The threats he heard, the words echoing in his head, the anger and rage, they didn’t feel quite as acute anymore. Because Raymond Hirsh couldn’t ever hurt him again. At least not physically.
He slid his hand low along Jake’s midsection, stopping at Jake’s side, and he took a long, slow breath. “Thursday night and last night were both... awful,” he admitted. He didn’t want to talk about it, but he also didn’t want to hide things from Jake. Not if his words were working.
“Mmm, I can imagine. They weren’t that easy for me either. I only, um, I... It was really hard to not be able to talk to you. I almost wanted to drive up to Eureka and just buy you a new phone so I could text you good night and... and see how you were.”
Rye smiled against Jake’s chest and then laughed lightly. “That would have been a little, um, what’s that word Phil’s always using lately?”
“Extra?”
“Yeah, that’s it. I think he would have said it wasextraextra,” Rye teased, and he closed his eyes as Jake’s hand touched his forearm, fingertips trailing across the thin cotton of Rye’s long-sleeved T-shirt. “I would have appreciated it, though. I... needed to be home. I needed to be here, with my mom. But I missed you too. I think... I think I needed you too. I’m really glad you came over tonight.”
Something in what he’d said must have shaken Jake a bit, because Rye felt a tremble in his boyfriend’s large body, and Jake’s arm tightened around him as his hand flattened on Rye’s forearm.
Jake didn’t say anything right away, though, and so Rye just let out another long breath and relaxed into Jake. He didn’t know how long they ended up staying there like that, but by the time he moved again, straightening up and then reaching over to grab his tea from the coffee table, the tea was barely still warm. He took a small sip, but frowned and shook his head.
“One of these days, we’ll drink our tea while it’s still hot,” Jake joked, and his hand came to rest low on Rye’s back, as though he couldn’t stand the loss of contact.
Rye didn’t blame him. He couldn’t stand it either.
He set the mug back down and then cuddled up in his spot against Jake’s chest. “Mmm, this spot, though.”
His words didn’t make much sense in the context of what Jake had just said, although they did in his head, and Jake just wrapped his arms back around Rye and hummed an agreement, the sound rumbling in his chest.
“You’re comfortable?” Jake asked, his voice muffled into Rye’s hair.
“Mm-hmm, very.”
“Good. I am too.”
Jake seemed to hesitate for a second, and then Rye felt him shift slightly. A second later, Jake’s fingers brushed lightly along his cheek, and Jake tucked a strand of Rye’s hair back behind his ear. His skin tingled where Jake touched him, the feeling rippling all the way down low, and he held back a quiet moan that wanted to escape.
God, that felt incredible.
Touch me again.
He didn’t say anything, because his heart was pounding much too hard in his chest, but Jake seemed to understand anyway, and he repeated the touch, this time letting his hand slip all the way back along the nape of Rye’s neck. Gently, lightly, barely a whisper.
This time, Rye did moan, and he flexed his fingers into Jake’s side, eager to feel closer.
“Mmm, sorry. Is this okay?” Jake’s voice was low and deep, with a heat to it that Rye could somehow feel.
He couldn’t nod because he couldn’t really move, but he breathed a quiet “yes,” followed quickly by “very.”
Jake hummed another warm breath against the top of Rye’s head, and his fingers continued playing at the back of Rye’s neck. And Rye made another sound, this one coming out a little more needy than the last. Which surprised him. A lot.
He tensed and then straightened up a bit, and Jake’s hand fell away as Jake, too, straightened up. Jake cleared his throat, probably about to speak, but Rye shook his head and tilted his chin back to look up at his boyfriend. Concerned brown eyes stared back at him, caring and gentle and everything Rye knew Jake to be.
Hereached up this time. He cupped Jake’s cheek, ran his hand back until his fingers felt the warm, bare skin of the nape of Jake’s neck. Then he swallowed hard and stretched up and pressed his lips lightly to Jake’s.
It was all warmth and softness, their kiss. And it deepened this time as Rye held them close, not wanting to part. Jake moaned a low sound, and their lips moved together, caressing and exploring in some wholly wonderful and new way. Heat flooded Rye’s chest and worked its way lower, and when Jake’s hand found the small of his back, Rye felt a twinge of something different. Something he’d never really felt before but somehow immediately recognized.
Desire and arousal.
He pulled back, breaking the kiss and lowering his head to rest against Jake’s chest. His breaths came in short, fast pants, and he could feel Jake’s chest rising and falling rapidly too. Jake’s hand had stopped moving right in the center ofRye’s back, and it seemed to sear into him, all heat and pressure. And it was all suddenly traveling south.
It felt amazing. And also terrifying.
He pulled away a little more, and he mumbled, “Sorry.”
