Pounding Skin

by L. A. Witt

  “Eh, maybe.” He shrugged. “There isn’t a whole lot out there to fly that’s quite as fun as a fighter, though.”

  Pete laughed. “Yeah, but I’d think a 747 would be a little more fun than a desk.”

  Jon wrinkled his nose. “Well shit, when you put it like that.” He shrugged. “We’ll see. I’ve got a degree in aeronautics, so as long as everything I studied isn’t completely obsolete in eight years, there’s always Boeing or Lockheed or something. Even if it does mean pushing a desk.”

  “Who knows? In eight years, you might be ready for a desk.”

  Jon chuckled. “Yeah, maybe. This job takes its toll on the body, so . . .”

  He glanced at Matt again.

  And lost the thread of the conversation again.

  * * *

  Jon was out on the back deck, chatting with Daniel and Colin, when Matt appeared beside him and pushed a glass of champagne into his hand. “There you are.” He nodded toward the house. “They’re starting the countdown in the living room.”

  “Already?”

  “Uh, yeah?” Matt grinned. “It’s almost midnight.”

  “Guess we should go where the crowd is, shouldn’t we?” He took Matt’s hand, and with Daniel and Colin on their heels, they joined everyone else in the living room. All the guests were squeezed in and gathered around the flatscreen as the ball started coming down in the middle of Times Square.

  Jon wasn’t usually one to get sentimental about a new year—it was just a calendar page turning over—but the thought of kissing Matt at midnight held some definite appeal.

  He turned to him, a comment on his lips about the TV announcer’s annoying voice, but forgot it the instant they locked gazes. While everyone in the room counted down along with the crowd on TV—“Fifteen! Fourteen! Thirteen!”—Jon stared straight into Matt’s warm brown eyes, and Matt stared right back.

  Jon’s heart fluttered. He’d memorized Matt’s features—his sharp jaw, his dark eyes, the rings in his eyebrow, the diamond stud in his ear, the sexy curve of his slim lips—but it was like he was looking at him for the first time. Drinking him in, forgetting how to breathe, breaking out in goose bumps because wow, you are the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. Except it was even better than the first time because he knew Matt. His voice. His laugh. The way he tilted his head from side to side in the mirror to make sure he hadn’t missed a spot shaving. The sounds he made when he came. How his eyes would light up when Jon brought him food because he’d somehow guessed Matt had forgotten to eat again.

  “Eight!”

  This wasn’t some gorgeous stranger Jon might hook up with if he played his cards right.

  “Seven!”

  This was . . . Matt.

  “Six!”

  Jon couldn’t wait five more seconds.

  He kissed Matt, and the instant their lips met, he was glad he’d jumped the gun. He loved the way Matt’s mouth felt, the way it tasted, and why in the world would he wait? He wrapped his arm around Matt’s waist, vaguely aware of the champagne flute he was still holding, but much more aware of Matt slowly melting against him.

  Cheers exploded all around them, so the clock must’ve struck midnight. Auld Lang Syne started coming from somewhere, and a champagne cork popped.

  Jon didn’t bother coming up for air, and neither did Matt. As everyone celebrated the new year all around them, Matt curved a hand around the back of Jon’s neck and tilted his head to deepen the kiss. Distantly, Jon was aware of the percussion of fireworks, but he noticed it about as much as he noticed his shirt sitting on his skin.

  After what felt like ages, he pulled back enough to look in Matt’s eyes, and his spine tingled. God, you really are beautiful. “Think we should get out of here?”

  Matt’s smile weakened his knees. “I’m wondering why we haven’t left yet.”

  Jon leaned in again, and grinned against Matt’s lips. “Then let’s go.”

  “Yeah.” Matt pulled him closer. “In a minute.”

  Chapter 24

  Thank God they’d gotten a room for the night. Matt didn’t like driving on New Year’s Eve anyway, but if they’d actually had to go home, he was sure they’d have ended up fucking in the backseat on the side of I-264. That would’ve been fun to explain to the cops.

  But they hadn’t, and minutes after they’d left Pete’s house, they stumbled in through the door of room twenty-nine. At least Jon remembered to shut the door. Matt forgot the damn thing existed as soon as they’d opened it, and if it had been up to him, they’d have fucked right there on the floor with the door wide open. Another fun thing to explain to the cops.

  Safely closed off from the rest of the world, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. They bumped into the wall. The TV stand. The foot of the bed. All the while, Jon’s fingers kneaded Matt’s scalp, raising goose bumps down his back, and his other arm kept Matt as close to him as possible.

  “Why aren’t we naked yet?” Jon half-moaned against Matt’s lips, but made no attempt to let him go.

  “You tell me.” Matt grabbed Jon’s ass in both hands and squeezed just as he went in for another long, hungry kiss.

  Jon forced a hand between them. He grazed Matt’s cock, then went for his belt buckle. “We really should fix this.” He tugged at the strap. “I want you naked, damn it.”

  That was all Matt needed. He pried himself away and they quickly stripped off their clothes. His boxers had barely landed on the floor before Jon shoved him onto the mattress, pinned him there, and attacked him with a breathless, bruising kiss. Matt grabbed onto Jon’s shoulders and opened eagerly to his demanding mouth; he loved it when Jon was like this. He loved it when they were both like this—so hungry and needy that they didn’t care if they left a few marks.

  “I’ve been wanting you so bad all damn night,” Jon said between kisses.

  “Why didn’t you say so?” Matt nipped Jon’s lower lip. “We could’ve had a quickie in the—”

  “No, not a quickie.” Jon ground his hard-on against Matt’s hip, and breathed, “I wanted you just like this. Turned on and naked and all to myself.”

  Matt shivered. “Now you’ve got me.” He teased Jon’s nipple with a thumbnail. “What’re you going to do with me?”

  “Anything you want. All I want is to make you scream.”

  Matt let a soft whimper escape, and squirmed under Jon’s body. “Keep talking like that, and you’ll make me come without even doing anything.”

  Jon grinned, sliding a hand between them. “What fun would that be?” He didn’t give Matt a chance to answer before he started stroking him. Long, slow strokes, from the base all the way to the tip, twisting his hand just enough to blur Matt’s vision.

  “You’re on top,” Matt blurted out.

  “Hmm?” Jon’s hand didn’t stop, and his smirk told Matt he’d heard him just fine.

  Matt grabbed his wrist. “Get a condom and fuck me. Now.”

  “Now that’s what a man likes to hear.” Jon kissed him, then leaned over the edge of the bed to where he’d dropped his overnight bag. When he came back with the condom and lube, he and Matt grinned at each other.

  As Jon put on the condom, Matt lay back on the pillows, legs apart. Neither of them had to say a word. Jon climbed on top and guided his cock to Matt’s hole. He eased himself in, taking his time, and even though Matt wanted to beg him to just fuck him already, he liked the slowness. He liked feeling every inch of Jon sliding in, out, in, out again. He liked taking Jon’s dick without taking his fingers first, so all the stretching came from that thick cock working him open.

  This was quickly becoming Matt’s favorite position, too. They couldn’t fuck quite as deep or as hard, and it definitely took its toll on the hips, but Matt could see him and run his hands all over him. He could kiss him. This was how Jon had fucked him the night they’d blown off the Christmas party, and Matt loved it.

  And just like that night, now that Jon’s cock was all the way inside him, they slowed d
own. They barely made a sound, just rocking together, sometimes kissing, sometimes not. Matt’s hands were free to roam all over Jon, and he took full advantage, sliding them through Jon’s soft chest hair, over his broad shoulders, down his back to his powerful legs. He loved the way Jon’s ass felt as he fucked him, the muscles clenching and relaxing with each long stroke. He loved the slightly upraised edges of Jon’s tattoo under his fingertips.

  You’re marked. He bit his lip as he groped the tattoo and held Jon’s gaze. You’re mine.

  Jon kissed him, then buried his face against Matt’s neck, and his shoulders rose and fell with each slow, trembling stroke he took inside him. “God, you feel good.”

  Matt just moaned.

  “Fuck . . .” Jon pushed himself up and gazed down at Matt. “Cannot get enough of you.”

  “Not even close.” Matt lifted his head off the pillow as he pulled Jon down, and they met in the middle in a long, sweet kiss that had no place in the kind of sex they usually had. Tonight, though? It was perfect. Tender. Sensual. Slow. Tasting each other. Exploring each other’s mouths.

  Matt had never been so focused on one person in his life. Not in bed. Not when he was tattooing them. Never. Right now, even more than any other time they’d been together, everything in the world that wasn’t Jon fell away.

  I want you like this every night.

  Jon pushed himself up and met his gaze, his eyes soft and fully focused on Matt.

  We’re more than what we set out to be.

  Matt touched Jon’s cheek.

  You know that, right?

  But he didn’t say anything. He wasn’t sure he could have anyway—not with Jon moving inside him and turning him to liquid with every stroke. This was perfect in every way imaginable. Matt. Jon. Them. They were perfect.

  Matt drew Jon down into a kiss, and as soon as their lips met, his spine tingled. A second later, Jon was sliding into him again, grazing his prostate, and Matt would’ve cried out if he hadn’t been so focused on exploring Jon’s mouth. They kissed. They moved together. They found a rhythm and kept it, both groaning between kisses as Jon steadily picked up speed.

  Then Jon broke the kiss with a gasp. “I’m gonna come,” he murmured, and a shudder rippled through him. “Oh God, you feel so good. I’m gonna . . . oh fuck . . .”

  “Yeah.” Matt clenched around him. “I want to see to you come.”

  Moaning, Jon thrust hard enough to knock Matt’s breath out of him, and Matt encouraged him, rocking his hips and raking his nails down Jon’s shoulders. The sounds they both made—throaty growls and helpless moans—were loud and primal, punctuated by the slap of skin on skin and the occasional sharp gasp.

  Still thrusting for all he was worth, Jon sucked in a breath. Held it. Then he let go of a strangled cry that bordered on a sob, and shuddered violently as he came, as he tried to force himself as deep as Matt could take him while his cock pulsed with the force of his orgasm.

  Murmuring softly, he relaxed over the top of Matt. Matt put his arms around him, tenderly stroking his hair and holding his hot, trembling body.

  “I swear to God,” Jon murmured, “I never come as hard as I do when I’m with you.”

  “Same,” Matt said. “My hand’s got nothing on you.”

  Jon gave a soft, drunken laugh, and kissed Matt’s lips. He pulled out, but didn’t go anywhere. Matt thought he’d go down on him like that crazy night they didn’t go to the Christmas party. Still on top of Matt, though, still kissing him, Jon reached between them and started stroking Matt’s cock. Matt whimpered into the kiss, and rocked his hips as much as he could with Jon pinning him down. He wanted to fuck Jon’s fist, but he could barely move.

  Jon more than made up for it, though. His grip was tight, his strokes fast, and then he was kissing Matt’s neck too, and it was all Matt could do not to levitate off the bed. He let his head fall back on the pillow as his spine arched beneath them, and Jon kissed up and down his throat while he kept pumping Matt’s cock.

  “Gonna . . . come . . . oh fuck, yeah, that’s perfect.” Matt let his eyes slide shut. His breath hitched, and his balls tightened, and his whole body tensed, and then a low groan—not his—sent him right to the edge.

  “Oh yeah,” Jon murmured, stroking for all he was worth, “God, yeah, I love how you look when you come.”

  Matt’s back arched, pushing his chest and abs against Jon, and then he was coming, releasing a ragged cry as he shot semen all over Jon’s hand and both of their stomachs.

  All the while, Jon egged him on, “Yeah, yeah. Fuck, Matt, you look so fucking hot,” and pumped his dick until Matt finally collapsed onto the mattress in a shaky, sweaty heap.

  He blinked a few times, staring up at the ceiling. “Whoa.”

  Jon laughed and kissed him softly. For a moment, they just stared at each other. They were drenched in sweat and covered in cum, but Matt felt exactly like he had in that moment before Jon had kissed him at midnight. Like everything was perfect and there was nowhere else in the world he wanted to be. Like he could really believe Jon felt the same way.

  He ran an unsteady hand through Jon’s hair. “Happy New Year.”

  Jon grinned. “Happy New Year.” He kissed the tip of Matt’s nose. “Think we should get a shower?”

  Matt glanced down. “Yeah, I’m thinking that might not be a bad idea.”

  “Even if it means we’ll get started again?”

  “Especially if it means that.”

  They laughed, kissed, and somehow managed to get to their feet and into the bathroom.

  The hotel room’s bathroom was small, and the shower was tiny. Jon and Matt barely fit, but they made do. And of course, being in such tight confines didn’t encourage them to keep their hands off each other. By the time they’d washed away the evidence of their first round, they were both getting hard again, so they lazily made out and jacked each other off under the hot water.

  After they finally finished their shower, they collapsed into bed together, drowsy and spent. Matt rested his head on Jon’s chest, and Jon wrapped his arm around Matt’s shoulders. Somehow everything always seemed to land just right—no elbows or knees digging into muscles. No weird angles or limbs falling asleep.

  He loved this. The way they physically fit together, but every other way too. Despite their awkward start, they’d found their stride, and it was hard to imagine there’d ever been a time when being with Jon hadn’t been this easy. This perfect.

  Eyes closed, he thought back to the party. To just before midnight. No one had ever looked at him the way Jon had. That intense stare, like he’d been looking for Matt all night, and now that he’d found him, he wasn’t letting him out of his sight.

  Matt suppressed a shiver, and cuddled closer to Jon.

  So much for casual sex. Though he was pretty sure that ship had sailed a while ago. The booty call label might’ve worked in the beginning, but it didn’t fit now. Not when Jon could turn him inside out with a look or make his heart go crazy with a touch.

  Well, it wouldn’t be the first time one of his casual partners had become something more. That was how things had gone with Lisa back when they’d dated. They’d started out as fuck buddies, then fallen for each other. Of course they’d ultimately broken up, but they were super close friends now, so Matt couldn’t even say things hadn’t worked out. They’d worked out perfectly, and even though the breakup had been painful at the time, there was nothing Matt would have changed. He was glad he’d dated her, and glad she was still in his life. And, for that matter, that she’d invited him into the bed she shared with her current boyfriend for what had turned out to be an enlightening evening.

  He didn’t know where things would go with Jon. All he knew right now was that his feelings ran a hell of a lot deeper than sex.

  There was no hurry to define it all, though. They’d just keep doing what they were doing, and eventually, they’d figure things out.

  For tonight, he was exactly where he wanted to be—in bed besi
de Jon.

  Chapter 25

  It had been a pretty quiet day on base. Not just because the squadron had three jets down for maintenance and a fourth with a cracked canopy. Days like that weren’t exactly unusual—just long and boring.

  Today felt exceptionally quiet because Nate hadn’t said more than three words since morning muster. He’d insisted he was fine, so Jon hadn’t pushed. The guy wasn’t normally the moody type, but everyone had their shitty days. When Nate made a comment at lunch that he might need to take off early, Jon still hadn’t pushed, but he did worry, especially since Nate had been glued to his phone all day. Unusually so. Nate’s mom hadn’t been in great health for the past few months, and Jon really hoped this had nothing to do with that.

  Whatever call or text Nate had been expecting came in around 1530. Jon assumed so, anyway—Nate sent him a text simply saying Gotta go, see you Monday, and he was gone. Jon sent back Hope all is well, see you Mon.

  With his bird in maintenance and his copilot out the door, he didn’t have a hell of a lot to do, so he let the powers that be know he was leaving too. It was a little after 1600 when he left the base. He stopped to pick up a couple of sandwiches, then strolled into Skin Deep, Inc, with a bag of food and sodas. Since it was a Friday night, Matt was working late. It was one of the shop’s busier walk-in nights, so of course, he needed to be there. And knowing him, he hadn’t bothered to eat.

  The second Matt looked up and zeroed in on that plastic bag, Jon knew he’d been right. He could practically hear Matt’s mouth start watering.

  “Oh God,” Matt said. “You brought food, didn’t you.”

  Jon grinned as he held it up. “You have time to eat?”

  “I don’t have any appointments coming up, and the walk-ins have slowed down a bit.” He twisted around. “Hey Colin—you mind if I take a break?”

  Colin appeared in the doorway of the side room, resting his forearm on the doorframe and carefully keeping his gloved hands from touching anything. “Sure. It’s pretty quiet right now. You think that girl who wants the butterfly will be back today?”