by Riley Knight
Scott nodded, and at first, he thought that he was just doing it to get Mark to stop talking about it. Much to his surprise, though, he was going to think about it. New things had been brought up in his head, and his comfortable worldview, the one that he’d just been allowing himself to have without ever questioning it much, had been shaken.
Was he gay? Or maybe bisexual? He didn’t know, but he did know that the thought of it filled him with terror.
After what had happened all of those years ago, he knew very well that he had every reason to be terrified. After all, it could end his career. It had already basically ended Josh’s.
If Scott told Mark that, was there any chance at all that Mark would understand? Scott thought that maybe he would, but that would require that he admit some things to himself. That he say some things out loud that he wasn’t sure he was ready to say.
Honestly, he wasn’t sure he would ever be ready to just give everything up like that. But, for the first time, after talking to Mark, it felt for the first time like maybe it could be an option.
* * *
It was strange, having someone else in his bed. The people that he usually slept with rarely spent the night, and the men never did. So to have another man’s warm, sleepy body pressed against his, it was not something that he’d ever experienced before.
Which meant that Scott had had no idea how much he would like it.
It was more than just sex, too. There was something about the way that Mark rolled toward him in the middle of the night, the way the other man’s strong arm draped over Scott’s body.
Something that touched Scott’s heart in a way that felt almost dangerous. He’d never let it be about anything other than just sex before. He’d always managed to figure out how it made sense to sleep with guys and not be gay, but having feelings for them?
That was a whole other thing.
Scott woke from a fitful bout of sleep, and he turned to look at Mark, gazing at his handsome face. Mark was so intense when he was awake, but when he was sleeping, his face relaxed a little bit, and he looked almost peaceful.
Something happened in Scott’s chest. It felt a little bit like a hand clenching around his heart, like, for just a moment, he couldn’t breathe. Shit. What was he doing? Falling for this man?
Impossible.
Mark shifted in the bed, and then those mysterious eyes of his opened and he looked, just for a moment, confused. Probably not sure why he was sleeping in an unfamiliar bed or looking at Scott, but that confusion cleared almost instantly, and he grinned at Scott as he pressed against him.
Scott saw that Mark was going to open his mouth, probably about to say something, but whatever it was, Scott didn’t want to hear it. He was having a weird enough night as it was.
So, instead, he put his hands on Mark’s chest and pushed him backward. The gorgeous back rolled so that he was flat on his back, and Scott slid on top of him and started to kiss down his body.
It was so much easier for it to be about sex than emotion. Sex, Scott knew how to deal with.
“Mm, baby,” Mark moaned, and even that did funny things to Scott’s stomach, made him feel squirmy in a way that he thought he should probably dislike more than he did.
He slid down, wrapping his mouth around one of the other man’s nipples and teasing the pinkish brown nub until it hardened between his lips. He sucked at it until Mark was whimpering for him, until the man beneath him was rocking his hips toward him, clearly desperate for some sort of stimulation.
“Scott, you fucking tease,” Mark whispered, and Scott grinned cheekily at him before sliding down. He kissed down over the other man’s chest, his lips tracing over his flat stomach until he was close to his cock, close enough to feel the heat.
Not quite touching it, though. Mark had called him a tease, and the truth was, Scott was kind of enjoying it. He’d never really teased a man before. It had always been very quick, over in minutes. This was a novel, and fun, experience.
Mark’s hands came down to rest on Scott’s head, and Scott could feel the way that the other man tried to guide him over to his cock. He shot him a smirk, his lips and tongue lingering less than an inch from where Mark wanted them to be.
“Scott! Fuck,” Mark said, and Scott’s grin only widened. He was discovering things about himself, and he had to wonder how far it would go. He could think of all sorts of very fun games that they could play together, and he’d love to know where Mark’s limits were.
For the moment, though, he allowed himself to be guided over to Mark’s swollen cock, which was just as utterly gorgeous as the rest of him. He locked his mouth around the leaking tip, swirling his tongue around him and enjoying the sounds of his moans, the way his face was contorted with pleasure as Scott gazed up at him.
This wasn’t the first time Scott had had a cock in his mouth, but it was the first time that he’d really cared about the man who owned said cock. He found himself hungry for signs of appreciation, for the signals that told him that he was doing a good job.
Mark was very responsive, too, at least in bed. At first, it could be hard to see past that stoic facade of his, but when it started to come undone with pleasure, that mask cracked, and Scott could swear that he saw the real man underneath it.
Which didn’t help with what Scott was trying to do. He was trying to forget his growing feelings for Mark, damn it, not increase them. Still, he couldn’t drag his eyes away from Mark’s, not for anything.
“Scott,” Mark’s voice sounded rough, almost gravelly, and there was a strange darkness to his eyes as his cock leaked more precome into Scott’s mouth. “Scott, baby, I’m gonna …”
And then, without being able to warn Scott more than that, he did just as he’d tried to say. Scott felt the hot gush of his fluids in his mouth, filling him up, sweet and salty and just slightly bitter.
It was a taste that Scott was pretty sure he could get addicted to. Just like every damn thing about Mark, from the biggest to the smallest. He was utterly fascinating to Scott and drew him in almost effortlessly.
Scott swallowed Mark’s fluids down and then smiled at him. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t get the sense that he needed to. Mark pulled him up and kissed him, and then his strong, talented hand wrapped around Scott, who was achingly hard from what they’d done already.
It was just a hand job. The sort of thing that normally shouldn’t have been enough for Scott. When it was Mark, though, it was far more exciting than he was used to, and they kissed frantically, over and over, as Mark jerked him off.
It should have taken much longer than it did, but with Mark, who definitely knew how to touch Scott better than any girl ever had, it was quick. A few short moments later, Scott was crying out and coming all over Mark’s fingers, kissing him frantically over and over again as pleasure slammed through his body, rocking him to his very core.
After, still without saying anything, they curled up together and drifted back to sleep. This time, Scott did sleep.
Chapter Six
Mark
The day had finally come.
Mark had wondered if what they’d done together would ruin things. But then the morning after they’d spent the night together, Scott had cooked him breakfast, and Mark had eaten and then left to let Scott get to work. It had all been remarkably less awkward than your average one night stand.
Which sort of made him hope. Was it possible that what this was with Scott wasn’t a one night stand? That it could possibly mean more to him?
Stupid thoughts, the sort of thoughts that would get him into trouble. But the truth was, he was getting more and more infatuated with Scott. Not just his body, either, but everything about him. His smile, his eyes, the way he laughed, his stunning brilliance, just absolutely everything.
Was he being an idiot? Yes. He absolutely was. More than that, he was being an idiot who was bringing a guy home to meet his daughter, which was something that he just didn’t do.
He would have to be very
serious about someone to even consider such a thing usually. This was far from a usual situation, though. He had really just met Scott, but he was already considering some pretty big things with him.
So that was why Scott was coming to Mark’s house, the one that he’d shared with just his daughter and no one else for so many years that he almost forgot what it was like to be any other way. Yes, he’d once had a wife. She’d been gone since Mary Anne was little more than a baby.
She’d broken his heart, but he didn’t regret it. He had Mary Anne out of it, after all, the most important thing in his life.
Which made him nervous. He tried to hide it from his daughter as they sat and watched Pokémon together, but she shot him some curious glances that made him think that she saw more than he might want her to see.
“So … who is this guy?” she asked finally, as the hour that Scott was supposed to arrive approached. Mark breathed deeply, trying to fight back the butterflies in his stomach, and gave his daughter a smile that he hoped was casual.
“He’s a friend. He’s nice.”
Mary Anne frowned, her head tilted to the side, a look on her face that made him aware that she was going to be an adult someday, and God help the world when that day happened. She was only nine, but she already had quite the impressive stubborn streak.
“You never bring friends over,” she said bluntly. She’d gotten that from him, he knew, her habit of just saying whatever she was thinking without trying to pull any punches. “So why is this guy special?”
God, how to explain to a nine-year-old why Scott was special? It would have been hard enough to explain to a friend, but how much could Mary Anne even understand?
“Dad, you’re blushing,” she pointed out, and Mark shook his head in denial. He wasn’t blushing, that wasn’t his style. It wasn’t something that he did.
It was just then that the ringing of the doorbell saved him. Scott. God. Was he really doing this? But he wanted to, that was the truth. He wanted to introduce Scott to his daughter, and he wanted to do things even more insane than that with him.
He’d fallen so hard and so fast, it was actually sort of ridiculous. He hadn’t let anyone in in so long, and Mary Anne’s question about Scott echoed in Mark’s head as he got up to answer the door.
What was special about Scott?
He still hadn’t decided when he finally opened the door, but as soon as he saw Scott, all other thoughts went out of his mind completely. He didn’t need to think about what was so special about him. He knew.
It was something to do with the way Mark’s heart lightened when he saw him, how he found himself grinning like an idiot. There weren’t too many people who could make him feel like this, and none for quite some time.
“Hey, come in,” Mark said, fighting back the urge to kiss the man right then and there. He had no idea if that would be welcome. Aside from a few texts here and there, they hadn’t talked much since that amazing night that they’d spent together.
Maybe Scott hadn’t thought it was as amazing, though. Mark had forced himself to give the man space. He was remote, detached, except for when he fell for someone, and then he had a tendency to cling pretty desperately.
It had driven people away before, and the last thing that he wanted to do was to have that happen to Scott.
Scott returned the smile, and there was this strange look in his eyes that it took Mark a few moments to recognize, because it wasn’t one that he’d seen, or allowed himself to be open to seeing, in so long.
It was affection. Scott was happy to see him. All of a sudden, Mark understood the term ‘walking on air.’ It had always seemed a silly, sappy one to him before, but he got it.
He wasn’t completely sure that the soles of his sneakers weren’t a few inches off the ground, and the more Scott smiled at him, the lighter he felt.
“Hey,” Scott greeted him, and a very complicated look passed between them. At that moment, Mark very sharply remembered how it had felt to have Scott on top of him, how it had been to feel him as he pushed deep inside of Mark’s body.
Mark took a step back. It was that, or he touched Scott, and if he touched him, he knew he would kiss him, and if he kissed him … well, that would lead to all sorts of fun that he couldn’t have with his daughter in the other room.
So it couldn’t happen, not right then, anyway. But it felt to Mark like Scott wanted it to happen, too, and that was a minor miracle in and of itself.
With his heart hammering in his chest in a way that was both uncomfortable and also deeply thrilling, Mark rested his hand on the small of Scott’s back and guided him into the living room.
It was a strange thing for him to do, and he saw Scott’s surprised look. He just ignored it, and Scott, after that one initial look, accepted it without question. Mark thrilled at the touch, as slight as it was, and was surprised, but also deeply gratified, that he didn’t have to stop.
Scott nodded to the nine-year-old girl who perched on the couch, looking back at them with curiosity in her big green eyes. She peered at them through the lenses of glasses, which Mark knew that she hated but which she tolerated with only the slightest of complaints.
What did she look like to Scott? Mary Anne, Mark’s quiet, well-behaved, though occasionally impish daughter, was not often presented to the people that Mark knew. And Scott didn’t have a lot of experience with children, they’d established that already.
“Oh, hey, cool, Pokémon,” Scott said, dropping down onto a chair that Mark noted was far enough away from the girl that she wouldn’t feel crowded, but close enough to feel like they could have a conversation. “The old one, too.”
Instantly, a fair bit of Mary Anne’s reserve melted away. She gave Scott a grin, a real, wide grin, the sort of thing that she only gave to those that she truly favored. Scott had charmed her almost right away, just with a few words.
The type of charisma that Scott had, it wasn’t the sort of thing that one could ignore. It was just there, in everything he did, in every word he spoke, every action he took. It translated on screen, too, and Mark had the idea that the guy could probably make anyone that he wanted to fall in love with him with just a few words.
Damn it, it was already working on Mark, and he’d told himself that he had protected his heart too well, sheltered it so that no one could touch it.
“Yeah, my dad likes the old one more,” Mary Anne said, but she was leaning toward Scott, her eyes bright as she looked at him. Scott was, apparently, more interesting than the television, and that was saying something.
“That’s cool, I guess it’s an old people thing,” Scott said, with a wide grin that made Mark’s stomach quiver and made him ache to touch the guy. Neither of them was even over thirty, hardly old, but Scott said it in such a self-deprecating way that Mary Anne actually laughed.
“So what’s your favorite?” Scott continued, his eyes on Mary Anne like she was actually interesting to him. Mark could actually feel as some of his remaining defenses melted away, leaving his heart even more vulnerable to this man.
Just a little bit more, and he would be helpless against him. He would be thoroughly charmed, just as his daughter clearly already was.
“Pokémon?” Mary Anne asked, and at Scott’s nod, she fell into some very serious thought about that. “Dragonite, I think. Because it’s cute but still badass.”
Mark winced when she said that word. Badass. She knew it because he said it, but what would Scott think when he saw someone so young say it?
Maybe he should have known better. Scott wasn’t exactly known for having the cleanest of mouths on his own show, so it shouldn’t really have been a huge surprise when Scott just laughed the comment off.
“That’s cool,” he said amiably enough, and there was a brief silence as the two of them sized each other up.
“So what about you?” Mary Anne finally asked, and Scott grinned at her, that wide, gorgeous, handsome grin that made Mark squirm slightly.
“Charmander,” Mark
finally said. “I’m into the fire tail.”
They then devolved into a conversation that Mark couldn’t actually follow, a conversation of such surpassing geekery that it went far past his own knowledge of the subject and left him baffled. Which was fine. He didn’t care that much about the actual conversation but was more interested in how they were getting along.
He had no complaints about that, at all.
When the episode ended, the two were fast friends, and Scott had moved onto the couch where Mary Anne sat so that they could have their conversation easily. Mark shook his head. Scott had the sort of charisma that could talk a nun into a nudie bar.
“So what are we doing today?” Mark asked when the show was over, and the conversation had at least stalled for a moment. Mark knew his daughter well enough to know that she could easily babble on about Pokémon as long as someone would listen.
“Can we go to the beach?” Mary Anne said hopefully, and Scott glanced at Mark briefly, who knew that his face was frozen. Mark didn’t like the beach very much.
“I don’t have a swimsuit with me,” Scott said, and Mark drew a breath deep into his lungs. They both wanted to go, he could tell that easily, and he wasn’t going to be the one to rain on their parade.
“You can borrow one of mine,” Mark said. The idea gave him a delightful little shiver. Scott’s beautiful body caressed by Mark’s own clothing? That was hot as hell. Maybe worth the trip to the beach all on its own. “You’re about the same size as me.”
Scott gave him a slow, intimate little smile, and Mark smiled back, aware that he should be careful. Mary Anne was right there, her eyes seeing everything that passed between them.
Maybe, though, she didn’t disapprove.
Chapter Seven
Scott
Maybe Scott wasn’t that used to being around kids, but he wasn’t completely inexperienced, either. He’d certainly never been as nervous to meet a little human being as he was when he was standing on the doorstep, waiting for Mark to open the door and introduce him to his daughter.
