Page 54 of Fish in a Barrel

He used the towel to wipe off his fingers and then added a little more lube before positioning himself at Ellery’s clenching and unclenching asshole.

Ellery wanted him.

He thrust inside gently, bigger than three fingers, he knew without conceit, and pushed until he had bottomed out.

Ellery’s breathy little sobs of need vibrated right to Jackson’s balls. He stroked Ellery’s smooth, pale back, loving the feel of his skin, and pulled out slowly, slowly, oh-so-slowly, before slamming in again.

Ellery screamed, “Yes!” as Jackson’s hips smacked against his backside, and Jackson couldn’t play the teasing game anymore.

He was wanted—he wasneeded—and he knew without a doubt that he was the only one who could fill the void in his lover’s heart right now, just as he was filling his body.

He rocketed his hips forward and back, fast enough to drive Ellery to a frenzy, not so fast he lost his rhythm—or pulled too drastically at the stitches in his back. Still, he knew there was another race going on, a race against time as he struggled to make Ellery come before Jackson’s own body gave out.

Sweat spattered from his forehead to Ellery’s back as he thrust, welcoming Ellery’s thrashing facedown on the bed as he fucked, but he could admit to a certain amount of relief when Ellery stopped thrashing and grabbed his own cock to stroke.

Normally Jackson liked dirty talk during sex, loved taunting Ellery, loved the give and go, even while they were fucking each other blind. But when Ellery clenched around him, spasming on the bed, his entire body convulsing, Jackson’s moan of impending climax was merely a whisper, so he probably caught Ellery by surprise when his thrusts stuttered, orgasm washing over him like a boiling wave, cleansing him of his own anger, his own disappointment, his own poisonous fears. He buried himself to the hilt in Ellery’s ass and came, collapsing over Ellery’s back as Ellery’s knees slid off the bed, leaving them facedown, sprawling, sliding down the mattress to the carpet in an inglorious puddle of come.

Finally they came to rest, Jackson on top of Ellery, his cock sliding out, their lush cream-colored carpet no longer pristine.

He had zero regrets.

“Jackson?” Ellery mumbled, and Jackson’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. He realized that he’d poured every ounce of himself into what they’d done on the bed, and he barely had the energy to slide to the side to let Ellery up.

He did, and Ellery rolled to his own side and said, “Jackson?”

Jackson’s mouth said, “Yes?” but his throat had peaced out. Silent as a goldfish.

Ellery squeezed his eyes shut and held his hand to Jackson’s forehead and grimaced.

“Proud of yourself?”

Jackson nodded, tired but emphatic. “Worth it,” he mouthed.

“Good, because you’re going right to bed.” Ellery was trying to sound prissy and like he was the one giving orders, but Jackson just grinned. They both knew who had been in charge two minutes ago, and it hadn’t been Ellery.

Ellery gave him a sly peek from under his lashes. “Thank you,” he said after a moment. “I… I needed that more than words can say.”

Jackson leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek, not wanting to give him whatever virus or bacteria had taken advantage of his shitty night to move into his throat. “Love you, Counselor,” he wheezed into Ellery’s ear, and Ellery kissed his jaw, then his neck, finishing up by nibbling on his ear.

“Love you too, Detective,” he said, nuzzling Jackson’s neck again. With a sigh, he pulled away. “Now, let’s get you into your briefs and into bed. I think we have a nice little area rug with an abstract print that would look great on this spot, don’t you think?”

Jackson had no idea, but if they did, he was sure Ellery would find it before anybody had a chance to ask what happened to the carpet.

HE REALLYhad put himself out of the game, though. Ellery managed to get him into his briefs and pajamas and basically poured him into bed before dashing off to make dinner and get ready for his evening. An hour after fucking Ellery through the mattress and into the carpet, Jackson was dozing on his side, Billy Bob parked solidly behind his thighs and Lucifer in a small circle of black fur up by his head, when there was a tentative knock at the bedroom door.

“You up?” asked Henry, and Jackson squeezed his eyes closed tighter.

“No,” he mouthed.

“You are too, you big baby. Now sit up and let me stuff pillows behind you. I’m supposed to feed you soup.”

Jackson snapped his teeth, because the day he let Junior here feed him was his last day on the planet.

“Oh yes. You’re very fierce,” Henry taunted, coming to set the tray of soup and juice on the dresser. “Much scary. So rowr.”

“Fuck off,” Jackson mouthed, but he’d managed to sit up and was plumping pillows so he could eat from bed. It wasn’t until he put pressure on his back and felt nothing more than a dull ache that he realized Ellery had given him the reallygoodpain pills and not only the ibuprofen. “Goddammit,” he grumbled, but he grumbled while he was sinking against the pillows and gazing at the soup in front of him. He looked at Henry so Henry could read his lips. “What are you doing here?”

Henry gave a thin smile. “Babysitting,” he said blandly. “Mike’s in the front room, helping Jade get ready. He’ll be staying too.”