The softness of Nick’s voice slid through the quiet loft, tightening something low in Axel’s chest.He heard the rustle of Nick dropping his pants.Then the sliding of his underwear moving down his legs.
Damn, he wanted to have sex with the guy.Bad.
“Yeah, what is it?”Axel answered.
Gosh, his voice sounded so throaty.So aroused.
“Is Jenna a better kisser than I am?”
The loft went impossibly still; the only sound was the distant drip of rain rolling off the barn’s sheet metal roof and hitting something metal outside.Axel felt the weight of the moment settle over them like a held breath.
Of all the things Nick could have asked, this was the one that cut straight through every wall.Axel swore softly at the intense feel of his cock jumping.
Memories collided.Jenna’s kiss still burning on his lips, Nick’s steady presence at his back, the years they’d survived together.It was too much.Too tangled, too close.
Slowly, he turned around and faced Nick.His gaze dropped to find Nick fully erect.
Obviously, they were both quite turned on.
He wasn’t just choosing between two people, he suddenly realized.He was choosing between two versions of himself, two lives, two futures he didn’t know how to reconcile.
Axel felt all his resolve of staying away from Nick dissolve.
“I'm going to need a reminder how you kiss.”Axel teased as he stepped toward his friend.
Nick grinned.That grin.It was easy, reckless, and knowing.It hit him in the chest the way it always had, loosening something he’d tried to keep locked down.
“Was hoping you would say that.But before we begin...”Nick bent over and pulled something out from his pants pocket.He held up a couple of small packages; a huge smile plastered on his face.
Two condoms.
“Where did you get those?”Axel asked, not quite believing what he was seeing.Nick wasn’t just prepared.He was choosing this night of freedom, choosing him, with a boldness that made Axel’s heart thud painfully.
“I had a little time while baking the cake and so I took a quick shower.Lo and behold, when I looked for some more painkillers in one of the bathroom drawers, I found a box of condoms shoved in there.Took a couple.They might be small, but that’ll just add to the sweet pain.And this…”
Nick bent over again, giving Axel a nice view of his naked ass as he pulled something else out from another pant pocket.He dangled a plastic bag filled with what looked like a nice chunk of butter.
“Lube,” Nick grinned.
“You little thief,” Axel chuckled.
“Guess you’ll have to punish me,” Nick answered in a soft voice.
“Oh, I will,” he retorted.
The banter slid between them like muscle memory.It was familiar, and comforting.
The decision snapped through him like a spark, and he didn’t give Nick time to react.He moved against him, claiming Nick’s luscious mouth in a bruising kiss.He knew Nick liked it rough and wasn’t surprised as he groaned into it, kissing him back all the while his hands flew to Axel’s waist and held tight as Axel walked him backward toward the nicely made bed.
He had no trouble pressing Nick down onto the makeshift bed.The blankets rustled beneath them, the hay crackling as Nick’s back hit the soft surface, Axel’s body covering his, their chests heaving against each other.
Axel’s teeth grazed Nick’s lower lip, his tongue sweeping into his mouth, deep, and possessive.Nick met him with the same fierce urgency he remembered from the darkest nights in their cell.The kind born from survival, loyalty, and something deeper neither of them had dared name.Nick arched into him, his cock straining against Axel’s pants.His hand roaming over Axel’s back, his nails scraping over his skin.
“Shit, Axel, that was good.But was it as good as Jenna’s kiss?”he gasped, breaking the kiss, his breath coming in sharp pants.
The question hit Axel like a jolt.It was sharp, intimate, threaded with jealousy and vulnerability.Nick wasn’t just teasing.He wanted to know where he stood.
Axel swore softly at him.The two worlds collided inside him.The woman he’d never stopped loving and the man who’d held him together when everything else had fallen apart.
