“Yeah, you can.” Linc’s voice was strained and his arm shook against Jacob’s back. Maybe he wasn’t quite so iron-control after all. And knowing this was getting to him too pushed Jacob further, let him chase the climax that kept teasing the edges of his awareness. Then Linc shifted, going deeper and harder, giving Jacob just enough room to writhe against the bed, cock dragging against the sheet, and the prospect of coming went from nice possibility to absolute certainty.
“Coming. Coming. God.” He probably didn’t have to announce it as his whole body went stiff, everything clenching before he collapsed in giant shudders, a sticky, sweaty mess. And Linc didn’t have to say a thing for Jacob to tell he was there too, hips hammering hard, as he made a low, pained noise.
“Fuck.” Linc dropped kisses all across Jacob’s shoulders, more of that caretaking as he eased out. “You’re something else.”
“Something good?” Sleepy, he snuggled into Linc’s side, mess be damned.
“More like trouble.” Linc groaned and held him close.
“At least I’m good at it.” He kissed Linc’s arm as he snaked his hand down Jacob’s chest.
“The best.” Linc buried his face in Jacob’s hair. “Promise I’m not sleeping over, but—”
“Sleep. I’ll kick you out later.” Simply having Linc here, in his space, his bed was enough of a novelty that he didn’t join Linc in drifting off, instead luxuriating in the rare quiet moments of closeness. Not sex. Not guilt. Not obligation or misguided duty. Only...intimacy. The sort of familiarity he’d never had before and already craved more of. He liked to think that few others had ever seen this side of Linc and that this was something only for them. Special.
Fuck. He had it bad. He’d waited years to be special enough for Linc to make an exception for, and now that he had this, it wasn’t enough. He wanted more. Wanted everything. And that sort of want could only lead to pain, but that didn’t stop his chest from tightening and his hands from pulling Linc in even closer. He wanted, and he wasn’t letting go.
Chapter Fourteen
“Burn boss wants to see you, Reid.” McKenna’s voice crackled across the radio.
“On my way.” Linc was ready to get this show on the road. Nodding at Garrick and Jacob, who had been waiting next to him, he headed toward the makeshift command where the person in charge of that day’s prescribed burn waited. It was easier these days to walk on by Jacob, not have to deal with a racing pulse or galloping thoughts. He’d see Jacob alone later, and that made it easier to be professional on the job, get done what needed doing and trust Jacob to handle his duties.
Something had shifted the past few weeks, especially once Jacob had passed training along with the other rookies. Yeah, he didn’t want Jacob in danger, was no more comfortable with that than he’d been years ago, but he respected Jacob’s goals.
In short, he cared. Far more than he’d ever thought possible. Of course, in the background everything else still swirled—all the reasons this was a bad idea like the whole business of sleeping with a guy he worked with, something he tried not to dwell on too much. When he was a rookie himself, bumping around from crew to crew, he’d fucked around some, and it had almost always gone badly, no getting around the awkward no matter how much on the down low the hookup had been. Here, the awkward would be off the charts if their repeated hookups came out, but even so he couldn’t seem to quit Jacob, even when ending badly seemed more and more inevitable.
They were supposed to be working this...whatever it was out of their systems. But it had been weeks now, and Linc’s lust showed no signs of burning itself out, and miracle of miracles Jacob kept coming around, hadn’t gotten tired of Linc and the secrecy. If anything he’d damn embedded himself in Linc’s life, eating his food, playing with his dogs, watching his TV. Hell, he’d even brought groceries last visit when he’d helped Linc transplant several trays of seedlings to the garden. They spent as much time out of bed as in it, talking and hanging out, each encounter another cozy layer Linc would eventually have to peel away. But not yet.
“We ready?” he asked Morrison, the burn boss who had spent weeks planning for that day’s fire. One thing outsiders seldom understood about smoke jumping was how much hurry up and wait there was, and how much time was spent on other forest management projects designed to ensure that their emergency services were needed less. Today they’d been loaned out to help with a prescribed burn project east of Prineville. May had given way to early June, and the risk for fires increased with each sunny week, especially as fireworks season crept up on them. But so far they’d had limited emergency callouts, mainly working on planned projects.