9. Aidan
AIDAN
Warmth.
The kind of warmth that made it impossible to think, or at least, think too hard. Well, I guess it wasn’t that I couldn’t think…I just didn’t want to.
I wanted to nuzzle closer to the warmth, which was easy since the source wasn’t moving and my arms were around it, holding it close.
I didn’t believe in some deity or afterlife, but if there was a heaven, it would feel like that.
Not really bliss so much as a contentment that found a way gently under your skin, down into your bones.
It was comfortable; it was beyond words, and I felt like I could float in that nest of warmth and comfort for the remainder of my life.
Fuck, I had to pee.
Opening my eyes with a sigh, I peeked up and found that I hadn’t moved much during the night, because I was still pressed up against Mika.
He had rolled onto his side at some point, and I had ended up with my arm around his waist, holding him tight to me as we’d slept more peacefully together than I could remember sleeping in a long time.
Then again, we had spent the past few days working our fingers to the bone, so I was sure exhaustion, along with the exhaustion of talking to him so openly, played a part.
At least it made it easier for me to slip away without disturbing him.
He breathed deeply as I pulled my arm away from his waist and got up from the bed.
Being just a covered mattress, I didn’t have to worry about jostling him as I got to my feet.
I was still in my underwear, but that was fine because it was still morning, and I made my way downstairs to the bathroom to pee.
When I emerged, drying my hand on my underwear, I froze when I came face to face with a familiar yet foreign face.
“Uh,” Reno began slowly, eyes wide as he looked me over. “Good morning.”
“Morning,” I said with a sigh. There was no point in trying to dart out of sight or cover myself up.
I was clearly busted, and it wasn’t like Reno hadn’t seen me naked in the locker room or while sharing the open showers with me.
The urge came from the fact that I was busted.
Well, I suppose it was more accurate to say that we were busted because it wasn’t like I’d be hanging out in this building in my underwear if I was waiting for Reno.
“So…you two worked things out, I take it?” Reno asked slowly, and I could see he had a tablet in his hand, one that I had seen sitting on the large table in the center of the room last night.
“Working,” I corrected slightly. “We’re not like…settled on anything or—”
“But you’re definitely spending the night together.”
“First time.”
“First time fucking or—?”
“Wow, just going to put it out there, huh?”
“Look,” Reno said, holding the tablet against his head. “My brother’s an adult, and so are you, and I like you. I really do. I also like having you around and I want you to stay around if it can be helped.”
“But don’t break your brother’s heart again?” I asked with a sigh. “You don’t have to give me the speech, Reno. I’m not trying to do anything like that.”
“We never mean to hurt someone else,” he said, looking away for a moment before apparently recovering and meeting my gaze. “And I wasn’t going to say that. I got the feeling that he was just as responsible for what happened to you guys as you were. I know he’s no saint; he’s…difficult.”
“He can be,” I admitted, leaning on the table and taking a deep breath. “But I can be too.”
“Which makes you a pretty good match for him,” he said with a snort. “I just…whatever happened in the past, don’t…don’t let it repeat itself, okay? I’ll tell him the same thing since it’s blatantly obvious you two are…something again.”
“I wondered if someone other than Colin had guessed,” I said with a shake of my head.
“Yeah, well, I’m his brother. I was with him before we even came into the world, of course I know him,” Reno said with a little smile. “And it’s not just Colin. I think even Xander is wondering what’s going on with you two, but, uh…I wouldn’t let him know outright for a little while.”
“I wasn’t planning on telling anyone for a bit; you were an accident,” I said, and then cocked my head. “How is that going, by the way?”
“Xander and Colin?”
“Yeah.”
“Uh, Xander confirmed that we’re back to business as usual. Which means you two have your scheduled day off, and why I was coming to get my tablet to go over some things before I went out to get more samples from some tributaries in the area. There’s…anyway.”
I smirked as I saw the flash of excitement in his eyes as he almost began spilling his guts about what he was going to do, but if he wanted to leave before his brother realized he was here, we definitely didn’t have time. “You and Jake traipsing off into the woods again?”
“No,” he said, looking down at the tablet. “Anyway, I was coming to get this before you two woke up. It’s not like I didn’t figure out you were here; I just…didn’t expect to see you.”
“Nature calls,” I said, looking up. “He probably won’t need to.”
“Yeah,” Reno huffed a light laugh. “He always wakes up an hour or two before he’s supposed to go piss. It’s like his bladder has its own schedule.”
“I used to call it his old man bladder.”
“That’s a good one,” he said, then looked me over. “Just make sure you two don’t blow apart again, alright? It’ll be nice to have you around longer, to see my brother happy, and hell, to have someone to talk shit about him with who knows him like I do.”
“I’ll hit you up for that if we actually settle on something,” I told him with a smile.
“Good,” he said and turned to walk away.
“Reno,” I began, and when he looked at me, I frowned. “Is everything okay?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” he asked.
“I meant, between you and Jake?”
His lips thinned, but were turned up into a faint smile. “We’re best friends, of course we’re okay.”
As he walked off, I could have sworn I heard him mutter, “I hope,” but it was hard to tell when the door opened at the same time and let in the cacophony of birdsong and wind.
I watched him go, looking down at his tablet as he walked away.
There was clearly something going on with Reno, but if he wasn’t going to answer or even look like he wanted to explain, I knew better than to push.
There were similarities between the brothers, and I would bet Reno was like Mika in that he loathed to be pushed before he was ready.
Turning around, I made my way back up the ladder and, stepping through the blanket he’d hung, I found Mika still asleep.
He had moved onto his back, one arm thrown to the side and the other curled back so his hand lay on his ribs.
It was an undeniably sweet look, but I guess everyone looked cuter when they were asleep.
I joined him on the mattress because, hell, if we were going to have the same day off, I was going to be lazy in bed after the week we’d had.
I stopped when I looked at him from above and felt my stomach twist. Not unpleasantly, but the sunlight leaking through the small window above was bathing his body but politely avoiding his face.
Just as I had in the shower, I let my eyes rove over his body, but this time, I didn’t have to stand around and feel like a complete creep.
I could appreciate the bulk he had put on since we were younger and the slight definition.
It wasn’t the body of a lab nerd, but neither was it the same body I expected from someone active like Mav or Jake.
I wanted to run my hands all over him, but to wake him up for a bit of groping seemed so… pitiful.
At least, basic groping seemed pitiful anyway.
My eyes drifted to his underwear; one leg had ridden up his thigh, but it wasn’t his thigh that had my attention, though I definitely wanted to run my tongue along the sensitive skin.
What had my interest was the rather obvious bulge that extended down the other leg.
Did that mean he was turned on? No, but when he woke up, if he decided he didn’t want what I was aiming to do, I would just back off and accept the rejection.
I moved carefully; he wasn’t the world’s lightest or heaviest sleeper, but I didn’t want him awake yet.
I knew better than to touch his thighs too much with my fingers; he was notoriously ticklish.
Instead, I was left to work around his underwear, pulling the waistband up and reaching in, watching his face while gently pulling his dick free.
Seeing it in the sunlight made me realize that most of our fooling around had been done at night or, as with the other day, in the shadows.
I pulled it upright, looking it over, appreciating its admirable size and the feel in my hand.
Inching over, I got down between his legs and pulled his cock toward me, then wrapped my lips around him.
I felt his dick twitch as I slid my flattened tongue along the underside, back and forth, trying to coax pleasure for him while he slept.
The endgame was to get him to wake up to the pleasure.
Making sure I had his dick nice and wet, I eased my way further down, feeling him press my tongue down until it hit the back of my throat.
My muscles protested; I silently told them to be quiet and swallowed, feeling his thickness fill my throat as it slid down.
Mika groaned, his face scrunching up as I took his cock all the way to the base.
Another noise rumbled in his chest when I hung there, purposefully working my throat as best I could with him lodged in it, making the muscles squeeze and milk him.
That was all it took for his eyes to snap open, a groan leaving his lips as his gaze flashed to me.