Most Likely to Succeed

by Shawn Lane

  “Thomas?”

  He forced himself to move. He opened the door and stepped out of the car. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m just really surprised.”

  Clark opened the door and entered the house. Thomas followed him, looking around as he did. The house was still mostly devoid of furniture, though Clark had moved his big black, leather couch to his new living room. It was there Clark led him.

  “Sit down, Thomas.”

  He opened his mouth to somehow protest, he wasn’t sure why, but he found he was too weary, and he plopped down on the sofa. “All right. What do you want to say to me?”

  Clark remained standing and looked down at him. His gray eyes were sad, haunted. The dark smudges under his eyes didn’t help. “Matt told me everything.”

  Thomas had guessed Matt went to Clark. He grimaced. “So you know I didn’t send my résumé to Aaron Rush?”

  “Yes,” Clark whispered. “I’m sorry, Thomas. I’ve been such a prick. I should have listened to you or asked you about it. Given you a chance. And I didn’t.” He exhaled. “Even before Matt came to see me, I had decided I needed to see you.”

  “You did?”

  Clark nodded. “I called your home, and your machine said it was full. I was about to call your cell when Matt came by.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “There really is no excuse for my behavior, but I hope you’ll consider forgiving me anyway.”

  “Clark—”

  “Please, I need to say this. I was really in love with Aaron. Really for the first time. Sure, I’d had relationships before him, but nothing that serious. I thought he felt the same about me. He even told me he loved me.” Clark looked down at his shoes. “It never occurred to me he was just using me to get ahead. Hell, I was planning on setting up house with him. You know, a white picket fence and all that.”

  Thomas hated hearing about someone else Clark had loved. Hated it. Yeah, it was stupid and absurd to be jealous of an asshole like Aaron Rush, but he was. He twisted his hands on his lap and waited for Clark to continue.

  “Anyway, what I wanted and what Aaron wanted were two different things. I found out he had planned to work for Sterling and seduce me. It was all part of a scheme he had going with the majority partner in the other firm, who, as it happened, was also Aaron’s lover. It was all a setup.” Clark’s jaw tightened. “It worked really well too. They obviously knew I was a sucker.”

  “That’s not true.”

  Clark briefly met his gaze and then looked down again. “I could have made a stink about Aaron and the firm, but the truth was I was too mortified to admit I’d been had. I vowed I would never become involved with another attorney, let alone someone who worked for Sterling.”

  “But?”

  Clark did look at him then and smiled. “You came along. You were so beautiful and smart and sweet and sexy and all sorts of other adjectives.” He laughed. It warmed Thomas’s heart. He had missed that laugh. “And my resolve flew out the window.”

  Thomas returned his smile, his chest feeling so much lighter than it had when he’d gotten off the plane. “I’m glad you didn’t keep your vow.”

  “Are you?”

  Thomas nodded. “I can see why you freaked when you thought I was trying to get hired there. I never was. I wouldn’t. I liked it where I was.”

  “I know that now. And I’ll do whatever it takes to get you to forgive me. I’ll grovel.” Clark dropped to his knees.

  Thomas smiled slightly. “But the thing is all this time we kept assuring each other we could handle the boss-employee relationship, that it wouldn’t cause problems between us. Those were pretty much your exact words.”

  “And it did.”

  “Yeah, it did. Bad ones. You didn’t even want to hear any explanation from me. You just shut me down. Relationships, personal ones, can’t work like that. Not good ones, anyway.”

  Clark nodded. “I know. You’re right. I let Aaron’s behavior turn me into a cynical asshole. Honestly, I think I was waiting for you to hurt me all along. To be like him.”

  “I’m not.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you?”

  “I do, Thomas. I’m sorry. I can’t say that often enough, but it’s true.”

  Thomas stood up and stepped over to Clark, pulling him to his feet.

  He threw his arms around Clark and pulled him close. “I love you.”

  Clark sucked in a breath and leaned against him. “I wanted to say it first.”

  He shook, his heart leaping. “You can still say it now.”

  “I love you.” Clark pulled back just enough to seek Thomas’s lips. He framed Thomas’s face in his hands and pressed his lips hard to his.

  It had been too long since he’d been with Clark. His cock filled, rising against his briefs, and he was pretty sure he felt Clark’s erection against his leg. He broke the kiss. “Please tell me you moved the bed here.”

  Clark laughed. “Of course. And edible lube and condoms too.” Then he turned serious, searching Thomas’s face. “About the test.”

  “I passed, remember?”

  “Not that test. Tests. You and me. Do you want to?”

  “Oh. Oh my God,” Thomas exclaimed, happiness bubbling inside. “Yes, I’d love that.”

  “I hope that kind of enthusiasm will translate to the bedroom.” Clark frowned. “Or are you too tired? I understand if you are.”

  “Hell no.” Thomas grabbed Clark’s hand and led him to where he remembered the master bedroom was. Damn, he loved the fireplace. He knew his grin was goofy.

  “I want you to live here with me, babe,” Clark said, watching him. “When I offered for this place, it was right after we looked at it together. I bought this place for us. No matter how nuts that probably sounds.” He touched his fingers to Thomas’s lips. “But I don’t want to push you. I’m completely okay with us taking some time before you move in, as long as you agree that’s what will happen eventually.”

  God, he loved this man. “Definitely. And thank you. I’d love to live here. Someday. But right now, I think we should find out what it is to be in love with each other for a little longer before we make that commitment.”

  “No pressure.” Clark embraced him but then reached to start unbuttoning Thomas’s shirt. He slid his hands along Thomas’s bare skin, his thumbs grazing over his nipples.

  “Clark, I don’t think I can wait long,” Thomas said. Tremors shook him. “I really missed you.”

  Clark brushed a light kiss on lips. “I missed you too. Finish undressing. I’ll be right back.”

  His lover disappeared into the bathroom, and Thomas shrugged out of his shirt. Clark’s big cherrywood bed looked like it was made for this room. He glanced at the small window in the room covered by merlot-colored drapes. He was surprised Clark hadn’t positioned the bed in the direction of the only window, considering his desire to be watched. Although maybe he’d thought the window was too small to bother with, and this way the bed’s position aligned better with the fireplace. He kicked off his shoes and divested himself of his jeans and underwear.

  “Hey, Clark?”

  Clark came out of the bathroom already naked and holding a bottle of lube and a foil wrapper. Thomas’s mouth went dry.

  “What?”

  “Huh?” Thomas stared at his lover’s naked, godlike body. He wanted to run his hands all over the sleek muscles.

  “You called me?”

  “Oh yeah.” He grinned. “There’s no big window facing the neighbors. Must be disappointing.”

  “Funny. On the bed on your stomach, smart boy. And for your information, I didn’t say I wouldn’t make some improvements to this place. A big picture window is definitely going to be one.”

  Thomas laughed and crawled up the bed toward the headboard and then lay down, ass raised in the air. He heard Clark tear the condom package and then felt the weight on the bed when Clark joined him.

  When he craned his neck to look back, he watched Clark positioning his face at Thomas
’s opening. Clark winked when he saw Thomas looking.

  “Ah, fuck.” Thomas gasped when Clark’s tongue stabbed his hole. He grabbed on to the blankets and stuffed the sheet in his mouth. His hard cock pressed against the bed, straining, aching.

  Clark squirted lube out all the while continuing to work his tongue in and out of Thomas. He pushed Thomas’s legs farther apart. Suddenly Clark slipped a slicked finger in to join with his tongue, pushing and probing. Thomas closed his eyes. This was always one of his favorite parts.

  Clark withdrew his tongue from Thomas’s hole long enough to say, “I love you.”

  A lump formed in his throat. The ice that had been his heart for the last month completely melted. “I love you too.”

  Clark pushed a second finger inside Thomas. Thomas rose a little and pressed against it, seeking deeper penetration. Both fingers slipped past the ring of muscle. His trapped cock jolted.

  “Oh God, Clark, hurry.”

  Clark added a third finger, thrusting all three, stretching him.

  “Now, babe, please,” Thomas begged. He wished he had the strength to prolong it. He’d thought being with Clark would never happen again, and now, knowing everything would be all right, they loved each other, he wished they could make slow, easy love. But it had been too long without Clark for that now.

  Clark growled low in his throat and rose above Thomas. “It makes me crazy when you beg.”

  With almost painful slowness, Clark’s cock pushed in, filling him. Thomas was well lubed, so he slipped in easily, balls-deep. Clark’s hands joined to Thomas’s, and he lay without moving for a moment or so. Both of them breathed heavily.

  “It’s almost too much,” Clark said, resting his head on Thomas’s back.

  “Uh-huh.” He wiggled his ass, wanting Clark to move.

  His lover groaned in response and released Thomas’s hands. He grasped Thomas’s hips and pulled out to just the tip.

  “Ah.”

  With rapid speed, Clark thrust in deep, pumping hard, over and over. The sound of their heavy, labored breathing filled the room.

  Thomas worked his arm underneath, and his hand closed around his straining erection. He pulled his bottom lip with his teeth as he stroked. Just then, Clark angled to hit his prostate. With a deep groan, Thomas closed his eyes, his skin tingling, his nerve endings dancing with the beginning of his release.

  A sort of whimper escaped his lips, and his balls grew impossibly tight. “Clark,” he breathed, biting the sheet next to his face. He pushed back hard against Clark, wanting, seeking more depth, more penetration. “Yes!”

  “Thomas, I’m gonna—”

  ”Please.” His release overtook him, sending him spiraling, gasping for breath. He screamed Clark’s name as he came all over the bed.

  Clark tensed, dug his fingers in, and shook with his own release. He collapsed on Thomas, wrapping his arms tight around him. After a moment, he flipped them so he wouldn’t crush him. He pulled Thomas’s back against him, squeezing him.

  Thomas smiled and sighed with contentment. “Wow, make-up sex is good.”

  Clark chuckled, his chest rumbling. “Yeah, I’d have to agree.”

  “Just so we’re clear, Clark, next time you have any doubt about me, please, talk to me.”

  “I promise I will. I’ll do whatever I need to do to make it up to you, Thomas.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t need to make anything up to me. We’re together now. That’s what matters.”

  “Well,” Clark said after a moment. “There is something.”

  “What?”

  “You can have your job at the firm back. I decided you were right and it was time to take on a partner.”

  “Yeah?”

  Clark smiled a little. “I made the offer to Denise Copeland. She’s definitely the most qualified, and I knew she’d be interested. She accepted. We’re still working out the details, but it should be Sterling, Copeland, and Associates in a few months.”

  “Wow, that’s great. I’m glad, and I like Denise.”

  “She likes you too. And that’s another thing. If you come back, you’ll report to Denise instead of me.”

  “Clark—”

  “I think a different reporting chain will be better for both of us, Thomas. And I’ll make sure you get back pay for all the weeks you missed.”

  A lump formed in Thomas’s throat. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “Yes, I think I do. It was shitty of me to decide not to hire you. I told you I’m going to make up for it, and this is one of the things I’m going to do, so don’t argue with me.”

  Thomas laughed. “Okay. No arguments, counselor.”

  Clark maneuvered him onto his back and looked down at him, grinning. “You’re the best, you know that? I just think you’re amazing.”

  He reached up to touch Clark’s cheek. “Well, you know what they voted me in high school, don’t you?”

  “Valedictorian? Best-looking guy ever?”

  Thomas rolled his eyes. “I wish. No. Most Likely to Succeed.”

  THE END

  ABOUT SHAWN LANE

  Shawn Lane is a multi-published author of gay romances and believes love and passion know no boundaries. Happily Ever After is for everyone.

  She has been published by Loose Id, Ellora's Cave, Amber Quill Press, Dreamspinner Press, and Evernight Publishing.

  Shawn lives in California and holds down a boring day job in a legal department of a giant corporation dreaming of the nights and weekends when she can create new stories.

  For more information, visit smlgr8.blogspot.com.

  ABOUT JMS BOOKS LLC

  JMS Books LLC is a small queer press with competitive royalty rates publishing LGBT romance, erotic romance, and young adult fiction. Visit jms-books.com for our latest releases and submission guidelines!