Chapter 27
Jacob
He didn’t want to move.
Liam lay beneath him, still trembling, legs loose and open, chest rising and falling in shallow, uneven bursts. His skin was flushed, his body marked, and he looked gorgeous beyond reason. Jacob was still inside him—anchored in a way that felt like more than just the act.
He shifted onto one elbow and brushed damp hair back from Liam’s forehead. He didn’t speak, just studied him, his thumb tracing the sharp line of a cheekbone. Liam’s skin burned under his touch, still humming with everything that had just passed between them.
“Are you okay?”
Liam’s lashes lifted slowly. “Yeah. I think so.”
Jacob nodded once, then gently eased out of him. Liam gasped, the sudden emptiness ripping a shudder from him. Jacob closed his eyes briefly, fighting the urge to sink into him again and stay buried deep inside.
He disappeared into the bathroom and came back with a wet towel. He cleaned them both in silence, fabric sliding over flushed skin, careful over tender places. He tossed the towel aside and lay down next to him.
For a while, the room was nothing but the hum of the AC and the gradual slowing of their breaths. Liam stared at the ceiling, hand curled loosely over his stomach.
“Say something,” Jacob said. “I’m not used to you being this quiet.”
Liam glanced over, the corner of his mouth twitching. “You might’ve fucked the words right out of me.”
Jacob huffed out a quiet laugh, shaking his head. “Guess I did.” The edge of a smile tugged at his mouth, the tension in the room easing. “I still want to know what’s going on in that head of yours.”
There was a beat of hesitation before Liam responded. “I didn’t know it could feel like this. I’ve never—”
“You’ve never what?”
Liam’s gaze flickered before he spoke again. “Given myself over like that. All the way. Like I didn’t exist outside of it.”
The quiet stretched between them. Jacob studied him—the flush still on his cheeks, the lingering tension in his body, the raw honesty in his voice. “The way you respond to me…” He shook his head slightly. “You were fucking perfect.”
Liam held his eyes for a long moment before asking, barely above a whisper, “Have you ever been with a man before?”
“No.”
Liam nodded slowly, as if that landed heavier than he’d expected. “Me neither.”
Jacob’s voice stayed low. “I figured. Does it fuck with your head?”
“Yeah. Kind of.” A wry edge touched his voice. “So we’re both in uncharted territory.”
Jacob’s mouth twitched. “It seems so.”
“That’s fucked up, right?”
“Probably.”
Liam’s next words came out softer. “It doesn’t feel wrong to me.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
Liam glanced over, a bit more guarded. “You seemed like you knew what you were doing.”
Jacob huffed, not quite a laugh. “You’re easy to read,” he said. “And I’ve been around long enough to learn a few things. Women have anal sex too, you know,” he said with a wink.
Liam didn’t look away. “So now what?”
Jacob held his gaze. “I don’t know, but I’m not done with you yet.”
The words hung between them, heavier than he meant them to be.
Before Caroline, he’d never been one to linger—sex had always been a release, not a place to rest. Even with her, closeness after had never come easy. Yet instead of rolling away, he turned toward Liam, slid a hand to his waist, and drew him close.
Liam came willingly, body molding to his. The fit was too natural, the heat between them curling into something Jacob refused to name. “You’re still shaking,” he murmured against his neck.
A soft breath left Liam. “Yeah. Maybe adrenaline. Or nerves. Or maybe you just wrecked me so hard my body hasn’t figured out what to do yet.”
Jacob’s hand tightened fractionally at his waist. “You’re safe with me.”
Liam didn’t argue. His hand skimmed absently across Jacob’s chest, pausing over his heartbeat. “Are you always this gentle after?”
Jacob went still. The answer sat too close to the surface for comfort. “I don’t usually want this part. Don’t know why I do now,” he grunted.
His thumb traced slow arcs along Liam’s side without thinking. The warmth between them was comfortable in a way Jacob rarely experienced, which was the most uncomfortable part of all.
They drifted into easy conversation until the red digits of the clock showed it was past three in the morning. Liam’s breathing finally evened out as his body eased against him, one hand resting over Jacob’s heart. Moments later, sleep claimed him.
Something between them had shifted once again. Jacob didn’t name it; he just let it settle.
* * *
Jacob woke to heat. Liam was wrapped around him: a leg hooked over his thigh, one arm slung across his chest, hips pressing close enough that Jacob could feel every inch of him.
They were both hard. Of course they were.
He didn’t move or pull away. He should have felt guilt. He didn’t. He should have wanted distance. He didn’t want that either.
Liam’s breath brushed his neck as he stirred. “Morning,” he mumbled, voice scratchy with sleep. “Not running away, are you?”
Jacob huffed a quiet laugh. “Wouldn’t make much sense, seeing as it’s my bed.”
Liam smiled against his skin. “Guess I’m safe then.”
The air between them stayed warm; the morning cool against their backs. Liam eventually pushed up on an elbow to look at him. “So what is this?”
Jacob met his eyes without flinching. “It’s an affair.”
The word came easily. He’d already run the math. Already accepted the cost. Dressing it up as anything else would only cheapen what burned between them.
The flicker in Liam’s expression was small but sharp. “You didn’t even hesitate.”
“I’ve already made the choice. This is happening. I’m not going to lie about what it is.”
Liam looked away. “It’s fucked up.”
“I know.”
“I hate lying.”
“Lying’s part of it,” Jacob said. “That’s how this works. But like I told you last night: we lie to them, never to each other.”
“You’re still married,” Liam said quietly. “So am I.”
“I didn’t forget.”
“And I’m still about to be—” Liam stopped, not finishing the sentence.
Jacob sat up. “You’re still mine. At least right now. That’s what matters.”
Liam stared at him for a long moment. “This isn’t going to end with everyone unscathed.”
“Probably not.” His gaze stayed steady. “Will that stop you?”
Liam’s answer was quiet, the guilt clear on his face. “No.”
The phone rang, shattering the stillness. Jacob’s head turned toward it automatically. Caroline. The name lit the screen like a flare.
He saw Liam’s body go taut, a guarded wall sliding into place. He didn’t like it—he wanted to tear it down with his teeth. He didn’t look away from Liam’s eyes as he reached out blindly, pressed decline without a word, and dropped the phone face-down on the nightstand.
The guilt should have come then. Instead all he felt was the need to keep Liam close and tethered. Caroline’s name could flash all it wanted, Jacob wasn’t looking anywhere but at the man right in front of him.
Liam watched him closely as Jacob said, “That call doesn’t change anything.”
“It still matters.”
Jacob nodded. “Yeah, but not right now.” His voice dropped. “Right now, you do.”
Liam’s fingers worried at the corner of the blanket, twisting the fabric over and over instead of answering.
Jacob wasn’t sure what unsettled him more—the urge to comfort Liam or the ease with which it came. Somehow this man reached a part of him he hardly recognized, one he’d thought was long gone.
Jacob shifted against the headboard, rolling one shoulder to work out the stiffness. His hand dragged across his chest absentmindedly. When he glanced over, Liam was staring, eyes dark, lips parted, like the sight had knocked the breath out of him.
Jacob stilled.
He hadn't meant to put on a show, but the second he saw Liam watching, he wanted to push. Then—just to make it worse—he let his hand slide a little lower. He saw the hitch in Liam’s breath and the dazed look written all over his face.
The corner of Jacob’s mouth curved. “Already hard for me again?” His voice dipped lower. “Fuck, you’re easy.”
Liam swallowed but held his gaze.
Jacob leaned in, the roughness back in his tone. “Come here. I’m not done ruining you.”