Back Piece

by L. A. Witt

  And intimidated. What if we decide to fuck? Can I take that?

  And excited. Oh, please let me try.

  Not tonight, though. Tonight, he’d figure out if his mouth could handle it.

  He teased the soft skin of Colin’s balls, ran his tongue along the hard shaft of his cock, licked all over the thick head. This wasn’t as complicated as he’d envisioned. He couldn’t quite comprehend why he’d thought it would be so complicated, but . . . whatever. It was simple, and it was hot, and he loved the feel of Colin’s dick between his lips.

  He tried to deep-throat, but hit his gag reflex harder than he’d expected.

  “Easy.” Colin stroked his hair. “You don’t have to take it all.”

  Cheeks burning, Daniel tried again, cautiously this time. There was no way in hell he was taking all of this into his throat. How did people do that?

  “Just focus on the head,” Colin slurred. “That’s . . . that’s the good part.”

  Daniel did as he was told, letting the top inch slide in and out of his lips, and Colin moaned.

  “Oh yeah.” He rested his hand—lightly, thank God—on the back of Daniel’s head. “Don’t know what the fuck you were worried about.” He arched his back and ran his fingers through Daniel’s hair. “Your mouth is . . . oh my sweet Jesus . . .”

  More confident now, Daniel explored. He tried swirling his tongue. Fluttering it. Teasing the flared crown. He shifted his weight onto one arm and, like Colin had done for him, stroked the shaft with his free hand. Though he hadn’t gotten very far with deep-throating, his attempt had a noticeable lubricating effect, and his hand slid easily up and down.

  “If you don’t . . . don’t want . . .” Colin shuddered, his cock getting even harder between Daniel’s lips, and he quickly slurred, “G-gonna come.” Daniel hadn’t thought this far ahead. Let him come in his mouth? Okay? Not okay?

  Oh, very okay now. Very hot. Uneasy curiosity had given way to full-on hunger—he needed to know what it was like to hear and feel and taste Colin when he came.

  So he didn’t stop. And Colin’s moans intensified, and his whole body writhed and shook, and his cock seemed to get even thicker, and then his breath caught. His muscles jerked. Daniel had the space of a heartbeat for Oh shit am I really doing this? and then hot, salty liquid hit his tongue, and without stopping to think about it either way, he swallowed it. Colin kept coming. Daniel kept stroking him.

  Then Colin sighed and sank back to the mattress. “S-stop. Stop, it’s good.”

  Daniel pushed himself up on his arms. He licked his lips, which were tingling from the friction, and gazed down at the flushed, sweaty, breathless man with that blissed-out expression.

  Oh my God. I didn’t do it wrong. I made him come.

  Colin blinked a few times. His eyes were unfocused for a moment before he shifted his gaze to Daniel, and he gave the most adorable, lopsided grin. Reaching for Daniel, he murmured, “C’mere, you.”

  Daniel let himself be pulled down, and decided then and there that he could never get tired of the warmth of another man’s arms around him.

  Colin kissed him. “That offer still stands, by the way,” he whispered against Daniel’s lips. “Anytime you want to practice, you just let me know.”

  “I think I might take you up on that.”

  Chapter 11

  For ages, the two of them lay in comfortable silence. Daniel rested his head on Colin’s shoulder, and Colin absently stroked his hair. A time or two, Daniel might’ve even dozed off, but Colin didn’t mind. He was too busy savoring this.

  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this blissed out. Daniel may not have had a lot of experience, but he made up for it with enthusiasm. Like few people Colin had been with in recent memory, Daniel hung on every response. His eagerness to please was so endearing and innocent. No machismo, no ego—just a genuine desire to do anything and everything to turn Colin on.

  Mission accomplished, my friend.

  Colin lifted his head and pressed a soft kiss to Daniel’s forehead.

  Daniel stirred a little and looked up at him. Then he stiffened. “Shit, did I fall asleep?”

  “Maybe. I couldn’t tell for sure.”

  “Damn.” Daniel rolled onto his back and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Sorry.”

  “Sorry? Why?” Colin grinned. “Everyone’s tired after sex.”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t think I’d fall asleep.”

  Colin moved in closer and rested his hand in the middle of Daniel’s chest. “Just means I wore you out, which I will take as a compliment.”

  Daniel laughed. He put a hand on Colin’s shoulder. Then the middle of his back. Then his shoulder again. He probably wasn’t sure what to do with his hands yet, especially when they were taking it easy like this. Colin was okay with that—as long as Daniel was touching him, he was happy.

  Eventually, Daniel’s hand found a comfortable place—the middle of Colin’s back—and they lay there quietly for a while longer. Colin was sure he was about to fall asleep this time, so he propped himself up and met Daniel’s gaze. “So, uh, now that we’re here, can I ask . . .”

  “How I’m twenty-six and still a virgin?”

  Colin nodded.

  “Well, it wasn’t because I wanted to be, that’s for sure.” Daniel absently ran his fingers up and down Colin’s back. “But back home, I couldn’t take the chance of anyone finding out I was gay. Not even if I knew they were gay, too. I was scared to death of some vindictive ex-boyfriend outing me to my family or something.”

  “I believe it,” Colin said. “After what you told me about your family, I don’t think there’s such a thing as being too careful, even if it means staying in the closet for ages.”

  “No kidding.” Daniel whistled, shaking his head. “Man, it was hell. Thing is, I grew up in a little town in Idaho. Just outside of Rexburg. And . . . I mean, it was practically a scandal if someone said they weren’t Mormon.”

  “You’re Mormon?”

  “No, but most of my town was.” Daniel shrugged. “There was another church in town that was Baptist, and my family belonged to that. The one that did all the protests and shit.”

  Colin suppressed a shudder just thinking about visiting a place like that, never mind growing up gay in it. “So as long as you were Mormon or Baptist, you were okay?”

  “And straight, yeah. People would look at you weird if you weren’t Mormon, but they wouldn’t cross the street to avoid you or anything.” He paused. “As long as you were something. My friend had some Buddhist neighbors who had to move out of town because they got tired of being harassed. Not like, violent harassment. But you know, constant passive-aggressive bullshit.”

  Colin rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I get that. So are you . . . I mean, do you consider yourself . . .”

  “Still a Baptist?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Not even a little.” Daniel took a deep breath. “I think I mentally bailed around the time I discovered boys. So when I was like twelve. I didn’t know what I believed, but the church I went to . . . shit just didn’t add up.” He laughed bitterly. “My parents would lose their minds if they knew I was gay or a borderline atheist, but they’d absolutely shit if they knew that if I’d been raised in literally any other church, I’d probably still believe.”

  “Seriously?”

  Daniel nodded. “Absolutely. It was all the hateful shit that drove me out. And . . . it’s kind of a long story, but bottom line, when I’m around my family, I keep a lot to myself.”

  “Wow.” Colin breathed, watching his fingers trail up and down Daniel’s flat stomach. “I can’t imagine living like that. Especially as a kid.”

  “You don’t want to. Trust me.” Daniel fell silent for a moment, but before Colin could change the subject, he cleared his throat and went on. “Since coming out wasn’t an option, I just kept my eye on eighteen. All I had to do was turn eighteen, graduate high school, and bail. When I realized my folks wouldn’t pay for m
e to go to school if I didn’t go to a Christian college, I figured I was on my own, so I joined the military.”

  “How did they feel about that?”

  “Oh, they were fine with it. Joining the military is about the only acceptable alternative.” He cringed. “Especially when there’s a chance I might go to the Middle East and shoot some . . .”

  “Muslims?”

  “Yeah. Not the words my family used, but yeah.”

  Colin grimaced. “Oh, how lovely.”

  “Right?”

  “So, being in the military, you’ve been able to come out?”

  “Yes and no. After I graduated boot camp, I was transferred to another school, and I realized one of my classmates was gay. So I came out to him. He was the first person I’d ever told, and . . .” Daniel released a breath, and his whole body seemed to relax. “God, it was so liberating.”

  “I believe it,” Colin said. “I’ve been out since I was fifteen, so I would’ve lost my mind having to stay closeted that long.”

  “I envy you. But it was what it was. You grow up in Rexburg in a religious family, you don’t come out when you’re a kid.” He shrugged. “I figured I could hold out ’til I was in the military, and then just fly under the radar. Then DADT was repealed, and suddenly I didn’t have to.” Staring up at the ceiling, he released a long breath. “For the first time in my life, I could be gay and nobody could punish me for it.”

  “Holy shit.” Colin draped his arm across Daniel’s stomach. “I can’t even imagine.”

  “It was the most amazing feeling.” Daniel put his arm over Colin’s and cupped his elbow. “The only problem was, I’d focused so hard on just getting to eighteen and away from home, I didn’t realize I’d suddenly be surrounded by guys who’d slept their way through middle and high school and were banging their way through their twenties. And the older I’ve gotten, the more embarrassed I’ve been to admit I’ve never been with anyone, but I’ve also been afraid to be with someone because . . . let’s face it. Everyone expects a seventeen-year-old to be inexperienced. Twenty-six? Not so much.”

  Colin grimaced. “Damn. I never thought about that.”

  “Neither did I until I was in it. So I’ve wanted to date or hook up . . .”

  “But you were scared.”

  “Still am.” He hesitated, then met Colin’s gaze. “That’s why it took me so long to get to this. But there is so much more I have zero clue about.”

  Colin pulled him a little closer, pressing his body against Daniel’s. “If it’s any consolation, most of us only have a faint grasp of how to get the whole dating thing right. That’s why so many of us are still single.”

  Daniel chuckled. “Well, that’s encouraging.”

  Colin managed a smile, and pressed a soft kiss to Daniel’s lips.

  As they met each other’s gazes again, Daniel’s cheeks darkened. Sighing, he broke eye contact. “Okay, this is going to sound stupid.”

  “Try me.”

  Daniel turned his attention back to the ceiling. “My coworkers keep trying to hook me up with people because they think I just broke up with a boyfriend back home.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I was . . . I don’t know. At my last command, the guys would get drunk when we went out, and they’d try to set me up with anyone they thought might be gay. So when I transferred to the ship, I told people I had a boyfriend back home. They still tried to get me laid whenever we were in port, but they weren’t quite as pushy about it.”

  “I’m surprised they were trying to get a gay guy laid. That’s . . . a pretty big change from what I’d heard about the military.”

  “Tell me about it. But if we were all going out drinking and chasing tail, they wanted me chasing tail, too.”

  Colin laughed. “Sailors are such gentlemen.”

  “I know, right?” Daniel gave a quiet laugh, but his humor faded. “So, I don’t know. Maybe I needed what you did last time. Just taking the lead and doing it. Because I would’ve just choked.”

  “No,” Colin deadpanned, “I wouldn’t have shoved my dick that far down your throat.”

  That got a genuine laugh out of Daniel. “Idiot.”

  “Hey, I’m just saying.”

  Daniel rolled his eyes, and they both chuckled.

  After a moment, Daniel said, “So, I guess . . . thanks. For breaking the ice. Because I damn sure wouldn’t have.”

  “Well, I’m sorry if I came on a bit strong.” Colin kissed him softly. “Hopefully that was just a small bump.”

  “It was. We figured it out.” Daniel slid his hand into Colin’s hair. “And I am so glad we did.”

  “Mmhmm. Me, too. And for the record,” Colin said, running his fingers through Daniel’s hair, “now that we have broken the ice and gotten this far, there’s no pressure. For anything. When I’m in bed with someone, all I want is for him to feel good.”

  Daniel smiled shyly. “You obviously know what you’re doing.”

  “And you’ll figure it all out as we go.”

  “So I won’t sound like an idiot if I tell you I’m still nervous as fuck about all the things we haven’t done yet?”

  “Not at all. Anything you want to try, just let me know.” Colin smirked. “There’s, uh, probably not much I haven’t tried unless it involves livestock.”

  Daniel burst out laughing. “Well, there goes that fantasy.”

  “Yeah, sorry.” Colin turned serious. “But the other side of that is there’s nothing you have to do. I’ve dated guys who aren’t into anal at all, or just like to top, or just like to bottom.” He half-shrugged. “Personally, as long as we can make out and we can suck each other off sometimes, I’m happy.”

  Daniel squirmed in his arms. “I’m . . . I’m good with that.”

  “Thought you might be.”

  “I do want to try new things, though.” Daniel searched Colin’s eyes. “Is there anything you don’t like?”

  “Not much, but there are a few things.”

  “Such as?”

  Colin hesitated. He didn’t want to put Daniel off of anything before he’d had a chance to try it. “Well, if I had to name one thing I don’t really like, I’d say sixty-nine.”

  “Really?” Daniel’s eyebrows shot up. “Why?”

  “Because when I’m blowing someone, I want to be able to concentrate completely on what I’m doing. And when I’m getting blown, same thing—I want to be able to relax and enjoy it. Sixty-nine means being distracted from getting and giving.”

  “Oh.” Daniel paused. “So, I guess trying sixty-nine is out?” There was a hint of disappointment in his voice.

  “I didn’t say that.” Colin smiled. “If you want to try it, we can absolutely try it.”

  “But you just said you didn’t like it.”

  He shrugged. “It’s not my thing, but it’s not a hard limit. If my partner likes it, I’ll do it.”

  “Really?”

  “Mmhmm. I dated a guy who thought sixty-nine was the best thing ever, so if he wanted to, we would. He didn’t really care for bottoming, but since I liked being on top sometimes, he would.” He slid his hand up Daniel’s chest, and teased his nipple with his thumbnail as he added, “It’s all about give and take.”

  Daniel shivered, his nipple hardening beneath Colin’s touch. “So what is a hard limit for you?”

  Colin shrugged. “Not much, to be honest. Choking comes to mind.”

  Daniel’s eyes widened. “Choking? Is that even a thing people do outside of porn?”

  “It is. And I’ve done it—giving and receiving—but no way am I doing it again.”

  Daniel gulped. “I . . . don’t think that’ll be a problem.”

  “I didn’t think so.” Colin paused. “I mean, if it’s something you want to do, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just not something I’ll do.”

  “I’ll pass, but thanks.”

  “For most things, though, we can talk about it. There’s room to negotiate.”


  Daniel shifted a little, his brow pinched as he held Colin’s gaze. “I don’t want to ask you to do things you don’t want to.”

  Colin smiled. “There’s a big difference between feeling like you have to do something you really don’t want to, and giving a little so your partner is getting what they want. If something hurts, or it makes you feel self-conscious or uncomfortable or whatever, don’t be shy about setting a hard limit. But if it’s just something you can take or leave, and it makes your partner happy, then I don’t think it’s a bad compromise.”

  “So, what you’re saying is, sixty-nine’s not off the table.”

  Colin’s smile turned to a grin. “If you want to try it, it’s absolutely not off the table.” He kissed Daniel lightly. “There is very, very little that’s off the table, so really, don’t hesitate to suggest anything you want to try.”

  “Hmm.” Daniel ran his fingers through Colin’s hair. “So if I said I liked what we did earlier . . .”

  “And suggested you wanted to do it again?” He slid a hand over Daniel’s hardening cock. “That would absolutely be a yes.”

  “Good to know.” Daniel pressed his dick against Colin’s palm. “Because I do want to do it again.”

  “Yeah?” Colin kissed his way down to Daniel’s neck. “Would now be a good time?”

  “Now would be a really good time.”

  Chapter 12

  I totally had sex with him. With Colin. With an actual, real, incredibly gorgeous man.

  All the way back to the base, all night long, and all through his shift the next day, the same thoughts reverberated through Daniel’s skull. He was okay with that, though. Better than the usual chorus of voices trying to make him question or feel guilty about his sexuality.

  After last night, there was no question. He was absolutely gay. And shame? That memory was so distant, it might as well have belonged to someone else.

  He kept catching himself grinning like an idiot, and why the hell not? Sex happened for everyone around him like it was nothing. For them, “working at it” meant spending some time on Tinder or chatting someone up in a bar. For him, it had been years of trying to find the courage, and once he’d sort of found it, not knowing what to do with it until his tattoo artist had suddenly taken the lead.