Chapter Eighteen

As they stood on the rocks overlooking the quarry, Dev was mesmerized by the play of sunlight on Casey's hair, the way it brought out hidden glints of gold and copper amid the brown, like hidden treasure.

"Is this the quarry where the marble for the Home sidewalks came from?" Casey asked.

"Yep." Dev leaned closer, catching a whiff of citrus and vanilla, like a tender and perfect Summer Kitchen delicacy. Casey on the menu. Mouthwatering. "Stopped producing back in the Sixties when it started to fill with water. Now it's kind of the town swimming hole. The first chilly—and extremely brief—swim in spring is like a rite of passage for every kid in Home."

"Yeah?" Casey grinned up at him, eyes widening at how close Dev's face was to his. "You ever go skinny dipping up here?"

Dev leaned closer. "What do you think?"

The sun picked out more buried treasure in Casey's eyes. "I think I'd pay big money to see that."

"I'd give you the show, free of charge, except we've got a picnic awaiting us and by the time we're done eating, the mosquitos will be out in force. One day, though. When you're free in the middle of the day when the rocks are warm and the sun has dried up all the mosquito-spawning puddles."

"In the middle of the day?" Casey's tone was a nice blend of scandalized and thrilled.

Dev shrugged. "Everyone around here knows the quarry is clothing optional." He winked. "We'll both take the plunge."

"Damn it, Dev." Casey winced and shifted from foot to foot. "Now you've put that picture in my head, and these shorts are way too tight to accommodate a hard-on."

"I don't know." Dev glanced down at Casey's groin, which sported a substantial bulge behind his fly. "I'd say they're accommodating it very nicely indeed."

At the sight, Dev's cock naturally responded in kind. Do we really need to eat? But then he remembered: This is a date. A real date. And Casey deserved to have somebody care for him, not take the first opportunity to grope him.

He nodded at the spot under the biggest maple, in the shade, but with a clear view of the sunlit rocks and the water glinting below. "We'll set up over there for our picnic."

"You, Dev Harrison, are a cruel and unusual man."

Dev winked again. "You'll eat those words once you taste Sylvia's spanakopita." He leaned closer and murmured in Casey's ear. "And once you find out what I've got in mind for dessert."

Casey grabbed Dev's elbow. "What are you waiting for? Let's go."

Throughout the meal, Dev somehow kept from pouncing on Casey. Instead, he restricted himself to random touches and brushes of skin—no more than hand to hand, hand to knee, and once, as they were getting the insect netting hung from an overhead branch, hand to cheek when he'd brushed a mosquito away before it could land on Casey's face.

"That food was… wow." Casey lay back on the blanket and peered up at the leaves through the screen of white netting.

"Another strawberry?" Dev swiped the berry through Kat's chocolate sauce and dipped it in whipped cream. Then he rolled to his side, braced on one elbow, and dangled the fruit over Casey's mouth by its stem. "Come on. You know you want to."

Casey gave him a mock scowl. "We really need to discuss this compulsion you have about tempting me with fruit." He bit into the berry with his strong white teeth, a drop of juice escaping to glisten on his lower lip. "Mmmm."

"Just a minute. You've got a…" Dev leaned down, keeping his gaze fixed on Casey's, and darted his tongue out to capture the drop. "Mmmm is right."

"Dev."

The way Casey said his name, throaty and edged with need, snapped Dev's self control. Fuck strawberries. Fuck chocolate. Fuck whipped cream. He dove down and devoured Casey's mouth, the most delectable treat of all.

Casey met the onslaught, wrapping his arms around Dev's neck and pulling himself up to plaster their chests together, welcoming Dev's tongue with a stroke and slide of his own, his moan sending a spike straight down Dev's spine to land in his balls. The semi Dev had been sporting through the whole fucking meal sprang to full extension so fast he was dizzy.

Although maybe the dizziness was all because of Casey.

Casey pulled out of the kiss with a gasp. "Will we get arrested for public indecency if you fuck me here?" He nibbled delicately on Dev's collarbone. "Because I really want to get on my hands and knees for you right now."

Dev groaned, his dick throbbing. "Christ, Casey." He buried his face in Casey's neck and inhaled. "Don't tempt me."

"Why not?" Casey nipped his way up Dev's throat, but before he reached Dev's mouth, he stopped and pulled back. "Oh. I forgot. It would probably be pretty embarrassing for the town manager to get caught dick deep in some guy in public, huh?"

Dev cradled Casey's cheek in one palm. "For one thing, if I get ousted from office, I won't cry a single tear. But you're not just some guy. You're important. You matter. And I would never expose you to that kind of embarrassment."

"I don't mind a little… exposure." Casey let go of Dev's neck and grabbed the hem of his Tooth of Crime T-shirt, stripping it off and tossing it aside to land on top of the picnic basket. "Now you."

Dev frowned down at him. "Are you sure?"

"Exactly how much traffic does this spot get?"

"Not much, to be honest, especially not at this time of day."

"Then do it." Casey snapped his fingers. "Come on. I've been dreaming about your naked chest since I saw it that first time."

Dev grinned. "Really? Is dreaming all that you do?"

"If you're asking whether I wank off at the memory, I plead the Fifth."

"That's good enough for me." Dev reached behind his head to grab the neck of his T-shirt and yanked, sending it after Casey's once he'd freed his arms.

"Oh," Casey breathed, his hands hovering over Dev's pecs. "May I?"

"If you don't, I might spontaneously combust."

Then Casey's hands, so soft, so gentle, were on Dev's skin, tracing a path from the hollow in his throat to his navel, tracking each rib from spine to belly, circling his nipples with tortuous gentleness.

"I'm not made of glass," Dev said through clenched teeth. "You can be a little more forceful."

Casey shifted his gaze from Dev's chest to his face, eyes glinting and lips quirked. "You want that, do you?"

"With you?" Dev met that gaze, although his own was probably full of naked longing, not mischief. "I want everything."

"Oh, god." Casey clenched his eyes shut. "I may come in my shorts."

"I know how to fix that." Dev ran his hand down Casey's side and slid his finger under his waistband. He popped the fly button. "Take 'em off."

"God, yes." Casey unzipped and wriggled out of his shorts and briefs, wincing a little as he shoved them lower and kicked them off.

"Something wrong?"

"There's a rock poking my ass."

"Can't have that." Dev slipped his hands under Casey and rolled so he was on the bottom and Casey was straddling his hips. "Nothing can poke your ass except me." To suit actions to words, he trailed a finger down Casey's crease to tease his hole.

"Ungh." Casey canted his hips up, chasing more pressure, but Dev lifted his hand.

"No. Not without lube. I know it's been a long time for you, and I won't hurt you."

Casey glared at him. "Sadist." He sat up, resting on Dev's thighs, studying him speculatively, head to one side. "Want to risk getting caught with your pants down?"

In answer, Dev unbuckled his belt, unzipped his own fly, and raised his hips. Casey grinned and tucked his hands inside Dev's briefs. He didn't strip Dev's shorts all the way off, though. Instead, he pulled them low enough to let Dev's cock spring free.

"Oh my goodness." Casey licked his lips. "You can bring that on a picnic with me anytime." He leaned down and teased the slit with the tip of his tongue.

"Now who's a sadist?" Dev growled. "Get my damn pants off, Casey. I want to feel you on top of me."

Casey didn't comply immediately—he licked a broad stripe up Dev's length with the flat of his tongue first—but at last they were both naked. Dev opened his arms and Casey settled against him in the cradle of Dev's legs, chest to chest, their cocks snugged next to each other between their hips.

With Casey gazing down into his eyes, his expression soft, his full lips parted, Dev couldn't breathe. Had anyone ever fit so well against him? Had anyone ever felt this perfect? Had anyone ever looked at him with that much warmth, as though he was the only thing that mattered?

The answer, of course, was no. To all of the above.

And if Casey hadn't undulated his hips, sliding his cock against Dev's in delicious friction, that answer would have sent Dev screaming straight off the rocks and into the water. Because if he said yes to Casey, to whatever this was that was between them—gah! Other than their cocks—then he'd be saying no to his family, his responsibilities, his home.

Because Casey would be leaving. And if Dev wanted to say yes, he'd have to follow.

Casey's thrusts grew more frantic. "Dev. I'm close," he panted.

Despite his doubts, Dev couldn't help responding, flexing his own hips in time with Casey's, heat growing, building, throbbing, until with Casey's strangled cry and the burst of wet heat between their bellies, the spark ignited and Dev roared his release, the sound echoing across the quarry and startling a jay out of the tree above them with an indignant squawk.

Casey uttered a contented little chirrup that arrowed straight to Dev's heart and lodged there, feathers quivering, until it dissipated in warmth that spread from his middle to the tips of his fingers and toes. Somehow, we can make it work. Because this—this feeling, this moment, this man? Dev refused to give any of this up.

"Casey?"

"Hmmm?" Casey nestled closer, tucking his face against Dev's neck.

"Do you think—" An insistent buzz from Dev's discarded shorts made him wince. "Shit. That's the high priority town business email notification. I have to check it."

Casey raised up on his elbows and stroked Dev's cheek. "I understand. You've got duties."

"Hey." He captured Casey's hand before he could pull away. "That doesn't mean our date is over. If you're game, I'd like to continue it. Tonight. At my place." He kissed Casey with a tease of tongue. "In my bed. Maybe we can explore that hands and knees scenario."

Casey brightened. "Really?"

"Absolutely." He sat up, keeping Casey cradled in his lap. "There are wet wipes in the picnic basket, although I expect Kat thought they'd be for our hands, post dinner."

"Hello, have you met Kat? I'm pretty sure she had a good idea how we'd be using them." Nevertheless, Casey scrambled off Dev's lap to dig in the basket.

Dev took a moment to admire the perfect pale globes of Casey's ass before he snagged his shorts and retrieved his phone. He frowned at the message header, recognizing the sender as one of the regular antique fair vendors. After he read the email, he let his hand fall to his lap.

"Here's one for you." Casey held out a wipe with a grin, but his smile faded when he caught Dev's expression. "Dev? Is something wrong?"

Dev set the phone aside and accepted the wipe. "It's nothing. One of the vendors had to pull out of the fair, that's all." As he cleaned himself up, though, ice crept up Dev's spine.

The timing was probably a coincidence, but he couldn't help imagining that the gods of karma had fired a warning shot over his head because he'd committed the unforgiveable sin.

He'd seriously considered leaving Home.