Before he realized what was happening, he felt himself being moved. A low gasp escaped him as he felt David pull out of him, and his body lifted upward. Then, he was on his back, his hips being nudged up to lay upon David’s thighs.
Christian looked up, panting and needy, but not blind to what knelt in front of him. David’s toned chest was covered in a layer of sweat, hair glistening in the light leaking in from the bedroom door. His eyes were locked onto Christian’s face, pale eyes almost completely darkened by his swollen pupils, filled with lust. The man’s chest rose and fell rapidly as he reached down, realigning himself before pushing into Christian once again.
Wrapping his legs around David as quickly as he possibly could, Christian arched his back, lifting his body off the bed and pushing down into the thrusts. His own cock throbbed and ached with a need for release, but he found himself begging for David’s cock. Heat and pleasure washed through him in alternating waves as David began to thrust in earnest again.
Christian didn’t have long to enjoy the ride before David’s hand wrapped around Christian’s cock, jerking it slowly. A strangled noise tore from Christian’s throat as his strength gave out, falling to impale himself on the next inward thrust. It took only a few strokes of his painfully hard cock before Christian gave another cry, his fingers digging into David’s thighs as he came.
Even as the pleasure crashed through him, Christian felt David throb deep inside him. The older man bowed over, pressing his face into Christian’s chest as his own body jerked. Christian felt himself spatter them both as his cock twitched between them, his body singing with thought erasing pleasure.
Christian slumped, helpless to continue holding himself up as his orgasm finally left him. Above him, David pulled out of him carefully, his arms shaking as he slowly pushed himself back and eased Christian’s legs onto the mattress. Christian watched him, unable to find the strength to move as the older man paced around the bed toward a darkened doorway nearby. There came the sound of rustling and then running water before David returned.
David smiled crookedly, sitting on the bed beside him and bringing a damp cloth up to begin wiping Christian’s body clean. They said nothing as the warm rag was gently wiped up and down Christian’s torso, his hips, and around his groin. Christian reached out, slowly stroking David’s thighs as he allowed himself to be cleaned up.
Still saying nothing, David stood up, taking the cloth with him and moving back into the bathroom. When he returned, he carefully pulled the covers back to place them over Christian.
“Not coming?” Christian asked, worry ruining his cozy lethargy.
David chuckled. “I do still need to lock up and turn the lights off. Stay here and get comfortable.”
“Is that an order?” Christian asked with a weak chuckle.
David bent forward, smirking. “I see your sense of humor has returned.”
“It left?”
“When you wanted me to fuck you into the mattress, it did.”
Christian grunted, his mind enjoying the sound, but his body was far too tired and tender for anything more. Instead, he leaned forward, kissing the other man.
“And if you’re good, you can do it again before we go in tomorrow morning.”
David returned the kiss, lingering for a moment longer. “Promises, promises.”
“Why do I get the feeling work just got a lot more interesting?” Christian asked.
David’s smile flickered. “We’ll see. I’ll be right back.”
It wasn’t the most comforting of responses, but Christian didn’t have the energy to fight. He’d known that the two of them had crossed a serious line by sleeping with one another just once. To go even further than that would invite even more potential for disaster, and that on the heels of David having already been threatened with the same danger from someone else.
But, Christian knew a good piece of advice when he heard one, and he allowed himself to curl up against the pillow as David walked out to tend to the rest of the house. It allowed him the perfect view of David’s naked body as the general padded through the house, turning off lights, and from the sounds of it, cleaning up a little.
Christian closed his eyes, thinking he might just get used to this.
Christian had spent the better part of his day humming to himself almost constantly as he worked. As far as Thursdays went, it was one of his better ones, and he was enjoying himself thoroughly. Sure, maybe he hadn’t got quite as much sleep as he was used to, and his ass was more tender than it normally was, but Christian wasn’t going to complain about either of those things.
It sure didn’t hurt that he had a night’s worth of great memories to run through his head as he slogged through reports, fielded calls, and dealt with irritated soldiers all day. Even better was that he got to see a reminder of his good memories walking in and out of his office while the general dealt with his own daily tasks.
Reyes glanced at him, frowning for what felt like the twentieth time in an hour. “You good?”
Christian looked up from his screen. “Yeah, why, should I not be?”
“You’ve been singing to yourself all day. Not sure if I should be worried if you’re coming to the job on drugs or drunk.”
Christian laughed. “You know, you might be happy to be grumpy all day long, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us have to be.”
“I’m not grumpy,” Reyes protested.
Christian thought about it. “Hmm, you know, you haven’t actually been as grumpy the past couple of days. Something good happen?”
“I’m not sure I like the idea of my being less grumpy suddenly.”
Christian grinned. “Oh? So, something did happen. Are you just enjoying the sunny warmth of my company, or is it something else?”
“You can go back to singing to yourself now.”
Christian held up a finger. “Oh, I know! You found yourself a date for the Gala!”
Oscar scowled. “What?”
Christian rolled his eyes. “The big gala that’s held like...every year. Pretty much every soldier shows up if they can, all dressed up with their dates. Big names from the town are invited to. It’s a nice touch, brings people in so they can see the better side of the base rather than just a few rowdy, drunken soldiers every now and then.”
“Fancy parties aren’t really my thing.”
“Hmph, shame. I think you’d look quite good in your dress blues.”
For a moment, he thought Reyes was going to say something in return, but instead, the man just turned back to his own work. Oscar Reyes was a strange man, and his moods didn’t always make a great deal of sense to Christian. Yet, there was something different about him and had been for a couple of days. Christian wasn’t sure what the other man was going through, but whatever it was, it had obviously been taking its toll on him. Christian only hoped, for Reyes’ sake, that his recent upturn in mood meant something good had finally happened for him.
The office door opened, and General Winter popped his head out to look around the room. Nothing had really been different between the two of them throughout the day, which Christian considered to be a blessing. He still wasn’t sure what the hell they were. Whether the night before had been significant beyond a one-night thing, but he knew it was important that nothing on the surface changed.
That didn’t mean his heart didn’t skip a beat or two when he saw the older man’s handsome features.
“Need something?” Christian asked.
“Checking to see if we had any impromptu visitors to worry about at the moment,” General Winter said with another glance around.
Christian shook his head. “No, sir. I closed the office about an hour ago so we wouldn’t have to worry about it.”
“And why, might I ask, did you do that?”
Christian laughed. “No offense, General, but you have a few things on your plate at this moment. If it’s an emergency, they can call ahead like any reasonable person.”
General Winter sighed. “T
hat’s fair. Speaking of which, since we apparently have no one to worry about at the moment, would you come in here?”
Christian nodded, looking at Reyes. “You okay to handle the phones?”
“I think I can manage.”
Christian chuckled as he stood. “Glad to hear.”
Grabbing his tablet, Christian followed after the general into his office. As much as they both trusted his memory when it came to anything they discussed, Christian didn’t like to take chances. He always brought his tablet with him to make sure he could take notes just in case there was anything he might forget later.
Christian closed the door behind them. “Any word on our wayward team?”
General Winter sighed as he sat behind the desk, motioning toward the pair of seats across from him. “Maelstrom hasn’t arrived at the rendezvous point as quickly as I might have hoped. The Canadian wilderness isn’t exactly known for being kind, but I had hoped they would have a little more luck than this.”
Christian frowned. “You don’t think anything’s happened to them, do you?”
“I hope not, but I won’t be quick to dismiss the possibility. If they haven’t arrived by the designated date, then we’ll send in a rescue team to retrieve them. I won’t lose faith in them, though. Team Maelstrom is good, very good, and their intel officer, for all his recent infamy, is good too.”
“Well, I hope it gets them to work with one another.”
General Winter snorted, leaning back in his seat. “Well, then maybe it might not be too bad if something has happened. There’s nothing quite like a block in the road to make or break a team.”
“Which I suppose is better than staying stuck in this feuding limbo forever,” Christian noted.
General Winter inclined his head. “Indeed.”
Christian continued to watch the other man, waiting for him to get to the next point and a little distracted. Christian had never noticed before, but there was something alluring about watching the general as he worked. The man had always cut a handsome figure, but sitting in his chair, back straight, looking thoughtful but confident only served to enhance his good looks.
Christian was beginning to realize he might have a kink for men with authority.
David raised a brow. “Something wrong?”
Christian shook his head, looking down at his tablet. “No, sir, I’m okay.”
There was a pause, followed by the general clearing his throat. “Okay, well, the door is closed, and there are no recording devices in here, so why don’t you share what’s on your mind?”
Christian chuckled nervously. “I was just distracted for a moment is all...by you.”
“By me.”
Christian winced. “I apologize. I guess being alone with you has me letting my guard down for a moment. I also blame you for being so damned good looking.”
The corner of David’s mouth twitched. “Is that so? Then maybe we should talk about how distracting it is to walk out of my office and find you bent over.”
Christian blinked. “What? Hey! I knocked my mouse off the desk and was getting it back.”
“That changes nothing from my point of view.”
Christian ducked his head again if only to hide the faint color that came to his cheeks. While it was a little odd to be so freely and openly flirting with the other man, it was something of a relief. It meant they weren’t pretending there wasn’t tension born of their sexual chemistry from the night before.
But it still didn’t answer his other question.
Christian squirmed in his seat. “I don’t...want to presume anything, sir, but...I do have a question.”
“From the sounds of it, you’re about to ask something that doesn’t require a ‘sir’ placed in front of it,” David said.
“Oh...right. Look, last night was great, I mean, hell it was amazing. You’re a good looking man, an amazing lover, and as a man, you’re someone I respect deeply and care about.”
David blinked slowly, a ghost of a smile on his face. “I would return the favor, but you’ve beaten me to every compliment.”
Christian grinned. “Gotta be faster.”
He could tell the other man was waiting, however, and Christian barreled on.
“The point is, I could...see myself enjoying something a little more...long term.”
“I see,” David said slowly.
“And I know...what you said last night, about not wanting something long term with someone young,” Christian continued.
David held up a hand. “Before you continue, I can see where this is heading, but I have to stop you there. If I were to choose not to enter into anything long term with you, it wouldn’t be due to a lack of maturity on your part. I’d like to say I’ve known you long enough to state with great confidence that you possess a deep well of maturity, intelligence, and a good heart that would make you a very attractive long term partner.”
Christian smiled at the compliment, but he didn’t miss the catch. “I’m sensing a ‘but’ somewhere in there.”
David’s smile turned pained. “But, our situation is not quite that simple, now is it?”
No, it wasn’t. David might be able to avoid a scandal if he were dating a younger man in a perfectly reasonable, sellable relationship. But there was no getting around the fact that a relationship between a superior and subordinate, especially when it involved a general, was blatant fraternization. The night before had been more than enough to get them both into a heap of trouble, to enter into something even more than that would just increase the risk.
“I understand, sir,” Christian said softly, heart sinking.
“I’m not saying ‘no.’ I’m saying that this situation requires at least...some thought. You’re an amazing person Christian, and I would hate to see your life ruined, as well as my own, because we didn’t think things through. Last night was wonderful, but if we’re going to risk so much, we need to be sure it’s worth that risk,” David told him with a grimace stretching his features.
“Well, for what it’s worth, for me, it’s worth it,” Christian said.
David opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “I’ll be honest, I’m not quite sure yet.”
Christian nodded, bringing his attention back to his tablet. “Like you said, not ‘no’ but…”
“Not what you wanted to hear,” David admitted, voice soft.
It wasn’t, not in the slightest, but Christian wasn’t going to lose his mind over it either. It tugged at his heart, weighing it down for the first time all day. Still, he could take some comfort in not being outright denied, either.
Christian cleared his throat. “So, I imagine you want to discuss the finer details of the Gala on Saturday.”
David’s pale eyes searched his face for a moment before nodding. As Christian watched, the strained, almost pained expression on the general’s face faded away and was replaced by professional focus.
“Those from Command who accepted my invitation will be arriving tomorrow at approximately 1300. We’ll need to make sure their temporary housing is up to par, we also need to make sure the catering company has confirmed the appointment,” General Winter began, looking over at his own screen.
Christian nodded. “I’ve spoken with the company, but I’ll speak to them tomorrow evening to make sure everything is on track.”
“Good, I don’t want an incident like last year’s.”
“Not on my watch, sir.”
“Good, now there’s a few other things that were brought to my attention. Let me pull them up.”
Christian nodded, waiting for the other man as he began to search for what he needed. It was easier to focus on the task at hand, now they had settled the elephant in the room. The weight of the elephant had shifted to his heart, but at least he could focus.
So, that was something, at least.
David
He could say with 100% certainty that the annual Gala was not his favorite part of the year. It signaled the arrival and the culm
ination of the one aspect of his job he did not enjoy, politicking. David supposed it wasn’t strictly politicking, it was more showing off and saying all the right things. More presentation and pomp than wheeling and dealing, but he more or less considered it to be the same thing when it boiled down to it.
He looked over the hall full of decorations, soldiers, and guests, all beginning to fill the tables and make their way toward the bar. The din in the room was beginning to pick up, slowly drowning out the soft music playing the background. That was about what he expected, and once all the formalities and speeches were over, he knew it was only going to get louder. After, would come the dinner, and then everyone would start drinking in earnest, assured that all would be well once they had a full stomach to soak it all up.
General Nito glanced at David from his position a few feet away. Nito was one of the generals David had been slowly trying to convince to shift Philip away from his current position. It was an odd situation, as Nito was on good terms with both Philip and David, and to lean one way or the other would be a show of preference. Much like himself, Nito generally preferred to stay out of the political games of their fellows if he could help it, which made the situation even more delicate.
“A little worried, David?” Nito asked with a crooked smile.
David shook his head. “Nothing to be concerned about. Everything is completely under control.”
Nito chuckled. “I remember last year…”
“And the year before, and the year before that,” David added with a grimace.
The year before had been marked by the DJ chosen for the night mysteriously disappearing halfway through the Gala. It had taken the better part of an hour to finally hunt the man down. David was not a man known for his temper, but he had lashed out when he found out the DJ had been discovered in an unused room, apparently having a private party with a couple of female privates, equipped with their own booze and cocaine supply. David had never enjoyed having to personally punish privates, and making sure someone was fired as he’d had to do that night.
At My General’s Command Page 12