“No.” Besides, the way Oz looked when he shot inside, knowing they were skin to skin, Jax was hungry for it again. “Want that too.”
“All right, then.” Oz’s slick hands grabbed Jax’s hips. “Saddle up.” Oz grinned.
“Gonna let me drive?”
“Maybe for a bit.”
It took some maneuvering, Jax needing to brace a foot against the mattress to get up high enough to start. So hard to go slow like this, even when he controlled the entry. He settled down on the tip, rocking. But the want was so big, so hungry, as soon as his muscle relaxed, he jammed himself all the way down, through the burn of that thick base, until his asscheeks rested on Oz’s thighs.
Oh fuck. I’ll pay for that later. And love every minute of it.
Jax dragged open his eyes to watch Oz’s face. His grin had faded, but he looked pretty damned happy. His eyes were big and soft, like the inside of a flower. Jax couldn’t help clenching his muscles around Oz to see the reaction.
His teeth sank into his lip, and his hands shot out to latch on to Jax’s hips, each fingertip a separate pressure.
Jax worked his muscles again.
“Oh fuck. That’s—oh fuck.”
Jax decided to treat it as a stage direction. He moved, a little grind at first, keeping that thick part of Oz at the tightest part of Jax, where just that tiny movement felt huge and brought overwhelming sensation to his nerves.
His legs recovered enough to let him bounce, friction pouring heat everywhere. Oz helped Jax along with the hands at his hips.
“Thought I was driving.” Jax looked down.
“You drive like my grandpa.” Oz’s smile was back. “Let’s see you work.”
Bracing his hands on Oz’s shoulders, Jax found a rhythm, a way to lift and sink down on Oz’s cock.
Control wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. It was work, even if it was a lot more fun than any of the core training he usually did. In addition to the good scrape of the dick in his ass, when he worked his abs and glutes, it put the best kind of stroke against his gland.
The sensations built, the ramp-up becoming tenser, the arc of dizzy pleasure going longer before it dropped to build again. Oz dragged a hand over Jax’s abs, rested the palm over his pec, where his heartbeat thudded.
Sweat dripped from Oz’s temple, and Jax tasted a drop on his lip, felt the slide of it down his spine. Their breathing was steady pants, a few gasps. Oz’s hips started coming up to meet Jax on his downstroke.
Jax’s eyes had slid shut, then popped open when Oz made a deep, bass grunt.
“Sorry. Gotta drive.” Oz grabbed Jax around the hips and pulled him under him, settling him on his back with Oz’s dick still buried inside. He lifted Jax’s legs high, bending in to give Jax a sweaty kiss. “Jerk yourself for me? Wanna feel you come on my dick.”
Like Jax had a choice when Oz started hammering away. God knew Jax barely needed a few strokes to find himself at the edge when Oz did that rolling flex and grind that lit Jax up inside like a pinball machine. All the double and triple score lights were activated, thank you. They were going for the leaderboard.
Then Oz whispered, “Feels so good, so fucking good inside you, gonna fill you up,” while staring into Jax’s face, and that was absolutely it.
Jizz hit his shoulder, his chin, chest, belly, and still the jolts kept coming like he’d never bottom out. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
Oz’s eyes squeezed shut, and a desperate groan vibrated between them. “Jesus, so fucking tight.”
He kept thrusting, pulled out so Jax could feel it, warm and wet, and then drove back in. Jax shuddered at the sharp sensation, then relaxed to enjoy the rest of the aftershocks.
Oz’s beard prickling under Jax’s ear was the first thing he noticed as the pleasure ebbed, leaving sweet exhaustion and soreness behind.
“Mmm.” Oz’s rumbling purr.
God, I love that sound.
Oz’s lips, soft and warm, soothed the prickle with a kiss. “What time is it?”
Jax really didn’t want to know. He didn’t want anything but this. Oz’s weight on him, come and sweat gluing them together, those deep rumbles in his ear.
“You’re gonna need a shower.”
Jax lifted one corner of his mouth. It was about all he could lift right then. “Lots of room in first class.”
“Hmmm. You’ll still be pretty funky.” Oz grabbed Jax’s wrist and dragged his Rolex close enough for them to both see the dial.
“Shit.” Jax had never spoken with more sincerity. “Maybe you could just roll me into a duffel bag and load me with baggage?”
“From first class to baggage? Think you could survive it?”
Ouch. Did Oz resent Jax having money? Yes, Jax liked being comfortable. But he didn’t notice Oz suffering. His house was a little bigger than Dane’s, and his mortgage with Spencer was for over half a million. Jax remembered the price because he’d thought that was a pretty damned serious commitment for someone who said he didn’t like rules and schedules.
Jax shifted, and Oz slid off to one side, taking a bit of stuck skin with him.
“Ouch.” At least Jax had a reason to say it out loud now.
“Jax, I was kidding.”
Jax nodded, but he rolled to the edge of the bed, only to be brought up short by the unfamiliar sensation of come on his thighs, in his ass.
“Jax?”
He looked over his shoulder.
Oz met his gaze steadily. “Are we okay?”
We. The fact that Oz was asking was more reassuring than anything else he could have said. But as much as Jax was used to teasing from his friends about how he spent his money, it wasn’t that easy to take from Oz. Coupled with the weird, sticky wetness, it left Jax feeling off-balance. Literally, too, he noticed when he pushed to his feet.
“We’re fine. I’m not mad.” He smiled. “Or even frustrated. Just desperately in need of a shower.”
BY THE time Jax was fit to appear in public, there was no way he could take the car back to the rental lot and make it to the gate in time for his flight. After weighing the penalties for changing his plane ticket versus leaving the car in the hotel lot and accepting Oz’s offer of a ride to the gate, Jax was ready to leave the car key and paperwork at the hotel’s front desk when Oz offered to take care of the car for him too.
“It’s not a big deal to pay—”
“It’s not that much of a hassle for me either. I’ll drop you and the rental off and take the shuttle back here.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Jax asked.
Oz took the rental’s key from Jax. “I wouldn’t have offered if I minded.”
Jax put his Nordstrom bag on the backseat. Jax couldn’t remember the last time someone had offered to do him a favor out of the blue. Theo and Dane and Gideon would always be there if Jax needed them, but to offer—yeah, he couldn’t remember.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m just—thank you. It’s—I appreciate it.”
“You’re cute when you stutter. You don’t do it when you’re acting.”
“Someone else writes the lines. I just have to say them.”
“Are they hard to remember?”
“No. Though they can change a lot from one minute to the next. They rewrite a lot. And you only see the finished takes.”
He realized this conversation meant Oz had been watching old episodes, or God, one of those awful things on Syfy. “Shit. What did you watch?”
“As much as I could cram in before I fell asleep the last two nights.”
Cram made Jax’s ass clench, and he shifted on the seat, caught Oz watching him out of the corner of his eye, and they both laughed.
“And yet you still wanted to cram it in me.”
“Yeah.” Oz’s voice lowered. “I really, really did.”
Damn, Jax was going to miss him. “Hey. So—you want to come to Hawaii?”
Oz tapped the brakes hard at the exit of the hotel plaza. “Hawaii? I
thought you were going to Vancouver.”
“I am. I’m shooting next week. I meant the week after. My friend….” Jax considered how to phrase it. He didn’t want to make it sound like he thought guys getting married was stupid. Obviously it wasn’t. He was sure it worked out for some people. He hoped Oz wouldn’t take it personally that Jax had been trying to talk his friend out of it.
“The late-to-lunch and mind-your-own-business friend?” Oz asked.
“Yeah, Theo. The reason I came out here—”
“With nothing but your Nordstrom bag?”
“Well, that had more to do with deciding to stay here until the job came up. Since I had an open invitation.” He rubbed a hand over Oz’s thigh. “See, I came out with nothing but my wallet, phone, and passport. Theo’s one of the guys I told you about, like my family. He’s getting married. But it was really sudden. So my other friends and I were trying to make sure he knows what he’s getting into.” That didn’t sound right either. Maybe the details were more convincing. “It was crazy. He proposed in Times Square.”
“That guy with the flash mob proposal? He’s your friend?”
“That’s Theo.”
They cruised up the ramp to the gates. Jax hoped he’d finish this before they got to the Delta gate. He watched Oz’s grip on the wheel. His ungloved knuckles were sharp against the skin, and Jax didn’t think it was from the traffic.
Oz’s voice was normal, though. “I saw it on the news. You don’t think he should go through with it?”
“Oh, he’s going through with it. All the way to Hawaii.”
Oz’s jaw was tight as he checked the lanes in his mirror before shifting over. “What made you think it was a bad idea?”
“Kieran—his fiancé—is a lot younger, and Theo’s made a lot of—” This conversation was heading into very dangerous territory. Younger and more money could apply to him and Oz or Oz and Joaquín. “Theo’s claimed to be in love four times in the last ten years. I—we—just worry that he gets caught up in the romance and doesn’t always think things through.”
Jax wished Oz would tease him about digging himself a big hole again, but Oz only said, “You think he needs protecting?”
“Yes.”
With Oz as an audience, Jax realized it was pretty ridiculous. Theo was an adult. Either he’d do the prenup Gideon recommended or not. What were the three of them protecting him from? Happiness? Love? Maybe they were the crazy ones, hanging on to their little family too hard and too long. What had Dane called them? Incestuously codependent?
Jax squared his shoulders. They were almost at the gate. “But Theo’s going to do it, and if he says it will make him happy, I’m going to be there for him.”
“In Hawaii?”
“Yes. Some New York talk show is milking it for ratings. The date is March 2. But we’re—I’m—flying out the Sunday before. You could come. The girls too. First class, all the way.”
Oz swung close to the curb in front of the Delta gate. “That invitation is pretty risky for a guy in the closet.”
“We wouldn’t be—I mean—in public, and with the girls there, we’d just be friends.”
Oz turned to look at him, and from the expression on his face, Jax didn’t think he was getting a good-bye kiss.
“Thank you for the invitation.” Oz’s tone was polite and formal. “But the girls have school. I have work. You’ll be with your friends.”
Jax reached over and slid a hand behind Oz’s neck. “Did I—what did I say?”
“I get that things are pretty different in your life and mine. I said I don’t care if you’re out or not, and I meant it. But the girls—they aren’t an accessory to make me or anyone else look straight. And I’m not an accessory to help you get off at night.”
“I didn’t say any of that. I certainly didn’t mean it that way.”
“Okay. I accept that.” Oz pulled Jax’s hand down and kissed his palm before dropping it. “Why don’t we just stick to the plan we had for March. You subletting someplace close, and we’ll see how things go.”
“As long as I don’t have work.”
Oz smiled, but his eyes didn’t crinkle. “Exactly.”
Chapter 20
GETTING OFF the plane in Vancouver at 10:00 p.m. local, 1:00 a.m. Jax’s body time, he plodded automatically toward the baggage claim before he remembered.
His luggage, such as it was, had been left behind in Queens, in the backseat of a rental car, unless the guy Jax was trying to figure out how to be boyfriends with had noticed the bag in time. Said boyfriend who might or might not still be pissed off because Jax had apparently forgotten how to talk to people when he wasn’t saying a scripted line. He did talk to people. To his friends, but that had been going on so long Jax didn’t have to think about it. To his dad. Those conversations were awkward but thankfully brief. And then there were the business conversations, which might as well have been scripted because they all followed the same track.
He was so tired. He had to clear customs, then he could get another car to go to the hotel, but mostly he just wanted to sit at the gate and pretend it was March and he was on his way back to Queens.
He took his phone out of airplane mode, and it exploded with texts. Cliff, two; Dane, one; Theo, one; Oz, four.
He opened those first. The first had been sent an hour after Jax left.
You forgot your bag.
An hour later came That might have been my fault. Rental car taken care of.
About the time Jax figured they’d crossed the Rockies, Oz had sent I know you’re on a plane. I also might sometimes jump to conclusions. Why didn’t I ask you your flight number?
The last message was from half an hour ago. When you land, please call me. No matter how late it is.
Jax sank into one of the gate chairs and pressed Call.
Oz picked up immediately. “So you left me your laundry.”
Jax laughed, but it didn’t make a sound. It still felt good. “I think your daughter might have wiped salt and peanut oil on me.”
“The bag was left unattended, and I’m a conscientious New Yorker, not to mention a borough safety inspector. I had to search it.”
“Uh-huh.” Jax suddenly realized Oz wasn’t talking about the briefs Jax had bought for a laugh. “Oh. I did make a promise. And I got one for Ayla too.”
“Tangled coloring books. And you colored in a Flynn Rider page. My baby is in love with you.”
What about her dad? Any thoughts there?
“I promised I’d color with her. I didn’t know I was going to get called in for the voice work tomorrow.”
Oz’s voice lowered, but it wasn’t full of sex. “So when you say ‘unless I have to work’….”
“I hate making a promise I can’t keep. So I always put that in there. Even when the work is steady, things happen.”
“Thank you. I should have kissed you good-bye.”
Jax didn’t feel as tired anymore. “I’m sure if you look in the bag again, you could find something to help keep me in mind for a couple weeks.”
AS GIDEON and Dane led the way down the path toward the Barefoot Bar on the beach in Maui, Jax hung back next to Theo. On the ride from the airport, Gideon had been full of disdain for the artificial kitsch of a Hawaiian resort, but Jax loved it. It felt like a set without the cameras. Why didn’t he ever go on calls for roles in something that filmed in Hawaii? He could definitely live here. Except it was really far away from Queens.
“So this is it, huh?” Jax glanced over at Theo. “And you’re happy?”
“I will be, if everyone stops asking me that so I can concentrate on making all of this work. You would not believe how fucking complicated it is to get married.”
“Probably more complicated to get divorced.” Jax had been thinking of Oz, but Theo took it personally.
“You too? I thought you were on my side.”
“I am. Theo, if he makes you happy, I’m all for it. He seems like a nice ki—guy.”
?
??He’s an amazing guy.”
It wasn’t that Jax hadn’t been wondering about it, but he was surprised when the next words popped out of his mouth. “How did you know that he was it?”
Theo turned with his brows slanted down.
Jax cut Theo off before he could launch into another defensive rant. “Don’t get huffy thinking I’m bringing up the guys you said you were in—I mean—dated before. I’m just asking.”
“I don’t know if I can explain it if you’ve never felt it. You know the high-on-lust thing?”
Jax nodded.
“That doesn’t fade. It hits you weird times. Like even when he’s doing something like blowing his nose. And the things he does, little things that mean he gets you. Then you realize he’s always part of your plans and your thoughts.” Theo had a distinctly sappy look in his eyes. Or maybe that was the way the torches on the path made him look. If it was acting, it was way overdone.
“Plans. Like marriage and kids?”
Theo stumbled over a shadow. “Kids? Who said anything about kids?”
“I don’t know. I thought most of the time when guys got married—”
“Hell no. I don’t want kids. And neither does Kieran, thank God.” Theo shuddered. “Messy. Demanding. And do you know what it costs? No.”
If someone had asked, Jax probably would have said the same thing about including kids in his life. But that had been before he’d met Oz. And Regan and Ayla. Now Theo sounded a bit selfish.
Gideon and Dane went into the seating area of the bar, but Jax put a hand on Theo’s arm to hold him back. “So why are you doing it? I mean, if he loves you, you love him, why do you need to get married?”
Theo smiled. “You’re asking me why I’d put on a show?”
“Yes. Seriously.”
Theo turned Jax’s grip on his forearm into a reciprocal hold, locking a hand around Jax’s arm. “Besides legal stuff, like making sure we can get into hospitals or whatever, I want to marry Kieran because doing it, saying ‘I love you’ in front of the people we love, means something to us both. Of all people, you should understand how an action makes something feel more real.”