Chapter 3
Holden
Holden managed to get through the rest of his shift, letting the buzz of his tattoo machine drown out the sound of Merrick’s never-ending chatter.
When he’d gotten back from lunch, Bryce had taken his bag and a spare key from Merrick and left.
But that didn’t mean Holden was able to stop thinking about him.
In fact, quite the opposite. He’d been so distracted by thoughts of Merrick’s younger brother that he barely noticed when Riggs, his boss and the owner of the shop, showed up, boyfriend in tow.
Riggs and Smith said hello to everyone before going upstairs, and Holden and Merrick both glanced at the ceiling as soon as the door closed.
Riggs was a good boss and an even better tattooer.
It was Riggs’s best friend who had approached him first about taking a booth at the shop.
Damon said Riggs was a stubborn son of a bitch who was ready to bring in some staff but wasn’t ready to do the work to get there.
Damon had apparently scoured the city to collect portfolios which he then dropped in front of his best friend until Riggs made the decision for himself on expanding the shop.
Holden and Merrick were the two lucky artists, but there was an empty spot tucked into the back corner of the shop still waiting to be filled.
Because of their location, the shop didn’t get a ton of walk-in clientele, but it wasn’t unheard of.
Smith had been a walk-in, and that had turned into much more than a repeat client.
Stranger things had and would continue to happen.
Like Bryce, he told himself.
He had no business flirting with Merrick’s little brother.
It was one thing to go out and fuck a stranger, another to fuck the sibling of your coworker.
Holden didn’t even particularly like Merrick.
He didn’t dislike the man, but the talking really was over the top sometimes, and Bryce, while also unable to quiet down for more than a minute at a time, resonated a little differently with Holden.
It was possible, Holden thought, that he could maybe quiet Bryce down long enough to kiss him.
If Bryce texted him, which would probably be a bad idea. Because of Merrick.
But did that really matter?
He thought about the pros and cons through the rest of his shift and made the pointed decision to ignore the buzz of an incoming text message when he said goodnight to Merrick.
He didn’t look at his phone until he was home, undressed from the day and fresh out of the shower.
If he had any luck at all, Merrick would be home and Bryce would be busy and Holden’s return text would go unanswered.
He finally read the message from Bryce, groaning and banging his head into the wall as he processed the words.
Bryce
Send me your address.
Bold of you to assume I want to see you.
Bryce responded almost immediately.
Of course you do.
Holden did want to see him. Unfortunately.
What are you asking for?
What are you offering?
Wasn’t that the question of the hour?
Just a fuck, Bryce.
The response—again—came quickly.
What’s your address?
Holden sent it and then turned his phone upside down on the arm of his couch.
It took over an hour for Bryce to get there, a sharp knock on the door announcing the other man’s arrival.
Holden opened the door and drew in a quick breath.
In less than six hours, he’d somehow forgotten how handsome Bryce was, but he was grateful for the separation because without Merrick right beside him, it was easier to see Bryce as his own person.
“I made it,” Bryce said, leaning against the door frame.
“What did you tell your brother?”
Holden stepped out of the way to let Bryce inside, then closed and locked the door behind him. Bryce looked down at the rack of sneakers beside the door and toed off his own shoes, kicking them toward the wall before grinning up at Holden.
“I told him I was going out to get laid.”
“Jesus.”
“What?” Bryce laughed. “It’s the truth.”
“I know, but—”
“He’s never going to think it’s with you.” Bryce reached out and tugged the hem of Holden’s shirt. “Why would it be?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
Bryce made a thoughtful sound in the back of his throat, and Holden headed back for the couch.
He hadn’t put too much forethought into the night, but he did bring a bottle of lube and some condoms out from the bedroom just in case things got hot and heavy in the living room.
Not that it was a bedroom, necessarily. Holden had a studio apartment, but it was a big one with enough separation in the space he could have a separate living and sleeping area.
He had a room divider up to block the bed from the rest of the apartment, but in the heat of the moment, any distance to travel would have probably been too far.
Either way, Bryce ignored his question, sinking down onto the couch like it was his couch in his living room in his apartment. He spread his arms out across the back and smiled at up Holden.
“So,” Bryce said. “What’s up?”
Holden rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled, sitting down on the couch beside Bryce. “You tell me.”
“Maybe we can play a game,” Bryce suggested.
“And what’s that?”
“You tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”
Holden bit his tongue between the sharp edges of his canine teeth, swallowing down the flare of arousal that kindled to life in his belly at the very simple and very straightforward offer.
“Get on your knees,” he said, spreading his legs a little wider than his usual stance.
Bryce made a happy sound in the back of this throat and did exactly what he’d been told, situating himself between Holden’s knees and smiling up at him, hands resting against the top of his thighs. “What now?”
There were two ways he could take this, Holden thought.
He could also be direct or he could take the long way 'round to what they both wanted. He wasn’t sure if one or the other was necessarily better, but he was curious to know how far he could push Bryce before it was too far.
Holden also very much enjoyed the sight of the other man on his knees, cheeks just on the pink side of normal.
“Take your cock out,” he said.
“Mine?” Bryce arched a brow, but reached down and undid the fly of his jeans and pulled his dick out of his pants.
He was half-hard, not terribly long, but thick.
Precum shined against his crown, and he swiped the moisture away with his thumb before turning his attention back to Holden.
“What now? Do you want me to touch myself?”
“No,” Holden answered. “I want you to tell me how far is too far.”
Bryce bit his lips between his teeth, entire body swaying forward. “I’ll try anything twice,” he said. “But probably nothing too out of the ordinary tonight.”
“What’s ordinary for you?”
“Sucking and fucking,” he said with a laugh.
Holden gestured toward Bryce’s slowly thickening cock. “Do you fuck with that thing?”
Bryce reached down and stroked himself, a long, overhanded tug from root to tip that had him throwing his head back with what Holden assumed had to be a deliberately wanton whimper.
“If you ask nicely.”
Holden traced his tongue across the front of his teeth and palmed himself. “What if I don’t?”
Bryce laughed at that, a low chuckle that turned into a rich and deep sound. He gave another tug down the length of his cock that looked good enough it had Holden reaching into his pants and making a fist around his own shaft.
“The answer is definitely still a yes.” Bryce’s stare drifted down Holden’s body and he raised a suggestive eyebrow when he reached Holden’s lap. “How’s the saying go? If you show me yours, I’ll show you mine?”
“I’ve already seen yours.”
“Show me,” Bryce said quickly, almost a demand if it hadn’t sounded so desperate.
Holden was feeling generous, and he obliged Bryce, pulling his already rock-hard cock free from behind the waistband of his black joggers. Bryce’s eyes went wide as he watched Holden stroke himself.
“Do you fuck with that thing?” Bryce asked.
“Well and often,” Holden promised. “Why don’t you come a little closer and put it in your mouth?”
Bryce came without needing to be told twice, ignoring his own cock to balance himself against Holden’s thighs.
He did exactly as he’d been told, taking the head of Holden’s cock into his mouth…
and not doing anything more. Holden laughed, tangling his fingers into Bryce’s dark hair and holding him steady.
“Now suck,” he said.
This was well within the limits of whatever vanilla-flavored role play the two of them had actually stumbled into, and Holden would be damned if Bryce didn’t take instructions like a champ.
The man knew how to suck dick, and he also knew how to follow instructions, because while he had started to suck on Holden’s dick, he hadn’t taken any more than the tip into his mouth.
“Harder,” Holden coaxed, curling the fingers of his other hand around Bryce’s shoulder. He lifted his hips off the couch, thrusting another inch into Bryce’s mouth. “Deeper.”
Bryce made a pleased sound and promptly took Holden’s slightly above-average shaft straight down to the root.
Holden’s eyes rolled back and he held Bryce’s head in his lap, giving a few rough thrusts up, right into the back of Bryce’s throat.
Holden lifted his head back toward the tip and then pushed him back down, showing Bryce the pace he wanted the other man to hold.
Again, Bryce proved to be a quick learner, making a wet and sloppy mess of Holden’s cock in no time.
Holden stretched for the end table and grabbed a condom, tapping the serrated corner of it against Bryce’s cheek until he opened his eyes.
“Do you want me to come in your mouth or inside of you?”
Bryce’s lashes fluttered and he pushed himself off Holden’s cock and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Inside of me,” he answered, taking the condom from Holden and tearing it open with his teeth. He rolled it down Holden’s shaft like he’d done the exact motion a thousand times before, then he fought his way out of his own pants and climbed onto Holden’s lap.
“Too impatient to wait for orders here,” Bryce said.
Holden rucked up Bryce’s shirt until he removed it, then skated his hand up Bryce’s chest and held him loosely around the throat.
Bryce went still with a soft groan, and Holden gave himself an opportunity to take him in for the first time.
Bryce had his hands tattooed and most of his arms. He had a few on his chest and some on the tops of his thighs; he was nowhere near covered but the patchwork style of his art was beyond sexy.
“Slow down or you get nothing,” Holden warned.
Bryce’s entire body trembled. “I’ll try,” he promised. “But you know me.”
Holden, in fact, didn’t know Bryce at all, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t prepared to get intimately acquainted with the man…and hopefully in more ways than one.
In the condom, Holden’s cock throbbed. He was beyond ready to be inside of Bryce.
All common sense had gone out the window as soon as he felt the hot press of Bryce’s tongue against the underside of his dick.
This would just have to be something between them, a secret between men who were barely more than strangers but certainly not friends.
Holden reached for the lube and poured a fair amount onto his fingers.
He had no wish to stain his couch, but he wanted Bryce to be ready for him.
He tapped the outside of Bryce’s thigh and he lifted enough for Holden to reach between them, past Bryce’s cock and his heavy balls.
Wet fingers sought out Bryce’s hole, and he lifted his junk out of the way to make room for Holden’s hand.
He pushed one slick finger in and, soon after, another.
“Open yourself up,” he whispered. “Show me what you’re going to do to my cock once I decide you’ve earned the right to ride it.”