Riley eventually broke it. He pressed his lips softly against Jason’s forehead. “How’re you feeling?”
Jason stretched cautiously, relieved to find that the stabbing pain in his head had subsided. His leg only ached slightly, a mere memory of a wound.
“I’m fine,” he said honestly. “What time is it?”
Riley reached for his phone, giving Jason the opportunity to study him unnoticed. Everything about Riley stole his breath away. He was still the stunning guy who’d practically knocked Jason off his feet when he’d strolled into the diner, confidence and arrogance seeping from every pore, but he was so much more than that. There remained something sharp about him, but there was something softer, too. As if he were no longer holding himself braced against the world.
“Love you,” he murmured.
Riley’s eyes filled with joy, and he cupped Jason’s jaw in his hand, his lips covering Jason’s.
Jason opened under his mouth, and the sleepy, languorous nature of their kiss changed as Riley’s tongue touched his. He shivered at the promise of it, already hardening at the anticipation, almost too much to bear. He’d melted by the time Riley gently rolled them over, sweet and soft, to lie on top of him as they kissed. No dish that had ever left Jason’s kitchen tasted as good as Riley did. Jason was addicted to his mouth.
They rocked against each other as they kissed, and then Riley’s long-fingered, clever hands were working on the fastening of Jason’s jeans and underwear, until his hand curved so flawlessly around Jason’s desperate cock, it was as if he were made for it.
Just a few strokes, the perfect grip, and Jason was moaning into Riley’s mouth as he pulsed out his pleasure, floating under Riley’s weight.
He almost couldn’t stop kissing Riley afterward, but the knowledge Riley hadn’t yet come forced him, eventually, to relinquish his mouth and push him over onto his back. Riley went easily, breathing hard, his eyes full of darkness. Jason was too impatient to undress Riley properly. He shoved his t-shirt up and used his mouth on Riley’s nipples briefly—later, he’d suck them until Riley begged, but right now, he wanted Riley’s cock.
Riley moaned as he pulled down the zipper of his jeans, hitching his hips up to let Jason draw them and his boxer briefs down his thighs. His cock was smooth under Jason’s fingers, and he loved the way it moved as he stroked it.
“Jason.” Riley’s voice was a gasp and a plea, and he realized that Riley was too primed for more teasing. His mouth watered at the sight of his cock, hard and perfect.
He loved sucking Riley’s cock. It wasn’t only the taste he adored, along with the arousal in the pit of his stomach at how Riley felt in his mouth. It was the way Riley lost all control under Jason’s efforts. When Riley had fucked Jason, he’d been so careful with him, but when his cock was in Jason’s mouth, he let go. Like now, his head fell back on the pillow and he arched under Jason’s mouth, hands wrapped in his hair as he made little, staccato sounds, rising in pitch until he stiffened all over and came with a broken cry.
And then, his chest still heaving, he pulled Jason up the bed and kissed him, hot and messy, as if he couldn’t bear to stop. And Jason let himself believe it—not just the kiss, but what it meant.
He was loved. He was enough. And held in Riley’s arms, he finally believed it.
RILEY
It was evening by the time they made it out of bed. After showering together, they managed to let go of one another long enough to dress. Riley had to borrow clean clothes from Jason, turning up the hems and cuffs until he looked like a four-year-old in his big brother’s clothes. There was something so intimate about wearing Jason’s clothing that he decided he didn’t care.
“Guess I should go rescue my car and all my stuff,” he said, and then froze. What was he going to do? It had been one thing to stay here today, but showing up like he was here for good? That wasn’t something Urban would ever allow. Not after everything Riley had done. And it wasn’t even his car—it was a damn rental.
Maybe, if he could find a job in town, he could save for a deposit on a room so he had somewhere to sleep once he had to give the car back.
“Is anyone in town hiring at the moment?” he asked.
Jason, still loose and dreamy-eyed from their time together, raised an eyebrow at him. As if the question was ridiculous instead of essential.
“Why?” he asked, bemused.
“Uh, because I need to earn a living? To pay for a place to live?”
“But, you’re going to live here.” The certainty in Jason suddenly wavered. “Unless—don’t you want to?”
“No,” Riley said, a swift denial of Jason’s fear. Anything to stop that hollowness already creeping into Jason’s eyes. Then he heard what he’d said. “I mean,yes—ofcourseI want to live with you, but Urban will never let me. Not after everything I did.”
Jason hooked his fingers through Riley’s belt loops and tugged him close. “He will.” Such certainty was in his voice. “He let you stay here last night, and he let you know about Jesse. I don’t thinkyou understand just how huge a deal those two things are.” He smiled into Riley’s eyes. “You’re my mate. That makes you pack.”
Pack.The word settled deep inside him. It should have been foreign, but somehow, it wasn’t. Jason was giving him so much more than just himself, though that was a gift beyond price. He was giving Riley ahome. And maybe, a family.
Riley kissed Jason, because it was that or cry, and he’d come close enough to that earlier.
They were still kissing when a bell sounded, somewhere outside.
“Oh, God.” Jason pulled back in alarm. “That means someone else cooked. Don’t tell me I’m going to lose my mate to food poisoning.”
