Chapter 33
Knox
“Knoxy!” Paul yells when I enter the fire station. My six-week mandatory hiatus has finally come to an end. Perfect timing, too. With Taylor gone for days at a time, I’ve been going out of my mind since he went back to work a few weeks ago.
I grin at Paul’s enthusiasm over my return and clasp his hand, pulling him in for a hug and a clap on the back.
“Paul. Good to see you.”
“Holy fucking shit, man. Is that a smile I see on your face?” he asks with a laugh.
The entire day I’ve been thinking about the picture Taylor sent me.
He was all sass in a piece of lingerie that was made up of straps.
One across his chest, one over each of his shoulders, and the bottoms looked like a garter belt, complete with clips for the stockings he wore. He was stunning. And he’s all mine.
“Yeah, I guess it is,” I answer Paul, flashing him my smile once again.
“Oooh, looks like Knoxy got laid!” Scottie yells, coming into the room to stand behind Paul.
I roll my eyes. “You guys are starting to sound like Phoenix, Jake, and Hudson.”
“How are those love-sick bastards anyway?” Paul asks as we all move into the gear-room to check that everything’s ready to go.
“Good. They’re all good.”
Then Paul turns to me with a smirk. “Was Scottie right? Did you finally end your drought?”
A laugh bubbles up my throat.
“Yeah, I did.” But it’s so much more than that, I think to myself.
“Glad to hear it, man. You seeing each other, or was it a one-time thing?”
I think about Taylor’s messages, the way he feels in my arms, the way I miss him every second he’s gone. Hell, I think I’m more of a love-sick bastard than any of my friends.
“We’re definitely seeing each other,” I answer.
Paul claps a hand on my shoulder. “That’s really great, Knox. Can’t wait to meet her.”
“Oh, uh…” I stammer. I’m not really sure Paul or Scottie would care. They certainly didn’t when Jake and Phoenix came out. “Him,” I correct. “Taylor’s my boyfriend.”
Scottie’s eyes bug out of his head, and Paul goes stock-still.
Okay, maybe I was wrong about them not caring.
I’m starting to get a little pissed until Paul says, “Not what I was expecting, but, hey, I’m glad you found your person.”
Scottie finally barks out in laughter. “What the fuck is in the water around here?” He shoves Paul playfully in the shoulder. “We’d better bring our own from home, or we might end up naked in one of the bunks together.”
I silently laugh about the irony of me getting ready to choose dick in the dick versus pussy debate. My friends would be so proud.
But before I have the chance, dispatch calls through the intercom, alerting us to a medical call we need to take.
After that, we’re called to a low-grade kitchen fire. It was thrilling because I got to suit up for it, at least, except there was nothing left but smoke by the time we arrived.
It’s now midnight, and I’m just settling back in from getting everything situated after the second call when my phone rings.
My lips split into another wide grin as I plop down into one of the small chairs at the fire station’s kitchen table and slide the button to answer the call.
“Hey, baby.”
“I didn’t expect you to answer!” His excitement over the fact that I did makes my knees weak.
“Just got back from a call. I’ll send the picture I took in my gear in just a second. How was your day?” I ask, eager to hear everything.
“Annoying,” he huffs. “Had to have someone escorted off the last flight by security. Honestly, people are so fucking ridiculous sometimes.”
My hackles rise. I don’t like thinking about Taylor being in dangerous situations, and his flying already destroys my nerves. I don’t like him being away from me at all, and I definitely don’t like the thought of other people ogling what’s mine.
Mine.
I’ve waited a long fucking time for someone to be mine, and no one’s going to take him from me.
“You’re okay, though, right?” I ask, jaw clenched. “Security got to him before he could touch you or yell at you or anything?”
He laughs, but it’s strained. “Yes. I’m okay. And trust me, I could’ve put the guy down way faster than security, but everyone films everything these days, and I don’t want to lose my job over it.”
“I’m ready for you to come home. I slept like shit last night,” I admit, switching gears.
“Three days and then we can lock ourselves away and make up for the time apart.”
“You promise?” My voice comes out low, and my cock twitches at the thought of pulling Taylor inside and locking the door.
“I promise.”
I make it eight hours into a twelve-hour shift, and it feels like forty.
Although I stayed at the station where I usually sleep well, I tossed and turned waiting to be woken by either the fire alarm or my phone alarm.
At five a.m., Taylor texts me to tell me he made it home, and I can’t stay away for one more second.
I wake Paul, tell him to call me if he needs me, grab my shit, and haul ass to my house. Perks of being part of the volunteer squad and not a full-time guy.
Taylor took a red-eye, and I’m sure he’s exhausted. So, as much as I want to burst through the door and tackle him, I tread lightly so I don’t wake him.
I’m naked by the time I’m two feet inside, though, a trail of clothes in my wake, not wanting anything between him and me when I wrap myself around his body.
Stopping in the doorway of our room, I greedily take in Taylor’s sleeping form.
His pouty lips are parted as quiet, even breaths escape from his lips.
His features are relaxed, and he’s kicked the heavy comforter away from himself.
His arms are under the pillow and he’s on his stomach with the sheet covering only the right side of his beautiful body.
Slipping into bed next to him, it quickly becomes apparent that I’m incapable of leaving him alone.
I can’t not touch him. I need to hold him against me more than I’ve ever needed anything in my entire life.
Rolling onto my side, I drape my arm over his back, inhaling the familiar, clean scent of his skin.
Despite the early hour of the flight that brought him home, I knew Taylor wouldn’t get into bed until he’d taken a shower. Proving me right, his hair is still damp.
My lips fly to his back and shoulder, and I swear I’m not trying to wake him up, but having him next to me again is intoxicating. I’m working my way up his shoulder blade, burying my face in his neck when he moans, his voice muffled by the pillow he’s talking into.
“You’re home early.”
“I couldn’t wait a single second longer to see you, but I know you’re tired. Go back to sleep.”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen while your dick is stabbing me in the hip,” he says, making me laugh.
“He missed you.” I reach a hand between us to adjust my cock so it’s pointing upward, toward my stomach. As I do, Taylor rolls onto his side and pushes his ass backward, effectively trapping my dick in the crack of his ass. My hips instinctively punch forward.
If I had enough lube right now, it would be so easy to slip it in.
As if hearing my thoughts, he wiggles his ass against me and whispers, “Do it.” Ever since experiencing it once, we’ve been insatiable. “I prepped in the shower when I got home,” he tells me, lighting my nerve endings on fire.
“Well, I certainly don’t want all that effort to go to waste,” I smile as I reach behind me for a squirt of lube before slathering it on my cock.
I’m lying on my left side, spooning Taylor, and as soon as I press against his opening, he slams his hands against the headboard and pushes himself backwards, his ass swallowing my cock whole.
“Fuck, Taylor!” If he does that again, I’ll come before he even has a chance to get hard.
Taylor makes a much better bottom than I do. More confident and self-aware, he doesn’t require the level of coddling I do when getting fucked.
And even though he’s the one getting railed right now, he’s still calling the shots—which I love.
After two pumps, he rolls onto me, sending me to my back.
He follows along and ends up facing away from me with his knees tucked under him so that his feet are by my armpits, and he sinks back down onto my cock.
Reaching behind him, he spreads his cheeks wide, giving me the perfect view.
I thrust into him, but eventually just end up bouncing based on the rhythm he’s setting. I know he’s close when he lets his ass go and begins using one hand to jerk himself off.
“Spin around,” I plead. “Let me watch.”
In a flash, Taylor honors my request and impales himself back on my cock. I bend my legs for more leverage to drive up into him, and he leans back, placing his free hand on my knee, riding me until we come with each other’s names on our tongues.
Later that afternoon, Phoenix calls to see—and I quote—if you’ll get your dicks out of each other long enough to see the light of day and come play paintball.
Taylor is incredibly excited about the idea, while I have about a million things I need to get done on a jobsite today. But when I call Javi to check in, he assures me it’s under control.
With Taylor staying in my life, I promoted Javi to foreman and hired three new guys. Taylor’s excitement for life makes me excited about things I’d forgotten I once loved, and growing my business was one of them.
Shannon isn’t interested in the paintball game, though, so Phoe asked if Taylor has any friends he can invite to even the teams out. When I hang up with Javi, Taylor is hanging up with Livvy.
“She’s in,” he says, grinning.
Dressed in old clothes and several layers, we arrive at the facility an hour later. My plan is to find a bunker on an inactive map and blow my boyfriend until his legs are shaking and his cum is dripping down the back of my throat, but my asshole friends have other plans.
“No couples on the same team,” Jake announces.
Phoenix’s face immediately twists up in disgust. Glad I’m not the only one who thinks that rule is dumb. “What? Why?” he whines.
“Because otherwise this game is over before it starts. We’d all pick a different corner to have sex in, and I came here to play.”
Phoenix eyes me, and we both scoff while giving who the fuck is he talking about looks at one another.
“I would never,” Phoenix protests with a hand over his heart.
“Me either. I’m the absolute picture of responsibility,” I chime in seriously, right before Phoenix and I burst into laughter.
“Actually, aren’t you supposed to be at work right now?” Taylor asks, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“Brat,” I mutter, still laughing as I cup the back of his neck and pull him in for a kiss while my other hand starts groping under his shirt in search of skin.
“I rest my case,” Jake deadpans before dividing us into teams. “Okay, me, Knox, Phoe, and Hud are up against Dylan, Walker, Taylor, and Livvy.”
We’ve all got our shitty rental gear: helmets, facemasks, guns, paintballs, and ear protection, and are making our way to the first map—a cool part of the woods with two forts for a capture-the-flag style game.
The facility is well run, and they send each group with a guide who acts as a referee and keeps the groups on schedule, moving through the various maps, so you don’t hold other players up.
As we part ways, I hear Livvy yell to her team, “Okay, boys, this time we’re trying to steal the flag from their asses, not plant one in them. Got it?”
I snort a laugh as Phoenix says, “I like her.”
Livvy warmed up to me a little after the jet skiing accident, but there’s still some tension between us.
I think she’s waiting for the other shoe to drop, for me to hurt Taylor the same way fucking Patrick did.
But I’m glad she’s out here today. It’s important to me that I be on her good side—as well as the rest of Taylor’s family—since I know how much it hurts him when they aren’t on good terms.
“Good luck, ladies!” I yell at the retreating backs of Taylor, Livvy, Walker, and Dylan.
Without missing a beat, Livvy turns around and fires a paintball right at my midsection. “Who’re you calling a lady?” she shouts.
Fuck, that stings.
“Unwarranted firing!” the ref yells. “The blue team gets a sixty-second head start.”
I expect Livvy to argue, but when I glance back at her, she’s wearing the most calm, serene smile you can imagine.
And it’s scary as fuck.
I can’t help but wonder what else I’ll have to do before she trusts me and believes that I truly care for Taylor.