19. Wyatt

Chapter Nineteen

WYATT

My body had been on edge for so long that even my teeth ached.I'd been reduced to jerking off in the shower, biting down on my own knuckle to keep him from hearing as I came.

It took everything I had to keep the ball in Gage's court, but after all our false starts, this was the only way it could work.

Gage was an expressive man, but I couldn't read him now.Maybe I'd misjudged where we were headed.After all, he'd turned me down by the pool, and he hadn't exactly been thinking clearly in the bath.He wasn't some starry-eyed kid anymore, and I'd already satisfied his curiosity.He'd seen me for what I was: just a man, flawed and searching for meaning, just like him.Not the hero he'd once thought.

Then Gage moved, biceps flexing as he shoved himself out of his chair.He didn't speak as he crossed the space between us, but every unhurried step sent a wave of heat rolling through me.I couldn't look away. He had me pinned, transfixed, barely breathing as he came closer and closer.

"Gage..." My mouth was dry as dust.

He came to a halt directly in front of me, nudging my legs apart with the side of his boot and stepping between them.

My gaze trailed up his tall, rangy body, snagging on the way his shirt clung to his chest before skipping straight to that smirking mouth.I rested my shaking hands on the backs of his thighs, urging him closer."You sure you're ready for this?" I rasped."Because if we start this...it's for real.We aren't stopping this time."

He reached out, threading one hand in my hair and forcing my head back to meet his eyes."I just needed a little time to catch up," he rumbled, giving me the trademark cocky smile that turned me on like nothing else."I promise, I can take whatever you've got.Now show me what you've been holding back."

Just like that, my control snapped.I tugged hard, guiding him down to straddle my lap, and he melted over me like water.His mouth was on mine, tangling our tongues as he settled on top of me.He ground down, testing my hardness while I gripped that tight, denim-clad ass in both hands.I kneaded him, groaning at the rough drag of our jeans against my swelling cock.He caught the sound with a grin, kissing it back into my mouth.

"I can't hold back this time," I warned, panting against his mouth.My hand was already between us, popping the button on his waistband.

"Do it." His voice had gone almost feral."Let go. You need this so bad, baby."

He leaned back, yanking his zipper down, giving me the space I needed to reach inside.His cock slid against my palm, hot and smooth and silky.I pumped him one-handed, undoing my own fly with my free hand and lining up our erections.We both looked down at the same time, watching as I wrapped them together in a tight fist.

It was rough, but so, so sweet.The realest thing I’d ever felt.

“God, you feel so good,” Gage said, arching and digging his fingers into my shoulders.His breath had gone fast and choppy, a sound that already had me addicted.“I…I used to fantasize about you.”

“Yeah?” I encouraged, squeezing harder.

He gasped and hung his head, watching our flushed cockheads slide in and out of my fist."I'd jerk off saying your name.When I came, I'd scream it so fucking loud, I had to bury my face in a pillow just to keep everyone from hearing."

"Do it now," I growled as my balls tightened.

Gage blinked up at me, glassy-eyed.“What?”

I grabbed him by the back of the neck and dragged him into a deep, soul-searing kiss."Say my name," I growled against his damp lips."Say it while you pump all over me.No one can hear us out here. I want you to scream.”

His cock jerked, slicking both of us with precum, coating my fingers in a glossy sheen.His head fell back, exposing that long, perfect neck for me to bite.

“Wyatt…” he whimpered.

I sank my teeth in the tendon beneath his ear and commanded, "Again."

He hissed. “Wyatt.”

“Again.”

“Fuck!” His hands were on my shoulders, clamping down hard, as he bucked wildly into my fist.“Please, Wyatt.”

I caught his earlobe between my teeth, flicking it with my tongue until he shivered.“Please, what?”

“Let me come.”

I wanted that more than anything, more than I even wanted to come myself.Watching him fall apart in my arms was the hottest thing I'd ever seen, a miracle I'd never thought I'd be allowed.I didn’t want to torture him, so I tightened my grip, milking our cocks from root to tip with enough pressure to leave us both gasping.

A throbbing, tingling sensation sparked deep in my balls, and I knew I was seconds from coming.The intent, focused look on Gage’s face told me he was just as close.Chasing the high that was building and building.I hovered on the edge, sweating, teeth locked, head thrown back—and then I fell.Release surged through me, out of me, coating both our cocks as I pulsed like crazy.

Seeing me come was all it took to send Gage over the edge.He tightened up all at once, jerking hard on top of me, and biting his lip on the most delicious noises a man could make.

“Say it,” I demanded. I needed to hear it.Needed him to say my name while an orgasm ripped through him.“Say it!”

“Wyatt!” His voice broke as he came, hot and hard, shooting thick streams across both our stomachs.It felt endless, wringing extra pleasure from me as I reveled in each messy, glorious spurt.He hovered there, quivering in one endless, exquisite moment, and then he collapsed like his strings were cut.

The muscles of his back quivered beneath my hands as I stroked soothing circles.The scent of our arousal filled my nose, mingling with the night scents of cooling grass, creek, and smoke.His warm weight in my lap grounded me in ways I'd never anticipated, and my mind went perfectly quiet.

Gage was finally in my arms: safe, sated, and beautiful.Nothing else mattered.

After a long, long time, Gage roused himself, lifting a pair of dazed, heavy-lidded eyes to mine.“Why…” he started, then hitched a quick breath and went on in a tone so soft, I had to strain to hear it.“When I'm with you, why does it always feel so...important?"

I rubbed gentle circles between his shoulder blades, taking time with my answer, even though I understood perfectly.I felt it too, deep in my bones, every time I looked at him, smelled him, or heard him laugh.My throat felt tight when I said, “Maybe because it is.”

“You ever think…” He trailed off with a shake of his head.“Nevermind.”

Not a chance I was letting that drop.There were so many things I regretted about the way I'd turned him down, but nothing hit home like these small signs of lost trust.Gage used to talk to me like a friend, and yeah, it got under my skin, but it was the thing I'd missed the most once he was gone.

I cradled the back of his neck, brushing my thumb along the soft tips of his hair.“Tell me,” I said gently.

He shook his head, looking almost embarrassed.“I was just thinking about how long I waited for this, you know?How every second between the first time I kissed you and now felt like torture.Like I’d gotten a glimpse of something other people find so easily, and I never could.Sometimes I think maybe some people aren't meant for soft things."

“People like you?” I asked solemnly.

The look in his eyes was the only answer I needed.

I tightened my grip on his neck and tugged him down to press our foreheads together.“Listen to me, baby. You’ve lost your ever-lovin’ mind if you think you're one of those people.I'm going to prove it to you.Trust me, that was just a warm-up.We haven’t even gotten to the main event.”

“Good to hear." His laughter was a quick puff of breath against my face.“I wasn’t sure if you could handle a round two at your advanced age— mmf ? — ”

I smothered the rest of his sentence in a hard kiss, basking in the quiet laughter that poured into my mouth.“Come to the gym with me next time,” I grumbled, “and we’ll see how advanced my age is.”

“You need a spotter in case you throw your back out?” he asked innocently.

My answer was a light pinch to the firm globe of his ass.Gage's expression was more intrigued than hurt, but I rubbed out the sting, anyway, then dropped a kiss on his chin.“I’ll never get tired of that sound.”

“Yelps of pain?” he muttered, rubbing at the area I’d pinched.

“Your laughter,” I corrected.“I might not have looked at you romantically back then, but when you laughed, I could never make myself look away.You’d throw your head back and put your whole body into it, like you were chasing it.Throwing yourself at joy before it could get away.”

He raised a surprised eyebrow.“You always acted like I was a nuisance."

“Oh, you were,” I said wryly.“You couldn’t stay out of trouble for two hot seconds.It drove me crazy. I’d try to catch every call that involved you, just to keep you from mouthing off to other deputies and talking your way into charges not even Boone could get dropped."

He chuckled. "You were the most fun to tease.I loved getting you all worked up and grouchy.I used to daydream about you snapping one day and bending me over your squad car.It was my favorite fantasy."

“I couldn’t.”

“I know.” His smile faded. “But dreaming about it got me through some hard times.”

I glanced thoughtfully toward mycruiser, sitting in the driveway, dull and unassuming beneath the porch light.Sexy as a toothache to me, but I understood the fantasy.I was keenly aware of the damp, sticky cotton cooling between our bodies and the high-pitched whine ofmosquitos.A hot shower and bed werecalling.The sensible choice, the aching-back, man-in-his-thirtieschoice.

But that wasn’t what Gageneeded.

All week, I'd been treating him with kid gloves, but I could sense how badly he wanted to get back on evenfooting.After everything he'd done to prove he was my equal, a man to be desired rather than protected, I owed himthat.He'd been brave enough to lay it all on the line forme.I wanted to reward that, give him what he needed, feed him his fantasies and watch him completely loseit.

Decided, I grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and peeled it over hishead.Then I stripped off my own and used the dry side to wipe usdown."Come on," I said, pressing a kiss to the side of his neck and nudging him off mylap.

“Oh. We done?” His grin was shaky, like he was bracing for me to call it a night, and damned if it didn’t almost breakme.

"Not even close," I whispered, tugging him into akiss."You want this? Then let's make sure it lives up to thosefantasies."