by Ann Lister
Mason pressed his forehead to Tessler’s and inhaled. “I love you, and this feels like a natural way for me to show you how much,” he whispered.
“I agree,” Tessler replied. “So, go ahead, Mase. Show me how much you love me.”
“Christ, I could come right now just thinking about being inside of you,” Mason groaned.
“Then take me,” Tessler said and lifted his hips off the bed. “I want to feel your power thrusting deep.”
Mason reached for the drawer with the supplies and tossed the items they’d need on the bed beside Tessler. Then he quickly went to work slicking his fingers to get Tessler stretched. Mason’s fingers circled his prostate and edged him close to orgasm several times, bringing him so close to release Tessler was certain he was going to blow apart all over the sheets, but each time Mason backed off and allowed Tessler’s bliss to dangle there like a prize just out of his reach.
“Are you ever gonna let me come?” Tessler asked.
“I am, but not until my cock is filling you,” Mason answered.
“Please, fuck me,” Tessler pleaded. “I need you.”
“I never thought I’d ever hear you say those words,” Mason said and the smile that followed was brilliant.
Tessler watched him roll on a condom and then slick it with lube. “I wanna do it like this so I can see your face,” Mason said softly.
Tessler nodded, then grabbed the back of his knees to open himself wider for Mason. A moment later, Mason lowered himself and Tessler felt a slight pressure at his entrance. The sting was so brief he barely noticed it, and then Mason was sliding inside—so fucking deep, and Tessler groaned loudly at the fullness he felt.
“Okay?” Mason asked.
“Yeah, but I like it kind of . . . rough,” Tessler confessed.
“Hard and fast?” Mason asked with a harsh snap of his hips which pulled a whimper from Tessler.
“Oh god, that’s so fucking good,” Tessler admitted.
Mason picked up the speed of his thrusts and grabbed both of Tessler’s legs to put on his shoulders.
“Fuck yes!” Tessler exclaimed and Mason continued to pound into him.
The act itself wasn’t new to Tessler, but the sensations were vastly different, more intense and definitely more intimate. Holding eye contact and seeing the swirl of emotion in Mason’s while he slammed inside of him was powerful. He had no words to offer that would adequately convey what he was feeling, because he was feeling everything all at once. It was a flood of euphoria and passion mixed with the heaviness of love which threatened to drown him, then sweep him out with the tide, but Tessler didn’t care. He wanted this—all of this, and he wanted it with Mason.
Tessler watched as Mason’s eyes began to close, no doubt because he was trying to hold off his own orgasm. “Keep your eyes open for me, Mase,” he requested. “I need to see that you’re feeling this with me.”
“I’m so fucking close, Tess,” Mason admitted. “I can feel you all around me, so damn tight ... I can’t hold off. It feels too good.”
“Fuck me harder and send us both over the edge,” Tessler prompted.
Mason adjusted the angle of his hips and pitched forward with such force that Tessler’s head nearly hit the headboard of the bed.
“Keep doing that and you’ll make me come,” Tessler instructed.
Again and again, Mason thrust into Tessler and their moans of pleasure grew louder. Tessler saw the flashes of light behind his eyes, and his balls became unbearably tight just as Mason was starting to arch into his orgasm. Mason slid the last few strokes of his thick cock perfectly over his gland, and suddenly Tessler was right there with Mason. He opened himself up to the orgasm and let it take him away. While he was releasing all over his stomach, Mason was filling the condom inside of him, and then he fell forward to take Tessler’s mouth in a deep kiss. They continued to lightly tease each other’s mouths through the aftershocks, and finally, Mason pulled out and rolled to Tessler’s side.
“I’ll go get something to clean us up,” Mason offered and left the bedroom to retrieve a wash cloth from the bathroom. When he came back to the bed, he began to gently wipe Tessler’s skin until it was clean. Throughout the whole process, Tessler lay there almost motionless. It wasn’t until Mason stretched out beside him that he felt able to talk.
“You okay?” Mason asked him while his fingers made slow circles over the tattoos on Tessler’s stomach.
“That was beyond perfection,” Tessler sighed. “I’m speechless.”
“You’re the one with the gift of words, Tess, and you have nothing to say?”
Tessler rolled onto his side and faced Mason. “That’s because what we just shared is so much more than my words could ever say.”
Mason inched closer until their noses touched. “I love you, Tess, and I’m going to work really hard every day to make sure you know that.”
“And I’ll work every day to keep you hard,” Tessler promised.
“It doesn’t require a lot of work for that to happen,” Mason said. “I get hard looking at you.”
“You say the sweetest things,” Tessler cooed in a teasing tone.
“You really think so?” Mason snorted. “Then, maybe you and I both have a gift for words.”
Tessler gave Mason a soft kiss. “I think I prefer you playing the role of my personal security guard.”
Mason stole another quick peck. “Mmm, now that’s a role I could happily play forever.”
“You’ll be my protector forever and ever?”
“I’ll give you forever and then some, might even toss in an eternity for good measure,” Mason said right before he took Tessler’s mouth in a kiss that made every last thought inside his head evaporate, and that’s exactly how Tessler always wanted it to be between them.
“Are you hungry?” Tessler asked him.
“Is that a trick question?”
“I’m starved,” Tessler said. “How about I heat up some leftovers, and we’ll eat on the beach under the stars.”
“That sounds great,” Mason replied as they both rolled off the bed and stood. Mason reached for his pants and heard Tessler clear his throat from behind him.
“Are you forgetting the rule already?” Tessler asked. “No clothing is allowed at this exclusive beach club.”
Mason smiled at that but his smile soon began to fade. “I know it’s dark outside right now, so it doesn’t matter tonight, but I honestly can’t—or shouldn’t get a lot of sunlight on my skin during the day,” he explained. “I brought some special board shorts which will cover most of that section of my leg and keep out most of the sun’s rays, but I have to wear them outside, Tess. I also have a weird leg sock that covers the skin, too, so no laughing when I put that on to wear under my shorts.”
“First of all, I would never laugh at anything you need to do to protect yourself,” Tessler said. “Secondly, how’s this for a new rule?” he asked. “No clothing only applies while inside. Can you do that?”
“I can definitely do that,” Mason countered.
Mason dropped his pants back on the floor and followed Tessler into the small, but efficient kitchen and watched a bare-assed Tessler as he pulled cartons of Chinese food out of the refrigerator and began to heat them inside the microwave.
“We should probably talk about the details of a possible press conference,” Mason hedged.
It took a moment, but Tessler finally nodded. “I’ll make some calls after we eat,” Tessler replied. “I can’t just jump in front of the camera and spill my secrets. I need to talk to my family first, and let them know what’s coming at them.”
“I agree,” Mason answered. “I should do the same. It’s probably time I told them I’m in a relationship with a man.”
“What? You mean they don’t already know you’re bisexual?”
“They’ve never really seen me with anyone from either gender,” Mason answered with a shrug. “I haven’t exactly been around much to bring someone home for th
em to meet, but I’d like to at least have that option now to bring you home.”
Tessler smiled warmly. “I’d really like that,” he said. “So, I guess we’ve both got some calls to make tonight.”
“I think we do,” Mason agreed. “I should also talk with BB and my therapist to let them know what’s going on in my life these days, and maybe make appointments with them for after we get back.”
Tessler handed Mason a plate and fork as his cell phone began to ring on top of the round kitchen table. His eyes darted to the caller ID. “Shit. It’s Barry.”
“Let it go to voicemail,” Mason suggested. “He’s probably just discovered the journal is missing. Let’s see if he leaves a message.”
Sure enough, a few moments later, Tessler’s phone made the sound indicating there was a new voicemail. Tessler punched in the numbers and listened to it, then passed it over for Mason to hear Barry’s message, too.
“Well, he’s sure pissed off,” Mason said and chuckled.
A second later, the phone pinged with a text message, also from Barry. “I see you had your bodyguard steal your journal from my house,” Barry’s typed message read. “The surveillance cameras caught him at my goddamned house! Don’t think for a second that I’m not still going through with the press conference. By the end of this week, the world is going to know exactly who you are.”
“Can I respond?” Tessler asked Mason after he’d read the message as well.
“Yeah, but keep it simple and don’t give any specifics,” Mason answered.
Tessler thought about his message for a moment and then started typing. “I don’t give a fuck what you do.” He read it out loud to Mason before he hit the send button. “How’s it sound?”
“Perfect,” Mason replied. “If he tries to reach you again, don’t answer.”
A slow smile pulled at Tessler’s lips. “I’m glad I have you to help me with this,” he said.
“You’re always going to have me,” Mason added. “From here on out.”
Another text message came in from Barry and Tessler sighed. “I’m going to need your strength with this,” Tessler said. “He’s not going to let this go.”
“Read me the new message,” Mason requested.
“He says, I want to start giving a fuck about what he does because he says he can bury me,” Tessler finished reading and looked up at Mason, who simply shrugged.
“These messages are all evidence,” Mason said. “Don’t delete anything he sends to you, then, if need be, we can show it to the police. Once we get back to LA, I want to bring you by Ventura Security to meet Victor and the rest of my team. We’ll work out a plan with Victor to give you some protection for a while until Barry is truly neutralized.”
Tessler slowly nodded. “I’d really like to meet the guys where you work, and as much as I don’t like the intrusion into my life, I think it’s time I get better security.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that,” Mason said and smiled. “I can’t wait for everyone to meet you. I think a few of them thought I was making up the ‘mystery man’ who gave me beard burn on my neck.”
“I did no such thing,” Tessler protested in a teasing tone.
Mason laughed. “It was a badge of honor I wore for a couple of days, and I loved that they saw it,” he said.
“Maybe next time, I’ll give you a hickey on your throat to stake my claim on you,” Tessler said.
“Mmm, I’d love that.”
Tessler was quiet for a moment before he asked, “Can Barry get you in trouble for breaking into his house and stealing the journal?”
“He has no real proof that’s me on his surveillance camera footage because my face was covered the entire time I was in his house,” Mason scoffed. “Secondly, how can he claim I stole something that didn’t belong to him in the first place? He had stolen property in his possession, and that’s a crime. There’s no way he’s going to the police about this, but I’ll talk to Victor about it after we get back and explain everything to him. I know he’ll have my back on this, so please don’t worry about it.”
“Okay, I’ll leave this all in your very capable hands,” Tessler said and offered a weak smile.
Epilogue
Press conference, the next day . . .
The taxi dropped Mason and Tessler at the Hemingway House a full hour and a half before the museum opened for business so Tessler could come in and use their conference room to do his interview. That was the deal Marcus had offered to Tessler the night before when they’d talked on the phone. Marcus even made a few calls for Tessler to a couple of network reporters he knew to see if they’d be available to do the interview on such short notice and at the time slot Marcus had allotted. Only one of them was free and had flown into Key West the night before to be there on time.
Tessler checked his phone again as they stepped out of the cab and noticed several new text messages from Barry, each one more threatening than the last. It seemed now that he knew he no longer had the journal in his possession, he was panicking over the fact he’d lost his hold over Tessler, and that only made Tessler feel more powerful.
“More bullshit from Barry?” Mason asked when he saw Tessler looking at his phone.
Tessler nodded. “He’s not going to give this up,” he said.
“If he continues to harass you, then we’ll take legal action after we get back to LA,” Mason replied.
“I just want him to leave me the hell alone,” Tessler grumbled.
Mason held Tessler’s hand as they walked towards the Hemingway estate. “Are you sure you want to do this interview today?” he asked. “If not, we could give it another day and see if the reporter could do the interview then.”
Tessler shook his head. “No, I want to get this over with, like you said, and move forward without having to constantly worry someone is going to out me,” he said. “We’re doing this today before Barry does it for me. My terms. My way.”
Mason smiled broadly at that. He loved the sound of confidence hanging off each of Tessler’s words. The old Tessler was back and fully in charge—the same man he’d met what seemed like a hundred years ago.
“I’m really proud of you for doing this,” Mason said and squeezed Tessler’s hand.
“Save that sentiment until after I actually do the interview, okay?” Tessler said. “There’s still a chance I might run from the room screeching like a little school girl.”
“That’s actually a funny visual,” Mason said and laughed. “Would there be a school girl uniform to go along with that and maybe pigtails, too?” He opened the door to the Hemingway House and allowed Tessler to enter first; he didn’t miss the roll of Tessler’s eyes as he stepped in front of him, either.
A good-looking older man with thick, dark hair and wire-rimmed glasses was there to greet them. He quickly pulled Tessler into a hug which unnerved Mason a little bit. He was about to insert himself between their embrace when he remembered Tessler said Marcus was an old friend who worked here and was instrumental in arranging for this to happen. Fuck buddy was a better description of their relationship, but Mason couldn’t allow himself to go all green-eyed monster right now. This guy had gone above and beyond to get this interview scheduled on such short notice and even offered up his place of work as a location. Mason wasn’t going to give the guy attitude for being nice, but if their hug segued into a kiss then all this guy would be getting was Mason’s bad-ass attitude.
Soon enough, Tessler pulled out of their embrace and turned towards Mason. “Marcus, this is the guy I told you about,” he said and stretched his hand in Mason’s direction. “Mason, this is my old friend, Marcus.”
“It’s so good to finally meet you, Mason,” Marcus said as he leaned closer to shake his hand. “Tessler has told me a lot about you, which is why I knew it was serious long before he was ready to admit it. He never gushes about anyone.”
“That’s always good to hear,” Mason said and smiled back at Marcus.
Marcus turned bac
k to Tessler and touched his forearm. “The reporter is already here and set up with one cameraman doing a two-camera shoot,” Marcus explained. “She asked if you wanted to do a live feed with her network, but I told her I was pretty sure you wanted to go the pre-recorded route and have her upload later. You can change that if you want. There’s still time.”
Marcus talked while he directed them down a hallway, which led to the executive offices for the museum. He stopped next to a set of double glass doors. “We’re set up for you in here,” Marcus said to Tessler.
Mason felt Tessler hesitate before he stepped into the room and pressed a reassuring hand on the small of his back. Then he leaned closer to Tessler’s ear. “You’re in control here, Tess. If you’ve changed your mind, it’s okay. I’ll take you back to the cottage.”
Tessler turned around and faced Mason. His eyes brimmed with tears, and Mason could tell he was fighting to hold on to what little composure he had left. “No, I’m doing this now,” he whispered. “When I leave this place, I am no longer going to be looking over my shoulder. I want that for me, but I also want it for us.”
Mason nodded and pulled Tessler against his chest for a quick embrace. “I’ll wait out here in the hallway,” he said softly.
Tessler’s eyes flew wide. “No way! You promised you’d be with me,” Tessler pleaded.
“You want me in the room?” Mason questioned.
“I can’t do this without you right there beside me.”
“Everything okay?” Marcus asked from behind Tessler.
Tessler’s eyes held Mason’s. “Please. I need you.”
Four simple words that weighed so damn much and meant the world for Mason to hear them. Mason always felt his purpose in life was to help people, which was why it was so difficult for him to ask for help when he needed it himself. It was a role so unfamiliar to him, he navigated the emotional terrain like a blind man. He was whole again, thanks to Tessler’s strength, and now it was Mason’s turn to hold Tessler up and be his rock, his fortress, whatever he needed him to be.
