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  With his hands braced on the shower wall, Tyler pushed back as Jack stroked him. They got a slow, easy rhythm going—Jack rubbed his cock along the crease of Tyler’s arse as he brought Tyler off with his hand.

  It felt as though they'd been building up to this for hours, and Tyler raced towards the finish line, unable to slow down. The citrus scent of Jack’s shower gel filled the air around them. Tyler was going to smell like Jack. The thought made him smile.

  Then Jack reached down with his other hand and cupped Tyler’s balls, sliding his fingers back behind them, and—

  “Fuck.” Tyler’s head dropped forward and he watched his come hit the shower wall, only to be washed away seconds later. Jack gave him one more stroke, milking the last drops from his spent cock, then moved his hands to Tyler’s hips. Jack held on tight, thrusting against Tyler’s arse until stilling.

  Jack’s breath coming in short gasps and washing over Tyler’s neck made him shiver.

  Soft laughter followed, and Jack’s shoulders were shaking. “I’m too old to be having sex in the shower. My legs are about to give out.”

  Tyler grinned, and turned in Jack’s arms. “Let’s finish up and then you can go sit down, old man.”

  Jack’s answer was to push Tyler back against the shower wall and kiss him. The cool tiles had Tyler flinching away and hissing in protest, making Jack laugh again. “Come on, then.”

  They washed off quickly and dried themselves in the bathroom. Jack wrapped a towel around his waist and watched Tyler do the same, dropping his gaze to Tyler’s groin before snapping up again. “Why don’t you go into my bedroom, and I’ll go get your case from the hall?”

  Tyler nodded. “Okay.” Tyler wore a small smile on his lips as he basked in the way Jack looked at him. He could get used to that. “Thanks.”

  Jack’s bedroom was white with slate-grey curtains and a grey carpet. The ornate black bedframe didn’t seem to fit with what Tyler knew of Jack, and he was still eyeing it speculatively when Jack came in, pulling Tyler’s wheeled suitcase behind him.

  “It’s not my choice.” Jack gestured at the bed. “I didn’t want to take my old one, so my mum gave me the one out of her guest room. She said she was turning that room into a study anyway, so I might as well take it.”

  “It’s nice, though.” Tyler wasn’t lying; he did like it. Also he didn’t want to imply Jack’s mother had shitty taste in furniture. Jack probably wouldn’t care, but it felt rude.

  Jack waved a hand at the rest of the room and its minimal furnishings. “The frame’s a tad fussy for my taste, but the mattress was virtually brand new and it’s fantastic.”

  They both glanced at the bed. Tyler had no idea what Jack was thinking, but his own mind immediately pictured the two of them on that bed, trying out the mattress. Tonight, if he was lucky. He flushed and cleared his throat. The tension in the air was suddenly a lot thicker than it had been just seconds before. “I’m going to get dressed, then, before the warmth of that shower wears off.”

  “Yeah, good idea.” Jack’s voice was gratifyingly rough. He set Tyler’s case on the bed and then turned and walked over to the wardrobe on the opposite wall.

  Tyler pulled out clean underwear, then paused with his hand hovering over the check pyjama bottoms he’d been about to grab. If he were at home, that was what he’d put on, and he’d automatically reached for them. But he was at Jack’s, and there was a possibility he’d have to drive later. He yawned, thinking about it. There was no point assuming anything either way when he could ask. They were adults. If Jack didn’t want him to stay over, then fine. Tyler wasn’t going to get pissy; he just wanted to know so that he could dress accordingly.

  After dropping his towel, he pulled on a pair of dark grey boxer briefs, then glanced over his shoulder. Jack wore an almost-identical pair of pyjama bottoms to the ones in Tyler’s case, and he was tugging a blue T-shirt over his head.

  Tyler waited for Jack’s head to reappear. “Will I need to drive home later?”

  Jack paused, his T-shirt still bunched up around his shoulders.

  “I’m easy either way,” Tyler added, smiling at Jack’s raised eyebrows. “I just need to know whether to put my jeans on or these.” He held his PJs up. Jack’s gaze immediately dropped to Tyler’s hand.

  “Snap.” Jack grinned and then pointed at the soft checked material Tyler still held aloft. “Those.” He straightened out his T-shirt, and smoothed a hand over his short hair made darker by the water. And it was as easy as that. “I’ll go put dinner on while you finish getting dressed. Can I get you a drink? Wine, beer, or—?”

  “A beer would be great.”

  “Okay. Come through to the kitchen when you’re done.” Jack walked out of the bedroom without a backward glance, leaving Tyler to get dressed.

  Had it really been that easy to navigate what would be their first night together? No awkwardness, no fanfare, just a simple question and a simple answer. Tyler put on his clothes, marvelling at the differences between Jack and James. Of course, in hindsight James’s reluctance to have Tyler over to his place made awful, horrible sense. It also made Tyler feel incredibly stupid for not seeing it for what it was, but that was in the past. He liked to think he’d grown up a lot in the past few months, lost some of his rose-tinted views of the world—as Aaron liked to put it—and was able to read people better.

  Jack was honest, brutally so sometimes, but Tyler needed that.

  After swapping his contact lenses for his glasses, Tyler walked into the kitchen as Jack was popping the caps of two bottles of Heineken. Handing one to Tyler, Jack leaned back against the counter and smiled.

  “Thanks.” Tyler took a long swig of the ice-cold beer and then sighed.

  “That good, eh?”

  “Yep.” Tyler clinked his bottle with Jack’s. “Cheers.”

  “Cheers.” Jack smiled and set his beer down on the countertop. “Dinner should be ready in about half an hour.” He gestured at the M&S wrappers next to him. “I cheated. But this is going to taste much better than anything I could have thrown together tonight.”

  Tyler leaned closer to get a better look at what they were having. His mouth watered, and he realised with a jolt how hungry he was. “Looks great.”

  “Why don’t we go sit down while it’s cooking? Pick out a film or something?”

  Tyler nodded. “Okay.” He followed Jack out of the kitchen and into the room next door—an open-plan lounge-diner that had a small table and four chairs at the back of the room in front of the patio doors; a corner settee effectively divided the room into two spaces.

  “So, what are you in the mood for?” Jack picked up the remote control when they were settled on the sofa, and he clicked over to the TV guide.

  Tyler had seen most of the recent films, but one of the older ones caught his eye as Jack scanned down the page. “I quite fancy Captain America.”

  Jack laughed. “Don’t we all?” He scrolled down and clicked on it. “Good choice, though. I haven’t seen it in ages.”

  They watched the start of the film while dinner cooked, then paused it to sit and eat at the table.

  “This is lovely, thanks.” Tyler tucked into his chicken with gusto, moaning loudly as the succulent meat melted in his mouth.

  Jack paused halfway through cutting off a piece. He swallowed and met Tyler’s gaze, his eyes dark. “I’m glad you like it.” His voice was rough, as if Jack was in the bedroom, and he kept glancing down at Tyler’s mouth.

  Tyler licked his lips, and heat pooled in his groin.

  They ate in silence for a bit, more comfortable than Tyler expected, considering the air of sexual tension between them. Then Jack set his knife and fork down and took a sip of his beer. “If you’ve not got any plans this weekend, do you fancy going out for lunch tomorrow or Sunday?”

  An automatic yes was on the tip of Tyler’s tongue, and then he remembered. “I’d love to, but I promised to help my aunt move the rest of her stuff out of storage.”

/>   “Oh, is that the one who wants her garden doing?”

  “Yeah. I’d ask you to come and see it, but my dad’s hired a van for us to get her things, and my mum’ll be at her house too. I’m sure you’re not ready for that much of my family.”

  “I wouldn’t want to get in the way. But if you need any help…?”

  Tyler smiled, warmed by Jack’s offer. “My brother offered to come down, but my dad seems to think we’ll be okay on our own. Thanks, though.”

  Jack took another drink of beer. “Do you have any other siblings?”

  “No, just the one brother, Nick. He lives in Gloucester, so not too far away.”

  “Must be nice having family close by. Do you see a lot of each other?”

  “Not as much as we probably should, but we try to get together at least once a month. Usually for Sunday lunch.” Which reminded him, they were long overdue. “What about you?” He put his knife and fork on his plate, having finished, and pushed it a little to the side. “Any brothers or sisters?”

  “One sister, Katy. She lives in London, but my mum and dad are local.”

  They chatted a bit more, as Tyler waited for Jack to finish. Then they stacked the dishwasher and returned to the sofa in the living room.

  Tyler sat in the middle and frowned when Jack went over to grab the pouffe. “What are you doing?”

  Jack dragged it over, positioned it against the edge of the sofa, then sat down and stretched his legs out on it. “This.”

  With Jack stretched out and comfy-looking, Tyler definitely saw the appeal. “I always wondered why people bothered with them. But… yeah.” He scooched closer to Jack until they were pressed together and then lifted his legs onto the pouffe next to Jack’s. “This okay?”

  In answer, Jack leaned in and gave him a long, lingering kiss. He palmed Tyler’s cheek as he pulled away. “Yes.” He reached for the TV controller and started the film where they’d left off earlier.

  Tyler relaxed back into the deep sofa cushions, content, happy, and smiling.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jack woke to the sound of rain on the windowpane. Blinking away the last traces of sleep, it took him a couple of seconds to get his bearings. Tyler lay next to him, a warm weight against Jack’s side. The TV had gone onto standby. Jack didn’t remember falling asleep, but they obviously did at some point.

  He sat up, careful not to wake Tyler yet, and shuffled to the edge of the sofa before turning to look at him. Tyler had his glasses on still, and the frames sat at a jaunty angle where his head rested against the cushions. Dark hair spilled forward onto his forehead, and a day’s growth of stubble added a little roughness to his otherwise fine features. Jack’s chest tightened. He liked Tyler, a lot more than he’d expected to after only two weeks.

  Was that an age thing? Was his subconscious trying to hurry them along because Jack had reached middle age? More likely it had been so long since he’d had someone to share evenings like this with that when the opportunity presented itself, he’d grabbed it with both hands.

  Whatever. Not something he wanted to analyse at—he checked his watch—two in the morning. He put a hand on Tyler’s shoulder and shook him gently. “Hey, Tyler.”

  “Mmm?” Tyler frowned but didn’t wake up.

  Jack grinned down at him, a wave of fondness filling him up. He shook him again, a little firmer this time. “Come on, let’s go to bed.” Tyler opened one eye, making Jack laugh. “Thought that might wake you up.”

  Tyler smiled lazily back at him and then stretched out his arms with a yawn. “What time is it?”

  “Just gone two.”

  Tyler blinked, then glanced around the room. “Shit, sorry. Didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”

  Jack waved off his apologies. “I don’t remember you falling asleep, so either I went first or we did it at the same time.” He stood, wincing at the crack in his knees, and offered Tyler a hand. “My bed is a lot more comfortable.”

  The look Tyler shot him was a half-hearted attempt at dirty, at least that was what Jack thought he was attempting. But then Tyler yawned again, ruining it, and shook his head with a sigh. “Who am I kidding? We’re going to bed to sleep, right?”

  When Tyler was on his feet, Jack pulled him in for a kiss. “Yes, we’re going to sleep. But I might wake you up early. Any objections?”

  “None. I’m an early riser.” Tyler managed a sexy smirk this time, and there were so many things Jack could say to that if he weren’t fighting to keep his eyes open.

  He stepped back and linked their fingers together. “I’ll hold you to that.” Tyler winked and let Jack lead him down the hall into his bedroom.

  Already dressed for bed, they climbed under the covers. Much to Jack’s surprise, Tyler snuggled up to him and threw an arm over Jack’s stomach. He tucked his nose in the back of Jack’s neck and his warm breath tickled Jack’s skin. With a sigh, Tyler’s whole body relaxed behind him.

  Jack had hardly ever been the little spoon with Simon—not that he’d minded, but it seemed fitting to be this way. Something new.

  Closing his eyes, Jack settled a hand over Tyler’s and let sleep take him.

  He woke to the feel of Tyler still pressed up against him, but Tyler’s cock was now a hard length along the crease of Jack’s arse.

  “Morning.” Jack’s voice was morning rough.

  “Morning.” Tyler, sounding equally gravelly, tightened his arm around Jack’s waist and kissed his shoulder. He rolled his hips a little, eliciting a soft groan from Jack. “Told you I was an early riser.”

  Jack pushed back into him with a smile. “So you did.”

  Without another word, Tyler moved his hand long enough to shove their pyjama bottoms out of the way, and then he took hold of Jack’s cock.

  Jack closed his eyes and relaxed into the feel of Tyler’s capable hands. He toyed with the idea of reaching over to his bedside table to get a condom and lube, but with Tyler’s dick wedged against his arse and his hand firmly stroking Jack from base to tip, he couldn’t be bothered to move.

  Tyler kissed the back of his neck, then moved across to his shoulder. His hand tightened around Jack’s dick and made his breath hitch. “Is this okay? Do you want me to use something?”

  Jack shook his head. “No.” He moaned as Tyler ran a thumb across the head of his cock. “Don’t need anything.” He reached back to grab Tyler’s thigh, gripping it tight. “And yes, it’s fine.”

  Tyler huffed out a laugh. “Let’s see if I can do a bit better than fine.”

  His hand disappeared, leaving Jack thrusting into mid-air for a second until Tyler eased him onto his back. Before Jack had chance to protest the loss of contact, Tyler shimmied down the bed. He glanced up to meet Jack’s gaze and held it as he slowly took him in his mouth.

  “Oh God.” Jack gripped the bed sheet with one hand and let the other fall to the pillow beside his head. The warm, wet heat of Tyler’s mouth sent him spiralling towards the edge, and it was a struggle not to come. He had no hang-ups about stamina, but this was his first blowjob in ages, and he’d like to enjoy it for more than twenty seconds if possible.

  Tyler worked his way back up, his tongue burning a trail along Jack’s shaft. Jack bit his lip and hung on. Another minute of Tyler bobbing up and down and moaning around him and Jack couldn’t hold back any longer.

  He gripped Tyler’s shoulder. “Gonna come.”

  Tyler pulled off and used his hand to wring Jack’s orgasm from him.

  Jack pressed his head back into the pillow and came with a hoarse cry, not realising he still had his fingers dug into Tyler’s shoulder until he opened his eyes again and glanced down. “Sorry.” When he moved his hand, he rubbed at the five red marks he’d left behind and then looked at Tyler.

  Tyler was watching him, his eyes dark and his gaze fixed on Jack’s. “I’m fine.”

  To be the object of such open desire sent a jolt of excitement down Jack’s spine. Jack grinned at him. “Fine? I think we can do bette
r than that.”

  Tyler laughed at his words being used against him, and when Jack beckoned him with a crooked finger, he crawled back up the bed.

  Granted, Jack hadn’t tried this position in years, but as silly as it was with only four years between them, Tyler made him feel young and a little daring. Christ, he and Simon had let things slip in the bedroom. Before his thoughts took a dark turn down memory lane, Jack focused on a naked Tyler and guided him so he straddled Jack’s chest.

  “Like this?” Tyler looked dubious, but he still edged his hips forward with a hand guiding his cock until the tip brushed Jack’s bottom lip.

  “Mm-hmm.” Jack opened his mouth and put his hands on Tyler’s hips to guide him closer still.

  A breathy moan fell from Tyler’s lips as Jack sucked him deeper. “Won’t last long.” Tyler kept his thrusts shallow, despite Jack urging him to go deeper.

  Jack had forgotten what it was like to have this effect on someone. The heady feeling of being the cause of a person falling apart was addictive. He wanted to hear those sounds and see the lost look on Tyler’s face again and again. Two more thrusts and Tyler was pulling out, his hand moving frantically up and down his length. Jack pushed up onto his elbows in time to see Tyler come, striping Jack’s neck, chin, and bottom lip.

  “Fuck.” With a groan, Tyler collapsed onto his back beside Jack. “I think you killed me.”

  Jack licked his lips and wiped his chin on the edge of the quilt. He couldn’t help the smug grin, nor did he care. Who didn’t like hearing that sort of thing? He rolled to the side, propped his head up on one hand, and looked down at Tyler where he lay with his eyes closed and a happy, blissed-out smile on his face. The phrase “a job well done” popped into his head, and he wasn’t quite successful in biting back a burst of laughter.

  Tyler opened one eye, then the other, smile still in place. “I don’t think laughter is an acceptable response to what we just did.” He raised an eyebrow when Jack continued to grin down at him. “Something funny?”