Page 26 of Your Pace or Mine (Running for the Romance #1)

Jamie

J amie led Darius through the winding side streets up to the nondescript front door of his flat and steeled himself for a reaction.

He was conscious the entire time of the peeling paint and mould spores visible on the walls.

Darius didn’t comment, though. He let his arm fall away from Jamie’s waist as they climbed the narrow stairs.

Jamie grasped his hand as it fell away, not willing to stop touching him, even for a moment.

He was worried Darius would remember they weren’t in public anymore.

That they didn’t need to keep up appearances.

“So what was it you were thinking?” Darius asked, startling Jamie from his thoughts. “When my father rang? You looked upset.”

Jamie cringed. “It’s stupid.” It was worse than that. It was pathetic and slightly mortifying. He could lie, but what would be the point? “I thought it might be, like, a hookup or something, and I got… Well, I got a little bit possessive.”

Darius snorted out a laugh. “You think I’m the one with people blowing up my phone looking for hookups?”

“Darius, have you seen you?” Jamie asked. “Seriously, now that you’re out, I just thought, well, maybe you’d be looking around for something, and…”

“That would sort of make what we’re doing here a moot point, wouldn’t it?” Darius asked. “Can you imagine the field day the press would have if one of us were caught sleeping with someone else?”

“That’s, well, that’s a good point actually.” If that wasn’t an opening, then Jamie didn’t know what was. “We shouldn’t, I mean… with anyone, really… and…” Christ, why was this so hard to say? Jamie knew what he wanted, but he’d never had to ask for it before.

“You’re right,” Darius finally responded. “We shouldn’t. Not with anyone else.”

Jamie wasn’t sure if he’d really heard the emphasis on the final word, or if it was just wishful thinking on his part.

They reached the top of the stairs, and he pushed open the door.

Jamie toed off his shoes as he entered the flat proper, gesturing to Darius to do the same.

His flatmates seemed to be out for the day, and they were greeted by a somewhat clean and completely silent flat.

Jamie skipped the tour, though, leading Darius straight to his bedroom.

Darius was silent, his expression neutral, but Jamie could see him subtly taking in the space—the cramped room, the mismatched furniture, the faint smell of damp that no amount of air freshener could entirely hide.

Jamie wanted to distract him, to break the tension he felt crackling in the air like static.

Darius tilted his head, his gaze flicking up and down Jamie’s frame with a deliberate slowness that sent heat crawling up Jamie’s neck. “Jamie,” he murmured.

Something in his tone—soft but charged—made Jamie stop. He met Darius’s eyes, his breath catching at the way they darkened, at the subtle shift in his body language.

“You’re really something, you know that?” Darius said, his voice quieter now, his accent wrapping around the words like velvet.

Jamie’s heart stuttered. He tried to laugh it off, but it came out shaky. “Something good, I hope.”

“Definitely good,” Darius said, his lips curving into a smile that sent a pleasant shiver down Jamie’s spine.

Jamie stepped closer, his knees brushing against Darius’s. “I think you’re something good too,” he replied. “You make it incredibly hard to focus on my training, though.”

“Do I?” Darius asked, reaching out to lightly hook a finger in the belt loop of Jamie’s jeans. “How hard?”

The touch was barely there, but it was enough to make Jamie’s breath hitch. He leaned down, his hands braced on either side of Darius, their faces now inches apart. “You have no idea,” Jamie murmured.

Darius grinned, his other hand coming up to brush Jamie’s cheek, his thumb tracing a line along his jaw. “I think I might.”

“Is this okay?” Jamie asked. “I mean, we agreed we aren’t going to be seeing anyone else while we’re together, right, so…”

“Are you asking me to be your fake boyfriend with benefits?” Darius joked.

“If I were?”

“I think I’d be up for that,” Darius replied. “Like you said, we can’t see anyone else, and I wouldn’t expect you to go without.”

“So selfless of you.”

“That’s what everyone says, ‘there goes Darius Hewitt, he’s so incredibly selfless.’”

Jamie’s response was a soft laugh that turned into a sigh as Darius closed the gap between them, his lips brushing Jamie’s in a kiss that started tentatively but quickly deepened. Jamie sank into it, the tension in his body melting away as Darius’s hands slid around his waist, pulling him closer.

Jamie pulled back for a moment, setting the box of cake gently on his desk before turning back to Darius. “Can’t risk the mocha cake.”

“Of course not,” Darius replied, gravely.

Jamie smiled at Darius and twined their hands together. “Shower?”

“Well, that is why we’re here, isn’t it?”

“Together?” Jamie asked, just to confirm.

“Lead the way,” Darius replied, allowing Jamie to lead him out of the bedroom.

Jamie didn’t have an ensuite, but his flatmates were still out, so he led Darius down the corridor to the shared bathroom.

The ancient boiler took a while to kick in, but as the water warmed, Darius pushed Jamie backwards until he was perched on the edge of the sink and kissed him again.

“I think I like these benefits,” Jamie whispered.

“Great benefits, best ones,” Darius sighed in response as their kisses grew more urgent.

The small room seemed to fade away, and all that mattered was the warmth of Darius’s touch and the way he made Jamie feel—wanted, desperate, and utterly unguarded.

With a strength of will he hadn’t known he possessed, Jamie pulled away, hopping down from the counter and pulling Darius towards the shower with him. Clothing was shed quickly, and they moved under the spluttering stream together.

God, Darius was perfect, with his soft brown skin and miles of lean muscle that Jamie wanted to trace with his fingers.

They didn’t stop touching for even a second.

Jamie washed Darius’s chest slowly as he kissed down the smooth column of his neck, pressing himself so close he could feel every hard plane of Darius’s body against his.

His cock throbbed as it rubbed up against Darius’s hard length.

They took their time, cleaning and exploring each other’s bodies.

The bath beneath them was slippery, and as they kissed again under the stream of water, Jamie lost his footing. He cried out, more in shock than pain.

“Shit, Jamie. Your knee?”

Jamie let out a groan. “I’m fine, Darius.”

“Promise,” he asked.

“Scouts honour.”

Darius laughed and kissed him again. “Still, maybe we should take this somewhere less slippery?”

Whatever doubts Jamie had felt about pushing Darius too much, about complicating things, dissolved in that moment.

He nodded, smothering a giggle in Darius’s chest before turning off the shower and climbing out, gingerly.

They made do with Jamie’s single towel, quickly drying and attempting to wrap it around themselves as they raced back to the bedroom, just in case any stray flatmates had returned during their shower interlude.

Jamie fumbled around in his bedside drawer. He pulled out a massive jar of lube and a box of condoms that he tossed to Darius before stretching out on the bed, willing him not to comment on the obvious bargain buys. “Don’t say a word.”

Darius hummed. “I wasn’t going to. Much better things to do with my mouth,” he replied, crawling next to him and kissing Jamie hard, taking his breath away.

“Tell me what you want,” Darius murmured.

Jamie groaned into Darius’s mouth. “Whatever you want, anything.”

Darius pulled back, his kisses slowing. “Want to make you feel good, Jamie. So tell me, what do you need?”

That wasn’t something Jamie was used to, but if it was his call, then he knew exactly what he wanted.

“Want you to fuck me, Darius.” Jamie gasped as Darius began leaving soft, feathery kisses down his body. “Been thinking about it forever.”

“Fuck, Jamie. I want that so much,” Darius breathed.

“I’m, I’ve been tested and I’m on PrEP,” Jamie offered.

“Same,” Darius replied, kissing Jamie again as he reached for the massive jar of lube.

Darius carefully coated his fingers. Even just that small act was so erotic that Jamie could burst. Then he was reaching around Jamie to prepare him, gently prodding his hole at first, as his mouth continued to kiss down his side.

“No teasing,” Jamie moaned, gripping Darius’s length in his hands.

“But Jamie,” Darius grinned wickedly, “teasing you is one of the greatest pleasures in my life right now,” he replied.

Jamie rolled over, burying his head in the pillows as Darius worked him open slowly, his slick fingers stretching and stroking him as he kissed and nipped at the tattoos covering Jamie’s back and thighs, seeming to trace the flowers on his back with his tongue.

It wasn’t long before Jamie was a whimpering mess on the bed, grinding desperately down against it as every nerve of his body buzzed with electricity.

Darius crooked his fingers just so, causing Jamie to let out a desperate gasp, curling the bedsheets in his grip.

Darius’s heavy cock rested on Jamie’s thigh as he toyed with him, one hand moving around to fondle his balls as he continued to open him in a tortuously slow fashion.

“Darius,” Jamie groaned, grabbing for him once again. “Please, I need you,” he practically sobbed.

“Oh, you need me?” Darius asked, his own voice low and husky with need as he slid the condom on.

“Yes,” Jamie moaned as Darius slowly sank into him, stretching and filling him perfectly as he entered him. The bed creaked ominously beneath them, but Jamie ignored it. He was lost in the feeling of Darius.