High Heat

by Annabeth Albert

  “Can you come from this?”

  “Maybe.” Rain rocked his hips more deliberately now. “Never done it hands free... Fuck. Need to touch.”

  One hand still holding the toy in place, Rain started stroking his cock in earnest. Batting his hand away, Garrick wrapped the discarded silky underwear around his shaft and slowly stroked, making sure his thumb grazed the exposed tip on each upstroke.

  “Okay, you keep that up and it’s going to be over fast.” Little beads of sweat appeared on his forehead as Rain breathed hard.

  “You like that?” Taking a quick second to turn up the vibrations and rotation, Garrick jacked him faster now.

  “Ung. No fair. No fair.” Flailing, Rain bent forward, bracing a hand on Garrick’s chest. The pressure of his hand felt almost electric, making tingles radiate down Garrick’s arms. Getting Rain to shoot all over him became his new number one goal, and he stroked faster, until Rain’s eyes drifted closed. His breath came in harsh pants. “God. More. Like that.”

  “That’s it, baby. Let go. Let it feel good.” Toying with the vibration level again, Garrick put it on a pulsing pattern.

  “I think...oh man. Almost too much.”

  “You can take it,” Garrick encouraged. Abs tight and neck straining, Rain was shuddering now. He had to be close, and simply knowing that excited Garrick to new heights.

  “Think I’m...oh fuck. Yes. Need to come. Now.”

  “Do it. Come for me.” He barely got the words out before Rain was coming with a shout, painting Garrick’s chest with creamy stripes as his orgasm seemed to go on and on. Finally, he pulled away, collapsing next to Garrick as he withdrew the toy.

  “You have to try that at some point. Never come so hard in my life.” Rain was half panting, half laughing as he struggled to catch his breath.

  “That’s awesome. And you are so fucking beautiful when you come.” Merely the memory of Rain’s sounds had Garrick needing to resume stroking himself. Felt good, being this hard, this tense and ready. Letting Rain go first had absolutely been a brilliant idea.

  “Oh, yeah. Do that.” Rain snuggled in close, licking Garrick’s neck as he danced his fingers down his arms, making the tingles in those locations that much more intense. Rolling away long enough to find the egg vibrator, Rain captured his mouth in a blistering kiss while touching the vibrator to his arms and pecs. Tension gathered in Garrick’s limbs, arms going almost too rigid to keep stroking, but he couldn’t stop, not now.

  “I’m close,” he panted against Rain’s mouth.

  “That’s right.” Rain pinched one of his nipples while vibrating the other, mouth finding Garrick’s collarbone. He was everywhere Garrick needed him to be, and the buzz from the vibe seemed to be everywhere too, snaking throughout him as his muscles tensed even more.

  “Fuck. What are you...” Whatever he’d been about to ask died on a moan as Rain raked his teeth across Garrick’s shoulder. “Yes. That. Right...there...”

  And then he was coming, hard, almost painful waves of pleasure as everything went hot and tight and impossibly good before rendering him spent and shaking with the aftermath of it.

  “You weren’t...kidding. Nothing...that intense.” He pulled Rain up for a kiss, trying to regain control over his brain while continuing to wallow in how damn good it felt.

  “Fabulous. I’m investing in fifty more of these things.” Rain set the egg vibe aside as his finger idly trailed through their mingled come on Garrick’s chest. “You shot, but it sounded almost like it hurt.”

  “Did a little. Weird.” The shooting had been an unexpected bonus, another level to the orgasmic sensations. It didn’t happen every climax anymore, but when it did, he noticed it more now, the pleasant ache in his balls, the receding tension in his abs, the increased sensitivity of his cockhead. It was all wonderful, and he struggled with how to explain it. “My muscles get more tense right before, almost painful as it hits, but it’s a good hurt. Deep. And then more limp after. Like an hour in a hot tub relaxed. So good.”

  “I’m so glad. And see? Meds are awesome.” Rain kissed his cheek.

  “Pretty sure that was more you than the pill, but yeah, I’m maybe a convert.” As much as he wanted to praise Rain, he had to admit it had been nice, not worrying about the erection disappearing and whether it was the pill or the situation or both—the intense climax and getting to share that with Rain had been more than worth any hassle over the meds.

  “Me too. That and I’m now a believer in pricey toys. Damn. I’m not comatose, but it’s a close thing.”

  “Good.” Garrick held him close, blood still thrumming, both with the aftermath of what they’d done and new ideas for getting Rain even more worn out.

  “You hang tight and I’m going to clean up and grab you a towel.” Rolling away from him, Rain released a huge yawn. “It cool if I crash here awhile?”

  “As long as you want.” And wasn’t that the truth. There was no one, absolutely no one, he could think of whom he’d rather share this experience with. It wasn’t simply sex and it wasn’t merely getting back something he’d lost. It was deeper. More connected. Shared. Like a journey they got to go on together, exploring and discovering and drawing closer together. He knew full well it was dangerous, getting attached to Rain, getting used to him being here, but hell if he could pull back now.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Fisher? Rain? Dude! You awake?” One of Rain’s fellow entry-level forest technicians snapped him out of a pleasant fog where he’d been reviewing his entire underwear collection, trying to decide what to wear next time he and Garrick were likely to fool around. Not today, though. This controlled burn project called for long hours for both of them, and Rain would be out here most of the rest of the week on cleanup duty with his crew. He needed to pace himself, and Garrick did too. He’d be lucky to sneak in a few workouts and Cookie’s exercise time, let alone another lengthy sex fest. Luckily, he had his memories of their weekend keeping him warm and far from bored as he waited for their next assigned task. They’d been digging fireline most of the day in preparation for the controlled burn and were nominally on a break, hence the daydreaming.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m here.” He pulled at the collar of his forest service shirt, which he wore over a plain black T-shirt. As hot as he found other people in uniforms, he couldn’t wait to peel off his yellow and green duds later and get into something truly comfortable. Like purple lace...

  No. Couldn’t be thinking about sexy times while trying to carry on a conversation with a guy who looked ready to audition for a farmer-of-the-month calendar, an earnest young guy with a clean-cut appearance and can-do attitude who blushed every time someone said a curse word.

  “Boss wanted to see you.” The guy spoke over Rain’s shoulder like eye contact might be more than he could muster.

  “I’m on it.” Rain strode over to where his crew chief was standing with a couple of the more senior members of their group.

  “Good work today, Fisher.” O’Connor, the crew chief, was an older woman who’d been with the forest service a long time and was now in charge of all the new forest techs Ryland had hired. “I’ve noticed...”

  Hell. Here they went. What had she noticed? He hadn’t worn nail polish since starting the workout regimen with Garrick, was wearing strictly regulation clothing, and had every last strand of hair up inside his helmet. “Yeah?”

  “Oh, nothing bad. Only that you love the tech. Anytime some new piece of equipment comes out, you get a shine to your eyes. I was thinking Bosler here could train you to be our backup radio person.”

  “Yeah, I could do that.” Working the walkie-talkies and sat phones sounded awesome, especially because it meant that he might get to hear Garrick’s voice sooner than at the end of the day.

  “Good. Bosler will show you the ropes.” O’Connor left him with Bosler, who started by showing him the variety of de
vices he was carrying. Bosler was retirement age, a former smoke jumper well versed in radio work and dispatch duties, who’d come back to do some hand crew and forest management work part-time.

  “The key is keeping track of all the chatter, deciding what the boss needs to know right away and what can wait a second,” Bosler explained. “And also knowing who to call for what when the boss needs to get a message out in a hurry. The burn boss is setting up for ignition now, with senior hotshot crews in position as well as the hand crews that have been digging line all day. Dispatch will be waiting to hear that we’re ready.”

  “Got it.”

  “Well, go on then.” Bosler handed him the radio. “Tell Dispatch our status.”

  Okay. Maybe this was weirder than he’d thought because he couldn’t exactly warn Garrick that it was him, and he didn’t particularly want to reveal their close friendship to Bosler right off.

  “Headquarters? This is hand crew four-five-one reporting line is complete from anchor point to anchor point.”

  “That’s good, four-five-one. We’re expecting ignition soon.” Garrick’s voice was warm, and if he recognized Rain, he wasn’t saying. It was nice, though, having him on the other end of the radio. Reassuring as the big blaze was about to head their way. This was a first for Rain, being this close to a wildfire, even an intentional one. As the blaze approached, another fire would be ignited inside the firelines they’d dug, both blazes hopefully meeting and burning each other out without crossing any fireline or causing hotspots to flare up outside the designated area. They would stay back while the burn occurred, letting more experienced personnel manage the containment of the blaze, but then they’d move in to clean up and look for hotspots.

  Working with Bosler, he relayed more information to Garrick as needed, taking messages back to the boss as well. It was far more interesting than standing around and waiting for the action to get started. And it was kind of neat, working with Garrick in this way, listening to him juggle information incoming from various crews and make decisions alongside Ryland as to who needed to be where in advance of ignition and after the blaze was underway. It reminded him of town-hall-style meetings at the community growing up, lots of details and ideas flying around and the need to pay close attention to keep up. Too bad he didn’t have his knitting to keep him focused.

  But what he did have was people counting on him, the crew chief and his fellow workers, and the time before ignition passed quicker now that he had a purpose. After all the hours of prep work and all the logistics that went into planning, the actual burn was over relatively quickly, a fact he marveled at much later when he was driving an exhausted Garrick back home.

  “It was so fast.”

  “The real deal is often even faster moving—whole towns gone in a matter of minutes. That’s fire. And that’s why we do the controlled burns, so we have some say in how and when it happens.”

  “Yeah. You were great today. Hearing you...that was so cool. You’re good at this.”

  “Eh. It’s just a summer job, you know?” Garrick didn’t seem to want the praise, but he really was good at the job, and Rain was sure he wasn’t the only one who had noticed.

  It was late enough that Garrick’s dad had been enlisted to walk Cookie after he closed up at his shop, and his truck was still there when they pulled into Garrick’s drive.

  “Heck,” Garrick muttered. “There goes my plan of asking if you wanted to shower here.”

  “It’s okay,” Rain assured him as he exited the SUV.

  “I’ve got that.” Garrick’s dad met him at the back of the SUV, removing the wheelchair before Rain could. To Garrick, he said, “Dog seemed lonely, so I stuck around, made you a chili for dinner.”

  “Thanks. See you later, Rain.” Garrick sounded both grateful and tired, and Rain should have been glad he had his dad for help, but in actuality he was feeling a bit summarily dismissed. And he’d become rather used to being the one walking Cookie and fussing over Garrick, so much that he missed it. His grandma had a pan of vegetarian enchiladas waiting for him, though, so he couldn’t simply head to his room to sulk.

  “How about we don’t tell your mom I used real Monterey Jack?” She laughed as she made him a plate. She’d eaten earlier, but she settled herself opposite him with a big mug of herbal tea. “And you’re back earlier than I expected. No dog walking? Or canoodling?”

  He had to snort at that. “Garrick’s dad is there. So no.”

  “Might be good, an evening on your own.” She nodded sagely. “Do some laundry, watch a movie with me? You can work on those socks I’m not supposed to know about until next month.”

  “Yeah. I guess.” Then, realizing he sounded rather petty, he forced himself to swallow back his emo mood. “Sorry. I’m happy to spend time with you. Guess I’ve been wrapped up in Garrick, huh?”

  “Not that that’s a bad thing.” She brushed her gray hair off her forehead with dye-stained hands. “But some space...that’s healthy too. Especially since neither of you are exactly the settling-down type. You’re a wanderer with itchy feet and he’s a player with a roving eye. But it’s a cute summer fling, as long as no one gets hurt.”

  “Yeah,” he said weakly. Grandma wasn’t wrong. But it still turned his dinner to toxic sludge in his belly, made him push the plate away.

  As long as no one gets hurt. Her words kept echoing in his brain as he showered and ran a load of laundry and sat through a comedy about a group of senior citizens running a hotel, churning out more rows of the sock to avoid ruminating too much on that assumption. Did he need to pull back? Should they cool it off after going hot and heavy so fast? Was he asking for a broken heart? And God knew that the last thing he wanted was to dole pain out. Hurting Garrick would suck.

  Maybe Grandma was right and space was good. But then as he was getting ready for bed, his phone dinged.

  Lying here wondering what you changed into. Sorry for the fast exit. Would have rather eaten with you TBH.

  Rain couldn’t help smiling to his empty bedroom. Funny how a single message could relax him so thoroughly, chase those pointless anxieties away.

  No sexy panties, sorry. But I am wearing your favorite pony T-shirt. And no problem. I understand. You need time with your dad too.

  He used the wait for a reply to put away his laundry in drawers, suitcases now empty and neatly stacked in the corner. Eventually he’d need them again, but until then he wasn’t going to get caught up in worries he was giving too much of himself. Holding back simply wasn’t his style.

  Darn. Was hoping for a sexy pic ;) LOL. JK. Hoping you get some rest. Tomorrow is a shorter day for me, so I’m going to make a stuffed pepper recipe and have it ready when you get off work. I’ll make enough in case Shirley wants to come too.

  See? That was sweet. And it was impossible to hold back with a guy that sweet who pushed himself to make vegetarian food for Rain, who was nice to his grandma, who made it clear over and over that it wasn’t simply about a sexual connection for him. They were friends. Friends who cared. And hell if Rain could turn that off simply because of a risk of future pain.

  * * *

  “Damn weather, fucking with all my plans,” Garrick complained to Rain as he got settled in the SUV. Rain’s workday had been cut short as well, skies opening up and hindering all the mop-up efforts his crew had been engaged in. The past few days, they’d had limited time alone together, and Garrick had been looking forward to a nice long outing with Cookie and Rain. Being outside would help with this cooped-up feeling he kept having. Even though the controlled burn had been challenging, it had still meant long hours in one place for him. But now high winds and precipitation meant another long night of trying to find something worth watching. “I’m so bored of being bored.”

  “But luckily, you have me.” Rain gave him an indulgent smile, apparently not going to let Garrick’s bad attitude get him down. “And I am fu
ll of good ideas.”

  “That you are,” Garrick had to admit. And honestly, sex wouldn’t be a terrible plan B for the night either—getting Rain off in some new and creative way could go a long way to jump-starting his mood. “Okay, surprise me.”

  But sex didn’t seem to be Rain’s highest priority as he arrived back at Garrick’s after his shower in comfortable sweats, a rain jacket, and toting a big bag. He didn’t look like a person dying to get laid, and indeed, after a fast walk for Cookie while Garrick got the towels ready, he produced a large rectangular box from his bag.

  “We’re playing a board game?”

  “Not just any board game. Remember how my parents limited TV? We’re playing the game that has produced years-long sibling grudges in my house. Epic battles. Brother against brother violence. Entire chore regimes hung in the balance over this game, man, and when I saw it at Grandma’s in a closet, I knew it would be the perfect distraction for you. And then after I kick your butt at the game, we’re going to watch this not-half-bad movie she had me watch earlier in the week, only I’m going to teach you how to knit during it so you can gain two new boredom-busting hobbies tonight.”

  “I thought we agreed when you tried to show me the sock thing that my hands are too big?”

  “No, you said your hands were too big. I heard your complaints and raided Grandma’s craft room for some bigger needles and chunky yarn. You’ll be fine,” Rain said airily, as if Garrick had a burning desire to craft and he was doing him a favor, making that happen.

  “I’m not sure...”

  “Grandma sent cookies.” That got a woof from the actual Cookie lurking nearby, making them both laugh before Rain continued, “You must have impressed her with the stuffed peppers if she was motivated to bake for you. And I’m only sharing if you give this a try.” Rain started setting up the board game on Garrick’s dining table.