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This wasn’t what Jack had planned. To be halfway to fucking Zeph against the wall.

He’d just wanted to see him as he had on previous visits to Cambridge.

Not that Zeph had seen him. Jack had secretly watched him for a while, then walked away again.

But the last job he’d done had almost resulted in his death and he’d promised himself that if he survived, he’d actually talk to Zeph.

Now he was in his arms, moulded against him, bare chest to bare chest, and Zeph felt so warm and soft—most of him—and he smelled familiar.

And yes, Jack was being a selfish bastard pushing him into this, but he couldn’t help it.

He needed Zeph to stop him, to slow him down, except Zeph was writhing against him, angling his hips to get more pressure on their dicks and moaning in a way that overwhelmed Jack’s resolution.

His hands somehow found their way into the back of Zeph’s trousers, his palms slipping inside underwear to fondle his arse. Firm and smooth and… oh fuck. Zeph was groaning into his mouth, muttering words Jack could only partly make sense of. But yes was in there. A lot of yeses .

It might not be what Jack had planned but it wasn’t difficult to give in to temptation.

He brought his hands out of Zeph’s trousers so he could unfasten them.

A moment later, they were around his ankles along with his shorts, and Zeph stepped free.

Jack liked that Zeph didn’t try to cover himself.

Not that he needed to. But this was the first time Jack had seen him completely naked.

Zeph was narrow waisted with slim hips, but more muscled than when Jack last saw him.

Jack was mesmerised. There was a pale scar on his leg and he wondered where that had come from, but he was still gorgeous.

His body was gracefully lean, a dark treasure trail leading to his cock, which jutted up from a neatly trimmed patch of dark hair, his balls drawn up tight beneath.

“If you keep looking at me like that, I can’t be held responsible for my dick’s reaction,” Zeph whispered.

Jack peeled off his own clothes, took Zeph’s hand and tugged him over to the bed.

They lay down on their sides facing each other.

Jack ran his hand from Zeph’s shoulder, down the side of his body, into the dip of his waist, along the curve of his hip and over his thigh.

He still could hardly believe he was doing this, touching him.

Then Zeph put his hand on him, doing the same as he’d just done, and Jack felt it as a molten wave sweeping over and through his body.

“I’m not going to last,” Zeph told him.

“You think I will?”

Zeph leaned forward to press his lips to Jack’s and their cocks kissed too, slick heads brushing together, and they gasped into each other’s mouth.

Kissing him was like falling into a warm sea, being caught in a rainstorm, feeling snow settle on his face.

Everything that Jack loved. When they parted, Zeph’s breathing was ragged, the unsteady tremor of his exhalations making Jack’s heart thump.

“More,” Zeph pleaded, his eyes heavy-lidded with lust. “Please.”

Jack pulled Zeph in so their cocks pressed together and Zeph bit his lip.

Jack spat into his palm, enveloped both their lengths in his hand and they groaned at the same time.

It was all he could do not to come before he took another breath.

When did I last take one? The feel of his cock against Zeph’s, the heat of it, the way they were both leaking precome…

It all blew his mind. As he began to drag his fist up and down, Zeph arched his back, clenched his fingers on Jack’s hip bone and thrust into his grip.

“Yes!” Zeph gasped.

When he felt Zeph’s fingers slide from his hip into the seam of his arse, Jack tensed, then bucked against him.

They were both damp with sweat, bodies meshed together in every way they could manage.

Jack kept jacking them off while their lips stayed fused.

His hand was wet now, their dicks slipping in his fingers.

Jack had to keep going, climbing the mountain, surfing the wave, his hand moving faster and faster.

But this was whole body fucking, his leg wrapped over Zeph’s hip, their bellies together, his other hand on Zeph’s shoulder, holding him in place.

It was Zeph who came first, struggling to stifle his cry as he erupted between them.

Jack watched as he shifted from wire-tight to liquid-soft, his eyelids fluttering, his head tipped back, his tongue resting on his upper lip before he gave a long sigh and smiled.

Jack had never been more turned on in his life.

He tightened his fingers around his own cock and came a moment later in a flash of white-hot pleasure, with a loud strangled cry.

He’d never come so hard. He wasn’t sure it would ever feel like that again.

From when he’d first seen Zeph to now had been like some extended foreplay leading to this moment.

He rolled onto his back, his chest heaving, his eyes closed.

And they hadn’t even fucked. Ha. He felt Zeph move from the bed.

When he came back, a warm wet cloth passed across Jack’s stomach, then over his hand, cleaning his fingers one by one. Jack didn’t deserve that kindness.

Zeph fell asleep curled up against him, and Jack couldn’t move and wake him because questions would come, so he stayed still and stared at him, memorising everything about him for the time when this couldn’t happen. It shouldn’t have happened but there was no point in regrets.

When Jack woke, Zeph was watching him.

“Hi.” Jack smiled.

“Would you have sneaked out if I’d been asleep?”

“No.” Though he should have done.

“I’ve been waiting three years to find out why you left so suddenly and couldn’t keep in touch.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Are you going to tell me?”

“I had no idea Thomas was going to remove me from the school. After he picked me up that morning, he told me we were leaving the same day. We went to live in America.”

Zeph widened his eyes. “How could you just do that? Don’t you need visas and green cards and stuff? He must have been planning it. Why would he let you start at school in the UK and then yank you out? Unless…”

“Unless what?”

“I’m wondering if I was right when I couldn’t find any trace of you. Were you in witness protection?” Zeph whispered the final two words though there was no one to hear but them.

Zeph had managed the jump Jack had been going to offer, but it didn’t make him feel any better about lying. It was an educated guess and worked for Jack’s purposes.

“You know I can’t tell you whether you’re right or not.” Jack brushed Zeph’s silky hair away from his eyes. “But please don’t take photos of me, don’t talk about me to anyone.”

“Aren’t you’re safe now? Isn’t that why you’ve finally come to see me?”

“I don’t think Thomas and I can ever be safe.” Nor would anyone close to them.

“Is he with you?”

“No. He doesn’t know I’ve found you.” He probably did.

“I can’t have been hard to find.”

“No. You’d told me what you planned to do and you’re doing it. The only thing I don’t know is why you changed schools after I left.”

“I wanted to stay at Fishbourne while you were there, but when you weren’t, there was no point living at home and being unhappy. Alice caused some issues.”

“In what way?”

“She tried to kill me.”

“Holy shit.” Jack pushed up on his elbow.

“I didn’t tell the police.”

“What the hell did she do?”

“Shoved me down an embankment onto a train track.”

“Christ.”

“Obviously, I survived. On the plus side, life with my uncle and his partner was great. Everything it should have been with my dad and more. They love me, encourage me. They care so much.” Zeph’s eyes shone with tears. “I was lucky to have them.”

“What happened to Alice?”

“She did as I asked in return for not saying anything, and got professional help. Things were better for her when both you and I had gone. I heard she went out with Rufus for a while.”

“You’re not in touch with your family?”

Zeph shook his head. “After my dad drove over to Martin and Paulo’s house and yelled at all of us, I’ve never heard from him again.

” Zeph paused. “I looked for you. Not finding anything was what made me suspect witness protection. Then I stopped looking. I guessed your names weren’t really Thomas and Jack Steel.

I didn’t want to cause problems for you, or for me.

I understand why you couldn’t stay in touch. I missed you, though.”

As much as Jack had missed him? He felt a pang of guilt that Zeph was so accepting.

“How long have you been in the UK? Can you stay here now or do you have to go back to wherever you’ve come from?”

Jack considered how much he could say.

“Am I not allowed to ask?” Zeph spoke quietly. “Did you go to university? You said you didn’t plan to, but I wondered.”

“I went to college in the States for a while.”

“What are you doing now?”

“Contract work. Security advice.”

“You’re working with Thomas?”

“Yes.”

“I thought he was a design curator.”

You and your brilliant memory! “He is. I’m involved with the protection of artefacts. Once Thomas discovered I was good at it, he contracted out my services.”

“You’re earning and I’m racking up debt.” Zeph chuckled.

“Is that why you’re doing the Cam tours?”

“Partly. It’s good money. Cambridge is strict about students not working in term time. We can’t do more than six to ten hours a week. I only do a small number of tours but now the exams are over, I’ll ask for more until I have to quit this bedsit and go back home.”

“Why do you have to leave here?”

“It’s university accommodation and they use it for other people outside of term time. They run courses and conferences. I’ll go home towards the end of June.”

“And come back?”

“Beginning of October.”

“What are you going to do for those three months?” What am I doing? Don’t even think about it!