by Willa Okati
"What's going on?"
No answer.
"Damn you! What did you do to me?"
"I didn't do anything.” A hand came to rest on Jaden's shoulder. “What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Jaden twisted violently in his chair to look up at the man who'd spoken. His hair was styled and his beard gone, his clothes professional and well-fitting, but...
"Andy,” he whispered. “Oh, my God. Andy?"
Chapter Five
"Yeah, darlin', it's me. What, were you expecting someone else?” Andy teased, bending to drop a light kiss on Jaden's cheek. Without making a conscious choice, Jaden moved so that the kiss landed on his lips.
The shock of feeling Andy's mouth touch his own made Jaden dizzy.
Not so dizzy, though, that he couldn't reach to grasp Andy by the back of the skull and pull him closer, deepening the kiss for the sake of sheer hunger. He slid his tongue in Andy's mouth, learning for the first time how the man tasted—expecting toothpaste, something minty, or the yeasty flavor of beer.
Cigarettes? Sour coffee?
Jaden drew back, startled. “You've been smoking?” he blurted.
Andy grimaced. “Yeah. Sorry, darlin'. I am still trying to quit, honest to God. Wouldn't have lit up if ... hell. We had a really nasty case come in right before my shift ended. Some teenage mother didn't see why she needed a baby seat in her car. Not much left of mom to yell at after she T-boned a semi, but the baby might pull through. Might. Hard to say right now."
"You work at a hospital?” Jaden struggled to understand. He took a second, clearer look at Andy and realized that he had a white lab coat slung over one forearm, and that he wore a tie, sadly askew. Without thinking, he reached up to straighten the tie, noticing how the color was a plain, dull blue. The Andy he'd known only wore ties to wedding and funerals, and even then the ones he chose then were a sight to behold, brightly hued and covered in whimsical decorations. Sometimes cartoons.
Jaden's fingers shook as he pulled the knot tight. “You're a doctor?"
"Not yet, darlin', not last time I checked. Still a resident. Are you okay?” Andy straightened, arching his back until something gave a deep, muffled pop. “Fuck, that feels better.” He flashed Jaden a rueful smile. “It'll do until I can wheedle a backrub out of you."
Jaden flexed his fingers. He'd never ... but he could try. “You won't have to work very hard to get me to touch you."
"Mmm. I'll hold you to that.” Andy stretched again, this time extending his arm and pulling on the wrist. “You and your magic hands. I keep telling the suits they should hire you as a masseuse, but they always cry money, money, money. Figures, huh?"
Jaden knew almost nothing about hospitals. “They think the money would be better used for patient care?"
"As if a penny of it would reach patient care level.” Andy walked away from Jaden's chair, heading for a rack on the far wall. He jerked off the tie Jaden had taken such pains with, slipping the loop over his head and dropping it carelessly into a tangled pile of imitation silk. He sounded resigned—not as if he'd had a dream deferred, but more like he'd long ago given up hope. “An average of twenty more patients a day in the ER than we had last year, and we're still operating on the same budget they've had in place since, oh, 1995 or something. Probably the same equipment, too.” He stopped. “Damn. I promised I wouldn't go on and on about work, didn't I?"
"It's all right,” Jaden replied honestly. He was still trying to wrap his head around the idea of Andy being involved in the medical field. A resident? Sounded as if he worked in an Emergency Room. He'd always known Andy possessed a tremendous brain and his way with taking care of animals injured in mind or body was a wonder, but ... how?
What would you do if you could change the world, Jaden?
Hooker's voice echoed in his ears. Jaden glanced around the darkened room, taking in more now that his eyes had adjusted. Certainly not the dingy motel he'd been in moments ago, or Andy's ramshackle-comfortable country home. Not his own neglected apartment, either. Good furniture, excellent quality in the latest styles, although not much of it.
Using the well-stuffed arms of the chair he sat in for leverage, Jaden raised out of its puffy depths and walked toward the one window he could see, the only source of dim light. He laid his fingers lightly on the sill and peered out.
His eyes widened. The ocean? What the—they were directly on the ocean?
What would you do if you could change the world?
"Hey.” Jaden flinched as Andy approached from behind, leaning his weight against Jaden and resting his head on Jaden's shoulder. “What are you looking at?"
"This. Out there. I don't..."
What would you do if you could change the world?
"You don't know what's happened,” Jaden whispered, the words meant for his ears only. “It's all changed, but you don't know any different."
"What don't I know is different?"
Jaden hesitated, torn between honesty and ... the alternative. Andy snuggled forward and raised warm lips to Jaden's ear, nipping the slender lobe. “What's on your mind, darlin'?"
"Nothing.” Jaden turned so he and Andy were face to face. He searched the familiar features, closer to his than ever before—warm eyes, gentle and good-natured smile, slightly crooked nose. Not a handsome man, still, but equally fascinating.
He touched Andy's cheek, rasping the backs of his fingers against Andy's short growth of stubble. “I remember your beard,” he murmured.
Andy blinked. “You do? God almighty, I haven't worn one of those since the summer after high school. You said it itched when we kissed."
"Oh. Yes. I must have.” Jaden lifted his fingers away. The part of him that remembered being terrified of rejection made him want to smile, pat Andy on the shoulder, and go for a strategic retreat.
But he didn't have to do that now, did he? He saw nothing in Andy's expression but a quirk of puzzlement and open, freely given affection. Jaden thought he comprehended, now.
What would you do if you could change the world?
"I'd start with this,” Jaden murmured, jerking them around so that Andy would be pressed up against the window, then closing the short distance between his lips and Andy's own.
The start of Andy's question cut short, muffling into Jaden's mouth. He chuckled instead of pushing his point, twining his arms around Jaden's middle, hugging tight as he surrendered to the kiss.
Jaden didn't care about the bitter taste of cigarettes or the smell of antiseptic and hard work rising from Andy's body, his clothes, his hair. He had the chance to live his dream, and be damned if he'd let anything get in the way.
He made the kiss last as long as it could, pouring years’ worth of pent-up passion into the movement of his lips on Andy's. He crushed their softness beneath his own, gone hard with need; he plundered Andy's mouth with his tongue, sweeping in broad strokes, teasing with a stiffened tip, even counting Andy's teeth.
Andy struggled to keep up, but then surrendered, sagging back against the wall with a moan. Jaden drank down the sound and did everything he could to draw out another, ramping up his attack until Andy lightly bit his tongue.
"Hey,” Andy joked, though his voice had gone heavy with need, “I know it was a double shift, but I didn't think you'd be this happy to see me."
"You have no idea,” Jaden breathed before diving back in, avoiding Andy's mouth for the sake of kissing everything else he could possibly reach. Roughly on the cheeks, scraping his own light coat of stubble against Andy's heavier growth. Playfully on the tip of the nose. Sharply on the jut of that chin, stubborn as ever. Lightly as butterfly wings on the eyelids as they fell shut and Andy moaned again, music to Jaden's ears. He came back to the mouth, just the corner, drawing a thumbnail up Andy's spine at the same time, then pressing their bodies together as tightly as he could.
Andy opened his eyes, gone hazy with need. “Good to see you, too,” he joked, the words coming out deep and husky. He licked hi
s lips, slightly swollen from the force of Jaden's assault. “Mmm. You're hard."
"I know.” Jaden took a double handful of Andy's firm ass, squeezing the globes. “So are you."
"Feels good, huh?” Andy rocked against him.
Jaden abandoned words. He dove to kiss Andy's neck, sucking sharply, putting his mark on the man's neck. Claiming him. Andy gave a harsh cry as Jaden tilted him back, his hands sliding into Jaden's hair. Andy tangled strands of Jaden's hair around his fingers with a sharp tug, and Jaden deepened the kiss, loving every second.
When—too soon—Jaden had to come up for air, he found Andy staring at him in mixed surprise and lust. “What's gotten into you?"
Jaden laughed, free as a child. “Everything.” Slyness crept over him. “Nothing.” He rotated his cock against Andy's. “Yet."
"That's my line.” Andy grinned, toying with Jaden's hair, teasingly scratching the back of Jaden's neck. “And here I thought the only thing I had to look forward to tonight was eight-plus hours of sleep for a change."
"You're not going to sleep yet.” Jaden kneaded Andy's buttocks. “Maybe not until morning."
"Sounds promising."
"More like a vow.” Jaden couldn't stop himself from flexing and squeezing his hands. “I want you. Now."
Andy gazed at Jaden, the tip of a pink tongue coming out to moisten his lips. Jaden couldn't interpret the man's expression, but had passed the point where he could give such things more than a moment's fleeting thought. Andy's cock felt far better than he'd ever imagined, pressed snug against his own. He could come from nothing more than rubbing off, but he wanted more for their first time.
His first time. Andy didn't know anything was different. So far as he was concerned, he and Jaden had been lovers for—how long? Perhaps years upon years. Maybe even since after high school, where Jonas had won the day.
Was that where the paths diverged, and from whence he could now take the road not traveled?
Jaden laughed again for the sake of pure joy, and did what he wouldn't have done even back then—lurched forward in a tackle, bringing both of them down to earth. He rolled so that he took the brunt of the impact, Andy on top of him, then rolled again to have Andy beneath. He seized Andy's mouth in yet another kiss, cutting off any questions, joking or otherwise.
Andy came back like a champ, tongue entering the duel and hips bucking beneath Jaden's. Jaden humped with equal or greater need, unable to stop himself.
More, though, he needed more. The need for bare skin enveloped Jaden with a feverish rush. He hadn't seen so much as Andy without his shirt since he'd left for college—no, wait, he had gotten a look from his hiding spot in the rose garden. Not the same thing, though, not at all. He hadn't been looking for details, nor fantasizing about the feel of that solid flesh under his touch. And as for the rest ... to be able to take a good, long look at Andy because that was his right now...
"Lie still,” Jaden ordered, throat raw, as he tore away from the kiss. “Let me. Please let me.” He reached for the top button of Andy's plain, button-down shirt—pale gray, unadorned, completely bland, which struck him as odd for a moment before the thought slipped away. His fingers shook as he worked the fastenings out of their holes, cursing once or twice when he lost his grip on the slippery things.
Andy struggled to sit up. “Here. I can help."
"No!” Jaden pressed Andy down. “This is for me.” He cupped Andy's jaw in his hand, lingering for a few precious seconds, loosing a soft groan himself when Andy turned to kiss the palm. “My turn. Please?"
"Like I'd say no.” Andy licked the skin between Jaden's forefinger and thumb. “I'm all yours."
"You are,” Jaden whispered. “You really are."
"You make it sound like that's something new."
"Shh.” Jaden touched Andy's lips, nudging them closed. “No questions."
Andy blinked, then grinned under Jaden's fingertip. Andy nodded and relaxed almost bonelessly, Jaden's to do with as he pleased.
The sight took Jaden's breath away. This was what he'd do if he could change the world. And he had.
Too impatient to finish the fiddly job of undoing buttons, Jaden fisted his hands in the sides of Andy's shirt and tore it open. Buttons flew everywhere with ping noises. Andy made a stifled cry of protest which Jaden only vaguely registered, too busy drinking in the sight of Andy's chest. It was ... different. The Andy he remembered had solid, tight muscles visible even beneath his T-shirts. This Andy's stomach was flat, but he had only the smallest bit of tone, suggesting lack of food more than exercise.
What would you do if you could change the world?
"It doesn't matter,” Jaden said, absentmindedly aloud again. “You're still you underneath the changes.” He splayed his hands over Andy's chest, holding the air in his own lungs as he felt Andy's ribs rise and fall underneath his soft skin.
More. More. Jaden glided up to both nipples and pinched, tugging the small nubs of flesh until they stretched. Andy gasped, lifting into the pull. Jaden might have thought he was hurting except for the way Andy's cock jumped next to his own. Jaden wriggled down, lowered his mouth, and sucked a nipple, biting with the sharp edge of his teeth, then soothing with the flat of his tongue. He lifted his mouth away to blow warm air over the abused nipple, making Andy swear and thrash.
"Sensitive,” Jaden murmured. He'd always wondered. Men were all so different, but he favored the ones who got off on tit play, insofar as he'd been able to. How perfect that Andy should fit the ideal. He bit the other nipple for the sake of fair play and the fun of watching Andy twist.
"Yeah. Really. Which you know.” Andy spoke with effort in choppy bursts. “God. Fuck me. Say you're gonna fuck me."
Jaden paused in momentary surprise. He'd assumed Andy would top him. It had never occurred to him that Andy might like his sex the other way around. He did top—he'd always taken the active role with streetwalkers or rent boys he picked up—but in the vague thoughts he sometimes allowed himself and the occasional dream, Andy had been the one to wrestle him down and push that fine dick into him.
He couldn't question Andy, though. Andy might become suspicious.
"Yes,” he answered instead, punctuating his agreement with a rough kiss over Andy's breastbone. “Anything you want."
"God. I wondered if you ever would again.” Andy surged up only to collapse again. “Pants. My damn pants are in the way."
"Not for long.” Jaden popped open Andy's fly, jerking the zipper down, then scrambled to Andy's feet, too eager to be smooth. He seized the hems of Andy's dark dress slacks and began pulling them off the man's legs. His cock jerked at the appearance of muscles he'd been hoping for, strong and corded, covered with a thicker dusting of dark hairs.
His mouth watered with the need to kiss there, as he had everywhere else. He wanted to know if the spot behind Andy's knee would drive him wild. To find out if he was ticklish.
"Hurry,” Andy groaned. “Please."
Hearing Andy beg made Jaden's stomach seize with arousal. He paused long enough to fight for and regain some control. He wrenched Andy's scuffed dress shoes off and peeled away his thin, black socks.
For a fleeting moment, he indulged himself in raising one long foot to his cheek and kissing the arch.
Andy laughed, gasped, and laughed again. Ah-ha! Ticklish after all.
Jaden dropped Andy's foot and crawled back up to take care of the man's undershorts, a faded pair of boxers, white with once bright fleur-de-lis. They had been washed to such a degree of thinness that a good yank would probably tear them open at the seams. The temptation...
"Don't,” Andy managed, grasping Jaden's wrists. “Not too many other pairs."
Jaden hid a scowl of frustration and gentled his touch. He slid off the boxers, working them down past Andy's knees before allowing himself a look at the treasure beneath.
Oh. Oh, God. Jaden couldn't breathe. He'd seen cocks before—sucked them, jacked them, oiled them—the sight of a man's prick was nothi
ng new—but this fat cock belonged to Andy, and thus it was the only one that mattered. Long as he'd hoped and thicker than he'd thought, curved ever so slightly to the left, the hole oozing drops of clear fluid.
He couldn't resist—he had to have a taste. With no warning to Andy, Jaden lowered his head and drew the man's cock into his mouth. Andy's yelp made Jaden want to chuckle, but instead he echoed the guttural groan which came next. Here, here was the taste he'd been searching for in Andy's kisses. Unwashed and heavily musky, salty, a little bit bitter still, but almost exactly what he'd dreamed of. And although he'd only intended to have a small sample to entice himself with, he found he was sliding up and down Andy's erection, feeding off the wild noises escaping his lover.
The urge to do anything else fled. Jaden hadn't really been on the giving end in years, but apparently you never forgot some things. Judging from Andy's cries and the way the man thrust deeper, Jaden knew he must be doing something right. He closed one hand around Andy's balls and kneaded the sac, rolling the nuts together.
Andy loosed a ragged yell. “Stop! Fuck, Jay, stop!"
Jaden slid loose, chasing his tongue around the inside of his mouth to savor the taste. “What? Did I do something wrong?"
"Something way too right.” Andy grinned, albeit in a strained and forced sort of way. “Darlin', it's been months since you sucked me. I can't hold out if you keep going."
Months?
Perhaps I've been away. Why wouldn't I take every possible advantage?
"Would that be so bad?” Jaden purred, scratching Andy's thighs just sharply enough to leave white lines. “I'd love to feel you come in my mouth."
"Oh, God!” Andy's eyes rolled back. He fought for breath. “Next time. If there's a next time?"
"Why wouldn't there be?” Andy's reactions were beginning to hammer home in Jaden's mind, puzzling him further. “Don't you know how much I want you?"
Andy chuffed, shaking his head. “To hear you say that again. God. Next time, then.” He reached down to touch Jaden. “Still going to fuck me?"
