That did it for Jude. He made a strangled sound as his own orgasm started and pounded even harder into Nally, spilling everything his balls had and more. Even though he wore a condom, it felt like he was giving everything directly to Nally and filling him. It was so right, so perfect, and so very long overdue.
They collapsed together once they were both spent. It took the very last bit of energy Jude had to pull out, remove the condom, tie it, and toss it in the direction of the small bin beside the bed, hoping he didn’t miss. Nally was already half asleep when he rolled back to pull him into his arms, tangling their bodies together face to face. He pulled the covers over them both and kissed Nally’s lips softly before closing his eyes and sinking into the pillow.
The last thing Jude heard before falling hard into sleep was Nally’s whisper of, “I love you.”
FIFTEEN
Nally sleptlike there was no tomorrow. The last few days had taken a huge toll on him, but the peace he felt after making love with Jude was beyond anything he’d ever felt or thought he could feel. He and Jude had slept together so many times before in the same spooned, cuddly position, but it felt entirely new and different now.
They didn’t have a set schedule or any deadlines they had to meet the next morning, so when they woke up, they stayed in bed, limbs tangled as they bantered about nothing important. They laughed about their complete ineptitude at the cabin while playing their fingers together and stroking each other’s hair.
They could have had sex again. Nally was desperate for a chance to top Jude to return the favor Jude had done the night before. Twenty-four hours before, he’d been anxious about what the future might hold for two bottoms trying to be together, but now those labels felt silly and artificial. Being with Jude wasn’t about getting his rocks off or satisfying an itch, it was about loving him and finding new ways for them to enjoy each other.
He loved Jude. Not just as friends. Nally was pretty sure he’d said as much out loud as he was falling asleep the night before.He could chalk it up to post-orgasmic glow, but he knew those feelings ran deeper. And for a few minutes, he was perfectly happy and content that everything between him and the man he relied on in so many ways had changed instead of terrified.
“We should really get up and shower,” Jude sighed at long last, peeling slightly away from Nally.
“And take advantage of our free breakfast,” Nally added with a cheeky grin.
“For a limited time only, yes!” Jude exclaimed, rolling out of the bed and standing. He winced and moved stiffly at first, and in the light of day, Nally could see several mean bruises forming across one of Jude’s sides from his fall, and maybe a few from his hands the night before.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” he asked, getting up and following Jude to the bathroom. He nodded to a particularly bad bruise on Jude’s leg. “That was some fall.”
“I’ll live,” Jude said, rolling his shoulder to test whether his answer was true. “It could have been so much worse.”
It absolutely could have been. Everything could have been worse. Having sex could have genuinely ruined their friendship instead of making it stronger. A part of Nally was still worried that they weren’t out of the woods yet. Jude and Timothy had been fine at first, too. It had taken things a few weeks to fall apart for them.
Nally pushed that aside in favor of picking up the discarded clothing and towels they’d left on the bathroom floor the night before as Jude turned on the shower. There were enough spare towels that they would be able to dry themselves off, but he hung the used ones and moved Jude’s clothes back into the bedroom before joining Jude in the shower.
Flashes of the way things had turned sensual and hot the night before filled Nally’s thoughts as he pumped soap into his hand while watching Jude scrub his hair, but he didn’t feel likehe needed a repeat of all that. He was happy enough with the cozy thought that they could share a shower together for the sole purpose of getting clean, and that they could help each other out by washing each other’s backs without the need to slam each other up against the wall for more.
There would be time for that some other day.
“We’re so disgustingly cute,” he said as they turned off the water and stepped out of the shower to dry off.
“God, yes,” Jude said as he bent to dry his legs. “We’d give most people tooth decay if they could see us.”
Nally laughed, then shrugged and said, “I like it. I like us.”
Jude straightened from drying off and smiled at him. There was something different, deeper, like they shared a secret, in that smile. They absolutely did share a secret, come to think of it. For the moment, no one knew how things had changed between them but the two of them.
Nally couldn’t hold back any longer. He stepped closer to Jude, reaching behind his head with one hand while still holding his towel with the other, and brought his mouth to Jude’s for a hot kiss.
Jude hummed into the kiss, then inched back to say, “That’s more like it.”
Jude grabbed Nally and pulled him back, and the two of them stood there for a few glorious moments, kissing and getting all worked up in ways they really didn’t have time for.
“We have to check out and get on the road soon,” Jude reminded them both right about the time that Nally was contemplating wrapping his hand around Jude’s cock instead of just grinding their hips together.
Nally made a disappointed sound then said, “We don’t want to miss our free breakfast.”
Jude laughed, and the moment was broken. Nally didn’t mind losing a perfectly good erection as he stepped back tofinish drying off, then headed into the room to dress. He would have a hundred other chances to start something with Jude when they should have been serious, he was certain. Something deep within him knew that they would have an entire life together.
Lifelong commitment was a lot to think about at nine in the morning in a roadside hotel in Scotland, so Nally shoved those thoughts away. He and Jude dressed, packed up their things, put on their new, stiff boots, and headed downstairs for eggs and bacon. They gobbled down enough to feel guilty eating so much free food, and were on the road again before ten.
“So what do we do about all this social media stuff?” Nally asked as they whizzed down the M6.
“What do you mean?” Jude asked, sending him a quick look.
