Chapter Eight

Stone knew he was thinking with his dick, but he'd been sitting there waiting for Valentine to proposition him in some way. He'd begun to anticipate it. His dick had even grown hard from his thoughts.

Except, it had never come. Instead, Valentine had acted like the perfect gentleman... mostly. He'd touched Stone innocently from time to time, but that had only enflamed his unexpected arousal.

Having no desire to hike back with a hard-on, and feeling quite relaxed from the couple of beers he'd drank, Stone had decided to make the first move. To his pleasure, Valentine had quickly responded. The man appeared more than happy to take Stone up on his not-so-subtle request for a blowjob.

Stone watched Valentine crawl toward him, looking very much like a predator on three legs. He watched Valentine settle on his left elbow, keeping his weight off his casted arm. When the other man reached for his fly with his right hand, Stone couldn't help but tense a little, regardless of the fact that he'd instigated this.

"Just relax, my mate," Valentine rumbled huskily, his tone full of promise. "I'm going to make you feel so damn good."

"O-Okay." Stone hated the hint of uncertainty in his voice. He hadn't had anyone else touch his dick in months, and he wanted this. Instilling a demand into his voice, he ordered, "Take care of me, Val."

Valentine chuckled, the sound deep and low. "Oh, I will, Stone," he assured, gripping the fly of Stone's jeans and expertly popping open the button. "Such good care of you."

Even one-handed, Valentine made quick work of Stone's fly. With the zipper down, his erection pressed between the flaps, clearly defined, even beneath the fabric of his briefs. When Valentine hummed appreciatively and skimmed the tips of his nails up his length, tingles erupted through Stone's groin, his shaft twitching. Heat swirled in his gut, and he sucked in a sharp breath.

Giving him a heated smirk, Valentine eased his fingertips into the waistband of his underwear. He teased his forefingers over Stone's hidden crown, massaging his swollen head. The move yanked a groan from Stone's throat as his cock throbbed, and the light stimulation sent jolts of pleasure down his stalk.

"Gods, the sounds you make," Valentine growled, arousal filling his tone. "Love them. Can't wait to hear more." Then he lifted Stone's underwear up and over his shaft and ordered, "Lift your hips."

Panting harshly, it was Stone's turn to obey. He arched his back, planting his feet, and lifted his ass off the blanket. Seeing Valentine's one-handed struggle, Stone rested his weight on his left forearm and used his right to help the other man.

Once Valentine had Stone's jeans and underwear halfway down his thighs, he moved his hand to Stone's hip and urged him to relax back onto the blanket. His cock bobbed from his groin as Stone watched Valentine lean closer. When his soon-to-be lover—god, does letting him blow me make Val my lover—blew warm breath across his crown, Stone moaned as his prick twitched, a bead of pre-cum oozing from his slit.

When Valentine stuck out his tongue and swept it around his crown, Stone groaned and vowed to worry about it all later. The hot wet appendage caused a shudder to work through his gut. His cock throbbed with his need.

Stone felt damn tempted to beg... or demand... when Valentine swiped his tongue up his stalk from root to tip. To his relief, as soon as he reached the crown again, Valentine opened his mouth and wrapped his lips around his knob. Stone groaned appreciatively as the other man sucked lightly on his swollen crown. It almost felt as if he was nursing on him, searching for more pre-cum, and Stone's body was helpless but to give it to him.

With a moan of pleasure, Stone flopped back onto the blanket, sprawling. He gripped the fabric beneath him, his cock throbbing and twitching within the sweet confines of Valentine's hot mouth. His pre-cum flowed as his balls grew heavy with his impending release.

Stone's head began to swim, and he shuddered. Bucking his hips, he searched for more. Instead of stopping the move, Valentine went with it, accepting his cock deeper into his mouth. The wet heat enveloping his entire length felt beyond exquisite, yanking a barking cry from his throat that he didn't ever recall making before.

As much as Stone wanted to hold the position, his stomach muscles ached, and he had to relax back down. To his delight, Valentine followed him, only allowing him to slip halfway out before taking him deep again. Stone moaned again as Valentine began sucking and bobbing on his cock, using his tongue and lips to stimulate in a way he felt certain he'd never before experienced.

When Valentine cradled Stone's balls, he felt his eyes begin to roll back. His testicles started to tighten, and tingles erupted at the base of his spine, heralding that the end was near. The fingertip massaging behind his heavy sack was the last straw.

Crying Valentine's name, Stone came hard. His orgasm rocked through his system, making spots dance across his vision. His senses sang as Valentine continued to work him, causing the sensations to go on and on. His mind floated in euphoric bliss, his body trembling.

Finally, the stimulation became too much, and Stone moaned and shivered for a new reason. To his relief, the other man understood and released his prick. The sudden cooler air caused goose bumps to rise on his thighs, and Stone sighed deeply, feeling beyond fantastic.

A familiar slap, slap sound registered, and Stone peeled open eyelids he didn't even remember closing. It took a couple of blinks before he could focus. Seeing Valentine levered partly over him, his features etched with bliss as he stared intently at him, wasn't what caused Stone's body to flush with a fresh wave of heat. Instead, it was the fact that Valentine held his thick, dark erection in his hand and was beating off. He pointed the tip of his swollen shaft toward Stone's groin, his thick crown nearly touching Stone's still half-hard dick.

Snapping his attention back to Valentine's face, Stone sucked in a sharp breath upon seeing the feral expression there. For just a second, he felt certain he spotted something wild, primitive, swimming within the depths of his eyes. Then it was gone as Valentine came, roaring Stone's name.

Feeling the hot splash of Valentine's cum hit the flesh of his stomach and groin yanked a surprised gasp from Stone. He snapped his attention from the blissfully pained expression on Valentine's face as he came to where the man sprayed his seed over him. Panting, Stone watched as the large man's erection stopped pulsing, a final drip oozing from the slit to land on his balls, sending tingles through him.

Stone lifted his gaze to Valentine's face, and a gasp escaped his throat. His new lover peered at him with an intense expression. When Valentine swept his gaze over Stone's body, a satisfied smile curved his full lips.

Then Valentine moved a hand to Stone's body and began working the semen into his flesh, and it suddenly hit Stone.

"You're marking me," Stone blurted.

Valentine flicked his gaze up to meet Stone's eyes. "Yeah." He didn't sound the least bit shy or reticent about it. Instead, he sounded oh-so-very satisfied.

Before Stone could come up with how he felt about that, or even a response, Valentine lowered his head and sealed his mouth over Stone's. An instant later, he found himself with a mouthful of Valentine's tongue. For a second, Stone froze, shocked by the brazen move.

Then Stone's own flavor mixed with Valentine's deep masculine one registered, and he found he loved it. It suddenly didn't matter that he was kissing a man because said man tasted damn fantastic. Returning the kiss, Stone allowed himself to get swept away as a fresh wave of arousal heated him from the inside out.

*

Just three days before, if someone would've told Stone that he would openly be on a date with a man, he would have laughed in their face.

Or I would have told them to fuck off.

Except, there Stone was, sitting at a table in Caribou's—Stone Ridge's steak house and favorite dating hot spot—enjoying an evening meal with Valentine. He cut into his steak, enjoying the succulent meat that was grilled medium rare to perfection. His mashed potatoes and gravy melted in his mouth. Even the lobster mac and cheese was better than anything he'd ever enjoyed.

Of course, Stone supposed part of it could have been a combination of him being sexually sated combined with a little fatigue from a long day at work. He knew Valentine didn't work, and he had no idea what the man did with the majority of his days, but that didn't mean that he could shirk off. Stone had bills to pay.

That did mean Valentine would show up at his door shortly after Stone texted him that he was home.

After that first date, Stone had spent every evening with the man. He'd enjoyed their make-out session from their first date so much that it had ended in a frotting session that gave him a second almost as epic release as the blowjob. They'd finished up by lying with each other, dirty and messy, talking about little things for a while. When the seed had turned uncomfortable, Stone had given in and gone skinny dipping with Valentine to wash up.

Even after sharing a couple of orgasms with the man, Stone still hadn't been ready to embrace in the water, and he appreciated Valentine's understanding, so they'd kept it to a brief, utilitarian clean-up. Stone hadn't missed the appreciative heated looks the other man had given him, though.

The next night, Valentine had taken him to a large A-frame home positioned behind an even more massive farm-style home deep in the woods. He'd introduced him to the rest of the guys. They'd all been friendly and welcoming. They'd grilled burgers and hotdogs. After the meal, Valentine had come through on his promise and taught Stone Dutch Blitz.

Stone couldn't remember the last time he'd had so much fun playing cards. The game was fast-paced, and the guys were truly cutthroat. At times, Stone had struggled to even keep up with their movements, they were so speedy.

The prior evening, they'd stayed in at Stone's place. He'd ordered a pizza from Spieron's Bar and Grill, picking it up on his way home from work. The police in the area were used to seeing his big rig parked on the side of the road and never gave him any trouble.

After digesting from their meal, Stone had shown Valentine the rope and obstacle course he'd mentioned. As it turned out, his big lover had been far more agile than he would have imagined. He'd been slow and wobbled a few times here and there, but he'd managed to make it through without falling too many times.

The evenings were intense, leaving Stone sated and exhausted. Valentine was an insatiable and creative lover. He used his lips, teeth, hands, and tongue on Stone's body in ways that left him writhing. While Stone hadn't sucked Valentine's dick, he had gotten over his reticence to touch the other man's cock, and he'd even tasted his lover's seed. Stone had been surprised to find the slightly salty cream had a pretty tasty flavor.

"I'm off work tomorrow," Stone told Valentine, trying to decide how to broach the subject that had been plaguing him. He hoped to spend the day in bed exploring his lover. Valentine had done it to him plenty of times, and Stone wanted to figure out how to return certain favors. "I was wondering—"

"Percy Stonewall?"

Narrowing his eyes upon hearing his detested first name—what the hell was my sweet mother thinking—Stone lifted his gaze to find a man in a suit standing beside their table. "Yes," he hissed through clenched teeth.

The man placed a brown manila envelope on the table. "You've been served, sir." Then the man turned and walked away.

"Served?" Valentine sounded just as confused as Stone felt. "What's that mean?"

Frowning while shaking his head, Stone picked up the envelope. He shook out the papers. After moving his nearly empty plate aside, he spread them on the table and took in the official-looking documents.

The more Stone read, the faster his heart thudded in his chest. His mouth dried out, and he grabbed his beer bottle, chugging the rest before plunking it back onto the table. Disbelief flooded him as he reread certain key paragraphs.

Feeling Valentine's hand over his own yanked Stone out of his shock. He jerked his head up and stared at the other man, his mind reeling.

"Hey." Valentine squeezed his fingers. "What's wrong?" His expression turned earnest. "Whatever it is, I promise I'll help fix it."

Stone didn't know how Valentine could promise that. Hell, if the information in the documents was true, he doubted the man would even stick around. That thought sent a shocking stab of sadness through his heart, and he realized he was going to miss Valentine... so very badly.

Shit. Did I fall in love with this guy in three days? How the hell did that happen?

Valentine squeezed his hand again. "Talk to me, Stone."

Knowing he had to get it over with, Stone tapped the papers. "According to this, I have a daughter." He watched Valentine's eyes widen, and he knew he needed to get the rest out there. "A woman named Melissa Smithson is suing me for back child support, as well as demanding the court set up regular ongoing payments."

As Stone had feared, Valentine straightened, pulling his hand away as shock took over his dark-featured expression.

A stab of pain hit Stone right in the chest, and he just knew he'd just lost something precious.