by L. A. Witt
“Uh-huh.” Dalton was boneless next to me, still flat on his stomach and breathing hard. I ran a hand down his back and rested it on his ass just because I could. All that time spent imagining how he’d look and feel naked, and here he was.
I managed to find my legs long enough to get up and toss the condom and clean myself up. By the time I came back, Dalton had rolled onto his back, and I offered him a towel. Then we were back right where we’d fallen—lying on my bed, completely spent.
Any other night, a sort-of-quickie like that would’ve been the first of two or three rounds. Maybe more if I’d eaten my Wheaties. But after a long shift? This was as good as it was going to get. And I wasn’t about to complain, because damn, it was good.
Dalton felt around blindly before he found my hand. When he did, he laced our fingers together and gripped tightly. “Well,” he slurred, “there goes all the fantasies I’ve been jerking off to.”
“What? Why?”
He turned to me, grinning sleepily. “Turned out the real thing is way better.”
I chuckled and rolled closer to him. Draping an arm over his belly, I gave him a quick kiss. “But you know, if you want more fodder for the pornos in your brain, I’m happy to do a few recording sessions.”
Dalton burst out laughing, and holy fuck if that wasn’t the sexiest thing ever. Dalton Taylor, naked in my bed and laughing the way he always did when he was relaxed and happy. Corners of his eyes crinkling, lips pulled into a wide, lopsided smile.
I was in bed with my best friend. And it was perfect.
You are the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen, and now I can touch you.
I smoothed his ruffled, sweaty hair. “Any chance I can talk you into staying here tonight?”
He licked his lips. “You really want me to stay?”
“What the fuck kind of question is that?” I slid a hand up his bare chest. “I don’t even want to let you leave for work tomorrow.”
Dalton chuckled. “Too bad we can’t call in sick, right?”
“No kidding.”
“Damn Navy.” He laughed again, but then turned more serious. “Lasby will lose his mind if he finds out about this.”
“Technically, he already knows.”
“Still . . .”
I nodded, heart sinking a bit. “I know.”
“Hey.” Dalton touched my face and held my gaze. “We’re going to have to keep it on the down-low. Doesn’t mean we have to stop.”
“I know. I’m just . . .” I chewed my lip. “I mean, careers aside, what if we screw this up?” I gestured at him, then myself. “I’ve been wanting you for a long time, but that’s what held me back. I didn’t want to fuck up our friendship, you know? What if we—”
He cut me off with a soft kiss, and when he pulled back, his smile melted my heart. “I don’t think we have to worry about fucking up this part. We’re friends, and we’re good at fucking.”
I laughed, sliding a hand up into his hair. “Yeah, we are.”
“Exactly. So let’s just take things as they come. We’ve been friends for a while, and this only has to be as complicated as we make it.”
“And as complicated as work makes it.”
“Yeah.” He rolled his eyes. “Fucking Lasby.”
“Seriously.”
He cuddled up closer to me. “We’ll figure shit out with him. Right now, I’m too tired and feel way too good to even think about that jackass.”
“You and me both.” I kissed his temple, then closed my eyes and just enjoyed the warmth of his body pressed to mine. I still couldn’t believe things had turned out this way, but they had. Somehow, after Lasby had threatened us over a relationship that didn’t even exist, this had happened, and now we were here. In my bed.
And with Dalton wrapped up in my arms, I drifted off to sleep.
Eyes still closed, I rubbed my temples. There was a dull throb behind my forehead, but it wasn’t the same headache I’d had almost every morning since the incident. This wasn’t the aftermath of a concussion that promised to fuck with me for weeks or months to come—just the benign if annoying craving for some coffee. Which meant I must’ve slept later than I’d intended.
I opened my eyes so I could hunt down my phone and check the time.
And froze.
Where the . . .
The room was dark, though there was some light leaking in around the edges of the blackout curtains. Which meant I wasn’t in the barracks. Jay and I had our blackout curtains sealed so tight no natural light made it into the room at all.
A flutter of panic ran through me before my brain caught up.
Oh. Right.
Figuring out where I was took a few seconds longer than I would’ve liked to admit. I hated being disoriented, and I felt like an idiot for forgetting—even momentarily while I was semiconscious—about last night.
Chris. I was with Chris. I was naked in bed with Chris.
Headache aside, I couldn’t help grinning like an idiot. I didn’t even care about the time anymore. Chris’s alarm would go off when we needed to get ready for work.
I rolled over to drink in the sight of my best friend in bed beside me. In the almost nonexistent light, it was hard to find the edges of his dark skin against the navy blue sheets, but as my eyes adjusted, the contours became clearer.
Good God, he was gorgeous. He was sprawled on his stomach, face buried in the pillow and an arm draped over the edge of the mattress. With the way the sheets were draped across his hips, I barely had to imagine the gorgeous ass.
The memories of last night sent goose bumps prickling down my back. I could only guess how hot it was going to be when I was back to a hundred percent. And hell, I felt a lot better just knowing I’d been able to handle last night. That I’d wanted it. That meant I was definitely on the road to recovery. I wasn’t quite up to the level of wild sex I usually liked, but I wanted to be. A week ago, the thought of sex had actually nauseated me—my head had still been messed up enough that any kind of exertion registered as something that might make my skull explode. Up until a few days ago, I hadn’t even been able to jerk off. Hadn’t had any desire whatsoever to touch my own dick, never mind let someone else.
But I was getting better. The headaches were getting fewer and farther between. My equilibrium was better. I could think more clearly. I could even count out cash without feeling like someone had replaced my brain with seagull shit. More and more, I was me again, and the thought of sex had some appeal again.
Especially now that sex with Chris was a thing.
I drank in the sight of his dark, muscular frame. Oh yeah, sex definitely had some appeal now. When I was recovered enough to go all out, Chris was in for a hell of a ride.
I shivered, grinning as I slid closer. As much as I didn’t want to wake him up, I couldn’t resist cuddling against him.
“Mmff,” he said into the pillow, but it didn’t sound like get off or let me sleep, so I didn’t pull away.
I kissed the side of his neck. “Is it considered prostitution to blow you for coffee?”
He laughed and turned his head a little. “I don’t know if it is or not, but it’ll definitely get you some coffee.”
“For the record, I’m not above prostituting myself for coffee.”
“I know you’re not.”
“Hey!” I playfully swatted his ass through the sheets.
He laughed into the pillow, then rolled over and smiled sleepily up at me. “Hey you.”
“Hey yourself.” I dropped a light kiss on his lips. Enough to be affectionate without inflicting any morning breath on him.
He ran his fingers through my hair. “You want to share a shower? It’s not huge, but there’s room for both of us.”
“Is that a sneaky way of asking if I want to have sex in your shower?”
Chris grinned, sliding a hand down my side. “Kind of don’t feel like I need to be sneaky, you horndog.”
I laughed and leaned down to kiss his neck. “Didn’t hear you complaining last
night about me being a horndog.”
“Oh, you won’t hear me complaining about that.” He squirmed as I nipped gently. “It’s gonna make our shifts really long though.”
“Don’t remind me.”
He stroked my hair, but paused. “How’s your head, by the way?”
“It’s fine.”
“So nothing I need to avoid? Or—”
“It’s fine.” I kissed under his jaw. “Brain’s still catching up, but the bruises and shit are gone.”
Chris snorted. “You sure that’s not just your brain being its usual—”
“Shut up,” I warned playfully.
He chuckled. “C’mon. Let’s go get that shower.”
He wasn’t even subtle about bringing a condom in with us, so I had no doubt how this shower was going to play out. A little Scope to kill the morning breath, and it was game on—under the hot water, we kissed and groped and sort of made an effort to get clean. His skin was slick against mine, and I loved the feel of our rock-hard cocks trapped between our bodies. Wasn’t like he was the first guy I’d ever been naked with, but damn he turned me on. More than anyone else. Probably because I’d been wanting him for so long and hadn’t ever believed I had a shot at him.
I slid a hand between us to stroke him with wet fingers, and Chris swore. He let his head fall back, and I kissed his neck as I stroked his dick. When a shudder almost knocked him off his feet, he braced one hand on my shoulder and the other on the wall, and then he started rocking his hips to fuck my fist.
“Jesus, D,” he breathed. “Why didn’t we start doing this sooner?”
“Because you were asleep?”
He laughed, and I couldn’t tell if he was rolling his eyes at my comment or if he was just getting into what I was doing with my hand. Quite possible the second option, judging by how his hips started moving faster. “I meant . . . I meant this. Hooking up.”
I grinned, adding a little twist to my strokes and watching him shiver. “Don’t know, but I’m glad we’re doing it now.”
“Uh-huh. Me . . . me too.” His low groan just carried above the rush of water. “God that’s so good.”
“Good. And since you promised me coffee . . .” I carefully went to my knees. “Couldn’t hurt to earn it, right?” I didn’t give him a chance to respond. As I took his thick cock between my lips, Chris groaned, the sound echoing in the small shower. His fingers were immediately in my hair. Not that it was long enough to really grab on to, but he managed to find some, and I loved the scrape of his nails against my scalp. His hips were still moving, pushing his dick into my throat, and I couldn’t help moaning around him. I stroked him with one hand, and slid the other up his thigh and around to his ass cheek. When I gripped it, he got the message and thrust harder, fucking my face, and I couldn’t tell who was moaning with more enthusiasm.
“Goddamn.” He sucked in a breath. “Oh, that’s good.” His fingers twitched in my short hair. “Fuck, I’m gonna come. I’m . . . D, I’m gonna come.” A second later, he whimpered, and he came harder than I expected, but I managed to swallow it without choking and kept stroking him until he nudged my hand away. Then—carefully since my balance was still iffy these days—I stood.
As soon as I was on my feet, Chris had an arm around my waist and a hand around my cock. He kissed me so hard it was almost violent, and I damn near came just from that alone. With the way he was pumping my cock like he was the one desperate to get off, I didn’t last long. In seconds, I was sagging against him, hips jerking as I came all over his hand and his stomach, and then we were both panting and shaking and doing our level best to hold each other upright.
“When you’re ready for it,” he growled against my lips, “I’m going to fuck you into the mattress until you cry.”
A whimper escaped my lips. “Gonna hold you to that,” I murmured between kisses.
“Mmm, guess I should stock up on rubbers, then.”
That gave me pause. I glanced at the condom we hadn’t used. “Do . . . do we need them?”
Chris pulled back and met my gaze. “Uh . . .”
“I mean . . .” I slid my palm up the smooth, dark skin of his chest. “I have to go to medical this week anyway. I can have them test me while I’m at it.”
He seemed to mull that over for a minute, then shrugged. “Wouldn’t take much for me to swing in and do the same.”
“So then assuming everything’s all clear and it’s just us . . .” I paused. “I mean, is it just us?”
Chris touched my face. “Can’t think of any reason I wouldn’t want it to be.”
“Me neither.” We exchanged smiles, and I added, “So we don’t really need condoms, do we?”
He shook his head. “No, I guess we don’t. Just until everything comes back clear, right?”
“I’m good with that.”
“And I can’t wait.” He cupped my ass and squeezed. “The minute we get the all clear, it’s game on.”
I shivered, grinning. “Hell yeah.” I kissed him, and we both let it go on for a while. The hot water was still raining down on both of us, and his water bill would probably be insane this month, but he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to get out of the shower, so neither was I. It was still too novel and amazing to be standing here naked with my gorgeous best friend, still feeling every thrust from last night and tingling from the orgasm I’d just had.
Chris drew back and met my eyes. “You know, what happened on the boat fucking sucked.” He grinned, running his hands up my back. “But I think this might count as a silver lining.”
I returned the grin. “I think you’re right. At least something good came out of all that.”
“Something real good,” he purred and kissed me again.
I couldn’t argue with him. That incident out on the water had turned my whole life on its head, but the fallout wasn’t all bad. If that hadn’t happened, God knew if Chris and I would’ve ever gotten around to this.
I wasn’t about to say I was glad I’d gone overboard. The headaches, the investigation, the PTSD, the general fucked-upedness the incident had left in its wake—I’d have sawed off a limb to have all that go away.
But if I had to go through all that shit, winding up in Chris’s bed was definitely, as he’d said, a silver lining.
A week after Chris and I started getting physical, three weeks after I’d taken an unexpected swim in the Pacific, I was fully cleared to go back to work. No more light duty.
Which meant today, I was going back out on the water.
It didn’t matter that I wasn’t ready. HPU was desperate for manning, especially with MA1 Anderson still pushing a desk back at the security building, which was where he’d stay until the investigation was over. And no one had heard a peep about that in a while, so God only knew where it was going. The silence on that end made me nervous. Were they just letting it drop? Sweeping it under the rug? I’d submitted my report, but hadn’t even had to talk to anyone outside of our command, so maybe Big Navy wasn’t going to look into it after all. Which was . . . weird. There should’ve been someone out here from Regional to interview everyone, but nothing had happened. Not yet. So maybe it wasn’t going to?
Nice to know they follow up when a Sailor almost gets killed.
Maybe they’d decided it wasn’t a big deal after I’d gotten the all clear to go back on the water. Especially so soon after an incident like that. Technically, I should’ve been behind a desk just like Anderson for at least a few months, if not a year, to make absolutely sure I didn’t have permanent physical or psychological damage.
And the fact that I wasn’t behind a desk was more my fault than any medical professional’s. I didn’t like it, but I knew Chief Lasby was right that staying off the water would damage my eval and kill my chances at getting a promotion. So I’d glossed over my answers. Nightmares? No. Confusion? Not anymore. Memory loss? None at all. Balance issues? Nope. Pain? Just an occasional mild headache.
Either the doctor hadn’t seen through
my act or he hadn’t cared enough to look, but he believed me, and on paper, I’d had a quick and full recovery. So maybe that told Big Navy the incident hadn’t been as serious as the initial reports had stated. Hell, they were probably more concerned with the costs of unfucking the patrol boat—the fish nets had done a number on its propellers—and getting the Metal Shark back online.
Whatever was going on, we hadn’t heard anything about the investigation, and no one seemed to object to me coming back to work. Nice to know the Navy was willing to let a guy carry a weapon so soon after he lost a head-butting contest with a boat.
Physically, I did feel pretty damn good. I’d been sleeping better, which might or might not have had something to do with spending almost every night in Chris’s bed. Between his warm, solid presence beside me and the orgasms he gave me before we went to sleep, it was impossible not to knock out. Even the times when a nasty headache kept us from fooling around, just having him next to me was enough to relax me and let me sleep.
“Hey.” Chris elbowed me from the driver’s seat of his car. “Still awake?”
I shook myself, wondering how long I’d been zoned out. Long enough to get from his apartment to the HPU building, apparently. Had I even taken my ID out for the sentry? No, my wallet was still in my pocket. Or had I put it back?
“D?”
I cleared my throat. “Sorry. Just . . . thinking about being back on the water, I guess.”
He grimaced as he killed the engine. “You sure you’re ready for that?”
Not even a little.
“I’ll be fine.” My voice was almost a croak. Yeah, I sounded totally sure of myself. “Now let’s go get some coffee before I pass out.”
He laughed, not quite hiding the uneasiness in his tone, but he let it go. We’d talked circles around this for over a week. What more was there to say?
We went into the HPU building and upstairs to the main office. I made a beeline for the coffeepot and used it to fill my travel mug.
“Oh, coffee. Come to Daddy.” I sipped it carefully to test it, then gave a happy little groan as I drank some more.
Chris laughed. “Anyone ever tell you you’re an addict?”
