Chapter 24 #2
“Hmm. I was shifting some stuff around in the barn earlier. Reckon I might have overdone it. I’ll take some painkillers in a bit.”
“It’s not pills you need. Come here.”
“What?” Jake let the curtain fall closed and turned around, a frown etching his brow.
“Manipulation. Finding the pressure points. Therapeutic massage. I used to work at Madam Coco’s House of Sensuous Thai Massage.”
“You… What? You…”
Ru laughed, releasing his own tension. “God, your face. I took some intensive courses at a very respectable and well known school of complementary therapies a few years ago. Much more effective than popping pills.”
Jake hesitated, indecision flickering in his eyes. Ru waited, not pushing, allowing Jake to choose. Jake gave a short, brief nod, the sign he’d made a decision.
“Have you got any oils? Or talc? Makes it easier for the therapist. As in me.” Ru swallowed. God, was this really a good idea?
“I’ve got olive oil in the kitchen, but that’s for cook—”
“That’s perfect. Go and get it then come and sit on the floor, in front of me.”
Jake headed off. Ru rubbed a hand down his face. Whether it was a good idea or not, there was no going back.
Jake handed over the bottle and lowered himself to the rug between Ru’s knees, back straight, shoulders rigid. Ru set his hands lightly on Jake’s shoulders, feeling the tension beneath his palms.
“Erm, you’ll need to take your shirt off.”
Jake pulled it off, exposing the broad expanse of his muscled back.
Ru bit down hard on his lip as he unscrewed the bottle top.
It’s just a massage. You’ve done it hundreds of times before.
It doesn’t have to mean anything. It just muscle relief…
Oh, fuck. This was either the best or the worst idea he’d ever had.
Concentrate.
Ru poured a little oil into his palm, rubbing his hands together to warm it up. He took a deep breath and counted in his head, one, two, three, before he spoke.
“I’m just going to work out some of these knots.”
He began with gentle pressure, thumbs finding the tight muscles at the base of Jake’s neck, working in small circles.
“It’ll help, both you and me, if you try to relax.” This is just therapy, just releasing tired and sore muscles, that’s all it is, it’s nothing else…
Jake was as stiff as a board, and Ru’s fingers weren’t much better, but as Jake began to yield and soften, so did Ru.
Jake sucked in a sharp breath as Ru pressed hard at a particularly tight spot.
“Sorry, I know this can sometimes be uncomfortable.”
Jake grunted as his head flopped forward.
The minutes ticked by in silence. Ru applied more oil, working down Jake’s back, circling up to the shoulders, squeezing and kneading, setting a firm, steady rhythm. Beneath his palms, Jake’s skin was slick and warm.
“Fuck, Ru, that’s—”
“Good?”
Jake nodded, not speaking, his breathing deepening as Ru’s fingers found another knot and worked it loose. The firelight played across Jake’s profile, highlighting the strong line of his jaw, the slight parting of his lips.
Ru’s hands moved up to Jake’s neck, fingers threading into the short hair at his nape.
Jake leaned into the touch, as though on instinct, the small movement of surrender sending a wave of heat through Ru’s body.
He allowed his thumbs to trace the sensitive skin behind Jake’s ears, the touch no longer purely therapeutic, the massage evolving into something more instinctive, more intimate.
Jake went very still beneath his hands. Tension of a different sort rolled through him.
Ru’s hands came to a stop as all around him the room seemed to hold its breath.
Jake turned, kneeling on the floor between Ru’s legs.
“This is a bad idea.” Jake’s gaze dropped to Ru’s mouth, as he leant in close.
Ru reached out, to trace the line of Jake’s jaw with his fingertips. “An appallingly bad idea.” He drifted his thumb across Jake’s lips, feeling the ghost of a smile.
Jake caught his wrist and met his gaze. Desire, longing, and want warring with caution and uncertainty in his dark green eyes.
“I don’t know what happens after.” Jake’s voice was rough, unsteady, his usual firm confidence replaced by doubt and worry. “When the snow melts. When you go back to London.”
Ru’s heart tightened. “Neither do I, but I know what I want to happen now.”
Jake’s grip on his wrist loosened, his thumb moving to trace the skin over Ru’s pulse point. “And what’s that?”
Ru eased in closer and brushed his lips against Jake’s in a kiss so light it was hardly a touch.
Jake’s hand came up to cup the back of Ru’s neck, drawing him close, deepening the kiss with a hunger that sent heat spiralling through Ru’s body.
The kiss grew darker, hotter, wetter. Ru’s hands gripped Jake’s shoulders, anchoring himself as the world narrowed to this point of connection, to shared breath and heat.
They broke apart, their breathing fast and shallow. Jake rested his forehead against Ru’s, his eyes closed, a small furrow digging deep between his brows.
“Stop thinking,” Ru murmured, pulling back to press a kiss to the crease. “Just feel.”
Jake’s eyes opened, meeting his with an intensity that made Ru’s heart catch.
“It’s not that simple.”
“It can be. For tonight, at least.”
For tonight… Two words that scraped and scratched at Ru’s throat. But if tonight was all he could have with this bruised and battered man, he’d take it and hug it close even though his heart would break in two.
Jake climbed up on the sofa, pushing Ru onto his back as Ru drew him in for another kiss, their tongues meeting in a slow, sensual dance that made Ru’s heart race.
They moved together, hips rolling and grinding. Ru’s shirt joined Jake’s on the floor. Jeans and underwear followed. Jake pulled Ru onto his lap, setting him astride him, a dark smile spreading across his face as he held up the bottle of olive oil.
“Apparently it’s good for massage.”
“It is,” Ru said, his voice rough and breathy, “it’s very good.”
Short seconds later, Ru groaned, dropping his head back as Jake’s big, calloused hand, slick with oil, closed around both of their hot, hard cocks.
“It’s still a bad idea,” Jake murmured against Ru’s throat, his breath damp against Ru’s burning skin.
“Appallingly bad.”
Jake’s deep chuckle rippled through Ru, as Jake twisted his wrist and began to slide his tunnelled fist up and down their cocks, setting a steady pace.
Ru’s head flopped forward. He watched, mesmerised, as Jake jacked them off, engorged heads wet with oil and precum, disappearing and reappearing from their foreskins as Jake’s rhythm grew harder and faster. Ru groaned as he pushed upwards, meeting Jake thrust for thrust.
“You’re so fucking beautiful like this, Ru. So fucking beautiful.” Jake’s dark gaze drilled into Ru.
They moved together, desire and need increasing the urgency.
Ru’s hands gripped Jake’s strong, broad shoulders, the hard muscles flexing beneath his touch.
Jake’s mouth found Ru’s collar bone. He sucked and licked, and sucked again, drawing out the thin, tender skin as he drew a gasp from Ru, adding another mark, another claim.
“Floor. Need more room,” Jake ground out.
They slipped onto the thick rug. As Jake reached for him, Ru pushed Jake onto his back earning a grunt of surprise. Straddling him, Ru smiled.
“At ease, soldier. Let me make you feel good.”
“I was already feeling good.”
“Then let me make you feel really good.”
Jake’s eyes widened as he gazed up at Ru. On his back, his chest rising and falling fast, his skin flushed, there was a nakedness about Jake that went deeper than skin. Ru blinked hard, to clear his suddenly foggy vision. Just as the massage had been, this too was therapy yet a whole lot more.
Ru took his time, exploring Jake’s body with his hands and mouth, learning what made his breath catch, what drew those rare, beautiful sounds from his throat.
He worked his way down Jake’s chest and stomach, kissing and licking, feeling Jake’s muscles twitch beneath his touch, all the time rocking, setting a slow and gentle pace, their cocks nudging.
He shifted his position, bringing his face to Jake’s groin, breathing in the heat of the man beneath him.
Jake’s cock glistened. A pearl of juice dripped down his shaft.
Ru closed his eyes and lapped it up, the bitter saltiness exploding on his tongue.
Beneath him, Jake’s muscles quivered as he released a long, hard groan.
“Fuck, Ru. Fucking want this.”
“Want what, soldier?” Ru murmured, once again pressing his face into Jake and breathing in deep, saturating himself in Jake’s warm musk.
“This. You. Us.”
Ru’s heart jumped.
Us.
His breathing hitched hard. Don’t think, don’t examine. Just take the appallingly bad idea they said this was. Stealing a moment, and a breath, he took Jake into his mouth.
Ru’s mouth was a furnace of wet heat, his lips sealed tight around Jake’s cock.
His tongue swirled around the crown, teasing the slit before dipping lower to trace the thick, pulsing vein.
The taste of Jake, salty, musky, and intoxicating, filled Ru’s senses, and he groaned around the shaft, the vibration making Jake’s hips jerk.
Jake’s fingers tangled in Ru’s hair, not guiding, just clinging, his thighs trembling as Ru swallowed him deeper.
Ru’s hand wrapped around Jake’s cock as he matched the rhythm of his mouth, twisting slightly with each pull, increasing then releasing the pressure, then increasing once more.
Jake’s breath caught, his stomach muscles tightening as Ru hollowed his cheeks, sucking hard before letting Jake slip free with a wet pop.
“Fuck… Ru…” Jake’s voice was rough, strained, his hips lifting off the floor then dropping back as if he couldn’t decide whether to chase the pleasure or escape it.
Ru didn’t let up. He cupped Jake’s heavy balls, rolling them gently in his palm, feeling the way they drew up tighter against Jake’s body.
He licked a slow stripe up the underside of Jake’s cock, then took him back into his mouth, swallowing around the head.
Jake’s thighs clenched, his breath coming in short, sharp gasps.
“Too much—” Jake’s fingers tightened in Ru’s hair, but Ru didn’t pull away, didn’t stop. Instead, he sank lower, taking Jake to the back of his throat, his own cock aching at the way Jake’s body arched, the way his abs trembled with the effort of holding back.
Ru pulled off. “Let go,” he said, his voice gravel rough, before sealing his lips around Jake again, his hand working in tight, twisting strokes. Jake’s hips stuttered, his cock swelling, and then he was coming with a broken cry, his release spilling hot and thick over Ru’s tongue.
Ru swallowed every drop, his own body thrumming with the need to follow, but he kept his focus on Jake, on the way his body shuddered, the way his breath came in ragged bursts as he collapsed back against the floor.
Only when Jake’s fingers loosened in his hair, his body growing slack, did Ru finally pull back, licking his lips before climbing Jake’s body and pressing a slow, open-mouthed kiss to Jake’s lips.
They lay in a breathless heap. Ru lost track of for how long before he managed to rouse himself enough to prop himself up on one elbow to study Jake’s face in the firelight. Jake’s eyes were closed, his breathing gradually slowing, his expression more exposed than Ru had seen before.
Jake’s eyes fluttered open, finding Ru’s and holding the gaze. Without speaking, Jake reached for him, drawing him down into a tender and gentle kiss.
When they broke apart, Jake’s hand moved between them, finding Ru’s still hard, engorged cock. “Let me.”
Ru nodded, breath hitching as Jake’s hand tightened around him. It didn’t take long, just a few firm strokes, and Ru was coming, his arm slung across his face, his body shuddering with release.
The fire casting a warm glow over their entwined bodies, the only sound in the room their breathing and the occasional pop from the fire. Ru glanced at his watch. It was nearly midnight.
“It’s almost Christmas Day,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to Jake’s shoulder.
Jake’s arm tightened around him. “The storm’s over. Which means the snow won’t hang around for too much longer.”
Ru’s stomach twisted, but he shifted, leant on his elbow and supported his head in his hand as he stared down at Jake. “And then what happens?” A question he didn’t want to ask, a question he had to.
“The roads will be cleared, and—”
“You know that’s not what I mean. Beyond the storm, beyond Christmas. Beyond the roads being cleared. What happens to you and me?”
Ru’s pulse picked up as he chewed down on his lower lip, tension creeping into his muscles. He’d opened himself up for rejection and he braced for it to hit him square in the chest.
“Is the idea of us really so bad?” Ru asked, his voice barely there, all the post-orgasm fuzziness disappearing.
“No! Of course it damn well isn’t.” The words exploded from Jake, tight with held back emotion. “You make it sound easy, but it wouldn’t be, would it? It’d be almost impossible. My life’s here, Ru. Yours is in London. And I’m not…” Jake trailed off, seeming to search for words.
“Not what?”
“Not an easy person to be with. As you’ve seen.”
“I don’t want easy. I want real. And this—” he waved between them, encompassing not only what had just happened, or when he’d been in Jake’s bed, but the connection they’d built.
A connection he’d never truly, he realised, had with Cooper, or anybody else.
But he had it with Jake. “I—I just think we, you and I, are worth exploring.”
Jake was silent for a long moment, eyes on Ru’s face, his expression unreadable. Finally, he reached up, drawing Ru down not into a kiss, but to press their foreheads together. “Worth exploring, eh? You know that could be an appalling idea?”
“It could even be appallingly bad.”
They both laughed. A little self-conscious, slightly awkward, but enough to fracture the tension that had coiled itself around them.
The clock on the mantle shelf began to chime, marking midnight, and the transition from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day.
“Happy Christmas,” Jake said quietly. “Come on, let’s get to bed. The fire’s died down, so it’ll soon get cold.”
Gathering their discarded clothes, they climbed the stairs. Jake’s hand came to rest lightly at the small of Ru’s back. It felt both protective and possessive, sending a warm glow through him all the way down to his bones.
They’d not made any promises, they’d not made any plans. All they were was an appallingly bad idea but, for now, it was enough.