10. Chapter Ten
Chapter Ten
William
The entire drive to EJ’s little cottage, the butterflies that had taken up residence in my gut swirled with excitement. Sure, we’d taken the edge off, to borrow his words, but the promise of more kept my blood pumping at a low simmer for the entire torturous commute that wasn’t all that long in the grand scheme of things. I tried not to let my nerves and guilty conscience interfere, but the prospect of this uncharted territory and the potential it held added a tumble of all sorts of different emotions to contend with.
I chased the red taillights of his sedan the entire way, laughing to myself over the fact that I’d pulled him over so many damn times for those very lights, not to mention being the one to fix them in the end. It was funny how things worked out like that sometimes. Being a small town cop had its perks. I looked forward to the time when he and I would be working side-by-side in Town Hall and running into one another even more because of it. Serendipity at its finest, folks.
Finally, his cottage appeared, and my excitement burned even brighter. No sooner had we parked the vehicles than we were out and back on one another with vigor. There was no way in hell I was going to keep my hands to myself now that we were more or less on the same page. Sure, nothing was set in stone, but as far as I was concerned, he was mine now. Come hell or high water, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to let him go. Judging by the intensity with which we were making out in the middle of his driveway, I liked to think he was of a similar mind.
“Come on, let’s take this inside.” He nudged my nose with a grin. “I want to hit the bathroom… if you know what I mean.”
Oh, shit. My mind immediately filled in the blanks, and I nudged him toward the door with my body to acknowledge his vague confirmation. We stumbled up the steps and into his house with a flurry of eager groping and stolen kisses before he finally pushed himself away with a laugh.
“I still have those beers in the fridge. Relax, get comfy, I’ll only be a minute.”
“I’ll be waiting,” I replied with a wink, opportunely swatting at his ass as he turned to move deeper into the house.
Filled with anticipation, I didn’t even attempt to sit down on the couch, and it didn’t feel right inviting myself into his bedroom, so I occupied my time poking around the living space. EJ’s home was so him, I could have picked it out of a line-up, and I’d only ever been as far as the kitchen. It was exactly what I would have assumed he’d choose, but the reminders of all the time that had passed gnawed at the still-healing parts of my heart. The walls were adorned with framed pictures of him and his friends on Spring Break or celebrating birthdays, events I would have been a part of if I hadn’t messed it all up so badly. Books from his college courses that we never got to talk about lined the shelves in the living room. Knickknacks and souvenirs amid the stacks spoke of a decade’s worth of experiences I’d spend the rest of my life learning about—if he chose to tell me.
The combination of remorse and mourning and nostalgia tempered my carnal appetite. I got so lost in my head staring at a photo of him and Lionel at a ritzy New Year’s Eve party I didn’t hear the shower turn off, nor did I hear his bare feet cross the living room. His hand against my lower back startled me from my daze with a jump.
“Hey, you okay?” He slipped around to stand beside me, reaching out to grab the frame from the shelf.
“Yeah, sorry. I wasn’t snooping… not intentionally.” I passed a hand over my mouth and jaw with a muffled sigh. “Sorry. I was just thinking.”
“Three years ago.” He waved the picture in explanation. “We had already decided we made better friends than boyfriends.”
“No, it’s not—you don’t have to explain. I was just thinking about all the time that has passed. About everything that I’ve missed.” I let my fingertip trace over a fake ceramic cactus with the Texas flag painted on the pot. “We went from doing everything together all the time to not speaking, and it was all my fault.”
“I still struggle with it too. And we’ll probably always struggle with it to a degree. I’m not completely without fault here, either. I never stopped to think about the timing or your situation. I just ran with the hurt and made it my armor.” He gently pulled me away from the bookcase and positioned us face to face. “I’m sorry. And I know you are too. We’re here now. Maybe it’s fast, maybe it’s a recipe for disaster, but I missed you, Will. I missed my best friend, and now that you’re here, I don’t want to waste any more time.”
I searched his face, ignoring the fresh shower smell and the vision of his naked torso and baggy sweatpants as best as I could to avoid lust taking over again. The honesty and sincerity in his gaze were reassuring and comforting. “More than friends?”
“Definitely. Would it make you feel better if we made this official? It makes no difference to me. If we’re doing this, I’m definitely not looking for anyone else.”
I blinked in surprise. Despite telling myself to play it cool, I felt the smile spread over my cheeks. “Do you want to be my boyfriend, Elijah?”
“Duh. I’ve only been waiting for, like, a decade.” He grinned and pinched my nipple through my shirt.
“Ouch! Low blow, on both counts.” I leaned forward and nipped at his nose. “Be mine, EJ.”
The shift from playful banter to sensual and serious was subtle but noticeable nonetheless as he stepped into my space and brought his fingertips to the buttons of my shirt. “Gladly, Will. You’ll be mine?”
“Completely and utterly.” My hands cupped his jaw as I danced tiny kisses over his features. I paid no attention at all as he finished unbuttoning my shirt and moved toward my trousers.
“Then it’s time to stop overthinking it and get in my bed,” he teased, slipping his hand into my pants to coax a firm palm along my cock. “We have much better things to do with our time.”
I muffled a groan with his mouth, delving into a kiss that quickly became heated as our breath mingled and our tongues began an intricate dance. The minty essence of toothpaste taunted me as I deepened the connection to chase the flavor. EJ was intoxicating. Everything about him spoke to something I once thought long lost, and within moments, an inferno burned at my core.
Matching my intense need, he pushed me backward, blindly navigating the house with a series of bumps and bounces off walls and door frames. I didn't have time to explore the bedroom once we crossed the threshold—EJ’s frantic movements were too distracting as he pushed my shirt from my shoulders and wrestled the waistband of my pants over my hips.
With my skin buzzing and my breath quickening, I tore myself from his lips and pulled my undershirt over my head to send it flying. His sweatpants joined it shortly thereafter and my breath caught in my throat as I got to drink my fill of his naked body. Lean, firm muscle covered his frame. Miles of pale, creamy skin begged my fingers to touch it. A whisper of soft chest hair narrowed into a trail that led to a nest of dense curls around the base of his straining cock. Breathtaking. Elijah was utterly breathtaking. The best part of it all was that he said he was mine. Elijah Thompson, the man I thought I would never again have in my life, was all mine and I planned to take full advantage of that.
“On the bed. On your knees.” My voice came out all gravel and need as I palmed my dick with a shaky hand. “I need to taste you.”
“Oh… oh shit,” he mumbled, scrambling across the mattress on all fours with a breath of a laugh. “Jesus, I thought letting off some steam would help, but I'm so fucking hard for you right now.”
“Mn. Just wait,” I replied with a soft chuckle of my own. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the globes of his ass as he widened his knees and arched his back. “God, I need this.”
I shifted closer, kneeling between his legs as I spread his cheeks with my palms. Like a heat-seeking missile, my mouth landed on the puckered skin of his hole seconds later, earning me a filthy moan and a full-body shudder. Once, twice, three times I swept my tongue over it before pushing in. If I thought his previous groan was filthy, this one was downright criminal for how sexy it was.
I probed his hole with my tongue as if he were the last meal I would ever eat, driving as deep as I could until spit coated us both. The babbling nonsense that fell from his lips was music to my ears, inspiring the reckless, lust-driven need to keep going. When I carefully added a finger alongside my tongue, his hands flew to the headboard to deepen the arch of his back as he rocked into my face, fucking himself amid a flurry of muffled curses and wanton groans.
Breathless and spit-soaked, I sat back on my heels and wiped a shaking hand over my chin. “Roll over.”
“Fuck yes,” he gasped, flopping to his back so fast, the mattress bounced us both. “Nightstand.”
His hands roved over my torso in aimless patterns as I stretched over his body to reach for the drawer. Laughter filled the room as I rummaged through the contents in a futile effort to find the supplies I needed.
“Lemme,” he mumbled, squirming until he could reach into the drawer. “It's been ages. It's probably buried.”
“Sure they aren't expired?” I eased back with a grin. “How long are we talking when we say ages?”
“A risk I'm willing to take, baby.” He rolled back onto the mattress with a devilish grin. He wiggled a strip of condoms at me before shoving them and a nearly empty bottle of lube into my hand. “I'm all clear as of my last test.”
“Same.” I swiped the bottle and gold foil ribbon from his hand with a wink. “I'll be gentle.”
“I would much rather you weren't.” His hands swept over my skin again as soon as they were free.
“Fuck, EJ. I'm trying to make this last.”
“We have all night.” He wiggled his hips, grinning with a look of pure mischief in his gaze. “Pretty please, hurry.”
“So freaking needy,” I mumbled in response as I tore a wrapper open and fished out the condom. “Love it.”
Our eyes met briefly, a flicker of recognition and unspoken understanding flowing between us. Love was a loaded word, a solemn promise, an unintentional choice that I knew deep down I had meant in deeper ways it was too soon to voice. We were on the precipice of a moment I knew would crack my heart wide open. It made me all the more eager to slide into his body and show him with actions what my heart had long known—despite the time that had passed, I loved him. I'd loved him as a friend, I’d loved him as a memory. Now, I would love him as a partner.
My hands shook as I rolled the condom on and trembled even harder as I grabbed the lube bottle. With racing thoughts and a pounding pulse, I coated my fingers and flicked my gaze toward his face again. The barest dip of his chin and a slow spreading smile greeted my eyes. Maybe I was overthinking everything. Maybe it would all come crashing down again. Maybe too long had passed with too many unanswered questions between us, but for one crystal clear moment, everything was right with the world.
I slid my fingers between his legs, shifting lower as he spread himself for me until finally, my digits slid through the tight ring of muscle and into the molten hot depths of him. The sensation was enough to blow my errant thoughts away as the promise of replacing my fingers with my cock became the highest priority. Judging by the long, open-mouthed groan that fell from his lips, we had the same priorities. With a twist and more pressure, my fingers slid deeper still and I knew the moment I found that special spot that brought the greatest pleasure—his head fell back with a curse as his eyes fluttered shut.
“Fuck, Will. Right there… oh God.”
“Keep talking, love.” I shifted my body, flicking the head of his cock with my tongue before dragging it along the underside of his cock. “Love it when you say my name.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” His hands wound through my hair before he gave a firm tug. “Fuck me now. I want to come around your cock.”
Expelling a breathy swear, I added another finger and pumped faster, stretching him so there'd be minimal discomfort. To be frank, I didn't think I would have the restraint I needed to go slow. Not when I needed him as desperately as I did. He whined as I pulled my fingers from within his ass. The whine turned to a whimper as I lubed my dick and shimmied my knees further between his spread legs. The second the head of my cock pressed against his hole, the whimpering turned to begging.
“Yes! Yes, please. Will, I need you inside me—ahh!”
As my cock sank into the tight cincture of his ass, his back rose from the mattress with a groan and I took the opportunity to wrap my arms around him. I couldn't get close enough. The overwhelming pressure and pure delight of being one with him was enough to cause my breath to hitch. It wasn't just physically overwhelming—the emotions that hit were so intense, I feared for a moment I might actually cry.
“You gotta move, baby. It's so good… I need more. Will, please.” EJ’s hands slid down my back and gripped my ass. “Fuck me, Will.”
I eased back and pressed forward, reveling in every delicious inch of him wrapped tight around my throbbing cock. He was everywhere and everything and I groaned in ecstasy at the perfect way we fit together. Our arms tightened in an intimate embrace, his legs wrapped around mine, and the slow and steady pace of my hips synced with our ragged breaths as the puzzle pieces of my heart snapped into place. I'd barely even started fucking him and I knew without a doubt I was forever ruined for any other man in the world. There was only him. It had always been him and only him for me. I hated myself for missing out on such perfection for so long while simultaneously savoring every moment of what I hoped would be the first of many experiences like this.
“My God, your dick is perfect.” EJ rolled his hips higher with a groan. “Harder, babe. Please?”
I surged forward, burying my face in his neck to hide the flurry of emotions likely playing over my expression as my hips responded to his plea of their own accord. We clung to one another, tighter and more needy with each thrust and grunt and shared moan. His panting took on an erratic pattern as trembling washed over his body and I knew without him even uttering the words that he was close to coming.
“EJ… my EJ… give me your cum.” I slipped my hand between our bodies, sweat-slick and undulating together in frantic need, to grab hold of his cock and stroke it with as much vigor as I fucked his ass. “Let me have it. Let me have all of you.”
My words and actions combined and triggered a crescendo of responses. He held tighter. He cried out louder. His body spasmed and a sob fell from his lips. The way his ass seized around my cock had glittering stars sparking in my vision and perhaps the most miraculous reaction of all was the fact that we both came at nearly the same second.
My cock pulsed. His throbbed. I cried out. He matched the senseless sound with one of his own. Our embrace grew almost impossibly tight to the point that our trembling, convulsing bodies moved as one. Even our chests rose and fell in unison, the pervasive, intoxicating aroma of fresh sweat, sex, and him flooding my senses to the point where I was left spellbound and hiccupping on tears from the intensity of everything I was feeling.
“Will?” Soft fingertips threaded through my hair with a feather light touch. “Babe?”
“I missed you,” I choked out, burying my face deeper into the curve of his neck before continuing. “I missed this. I never even had it and I missed it.”
“I know what you mean,” he soothed with a whisper. “I'm here now. We’re here.”
Unable to form any words in response, I nodded and shifted only enough to hold him tighter in the cocoon of my body. Desperation to preserve our closeness kept me in that position until a muscle cramp forced me to loosen my grip and roll to the mattress beside him. Evidently driven by the same need for closeness, he followed my movements until he fit himself perfect against my chest, our legs becoming a tangle with the bedding we’d destroyed in the throes of our lovemaking.
No words were exchanged. There was too much to say, but nothing that needed to be said. I existed in a peaceful state of exchanging soft touches and tiny kisses as our breathing slowed and heart rates returned to normal. The serenity and rightness of it was so powerful, I was riding that liminal cusp between waking and sleeping when a clanging ringer I knew all too well cut through the quiet and sent my heart rate skyrocketing in an instant.
“Shit, sorry. I have to get that. I'm sorry.” I disentangled myself in a rush, pausing long enough to steal a kiss before tumbling from the bed to dig my phone out of my abandoned trousers.
“Doherty.”
“Will… it's Raine.” My colleague’s voice came over the line strained and tense, sending my heart plummeting to the depths of my stomach. “Will. Your dad stole your uncle’s truck. He crashed it in the creek outside of town. I'm on my way to the scene now.”
“Oh God,” I mumbled, a shaky hand lifting to cover my mouth. “W-west side of town or east?”
“West. Where are you?”
“I'll be there in ten.” I hung up the phone and raced to dress as the worst case scenarios became a pile-up in my head.
“Will?”
My eyes snapped toward him, but I couldn't even begin to explain the depths of what I was dealing with. Not after we’d connected so deeply. Without my protective walls, I'd likely break down and I couldn't do that. Not here, not now. “My dad. I've got to go. I'm so sorry.”
“Oh,” he mumbled, his shoulders sagging. “Of course. Is he okay?”
“I… I don't know. I have to go.”
“Please drive safe.”
I couldn't articulate any partings to adequately express how much I didn't want to leave, so I let my lips do the talking in the form of a deep, nearly feral kiss. I'll be back. I'm sorry. I'm not leaving. I think I'm in love with you. I might not have said any of that out loud, but I poured the intention into our kiss and doubled the insistence with my eyes locked on his. And then I walked away from my EJ, praying it wasn't for the last time.