Jacob woke slowly, sifting through the floating layers of his dreams for the cause. Hot. He was too hot. Sweat rolled along his neck, pooling in the hollow of his throat and then spilling over the curve of his shoulder toward his bare back. His legs shifted and kicked out in his search to toss off the cause of his discomfort.
The body above Jacob covered him, warm and heavy like a comforter without the down. The muscular weight pressed him deeper into the firm mattress even as Alan’s familiar cologne surrounded his senses.
One lean thigh slid between his, the brush of short and soft hair instantly arousing. Despite his closed eyes, Jacob smiled his appreciation at his lover’s aggressive touch as Alan’s hand tightened with remembered strength on his cock.
“Wakey, wakey.” Alan’s singsong voice was in his ear, a whisper of hot breath against his neck; Jacob’s morning suddenly sparkled with possibilities. Oh yeah. Jacob grunted and let his legs fall open on the crisp sheets.
Alan began humming his favorite pop song. Jacob’s smile widened at the vibration and the tickle of the resonating buzz. Alan kissed his way slowly across Jacob’s chest and down his stomach, all the while his hand stroked Jacob with a languid and rhythmic motion.
Jacob’s belly tightened with approval at Alan’s coordination. Goose bumps raised the fine hair on his skin as his nerves tingled. Alan’s lips paused in their deliberate purposeful path long enough for him to wiggle his tongue playfully into Jacob’s belly button.
“Is this for me?” Alan gave Jacob’s cock a gentle, questioning shake. Jacob was already hard. He had been dozing, drifting and dreaming about the welcoming heat of Alan’s mouth. Now that Jacob could anticipate the reality, his morning wood hardened into pure steel.
Jacob didn’t have to open his gray eyes to see Alan poised above him. Long hours spent memorizing his lover’s face let him picture the familiar lines in his sleep or any other time he pulled it to the front of his mind’s eye. Jacob’s camera loved the sharp angles of Alan’s cheekbones, the strong line of his jaw. And what his camera loved, Jacob loved.
Repetition had its merits. Early on Jacob had learned the way the overly long strands of blond hair fell and covered Alan’s forehead, shielding his soft green eyes. The way Alan’s full mouth curved, sensuous and wanting. The way he treated Jacob’s body as his private playground. Each moment shared a starring role in Jacob’s fantasies.
Temptation beckoned, urging Jacob to reach out to Alan in return, but Jacob raised his arms up and over until he pillowed them under his head. Alan would be getting to his favorite part soon enough, and he loved nothing more than to drag the moment out even longer when Jacob interrupted. All Jacob had to do was show a little patience, and he would be rewarded.
“Do you have any idea what a smug bastard you look like when you do that?” Alan’s voice muffled against Jacob’s hipbone as he teased his lips along the defined muscles. Jacob’s cock twitched again, bobbing with eager expectation. Not long now, Jacob hoped.
“Tell me,” Jacob demanded in a rough undertone. He could hear the steady drone of the refrigerator from the kitchen and smell the fabric softener on the cotton sheet beneath him. Jacob struggled to center his thoughts on these little details. Anything to keep himself in check. He was hungry for Alan and craved a less mischievous caress. He lacked the patience to play their usual game.
“Such.” Alan’s tongue licked along the side of Jacob’s cock, and Jacob couldn’t help the instinctive movement of his hips at the moist caress. “A.” This time Alan’s tongue veered frustratingly close to the drops of clear liquid at the swollen tip. Appreciating the value of torture, Alan traced the outline against Jacob’s stomach with one gentle finger. “Smug.”
Jacob groaned, his voice thick with desire and anticipation. “Bastard.”
Right then Alan’s mouth closed down over Jacob’s cock. Hot and wet, the closest thing to perfection Jacob had ever known. God. He loved the way Alan sucked his cock.
“Love you.” Jacob couldn’t help but groan again. He started babbling, words spilling out of his mouth in no particular order, but then he usually did when Alan worked him like this. “I love your mouth. You can do things with that mouth I never imagined.”
Jacob shifted, his back arching as he tried to lift himself higher into the hot suction of Alan’s saliva-slicked lips. “Suck me,” Jacob pleaded as want took him past pride without a second glance.
Alan grunted and forced Jacob back down onto the bed. His ragged breath Jacob’s only clue, Alan echoed the effect he had on his lover. Jacob trembled as Alan’s fingers dug into his hip, and his thighs tightened. Close. So goddamn close.
The phone rang, a shrill, unwelcome interruption to the moment. Jacob blinked as his head turned to discover the origin of the insistent noise. Denial swiftly followed awareness. He didn’t want to leave his reverie. Jacob hated to wake alone in his empty bed with Alan nothing more than a fading memory in his dream of a dream.
But the persistent ring refused to give up. Accepting the inevitable Jacob reached out to his nightstand and picked up his cell phone. “Wynn,” he grunted. His dark head fell back against the pillow, one arm flung over his eyes to keep reality at bay for a little longer.
“’Bout time you answered.”
Jacob recognized the caller. Harry Osborn might be his closest friend, but their relationship didn’t help as emptiness and loss filled his gut. The last remnants of Alan slipped away. “What do you want, Harry?” His voice echoed the tiredness within.
“Is that any way to talk to me?” Harry sounded too damn cheerful for Jacob’s sour mood. “Here I am calling with the opportunity of a lifetime.”
“What do you want, Harry?” Jacob repeated. Better to get this over with. Harry wouldn’t leave him in peace until Jacob heard him out.
“I’m hoping you’ll take a job for me. It looks like the grandbaby is finally going to make an appearance this weekend.” Harry kept talking, his words falling into the space left by Jacob’s stunned silence. “Come on, Jacob. You know Anna will have my head if I miss this one.”
“Hell, Harry.” Jacob rolled over onto his side, the better to ignore his stiff leg. Too bad he couldn’t do anything to stop the memories that flooded back along with full consciousness. “You don’t want me, any hack would do.”
“I don’t need any hack,” Harry protested. “I need Jacob Wynn. This is an important client.” His voice lowered in an effort to be cajoling. “You know I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t have to.”
Jacob stared at the blank, white wall before him and tried to concentrate on a likeness of Alan’s face once again. Anything other than Harry’s pushing. “I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry.”
“It’ll be like riding a bike, Jacob.” Smelling weakness, Harry played his trump card. “You owe me.”
“Just blackmail me, why don’t you?” Jacob said. He mentally acknowledged the truth of Harry’s claim. Jacob did owe him. He could never repay Harry and Anna for their unquestioning support during the long months of rehab following the accident.
“Whatever it takes.” Harry managed to sound gracious in his victory. “But it’ll do you good to hold a camera again.”
“I’ve held the damn things,” Jacob replied bitterly. “I’ve just not been able to do anything else with them.”
“No time like the present. Remember, any hack can do this.” Jacob flinched as Harry tossed his own words back at him. They held a bitter tang, the same as the stale and sweat-stained sheets beneath him. Jacob longed for the freshness of his dreams.
“With you as my friend, I don’t need any enemies.” Jacob sounded harsh, but he didn’t want to cave too easy. Deep down Jacob knew Harry was right. He had hidden long enough; the time had come to put the past behind him.
Like always, Harry understood and didn’t take offense. “I’ll have Ray give you a call later and send over my notes. Remember, it’s my reputation on the line here, not yours.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Jacob rubbed at his forehead. Did Harry think knowing that would make him feel better? How had he let himself be talked into this? “Good luck with the family, and be sure you tell Anna hello for me.”
“You know it. The Osborn dynasty continues.” Jacob couldn’t miss the pride in Harry’s voice, and he briefly let himself feel the sting of his own loneliness. But he had made this mess, Jacob thought as he placed the cell phone back down on the nightstand and settled back in his empty apartment. Now he just had to live with it.
