Page 8

Chapter 8

Caleb

C aleb had never been asked such a thing before, so simply, like there was no art required, no artifice. Relationships, or even one-night-stands, had required special clothes, loud clubs, dancing, and a dozen other things Caleb either hated or was terrible at.

They had never been as simple as “do you want a sandwich?”—“No, thanks, I’d rather have you.”

But there it was; there Jasper was, asking it exactly like that.

It was perfect.

He wrapped his arms around Jasper’s slim waist and kissed him back. When Jasper lifted one long leg to wrap around his hips, he forewent a dozen in between steps and grabbed the man’s ass, hoisting him up and letting him wrap the other leg around him. He hardly weighed more than a few sacks of the previous day’s groceries, he was so small.

Caleb nudged the fridge closed with his foot and walked them over to the bed.

Oh damn, did he have lube? Condoms? They were both supernaturals, so it wasn’t likely any diseases were communicable, but one never knew. Plus it was just good manners to offer.

He pulled back the blanket and lay Jasper across the bed, then reached for the drawer on the bedside table. Lube, he had. He was a fan of lube. Condoms, he hadn’t really needed in the cabin. On the odd occasion he’d gone into the city and danced the ridiculous mating dance, he hadn’t brought anyone home with him; he’d always gone to their place and slipped out before dawn.

After a moment of frantic searching, Jasper’s hand grabbed his. “Don’t worry about that. It’s fine.” He took the lube, opened it, took a long look down Caleb’s body, and squirted a liberal amount of the stuff onto his fingers. Caleb knew a compliment when he saw one, and couldn’t help the smile that played across his lips.

“Worried?”

“Not even a little,” Jasper answered, no hesitation in his voice. “Can’t wait.”

Again, no artifice. No games. Who was Jasper Jones, and how the hell was he so perfect?

Caleb made short work of Jasper’s clothes, even those painted-on jeans, and then undressed himself more slowly, watching as Jasper worked himself open on his own fingers.

“Gonna wreck me?” he whispered, eyes shining with anticipation in the firelight.

When Caleb dropped his flannel pants to the floor, freeing his cock, Jasper immediately reached for it, spreading the rest of the lube onto the head before running his whole hand down Caleb’s cock. He wrapped his fingers around it, testing the weight and girth, and apparently liking what he found.

“That what you want?” Caleb tossed his shirt to the rug and met Jasper’s eyes again. “Want me to split you open and leave you ruined for anyone else?”

He relaxed back onto the pillows and looked up at Caleb coyly. “That’s exactly what I want.”

When Caleb climbed between his legs, Jasper automatically wound them around his back, pulling him forward. Caleb leaned down and nipped his full lower lip. “Gotta give me a second to get inside you. Not gonna hurt you.”

“You won’t,” Jasper insisted, pushing his hips up impatiently.

Still, Caleb pushed in slow and steady, and everything about it was perfect. Jasper was as ready as he insisted, and he opened beautifully, all soft hitching breaths and a tiny pleased smile when Caleb bottomed out inside him.

He let out all the air in his lungs and leaned down to rest their foreheads together.

“So perfect,” Jasper whispered against his lips. “Perfect cock, perfect body, perfect gentleman. How’s a guy get so perfect?”

Caleb pulled out and slid back in, just as slowly, without moving away from Jasper. “Can’t say anybody’s ever called me that before. Maybe a guy has to rise to the occasion when he finds someone this sweet.”

Jasper grinned at him, reaching up to cup his cheeks and kissing him breathless again. “Now fuck me.”

Caleb couldn’t imagine not obliging. He reached up to twine their hands together, pressing Jasper into the mattress as he pulled out again.

This time he didn’t slow down.

He slammed his hips forward, spearing Jasper on his cock, and was rewarded with a punched-out moan and a “yes, fuck, just like that.” Jasper’s words turned into an incoherent mash of yeses and pleases as Caleb sped the rhythm of his hips, pushing his cock all the way in with every thrust, balls slapping against that pert little ass.

The heat built in his groin, and his world narrowed to that one point, his cock sliding into Jasper’s tight, perfect, inviting heat, and he thrust so hard the bed squeaked against the wooden floor.

Jasper arched up in ecstasy, moaning Caleb’s name as he came across his own belly without even being touched; the friction of them fucking enough to set him off.

His ass squeezed Caleb so tight, spasming around him, and pulled him over the edge too, fireworks behind his closed eyelids and white-hot electricity surging through him. He leaned down and bit Jasper’s neck as he came inside him, and Jasper let out another ecstatic moan, clearly approving of the bite.

They lay there like that for a few moments, panting and coming down from the high of release, before Caleb even took his mouth off Jasper’s neck. He’d left the red impression of his teeth there, but it was already fading, so no actual damage done.

When he pulled back and looked at Jasper, his eyes were half closed and glazed over, a dazed smile on his lips. “Best ever,” he muttered.

Caleb had a hard time believing that, except... well, he wasn’t sure he’d ever had sex that good before. He was usually worried about breaking his partner the whole time, and despite Jasper’s slightness, for some reason, it hadn’t even crossed his mind.

The man had survived serious poisoning—he was clearly pretty sturdy. On the other hand, he had just survived serious poisoning, and Caleb probably wasn’t helping anything by taxing his body like that.

He pulled out, and Jasper hissed in displeasure but fell back against the bed, still looking debauched and entirely sated, sweaty and panting. It made a damn pretty picture. Caleb could get used to a beautiful, naked, exhausted Jasper in his bed.

Hell, who couldn’t?

Caleb leaned down and kissed Jasper’s sweaty brow, and headed for the bathroom to grab a wet washrag to clean them both up. When he finished, he lay down next to Jasper, and for the first time since they started kissing, he felt awkward.

Was that all Jasper had wanted?

Or, oh hells, had Jasper only offered because he felt guilty for Caleb saving him? Was it some kind of repayment for his help? He hated to imagine the nicest thing that had happened to him in years had been nothing more than a one-time “thanks for not letting me die.”

If it had been, he was struck by the unhealthy urge to follow Jasper around and save his life as often as possible. If that was all it was to him, though?—

Jasper rolled over, throwing an arm across his chest, looking up at Caleb with a small smile on his face. “It was really me.”

“What was you?”

“You wanted me. Wanted that.” A tiny hint of doubt entered his face, drawing his brows together. “Right?”

“Yeah,” Caleb agreed, reaching out to smooth that troubled brow with his fingertips. “I’d take it instead of a sandwich any day. Every day.”

Jasper smiled dreamily, closing his eyes and cradling his head on Caleb’s shoulder. “That would be amazing. I’d like that.” And before Caleb could even ask if he was serious, if he meant that he was interested in more than one night while he was still recovering, Jasper was asleep.

Poor guy was still recovering from being poisoned, so Caleb didn’t jostle him, just let him sleep. He needed it more than Caleb needed his arm free.