Page 59 of In Too Deep

Jake lifted his head.

And Christ.

That was a sight.

Bleary-eyed and soft with sleep, dark stubble shadowing his jaw, curls flattened disastrously on one side where he’d been buried against Harrison’s chest all night. Harrison couldn’t stop the quiet snort of amusement escaping him.

Jake frowned. “Rude.”

Harrison ruffled Jake’s hair. “You look feral.”

“Feral?”

“It’s…sort of cute, actually.”

“Oh, aye. Thing for the feral, have you?” Jake rolled closer instead of away, dragging himself fully against Harrison until they were face to face beneath the sheets. He slid one hand lazily over Harrison’s hip, then drifted it low over his arse with complete absent-minded confidence.

It was ridiculous, considering everything they’d done the night before, that Harrison could still feel vaguely bashful about this. He’d been on his knees between Jake’s thighs. Had felt him trembling apart while he had him in his mouth. Yet somehow this easy, unconscious intimacy felt infinitely more dangerous. Morning breath. Tangled sheets. Jake’s hand resting on his arse as though it belonged there.

Nothing remarkable.

That was the problem.

Because Harrison knew this.

Waking beside someone. Warmth and weight and another body automatically seeking his before either of them were properly conscious.

It was too close to what he used to have.

Too close to home.

“How long you been awake?” Jake tucked in closer, his breath carrying the distinct reality of morning.

Harrison almost smiled at it.

God, he hadn’t missed that until right then.

“A while.”

“Do you ever sleep?”

“I slept alright at yours.”

Jake barked a sleepy laugh. “My mouldy little bedsit relaxes you, does it? You’ve got this idyllic cottage in the nicest bit of Hartswick and you’d rather sleep above an off license with springs poking through the mattress.”

Harrison brushed his nose against Jake’s. “Maybe it’s something else.”

Jake pulled back, searching his face. “Is it me being here? In your place?”

“No.” Harrison hooked an arm around his waist and pulled him back in. “No. Not at all.”

Jake buried his face into Harrison’s neck with a pleased little sound melting Harrison on the spot. “When d’you have to be in?”

Harrison glanced at the clock. “Soon.”

“Very precise.”

“Precise isn’t really a thing when in the middle of a major investigation.”