Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Tony

A pre-planned hookup was a novelty for Caleb and me, not to mention the prospect of an actual bed. I parked at Eric's as usual after a shift, fighting the temptation to arrange my pillows in the shape of a sleeping form like some teen in case someone came looking for me. It was bad enough Caleb made me feel reckless and wild, a youth I'd never had. I'd spent so much time responsible for my sisters and later for my team as I'd moved up the Ranger ranks that I'd never had the chance to let loose or sneak around beyond the few clandestine high school encounters I'd joked about with Caleb.

I headed straight to Caleb's after parking because if I went into Eric's house, the chance of being waylaid by teens or friends was far too great.

I wanted Caleb, professional and personal risks be damned, and I broke into a brisk trot on the early-morning walk to his little pink rental house. I arrived on his doorstep at almost the same instant as him.

"Hey." He unlocked the door, ushering me inside. His expression was uncertain, gaze shifting, hands moving restlessly, almost as if he'd expected me to ghost him.

"Cute place," I said for lack of anything better to say to reassure him. While small, the living space had a welcoming feel with a khaki slip-covered couch, an older recliner, and bookcases filled with some sci-fi titles I recognized and a popular action thriller series.

"It was close to the school and cheap." Caleb shrugged. "Scotty says it's too tiny."

"It's cozy. Way bigger than a lot of barracks quarters I had over the years." Another time, I could see myself enjoying hanging out here, talking books and movies. I gestured at the framed prints on the wall near the TV. "And you've got some actual decor going."

"Thanks. Garage sale finds and my mom's basement, but I tried to make it homey for Scotty."

"I get that." My chest suffered an unfamiliar pinch. Caleb was trying so damn hard for an uncertain—and likely ungrateful—reward. "But Scotty isn't the only one who deserves a nice place."

"How well is taking your own advice working for you?" Caleb shot me a pointed look like he knew exactly how little effort I'd put into making a home for myself over the years.

"Not very," I admitted. "Right now, I'm staying in what used to be the primary bedroom at Eric's with a hodgepodge of bedding, gaps where pictures used to hang, and walls an odd shade of avocado. I've got no clue what my own taste would even look like."

"Ha." Caleb's blue eyes sparkled. Now that the door was locked and we were making mundane small talk, he'd visibly relaxed. "You need to flex your imagination more."

"Among other things," I drawled while putting some heat into my gaze, reminding us of the real reason for my early-morning visit."

"Dick dying from underuse lately?" Caleb chuckled as he stepped closer to stand directly in front of me.

"Ha." I laughed at the assumption that my cock ever got around. "You're the most action I've seen in years."

A slow smile crept across his face. "I like knowing that."

He draped his arms around my neck, kissing me softly before steering me toward a short hallway off one side of the living area.

"No making out on the couch?" I asked the question in large part to watch his pale skin blush. He was fun to rile up.

"Nope. Better not start anything out in the open in case Scotty changes his mind about working." He led me to an open door. "My room."

"Nice. It's cozy like the rest of the place." I didn't have to fake admiring the space. "Welcoming."

The room had pale peach walls in keeping with the house's pink scheme, but the space managed a friendly rather than overtly feminine vibe. Caleb had a queen bed without a headboard, but he had hung a colorful tapestry behind the bed, and the brightly striped comforter further added color and energy to the room. A pile of folded T-shirts sat on the dresser while a heap of books was precariously stacked near a bedside lamp on a low table.

"Welcoming. That's funny. You're my first guest here." He grinned as he flicked the doorknob lock. A family photo sat on the mismatched dresser with a lively watercolor above it. Catching me looking, Caleb gestured at the print. "Another yard sale find."

"You're good at that."

"I'm good at lots." Caleb gave me a surprisingly sultry look as he stripped off his T-shirt. Like me, he'd showered and changed out of uniform at the end of his shift, shirt still so fresh I caught a whiff of his detergent.

"You are." I followed his lead and pulled my shirt off. I was far more interested in watching Caleb, however. I'd seen tons of naked guys in locker rooms around the world, but this was the first time I could really look. Caleb was shorter than me and slightly stockier, a thick build with muscled thighs and arms. No matter his disdain for sports, he clearly spent time in the gym.

His blond hair was matched by pale nipples and faint fuzz across his pecs. He had a few freckles, enough to make me want to play connect-the-dots with my tongue. As he shimmied out of his jeans and briefs, I dropped my gaze to admire the blond bush around his cock. Yeah, I liked being able to look my fill. My mouth watered with the memory of sucking him. Never would have expected how much I loved that particular act.

"Gonna show me something else you're good at?" My voice was more tease than sultry invitation, but Caleb's eyes still heated, a flush spreading across his chest as that tasty cock of his pulsed harder.

"Depends." He winked as he stepped closer. "What are you in the mood for this morning?"

"You." I hoped that would be answer enough, but all it earned me was an eye roll.

"I'm vers." Caleb clearly had no issue verbalizing his own wants. "And I'd be down to get fucked if you want to try topping."

"I'm not sure what I am." I squinted as if thinking hard would help me gain a better queer sex vocabulary. "Is that weird?"

"Nope. And the neat thing is, what you're into can change over time. I've gone through phases where I prefer to top, others where I just wanna get fucked, and some long stretches of finding fucking too much work, especially for casual hookups."

"Ah." I tilted my head, considering a vision of Caleb bent over, splayed open for me, taking my cock. I sucked in a breath. "I could try topping."

"Good."

"You'll have to show me what to do." I hesitated, fingers on my boxer brief waistband. "I don't want to hurt you."

I meant the words on multiple levels, physical, of course, but I was also well aware of our messy friendship, not unlike that bedside pile of books, poised to collapse at any moment, taking our emotions along for the fall.

"You won't." Caleb chuckled as he sank to his knees and pulled down my boxers. He licked across my cockhead. My cock had flagged a bit with all the talking, but it sprang back to life in a hurry as he leisurely licked. "And I'll happily give you pointers on fucking."

"Shouldn't I be doing that to you?" I gazed down at him, caught somewhere between arousal and guilt. I was here in part to try to distract him from a bad shift, and also, it seemed like there should be rules around topping in terms of who did what.

"First tip. There is no should." Caleb dragged a finger along the length of my shaft. "And we have all morning, hopefully. No need for speed."

"It is odd not having to worry about getting caught." My dick pulsed with the memory of our last few encounters.

"I think you have a kink for semi-public sex." Caleb swiped at my cock with his tongue, making the throbbing that much worse. "But if it helps, I truly doubt Scotty makes it a full day of work. Could be home any moment." My cock gave a very visible twitch at Caleb's obvious acting job. "Yeah, you like risk."

"And the neighbors are awfully close by. We should be quiet." I shivered, getting into this game. "Your walls look thin."

"You're cute when you let yourself get silly." Caleb gazed up at me with decidedly fond eyes.

"I'm forty-two. Way past cute." My protest didn't carry much weight, especially when he resumed sucking and I groaned.

"Nah. You're cute." Chuckling, he rose back to stand in front of me, giving me a swift kiss on the mouth. "Deal. You can't be scary all the time."

"But some of the time?" I wheedled, totally unused to this teasing side of myself.

"Some of the time." Caleb gave me a long, indulgent kiss before steering me toward his bed. A few more kisses and my knees threatened to give way, so I tumbled us onto the bed. We landed with him draped over my torso, the best blanket I'd ever had, warm and weighty.

With the luxury of time finally on our side, we traded lazy kisses and long caresses. I was hard, and so was Caleb, but neither of us seemed in any hurry to get to the fucking. The longer we kissed and touched, the more my nerves subsided, but I still had my share of first-time worries.

"How do I know if you're ready?" I asked between kisses. I wanted to be what he needed this morning on so many levels, most of which I didn't want to think too hard about.

Caleb released a hearty chuckle. "I tell you."

Rising onto his knees, he rooted in the bedside table drawer before producing a bottle of lube, which he tossed next to us. He held up a condom.

"Your call. We're both tested, and I've been on PrEP a few years now as well."

"I've never skipped it." I dug my teeth into my lower lip, practicality warring with the heated image of slipping into Caleb with nothing between us. "But I kind of want to try going bare."

"Excellent choice." He grinned down at me with a feral glint in his eyes before he kissed me again. The leisurely vibe was replaced with something far more urgent. I gripped his hips tightly until he ground down on me with even more delicious pressure than when he'd straddled me in the truck. He fucked his tongue into my mouth, a hot, dirty rhythm punctuated by low moans when I sucked hard on each retreating stroke. "Damn. Now. Definitely now." He picked up the bottle of lube. "You want me to prep us?"

"Please." I liked the way he'd asked casually, considering my dislike of sticky fingers without making a huge deal and also using us effortlessly, underscoring our connection.

"I've got you." Waggling his eyebrows, he made a playful show of generously lubing my cock with long strokes of his talented hands. Rising back onto his knees, he reached behind himself, demonstrating impressive flexibility, but I was more concerned with what I couldn't quite see.

"Spin," I demanded. "I wanna watch."

"Oh, you like to show off and watch both." Caleb shook his head, pretend censure lacing his tone. He really did have my number. He spun slowly, wiggling his ass as he reversed his straddle. Slowly working himself open, he teased his rim with two fingers, starting shallow but going deeper until he was moaning and swaying.

"Can you come that way?" I was genuinely curious. And also hard as fuck from watching him fuck himself on his fingers. I had a rough understanding of the prostate as an erogenous zone, but Caleb's lusty moans and enthusiastic movements certainly upped the appeal of ass play.

"Just from fingering?" Caleb gave a strained laugh. "Nah. But if I'm getting fucked by fingers or a cock, add a hand on my dick, and sure, I'll come like a firehose."

"Noted." I joined his laughter, loving his corny firefighter joke. But the more he played, the more I really wanted to join the fun. "Can we do it in this position?"

"Reverse cowboy?" Caleb rose higher on his knees, withdrawing his fingers to instead position himself above my eager cock. "Absolutely. And hey, look at that."

He gestured across the room to a set of double closet doors, one of which had a mirror in the center, giving me a side view of his face and torso.

"Wow. I love that closet door." I was past the point of being able to laugh, my breath coming in little gasps as I anticipated him lowering any second now.

"Bless the previous renters." Caleb reached back, steadying my cock as he finally took pity on me and started using my cock to tease his rim. His legs brushed my hips, and it said something about how far gone I was that even his fuzzy calves and working-man feet were sexy.

"And how." I was torn between watching pleasure flicker across his face and the erotic display of my cock entering his ass. The way his rim stretched was sexy as hell, but so was the way he bit his lower lip and panted. "God. Can't watch, or I'll come."

"Not. Yet." He grunted the instruction as he started to move in earnest, sliding up and back, bearing down a little to find the angle he wanted, then moaning. "Oh my God, that's good."

"Yeah, it is." I clutched the edge of the bed, fingers digging in hard to try to hold back the urge to come. He rocked against me faster, each stroke another shockwave of pleasure. His ass was tight and hot and slick, but it was his noises and myriads of expressions on his face that kept me on the edge. Damn. I couldn't be the first to come. Remembering what he'd said, I shifted so I could reach around to stroke his cock. "This okay?"

"More than. And don't be bashful. You know how I like it."

I did indeed know by now, only a few encounters in, that Caleb liked tight friction and plenty of it. And I liked knowing his body, knowing how to give him what he needed to feel good. Making him come was already one of my favorite things in the world, and I couldn't wait to do it with him on my cock.

"You good if I go fast?" he asked conversationally as if I wasn't dying for that very thing.

"Please." I groaned, spurring him on with my free hand. "I'll try to keep up."

"You better." He offered me a saucy smile over his shoulder.

Still grinning, Caleb rode me hard and fast, up and back down hard with a little moan, then up again until I was riding that edge, body tensing.

"Trying. To. Last," I panted.

"That close?" Caleb's smug tone would have earned a laugh had I not been in near physical pain from holding back my orgasm. "Damn. I do good work."

"You do." I squished my eyes shut, system overloaded. Watching his face was almost too much. "Come on, Caleb, tell me how to get you there."

"I'm…close." He released a breathy shudder. "Love how you're holding my hip. Jack me harder."

I followed his instruction, fingers digging into his hipbones, pulling slightly to provide a counterpoint that made him moan louder as I stroked him fast.

"There." He went even harder than I'd thought possible, all strength and fury, muscles on full display as his back flexed. He ground down with a shout, spurting over my fist.

"I feel it." I gasped as his ass clenched my cock tightly. The spasms were like nothing I'd expected, and I thrust up, a few erratic movements all it took to join him in coming. Some orgasms were like waves, while others were more like mountain summits, but this one was a monster truck rally—bright lights, loud roar, thick air, and a rush of adrenaline.

I struggled to breathe as the aftershocks pulsed through me, hard shudders as my pulse took forever to calm down. In fact, I was still panting as Caleb found a towel from somewhere and carefully cleaned my hand before I could really register the come coating my fist.

"Wow. Just wow." He flopped down next to me. "Wanna nap here, or should we not risk it?"

"We shouldn't." I groaned because leaving was the last thing I wanted to do. However, it was the smartest. Considering how little I used my brain where Caleb was concerned, I really needed to heed the niggling feeling that if I slept there, I might not move for a week.

"Better get up then." He gave me a playful shove, but his eyes were solemn. "And I'd say we can't keep doing this, but I'm already counting down until next time."

"Same."

And as I walked back to Eric's, darting down the alleyway to be less obvious, all I could think about were the things I wanted to do with Caleb. Surprisingly, not all of my thoughts were about sex. I had a growing list of places I couldn't wait to share, which should have been alarming but instead was exhilarating.