Page 23 of On Fire

Chapter Six

Dave Keller

The bathroom door opens and Nic comes out with a dark brown towel wrapped around his waist. I’ve only ever seen him with a suit on. His stomach is flat, his sixpack well defined, his chest filled out with dark hair that swirls lightly across his pecs, over nipples, then converges to a narrow, tidy trail that leads to somewhere south of the towel.

“Are you going to take off your clothes?” he asks, hands on hips.

I’m confused. “I did.”

“I think that’s a T-shirt and those are boxers.” An index finger points definitively to each.

I pause. I’ve not been naked in front of a man in years.

“If it makes you feel better, get in under the sheets.”

With relief, I slide in and then pull off both pieces of clothing, flinging them to the floor. He walks over, deftly picks them up, folds them and sets them on my dresser.

“Neat freak?” I ask trying to ease my own nerves.

He cocks his head to one side. “Military.” Then, his face unreadable, he adds “And maybe buying time.”

He lifts the sheet appraising me for a moment. His gaze runs the length of my body and then returns to my face, my eyes.

“You are magnificent, Keller,” he says, dropping a packaged condom on the nightstand before slipping in next to me.

“Oh, I’m not really,” I say, realizing I’m now clutching the sheet, wadding it beneath my chin. “This is hard for me. I’m not good at this. I’m afraid I will fuck it up, and not in a good way.”

“This is good, you’re fine, Keller. Stop worrying.”

“Really?”

“Really.” He sighs and stares at the ceiling, the light from the hall illuminating enough for me to see his face. He looks young and content. He closes his eyes and touches my cheek. “I’m just glad to be here with you.”

Glad to be here with you.

No one has ever said that to me.

That’s all it takes—his calm demeanor is enough to get me to centered, back to myself again.

Rising on one elbow, he watches me expectantly as I lean over to kiss him. Our lips meet, gently, there’s a flicker of his tongue, and I instantly grow hard again. A sigh escapes him when I pull away. I lay a hand on his chest and spread my fingers. His heart is strong, beating hard and fast. He is as excited as I am.

But he’s a lot more confident.

“I’m going to let you control this,” he says.

“I’ll need some directions—like I said, it’s been a long time and—”

“Don’t worry. I’m good at giving orders.” His eyes close, and I wonder if tonight is an escape from something else, but at this point I don’t care.

My dick is going to explode.

I roll him to my side to get him comfortable. I used to think I was good at this, but now I don’t know. I don’t know everything everyone’s doing nowadays and he’s a city boy.

Uncapping the tube of lube, I stretch him open while spooning him, feeling him shudder against me every time I thrust my finger deeper. At one point, I realize I might be talking too much, because he gasps, “Oh God, Keller, you have quite the touch,” which is not in response to anything I’ve said.

“Is that a good thing?”

“Oh yeah.”