Chapter Twelve

Tyler

Tyler woke late after a disturbed night. He’d stayed up reading Holden’s book far too late because firstly he’d been worried about Holden, worried that the lights in his house didn’t go off for the longest time and secondly, because the book was utterly gripping. Holden was a fabulous writer. He deserved to be king of crime, not scratching a living in Clear Water. Tyler was more than half way through the book, while the one-handed read Holden had given him remained untouched.

He showered before he fitted his prosthesis, examining the stump before he rolled the liner on. It looked good and felt okay. He hadn’t been too troubled with pain at all since the weed at Holden’s place. It wasn’t phantom limb pain that had kept him tossing and turning last night.

He made some coffee then sat at the kitchen table with the packet of stamps and his stamp album, sorting through them with a pair of tweezers, separating them out into countries and cross referencing in the album to see if he had them. There were some nice stamps—old ones, uncancelled ones, pretty colored ones—maybe Holden had paid more than he let on for them. He let out a cry of excitement when he came across one from Newfoundland. That was one of his areas of philately, Newfoundland stamps before they became part of Canada in 1949.

He didn’t know why, but maybe collecting from a dead country appealed to him because he could one day complete that collection and be satisfied knowing there was none missing. Not that he’d ever own the pricier specimens. He checked his collection quickly, sure he didn’t have this one, a Newfoundland dog on a red background. No, he didn’t. He smiled and admired the stamp for a moment longer. Lovely. He was still sitting looking at the rest of his small Newfoundland collection when a knock at the door made him tense.

He walked down the hallway to answer it with his stomach churning. Holden stood leaning against the door frame with a tired, rueful smile on his handsome face. “Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” Tyler said. He admired the balls on the guy to show up first thing after what he had confessed last night. Tyler probably wouldn’t have been seen for dust.

“About last night.”

“Yeah?”

Holden sighed. “I was drunk.”

“You were.”

“If I was inappropriate, I’m sorry.”

Tyler looked at him for a long moment. “You weren’t.”

“Not even when I told you about…” he stopped.

Tyler shrugged. “I call that getting shit off your chest, not being inappropriate.”

Holden’s dark eyes softened, carried a hint of shine. He swallowed. “I’m sorry anyway, sorry for what you had to save me from, sorry for being such an utter fuck-up and sorry for…” he stopped again. “Actually, you kissed me so I can’t say sorry for that.”

Tyler smiled. “Why don’t you come in for some coffee?”

He led Holden down the hallway to the kitchen and Holden took a seat opposite the spread out stamps and open stamp album. He smiled as Tyler poured him a mug. “Any good finds?”

“God, yes.” Tyler put the mug down in front of Holden and retook his seat. “I didn’t have this one from Newfoundland.” He turned the album around so Holden could see and pointed to the dog.

“Nice. Are those your particular favorites?”

“Yeah. I was trying to complete the collection but there’s a few, like the very early ones, that are way out of my league.”

“Let me have a look.” Holden pulled his phone out of his pocket and thumbed a few buttons. Tyler watched his dark lashes against his cheeks and admired the view. For a guy who had been utterly shit-faced and crying the night before, he certainly pulled it together fast. He looked fucking great. Way better than any fifty-year-old Tyler had ever seen before. He lowered his gaze down Holden’s throat to the open neck of his white linen shirt, the hint of a tan at the top of his chest and the brush of the darkness of his nipples beneath the sheer material. Fuck. Tyler swallowed, his pants getting uncomfortably tight.

Holden looked up and Tyler met his gaze, trying to will away the heat creeping up his cheeks from his neck. “Like this one?” He showed Tyler a picture of one of the coats of arms with heraldic flowers of the UK that Tyler had looked at longingly so often and wished he could stumble across by magic in one of the mystery bundles from eBay.

“Yeah.”

“1857,” Holden said. “That’s worth a pretty penny. Thirteen thousand bucks.”

“Yep, that’s why I’ll never own it.”

Holden put down his phone. “I used to buy old stamp albums from eBay. I loved looking through them and finding hidden gems. You never knew what you were going to get. That last package I bought though, that I told you about, pretty sure it had some Victorian stamps. British, Canadian, maybe Newfoundland.”

Tyler looked at him and hoped his eagerness didn’t show on his face. Apart from Holden himself happening to him, the idea of looking through Holden’s stamp collection was the most exciting thing to happen to him in years.

Holden smiled. “Why don’t I go up into the attic later and find everything? It’s a shame to keep them all hidden away when they could go to a true lover like yourself.”

Their gazes held. Tyler wanted to kiss him again, both for the offer of the stamps and also because he was still remembering that soft press of lips against his.

He took a gulp of coffee and pushed his chair back for a refill for something to break the growing tension between them. Holden’s hand shot out as Tyler stood. He caught him by the front of his shirt and held him in place. Tyler’s heart hammered as he looked down into Holden’s eyes. “Still horrified by how old I am?” Holden asked in a whisper.

Tyler shook his head mutely.

“Good,” Holden said. He stretched up and as though they were magnetized, Tyler felt himself drawn down. Their lips met. It was an action replay of last night but this time, Holden spread his palms over Tyler’s chest, their warmth scorching him through the thin cotton of his shirt. He moved one hand up to cup Tyler’s neck and bring him closer and Tyler responded by holding Holden’s head. The kiss deepened, their mouths opened to each other, and their tongues entwined. Tyler heard a groan and wasn’t sure if it had come from him or Holden.

Holden’s other hand gripped Tyler’s ass, squeezing, the kiss turning molten hot and sweeping Tyler away.

Somehow, he managed to ease back before he was lost. He looked down at Holden’s pupils dilated in his dark iris, the smile on his pink kiss-swollen lips. “Wow,” Holden said. His hand was still on Tyler’s ass and he moved the other one there now, so both his palms gripped Tyler’s buttocks, lightly massaging. Tyler felt a surge of pre-cum wet his shorts at the look in Holden’s eyes. A blatant fuck me come on. Just waiting for Tyler to give the go ahead. They stayed still, looking at each other, and then Holden moved one hand around Tyler’s hip and onto the bulge in his shorts, tracing the outline of his erection against the material with his fingers.

Tyler caught his breath. He bit his lip to stifle a groan as Holden applied pressure, gripping Tyler’s hard-on through his clothes and rubbing. Without taking his hand away, Holden swung his legs out from underneath the table and planted his feet on either side of Tyler’s. His face was just at the right level now and Tyler guessed that was exactly what Holden had in mind as he popped open the button on Tyler’s shorts and drew down his zip. The release of pressure on his aching cock was paradise. Even more so when Holden pushed a hand inside his underwear and circled his dick.

Tyler let out a moan. He looked down as Holden freed his cock from his underwear and dragged a hand down it, becoming mesmerized by Holden’s fingers around his shaft. “Fuck,” spilled from his lips. He caught Holden’s intense gaze, the desire on his face, before Holden bent his head and opened his mouth, swallowing Tyler’s erection in a heated slick of saliva.

Tyler couldn’t help a little cry at how good it felt. He pushed his fingers through Holden’s hair and held his head, easing him down until Holden took it all. He watched Holden bobbing up and down, watched his glistening shaft appearing again as Holden ran a tongue around the rim of his cockhead and flicked it against the slit. Tyler hissed. He clenched his fingers in Holden’s hair and was rewarded by Holden tightening his hands on Tyler’s ass and taking his cock down again.

Tyler looked at the bulge straining Holden’s pants. “Take your dick out,” he said, his voice hoarse. Holden made eye contact for a moment before he did as he was told, pulling his pants open without taking his mouth from Holden’s cock. He freed a good-sized erection and gripped it, jerking it with a long groan around Holden’s dick. Tyler grabbed him by the shoulder, feathering the fingers of his other hand through Holden’s silky hair and watching Holden jerk off. With his free hand, Holden reached up to Tyler’s mouth, tracing his lips. Tyler willingly sucked at the finger Holden pushed into his mouth before Holden slid that hand down the back of Tyler’s pants and underwear. He sucked faster at Tyler’s dick as his fingers moved down the crease of Tyler’s buttocks. Tyler widened his stance with orgasm starting to curl in the pit of his stomach. Holden’s finger touched his entrance, rubbed it in a maddening way before he penetrated Tyler and Tyler gasped, rocked helplessly against the intrusion and spurted into Holden’s mouth. The climax seemed to go on and on, jet after jet of cum pumping into Holden’s throat and Holden swallowing it all. Tyler’s legs bowed and shook, his thighs trembling, his ass clenching Holden’s finger and his cock shooting fire, or so it seemed to him.

When his partner eased back, Tyler saw the fluid at the corners of his mouth and still his dick leaked as though it would never stop and Holden ran his tongue around the sensitive head, collecting it all while Tyler panted and moaned, still holding hard to Holden, his thighs now like jelly and threatening to collapse at any moment. He looked down at Holden still holding his cock and using the table to lower himself, he sank to his knees. Holden momentarily looked panicked. “Hey, no, don’t…”

“I can kneel,” Tyler said. “I still have a knee, don’t I?” He pushed Holden’s thighs apart and gripped his cock at the base before sliding his mouth down it. Fuck. He felt his own spent dick twitch at the feel of Holden’s hard flesh in his mouth. It felt so fucking good and with the moans Holden was giving as Tyler started a swift pace, it was just perfect. He was going to swallow too. He didn’t always like to, but today he would, after Holden had so beautifully taken everything from what had to be the biggest load Tyler had shot in forever. He looked up and saw Holden’s eyes were shut and hoped that Holden was thinking of him rather than addiction dictating his every move. This had been the gamble. Had Holden sucked his dick because he wanted Tyler or because he just wanted a cock in his mouth and got off on it? Tyler didn’t want to analyze it, he just wanted to return the favor and see what Holden’s face was like during climax. And it was epic leading up to it. Holden was loud. His lips were parted and spilling gasps and moans. His face was flushed in a most becoming way and his upper lip gleamed with sweat. He held Tyler’s head in both hands but didn’t try to force his head down, which Tyler appreciated. Holden was a gentle man in every way, even in the grip of pleasure it seemed. He wondered what Holden would be like lying beneath him, wrapped around him, and was desperate to find out.

Tyler drew his head back. He ran his tongue down Holden’s straining shaft and back up to the head, tormenting the slit with the point. With a cry, Holden erupted. Tyler caught the first spurt on his lips and tongue and took Holden’s cock inside to take the rest. Holden’s fingers curled in his hair, holding Tyler’s head in place, still gentle, his thighs tensing and his feet sliding on the floor. He groaned, his head back, mouth open, eyes squeezed shut and Tyler kept his gaze on Holden’s beautiful face as he swallowed everything Holden had to offer.

When Holden had started to subside, Tyler drew back. He licked the last bit of cum from Holden’s slit before fastening his own pants and using the table once more to maneuver himself to his feet, dragging his prosthesis up last. He ached a bit, but nothing he couldn’t handle. It had been worth it.

Holden reached out. He grabbed Tyler around the waist and pulled him in close, burying his face against his chest. Tyler held him, planting a kiss on Holden’s forehead and breathing in the scent of his hair. He smelled good, of shampoo and hair styling products, a sweet smell overlaying the scent of sex in the air.

“Oh fuck,” Holden said, his voice muffled in Tyler’s shirt. “That was something else.”

Tyler stroked his hair and kissed it. “Yeah, it was.”

Holden eased back to look up at him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You shouldn’t kneel on the hard floor like that.”

“I said it was okay. Don’t worry.” Tyler traced the contours of Holden’s smoothly-shaven jaw. He held Holden’s chin as he lowered his lips to kiss him once more. They swapped tongues and Tyler tasted himself which only made his dick want more. He looked into Holden’s eyes for the longest time, trying to read his thoughts. Needing a reassurance that this meant something to him other than a quick blowjob. He didn’t know why he was so desperate to know. Hadn’t he decided a liaison with his older hot landlord with the sex addiction was a bad idea? Sure he had, a million times. That didn’t stop him from wishing for more than Holden could probably give though.

He pulled away and took a drink of his coffee, grimacing when he found it cold. He walked across to pour another cup from the jug. “Want a refill?”

“Not for me thanks.” Holden had fastened himself up and now stood from the table. Tyler got the message loud and clear. Still, he wanted Holden to stay though.

“I read half your book.”

Holden smiled. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Really enjoying it so far. Great twisty plot.”

“Thanks, man. Listen, I’m going to get going. I have to get groceries.” His manner was awkward. He was actually backing away towards the door. Tyler wasn’t sure what had changed. If it had been up to him, they would have now been getting better acquainted without clothes in Tyler’s bed.

“Sure.” His heart had sunk with disappointment but it was what it was.

“Can I get you anything while I’m out?”

“No, thanks.”

“All right, I’ll see you later.”

Later when? Tonight later or in a few days if we bump into each other? Tyler bit his tongue to keep himself from asking. He nodded and watched Holden go down the hall and close the door behind him. He guessed Holden was only doing what he had done himself last night after the kiss. He had gone away to process it the way Holden was now going away to process the fact they had sucked each other off. It was only right that they both ruminate rather than leaping into the next phase, as much as Tyler wanted to leap into that next phase right now.

His cock was semi-hard again as he thought once more of Holden naked in his bed with his limbs clinging to him as Tyler drove into him. Fuck. He moved out of the kitchen and into the bathroom, whose window didn’t overlook Holden’s. Then he took his dick free and jerked it to full erection while he thought about Holden looking up at him with those dark eyes while his mouth was stretched wide around Tyler’s dick. God, he wanted him. More than he’d wanted anybody for an age. He closed his eyes, panting as he jerked, thinking about Holden’s finger in his ass and imagining being on the receiving end of his cock. He liked that idea as much as he liked the idea of fucking Holden. Especially as maybe it would be a novelty for Holden to do the fucking rather than getting fucked. He liked the idea of their bodies sweatily entwined and his legs hard around Holden’s back as he slid into Tyler balls-deep. Fuck. It was all too much and he came into his hand with a groan.