Chapter 21

St. Louis, September 1973

Bobby's bed was… indecently wide.

There must have been room for four adults there, and Bill's mind unhelpfully supplied images of faceless men hovering over a naked Bobby, twisting in pleasure in the middle of the sheets.

But when Bobby went to lie on his back in the center of the mattress, he was alone. There were no past lovers, no ghosts except in Bill's mind. But he was there, firmly here in this man's bedroom, hoping to learn how to make love to him.

And he did have much to learn. Though Bobby was giving him come-hither eyes, so Bill timidly dropped his hesitations to step to the foot of the bed.

"For the love of everything holy, take off your clothes before you join me," Bobby groaned. "No bow ties in my bed."

Bill smiled, slipping his suspenders off his shoulders.

"Not even for fun?"

Bobby rolled his eyes.

"You can't get a good knot with these, trust me."

Bill stopped with his shirt half-unbuttoned, prompting Bobby to get up on his elbows.

"What? I said get naked."

There was no room for dithering or pesky feelings of jealousy here. Even the damn cat had stayed behind, surely that must have counted for something. And for another first time that day, Bill shucked his clothes off with a smile.

"Come here," Bobby whispered when he came to lie on top of him, as if that wasn't already what he was doing.

He encouraged Bill to put his full weight on him again, groaning in delight when he sank into the mattress, air pressed out of his lungs by Bill's bulk. So they weren't hard again yet, but Bill was quickly finding out that skin to skin contact could be just as nice. Sadness flitted through him at the idea that it had taken him fifty-three years to learn that.

It's not too late, Bobby had said. And when he rolled Bill on his back and licked a line down his chest, he figured he didn't care about what time they took. Better slow than never.

And oh, was Bobby going slow, covering him in little bite marks and grinning when he made him squirm under him. Arousal was still a distant thing, on a physical level, but the image of Bobby's mouth trailing down over his stomach, and the sensation of his tongue there, were definitely keeping Bill's thoughts busy.

He dared to slip a hand in Bobby's hair, freezing when the man pulled his mouth off him.

"Is this okay?" Bill asked.

Bobby wet his lips and propped himself up on one hand, reaching for Bill's free one and planting it firmly at the back of his head.

"You can hold on," he said, before lowering his mouth again, licking down the crease of Bill's right thigh and making his hips shoot off the bed.

Bill did, then, clench his fingers in Bobby's hair when his lover pushed his legs further apart and made him fold his legs with his feet planted on the bed. Bobby's kisses moved up and down his inner thighs, and his cock was definitely getting interested again, now. Bill bit into his lower lip to stifle the sounds that were threatening to pour out of him, but didn't stand a chance at the next new sensation.

The wetness of a tongue probing at his hole had Bill gasping and twitching on the bed.

"Fuck…"

Bobby pulled back with a chuckle. His hair was delightfully tousled from Bill's grip and he had no business looking this good with his cheek pressed against Bill's hairy thigh, nosing at his cock.

"See," his lover smiled, "while you were busy fucking women and making babies, I led the life of a gay man. Picked up a few tricks here and there," he drawled, poking his tongue out again and laving at Bill's sac.

"May I continue?"

Bill had no true way to answer but to grab at his hair again and pull him back into place. He felt Bobby's laugh against his sensitive nerve endings and moaned.

He lost track of everything, then. Even his shame flew out the window when Bobby hummed and he felt the vibrations nearly inside him. He didn't know how long he stayed there, pulling at Bobby's hair and panting at the ceiling, getting slowly unraveled. He was gently humping Bobby's face when the other man relented, pulling back to plant more kisses over his hips and lower belly, studiously ignoring his now half-hard cock.

"Be right back."

Bill laid there, trying to get his breathing under control and his mind wrapped around what they'd just been doing. Never in his wildest dreams…

He just didn't know, was the thing. He was slowly realizing he had no idea of all the things they could get up to, and through all their years spent together in the past, they'd only brushed the surface together.

The thought that Bobby could have so much to teach him made him shudder.

His lover came back into the room smelling of fresh mint, and collapsed on top of him, crushing their mouths together. Bill groaned, and caught Bobby's waist, pushing up against him. The other man was hard too, now, and there was nothing stopping him from doing something about it.

"Do you want to fuck me?" Bobby asked when he next broke their kiss, breathless and desperate, right against Bill's lips.

Bill froze. It wasn't that he didn't want to, only that…

"I've never done it before…"

Bobby shook his head. "Doesn't matter, I can take care of everything. Only if you want to, though."

Bill's hold tightened over Bobby's waist, and he nodded, now out of breath too.

"Yes."

Bobby grinned, and rolled off him to reach for the nightstand, from which he pulled a little plastic bottle.

Bill didn't even get a chance to look at it before they were kissing again, and his eyes fell closed of their own accord. The slow slide of their tongues together was too good for him to focus on anything else, so when he felt Bobby shift a little on top of him, he didn't pay it any mind.

That was until he realized what he was doing. He felt along Bobby's right arm, finding it bent behind the man to…

Bill's eyes shot open, and he pulled away from Bobby's mouth. His lover was moaning softly, breaching himself right there. Without thinking, Bill let his hand trail down Bobby's arm until he could touch his wrist, feel how it was slowly moving. The thought itself pulled a loud moan from him, and he lost all control when he asked:

"Can I do it?"

Bobby paused his movements, and raised his eyebrows.

"You sure?"

Bill had never wanted anything more.

"Fuck, yes."

There was far too much emotion on Bobby's face when he let himself be rolled onto his back, positioned in the middle of the bed. Bill knelt by his side, and quickly noticed that he didn't have a clue what to do. Thankfully, Bobby noticed too.

"Here," he said, pulling one of Bill's hands to him. "Get your fingers wet," he added, and pumped some of the lubricant into his hand.

Bill rubbed the sticky liquid between his fingers, then made sure both his index and middle finger were nicely coated. His heart was in his throat when Bobby pulled him to lie on his side, half atop him, and guided his hand between his legs.

It was a fumble, but when he sank the tip of a finger inside his lover's warmth, Bill had to close his teeth around Bobby's shoulder to keep his sanity.

"Careful," Bobby laughed. "You're the one who likes to get bitten all over."

Muttering an apology, Bill kissed over the mark his teeth had left, and followed Bobby's gentle nudge to plunge his fingers deeper.

Nothing could have prepared him for the way Bobby canted his hips, asking for more, or the little gasp he let out when Bill's knuckles bumped against his ass.

"God, your fingers are thick," Bobby moaned, as if the adjective itself was filthy and, of all things, sexy.

"Is that a good thing?"

Bobby nodded with a pleased hum.

"Now give me another."

He guided Bill to push past the initial resistance, when he was so sure he would hurt him, but as soon as he was two fingers deep Bobby let out a delighted whine.

"Ah, yes… now pull back slowly and curl them just a bit…" he panted, tugging on Bill's wrist until his hips jumped under him. "Yessss, there…"

Bill's curiosity taking the lead, he focused on the feeling under his finger pads, where Bobby had led him to touch, and pressed down carefully. Bobby keened and his thighs tensed, one of them pressing up near Bill's erection.

"Does it feel good?" he asked, rubbing his fingers again.

"So good," Bobby breathed, and grabbed him by the hair to pull him into a kiss.

Suddenly, Bill forgot all about fucking the other man. There couldn't be anything more important than to slowly take him apart with only two fingers, to feel his sounds of pleasure directly against his lips and swallow them to revisit later.

Besides, he was fucking him in a way, wasn't he? Just with his fingers, and in a way that allowed him to focus entirely on Bobby, to study exactly how much pressure to use to make his voice completely break.

"Fuck you're a fast learner," Bobby whimpered when Bill moved his fingers in a tight circle.

"I always did well when given precise instructions."

Bobby let out a breathless laugh that broke into a moan.

"Ah, you're gonna make me come like this if you keep going…"

Bill stilled his hand, the image suddenly provided by his imagination frying the rest of his mental capacity.

"Can I?"

Bobby relaxed into the pillows under his head, giving him a dazed smile.

"You're asking for permission? You got it."

Bill swallowed, and bent for one single kiss, before straightening up and moving his fingers inside Bobby again. He didn't stop until his lover's eyes were tightly shut and he was rocking his hips in time with Bill's wrist action.

He looked down, just when Bobby slid a hand between his legs to stroke himself.

"Stop," he said, surprising himself.

Bobby did as he was asked, fingers still wrapped around his cock.

"What?"

Bill frowned, struggling to formulate a thought. And then he realized that he didn't need to explain everything that was going on inside his head. He could just… do.

He batted Bobby's hand away and shuffled so he could be kneeling over one of his thighs, head bent close to Bobby's stomach. He was so close to the other man's cock he could smell him, and see the fluid beading at the head.

"I want to…"

He didn't know how to finish his sentence, but Bobby's belly trembled under him.

"Fuck, try anything, I'll tell you to stop if I don't like it."

It turned out easier than he'd thought, to bring his mouth close enough, dart his tongue out and taste him. The ragged intake of breath above him was enough of an encouragement that he opened his mouth wider and took the head in fully, giving it a light suck.

He heard another breathless ‘fuck' and figured he couldn't be doing too badly. He tried to find a rhythm with his hand, too, but got distracted too many times by the novelty of the heady weight on his tongue.

He thought of all the things he liked, though he hadn't received much either, and the most enthusiastic lover he'd ever had to suck his cock had been Bobby.

Desperate fingers in his hair spurred him on, and he slid his mouth further down. He only forgot about his gag reflex two or three times, needing to pull back in a rush, and decided that he could keep the most adventurous moves for another time.

When it became clear he wouldn't master all of it on his first try, he settled for rubbing his fingers against Bobby's prostate and slowly sucking him, until Bobby's hips were arching off the bed.

"Fuck, Bill, fuck," the other man sobbed. "Faster, please…"

He couldn't have been graceful, slobbering all over him but soon Bobby was keening, higher and higher.

"Gonna come… you don't have to swallow, Bill!"

But Bill was a stubborn man, and he'd decided he wanted the whole experience. He kept his mouth firmly around Bobby's cock and felt him swell right before warm liquid filled his mouth. He spluttered a bit in trying to swallow it all, and soon noticed that he really wasn't a fan of the taste, but kept Bobby between his lips until he started softening and twitching from oversensitivity.

Pulling his fingers out proved more difficult, Bobby's muscles still sporadically squeezing around him, so he decided he'd wait until that stopped. He tried to discreetly wipe his mouth inside his own elbow, then rested his cheek against the other man's hip, feeling oddly at peace.

Bobby gently nudged him after a minute and Bill carefully removed his fingers, wiping those on the mattress before he was grabbed by the shoulders and hauled to lie down on top of the other man again.

"So, how was it?" Bobby asked when he'd gotten his breath back.

Bill frowned, finding he had trouble focusing when Bobby's fingers were tracing patterns on his lower back.

"What?"

"Well," Bobby chuckled, "assuming I'm right that this was your first time sucking cock, you know… what did you think of it?"

Bill hummed at the ceiling. He'd never been excellent at summing up the vastness of his thoughts and emotions in a few words.

"Salty," he said.

Bobby's chest vibrated with laughter under his head.

"Jeez, what a roaring endorsement. I take it you won't be doing it again, then?"

Bill propped himself up on one elbow, finding his lover grinning and his eyes crinkling.

"That's not what I said. Being so in touch with… your pleasure," Bill said, deciding that it didn't matter if he was blushing, "it felt nice."

Bobby's smile went coy, and he ran one hand through Bill's hair, playing with the strands at his nape.

"There's mouthwash in the bathroom, if you want. I know the taste isn't great, I won't take it personally."

"Oh thank god," Bill grunted, and hopped off the bed to the sound of his lover's laughter.

It was a good sound, he decided, mouth full of minty wash that burned his tongue.

When he got back to the room, his own arousal had subsided enough that he didn't think he would even need to take care of it by himself. Right now, he was more interested in curling up against Bobby's chest again and yes, if the other man was going to pet his head without even being asked, Bill wouldn't complain. He melted in Bobby's arms, letting out a relieved sigh as he pressed a hand on Bobby's sternum, feeling the gently slowing rhythm of his heart there.

Bill woke up to the smell of coffee, and a decidedly angry, empty stomach. He rubbed at his eyes and flopped onto his back with a groan, only to notice he didn't recognize this ceiling. He pushed up on his elbows, and memories flooded back when he found himself naked under a thin white sheet.

He fell back, smiling. Bobby must have covered him up before he went to get them some food. He had no idea what time it was, his watch long abandoned on the coffee table where he first took off his clothes. And for once, it felt good not to care.

He rolled onto his front, felt air on his backside, and decided he didn't care about that either. He must have dozed off again, because the next thing he knew was a kiss between his shoulder blade, and a sneaky hand drifting down his back to grope his ass.

"Afternoon," Bobby mouthed in his neck.

"Is it already?"

"Technically, yes. But still early."

Bill grunted and didn't attempt to move, finding that Bobby's attentions were possibly the best way to wake up he'd ever experienced.

"If you don't stop me I'm gonna keep going," Bobby breathed, tickling Bill's ear as he kneaded his love handles.

"I don't mind…"

Bobby's kisses moved south until his nose was pressed against Bill's tail-bone, and just when he could feel a stir between his legs again, the other man pulled back.

"Okay, I'm hungry."

Bill made a show of grumbling but the truth was, when he caught sight of the plate of bagels Bobby had brought along with their coffee, he forgot about sex for a while.

Eating naked in bed, that was another thing he could cross off the list of what he'd never done before this weekend. He caught himself wishing they'd had jam too, so he could let some drop onto his chest and find out what Bobby would do, then.

When his stomach was full, and the plate and mugs empty, they pushed the tray to the end of the bed and tangled their legs together. Bobby's hands immediately returned to Bill's waist, groping the extra layer there, prompting him to ask:

"You really don't mind?"

Bobby, seemingly distracted, took a while to answer.

"What?"

Bill took his wrist to still him, and looked down between them, at his own stomach and the folds of his chest, the stark contrast with Bobby's lean own.

"Me."

Bobby's forehead creased with incomprehension.

"Do I mind you?"

"No… my… body."

Of all the responses, he hadn't expected Bobby to laugh, and slap him on the ass.

"Bill, there are throngs of gay men out there thirsting after your exact body type. Ever heard about bears? Granted, you'd have more facial hair maybe, but I swear to you there's a whole bunch of the population who's dying of envy, right now."

"I have no idea what you just said."

Bobby giggled, and pressed himself more fully against him, until there was no more space for air between their chests.

"If you're asking for my personal opinion… I don't have a type. Or I do, I guess I just don't wanna fuck with guys half my age. As for you… I could bite at your belly and lick your ass for hours and thank you for it."

Heat rushed to Bill's face and neck, and even as he lowered his eyes, he could see the satisfied smirk on his lover's mouth.

"Don't even get me started on your cock."

"Well, I'm not."

Bobby pushed his smile in the crook between Bill's ear and jaw.

"Too bad. I missed that, too. You know, it was kind of hot… kneeling in the dark and choking on it, back in the day."

"Bobby!" Bill complained, squeezing his eyes shut, his reaction spurring on the other man's laughter.

"If you don't like blowjobs anymore, all you need to do is say it."

He pinched Bobby's waist and felt himself relax when that made him yelp, then giggle some more.

"That's not what I said," he grumbled.

"Hmm, good," Bobby purred, slipping a hand between them to cup his soft cock.

"I've never been madder to be in my fifties," Bill sighed.

"Shh, there's always later. And tomorrow. Or…" Bobby wriggled against him, freeing himself from their embrace and moving down the bed to settle between Bill's legs. "I could get you started like that."

Bobby was such a vision, hair in disarray and with a hand on each of his thighs, that Bill didn't know what he could refuse him. Bobby, observant as ever, took his slight nod for the go ahead that it was, and sucked him into his mouth.

Bill gasped, hands flying to his face to cover himself up.

"No, no, no," Bobby tutted, letting his cock slip from his mouth. "Don't hide. In fact…" he strained up to grab a pillow and pushed it into Bill's arms. "Prop yourself up. Sit up, come on. I wanna be able to see you, too…"

Everything that followed happened in a daze. All Bill knew was that when Bobby settled between his thighs again, the only soft thing in the room was his smile.