Jace let out a small puff of air when their bodies connected, but he swayed with Callahan, his hips circling in time with the steady drum beat of the song. Callahan swallowed, desperate to bring his hands lower, to ruck up the towel and touch Jace in the tender places where his thighs met. He tightened his hold so his fingers didn’t stray, and he wondered if this was life for other people.
Callahan had never allowed himself towantbefore, because wanting in the past had never got him anywhere. He was restrained and cautious, so far from impulsive, and yet here he was in a hotel room with an almost naked, wet man pressed against him. The contrast of Jace in nothing more than a towel and Callahan fully dressed was enough to have his cock stretching the elasticity of his underwear, and he knew there was no way to hide his erection any longer. He thought, for a moment, this could be it. In this moment, this space, he could be himself with this man.
As though he’d heard Callahan’s silent desperation, instead of pulling away, Jace pushed against him, covering Callahan’s hands with his own. Their fingers lined up perfectly, and Jace tipped his head back. The angle exposed the long arch of his throat, and Callahan was again consumed with want.
The song ended, fading into silence before another equally anonymous beat began to play. Jace turned, rubbing his own erection against Callahan now. He blinked down at him with heavy eyes, the tip of his tongue depressed between two rows of sharp, white teeth.
“Then a kiss?” Jace whispered.
Callahan licked his lips and nodded. “Just one kiss.”
Chapter Fourteen
Jace Has Miscalculated
Jace didn’t dare move. The beat of his heart overtook the beat of the music and when Callahan leaned in and pressed their mouths together, it was an explosion. He wanted it too much, but he didn’t trust it enough.
Callahan’s tongue pressed at the seam of his lips, and Jace reluctantly opened, letting him in. Callahan kissed him gently at first, tentative and tender swipes of the tongue, but as soon as Jace’s cock thickened between his legs and pushed hard against Callahan’s thigh, all bets were off.
Callahan growled, the sound reverberating through Jace’s body, and then Jace’s back was flat against the wall, the air leaving his lungs. He reached for Callahan and his towel fell to the floor, pooling in a damp mess at their feet, his cock making a damp mess of its own against Callahan’s slacks.
He didn’t know what had caused Callahan’s change of heart, the sudden interest, but he was hard-pressed to care about it when his dick was already hard, pressed between their bodies. He ached with pent-up want for Callahan, and he wasn’t going to say something to ruin the moment. At the end of the day, he and Callahan were not cut from the same cloth and there was no hope of a future for them beyond the bedroom.
So, the bedroom he would take.
Jace held Callahan by the waist, adjusting to the way it felt to not be the aggressor. He was used to being the one in charge, quick with words and hands…and condoms. He was weak to Callahan’s whims like this, a heaving chest against his front and a cold wall against his back. He realized he was still wet, his hair dripping onto his shoulders like a brisk rain.
“Callahan,” he mumbled, digging his fingers into Callahan’s waist until he stilled. “Callahan.”
Callahan gasped for breath, pressing Jace harder against the wall and kissing his way around Jace’s jaw to the side of his neck.
“Callahan.” He slid his hand up Callahan’s back and threaded his fingers into the other man’s hair. “Stop.”
Callahan snapped his jaw, his teeth clacking together just below Jace’s ear. He dropped his forehead against Jace’s shoulder and let out a long, trembling breath.
“What are you doing?” Jace asked.
“I’m…I’m not looking for a relationship,” Callahan said quietly, his words hot against Jace’s skin. Something flashed in Callahan’s eyes that had Jace thinking the statement might be a lie, but derailing this kiss to talk about it wouldn’t leave either of them in the position they wanted—which was clearly horizontal.
Jace bit the inside of his cheek and thumped his head against the wall, fighting back the urge to press the issue, then he said, “I don’t want to be your boyfriend either, at least, not after Sunday.”
It wasn’t entirely a lie.
“Until then…” Callahan trailed off, the question unasked.
“It’s just pretend.”
“That erection isn’t pretend.” Callahan smiled against his neck.
“Callahan, I want you, but I don’t trust you. I don’t trust this.”
Callahan’s smile fell and he stepped back. Jace felt woefully exposed, considering he was naked and Callahan was completely dressed, but he could see the spots on Callahan’s white dress shirt where the moisture from his body had soaked through.
He scrubbed his hands down his face and bent over, snatching the towel and wrapping it back around his waist. His body burned with want and the towel hung cold and uncomfortable against his skin.
Callahan was offering him what he wanted, the one thing he’d been thinking about since the first night they kissed at Lion, and he was seriously trying to push him away now? His mind was a mess, blurred by his arousal and the champagne he’d had in the bath. Jace didn’t know which way was up and he didn’t know what to say. Worst of all, he didn’t know what to do.
His cock was pretty clear; it wanted to bury itself so deep into Callahan’s body that it never saw the daylight again, and on the surface, that should have been fine. Jace didn’t want a boyfriend, and he especially didn’t want a man like Callahan as a boyfriend. When he’d met Callahan at the club, all he’d wanted was a fuck, but then…
