Page 9 of Beyond the Rainbow (Pride Camp 2025 #11)
Joshua forced himself to blink, struggling to find words that didn’t sound like: ‘Take me to bed and fuck me senseless’.
“You want the truth?”
“Always.” Colin set the mug on the desk and moved his chair closer to Joshua’s. His large hands wrapped around Joshua’s wrists, pulling him nearer. “Look at me,” he rasped, his voice low, demanding, and incredibly sexy.
“That’s what got me into trouble in the first place. Looking at you.”
One of Colin’s hands shot forward and caught Joshua’s T-shirt in an iron grip, jerking him forward into a kiss that sucked the air from his lungs and inflated the heat in his chest into an inferno of wild desire.
He whimpered as Colin’s tongue caressed his own, claiming his mouth, claiming every part of him.
He ached to feel Colin’s strength envelop him.
To feel those strong arms around him, possessing him, owning him.
“Colin,” he moaned. “I need you. Need to feel you close to me. I need you.” He felt suddenly hollow, incomplete, empty.
His encounter with the boy had torn open old wounds, leaving him raw and exposed.
His need for Colin was not a physical yearning—it had become something more, something deeper, something hidden in his soul.
Colin pulled back just enough to search Joshua’s face. His honeyed-green eyes were filled with understanding and love. His grip on Joshua’s T-shirt loosened, and his fingers spread across his chest in a soothing touch.
“I’ve got you, bud,” he murmured, his voice husky but gentle. “I’m right here. You’re safe.”
Joshua shuddered, shaking all over. He pressed closer, seeking the comfort of Colin’s warmth, the solid presence that grounded him when the harshness of his past threatened to overwhelm him.
Colin cupped Joshua’s jaw, brushing his thumb over Joshua’s cheekbone, his touch reverent.
“Come here.” His voice was a command wrapped in tenderness, and Joshua obeyed without hesitation.
Colin drew him onto his lap, and Joshua clutched him close, feeling his soul-deep emptiness being healed, being filled with the steady, unshakable love that had never failed him.
Colin’s arms locked around him, letting him feel his strength, his resolve. For a long time, they sat together, wrapped in each other’s warmth. “Tighter …” Joshua whispered, his voice a rasping plea. “Hold me tighter .”
Colin knew this wasn’t an appeal for sexual union.
His expression darkened as his strong arms constricted around his husband, rocking him, clutching him almost painfully close.
“I know, baby. I know. We’re home. We’re together.
Nothing’s going to hurt you.” His fingers mapped the familiar curve of Joshua’s back as he repeated his murmured assurance. “I’ve got you, my love.”
He felt Joshua’s shaking ease as his body slowly relaxed. His shuddering breaths turned to soft sighs as he nestled against Colin’s body. “Sorry about that,” he whispered at last.
“Why are you sorry?”
Joshua let out a shaky breath, his fingers curling into Colin’s shirt. “I just… I hate falling apart like that. I should be able to handle it.”
Colin’s grip on him tightened, his voice firm but gentle. “You are strong, Josh. Strength isn’t about pretending you don’t feel things. It’s about facing those feelings. You’re the one who showed me how to live through it, not hide from it.”
Joshua swallowed hard, pressing his face into Colin’s shoulder. “I just—” His voice cracked, and he shook his head. “That kid … what he’s been through. It hit too close to home.”
Colin’s hand slid up to cradle the back of Joshua’s head.
“I know. And you should know you don’t have to carry that burden alone.
” He hesitated for a moment, and Joshua felt his muscles bunch and his arms tighten.
“We need to take this to another level,” he whispered against Joshua’s ear.
Then Colin rose, lifting Joshua in his arms, and strode toward their bedroom.
Joshua’s breath caught. The strength in Colin’s arms—effortless, unshakable—held him as if holding him were the most natural thing in the world.
But it wasn’t. No one had ever carried him before.
Not as a child, not in moments of exhaustion or comfort, not in play or affection.
His body tensed on instinct, his mind grasping for some frame of reference, but there was none.
Colin had lifted him into his arms, as if the weight of him had never been in question.
As if lifting Joshua into his arms was the most natural thing in the world.
A slow, trembling breath left his lips as he curled his arms tighter around Colin’s neck.
It was new. Unfamiliar. And yet, wrapped in Colin’s strength, it felt like the safest place he’d ever been.
Colin’s warmth surrounded him, the unyielding power that had always been his refuge—but in a way he’d never known before.
Joshua felt something in his chest crack open, a vulnerability he hadn’t expected but couldn’t deny.
He pressed his forehead against Colin’s neck, breathing him in. I don’t have to hold myself up all the time, he realized, his grip tightening. Not when he’s here.
“You’ve never done this before,” Joshua whispered, his arms tight around Colin’s neck, his voice shaking with something close to awe.
“Done what ?” Colin asked as he lowered Joshua to their bed.
“Carried me.”
Colin shrugged and began to strip off his clothes. “Actually, I have. You just don’t remember.” He gestured to Joshua. “Get undressed, pretty boy.”
Joshua climbed out of bed and began to remove his clothing. “You have ?”
Colin nodded and tossed his jeans onto a chair. “Carried you to the gurney the night Page attacked you.” He glanced up at Joshua and smiled. “Carried you into David’s cabin once when you fell asleep on the glider.”
“I don’t remember ...” Joshua whispered, his voice trailing off. “I wish I did.”
Colin fell onto the bed and scooted to its center. “You were pretty badly injured at the time.”
Joshua gazed at Colin, who was now lying naked on their bed, then he leaned down, smiling, and kissed him—then kissed him again. “In any case, thank you,” he whispered, then turned and moved toward their bathroom. “Be right back.”
By the time he returned, Colin had thrown back the covers, and Joshua slid into bed beside him, snuggling himself against Colin’s skin. “I know what you were doing,” Colin singsonged, flashing his dimples.
“I bet you do ,” Joshua murmured against his cheek.
He exhaled slowly, absorbing Colin’s warmth, his presence, and for a long breath, he was silent.
Head bowed. His cheek slid across Colin’s bare chest and rested against his pectoral.
His eyes slowly closed. He didn’t have to see.
He only had to feel. His fingertips slid up the long, firm length of Colin’s ribcage, feeling bunching muscle, bone, warmth, sinew—the strength and fire of a lion.
And all of it his: his to love, his to yearn for, his to cherish. And his to claim.
A slow exhale slipped from his lips, warm against Colin’s skin.
His hand flattened over Colin’s heartbeat, feeling the steady rhythm beneath his palm—a pulse that had become the anchor of his world.
His. Always his. The weight of the night, of words unspoken, of emotions too vast to shape into sound, hung between them. Not heavy. Comforting.
Joshua tilted his head, brushing his lips over Colin’s chest, just above his heart, as if sealing a silent promise. No matter the storms, the distance, the battles fought within and without, this was his safe haven. This was home.
“Now you’re just being a tease,” Colin’s voice rumbled from above him, his fingers sliding up and down Joshua’s spine, sending a cascade of gooseflesh over his body.
He lifted himself, sliding onto Colin’s naked body in one long, smooth, rhythmic motion.
Like a wave rising from the ocean, taking that power unto itself, Joshua’s body claimed what he longed for most. His open mouth covered Colin’s, no time for nuance or tenderness.
His kiss was hungry, urgent—and Colin’s arms closed around him like they’d never let go.
“Want you!” Joshua rasped out, his fingers fisting in Colin’s thick, sandy waves. “Want you now !”
Colin felt what Joshua asked of him, and in one quick motion, he spun them in bed.
His grip was tight, almost savage as his hand slammed down on the bedside table, grasping for the lubricant, his fingers trembling slightly with anticipation.
He spread Joshua's legs apart, pushing them further into the mattress, making him gasp at the sudden shift in power.
Colin's eyes never left Joshua's as he reached down, his slick fingers gliding over Joshua's entrance, preparing him for what was to come.
Joshua's heart pounded in his chest, every beat a reminder of how much he wanted this.
He whimpered as Colin entered his body and began to move within him, each stroke sending shivers down his spine, a mix of pleasure and pain that had him yearning for more.
He clutched at Colin, needing the connection, the strength that flowed from him like a river.
“Oh god, Colin, yes . This! This !”
“Jesus, you’re so beautiful,” Colin rasped. “I want to be inside you, Josh—deep enough you feel me everywhere.”
Joshua moaned, his body arching involuntarily.
Colin's words sent an electric current shuddering through him, making him groan with anticipation.
He knew the kind of passion that lived within his husband.
He knew Colin always held back, refusing to release the animal inside, fearful of where that wild spirit might take him.
But tonight, the passionate glint in his eyes, the rough edge in the way he touched him told Joshua how close to the surface that wild spirit truly lived, and Joshua's heart skipped a beat.
“Don’t,” Joshua rasped, clinging tighter. “Don’t hold back.”
Colin’s breath caught. “Baby, I?—”
“Goddammit, Colin. Take me. I want to feel it.”
Colin’s grip on Joshua’s hips tightened. With a low, feral growl, he surrendered to the darkness within, embracing the wild passion that had threatened to consume him. Burning him alive.
Their bodies moved in a wild, urgent rhythm—raw, relentless, and perfectly in sync.
Each thrust was filled with raw power. Hard.
Pounding. Each touch seared with a fire that threatened to engulf them both.
Joshua's cries of ecstasy echoed through the room, mingling with Colin's ragged breaths as they succumbed to the rapture of their shared need.
As they panted and clung to each other, sweat-slicked bodies entwined, Joshua whispered hoarsely in Colin's ear, “Colin, Colin, my beloved.”
“ Jesus !” Colin moaned. “Jesus Christ, Josh!” He gasped again and again, struggling to pull in enough air, his body still trembling from the force of what had just happened.
His arms shook as he lifted himself onto one elbow, his gaze wild, searching Joshua’s face.
“Are you all right? My god, Josh, did I hurt you?”
Joshua’s hands found Colin’s face, fingers sliding through the damp strands of his hair, gripping him, holding him steady.
His chest rose and fell with deep, uneven breaths, his skin still flushed, his body thrumming.
His eyes—warm, sure, and full of something deeper than satisfaction—held Colin steady, grounding him in the moment.
“You did not hurt me,” Joshua whispered fiercely.
“You gave me exactly what I wanted—what I needed .” His fingers traced Colin’s jaw, his touch both tender and possessive.
“I wanted you to take me just like that. I needed to feel you— all of you.” He swallowed hard, his voice softer now, but no less certain.
“I needed to lose myself in you, Colin. And I did.”
Colin exhaled sharply, his forehead pressing against Joshua’s. “I was rough,” he admitted, his voice thick with emotion. “I know you’ve got nail marks. I don’t ever want to?—”
Joshua silenced him with a slow, deep kiss, his lips seeming to absorb the fear from Colin’s breath. “You weren’t rough. You were passionate,” he corrected when they parted, his fingertips stroking down Colin’s spine. “And I have never felt safer. Never felt more yours.”
Colin let out a long, unsteady breath, his body finally beginning to relax against Joshua’s. Colin’s arms wrapped around him, pulling him close, as if grounding himself in the reality of Joshua’s words.
“I love you,” Colin murmured, voice raw. “So damn much.”
Joshua smiled, pressing a kiss to Colin’s cheek, then his temple, then the damp, flushed skin over his racing heart. “I know,” he breathed. “And I love you.”
The world outside faded, leaving only the warmth between them, the quiet hum of breath and heartbeat, and the fire they never tried to tame—and never would.