Chapter Ten #2
Axel nodded and watched Nick’s reflection in the glass pane. He’d removed his shirt and his chest muscles were flexing as his hands went for his pant zipper.
The sight of his physique made Axel’s breath catch. He’d never had a reaction to any man in his past. Just to Nick. He really should not go near the man anymore, especially with Axel wanting to get back with Jenna.
But the pull of Nick was quite strong, and Axel ground his teeth together and clenched his fists.
Stay strong. Stay strong. Don’t give into your need for him.
“Hey, before I go to bed. One question,” Nick whispered.
The softness of Nick’s voice slid through the quiet loft, tightening something low in Axel’s chest. He heard the rustle of Nick dropping his pants. Then the sliding of his underwear moving down his legs.
Damn, he wanted to have sex with the guy. Bad.
“Yeah, what is it?” Axel answered.
Gosh, his voice sounded so throaty. So aroused.
“Is Jenna a better kisser than I am?”
The loft went impossibly still; the only sound was the distant drip of rain rolling off the barn’s sheet metal roof and hitting something metal outside. Axel felt the weight of the moment settle over them like a held breath.
Of all the things Nick could have asked, this was the one that cut straight through every wall. Axel swore softly at the intense feel of his cock jumping.
Memories collided. Jenna’s kiss still burning on his lips, Nick’s steady presence at his back, the years they’d survived together. It was too much. Too tangled, too close.
Slowly, he turned around and faced Nick. His gaze dropped to find Nick fully erect.
Obviously, they were both quite turned on.
He wasn’t just choosing between two people, he suddenly realized. He was choosing between two versions of himself, two lives, two futures he didn’t know how to reconcile.
Axel felt all his resolve of staying away from Nick dissolve.
“I'm going to need a reminder how you kiss.” Axel teased as he stepped toward his friend.
Nick grinned. That grin. It was easy, reckless, and knowing. It hit him in the chest the way it always had, loosening something he’d tried to keep locked down.
“Was hoping you would say that. But before we begin...” Nick bent over and pulled something out from his pants pocket. He held up a couple of small packages; a huge smile plastered on his face.
Two condoms.
“Where did you get those?” Axel asked, not quite believing what he was seeing. Nick wasn’t just prepared. He was choosing this night of freedom, choosing him, with a boldness that made Axel’s heart thud painfully.
“I had a little time while baking the cake and so I took a quick shower. Lo and behold, when I looked for some more painkillers in one of the bathroom drawers, I found a box of condoms shoved in there. Took a couple. They might be small, but that’ll just add to the sweet pain. And this…”
Nick bent over again, giving Axel a nice view of his naked ass as he pulled something else out from another pant pocket. He dangled a plastic bag filled with what looked like a nice chunk of butter.
“Lube,” Nick grinned.
“You little thief,” Axel chuckled.
“Guess you’ll have to punish me,” Nick answered in a soft voice.
“Oh, I will,” he retorted.
The banter slid between them like muscle memory. It was familiar, and comforting.
The decision snapped through him like a spark, and he didn’t give Nick time to react.
He moved against him, claiming Nick’s luscious mouth in a bruising kiss.
He knew Nick liked it rough and wasn’t surprised as he groaned into it, kissing him back all the while his hands flew to Axel’s waist and held tight as Axel walked him backward toward the nicely made bed.
He had no trouble pressing Nick down onto the makeshift bed. The blankets rustled beneath them, the hay crackling as Nick’s back hit the soft surface, Axel’s body covering his, their chests heaving against each other.
Axel’s teeth grazed Nick’s lower lip, his tongue sweeping into his mouth, deep, and possessive.
Nick met him with the same fierce urgency he remembered from the darkest nights in their cell.
The kind born from survival, loyalty, and something deeper neither of them had dared name.
Nick arched into him, his cock straining against Axel’s pants.
His hand roaming over Axel’s back, his nails scraping over his skin.
“Shit, Axel, that was good. But was it as good as Jenna’s kiss?” he gasped, breaking the kiss, his breath coming in sharp pants.
The question hit Axel like a jolt. It was sharp, intimate, threaded with jealousy and vulnerability. Nick wasn’t just teasing. He wanted to know where he stood.
Axel swore softly at him. The two worlds collided inside him. The woman he’d never stopped loving and the man who’d held him together when everything else had fallen apart.
“Gentlemen don’t tell,” he teased. He forced a smirk, but his heart hammered. The truth was far messier than a joke could cover.
To his surprise, Nick grinned, accepting that as an answer.
He was already working at Axel’s zipper, his fingers fumbling to pull it down.
But the angle was too awkward, so Axel moved off Nick and began to undress.
Every layer he shed felt like he was peeling back another piece of the armor he’d built in prison, leaving himself exposed in a way that had nothing to do with nudity and everything to do with this new life.
As he pulled down his underwear, his engorged cock sprang free. It was thick and flushed, the tip already weeping.
“Wow,” came Nick’s reply as he stared at Axel’s shaft. The awe in Nick’s eyes hit Axel harder than any touch. It was a wordless reminder of how deeply they knew each other’s bodies, and how little they’d ever said about what that meant.
Both of them were now both naked and the air between them was thick with the scent of sex.
“You’re not doing too badly yourself,” Axel complimented as his hand wrapped around Nick’s cock, stroking him slow, his thumb swiping over the slit, gathering the pre-cum before bringing it to his lips, his tongue flicking out to taste him.
Nick’s breath hitched, his hips jerking up into Axel’s grip.
“Oh! Man!” Nick cried out.
Axel chuckled darkly at the sensual tone, his hand still moving, his grip tight and sure. He leaned down, his lips brushing against Nick’s ear.
“This is our first night of freedom. Together. So, don’t be afraid to be a bit louder, just make sure it’s not too loud to attract Jenna,” Axel said.
The words tasted strange on his tongue. This freedom still felt too new, too fragile, like a dream he might wake from.
Nick’s answer came as a broken moan. The sound went straight through Axel, stirring something deep and protective inside of him.
His friend’s eyes were closed tightly, his body arching with Axel’s intimate touches. His free hand skimmed along Nick’s chest until he found a nipple. He tweaked it, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger until Nick was gasping. Until he felt Nick’s cock throb in his grip.
He dipped his head close to Nick’s face.
“How about I fuck you so hard that you’ll have trouble walking tomorrow,” Axel muttered against his left ear. Even as he spoke, a flicker of guilt twisted in his chest. Jenna’s kiss still burned on his lips, and the contradiction of him wanting them both made his pulse stumble.
He sucked Nick’s earlobe into his mouth, nibbling gently.
Nick’s breath sputtered. His body tensed against Axel.
“Back in a sec,” Axel said as he scrambled for the condoms and the plastic sandwich bag with butter.
He tore the condom package open with his teeth before rolling it onto his cock.
It was an ultra-tight fit which told him Jenna had a husband with a smaller penis than his, which would account for the smaller gloves and boots.
He smiled inwardly, wondering for a split second how Tim had been in the bed department with Jenna, but he pushed those curious thoughts aside. It was time for his own pleasure and for Nick’s pleasure as well.
His fingers dipped into the sandwich bag.
His hands shook slightly. Not from hesitation, but from the weight of what this night meant.
Their first night without walls. Their first night without fear.
He dug out some of the warm, soft buttery lube and slapped it on his condom-covered cock, slurping it up and down, the sound echoing loudly in the quiet of the loft.
Nick watched him, his eyelids heavy with arousal and when Axel turned back to Nick, his legs fell open to him, his knees bending. The trust in Nick’s eyes nearly undid him. This wasn’t just desire. It was years of shared survival, carved into muscle and memory.
Axel knew Nick was offering himself to him. It was such a vulnerable position and Axel felt proud that Nick trusted him in this way. Nick’s cock was upturned against his stomach, large and swollen, and his breaths were coming in sharp, uneven gasps.
Axel moved back onto the bed and slid his hands onto Nick’s powerful thighs and dug his fingers into muscle as he lined himself up. Then he pressed the head of his cock against Nick’s hole.
He felt as if he would explode if he didn’t take Nick now. His shaft was rock-hard, throbbing like a thick rod of steel and yet he knew he needed to go slow. Slow and careful, until Nick was properly lubed.
Nick’s blue eyes locked on Axel’s face. His lips parted, his breaths coming hard and fast, matching Axel’s breaths.
“You ready?” Axel growled, feeling the need pulsing up along his cock and deep into his belly.
Nick nodded.
His hands fisted in the blankets beneath him.
Axel didn’t hesitate a moment longer.
He pushed into Nick. He went in slow and steady, his cockhead pushing past the tight ring of muscle, the burn of Axel’s enter had Nick gasping.
“Just breathe and relax,” Axel whispered.
He gripped Nick’s hips, holding him still as he sank into him, inch by inch. At first Nick’s body resisted, the hole too tight as it enveloped Axel’s cock. But then the muscles relaxed, yielding to the intrusion.
Then Axel sank deeper, enjoying Nick’s aroused groans as his balls pressed against Nick’s ass.
“Man, you are really big, tonight,” Nick ground out between gritted teeth, his fingers clenching the blankets even tighter.
Axel chuckled as he slowly withdrew. Hissed as Nick’s muscles bear hugged his cock all the way out.
Then Axel sank into him again, this time a little faster a little harder.
He kept a tight reign on his control, breathing into the arousal coursing through his shaft, moving a little quicker with each plunge and soon he was snapping his hips forward, driving into him hard.
“That’s so good!” Nick’s voice echoed alongside the sound of flesh slapping against flesh.
He reached up and grabbed Axel’s arms, his nails digging into his flesh.
Beneath them the ancient, planked floor creaked like an old bed, and the hay rustled with every snap of Axel’s hips.
Axel’s arousal grew as Nick’s muscles clenched and spasmed around his thrusting shaft. His body coiled tighter and tighter, his balls constricting.
He let go of Nick’s hips and reached out and wrapped his hands around Nick’s quivering cock, stroking, and rubbing him in time with his own thrusts, keeping his grip on him tight and secure.
Their bodies found the same rhythm they’d clung to in the darkest of nights in prison. It was a wordless language built from necessity, comfort, and something dangerously close to love.
Then as Axel felt his orgasm crash over him, he pulled harder on Nick’s cock and they both came together.
Their bodies trembling uncontrollably as their releases took over, making them shudder under the force of the pleasure waves.
It wasn’t just release. It was relief, freedom, grief, longing, all crashing through him at once, leaving him shaking with more than pleasure.
When it was over, Axel kept himself buried inside Nick and collapsed on top of him, their harsh breaths colliding with a couple of neighs from the spooked horses who probably wondered what the hell was going on up in the hayloft.
Nick’s arms wrapped around him, and his warmth was like coming home. A place meant to be.
Axel could feel his fingers tracing lazy circles over Axel’s back. Axel pressed a kiss to the side of Nick’s neck, his lips lingering against his sweat stained skin, tasting the salt on his flesh.
“It was damned good for our first real night of freedom, eh?” Nick murmured, his voice rough with amusement.
Axel nodded, his body still trembling with the aftershocks of his orgasm.
“It was perfect,” Axel admitted. He turned his head and found Nick’s mouth and gave him a nice, deep kiss.
He felt Nick’s anal muscles twitch against his shaft. Felt his own cock respond and his breath hitched.
“Maybe you should punish me again, when you come back and wake me up.”
Axel groaned at the idea. His cock began to harden once again inside Nick. The humor in Nick’s voice tugged a smile from him, but beneath it was a truth Axel couldn’t ignore. This wasn’t just sex. Not for either of them.
“You’re going to be the death of me, Nick.”
He meant it more than he wanted to admit, because wanting Nick and wanting Jenna were two paths that couldn’t stay separate forever.
Nick grinned against his lips.
“Maybe it will be worth it,” Axel said with a chuckle.