Chapter 34

34

ZACH

I didn't question it when Jason drove us through Taco Bell once we got into Astaire. Nor did I question it when he drove us back to his house and led me inside, carrying the bag of tacos in one hand and my travel bag in the other. I was still wearing shorts and flip-flops, but I barely noticed the cold as we made our way inside. The exhaustion, both mental and physical, over the last twenty-four hours had left me in a state of numbness. I felt like a zombie.

We pounded the tacos sitting at the kitchen island, too tired to make conversation or do anything more than chew one bite after the other. When I nearly fell face-first into the pile of lettuce and taco sauce on my empty wrapper, Jason scooped up our trash, tossed it in the can in the pantry, then took my hand and led me upstairs.

Absently, I noticed the pictures lining the stairway wall. The hodgepodge of mismatched frames held photos of smiling Whitts at various ages and stages. We'd spent more time at my place than his over the summer since I had a more state-of-the-art entertainment system in my basement, but the few times I had been here, I'd been struck by how cozy it was. Warm and lived in rather than cold and sterile. It was evident that this was a family who loved each other.

It wasn't that there wasn't love within my family. It was just that without Mom, we'd forgotten how to express it. Or at least my dad and I had. My mind immediately went to the worst-case scenario, envisioning a life without Drea and what that would mean for my relationship with my father. As I crested the top of the stairs, I shook my head, ruthlessly shoving that thought aside. I had to believe the universe wouldn't take Drea from me too.

We made our way into Jason's room, which had the same cozy quality as the rest of the house, though it was a little more sparsely decorated. Jason was a simple guy and not the type to have posters and pictures everywhere. Though he did have a few team pictures on his shelf next to trophies and other athletic awards.

He crossed to the window and drew the curtains, blocking most of the afternoon sun. He began undressing, pulling off his boots, then undoing his belt and lowering his pants. Under any other circumstances, my dick would have surely taken interest, but as exhausted as I was, the only thing I could think about was sleep. He finished undressing, then pulled back the covers and slid into bed in nothing but his boxer briefs, reaching out a hand to me.

I blinked a couple of times, realizing I had been standing in the doorway the entire time he undressed. Quickly, I toed off my flip-flops, dropped my shorts, and pulled off my hoodie and T-shirt, leaving everything in a messy pile on the floor. I climbed into the bed next to him, rolling onto my side so my back was against his front.

Jason threw the covers over us, then draped his big arm over me and pulled me into his warmth. I sighed at the feel of his hairy chest against my smooth back, burrowing myself into him, enjoying the little cocoon of warmth he'd created for us.

"This okay?" he asked, ever the gentleman.

"Mmm," was all I managed before sleep took me.

I woke with a start, groggy and confused. A weight was draped over me, and I blinked, trying to clear my vision in the dim light of the darkened room. I was in Jason's room, I recalled. A whimper behind me had me rolling to face him, dislodging the arm he'd had across my waist. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see his eyes were scrunched tight and his forehead was creased. The whimpering intensified, along with mumbling I couldn't make sense of, and he began to shake his head back and forth.

"No," he said, a little louder this time. "No. No. No. I have to…" He thrashed, his body jerking back and forth, lost in the throes of a nightmare. One likely based on the trauma he'd witnessed yesterday.

"Jason," I said, shaking his shoulder. "Wake up, baby."

He shook me off. "No!" he shouted. "I have to help them."

I sat up, knowing I would have to get more physical with him if I was going to pull him out of the dream. "Jason," I said, raising my voice in a commanding tone while I pushed him onto his back. He continued to thrash, turning his head this way and that, so I climbed on top of him, straddled his hips, and shook him with both hands. "You have to wake up. Come on, baby. You're dreaming."

He woke with a gasp, eyes bulging and mouth open as he fought for air. Immediately, I leaned over, getting my hands underneath him and laying my torso across his in a fierce hug. "Shh," I crooned into his ear. "You're okay. The girls are okay. It was just a dream."

I continued to whisper words of reassurance in his ear until I felt his pulse steady and his breathing resume a normal pattern. Eventually, his arms came around me, returning the embrace and holding me tight.

Wanting only to offer comfort, I kissed him gently, where his jaw met his ear. I continued trailing kisses across his jawline, his stubble scraping along my lips. When I arrived at his mouth, I kissed one corner, then the other, before placing a gentle kiss in the center, then pulled back to look him in the eyes. "Better?"

He nodded, though his eyes still held a little wildness, telling me fragments of the dream likely still had a hold on him. I pushed forward so I could reach his forehead, placing another kiss in the center, letting my lips linger over the salty taste of his skin. I moved back down, kissing the tip of his nose and then his mouth again.

I brushed a thumb across his lips, then brushed my knuckles lightly across his cheekbone, trying to soothe the fear and worry as best I could. I knew he held guilt for how he'd reacted at the scene and there was nothing I could say to take that away for him. I knew he was scared and worried for his sister like I was for mine. But I thought maybe I could take some of that away, ease it for just a little while.

I bent forward, pressing my lips to his with intention, brushing my tongue against the seam, encouraging him to open for me. He obliged, the tip of his tongue gliding against mine tentatively. Heat shot straight to my dick, just from that tiny bit of contact, and I groaned, slipping my tongue in farther. He opened for me, meeting my tongue with his, this time with more confidence.

I continued my assault on his mouth, pleased when he moved his hands up to my back, rubbing them up and down my skin, sending sparks skittering through my veins. My cock was hard and aching, pressed against his belly, and I could feel his own hardness nestled against the cleft of my ass. Unable to help myself, I rocked back against him, smiling against his lips when he moaned, the deep rumble of it reverberating against my chest. His hands moved lower, one on each ass cheek, kneading the flesh through my boxer briefs. Then he moved those hands back up to my hips and pushed me down the length of his body, causing my erection to rub against his. I thought I might die from the pleasure of it.

There were so many new sensations flooding my body that I wasn't sure how to process them all, but I knew I wanted more. Desperately. I pulled back, moving my lips down to his chest, kissing and licking my way down the center through the patch of hair on his chest and the length of his happy trail. The feel of that hair against my tongue was foreign…and erotic as fuck. What was it Clayton had said? Muscles and a hard body just hit different… He'd failed to mention body hair.

When I arrived at Jason's waistband, I paused. This was new territory. All of this was, really, but crossing this barrier…well, there was no turning back. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been thinking about this, wanting this, ever since I'd gone back to LA, but Jason was demi, and his relationship with sex might be different from mine. And with the long distance, we hadn't had a chance to discuss it.

My eyes flicked up to his, and the look on his face took my breath away. I saw nothing but need , like he wanted to consume me. He'd never looked at me like that before, not even when we'd made out around New Year's Eve. I wasn't sure anyone had ever looked at me like that, like I was a meal they wanted to devour. Still, I had to know for sure. "Are you okay with this?"

"I don't know what exactly you have in mind, but I know I want you. And I trust you."

I smiled ruefully. "I don't have the specifics worked out yet. Kind of running on instinct. Though I may have watched some gay porn. For research purposes." I waggled my eyebrows.

His cock jumped behind his waistband, drawing my focus. I could see a wet spot where he was leaking against the fabric. I wanted to lick it. "Research, huh?" His question pulled my attention back to his face.

"I figured one of us might need to know what we're doing." I quirked a brow.

"How do you know I didn't do the same type of research?"

"Did you?" I shot back, calling his bluff.

His cheeks flushed adorably. "Thought about it. But porn kind of icks me out. I s'pose it's the demi thing?"

"Could be. But I like the idea that you saved this just for me."

He huffed out a breath. "You gonna talk about porn, or are you gonna get on with it?"

I pretended to think about it, but he put an end to that when he started pushing his briefs down on his own. I batted his hands away, wanting the pleasure of unwrapping him myself.

I lowered his waistband slowly. The head of his cock, shiny, flushed, and leaking at the tip, emerged from beneath the fabric, and my heart hammered at the sight. I'd never been this close to another man's dick, had never even thought about another man's cock prior to a month ago, and here I was contemplating whether I wanted to lick it or ride it.

Since it was right there in front of my face, I went with the former, licking from the bottom of the head upward toward the tip, swirling around his slit and lapping up the bead of precum shining for me like a beacon. I savored the salty taste of him, but it was his reaction I enjoyed the most. This guy, usually so stoic and calm, came alive under my touch. He fisted the sheets at his side, and his face was red, his eyes squeezed shut and his jaw clenched as if he were trying to keep himself from losing control.

Challenge accepted.

I pulled the band of his boxer briefs lower, revealing his erection inch by glorious inch until it was entirely free from the fabric, standing proudly in front of me, begging to be licked. I yanked on his underwear, indicating I wanted them all the way off, and he obliged, lifting his hips so I could pull them free. I tossed them on the floor and then returned my attention to the task at hand.

I never knew a dick could be so beautiful. He was long and thick, with a vein running up the front at a slight angle. I leaned forward and licked that vein from root to tip, marveling at the velvety feel of him under my tongue. He moaned then, a sound I thought I'd never get tired of hearing, and I licked him for a second time just to see if he'd moan again. This time the groan turned into a growl, and holy shit, I thought I might come just from the sound of it. My balls were drawn up tight and I was on a hair trigger without even touching myself.

Deciding I better move this along before I embarrassed myself, I took the head into my mouth, swirling my tongue around it before moving lower, taking more of his length into my mouth. When I took as much of him as I could, I pulled back, hollowing my cheeks and applying suction as I did so. I may not have given head before, but I knew what I liked and figured replicating that was the best course of action.

He let go of the sheets in favor of gripping my hair as I took him back into my mouth once again. I continued the action, bobbing up and down on his cock while he whimpered and whined and begged. He was completely incoherent, and I fucking loved it. Loved taking him apart, one stroke at a time.

I picked up the pace, adding my hand to the mix, and with just a few more strokes, he was coming down my throat. I did my best to swallow it down, managing to catch most of it, until I finally felt his body relax into the mattress.

I shoved up to my knees, hastily tugged my own briefs down my thighs, wrapped my hand around my cock, and began to stroke. I didn't even bother with lubrication, knowing this wouldn't take long. With a long grunt, I shot thick ropes of cum all over Jason's belly and spent cock. My vision blurred at the edges, my orgasm relentless, as tremors rocked through my body.

Finally, when I thought my legs might give out, I collapsed, landing half on top of him and half on the bed, the mess I'd made trapped between us.