Page 53 of Beyond the Hedge Maze

“Yes,” Oliver confirmed, wrapping his leg around Jesse’s lower back.

Jesse slowly pushed in. Static filled his vision, and he groaned. Oliver was still so tight, squeezing the life out of him.

Jesse bottomed out and pressed his forehead against Oliver’s. “I’ve wanted you for so long.” He rolled his hips back and forth, long fluid thrusts, every inch in and out its own tiny death.

“Me too. Fuck, Jesse. Harder, harder.” Oliver’s hands were on Jesse’s waist, his fingernails biting into Jesse’s skin. He picked up his pace and pressed his lips against Oliver’s. Their kiss quickly turned frantic. More teeth than lips, more need than finesse. Oliver moved his hands back into Jesse’s hair. “I’ve never wanted someone like I want you. Never imagined it’d feel this good.”

Jesse had always been an equal opportunity partner, had been with plenty of other people who identified as many different things. But nothing, no one, compared to Oliver.

“I need you to touch yourself. Get yourself off,” Jesse pleaded.

The entire day had been one excruciating game of foreplay. Oliver at the museum. Oliver with his friends. Oliver in his flat. Oliver underneath him. Every thought of Jesse’s revolved around Oliver Catesby.

Oliver wedged a hand between them, jerking his own cock with precise, practiced movements. Jesse timed his thrusts with Oliver, both hurdling towards their release.

When Jesse filled the condom, his vision blackened. His face was pressed tightly into the side of Oliver’s neck, Oliver’s carotid pumping hard and fast against Jesse’s lips. Somehow it surprised him, feeling how hard Oliver’s heart was beating, because his own felt like it had stopped completely. Seconds later, Oliver followed, cum coating both their stomachs.

After taking a quick second to catch his breath, Jesse rolled off of Oliver and quickly pulled him into his arms as they caught their breaths. He closed his eyes and pressed three rapid kisses onto Oliver’s sweaty hair.

As their breaths slowed, Jesse suppressed every urge in his body from making any declarations that would scare Oliver off. When they were kids, these feelings for Oliver felt impossible and out of his control. But now they had their fate in their own hands, and Jesse knew their relationship was too new to ruin it by telling him he loved him. Even if he knew it to be true.

He waited another minute before he gently moved Oliver over to the pillow beside him and sat up, pulling off the condom and tying it closed. He patted Oliver’s thigh. “I’ll be right back.”

Oliver waved him off as Jesse went to the bathroom and threw away the condom. He wetted a flannel with warm water and wiped the cum from his stomach. He grabbed another, and wetted it before taking it with him.

When he came back to the bedroom, Oliver was laying there with his eyes closed, an arm thrown over his face. He lifted it as Jesse approached, watching him through half-hooded eyes.

Neither spoke while Jesse cleaned Oliver’s abdomen. When he was finished, he tossed the flannel on the floor and got back on the bed, maneuvering Oliver so that he was laying on top of Jesse.

Every now and then, Oliver would kiss his chest, and Jesse would press one of his own onto whatever part of Oliver he could reach.

Jesse felt so content. The man he knew he loved was secure within his grasp, and there was nothing that could ruin this moment for him.

He held Oliver a little tighter, and Oliver tipped his head to look at Jesse. “Thank you.”

Jesse bent awkwardly to kiss the tip of Oliver’s nose. “For what, cariño?”

“For being you, mostly. Also for the great sex. But there’s something else I need.” Oliver’s eyebrows were lifted at him in expectation. “You need to feed me again.”

As on cue, Oliver’s stomach growled and he buried his face in Jesse’s chest, laughing. Jesse grinned and started to move. “Let me go find my phone.”

Oliver placed a hand on his bicep, stopping him. “In a minute. I’m not ready for this to be over.”

Jesse kissed Oliver’s forehead, letting his lips linger. “Okay, in a minute.”

Chapter 22

Oliver

Ten Years Ago

Oliver had never been on a date before. He didn’t know if this would count as one either, but he knew he wanted today to be different. He wanted to spend some time with Jesse outside of the maze, maybe ask if after lunch he wanted to wander around the village. He wanted something more.

So he made a plan. He would greet Jesse as soon as he arrived, and ask him if he wanted to have a picnic out by the lake.

He was losing a battle against his nerves as he wandered around to the front of the house. With every passing second, Oliver began to worry that it was all a giant mistake. He worried that he was trying too hard, and that they weren’t anything more than a brief summer fling. He worried that Jesse might be using him to just pass the time.

He shook off those feelings as best as he could because he knew they weren’t true. If anything, Jesse’s rainy day confessions and how he had opened up about his mother, said the complete opposite.