The hood of his jacket fell back, revealing the blond hair underneath, pulled back to keep it out of the runner’s face. Nick groaned. All of his clarity drained away with each thump of Oliver’s steady feet.
Oliver must not have seen him, because he turned, leaving the boardwalk and heading out onto the street, long strides eating up the pavement as he went. He was strength and ease, and Nick couldn’t take his eyes off him.
He kicked off his bike and followed.
10
The podcast in his ears spoke about moving meditation, except Oliver was feeling anything but mindful. The woman’s pleasant voice told him to focus on his breathing, but as he did, the echoes of Nick’s ragged breath on the phone the night before dragged him away from the moment again. Not that he was complaining, but he needed to get it together before he went to the shop.
A bike came up alongside him, and he flinched because he hadn’t heard it coming. He ran this route most days, and cyclists were rare. He expected it to keep going, but once he was shoulder to shoulder with the rider, the bike kept pace, lurking like a car in his blind spot. Oliver was setting a good speed—he needed it to burn off the sluggishness that resulted in only getting to sleep at one-thirty after coming his brains out in his fist—but a cyclist should have had no trouble passing him.
But this asshole didn’t. While the woman in Oliver’s ears told him to let go of external distractions and focus on his body, the jerk on the bike stayed at the edge of his vision. No way in hell he could let go of distractions while the bike’s front wheel spun fine mist toward his ankles from four feet away. Oliver growled his frustration as he yanked the buds from his ears, ready to hurl a line of expletives. As he turned, he nearly tripped when he saw the expression on Nick’s face. His eyes were black, his lips set in a line that said he would devour Oliver the moment they stopped.
Oliver’s heart pounded in his chest. “Good morning.”
Nick glowered as he kept pedaling.
The night before had been an experience. Oliver hadn’t played around like that in a long time. His hand on his cock as he’d talked Nick through the fantasy, while Nick’s quiet breathing had echoed through the phone—Oliver hadn’t planned for any of it, not really. He’d been unable to sleep and had more or less forgotten that Nick would be at work when he’d sent his text. What had followed after, though . . .
They made the turn back toward Oliver’s house, and the whole time he was aware of Nick beside him. The morning was still cool and damp, but the space between them practically glowed with warmth. Oliver had to slow his pace, not from fatigue, but because his body couldn’t decide if it wanted to run or be a turned-on horny mess.
On the sidewalk down the last block, Oliver could barely function. Nick had backed off enough that Oliver couldn’t see him out of the corner of his eye, but that only made everything worse. The knowledge that he was there left Oliver feeling like he was being pursued, and who knew that was one of his kinks? The shiver of Nick’s presence down Oliver’s spine kept him centered long enough to make it up the driveway, hands already fumbling for the key in his jacket pocket, while the bike clattered against the side of the house.
They barely made it inside and behind closed doors before Oliver was surrounded, shoved with his front up against the wall in the hallway while Nick pressed his body close. Oliver was warm from the run, but Nick was like a furnace.
“I have to go to work soon,” Oliver gasped. “I think I’ve figured out the immunity booster formula and there’s this movie star who—”
“Caramel,” Nick growled, and all of Oliver’s good intentions for the day melted. Instead, he whimpered and let himself be plastered to the wall.
“I need you.” Nick’s voice was rough, and Oliver moaned at the feel of Nick’s lips on the side of his neck. The nylon jacket swished between them, but as Oliver tried to create some space between himself and the wall to get it off, Nick pressed in harder, pushing his erection against the crease of Oliver’s ass. Nick’s breath was hot on his skin as he mouthed at what he could reach, and the only thing Oliver could do was press his forehead against the relatively cool drywall, eyes shut tight.
Nick’s hands slid low, forcing Oliver’s hips back and grinding them tighter together. Oliver saw white as Nick found his erection.
“Do you want this?” Nick asked. Oliver nodded and gasped while Nick stoked the lust between them, bringing it higher, brighter than the night before when Oliver was alone and could only imagine it.
Oliver turned, grasping Nick’s face in his hands, pulling their mouths together, tongues fighting for control. How could Nick ask if he wanted this? How could anyone not want this?
“Tell me.” Nick grabbed the base of Oliver’s hair where he’d pulled it back, tugging until Oliver had no choice but to wrench his mouth away from Nick’s skin.
“I want this. You.”
Nick’s black eyes gleamed. “It wasn’t very nice of you to tease me at work like that.”
Oliver grinned as his pulse accelerated. His hands caressed over Nick’s hard body, then slipped under the elastic of his sweats, grasping at the hard muscle of his ass. He pulled them together, making Nick moan while he nipped at Oliver’s skin.
“It’s okay, big guy,” Oliver said. Never mind he was taller; in this situation, everything about Nick was dominant. “You show me what you want to do.”
“Shower.” Nick pulled the zipper loose on Oliver’s coat, then shoved it and his T-shirt up over his head. His mouth was on Oliver’s skin before Oliver could see again, biting and licking over his nipples and his chest.
Shower was good. Oliver liked the sound of that. They stumbled up the hall, stripping out of their clothes as they went. Nick crowded into Oliver’s space the whole time, kissing and stroking any body part he could get his hands on. Oliver nearly slipped and brained himself on the tile as he tried to get the water on in the shower, then yelped as the first cold spray hit his oversensitive skin. Nick was wrapped around him in a second, holding him under the water as it warmed. He pulled the elastic out of Oliver's hair, letting it fall down toward his shoulders, then pushed it aside as Nick kissed the back of his neck.
Oliver planted his hands on the wall as he ground back against Nick. Steam filled the space around them, closing them in.
“What do you want?” Oliver asked. “Do you want me to suck you off? That’s what you said, right?”
Nick’s hands were on his hips, pressing them tightly together. He thrust, his hard cock pushing up and down between Oliver’s cheeks.
“In a minute.” He rubbed a bar of soap in his hands, lathering it into white bubbles, before he working over Oliver’s shoulders. The sensation was amazing, wet and slippery. He and Cooper had done things like this once, but it had been years, lost in the routine of work and unquestioning commitment.
