by Rayna Vause
“It’s ibuprofen, not narcotics.” Still, he accepted the drink, twisted off the top, and took a long pull.
Setting it aside, he turned to Jack, only to be yanked into Jack’s strong embrace.
“Do you know how I felt when I got word of the explosion? My world stopped. Then getting there and finding both of you hurt, bleeding. I couldn’t think; I couldn’t do anything. I’ve never been that scared in my life.”
“Jack, I—”
“How am I supposed to handle losing either of you?”
“Jack.” Chris returned Jack’s embrace, and they clung to each other. He listened to the sound of Jack’s breathing. Breathed in Jack’s scent, holding the breath before letting it go. He wanted to imprint the sensations of being held, just held, in Jack’s arms.
The steady rhythm of Jack’s heartbeat relaxed Chris. Allowed him to release some of the anxiety of the past several days. For a little while, he wanted to turn off his mind and lose himself in Jack and what he could make him feel.
Chris stepped back and held out a hand. “How about, just for tonight, we put all of the worry and fear in a box and find a little comfort in each other?”
Chris led Jack toward the master bedroom, his gaze locked with Jack’s. Seductive heat shone at him through Jack’s pewter eyes.
Smoldering heat burned inside Chris. As they reached the door, Jack yanked him close and took Chris’s mouth in a kiss that made him moan. He walked the few short steps into Jack’s bedroom and up to the edge of the bed. Chris tugged Jack’s shirt out of the waistband of his pants and slipped his hands underneath, caressing the warm skin of his sides.
Chris trailed his tongue over the seam of Jack’s lips, teasing them until they parted. Then he dove in, wanting to lose himself in the taste and feel of Jack. He fisted his hand in Jack’s hair. Heat exploded between them. Chris poured all of the built-up emotions into every touch, every kiss. Pouring it all into Jack as he accepted the same. Chris loosened the buttons on Jack’s shirt one by one, breaking their kiss to sample each exposed inch of skin.
“Chris. Chris, baby. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Don’t worry about it. Tonight I just want to feel. I want to forget.” Heat and longing swamped him.
Jack gave him a slow once-over. Heat tinged with concern ignited in his eyes. “We go slow and easy. You let me do this for you.”
“Works for me.”
Chris shivered as Jack’s hands ran in slow circles over his flesh, caressing even as he seemed to check each injury. He shoved Chris’s shirt up, tugging it over his head and tossing it away before claiming Chris’s mouth again.
Chris moaned while running his hands over Jack’s ass, sliding around to the front where he cupped Jack’s hard flesh through his dress pants. His gaze met Jack’s and his breath sawed out of him as he squeezed and stroked. Liquid silver eyes blazed with desire as he moaned and thrust into Chris’s touch.
Jack smiled, slow and sexy. He threaded his fingers into Chris’s hair and angled Chris so he could have better access to his throat, the line of his jaw, the sensitive spot behind his ear. Any remaining thoughts in Chris’s head evaporated as Jack’s lips brushed across his sensitized skin. His body caught fire.
Chris’s hands skimmed over Jack’s flat stomach and the silken skin of his sides. The muscles contracted under Chris’s touch. He danced his fingers over Jack’s hardened nipples, circling and tugging, then pulling away from Jack’s magical mouth long enough to place light kisses on each.
Jack gasped his name. “Don’t tease me. Not tonight.”
“I wouldn’t do that to either of us.” Chris gasped when Jack returned the favor and pinched his nipple. He reached for the button of Jack’s pants.
In moments, both men were naked. Chris licked his lips as his eyes scanned the expanse of Jack’s tanned flesh. He needed to touch and be touched, taste and be tasted.
Low moans of pleasure sounded as their mouths met again. Their labored breathing echoed through the room, and Jack lowered Chris onto the bed.
Jack stared down at Chris for a long moment. “You’re gorgeous.”
Chris smiled. The compliment and Jack’s mesmerized expression had warmth flooding through him.
He propped himself up on the elbow of his good arm, lying half on top of Chris. He caressed Chris’s face, rubbing his thumb over his lower lip. Chris kissed the pad of Jack’s thumb. Jack shifted his leg so that it lay between Chris’s. Chris rubbed against Jack’s thigh, and the delicious friction had his eyes rolling back, his heart pounding, the sound in his ears almost deafening. Jack claimed his mouth in a hot, mind-blowing kiss before trailing more kisses over Chris’s face.
“My god, you have an amazing mouth.” Chris arched toward the exquisite sensation.
A low rumble of laughter rolled out of Jack. “Just wait.”
He fisted Chris’s hot, hard flesh. Chris jerked and writhed under the onslaught of sensation. He reached to touch any bit of Jack’s body he could, even as Jack’s skilled mouth drove him wild. Jack’s warm breath created a trail of goose bumps over Chris’s skin and made his stomach quiver as Jack worked downward. Each slow stroke of Jack’s hand pushed him higher and higher. His entire body arched off the bed when Jack licked him from base to tip, kissing the sensitized head, then encasing his length in the warm, moist cavern of his mouth.
“Oh fuck.” Chris threaded his fingers into Jack’s hair, clenching and releasing with the rhythmic suction. “Jack, Jack. I’m not going to make it.”
Jack released him, swirling his tongue around the head of Chris’s cock. “Are you going to die on me or come?” Then Jack’s wicked mouth got right back to work.
Chris gripped the comforter. “Both, neither. I’m not really sure at the moment.” A tingle started deep inside, working its way up his spine, tightening all the muscles in his body. Chris slapped a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “No.”
Jack glanced up at him, the heat in his eyes all but scalding Chris. He reached out and ran his fingers over Jack’s parted lips. “In me. I need you in me, wrapped around me. I want to feel all of you, and I want us to be together every step of the way.”
Jack crawled up over him. He claimed his mouth in a breath-stealing kiss, then moved to the edge of the bed. Reaching into the nightstand, Jack got condoms and lube. Chris parted his legs when Jack looked back at him. Ran a hand down Chris’s chest, down his abs. Rested his fingers at the edge of the triangle of hair under Chris’s belly button.
Jack licked his lips, a predator about to claim his prey. Unbridled want blazed at Chris from the depths of Jack’s silver eyes….
Chris moaned, his gaze following the slow motion of Jack’s tongue. Oh. God. He studied the roll of muscle as Jack climbed back across the bed to him before settling between his thighs. Breath hissed out of Jack as they lay groin to groin, chest to chest, slowly rubbing against each other.
“You ready?” Jack breathed the words against his lips.
Chris kissed Jack, infusing their connection with every ounce of passion inside him, and rolled his hips against Jack’s.
Jack growled and eased back, kneeling between Chris’s thighs. Chris spread his legs farther, fully exposing himself to his lover. Jack stroked his fingers down the strip of skin between Chris’s sac and his puckered entrance. Chris went even harder at the sight of this amazing, powerful man looking down at him with so much passion.
Jack popped the cap of the lube bottle open, poured some of the cool liquid onto his fingers, and rubbed it around and into Chris’s entrance. Chris watched Jack. Watched the pupils of his eyes go wide and dark. Watched his chest rise and fall. Watched Jack watch him. He bit his lip and arched into the man’s touch, calling out his name.
“Are you okay, baby? Not hurting you?” Jack’s fingers pressed in, stretched. First one, then two.
Chris nodded, welcoming the slight burn. “Feels amazing. You’re amazing. Want you in me.” He slid down the bed and wrapped a leg around Jack. Chris smiled.
Jack looked up at him and seemed to search his eyes, but for what, Chris didn’t know. Then Jack lined himself up with Chris’s opening and eased in. Chris cried out and bit his lip. The pressure, the rub and drag of Jack moving deeper and deeper inside, sent sparks of pleasure zipping through him.
Jack went still and took in several long, deep breaths. “Breathe with me, baby.”
Chris gasped. His chest heaved as air rushed in and out of him. “I’m fine. Feels unbelievable. Please, please keep moving. Need you so much.”
Jack continued forward until his groin pressed to Chris’s ass. Then Chris reached up and wrapped himself around Jack, pulling him close.
Jack pressed his head to Chris’s shoulder, holding him tight in return. Chris reveled in the feel of Jack’s arms around him, of being cocooned in warmth, strength, and Jack’s intoxicating spicy scent. Chris filled his lungs with it.
He hitched his leg up a little higher around Jack and carded his fingers through Jack’s hair. “Love me, Jack.”
Jack’s wide silver-gray gaze met his. He pressed a kiss to Chris’s lips and started to move forward, going slow and deep. His gaze never left Chris’s. The world faded away; it narrowed down to him and Jack and the mind-blowing sensations they created together.
“Jack.” Chris cupped Jack’s cheek to pull them into a kiss, and Jack continued to surge into him, drenching him in pleasure.
Chris rolled to meet each of his thrusts, helping Jack hit that spot, their motions sending electricity streaking through him. Their moans grew louder, their breathing harsher. Chris’s heart thundered in his chest as Jack buried his face in the curve of Chris’s neck, his thrusts picking up speed.
“God, you feel so fucking good. So hot and tight around me. So right in my arms,” Jack all but snarled the words.
Chris wanted to stay like this forever. Just the two of them locked together away from the world and their problems.
“More. I need more of you, all of you. Now.”
“I’m right here with you. I’ll give you everything you need. We’ll take care of each other,” Jack vowed.
Their sweat-slicked skin slid against each other, taut muscles flexing as they drove each other higher and higher. He chanted Jack’s name as together they climbed.
Chris’s neck arched off the pillow, his fingers pressed into the muscles of Jack’s back. He couldn’t form words anymore. He moaned and gasped. OhGodOhGodOhGod. The air around them all but shimmered from the heat coming off them.
That low tingle started in Chris again, climbing its way through his body, centering in his groin, but it wasn’t enough. Chris reached between them, grasped his cock, and stroked. He couldn’t hold back much longer. Every time Jack slammed into his body, his control slipped further.
“Jack. I’m gonna—”
“Go ahead, baby. Fly. I’ll be right there with you.”
Jack pumped into him once, twice, three times, and Chris’s world exploded. He bit down on Jack’s shoulder, tasting the salt of their combined sweat.
“Chris!” Jack yelled, and tossed his head back as his body shuddered with release.
The musky scent of their release filled the air. Jack collapsed, half on and half off Chris. Both of them sucked down air like there’d be an oxygen consumption charge. Jack’s warm breath brushed over Chris’s shoulder. They lay like that until the air-conditioning started raising goose bumps on their overheated bodies. Chris would be perfectly happy to lie like this and never move again.
“Are you getting cold? Does anything hurt?” Jack pressed kisses to the patches of bruised skin.
Chris turned his head to look at Jack and smiled. “Nothing hurts at the moment. And mmm, a little cold, but if getting a blanket means moving, then forget it. You?” He ran his hand down Jack’s arm, kissed his injured shoulder.
Jack shook his head, scooted closer, and placed a soft kiss, just barely a brush of lips, on his mouth.
“You know, we really should try this one day when both of us are healthy. I need to shower. My scrapes are starting to sting. Care to join me?”
He looked up at Jack, who watched Chris with inscrutable silver-gray eyes.
“What?”
Jack said nothing and gently pulled out of, and away, from Chris.
Chris sat up stretched and groaned. “The adrenaline has definitely worn off. I’m starting to feel every bump and bruise on me, but I’m not complaining.” He laid a hand on Jack’s chest.
Jack grunted.
“What is going on in that head of yours? You’re starting to worry me a little bit here, buddy. Did we break your brain?”
Jack sat up and stroked Chris’s hair. “You came so close to getting killed today.”
“But I didn’t. I thought we agreed to set that aside for tonight. Let’s not rehash it. That changes nothing; it just puts a damper on my excellent mood. Come on.” He rose and pulled Jack from the bed and into the bathroom with its enormous gleaming shower stall.
Chris stepped in, turned on the jets, and moaned as the force of instant hot water massaged his aching body. He’d started to think this would be a shower for one when Jack’s strong, sleek body wrapped around him from behind.
“I didn’t hear the explosion in the mail room down in the basement. The detonation wasn’t that big, thank god, but people were screaming and running away from the club into the lobby or out onto the street. I had to fight my way through the hotel, and I wanted to just yell move so I could get to you and Angie faster. Then I got there and I saw you both. You were sprawled on the staircase, Angie lay in the doorway. You were both so still. In that moment my nightmares came true.”
“God, Jack.” Chris reached back, cupped the back of Jack’s neck, and squeezed.
“I never want to be that terrified again. It’s paralyzing.”
Chris worked to loosen Jack’s grip so he could turn and face Jack. Hold Jack. He stared into Jack’s eyes, then hugged him, infusing every ounce of comfort he could into the embrace.
“No more bombs. No more gunfire. No more.” Jack shuddered. “I need you to stay safe and protected even if means staying confined to the hotel.”
“Now you’re talking crazy.”
“Your mom needs you safe and well too.”
Chris leaned back and frowned at him. “Low blow, Jackson. Low blow. I also need to work because I’m not going to mooch off of you more than I have already.”
“You’re not mooching, I’m offering.” Jack pressed a finger to Chris’s lips.
“Stop. I accept that we are where we need to be for now, but things won’t be like this forever, and I need to be ready for real life to start again.”
Jack scowled at him.
“Don’t argue with me, Jack. I’m feeling pretty good right now, and I want to enjoy this shower and you while I can.” Chris pulled Jack’s head down and sealed their mouths together before Jack could say more.
They lost themselves in the soft, sensual kiss. Chances were, when things went back to normal, this relationship would end. Too many factors were stacked against them. So Chris poured everything he couldn’t say quite yet into that kiss and hoped Jack understood.
THE dream ravaged his sleep. The pain of the gunshot wound. The sting of the salt in the wound and in his eyes. The netting that tangled and held him just beneath the water’s surface. His lungs screaming in agony. Then hands reaching down, whether to help or hurt, Chris didn’t know.
But this time something changed. The dream expanded. The scene changed. Jack stood before him talking, pleading with the person who had an arm clamped around Chris’s throat.
The rest flew by in a blur.
A fight. A gunshot.
The weightless sensation of falling.
JACK awoke to the sound of Chris’s moans and struggles.
“Chris. Wake up, baby. You’re dreaming.” He rocked Chris, trying to ease him out of the dream but not jar him awake. Chris thrashed again, then went limp. Jack’s mouth went dry. “Chris. Chri
s. Come on, talk to me.” He gripped Chris by the shoulders gave him a hard shake.
“Jack?” Chris murmured, his brow furrowing.
“I’m right here. Everything is fine.”
“The dream… it was different.”
“Don’t worry about that now. Just sleep. We can talk about it in the morning.” The sound of his voice appeared to soothe Chris. His tensed muscles relaxed, his creased forehead smoothed, and he snuggled deeper into Jack’s arms.
Jack couldn’t sleep, his heart and mind both racing. Instead, he pulled Chris closer and kept watch over him, determined to keep the dreams at bay.
“WHEN are you planning to head back to the hospital?” Chris asked the next morning as he exited the bathroom to find Jack tying a tie. He gave him a deliberate once-over and smiled as that slow burn simmered to life. It happened every time he got near Jack. Good morning, suit porn.
“I’d like to head over first thing. I want to be there when Angie wakes up. You sure you’re feeling up to going with me? You had a rough day and a—” He cleared his throat. “—busy night.” Jack crossed to Chris to inspect his bruises and cuts.
“I’m fine.” Chris lifted and turned his chin away when Jack gripped it to get a better look at a mark on his jaw.
“And the dream.”
“I’m used to the dreams. They aren’t fun, but today a nightmare is the least of my concerns. Angie should be our focus, and we need to get there soon. I don’t want her to wake up and find herself alone and in the hospital.”
“What did you mean when you said the dream was different last night?”
Chris sat on the edge of the bed and scrubbed the back of his neck. “It…. There was more to it. Someone held me at gunpoint, and you were there. A fight ensued, and I got knocked into the water.”
Jack knelt in front of Chris and laid his hands on his knees. “Who was holding you? Where were we?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t identify the location and I never saw my captor.”
“You know your damn dreams aren’t very helpful.” Jack pushed to his feet and shoved a hand into his hair.