Falling Bundle

by Jace, Alex

  The cheek of him. Max captured his hands so that he couldn’t do up the last buttons. He liked the view better this way: Arjen in a crisp white shirt, invitingly half-buttoned, just waiting for someone to waylay him and mess him up. “I should put you on top of the counter right now,” Max dipped his head to whisper in his ear. Arjen caught his breath, a hitch in his chest. “Spread wide open for me to slide into. Nice and easy.” He nuzzled down the plane of his throat, where the silver chain that Max had given him lay against Arjen’s pale skin, as he thought about doing just that.

  Alas, as much as he would have preferred to keep Arjen under him on the counter all morning, in twenty minutes he needed to let Arjen slip out to work. So he should probably behave.

  Max let his hand slide downward, exploring his taut stomach through the warm fabric of his shirt, then further still until he cupped the front of his trousers and squeezed. Arjen groaned aloud; Max smiled against his throat. It was always gratifying to be wanted. And Arjen had wanted him with a single-minded intensity ever since they first met, when Max had torn his closeted life apart with that first searing kiss.

  Max squeezed him again, rubbing his palm over the bulge there. He loved the way Arjen shuddered against him. “Hmm. I wonder if there’s time to fuck you after all.”

  “You’re going to make me late for work.” Arjen was biting his lip, the colour rising in his face.

  Max chuckled. “You’d let me. You always do.” He could remember a delightful range of situations in which Arjen had proved very easily persuaded to let Max do whatever he wanted to him. “Because you just can’t resist me.” He began to undo the buckle of Arjen’s belt.

  “I can resist you,” Arjen said as if it was obvious.

  Max snickered. “Since when?” He couldn’t remember Arjen ever passing up on the opportunity to have sex with him. He opened Arjen’s belt and began working on the button of his trousers.

  “You’d crack long before I did if you couldn’t touch me.”

  Max gave up and just outright laughed. “You’re so wrong. You’re crazy for me.” He opened Arjen’s trousers, wanting to finally take that hot length into his hand, picturing the wonderful sound Arjen would make as he wrapped his fingers around—

  “Stop.” Arjen threw down the words as a challenge.

  Damn it. Max hadn’t even gotten to touch him. “You don’t want to be fucked?”

  “I’d like to be fucked, but I can manage without it.” Arjen gave him a stare that dared him to prove otherwise.

  “Fine. You know what, I’ll take that bet, because I guarantee you want me so bad you’ll crack way before me. But no touching yourself. You don’t get any satisfaction until you come crawling back to me begging me to fuck you.” Ha! Arjen wouldn’t even last a day.

  “All right,” said Arjen with a glimmer of that wicked smile that Max loved. “You’re on. No touching. The one who holds out the longest wins.” He stepped away and began rebuttoning his shirt.

  Not so fast. Max immediately cornered him. He put a hand against the wall either side of his head, trapping him, and leaned right in. He was barely a heartbeat away from just pressing his whole body hot against Arjen, rubbing himself against him the way he wanted. Grinding into him.

  Arjen froze. “No touching!” It came out a squeak.

  “I’m not touching you,” Max said, his voice dipping into a growl. But his eyes roamed hungrily up and down and he leaned in still further so that his lips were just a fraction from that cute earlobe he could just nibble on. “I’m going to have you very soon, Arjen. When you crack and beg me. I’m going to push up inside you. Get you hot and slippery squirming around on my cock. And even when you’re crying out for me to finish you off I’ll make you wait and wait and wait. Until you’re so crazy for me that you’ll let me do absolutely anything to you just to be allowed to come.”

  Arjen’s head tipped back against the wall, his eyes fluttering nearly shut. The low sound he made had Max clenching his fists to hold himself back. But when he lifted his eyes to Max’s face it was with that sexy defiance that only got Max even hotter for him. “Sounds nice, Max. What a pity that you can’t deliver.”

  Max stifled another growl, suddenly riveted to his mouth, that tempting lower lip he could bite down on and then deepen that kiss and claim his mouth completely. Arjen would be helpless for him then; he always melted as soon as Max kissed him. “I can manage without touching you. I’m tough.” He hoped.

  “Good. Because you’re missing out on a lot. I’d go down on you right now, Max. I’d slide down onto my knees and take my time getting you ready. Getting your cock out, teasing you. But I wouldn’t tease too long because I’d know once you lost patience you’d just grab me and fuck my mouth. So I’d slowly, slowly take your big, thick cock into my mouth.” Arjen licked his lips, giving Max a quick shiver of heat. “I’d like that. You know it makes me crazy when you’re in my mouth. And I’d please you until you’re so hot for me you start to get rough. Pulling on my hair and pushing deep. Mmm. Until finally you come in my mouth and I have to swallow.”

  Good God, that man was pure sin. Max couldn’t think about anything else now. Just that image of Arjen going down on him. It was something Arjen was especially, wickedly good at and that Max liked to make him practise. A lot.

  “You’d like that, wouldn’t you,” Arjen whispered in his ear. “Just as much as I would. But alas… I won’t be touching you.” He sneaked under Max’s arm, picked up his keys and sauntered out still buttoning his shirt, leaving Max hard and throbbing behind him.

  What a tease. Max should drag him back and teach him a sound lesson. Max stifled a groan at the thought of starting a ten-hour shift at work while painfully hard. He couldn’t even take a quick shower and jerk off because he wasn’t supposed to touch himself.

  Gah. Max was beginning to realise that this might be more challenging than he’d thought.

  He was working eight through to six at the coffee shop that day, and he dealt on autopilot with wave after wave of customers, only half paying attention. He still hated his job with a passion—the long hours, the minimum wage, the stupid uniform, the managers, the customers, everything. His only consolation was that tonight he was going to go home and make a scorchingly hot man beg him to fuck him.

  As yet another iPhone-carrying student asked for a latte, Max began idly fantasising about scandalising everyone by fucking Arjen right here in front of them. He planned out his fantasy down to the tiniest detail. Arjen would show up for coffee during his lunch break, every inch the young urban professional, from his smart suit to his briefcase. Their eyes would meet as Max handed him his coffee and called him “sir”, and Max would get that sudden punch of lust and he’d decide there and then to put Arjen in his place.

  He’d round the counter and make Arjen drop to his knees in front of everybody. Fuck his mouth and make him swallow. And afterward, when Max slammed him down on a table and spread his thighs wide and plunged into him, all the managers and rules and disciplinaries wouldn’t matter a bit. Because Max would be claiming Arjen in the most primal, most ruthless, most public way. And nothing else would matter.

  The vivid image nearly made Max groan aloud as he fought down his hunger. It was just as well he was behind a counter, because he was getting uncomfortably hard. Thinking of that moment when he’d push into him. How Arjen would claw at him in his desperation.

  Fuck it. Max called him at work during his lunch break. “I know what you want, Arjen.”

  The little catch in Arjen’s breathing told him he was right. “You do?” Arjen said, his voice uneven.

  “Of course I do. You want what you always want. Something nice and big inside you to stretch you open. And you didn’t get it this morning, did you. I could have fucked you on the counter the way you were dying for, but no, you had to challenge me.”

  “I don’t…”

  “Imagine me in your office with you, Arjen. Right now. You’re in my lap. Sheathed on me. Stuffed full of my c
ock. You’re squirming around because it drives you crazy to be so full of me and yet not get pounded. You’re all slippery on my cock, sliding up and down. Starting to plead with me to grab you and throw you down and take you.”

  Arjen’s breathing got quick and unsteady. “You’re not going to beat me, Max.”

  “Oh, I’m going to beat you all right.” Max’s voice went dark. “I’m going to have you in my lap like that. Crazy with wanting me. I’m going to make you be still so I can do what I like to you. Kiss you, maybe bite you. But I’m not going to spread you open and pound your tight little ass until I’m good and ready. So you’ll have to wait. And think yourself lucky I let you get on my cock at all.”

  Arjen made a sweet little sound of hunger. Max had him exactly where he wanted him. “Getting hard, sweetling?” Max purred in his ear.

  “Yes.” Just a whisper.

  “Thinking about letting me throw you down and fuck you?”

  “Yes.” More like a plea.

  “Good.” Max hung up with great satisfaction. He was totally going to win this challenge. Arjen would be all over him.

  He lay in wait for Arjen after work that evening. The house lay silent around him, the last touch of pale light slanting through frost-edged windows, and each tick of the clock cranked his anticipation up another notch. He couldn’t wait to make Arjen crack and beg for him so Max could take what he wanted.

  As soon as the front door opened and shut, Max pounced. He let Arjen slip past him with a startled squeak, but only so Max could pursue him with single-minded intent, stalking him through the house like a predator. “I’m going to fuck you senseless, Arjen. Make you scream. Nice and loud.”

  Arjen fled to the other side of the kitchen table, already delightfully flustered. “No, you’re not.”

  “Oh yes, I am.” Max could not wait. “I’m going to fuck you against every wall in this house. You’re going to be pleading for mercy. And I won’t give you any.”

  Arjen went scarlet, probably picturing it. Max buried deep inside him. Tormenting him with every plunge into his body. “You can’t—”

  “I can.” Max circled the table, eyes locked on him.

  Arjen took a step back, then caught himself. He was breathing quick and fast, his hands clenched into fists at his side, but he held his ground, even lifting his chin as Max loomed over him. “You can’t touch me.” He threw the words down like a gauntlet.

  Max leaned in to whisper directly into his ear. Arjen quivered. “I can fuck you any time I want. Any way I like.” Max eyed him up and down hungrily. It would take only seconds to slam Arjen down on the table and drive into him.

  “Go ahead,” said Arjen, meeting his eyes. “But you’ll lose.”

  He was absolutely delightful. As defiant as he was sexy. Max let his eyes drop to his mouth, thinking so intently about kissing him that his pulse picked up and Arjen shivered under his hot gaze… but Max reluctantly stepped away. Nobody challenged him and won.

  After taking some time to calm down, which for Max required a cold shower, they had dinner and watched a movie together. At first they left a gap between them on the couch, but Max did not like that; he missed his nice warm Arjen cuddled into his side with his head on his shoulder. “Can we still snuggle?” Max asked plaintively.

  “Sure.” Arjen gave him that smile that lit him to glowing. Arjen sneaked under his arm and tucked himself into his side where he belonged. Max wrapped his arms around him and kissed the top of his head. There. Much better.

  When midnight rolled around, Max grinned. “Bedtime.” Arjen hid his face in Max’s shoulder. Max chuckled. “Nice try, gorgeous. I know this will be difficult for you. You and me. In bed. Together. That’s how all your fantasies start.”

  This was a perfect opportunity to prove that Arjen was irresistibly attracted to him. In the warmth of their room Max stripped confidently, pulling his t-shirt over his head, letting his jeans hit the floor. Arjen drew in a sharp breath; he couldn’t seem to stop staring. Max smiled smugly. He slid into bed, deliberately leaving the covers thrown back. “All you have to do is ask, baby. I can give you what you need. Just like I did last night.”

  Arjen swallowed hard, and dragged his eyes away. He reached over and clicked off the lamp beside the bed. The soft golden glow cut out, plunging the room into darkness.

  “Hey, no cheating.” Max clicked it back on. “I want to watch.”

  Arjen coloured. Maybe it had taken time for him to grow into those stunning looks, because he still seemed shy as a teenager sometimes, like he couldn’t quite believe Max thought he was beautiful.

  Max laced his fingers behind his head and smiled. This was going to be fun. “Strip.”

  Arjen bit his lip, and started to unbutton his shirt.

  That was when Max stopped thinking altogether, because it turned out that watching Arjen strip in that molten-gold light was unbelievably intense. It was the gorgeous lines of his body, slowly revealed to Max’s eyes, the little dips and hollows that invited Max’s touch. It was the shine of the silver chain that Max had given him. It was the shy way he sneaked glances at Max and looked quickly away. And when he finally dropped his last stitch of clothing and looked to Max for his reaction, the expression on his face was breathtaking, alight with hope and expectation.

  Max swallowed. Then again. His throat was dry, he was utterly mesmerised. “You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” Max told him, a little hoarse.

  “Are you sure?” Arjen’s voice cracked slightly, heartbreakingly, on the words.

  “I’ve never been so sure in my life.” God, this man. Max was so in love with him that it hurt. If Arjen ever left him it would kill him. Just kill him.

  Arjen lifted the covers and sneaked into bed beside him, not quite looking at him. Max had been planning to tease him tonight, to whisper in his ear everything Max could do to him if Arjen only asked, but as badly as he wanted to fuck him, all he did once the light clicked off and the darkness closed in was gather him into his arms. His favourite. His beloved.

  Lying there with Arjen warm in his arms, Max wondered idly if he’d ever shared a bed with a person without fucking them first. If he’d ever had any kind of relationship before that wasn’t purely based on sex. His life must have been so empty until now. Because it was deeply satisfying just to have Arjen cuddled into him.

  In the morning Max half woke to the low murmur of the radio, the hiss of the kettle downstairs, the cool slide of fabric over his bare skin. His eyes opened just as Arjen drew the covers off the bed, letting the smooth material slide tantalisingly over Max’s naked body then pool on the floor.

  The sight hit Max low in the pit of his stomach, dragging a groan from him. Because Arjen was fresh out of the shower. Naked. Still wet. Unbelievably tempting. His bare skin gleamed in morning sunlight that trailed pale fingers down taut planes of muscle.

  Max’s hands curled into fists in the warm sheets. His stomach tightened, his pulse quickening. He wanted nothing more than to reach up and drag Arjen down into bed. Keep Arjen under him until Max had exhausted them both.

  “Morning,” said Arjen with a teasing smile, and started to dress.

  Max growled. He was going to make him pay for that.

  That glimpse of him remained seared into Max’s imagination all day at work. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone twenty-four hours without having sex with Arjen; it was starting to drive him nuts. He couldn’t wait for Arjen to crack so he could tug Arjen into his arms and kiss him senseless.

  He daydreamed about it for ages. The warmth of Arjen’s body against his, the taste of Arjen’s skin, the curve of Arjen’s mouth against his when he smiled. The way Arjen would wrap his arms around his neck and lean his whole body into him. It was sheer torture having to keep his hands off him. The craving was so fierce that it hurt. Max was going to have to take more drastic action.

  This time when Arjen came home from work Max was waiting for him, arms crossed, forbidding. “Strip.”
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  Arjen hesitated. “You can’t touch me.”

  Max closed in, looming over him. “Strip.” Getting him obeying orders was the first step.

  Slowly, watching him warily, Arjen stripped. Each item of clothing he dropped left him more vulnerable until he stood before Max naked and defenceless, wearing only the chain. Max looked him over hungrily. “Get on your knees.”

  “Max…”

  “Do as you’re told.” Max did not raise his voice; he didn’t have to.

  Arjen sank to his knees. His breath was starting to catch. His hands curled into fists at his sides, then he clasped his hands in his lap, then he fidgeted some more.

  Max undid his own belt deliberately and pulled it out of its loops. Arjen watched wide-eyed. The way he licked his lips nearly brought Max to his knees then and there.

  Max tossed him the belt. The heavy leather hit the floor in front of him. “Bind your hands.”

  Arjen’s eyes darkened as the colour rose in his face. “I don’t… I…”

  “Your hands, Arjen.”

  Arjen picked up the belt with unsteady fingers. Looped it round his wrists. Slipped the end through the buckle and pulled it tight with his teeth until the buckle clicked into place. He tugged half-heartedly at the belt to see if he could get free, but the leather only bit into his wrists.

  That was it. His head dropped, he shut his eyes, panting for breath. Lost. Max normally touched him now, soothing him with gentle fingers in his hair, but Max couldn’t. He needed to be very careful. “You’re beautiful, Arjen. You’re perfect. I’d like to fuck you so hard right now. I’d take good care of you. You know I would. All you have to do is ask for it.”

  Arjen shivered. But didn’t ask.

  He was stronger-willed than Max had anticipated. Max should have remembered that Arjen had once cold-shouldered him for ages until Max would have done anything to be forgiven. Arjen’s sweet nature hid an iron will. “I will make you beg me to take you,” Max promised him.

  Arjen opened his dark eyes and looked up at him. “Maybe I’ll make you.”