Page 53 of Fish in a Barrel

They’d consoled themselves, all of them at the firm, with the idea that as soon as they got Zeke off the charges, they’d turn Galen on the city and the police force and the goddamned DA’s office and make those fuckers pay for what they’d done. They’d call the press, make it front-page news, and push for reform like caped crime crusaders. They would by God get their pound of flesh, because it was no goddamned fair, and theyall,all wanted to see Ezekiel taken care of for the rest of his life after this.

But that hadn’t happened, and big boys knew they couldn’t always get what they wanted. But dammit.

Jackson wanted to make it better for Ellery. He just did. Ellery’s disappointment in himself, in the justice system he still believed in—it was all acute, and it left a wound.

He left Ellery to fussing over the sports coat and padded to the bathroom, coming back with clean but frayed towels. He stripped the covers down and shook the towels out on the bed so he didn’t wreck Ellery’s nice sheets. Then, glancing covertly at Ellery to see if he was paying attention, he stripped off his slacks, laid them nicely on the dresser, and then removed his boxer shorts, which he left puddled on the ground.

When Ellery turned around to get the slacks, he saw Jackson sitting, naked and predatory, on the bed.

Ellery’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

“You think so?”

“Mm-hmm.” Jackson hurt; he could admit it to himself. His throat hurt, his voice was completely gone, his back was on fire, and his joints ached from fever. But Ellery’s adorable shock did release some dopamine, and that suited him just fine.

For a moment, there was naked hope on Ellery’s face, and Jackson knew Ellery was craving that moment of being taken out of himself, of being answerable only to pleasure. It was a thing sex could give you, but only if you trusted the person you were with. In the past year, he was starting to see what a gift that sort of trust was—and how it kept on giving when you gave it back as much as you received it.

Then Ellery’s face fell, and Jackson could see him pulling his big-boy panties up so he could say no.

“Jackson,” he began, approaching the bed like he’d approached the bench in court. “You know you’re not feeling well enough to—oh!”

He’d gotten close enough for Jackson to reach out and start undoing his belt.

“Jackson, you can’t even talk!”

Maybe not, but his hands worked okay, and he had the belt undone and was tugging Ellery’s pants down around his knees before Ellery could protest. He tugged a little on the pants with both hands, and Ellery stumbled forward, putting his crotch right at face level.

“Jack—”

Jackson stuck his tongue out and licked the head of Ellery’s cock, and Ellery didn’t finish that thought.

Encouraged, Jackson kept licking, shoving at the pants until Ellery took the hint and toed off his dress shoes and stepped out of his pants and boxer shorts even as Jackson tried to keep Ellery’s cock in the game—or in his mouth. After a moment of scrambling, Jackson took him in. Not all the way to the back of his throat, but deep enough. Deep enough to pull a needy groan from Ellery. Deep enough to really get a grip on it and start stroking.

Ellery braced himself by putting his hands on Jackson’s shoulders, and Jackson glanced up, mouth wrapped around Ellery’s cockhead, and started to lick, while Ellery tried not to whimper.

Then, when his head was thrown back, his hands shaking on Jackson’s heated skin, Jackson found the lube under his pillow, and while one hand and his mouth were busy on Ellery’s cock, the other hand slid to his backside.

He ran his fingers along Ellery’s crease, every suspicion about how badly Ellery needed this right now confirmed when Ellery moaned and spread his legs, giving Jackson better access.

Fabulous.

His fingers were dripping with slick because he wanted to slide in easily, one finger making its presence known, then two.

Ellery spread his knees enough for Jackson to scissor his fingers while taking his cock into his throat, but he knew it wasn’t going to last like this for long.

“Losing… balance,” Ellery grunted, and Jackson pulled his mouth away from Ellery’s cock long enough to wiggle to the side.

Ellery fell face-first, sans dignity, splayed crosswise across the bed with Jackson’s two fingers still lodged solidly in his ass, and the fact that he didn’t try to adjust himself but merely pulled his knees up to his chest, told Jackson that surrender was everything his lover needed and the one thing he wouldn’t have asked for.

Jackson stood, rotating his wrist so he could keep his fingers right where they needed to be, working in, first knuckle, second. He bottomed out, and Ellery wiggled his ass and begged some more.

Jackson added more lubricant and a third finger, gently stretching, and he felt Ellery’s groan all the way to where his fingers were buried in Ellery’s flesh.

He bent over Ellery’s back, sliding his fingers in and out, the thrusting unmistakable—and not enough. “What do you want?” he taunted, the words barely audible.

“Your cock,” Ellery said succinctly. “Inside me. Now.”

“My pleasure.”Hecouldn’t even hear himself with that one.