Home and Heart Read online

  “Thank you. I needed somewhere to park my butt.” He didn’t admit how nice it was to have Derek enjoy his company.

  Derek sat on his couch, wiggling his ass as he sat. “Nice and comfy. I hate a hard-bottomed couch.”

  “Me too.” Sawyer sat next to Derek, pleased to find the couch was as advertised. Soft cushions were necessary post-spankings, in his opinion. Though something a little harder wasn’t bad when wearing a plug. That’s what kitchen chairs were for.

  “I’ve been knocking on your door to get you to come have supper with us out on the deck again,” Derek noted.

  “I know. I’m sorry. I was….” What? Embarrassed? Worried? Busy? Stressed? “I don’t know. I’ve never had a one-night stand before.”

  Derek’s smile was lopsided and utterly adorable. “I’m kind of hoping it’s not going to be a one-night stand. You totally should have stayed that night. I make a great breakfast. And I worried about your back with you not having a proper bed to sleep in.”

  “Thank you. I just… it’s been a long time, and it was the first time since….”

  “Yeah, you’d said.” Derek grabbed his hand. “You’re among friends now, though, you know? We’re neighbors with benefits. Although the guys upstairs can be intense.”

  He remembered intense. “I appreciate it. Really. I was aching, obviously.”

  “Well, I hope you want to do it again. I like you. I liked being with you. I liked….” Derek shrugged. “Well, I liked sitting and watching a movie with you too. It was relaxing and cool.”

  “It was. Seriously. So, I have a dresser, a bed, and all this. I need to decide where it goes.”

  “Well, I’m not much of an interior decorator. But I’d be happy to help shift stuff once you decide where everything needs to be. Hell, the boys would help too if anything is super heavy.”

  Oh, maybe he shouldn’t have asked. “I’ll think about it for a while, then see what happens.”

  “Okay.” Derek regarded him for a long moment, then noted, “You’re a very private person, aren’t you?”

  “Am I? I guess so. I don’t know.” He was a bit of a broken person, he thought. He worried a lot.

  “And maybe sad? I’ve heard your laugh—it’s great, and you should do it more often. And you can tell me to go fuck myself if I get into your personal space too much. My last boyfriend said I didn’t know the concept of personal space.”

  “I can see that. It’s… sometimes I could use being brought out of my shell. Maybe.”

  “Yeah?” Derek beamed. “Then I’m your man.”

  Sawyer took another swig of the soda, swallowing hard. “This is good stuff.”

  “It is. So are you going to come have supper with us tonight? We’ll even let you provide the meat, if you want.”

  “If I’m not too sore from moving furniture, sure.”

  “That’s what you’ve got me for—making sure you don’t get sore from moving furniture. There’s much better things to get sore from.”

  “You know it.” He had to agree, because dammit, it was true.

  The little grin Derek gave him was entirely coconspiratorial. He found himself smiling back like the world’s biggest dork.

  “You know… we could….” No. No, they didn’t need to make out. He had furniture to move. “I need to get this stuff set up.”

  “Or we could baptize them first.” Derek’s grin deepened. “Test them out. So to speak.”

  “We can’t just… can we?” Was he that much of a slut? God knew he wanted to.

  “Why not?” Derek asked. “I mean, we like each other, and I know you enjoyed the other night as much as I did.”

  “I did. I liked it a lot.”

  Derek put his bottle down on the floor next to the couch, then took Sawyer’s out of his fingers and set it down too. He shifted until they were as close as they could be, touching along one side. He exhaled, barely noticing he’d been holding his breath. Then he leaned in, bringing their lips so close there was only the barest bit of air between them. “Do you want to kiss me?” Derek asked.

  “Uh-huh.” Sawyer shivered, moaning softly.

  “Good.” Derek closed the rest of the distance between their mouths, lips landing on his. He opened up, inhaling Derek’s breath. It was sweet, like ice cream, and sweeter still was Derek’s tongue as it slid into his mouth. Derek brought one hand up to cup his cheek, tilting his head to the side as he deepened the kiss. Soft and heated, they explored each other, Derek’s free hand settling on his thigh.

  “You can touch me,” Derek said softly. “I won’t break.”

  “I’m not selfish. I’m sorry.” He was used to waiting for permission. He needed to let that go.

  “I never thought you were—it’s just been so long, eh?” Derek stroked his face, the touches sweet and comforting.

  “Years. A lot of years.” He reached out, sliding his hands up Derek’s chest.

  Derek’s eyes went heavy-lidded, and he licked his lips a couple of times. “That makes me so sad for you. And it makes me want to give you a thousand orgasms to make up for the drought.”

  “I’m going to have to learn about everything again.”

  “It sounds like fun when you put it like that.” Derek kissed him again. Then he lay back, bringing Sawyer with him, putting him on a living mattress made up of warm skin and lean muscles and hard bits in all the right places.

  “Oh.” Oh, that was delicious. His body responded immediately, his cock filling and his abs going tight.

  Derek hummed, sounding totally happy with his responses. Dragging his hands along Sawyer’s back, Derek touched him through his T-shirt, warming him.

  He hoped he wasn’t being too much of a slut, but he didn’t want to stop.

  “Is skin okay?” Derek asked. He tugged Sawyer’s T-shirt out of his jeans without waiting for an answer, hands hot as they brushed Sawyer’s skin. “God, you feel like silk. I love how bare you are. It’s delicious.”

  “Thank you. It’s permanent.” Had he said that already?

  “That’s so fucking sexy.” Derek drew his top off and tossed it on the floor. “I could get used to touching you.” Derek slid his hands along Sawyer’s spine, almost seeming to count each segment as he came across it.

  “I could get used to your hands,” Sawyer whispered.

  “Yay!” Derek laughed softly, and the sound was caught between them as their mouths met again, filling him. Filling their kiss.

  Yeah, he totally was a slut. No question.

  “So glad you moved in,” murmured Derek against his lips, hands sliding down into his jeans to grab his ass.

  A part of him whispered that it could have been anyone, but he let that go. He was the one who was here with Derek, his cock rubbing against his zipper as Derek rocked them together.

  It was a welcome sting, and he groaned and pushed back, humming against Derek’s lips. Moaning, Derek deepened the kiss, squishing his lips between his own teeth and Derek’s. That sting was welcome too, and he bucked up, rocking for a second.

  “You make everything so sexy.” Derek slid a leg around the back of his, hooking it there with his ankle.

  “Do I?” He liked to hear it, whether or not it was true.

  “Uh-huh.” Derek took his mouth again, tongue slipping in to slide against his.

  He stroked Derek’s skin, his hands fascinated by the warm flesh. Derek had a lovely six-pack, but it wasn’t super hard like he worked out all the time. This was from living and playing, from being active.

  Derek moaned softly as he continued touching. He closed his eyes and focused on drawing more of those sounds out. Derek fed them to him, one after another, as he felt up the smooth skin and the rangy muscles. He groaned, answering Derek’s need with his own.

  “Fuck, you’re an addiction,” murmured Derek. “The way you feel so deeply and want so strongly.”

  “I missed this. Being with someone.” He missed being someone’s.

  “I can’t imagine going that long
without being intimate with somebody. I’m not a slut or anything. Well, okay, I guess maybe I am a little bit. I’m gonna shut up now.” Derek closed his lips together tight.

  Sawyer began to chuckle; then he started to laugh, tickled.

  “Sure, go ahead and laugh at me.” Derek was grinning, clearly not upset.

  Then Derek dug those long fingers into Sawyer’s ribs, tickling him. Sawyer shouted and wriggled, trying to get away, and they rolled together, landing with a thump on the floor, Derek supporting Sawyer’s body.

  Derek snickered; then he started laughing too, wrapping his arms around Sawyer. Every time the giggles slowed, they’d look at each other and begin again.

  Finally, Derek sighed and collapsed back onto the floor, bonking his head pretty solidly, judging by the sound. “Ow.”

  “Dork.” Sawyer snorted, then rested his head against Derek’s shoulder a minute.

  “That’s better than slut, I suppose.” Derek giggled for a moment, chest moving beneath Sawyer, then quieted again. “You know, for christening your couch with sex—we kind of failed spectacularly.”

  “A little bit, but that’s okay. It makes for a good story.”

  “That’s cool—that we have a story together.” Derek continued to touch him, fingers sliding randomly on his skin.

  “It is, isn’t it?” How did they have a story together already? Him and this sweet, sexy guy.

  “Yeah.” Derek drew his legs up, cradling Sawyer between them. Both hands landed on his ass, Derek squeezing. His hips rolled into the touch like they had a mind of their own. Derek did it again, this time pushing up slightly to meet his roll. “Mmmm.”

  “You’re inspirational,” he whispered.

  Derek beamed at him “You’re not so bad yourself, Sawyer.”

  Then they were kissing again, bodies moving, quickly finding the need they’d been experiencing before they’d gotten sidetracked by laughter. They tugged at each other’s clothes, pulling restlessly, randomly as they tried to get naked. Their kissing wasn’t helping any, but Sawyer couldn’t make himself stop, and Derek didn’t seem inclined to either.

  “You two are something else.” A low voice came from the back window, and Sawyer gasped and rolled away, grabbing his clothes.

  Sitting up, Derek looked at the window. “Benny! Shit—way to be a creeper!”

  Sawyer scrambled up and yanked the curtains closed. “God… I’m sorry.”

  Derek got up, and ignoring the fact that his shirt was still off and his jeans were open, he came over to slide an arm around Sawyer. “For what? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Except close the curtains!” came Benny’s voice from outside.

  “Go away, Benny.” Derek didn’t seem that fazed by their voyeur. “If you want to talk, knock on the door like a real person.”

  “I….” Sawyer tugged his shirt closed. He was burning up with mortification.

  Derek drew him away from the window. “I think he was jealous.”

  “God, I can’t believe I did that with the curtains open.” He had before. In fact, he and James had done a lot of things in public before, but his life was new now.

  “It was the back window. The only guys who would see are Luke and Benny.” Derek watched him.

  “Still… I haven’t done that in a long time.”

  Derek tilted his head. “Done what in a long time?”

  “Nothing. Nothing.” He took a deep breath, shaking it off.

  “I don’t know, I think you were going to say something that might have surprised me.”

  “Nah. I just…. It’s a new life now.”

  “You’ll have to tell me about your old life sometime.” Derek waved at his open jeans. “Should I do up, or can we salvage this if we adjourn to the bedroom or something?”

  “I don’t have sheets on yet, but….” There was something about Derek that made him need. Despite it being new, despite neighbors peeping in the window, despite everything.

  Derek bounced on his heels. “I’ll help you put them on.”

  “Yeah?” How could he resist that enthusiasm? “Come on.”

  “You don’t have to ask me twice.” Derek followed him down the hall, almost like an eager puppy.

  They walked into the bedroom, and together they moved the dresser against the wall, getting it where Sawyer needed it.

  “Making me work for it, eh?” Derek laughed and stole a kiss.

  “Now we can get to the bed, at least.”

  “Oh, you got a king. Good man. Lots of room for everyone.” Derek waggled his eyebrows.

  “It’s nice and sturdy.” Places for ties and cuffs too. Stop it. Stop. It. He had to let that part of his past go, like he’d let go of the house and the furniture. He was starting new.

  “Where’s the sheets? I can’t wait to pound you into the mattress.” There was no waggling of eyebrows this time; Derek looked totally serious.

  “I just washed them. They’re brand-new.” He went to the hall and pulled them out of the little stackable washer and dryer that had come with the apartment, bringing them back into the bedroom in short order.

  “I love the smell of clean sheets,” Derek told him.

  “I do too, and these were a splurge. They’re super soft.”

  Derek took them from him. “Oh wow. Yeah, these are great. It’s gonna be amazing rolling around on them.”

  “It will be, I think. That’s why I chose them.” Some things were worth spending the extra money on, and sheets were one of those things. Whether he was going to share them or not, they would always be soft and welcoming.

  Derek took another kiss. Then they made the bed, working together easily to get the four corners tucked in, then loading the pillows into their cases and spreading the top sheet over the bed. Derek jumped on as soon as the sheets were done, bouncing on Sawyer’s brand-new mattress and laughing. “Oh yeah, feels great.”

  “Does it? Did I choose well?” He sat on the end of the bed, the pillow top supporting him well.

  “Yeah, I love it.” Derek sat up and pulled Sawyer’s shirt off his shoulders. Then Derek snugged up against his back, generating heat between their bodies.

  “Oh….” Sawyer’s head fell back, and he moaned.

  Derek buried his face in the juncture where his neck met his shoulders and placed long openmouthed kisses on his neck. “You taste good.”

  “Thank you.” Also, don’t stop. God.

  Derek slid his hands around Sawyer’s waist, warm and tickling softly. The agile fingers went right for the fastenings on his jeans, tugging the button open, then working on the zipper.

  His needy cock popped right out, eager for more touches, more caresses. Derek groaned and pushed Sawyer’s jeans down before grabbing hold of his cock, wrapping his fingers around it, and squeezing.

  “Please,” Sawyer whispered. “Don’t stop.” It was magical—the mouth and the hand and the heat behind him.

  “Won’t. I want this too.” Derek rolled against his ass, cock hard, hot, even through Derek’s jeans.

  He cried out at the promise there, the sound shocking and loud. Derek moaned around his skin, and he swore he could feel it in his bones. He wanted to feel that sweet prick slamming into him. Making him feel every damn inch inside him.

  “You want a twofer, Sawyer?” Derek asked, voice thick. “I’ll make you come like this, and then we’ll get down to it?”

  “Please. Yes. I want it.” He might even need it right now. He hadn’t known how much he’d been missing this until now, until Derek had woken everything back up in him.

  “Yeah, you do.” Derek pressed a thumb against his slit, then began a fast stroke, fingers squeezing as they slid up and down his hot flesh.

  Sawyer bucked up into the touch, his thighs hard as rocks as he moved. Derek used his free hand to touch Sawyer’s pierced nipples, pinching lightly.

  Oh, harder, he wished. Please.

  Then Derek grabbed one of the rings and tugged, still fairly gently. The harder fin
ally came when Derek twisted the metal. Sawyer groaned, bouncing hard on Derek’s lap.

  “Right. Not just for decoration.” Derek played enthusiastically with the little rings, tugging and twisting one, then the other, sending jolts to Sawyer’s cock over and over.

  “Jesus. Jesus, so good. Please.” Don’t stop. God, don’t stop. He thought it might do him in if Derek stopped.

  “I love these. And the smooth all over. I told you already how hot that is, right?” Derek sounded half-incoherent, the words barely coming out.

  “Uh-huh.” He was lost, flying, not worried about anything but his pleasure.

  Derek began squeezing the head of his cock hard as he stroked. With every squeeze came a twist to one of the rings on his nipples. The sensations came hard and fast, keeping him writhing. He wanted to shoot, wanted a kiss, wanted a hard, deep fucking. He wanted to be given permission to take his own pleasure from this.

  “I want to smell you, Sawyer.”

  The words, dark and needy and so close to a command, made him arch, spunk spraying from him. Derek moaned, hand working him until the last shudders took him. Then Derek brought his hand up and started licking Sawyer’s come from it.

  Sawyer whimpered and turned, straddled Derek’s hips and brought their lips together. Derek’s tongue pushed into his mouth, sharing the taste of his own come with him. He ground them together, rocking good and hard.

  “Baby, I want inside you.”

  “Please. Yes, please.” That was exactly what he was craving. He pushed harder, his guiche piercing rubbing so good.

  Derek rolled them, pushing him down onto the bed, kissing him with passion. He arched up and took it, opening and allowing himself to let go.

  “You got lube?” Derek asked, hand sliding along his side, stopping to tweak his nipple piercing.

  “Uh-huh.” He did. He’d needed it after this week.

  “Where?” Derek backed off, grabbing something out of the pocket of his jeans before shimmying out of them.

  He arched over the side of the bed, found the lube, and handed it up. Derek dragged his hand along his body again, fingers warm and firm.

  “You should prep yourself,” Derek suggested. “I’d love to watch that.”