Page 49 of After the Siren

Jake looked at Theo. He was also in favour of bedtime.

‘I got us an Airbnb,’ Theo said. ‘It’s a ten-minute walk.’

Jake felt a grin spread over his face. ‘You did, huh?’

‘I did.’

Theo looked pretty pleased with himself. Jake was pretty pleased with him too.

Jake stepped a little closer. Not so close that it would be obvious , but close enough that he could look up at Theo through his lashes and see the way it made Theo’s eyes darken. ‘Why? You planning to be loud?’

Theo brushed his fingers over the inside of Jake’s wrist, the barest touch. ‘ I’m not the one who’s loud.’

‘Yeah, you hold back. Weak.’

‘Because you have housemates .’

‘You wanna know how many people I’ve heard Paddy fuck?’

‘Absolutely not.’

‘We’re gonna go,’ Jake announced to the group, over their spirited discussion about nearby pubs. ‘It’s been great, thanks.’

He got some more ‘happy birthdays’ and about twenty per cent less ribbing than he’d expected. He wanted to reach out and take Theo’s hand. Maybe he’d be able to one day.

‘Come on,’ he said. ‘I wanna see how loud you get.’

‘I’m going to jump in the shower, can you keep yourself amused?’ Theo asked.

Jake had learned early that Theo was not a showering together person. He said he liked to be able to think in the shower, and Jake supposed he could understand that. Although these days when he was in the shower he mainly just thought about Theo.

The Airbnb was nice. It was a loft in a warehouse conversion, all exposed brick and heavy beams, but it had been furnished in a way that made it feel cosy: heavy Turkish rugs on the floor, a forest of houseplants, a king-sized bed covered in pillows and the types of blankets that even Jake could tell were expensive.

There was also a bottle of champagne on ice on the kitchen counter, and some chocolate-coated strawberries.

Jake had never fed anyone a chocolate-coated strawberry, but he was keen to give it a go.

He tested one while Theo was out of the room and they were tasty .

There were two bathrobes on the bed, so Jake stripped and put one on.

It felt like wearing clouds. He put on a playlist using the apartment’s speaker and decided to assess how sturdy the bed was.

Theo came out of the shower ten minutes later looking .

.. nervous? He towelled off and wrapped himself in the other bathrobe.

Jake had expelled a number of throw pillows from the bed, but the doona was very snuggly and the blankets were cosy.

Theo was looking at him in his nest, not quite smiling, and something turned over under Jake’s ribs.

‘It’s been a really great night,’ Jake said. ‘Thank you.’

Theo crossed the room and leaned over the bed to find Jake’s mouth with his own. ‘I haven’t even given you a present yet,’ he said when he broke the kiss.

Jake wriggled back and propped himself up on the pillows. ‘Oh yeah? You gonna?’

‘Guess you’ll find out.’

Jake pulled Theo in for another kiss, then all the way down onto the bed, Theo’s thigh settling between Jake’s legs.

Theo slid his hands under Jake’s unfastened robe and Jake sighed, let himself be touched, ran his own hands over Theo’s familiar body.

It felt different, somehow. They were alone plenty, but it was always in Jake’s room.

It never felt really private. Not like this.

The kiss started slow and sweet, stayed slow but turned filthy, Theo’s tongue in Jake’s mouth, his hands on Jake’s sides.

Jake was trying to touch all of Theo at once, needing to be closer.

He wrapped one leg around Theo’s hips, arching up so their dicks brushed together.

They both groaned. Theo had two hands buried in Jake’s hair, his mouth hot on Jake’s neck, then his jaw, then his mouth again.

Theo broke the kiss after what might have been hours, panting, and Jake reached up to trace a thumb over Theo’s mouth. Theo was looking down at him, eyes dark, mouth determined. ‘I want you to fuck me,’ he said. ‘If you want to.’

Jake closed his eyes for a second. ‘Are you giving me your ass for my birthday?’ he asked, instead of saying other, dumber things. Like I think I might be in love with you.

That made Theo laugh. ‘It’s more of a loan.’

Jake pouted. ‘It’s rude to take back a gift.

’ He ran his hands down Theo’s back, then over his ass, and Theo shifted, restless, pushing closer.

‘Are you ... it’s not ...’ Jake tried to find the right way to say it.

‘I wanna do this, but not if you’re only suggesting it for my sake.

I don’t want it to be, like, a sacrifice. ’

Theo stroked a hand down Jake’s chest, teased his thumb over one of Jake’s nipples, then the other. Jake inhaled.

‘It’s not because of that,’ Theo said. He bent his head to follow his thumb with his mouth, then looked up at Jake, and, eyelashes .

‘I want to try it. I don’t know if I’ll like it, but I want to try it.

I’ve been thinking about it. It’s just at your place it felt a bit complicated with the, uh, prep and stuff. Do you want to try it?’

It wasn’t like Jake was going to run screaming from a bit of mess, but now wasn’t the time to bring that up. ‘Hell yeah,’ he said, wriggling out of his robe. ‘Get naked. Come here.’

‘You’re such a romantic.’ Theo shrugged out of his robe and tossed it onto the bed. Jake let himself just look for a moment. Theo was fucking hot all the time, but there was something about him here and now, smiling in a way that made Jake feel stupid and soft.

‘I’ll fucking romance you alright,’ Jake said. ‘See if I don’t.’

They kissed for a while, slow and hot, Theo’s dick hard against Jake’s thigh.

‘Roll over,’ Jake said, finally. Theo shifted onto his stomach and Jake brushed his fingers over the nape of Theo’s neck, then put his mouth on the same spot.

Theo sighed. He wasn’t bossy in bed, but he liked to let Jake know who was in charge.

Now he lay still, turning his head to smile over his shoulder at Jake.

Jake let himself take all the time he wanted, stroking his fingers over the muscles of Theo’s back, the dip of his spine, the slight curve of his waist. He wasn’t usually patient, but it felt as though time had gone sticky around him, as though there was nothing in the world but Theo’s warm skin under the pads of his fingers, Theo’s breathing, the way Theo started to shift under his hands, needy but too stubborn to say anything.

Jake pressed a kiss to the base of Theo’s spine and Theo shivered under him.

‘Your ass is mine tonight, right?’ he asked, sliding his palms over the ass in question. It was a really good ass. Jake had been thinking about that ass in some pretty specific ways for a while.

‘Mm,’ Theo murmured. He sounded a bit dazed.

Jake traced a finger down Theo’s spine just to watch him shudder. ‘Does that mean I can lick it?’

Theo stilled for a second, then exhaled a laugh. ‘I think the saying is: if I lick it, it’s mine.’

‘Yeah, whatever, but can I?’

Theo wriggled a little. ‘You want to ...’ He hesitated.

Jake did want to. He really wanted to. ‘Eat you out? Fuck yeah. But only if you’re into it.’

Theo looked back over his shoulder again and Jake shifted to lie next to him, stroking one hand down Theo’s back. Theo’s expression was some combination of turned on and apprehensive. ‘I’ve never ... I don’t know if I’d be into it. Would you be into it?’

‘Duh.’

‘I’m just worried you’ll think it’s gross?’

‘Hands are gross, and you shove your fingers in my mouth all the time,’ Jake pointed out.

‘Well, maybe not anymore,’ Theo said, wincing.

Jake grabbed his hand and pressed a kiss to his palm. ‘I like it. Also, you literally just showered,’ Jake said. ‘Pretty sure my mouthguard is way dirtier by half-time. But it’s all good if you don’t want to.’ He stroked a hand over the curve of Theo’s ass again and Theo shivered.

‘I’d like to try.’

‘You sure?’

Theo exhaled. ‘Yeah,’ he said, and Jake felt like his heart was going to pound out of his chest. He actually hadn’t done this very often.

Kyle hadn’t liked it, and it wasn’t something he was necessarily going to chuck on the table with some random.

He didn’t find it gross, but that didn’t mean he was going to put his mouth on every asshole going around.

He kissed his way down Theo’s spine – started at the nape of his neck and explored every inch of his back, so much warm skin and glorious muscle – until Theo was shifting under him, his hands twisted in the sheets.

Then he spent some time kissing around the crease of Theo’s ass, feeling the way it made Theo tense and relax all at once.

‘Hand and knees, baby,’ he said, because it would be easier that way. ‘Or elbows and knees.’

Theo went easily, propping himself up, his head bowed. But Jake knew this wasn’t easy for him. He stroked his hands over Theo’s ribs and said, ‘Yeah, that’s right.’

He felt Theo sigh under his palms. He kissed the hollow at the base of Theo’s spine again, moved down, then just let Theo feel his breath against that sensitive skin.

It felt intimate in a way Jake hadn’t expected.

In a way that it hadn’t when he’d done this before.

Knowing that Theo trusted him, knowing that Theo wasn’t sure about this but was letting him try.

He lifted his head. ‘You’re so fucking hot,’ he said, then got back to it.

He just used his lips at first, until Theo relaxed under him. Theo jumped a little at the first touch of his tongue and Jake pulled back. ‘We good?’

‘Yeah,’ Theo said, shifting a little. ‘Yeah, it feels ... it’s good. I’ll tell you if I want to stop.’