Page 18 of For the Rest of Forever
He’d be very well compensated; the number Paul had suggested had been more than generous.
But there were a lot of factors to consider.
Greg loved a good challenge—and this was a huge one on many fronts. The desire to take photos of that landscape and to explore somewhere he hadn’t yet been was already burning deep in his belly—a familiar excitement and longing. But hewasgetting older. It would be difficult—physically difficult to do, that is, and it was not without risks. In fact, he realized, it might be the last time he’d have the opportunity to do something like this before his body forced him to slow down.
But his hesitation wasn’t just about the physicality of it. No, it was more than just that. It was also that he’d have to be gone from home for more than a week. And soon. He’d have maybe a week or two to prepare, and then he’d be gone for probably at least a week and a half. And Allen would be alone.
That thought stopped him, and he ran a hand through his hair and blew out a short breath. He had his answer. He couldn’t do it. A sinking feeling grew in the pit of his stomach.
“You look like you just got some bad news. Is everything okay?” Allen’s quiet voice asked from just behind him.
Greg looked up as Allen’s hand settled on his shoulder, and he gave his husband a small smile, then swiveled in his chair to face Allen and let his arms wrap low around Allen’s waist.
“No, no bad news. Just . . . thinking.”
Allen’s hands rubbed lightly down his back, and Greg leaned forward to rest his head on Allen’s stomach.
“Jack Mountain, eh?”
Greg laughed and shook his head, then released Allen and turned to shut off his computer. “It’s nothing, darling. Paul had an idea, but I’m going to have to tell him I can’t do it.”
“Oh?”
Greg’s hand paused on his mouse, and he stared at the image on the screen in front of him—a picture of the mountain taken just with someone’s cell phone camera from miles away. The longing and pull in his chest grew again, and he could almost feel the fresh mountain air around him, the rough trail under his hiking boots, the freedom and wonder and excitement. God, he wanted to be there. He closed his eyes.
“Yeah. I can’t do it,” he said simply, and he’d tried to take the emotion out of his voice, because he knew exactly what that would do to Allen, but even he heard his own disappointment. Quickly, hoping to redirect the conversation, he opened his eyes again, clicked on the Windows icon in the corner of his screen, and shut down his computer. Then he pasted a small smile on his face and turned back around to Allen. “So, I’ve got pot roast cooking in the slow cooker. It’s”—he glanced at his watch—“probably pretty close to done. How waswork today?”
Allen’s expression was tight, but maybe not in the way Greg had expected. Instead, he looked concerned, maybe. Greg wasn’t quite sure.
“Is everything okay, darling?” he asked, reaching out to take Allen’s hand.
With a short nod, Allen stepped closer to Greg, and his free hand came up to cup Greg’s cheek. Greg expected some sort of discussion—Allen obviously knew there was more to his short answer that he couldn’t do the job for Paul. But rather than a discussion or a question, Allen’s expression seemed to darken slightly, and he leaned down and captured Greg’s lips in a rough kiss. The intensity of it surprised Greg, and a heat coursed through him as Allen’s tongue ran insistently along his lower lip, requesting entrance. With a groan, he released Allen’s hand to set both of his hands on his husband’s waist, then he stood slowly, their lips not losing contact. As soon as he was upright, Allen’s hands were around the back of his neck, keeping him close, and Greg pulled Allen flush against him, their hips meeting with an ache of deep longing.
God, they hadn’t made love in over two weeks.
The realization sent a rush of heat straight to Greg’s groin, and he groaned into their kiss and let one of his hands run along Allen’s back. Allen must have come into the garage straight from work, because he still wore his button-up tucked into his slacks, and the unavailability of bare skin for Greg to touch made him groan again.
Allen pulled back from their kiss, breathing hard, and with a huff of laughter, he slid his hands down Greg’s chest. “Impatient, dear?”
Greg just grunted a nonresponse as he tugged Allen’s shirt out of his slacks and lowered his mouth to Allen’s neck. His husband’s skin was slightly salty but still fresh, and Greg sucked gently, letting his tongue tease in small circles. At the same time, his hand finally found what he’d been searching for, inching under Allen’s shirt.Allen moaned and tilted his head back as Greg’s fingers grazed along the warm, smooth skin of Allen’s lower back.
He let his kisses trail down and then back up, and when he kissed a spot right under Allen’s ear, Allen sucked in a sharp breath. The sound as Allen moaned again, this time a little softer, sent more heat straight to Greg’s groin.
“Oh, my love...” Greg trailed off, his whispered words warm against Allen’s skin. His hands rubbed up Allen’s back and then down again, and when he reached Allen’s backside, he paused, shifted, and found his husband’s lips again. Allen met him kiss for kiss, their mouths moving in a pattern that was familiar and yet arousing. Allen’s hands had made their way down to the hem of Greg’s shirt, and when Greg felt Allen’s fingers tease at the waistband of his shorts, giving a little tug at the button, he pulled back from their kisses, breathing heavily. Allen pressed on, seeming undeterred by Greg’s need for air, and their lips crushed together again as he made quick work of Greg’s shorts, unbuttoning and unzipping them, then pushing them down off Greg’s hips.
It was intense, and a new rush of desire had Greg’s arousal straining in his briefs. He quickly brought his hands around to Allen’s chest and began unbuttoning his shirt, fumbling as Allen assaulted his mouth with deeper and needier kisses.
“Ah, god, do—do you . . .”
“Do I what?” Allen murmured. Then his hand slipped under the waistband of Greg’s briefs, and all of Greg’s thoughts fizzled away into nothing as Allen’s fingers wrapped around the base of his shaft.
“Uh... oh, god. I don’t know,” Greg admitted, and he pushed open Allen’s dress shirt and lowered his head to Allen’s shoulder as his erection swelled in Allen’s hand.
Lips grazed his cheek then, and Greg let his hands slide up his husband’s chest, reveling in the familiar roughness of the thin layerof coarse hair covering Allen’s upper body. He flattened his hands and ran his palms firmly over Allen’s nipples, which hardened under his touch. Greg groaned again.
“God, I love your body,” Greg rasped. “I love every inch of you. I love you.”
Allen’s breath shuddered, hot against Greg’s cheek, and Greg straightened up and lowered his mouth to Allen’s again, immediately deepening the kiss as he brought both hands to frame his husband’s face. After another slow, deliberate pump of Greg’s erection, Allen released him, and Greg whimpered a protest, his hands sliding back around to Allen’s lower back and then down farther to his backside. He pressed his hips against Allen at the same time as he pulled Allen closer.
