“Maxwell’s going to jail though, right?”
“If there’s any fairness left in the justice system, he will.”
“What are Matt, Sandy, and the girls going to do?”
“Go back to the city,” Hal says, like it’s obvious.
“Matt’s going to run for president one day, isn’t he?”
“I think so.”
Luke gives them both a moment to envision that: the hectic, volatile, vicious process of a primary and then a presidential campaign. No guarantees, and no holds barred. Matt going bare-knuckled with career politicians bent on winning a prize that isn’t a prize at all, but a responsibility to an entire nation, and the rest of the world.
Then Luke pushes all of that aside, and focuses on this moment. The delicious closeness, and the comfort of body heat, and the fantasy realized of being pressed up against Hal.
He stretches his neck in search of Hal’s mouth, kisses along the underside of his jaw, up his chin, and finally finds his lips with his own.
A kiss that starts gentle on Luke’s part, but which Hal quickly deepens and intensifies, nipping at his lips and licking between them. A desperate, hungry, life-affirming kind of kiss:we’re okay, we made it.Kiss me again.
But there’s a sweetness to it, too, the way Hal’s lips cling to his, the way he’s murmuring gentle things in the back of his throat that Luke swallows before they can become proper words.
Hal’s hand migrates down Luke’s spine, presses in at the small of his back and draws them even closer together. In that moment, hip to hip, Luke feels the sudden spark of arousal, the shift from comfort to lust.
Hal kisses his cheek, his ear. “You okay, baby? Are you hurting?” he asks, a low, worried whisper laced with want.
“I’m fine. Just touch me.”
Hal palms his ass, hesitant only a moment, and then bolder, his hand warm and grounding.
Luke flexes his hips, ruts into Hal, and their cocks touch through their pajama pants.
“Oh,” Hal breathes, right in his ear.
“Good ‘oh’?” Luke teases, nibbling at Hal’s throat. Hal’s pulse leaps under his tongue, vibrates through his teeth. He snakes a hand down between them, Hal’s hard stomach against his knuckles, and reaches right down into his pants, touches him for the first time.
“Oh,” Hal says again, breathless. “Shit. Good, it’sgood.”
Hal is thick, and warm, hardening in Luke’s palm, skin like velvet. Luke strokes him root to tip, steady pulls like he enjoys himself. Hal’s spine curls and he thrusts into the movement, breath leaving him in a quiet, ragged sound.
“I – I don’t–” he stammers, and Luke freezes.
“Change your mind?” Luke wants to sound wry and resigned, but the question comes out tiny and devastated. “You can–”
Hal kisses him. Hard. “No,” he says, fervently. “Luke, no.” His voice wavers. “It’s just…I don’t have any idea what I’m doing.”
Luke pulls back and strains to see his friend’s eyes through their undercover gloom. Hal looks…nervous. And precious. Absolutely adorable in his uncertainty.
“I want it to be good for you,” he confesses. “And I haven’t…” He winces, his voice just a sliver in the space between their faces. “Show me?”
Luke feels his blood surge, his pulse reckless and throbbing. He kisses Hal again. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll show you.”
He urges Hal onto his back, and he goes down easy, totally compliant and trusting, a small act that makes Luke’s eyes sting. Sex has always been either cold, or furious in his past. The men he’s hooked up with timid, like maybe they weren’t completely sold on their own sexuality, or aggressive, like they were supposed to be out-manning one another.
But Hal is nothing but sweet now, reaching up to cup his face, drawing him down for another kiss. Luke can feel the energy and arousal running in currents beneath his skin, but Hal wants him to take the lead here.Show me. No one’s ever, ever said that to Luke before, and he can’t believe how much it touches him.
He lets Hal steer the kiss and props himself up on one arm, reaching between them with the other. His aches and pains and soreness fade into the periphery, pale in comparison to the red wash ofwantthat floods his veins.
His shoves down first his own pants, and then Hal’s, fumbling with the elastic waistbands because his hand trembles, and then finally they’re both bare, and touching one another.
