It was two o’clock in the morning. Road closures and a wonky sat nav had sent him round in circles, and he wasn’t much earlier than if he’d waited until midnight to leave. But still. He was here. He had to hope that Shay hadn’t given up on him and hit the town.
Ollie parked the van and slid out of the driver’s seat, his legs stiff from being behind the wheel so long. The bus was close by, no lights or signs of life. Ollie had a fob that unlocked the living quarters, but he found the door unlocked. He crept up the steps, expecting a row of empty bunks, but as his vision cleared, he realised the whole band was present, correct—and fast asleep in their beds.
Even Jumbo.
Wow.It didn’t take a genius to figure that Corina had reasserted her authority. Ollie half expected to find her sitting at the office desk, watching over them like a matron, but she wasn’t. In fact, she was nowhere around at all. She rarely slept on the bus, a fact Ollie was glad of as he ditched his bag and his boots and tiptoed to Shay’s bunk.
Shay’s curtains were open, and he was curled on his side, one arm pillowing his head, the other flung out as though he was searching for something. His hand dangled over the side. Ollie grasped it and entwined their fingers. He thought about leaning down and kissing him but settled for whispering Shay’s name until he stirred.
“Ollie?”
“It’s me.” Ollie squeezed Shay’s hand a little tighter. “The van’s safe, your gear’s safe.”
Shay stared at him, his sleepy eyes a mix of relief and confusion. He tugged Ollie closer until Ollie was all but lying on top of him.
Then he kissed Ollie’s cheek, his jaw, his lips. “I don’t care about the gear.”
A shiver ran through Ollie, but for once it was the good kind—the kind only Shay had ever elicited from him. Kissing Shay back was easy. Giving in to slide onto his bed, to mould their bodies together as their tongues fought for dominance, even more so.
Shay was shirtless. Ollie ran his hands all over his smooth skin, all the while praying Shay wouldn’t try to do the same to him. As he found Shay’s sensitive spots and committed them to memory, the worry slipped further from his mind, but it was there—fuck, it was always there.
He buried his face in Shay’s neck, kissing the delicate flesh, revelling in Shay’s pleasured gasp.God, I want him.And right now, Ollie wasn’t in the mood to remember that the roadblocks he’d set up in his mind would ensure that it could never happen. Right now he wanted to pretend they were both undamaged and whole, and losing himself in Shay’s gorgeous body was the best distraction.
Whether it was instinct or the fact that he’d just woken up, Shay kept his exploration of Ollie tame. As he arched beneath Ollie, his long fingers remained buried in Ollie’s hair, and despite every ruined nerve crying out for Shay’s touch, Ollie was so fucking glad, he wanted to cry.Please. Just let us have this.
Shay’s sweatpants slid down his hips, lower and lower. His hard length pressed against Ollie’s thigh, and Ollie’s mouth watered.
He slipped a hand under Shay’s waistband. “Is this okay?”
“Shut the curtain.”
Ollie obeyed and, as he came upright, found himself level with Shay’s groin. The sweatpants were gone.
Desire surged through Ollie. He took Shay in his mouth, swallowing him with little warning. Shay shuddered, his groan muffled by the pillow he pulled over his face. His thighs trembled, and Ollie made the most of how wound up he was.
It was quick.
Brutal, almost.
Ollie worked Shay, drinking in everything he got in return—every muted gasp and strangled moan, every jerk and shiver. He pinned Shay to the narrow bed, hands clawing at his slim hips. Tenderness dissolved into a frenetic rhythm. Heat sluiced through Ollie, and he welcomed the sharp sting of Shay tugging at his hair.
Shay came.
Stars exploded.
Ollie smiled and felt whole.
He crawled up the bed. Shay reached for him. “Let me—”
Ollie cut him off with a kiss, guiding Shay’s hands away from where he wanted them most.Please don’t.
Shay didn’t. He kissed Ollie until they ran out of air, then broke away with a jaw-popping yawn.
He laid his head on Ollie’s chest. Ollie tangled his fingers in Shay’s hair and stared at the ceiling. “I was in an accident a few years ago… a car accident.”
Shay froze but didn’t speak.
Ollie sucked in a breath and carried on. “I was a passenger in an Uber coming back into London from Oxford after a meeting. The car flipped on the M1 and burst into flames. The driver died, and my left side got burned to fuck. I don’t remember much, or what happened after, but my body won’t ever forget.”
