The Complete Veterans Affairs Romances: Gay Military Romances

by A. E. Wasp

  Chris looked at Jay-Cee, not moving. The eyes of the statues watched them, rows of perfect naked bodies waiting to see what happened next.

  “What do you want from me?” Chris asked Jay-Cee, teeth pressing against his bottom lip.

  Benny banged on the back of the canvas. “I’m done out here, Boss. You need anything else from me?”

  Jay-Cee smiled, reaching for Chris’s belt loop again as the boy tried to back away. “Nothing,” he called out to Benny. “You’re good. Go have fun.”

  Benny’s head poked into the booth. “You sure? There’s still a lot to do.”

  “The security guard I hired will be here soon. He’s going to stay with the booth all night. We’ll finish loading out tomorrow.”

  “How’d you arrange that?” Benny asked. “I thought we had to pack out by tonight.”

  “I’ve got friends in high places,” Jay-Cee said. Chris tried to pull back, eyes darting to the side as if he could look at Benny without moving his head. Jay-Cee’s hold on his belt loop tightened.

  Benny pouted. “Well. Huh. Now I don’t know what to do. I’d planned on working here until I was too tired to do anything but collapse. You guys want to go get some dinner?” He turned and looked back into the park. “This place is empty.”

  Any other time Jay-Cee would feel bad about abandoning Benny to his own devices, but he couldn’t find it in him tonight. “I’m sorry,” he said. “But I’m going to go back to my hotel and have a quiet evening. We old people can’t take these long days.”

  He hooked his finger over the waistband of Chris’s shorts, rubbing the back of his hand over the soft skin of his abdomen. Chris inhaled sharply, belly going concave. “Don’t move,” Jay-Cee whispered almost silently. Chris swallowed heavily, tongue coming out to lick his lips. Oh, the things Jay-Cee wanted to do to him.

  “What about you, Christopher?” Benny asked, moving into the booth.

  Jay-Cee released Chris, sliding away from him.

  “No. No thanks.” Chris cleared his throat, and turned to face Benny. “I’m going to meet Dave and his friends at his place for some pre-party, and then head over to Boystown, and then probably over to Tracks, later. I know you hate those guys.”

  Benny sighed. “I don’t know why you hang out with them. All they ever want to do is drink and get laid.”

  “I need people to go dancing with,” Chris said. “Remember dancing?” He grabbed Benny’s hips, grinding against him to some unheard music. “The music pounding through your head until you can’t think, the heat of the bodies, the feel of someone else’s skin under your hands.”

  He dragged his hand up Benny’s sides, and Benny swatted him away. “Stop tickling me.”

  “It’s almost as good as sex,” Chris said. “Sometimes better.”

  “Well fuck you very much for reminding me of two things I’m not going to do tonight.” Benny punched Chris on the arm. “I guess I’ll go back to your place, order a pizza, and watch porn on your computer.”

  “So, the same thing you do every time you’ve stayed at my condo?”

  Benny ran his hands through his hair. “There’s something in the air tonight, you know? This kind of weather makes me want to do stupid shit, stuff I know I shouldn’t. Safer to stay inside.”

  “I know what you mean,” Jay-Cee said, surprising them both.

  Benny jumped as if he had forgotten Jay-Cee was there. “Shit, Jay-Cee. Why are you creeping around in the shadows?”

  Chris answered before Jay-Cee could. “Hey, Benny, I just remembered, there’s Drag Queen Bingo at X-Bar. You could check that out. Should be safe enough.”

  Jay-Cee was surprised Benny hadn’t picked up on the sexual tension between he and Chris. Maybe only he could feel it.

  “I do miss my queens.” Benny had left that scene behind him in San Diego, along with his drinking days, and some really good friends.

  “I know you do,” Chris said. When he’d left New York a year ago, Chris had left everything he knew behind. Unlike Benny, though, he hadn’t had too many friends to say goodbye to. Most of his friends were dead.

  “Maybe I’ll go,” Benny said. “I’m going to stop by your place first, is that okay?”

  “No problem.”

  Benny pointed at the booth. “Are you sure you don’t need my help closing up?”

  Jay-Cee shook his head. “We’re fine. I need to reconcile some things first. Chris, do you mind helping out?”

  “No problem.” His gaze flicked to Jay-Cee then back to Benny.

  “Okay, then. See you later. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Benny waved.

  Chris rolled his eyes. “You don’t do anything, Quintaña. Doesn’t mean I have to live like a monk.”

  Benny blew him a kiss and walked away whistling, hands in his pockets.

  Chris shook his head. “He’s something alright.”

  “That he is. I hope he finds what he is looking for.” Jay-Cee walked past Chris, not quite touching him even in the tight space. Chris turned to follow him with his eyes. Loosening the strings near the top of the frame, Jay-Cee dropped one of the flaps of the booth, plunging it into darkness, except for a thin strip of sunset light that illuminated Chris’s shoulders and arms.

  “What is he looking for?” Chris asked.

  “Something to live for,” Jay-Cee took a step closer to Chris.

  “‘He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how,’” Chris quoted.

  Jay-Cee raised his eyebrows. “Nietzsche?”

  Chris shrugged one shoulder then tilted his head up, confidence stance belied by the insecurity in his eyes. “What are you looking for?”

  Someplace safe to rest. “Something I probably shouldn’t be. Something I’m much too old to want.” Something he had thought himself past wanting.

  Jay-Cee could feel Chris’s breath on his collarbones. Chris seemed so fragile, so breakable. Jay-Cee wanted to show him how strong he could be. “What do you want?” he asked Chris.

  “Someone to tell me what to do.” Chris’s eyes burned into his.

  Jesus. Desire throbbed low in Jay-Cee’s gut. How was he supposed to resist that?

  Chris’s arms trembled at his side as he fought to keep himself from touching Jay-Cee. Jay-Cee counted heartbeats as he watched Chris standing there, waiting to be told what happened next.

  This could go so disastrously wrong. Chris wanted to borrow his strength, but Jay-Cee was weak tonight. With a promise to be stronger next time, he let himself have what he wanted, if only for one night. He would make it so good for Chris.

  He pulled Chris to him. “Kiss me.”

  Chris slid his arms around Jay-Cee’s neck as he lifted his face. His fingers dug into Jay-Cee’s hair. At the first touch of lips, his mouth opened for Jay-Cee, tongue darting out to taste.

  Jay-Cee wrapped his arms around Chris’s waist, his hands grabbing Chris’s ass and pulling his tight body hard up against him. His hands cupped Chris’s perfect round cheeks as if they had been designed to fit them. Jay-Cee had a visceral flash of his hand coming down on the firm skin and watching it redden and quiver under his hand, and he felt a surge of desire he’d thought had gone dormant.

  It had been so long since he’d wanted one person specifically. Ever since his ex-lover Jason had chosen to stay in the military closet rather than stand up for the man he said he loved, bodies had become interchangeable for Jay-Cee. One no better or worse than the other, judged only on their looks and disposability.

  Chris was anything but disposable. He was beautiful and right there in Jay-Cee’s arms.

  He squeezed Chris’s ass tight with both hands as Chris sucked on his tongue like it was candy coated. Gently, he pushed Chris away. “Let’s go to my hotel.”

  3 – I wanna do bad things with you

  The neon lights of the city caressed their skin as they walked the few blocks to Jay-Cee’s hotel.

  Chris chattered as they went, pointing out restaurants he had eaten at, bookstores he had visited,
and occasionally being greeted with squeals and air kisses as they passed through groups of gay men and women celebrating themselves for a weekend.

  His friends stared at Jay-Cee curiously, but Chris didn’t introduce him and Jay-Cee didn’t push it. Adrenaline rose in Chris’s body and he could feel his movements growing more frantic as they got closer to the hotel.

  Jay-Cee put a hand on his arm. “Why don’t you put your shirt on? It’s getting cold.”

  Chris did, exhaling deeply. Tentatively he reached for Jay-Cee’s hand, and Jay-Cee flinched away.

  “It’s not you,” Jay-Cee assured him. He reached into the bag he carried and pulled out a crumpled wet nap packet. “My hands are filthy,” he said, tearing it open.

  He wiped his hands, stuffed the dirty towelette back in his bag, and took Chris’s hand.

  The lobby of the small boutique hotel was decorated in red velvet and dark wood paneling. Well-lit wall niches displayed some of Jay-Cee’s bronze statues.

  “Good evening, Mr. Wentworth,” the desk clerk greeted him as they passed by on their way to the elevator.

  “Mr. Wentworth?” Chris snickered. He’s almost forgotten Jay-Cee had a last name.

  Jay-Cee swung Chris around, so his back hit the wall by the elevator. He pressed the button, and a green LED started counting down the floors. He leaned in over Chris, an arm on either side of his body. “James Christian Wentworth,” he enunciated carefully. “The third, to be precise. Of the Larchmont Wentworths.”

  Oh fuck me daddy, Chris thought. Jay-Cee pushed buttons Chris didn’t know he had. Honestly though, Jay-Cee had probably installed those buttons. Chris’s mouth hung open, and Jay-Cee pushed his jaw up with one finger.

  The door dinged open, and Jay-Cee led Chris into the elevator.

  Chris waited while Jay-Cee unlocked the door and tried to unobtrusively catch his breath. He wanted this. He did. But the reality felt much bigger than he had anticipated.

  What if he was bad in bed? He’d had a lot of sex. A lot. Much of it he could barely remember. Some of it for money, some of it for drugs, or out of boredom, or hunger. Sometimes like with Benny for fun, and, once, with only one person, for love.

  None of those fit what was going on here and now. He didn’t love Jay-Cee, and while between the tattoos and the hair and the quiet confidence Jay-Cee was one of the hottest men Chris had ever seen, it wasn’t just lust that had him trembling from the touch of his hand.

  Chris needed. Needed something that he had only barely begun to grasp the edges of. He’d felt something of it before, but it had always gotten expressed wrong, like his desires had a language of their own. One Chris didn’t speak.

  Jay-Cee opened the door and led Chris inside.

  The small room was immaculately furnished with burled wood and brass fittings, thick carpeting and crystal decanters. The opulence contrasted with the lightness and openness of Jay-Cee’s studio and office.

  Jay-Cee didn’t turn on the overhead lights. He dropped Chris’s hand. “Are you still alright with this?” he asked. “It isn’t too late to change your mind. It will never be too late with me.” The Tiffany lamp on the nightstand provided the only illumination.

  “No, no. I’m fine. It’s good. Great.” Chris looked around the room that reminded him a little of his parents’ room back home. It made him feel young and inexperienced in a way he hadn’t since he was fourteen and ran away for the first time. “I just don’t know what to do.”

  Jay-Cee smiled and sat down on the bed. “That’s easy. Just do what I say. You won’t have to think at all. My goal is to get that giant brain of yours to stop thinking so much. I can hear the hamster wheels squeaking all the time. It must be exhausting.”

  Chris’s shoulders slumped. God, it was exhausting. Just the number of things demanding his attention every second of the day worse him out.

  “Do you trust me?” Jay-Cee asked.

  Chris nodded. He did. More than he trusted himself, which wasn’t very much at all. He’d seen how gentle Jay-Cee was with his art, how graceful and deliberate his movements were and how he touched the clay like a lover, stripping away everything that was unnecessary without hesitation. He wanted that same care and attention focused on him more than he wanted to breathe.

  “Say it.”

  “Yes. I trust you. I want you.” The tension drained out of him. “Very badly.”

  Jay-Cee smiled. “Okay, then. Strip.”

  That Chris could do. Kicking off his shoes, he grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head with both hands. Though he’d been outside shirtless all day, it felt different here in this private space with the soft shadows caressing his skin.

  Jay-Cee stared as if he hadn’t seen Chris’s chest before. His eyes locked on the metal studs piercing Chris’s nipples. Chris’s pale skin shone in the dim room. He hoped the light was enough to hide the faint scars of the track marks on his arms and hands. Jay-Cee knew about his past heroin use, of course, but still, Chris didn’t want him thinking about it right now.

  Chris flicked open the button of his shorts, unzipped them, and with a shimmy of his hips, sent them sliding to the floor. He felt Jay-Cee’s attention on him like a physical thing, and it was making him hard. Licking his dry lips, he rubbed himself through the cotton of his briefs, loving the way the fabric felt stretched over his cock.

  Jay-Cee motioned for Chris to come closer to the bed. He ending up standing between Jay-Cee’s spread legs. Chris shivered as Jay-Cee reached up and lightly rubbed at the bars piercing his tight nipples. He could feel Jay-Cee’s callouses as his fingertips slid over the sensitive skin.

  Spreading his hands wide, Jay-Cee dragged them down Chris’s torso, fingers bumping slowly over his ribs. Chris was mesmerized at the contrast of Jay-Cee’s tattooed, work-roughened hands and his soft, smooth skin.

  When Jay-Cee’s fingers slipped under the waistband of his dark blue briefs, Chris inhaled sharply. Gently, so gently, Jay-Cee lifted the thick elastic over the head of Chris’s rock-hard cock and slid them down his legs. Chris’s knees shook so hard he wanted to rest his hands on Jay-Cee’s shoulders for balance, but he didn’t know if that was allowed.

  Allowed. Such a strange word to use during sex. He’d never done anything that felt like this before. Never had he been so eager to have someone tell him what to do.

  Jay-Cee stared into his eyes, then smiled and wrapped his hand around Chris’s cock and stroked from bottom to top. Chris yelled, knees collapsing under him, and he had no choice but to grab onto Jay-Cee’s shoulders.

  Tightening his grip on Chris’s cock, Jay-Cee pulled him in for a long kiss. Jay-Cee’s mouth was soft and warm, and he held Chris tightly against his mouth with a hand on the back of his head. Chris gasped, and Jay-Cee forced his tongue past Chris’s lips.

  Chris whimpered as Jay-Cee owned him, the hand on his cock relentlessly pulling him closer and closer to orgasm. Jay-Cee’s palm was rough and calloused, almost painful, but Chris couldn’t help thrusting into his grip. His hands tightened on Jay-Cee’s shoulders, and he tried to pull away, to let Jay-Cee know he was going to come if he didn’t stop. He gasped and moaned.

  Keeping a hand on the back of his head, Jay-Cee pulled his mouth the barest distance away. “Yes?” he asked, breath hot on Chris’s lips.

  Chris’s whole body shook. He struggled to breathe and not come as Jay-Cee’s hand on his cock slowed but didn’t stop. “Oh God. I’m going to come,” he forced out.

  “Yes, you are,” Jay-Cee said.

  Holy fuck, Chris thought as Jay-Cee slammed their mouths together, tongue-fucking the air out of Chris’s lungs. He ran his thumb over the head of Chris’s cock, slicking down the entire length.

  Chris moaned long and loud into Jay-Cee’s mouth. Jay-Cee pulled off and bit down hard on the curve of Chris’s shoulder.

  Chris came with a shout, knees giving out.

  Jay-Cee yanked him onto his lap, hands gripping Chris’s ass, rubbing Chris against the harsh cotton of his t
-shirt. His cock pressed huge and hard against Chris. All Chris could do was hold on tight, every muscle in his body rigid as he pulsed long and hard all over Jay-Cee’s shirt.

  Jay-Cee’s mouth was gentle as it traveled over Chris’s neck and jaw as he held Chris through his orgasm.

  Chris collapsed in Jay-Cee’s arms, heart pounding in his chest, and struggled to get his breath back. “Was that, was it okay?”

  “You are perfect.” Grabbing Chris under his thighs, Jay-Cee stood up. Turning them around, he lowered Chris to the bed.

  “Holy shit,” Chris breathed.

  Jay-Cee smiled, then pulled off his shirt. He stripped the rest of his clothes off with an economy of motion. Jay-Cee’s body was literally a work of art. Tattoos of every different style covered him from his neck to the tops of his thighs.

  One day, Chris was going to examine them close up with his fingers and tongue, especially the one on his ribs that looked like a list of names.

  Jay-Cee’s cock was long and thick, and Chris couldn’t wait to get his mouth on it as soon as his legs worked again. “That was amazing.”

  “We’re just getting started.” Jay-Cee held out his hand and pulled Chris up to him.

  4 – I’d do such things to ease your pain

  Ten minutes later Chris was hot, wet, and desperate under Jay-Cee’s hands.

  Jay-Cee had him trapped between his body and the glass shower door. “Beautiful,” Jay-Cee whispered.

  Chris whined and flattened his body against the door, rutting against Jay-Cee’s hand, chasing the friction. Jay-Cee hooked a hand over the top of the door to hold it closed, then pushed Chris harder into his hand. He swiped his thumb over the top of Chris’s cock while cupping his balls with his fingers. Chris shuddered, and Jay-Cee did it again.

  Still holding Chris up, Jay-Cee reached behind him and shut the water off. Pushing open the door, they stumbled out of the shower into the sultry, steam-filled room.