by Layla Reyne
Bas reached a hand around, covering Jacob’s and stroking him together. “You were so fucking beautiful that night.” His other hand caressed the dimples in his back, then drifted down, teasing his crack. “Tonight too.”
Jacob rested his head on Bas’s shoulder and kissed the underside of his jaw. “When you caught me that night, I was imagining this.” He thrust into their grip, moisture coating their fingers and slicking the strokes.
Bending his head, Bas licked and nibbled at the crook of his neck. “How’s the real thing compare?”
“Better.” But there was something better still. Moving a hand behind him, he palmed Bas’s cock through his jeans, gliding up and down the hard length. “It’d be even better if you fucked me.”
Groaning, Bas dragged his open mouth up Jacob’s neck, to his mouth, before he rotated Jacob and dove into a kiss that left Jacob weak, only Bas’s arms around him holding him up. When Bas stepped back to drop his pants and boxer-briefs and roll on a condom, Jacob slouched against the wall and enjoyed the view, so much better in person than on Skype. Until Bas tossed his shirt and Jacob’s attention was drawn to the bandage over his left pec.
“Your team tattoo?” he ventured. Bas usually reserved his arms, shoulders, and back for those, the only ink on the left side of his chest the JE tattoo Jacob had made peace with. But maybe this summer had changed that.
Bas shook his head. “I’ll get one of my staff to do the team tat.”
“Then what’s—”
His words died as Bas removed the bandage, exposing the tattoo underneath. If Jacob thought his head was spinning before, it was a tilt-a-whirl now. He wasn’t sure his legs would hold him, but he had to get a closer look, touch what his eyes could hardly believe. He reached out a shaking hand, and gently traced the lines of the familiar design, still a little pink around the edges. He must have had it done a couple of weeks ago.
Hand to his cheek, Bas brushed a kiss against his temple. “It’s okay, Pup?”
At a loss for words, Jacob nodded, eyes blurring as they drifted again to the J and B stenciled into the snout of the Longhorn tattoo, an otherwise perfect match to his own. Right over where the previous two letters had been inked.
Over Bas’s heart.
A breathy “Bas” was all Jacob could manage.
“I know you’re young,” Bas said, caressing his cheek. “And this, us, is young. We don’t know where it’ll lead.” He lowered his hand, covering Jacob’s where it rested just to the side of the new tattoo. “But I want you here. I love you, Jacob.”
They’d never said the words. Jacob had felt them—in Madrid over the summer, in Texas this past fall, in his own heart and in Bas’s kisses, and in the way Bas made love to him—but Jacob had held back from saying them, still cautious of asking too much, from Bas and himself. They had committed to giving this thing between them a shot. To stay. With Bas’s words now, and with the manifestation of that love inked on his skin, Jacob, filled with confidence, decided to risk asking for more.
“I have enough credits to graduate early, at the end of this summer. I talked to Dane, and with my CompSci degree, I’m going to come work for him, at his new programming company.”
“Come work for him?”
“Here, in LA.” Jacob glanced up from the tattoo, meeting Bas’s wide eyes. “If that’s okay with you?”
“But what about Davis? I can’t take you away from him if he needs you.”
Bas and Davis had clicked from first meeting, his dad confessing he’d known there was more between them as far back as Madrid, having noticed his dog tags around Bas’s neck that day on the phone. Now, Bas asked about his dad on every call, understanding how important he was to Jacob. It meant the world to Jacob that Bas would sacrifice his own happiness for Jacob’s father’s. He—they—didn’t have to, though.
“My father has PTSD,” Jacob said. “He’s doing well, not a single flashback the past six months. And he has a new fiancée, who also happens to be a nurse.”
“He and Darlene made it official?”
Jacob nodded, smiling. “‘Didn’t want to waste any more time,’ he said. And Josh’s parents are right across the street too. My dad’s in good hands.”
Bas lifted his own, framing Jacob’s face. “Will you be? Are you sure?”
Angling his face, Jacob kissed first one, then the other of Bas’s palms, loving how Bas always held him so gently, so safely. He craved that strong, gentle hold every day. “I may be young,” he said, “but I love you, Sebastian, and I want to be with you, here. Can I stay?”
Arms wrapping around him, one hand cradling his head, the other protecting the tender spot on his shoulder, Bas pushed him back against the wall and kissed him long and deep. Jacob groaned into his mouth, lifting a leg over his hip and grinding their cocks together. Bas slid a hand around, teasing open Jacob’s hole, readying him. Several minutes and two fingers later, Jacob ripped his mouth away, head falling back in Bas’s hand. “Is that a yes?”
Bas righted his face, pressing their foreheads together. “Fuck yes, I want you here. Move in with me.”
He dove for another kiss, and Jacob dodged. “On one condition.” Bas lifted a brow, and Jacob lowered his hand over Bas’s heart and the new tattoo. “Add your initials to mine too. Mark me. Claim what’s yours.”
Growling, Bas hauled him up, then slowly slid inside him, controlling Jacob’s descent so the pressure wouldn’t burn too much. Always looking out for him, always keeping him safe.
Jacob wound his arms around Bas’s neck, gaining leverage to pull himself up and drop back down, riding Bas’s cock. “Will you do that for me?” He loosened Bas’s dreads, and they fell around them, creating the cocoon Jacob loved so much.
Bas kissed him rough, thrusting up and hitting that spot inside of Jacob. “Yeah, I’ll mark you.” He kissed him deeper, thrusting faster, neither of them able to hold out long for this first reunion. “I’ll claim you.” Wrapping a hand around Jacob’s cock, he stroked him right to the edge, hips pumping in time. “Just like you’ve claimed me. I love you, Jacob.”
“Love you too,” tumbled from Jacob’s lips as he came.
This book was hard, y’all, in part because I challenged myself to step outside my usual suspense shoes (only one hacking scene!) and in part because it’s so personal. But for all the hair pulling, cursing, coffee, and self-doubt that went into Medley, I’m very happy with how Bas and Jacob’s love story turned out. Special thanks to my agent, Laura Bradford, for her enthusiasm for this project, to Kristi for the editorial assistance, to Garrett and LC for the cover and layout, to Tera, Mirna and Anna for their beta reads, to my author support crew who worked overtime holding my hand with this one, and to Judith and Keyanna for making my hectic life a little less so. I owe you all a big, Dane-style Southern breakfast to show my appreciation. And finally, thank you, readers, for embracing Alex, Dane, Bas, and Jacob as they swam their way to love and gold. I hope you enjoyed the race with us!
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Cask Strength
Barrel Proof
Tequila Sunrise
Author Layla Reyne was raised in North Carolina and now calls San Francisco home. She enjoys weaving her bi-coastal experiences into her stories, along with adrenaline-fueled suspense and heart pounding romance. When she’s not writing stories to excite her readers, she downloads too many books, watches too much television, and cooks too much food with her scientist husband, much to the delight of their smushed-face, leftover-loving dogs. Layla is a member of Romance Writers of America and its Kiss of Death and Rainbow Romance Writers chapters. She was a 2016 RWA® Golden Heart® Finalist in Romantic Suspense.
You can find Layla at laylareyne.com, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest as @laylareyne, and in her reader group on Facebook—Layla’s Lushes.
