They moved like they were starving, their hips grinding into Jacob’s fist. Their cocks rubbed together, leaking pre-come, the mess only making it better. Each grind became more frantic, hotter, the need ratcheting higher. Liam’s nails raked through Jacob’s hair, bit into his shoulders, and scored down his back, leaving marks wherever he could reach.
Jacob’s grip was ruthless, pumping them both with a rhythm that gave no space for thought. He wasn’t chasing tenderness. Not now. He wanted Liam undone, needed to feel him spill over his hand—to know that nothing could erase this bond between them.
Liam broke first. A loud cry tearing out of him as he jerked forward, coating Jacob’s fist and cock in heat. Jacob groaned at the feel of it, at the cum covering his hand. He used it to work them faster, fucking into his cum-slick grip until the friction tore him open too. He came with a rough groan, adding his own release to the mess.
Jacob slid two slick fingers into Liam’s mouth, making him suck them clean and taste them both. He felt a fierce satisfaction watching Liam swallow it down; every drop was proof he still owned him, marking him from the inside out. He kissed Liam deep and absolutely filthy, tongue chasing the mix until he could taste them too.
They stayed pressed together, panting into each other’s mouths. Jacob’s hand spread across Liam’s back, holding him close, while Liam held on like nothing else mattered.
Jacob pressed his lips to Liam’s temple, still breathing raggedly. “I’m not letting you go again. I’ll burn the fucking world down to keep you.”
***
Liam lay on his stomach beside him, one arm crooked under the pillow, his skin still flushed from everything they’d just done—again. The air was thick with sweat and breath and something that felt dangerously close to peace.
Jacob took in the slow rise and fall of Liam’s shoulders, the damp hair curling at his nape, and the parted lips that said he was still drifting in the afterglow. He reached out, fingers trailing lazily down Liam’s spine.
Liam’s voice broke the quiet. “I kept hoping I could make it work,” he murmured. “That if I just tried harder, held on longer, it would click back into place.”
Jacob stayed silent, listening.
“But she feels it. The distance. Every time I pull away, every time I can’t meet her eyes. I see it hurting her.” His breath caught. “She deserves someone who’s all in. And I’m not. I’ve tried, but I can’t be what she needs anymore.”
Jacob’s hand stilled as he shifted onto his side to face him. “That doesn’t make you a bad person.”
“Tell that to the internet when they figure this out.”
Jacob leaned close and pressed his lips to his shoulder. “Let them talk.”
“It’s not just our families we’ve hurt. There’s going to be fallout. Professionally. Personally.” Liam turned his head, eyes catching his. “You know that, right?”
Jacob didn’t look away. “I do.” His voice steady. “I don’t care.”
Liam blinked, searching him. “I’m serious. Once this gets out—the timeline, the rumors, the headlines—it’s not gonna be pretty.”
Jacob’s gaze didn’t waver. “Then we deal with it. You’re worth it.”
“Our PR teams are going to have heart attacks,” Liam laughed.
“Then they can bill me.”
Liam shook his head, almost smiling. “You’re impossible.”
Jacob reached across the small space, his thumb tracing over that infuriatingly perfect mouth. “I’m not half in. If you’re here, it means you’re mine. I’m not letting you go. Nothing else matters.”
Jacob could see the way his words landed—Liam’s shoulders relaxed and his breath evened out, as if he’d finally found solid ground again.
“I’m telling her tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll find the words. I just… needed to say it out loud first. To you.”
Jacob kissed him then, not with the sharp edge of hunger, but with something steadier—a promise that they were finally stepping into something real. The beginning ofthem.
When he pulled back, his voice was low. “Say it again.”
Liam knew exactly what he meant. His gaze caught Jacob’s and held, love shining clear in those beautiful brown eyes.
“I love you.”
Chapter 44
