Feel My Pain (Curse Bound 1)

Hell, as they stepped off the bike and looked toward the diner, Zane had an inkling that he should take Reed to his parents’ for Christmas, but didn’t want to share the idea with his lover yet. Dad could be crass sometimes, and Zane didn’t want to stress Reed with that kind of bullshit when he was so new to living as a gay man.

He stepped into their room, exhaling with relief that the wind was no longer blowing snow into his face. Reed wouldn’t let go of his hand, and Zane leaned closer, eager for another hug. The terrible truth he’d revealed after years of trying to keep it even out of his own head was now laid bare, but he was no longer ashamed of his past. Reed had been through hell too. His father, the man who’d been supposed to protect him had done anything but, and he wouldn’t reject or blame Zane for what happened to him. He understood.

They both knew each other’s most painful memories, but it didn’t create barriers. Instead, the air they breathed felt clearer somehow. There was nothing left to hide.

Reed nuzzled Zane’s cheek with a deep sigh. His nose was cold, and the short beard tickled Zane’s skin. “Are you okay with this, or do you still want to look for answers?”

Zane chuckled and unzipped his coat in the dark, his face rubbing across Reed’s chest, breathing in the spiciness of his sweat. “Don’t want to waste our life on it. It doesn’t matter anymore, Roachie.”

Reed’s smile told him all he needed to know. They were both fine with this curse, or charm, or fate—whatever they were to call it. Karma. Reed pushed off his boots. “I’m freezing though. Dibs on the shower.”

Zane scowled but pushed Reed toward the bathroom. The damn stall was too narrow for them both, and they knew it. “Sure, take my whole damn life!” he said and took off his coat.

Reed laughed on the way, taking things off as he walked along the bed. “You know I have.”

Zane stilled, weirdly tender on the inside. “Har-har,” was all he managed, his gaze fixed on Reed, who removed his jacket, sweatshirt and T-shirt, showing off his back and the ink they shared—yet another reminder of the events that had brought them together. He disappeared behind the bathroom door, leaving Zane alone in the dark and salivating a bit too much.

They needed a shower big enough for two. They needed a new place, period.

Zane groaned and tossed his combat boots to the floor, but the simmer of excitement underneath his skin wouldn’t die down, as if the importance of what had happened in the past few hours was too great to work through on his own. Which was weird because he’d never been one to want to talk things over, always keeping to himself despite the chatty exterior.

The shower whispered beyond the door, and when Zane looked that way, the bright lines around it invited him in, and he found himself removing all his clothes. So he’d have to wait for his turn. At least he’d have a good view.

“Ready or not, I’m coming in!” he announced, pushing the door open.

Reed glanced over his shoulder as the dense air welcomed Zane inside. He massaged foam into his hair in the stall that was already getting fogged up. “Be my guest.”

His smile transfixed Zane first, but his gaze soon trailed lower, watching Reed’s sturdy form fill the Plexiglas cage. Had he flexed his muscles to seem more impressive for Zane’s sake? The show-off.

The air was pleasantly warm in Zane’s lungs as he watched Reed’s muscular arms, his firm chest, the cock that had water trickling off it behind foggy doors.

The salivating got worse, and he gravitated close enough that his own dick touched the Plexiglas.

Reed tilted his head back to wash off the shampoo, and Zane's gaze followed the trail of soapy water down his hairy chest. “You know you won’t fit in here, right?”

“Wanna bet?” Zane asked, his gaze focused on Reed’s beautiful dick. He touched the handle. A single pull, and the barrier between their bodies would be removed. “What will I get if I prove you wrong?”

Reed smirked and turned around to show off his round ass. Those buttocks were so perfectly slappable. Zane loved kneading them and pinching until Reed whimpered and spread his legs, tangling them in the sheets. All that nasty tension between them, about revenge, and murder, and unsaid resentment, was gone, leaving behind room for their relationship to grow.

He pulled open the shower door and entered, already blasted by the hot water. He couldn’t possibly close the tiny stall while standing like this, but there was more than enough space next to Reed’s feet, so he kneeled and pressed his face to the muscular buttock, biting it as he pulled the door shut.