Job Hunt (9 page)

Another small nod and Gareth set his hands to Jack’s back. For a heady moment, he just held still and savored the contact. His hands on warm, soft skin. The slow rise and fall of the ribs under his palms. The beautiful golden tan, still fresh, that highlighted the pale lines of old scars. The trust from a man who had more reason to be wary than Gareth would ever know.

Jack was amazing. And Gareth wanted to keep it that way.

The thought calmed and steadied him. With careful movements he spread the oil over Jack’s skin, finding continent-sized knots in Jack’s neck and upper back in the process. No wonder Jack went about with his shoulders around his ears.

“You need a more ergonomic workstation,” Gareth decided as he ran his thumbs along the edge of Jack’s shoulder blades. “And fewer hours in front of a screen.”

Jack’s breathing hitched, and he tried to stifle a low moan. “My workstation’s just fine,” he mumbled.

“Not if you’re that tense.” Gareth rubbed soothing circles, determined to loosen all the knots even if it took him until sunrise.

“I skipped my workouts while I was job hunting,” Jack admitted.

“And more than a few meals,” Gareth opined. “You really haven’t changed much, have you?”

That had Jack tensing and pushing up onto his elbows. “That’s not true,” he said with a surprising amount of heat in his voice. “I’m nowhere near as stupid as I was back when.”

“You were
never
stupid.” Gareth planted a hand flat in the middle of Jack’s back and pushed him onto the sheets before setting his hands to either side of Jack’s head. He leaned forward so he could speak in Jack’s ear. “You’ve always been mad with skills and exceptional at your job. You have a tendency to overanalyze and beat yourself up over things outside your control. And you get so caught up in what you’re doing that you neglect your own needs.” He nuzzled Jack’s ear until his eyes slid closed, and the taut frame beneath him relaxed. “Now, which of these assessments do you want to argue over?”

Jack remained silent. He exhaled small gasps through half-opened lips when Gareth explored the area behind Jack’s ear with the tip of his tongue. Jack had such an addictive taste that Gareth wanted nothing more than to stay right where he was to explore and get lost.

But that wasn’t on the menu. Not yet.

Gareth brushed a soft kiss on the corner of Jack’s mouth and then pushed himself upright. He poured more oil into his hands, warmed it, and traced Jack’s ribcage with careful strokes. The outline of a forming bruise marred Jack’s right side, and Jack hissed a breath through clenched lips as Gareth traced his fingertips softly across it.

“Bruised but nothing broken,” he decided. “You wanna tell me how he got that one in?”

A deep breath was his answer and a soft dusting of pink across Jack’s neck and ears. Gareth held himself still and waited until Jack relented. “I was checking his pulse to make sure he was alive.”

“Jesus, brat! You’re unreal.” Gareth dropped a quick kiss between Jack’s shoulder blades to show how he meant that, then continued working the muscles in Jack’s back and neck until the tightness eased and knots loosened, allowing Gareth to work his fingers deeper.

Jack’s breaths grew into soft appreciative moans, and he melted into the sheets as Gareth worked his way south. Jack held most of his tension in his neck and shoulders. The state of his upper back reflected the endless hours spent in front of computer screens with fingers busy on keyboards. His lower back, glutes, hamstrings, and calves were in much better shape, and Gareth eased back on the pressure he applied but still diligently teased out even the smallest knot while enjoying the feel of soft skin over firm muscle. Arousal added a pleasant buzz to his blood, but Gareth kept a lid on his needs. This night was for Jack, and Gareth had plans.

Still, those plans didn’t prevent him from taking pleasure in his work. He could appreciate Jack’s perfect ass and long shapely legs just as much as the scandalous sounds Jack produced when Gareth’s touch changed from massaging hamstrings to long caressing strokes up the inside of Jack’s thighs and over the swell of his butt.

“Like?” he asked, repeating the move just to hear that low moan again.

“God, yes,” Jack groaned, shifting on the bed in search of friction.

Gareth pinned Jack’s hips, hands pressing down firmly as he explored the perfect combination of firm muscle and yielding flesh that was Jack’s ass. The skin under his fingers was silky soft. Even the silver lines of old scars didn’t detract from the sensation. Gareth was reminded of items that were so wonderful men deliberately added flaws to them so that the gods would not be jealous.

A deep, ragged breath shuddered its way out of Gareth’s throat. Straightening up and moving his hands took effort. Damn! He was becoming addicted to that perfect ass, and they hadn’t even started anything yet.

Jack’s fingers curled around his in a silent entreaty when Gareth slipped off the bed, and Gareth made no move to free himself. “Just need to wash the oil off my hands,” he explained. “Get under the quilt. I’m not going anywhere.”

He made his escape when Jack let go, fully aware that he needed a few moments. That in itself was unusual. Gareth loved to play, and he
never
lost control. So why was it suddenly so hard to focus even after a liberal application of cold water?

It was the brat, of course. Gareth had been attracted to Jack Horwood almost from the day he first met him after Jack’s basic training, but as he’d tried to point out to Jack earlier, cradle snatching wasn’t a pastime of his. Neither did he like to take advantage of people under his care. That didn’t mean he wasn’t aware of how he felt or that he hadn’t been hoping Jack might return the sentiment.

Jack’s leaving the army—and on the exact day he’d saved Gareth’s life only a year before—had torn a hole into Gareth’s world. For a long time he’d wondered whether the fault had been his. Whether he’d been too obvious in his regard and had scared the kid away. It was only after he himself had left the army and found out that Jack was serving in MI6 that he’d stopped blaming himself and instead made an effort to find Jack again.

And now he had, only to learn that he’d been right on both counts. Jack’s leaving the army had been his fault, but not because he’d been too obvious. Rather, he hadn’t been obvious enough. Gareth splashed more cold water in his face and ran his wet hands through his hair. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. From now on he’d make doubly sure that Jack knew how much he was appreciated and how much Gareth wanted him. And he would start right now.

Only a single small lamp shed its soft yellow glow across the bed when Gareth closed the bathroom door. Jack had hidden that delectable body under the quilt, but he was awake and watching from dark, intent eyes, apparently not yet convinced that Gareth would actually stay the night.

“Has anyone ever given you reason to believe they’d turn you down?” Gareth queried as he shucked his jeans and climbed under the quilt.

“I don’t care about
anybody
,” Jack replied, eyes careful. “Just you. And you
would
turn me down if you thought it was the right thing to do.”

“Oh, you underestimate yourself, brat.” Gareth settled onto his side and gave Jack a heated look. “C’mere.” Jack shifted, and Gareth pulled Jack’s back flush with his chest. He had to swallow a groan when Jack’s tight butt made contact with his groin—and he was doubly grateful now for keeping his briefs on. Skin on skin in
that
area would evaporate his control at an even faster rate, and that wasn’t how the rest of this night was meant to go.

Instead he slipped his arm under Jack’s pillow and curled himself around Jack in a full-body hug. “I’d have to be out of my mind to turn down something I’ve wanted for so long. And I assure you, I’m quite sane.”

Startled, Jack turned his head, and Gareth wasted not a single second. He kept the kiss slow and sweet, kept Jack wrapped tightly in his embrace, and relished it when Jack relaxed into his hold and opened his lips.

“Ready for your reward?” Gareth breathed over kiss-swollen lips a while later, grinning when his only reply was a heartfelt moan. “Okay, then, here’s what we do. You stay where you are, totally relaxed… and I’ll do my best to make you feel good.” Gareth nipped on Jack’s earlobe, causing him to flinch. “Remember, I said,
totally relaxed
. You tense up on me, I’ll feel it… and I stop what I’m doing.”

“Gareth, no—you can’t….”

“Shhhh,” Gareth soothed, lips ghosting over the shell of an ear. “It will be so worth it. Trust me.”

“I do trust you,” Jack argued. “But I need—”

“I know what you need, Jack. Trust me. Relax. Every muscle. Completely.” Gareth kept his voice low and hypnotic, and after a long, tense moment, Jack shuddered and let go. The body in Gareth’s hold softened and relaxed.

“That’s it. Stay just like that,” Gareth singsonged quietly as his arms wrapped around Jack. The fingers of his left hand traced the column of Jack’s neck and explored his collarbones while his other hand stroked upward from Jack’s firm, flat stomach to brush softly over his nipples.

Every time Jack tensed, Gareth’s hands stopped moving until he gave up trying to direct Gareth’s actions.

“Make all the noise you want,” Gareth whispered in Jack’s ear. “Swear at me if you feel like it. Just make sure your muscles stay relaxed. It’s worth it. Believe me.” Gareth’s mouth roamed over Jack’s ear and along the soft skin of his neck until his lips landed on the pulse point at the base of Jack’s throat. There he rested while his hands played, while Jack’s breaths turned to moans, and the occasional curse crept through Jack’s control.

The fingers tracing Jack’s collarbones slipped down to toy with his nipples while Gareth’s other hand began to explore ridged abs and dip into Jack’s navel.

Jack’s hips rocked forward, enticing the playing fingers, and Gareth froze.

“Relax, Jack,” he instructed softly. “You’re doing well. Just stay relaxed… totally relaxed….”

Jack actually ground his teeth. And produced some highly creative language that had Gareth grinning. Oh, yeah—here was the man he remembered, temper and all. The years hadn’t impeded Jack’s ability to outswear a regiment of dragoons, but he still trusted Gareth enough to give in… eventually.

A heady mix of emotions washed through Gareth. That Jack would trust him that much was… an unexpected gift. And as Jack resigned himself to Gareth taking the lead in their play and followed instructions, Gareth kept his lips over Jack’s pulse.

His hands roamed over the enticing body he was wrapped around: teasing nipples, stroking Jack’s balls, wrapping fingers around his length for long, slow strokes… only to stop and retreat when they’d driven Jack close to the edge. To let him recover his breath, let his heartbeat even out, before starting the pleasurable torture once more.

“I could do this for hours,” Gareth whispered while his fingertips teased Jack’s painfully hard length with soft little flicks. “Just to listen to the sounds you’re making.”

“Never… took you for a… tease.” Jack panted with the effort to keep still.

“Shows how much you don’t know.” Gareth smiled and sank his teeth into Jack’s neck to a yelp of surprise.

Jack’s breaths had turned into toned sobs, and the sky outside the bedroom window showed the first hints of gray when Gareth finally relented. He shifted his knee over Jack’s legs to pin him more firmly in place while his left hand turned Jack’s face up so he could claim his mouth.

A brutally hard grip on Jack’s length and a vicious twist-pinch-pull to a nipple had Jack’s body bucking and writhing in sudden shock. In no time at all he flew over the edge Gareth had kept him on for so long, his shout muffled by Gareth’s kiss.

Gareth kept hold of Jack as his body shuddered through an intense orgasm, as Jack slowly came down from the high and melted into boneless bliss against the body wrapped around him.

“That was….” Jack’s voice was but a thread of sound.

“Worth it?” Gareth inquired as he reached for Jack’s shirt to clean up the mess.

“You’re not kidding.” Jack sounded drowsy, content, and already half-asleep. Gareth shifted to his back and pulled him close, pillowing Jack’s head on his shoulder. His body throbbed and burned, but Gareth found that compared to seeing Jack’s face relax into sleep, body soft against Gareth’s side, that burn meant little. He rested his chin on Jack’s head and was simply grateful for the chance to hold Jack so peacefully after all the time he’d spent chasing him.

J
ACK
CAME
awake on a wave of contentment, with warmth and solidity surrounding him and his mind blissfully at peace. Stretching a little, he nuzzled his face into Gareth’s neck. His lips dragged over soft skin, and his tongue slipped out to catch a taste.

“Good morning to you too,” Gareth chuckled, and the roughness in Gareth’s voice sent blood straight to Jack’s groin.

He wasn’t an innocent by any stretch of the imagination, but he’d never experienced anything like the previous night. He couldn’t explain how Gareth had done it; he just knew that he’d never hung on the edge of release for such a long time. And he’d never come so hard that his release left his body thrumming
and
boneless all at once. He didn’t even remember falling asleep—and that had never happened before. All he wanted now was to make Gareth feel as out of control and desperate and
needy
as he had been hours earlier.

Jack slid his hand across Gareth’s chest, delighted to find a small nipple ring to play with. His lips teased the soft skin of Gareth’s neck, nibbling and sucking in long meandering lines. The arms around him tightened, and Jack chose to take that as an invitation. His lips moved to play with the other, unpierced, nipple, and when he felt the little nub harden under his ministrations, he slipped his hand down Gareth’s torso to trace the edge of his briefs. He was just about to slide his fingers underneath the elastic, when one of Gareth’s hands flew down and stopped him.

“You don’t want me to return the favor?” Jack hoped he didn’t sound as confused as he felt. He would have sworn that Gareth was enjoying his caresses.