Elaine tried to look innocent. “It’s just been so long since you’ve been with anyone.”
“How do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been with someone?” Mark asked, bewildered by his mom’s matter-of-fact statement. They were funny together.
Elaine tilted her head at Mark. “Tell me you’ve been with someone since Nicole left.”
“I, well. I’ve been busy.”
“With your hand, maybe,” Carl chuckled.
I snorted beer as Mark groaned. “I am not even dignifying that with a response.”
They weren’t just funny, they were hysterical. Nosy oversharers as they might have been, I liked being part of it. I liked having the easily familiarity with people who weren’t Annie or my kids.
Two hours later, we were leaving their house. Mark’s kids had fallen asleep in the family room while they watched a movie and Elaine had insisted we didn’t wake them up to take them home. Seth and Jenna had taken my car home an hour earlier, citing early morning activities they both needed sleep for. So that left Mark and me alone as we headed back to his house, both too exhausted from the Murray family to think of anything but bed no matter what Elaine might have teased us about as we left.
My eyes cracked open shortly after seven the next morning, and I felt ready to go for the day. Mark was still breathing deeply beside me, his head sharing my pillow with one arm and a leg draped over my body. I scanned the room and my eyes fell on the nightstand where I’d put my phone the night before. Beneath the lamp was a bottle of lube.
Then I noticed what was next to the lube. A thick clear silicone ring. It took about three seconds for my sleepy brain to process what I was looking at. Mark had a cock ring. Why did Mark have a cock ring? I reached out and picked it up, turning it around in my hand as I studied it. It looked new, not that I was an expert on cock rings or anything. My knowledge ended at the cock ring in the back of my drawer somewhere that had been thrown in as a freebie with a dildo once and ones I’d seen in some porn.
A laugh escaped my mouth. It was quiet but enough to jar Mark from his slumber. Or maybe he’d been awake longer than I’d realized because I heard him groan, then I felt his breath on my shoulder as he cursed. “Fucking hell.”
I laughed harder as I rolled in his arms so I was facing him, the cock ring still pinched between my thumb and forefinger but now dangling above our heads. “In the words of Ricky Ricardo, you’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do.”
A pillow smacked my chest; I didn’t even know how he’d managed to grab it. The surprise caused me to drop the ring straight onto Mark’s face. He yelped like it was a snake that was going to bite him.
I saved him from the offending item by plucking it off his pillow where it had fallen, even more confused about why he had it now than I’d been when I’d first spotted it. “Okay, seriously, you have to explain.”
I rolled the ring between my fingers and felt my dick begin to thicken. It had already been half-hard with morning wood, but now it was fully interested in what was going on as I thought of not only the purpose of a cock ring but the prospect of actually using one. It didn’t seem to matter who I imagined wearing it—Mark or me—the image in my mind was hot as fuck.
Mark sighed dramatically. “I saw it online.”
His explanation stopped there. He was going to need some prodding to move this along. “Really? You don’t say.” The mock shock in my voice might have been a bit more sarcastic than understanding, but it elicited a bark of laughter from Mark.
“You’re really not going to let me just ignore this embarrassing moment, are you?”
“Nope.” I popped the P for emphasis, then grinned at him.
He threw his arm over his eyes, like not seeing me would make the conversation easier. “I went online a few weeks ago. Shortly after we, uh, started seeing each other.” He turned the most adorable shade of red, though I did worry that if he got any more embarrassed, the only thing left of him would be a charred spot on the bed.
I needed to stop torturing him with the cock ring, so I placed it on the other side of me and snuggled in, allowing my hand to rest over his heart. My default was to tease him, but I knew Mark needed understanding. ““It’s totally normal to explore what turns you on.”
Mark’s Adam’s apple bobbed hard as he swallowed. “I know that.” A forced chuckle came from him. “I like ass play, but it’s just been awhile, ya know? It had been so long that I didn’t have any toys at home. So, I, well, I ordered some new stuff.”
I tweaked his nipple playfully. “Yeah? What kind of stuff?”
Mark let out a little gasp at the tweak. The man was full of surprises. However, the distraction seemed to get the words to flow more easily. “I ordered a few dildos and a butt plug. Then there was a picture of th-that. The guy wearing it looked so obscenely sexy, his hard cock pushed outward and his full balls on display. The next thing I knew, it was in my cart. It just got here a few nights ago. It was backordered and I totally forgot about ordering it until it arrived, so I haven’t had a chance to try it yet. I don’t know if I’ll like it or not.”
Oh, we were going to try it. “Have you tried any of the other things?”
The way his face heated again I knew the answer before he opened his mouth. “Um, yeah. I may have picked a dildo that looks a lot like you.”
Goddammit, he was adorable when he got nervous. I circled a finger around his nipple as I glanced down to see the sheet tented at his cock. He sucked in a ragged breath. He might have been hesitant to talk about his purchases, but his cock didn’t have the same hesitations. It must have been a good experience. “You liked it.” It wasn’t a question, but Mark nodded his head.
“It felt… amazing.”
Our conversation had precum beginning to drip out of my tip. When it smeared across Mark’s hip, it seemed to be the first time he realized how aroused I’d become.
His pupils were blown wide, and his voice shook slightly. “You liked that?”
I tried hard not to gape at him, but it took almost every ounce of willpower I had. “You just told me that you chose a dildo that looks like my cock and you enjoyed playing with it. Hell yes, I liked that.” I examined the cock ring. “Shall we try it?”
Mark’s eyes went wide. “Wha-?”
“Right now, I really want you inside of me. And I don’t want it to be quick.”
Mark’s breath caught in his chest. “Holy. Fuck.”
“Is that a yes?”
He nodded in response as he gripped the sheets on either side of his body. I stretched the silicone band, seeing how much it gave, surprised at the amount it stretched. It would go over him easily.
I wiggled around so I was on my knees between his legs. It took both hands to stretch the cock ring wide and slide it over his cock and balls. Once it was in place, Mark’s dick jutted out from his body even farther than it had been. I couldn’t resist running my tongue along his length before I sat up and sank two fingers deep inside my ass. My mouth parted, but Mark’s groan filled the room.
CHAPTER 26
Mark
Jeff had two fingers buried deep inside of himself as he knelt in front of me, and I could think of nothing more than how gorgeous he was. His head was thrown back in ecstasy as he rode his fingers, panting each time he pushed in deeper. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” he whispered.
Gorgeous was the exact right word for Jeff. Gorgeously debauched, at the moment. And just when I thought the sight before me couldn’t get better, he shoved a third finger inside of himself, a hissed moan of pleasure slipping from his mouth as he stretched himself more.
Cock ring or not, I was going to end up cumming if he continued to fuck himself and make those noises. I needed to take control of the situation before I lost control, and I sat up. Jeff didn’t seem to notice me, too lost in the sensations of stretching himself out until I gripped his hips. “Eep!” he
startled, his fingers slipping out suddenly. I flipped him over so his head was on my pillow and I was the one kneeling between his legs.
I leaned across him, my cock dragging across his, to grab a condom out of the nightstand drawer. We both whimpered and rocked our hips together before I felt my orgasm beginning to build and pulled back. I was going to be inside of him before I came, feel his body tighten around my dick as he pulled my orgasm from me, but in order to do that, I needed to pull back and get the condom on. I fumbled with the condom wrapper for a few seconds before finally ripping it open.
I could see my dick sticking out in front of me in a way it never had before. It was obscene, but Jeff couldn’t seem to get enough as his eyes locked on to it. He tracked every sway of my dick until I took it in hand and rolled the condom down my length.
Jeff’s head rocked back and forth against the pillow that was under him. “I feel so empty,” he whined. “Need you. Fucking hell. Need you so bad.” He wrapped his legs around me and pulled me closer to him, begging for me to get inside of him as soon as possible.
The demand had me moving at double-time, worried that if I didn’t hurry up and lube my dick, Jeff would be so impatient he’d pull me into him dry. At first, more lube made it onto the sheets than on my hand. When I finally had my dick slicked, I didn’t hesitate to line my cock up with his stretched hole.
I used the remaining lube on my hand to play with his entrance. I slipped two fingers in him with ease and Jeff ground down against my fingers. “Yes.” His body was so ready, so needy, my fingers were almost swallowed. I was as impatient as he was, but in the back of my mind, I knew my fingers were thicker than his, and my cock was far thicker than three of his fingers. I pressed at his entrance with a third finger. That time his body didn’t give as easily, but with the slightest coaxing, he opened up. With three fingers seated in his ass, Jeff rocked his hips down and I felt the small bump of his prostate against my fingers. He babbled into the room, begging me for more.
He was ready. More than ready, so I pulled my fingers out slowly. Jeff let out a long whine at the emptiness, his ass fighting the release of my fingers with all it had. Once freed, I gripped my cock in one hand, lining up with him.