Deserted - Auctioned

“Thanks.” Gray bent over with his hands on his knees and breathed heavily. His breaths misted in the air. “Technically speaking, when do you think I’ll be able to beat you? Taking everything into consideration—age, fitness level, speed, experience.”

Darius chugged some water and thought about his reply. “Depends. If you keep training like you do now…within a year, I’d guess. You’re fast as shit.”

“A year.” Gray straightened and stretched his arms, then nodded. “I’ll keep that as a goal.”

“I’ll probably always have more tricks up my sleeve than you will, but that’s about all I have.”

Gray wouldn’t go that far. “What’re you talking about? You’re strong, solid, and fit.”

“For my age.” Darius winked. “I’m strong for my age, I’m fit for my age, I’m solid for…actually, I’m plain solid. That ain’t going away. If anything, it’ll get worse. Beer nowadays…” He let out a low whistle. “Gotta watch my gut.” He patted his stomach.

See, that crap, that kind of talk, only made Gray horny.

“Can we fuck?” he asked. “I need a quickie.”

Darius barked out a laugh and planted his ass on the porch steps. “If you’re thinking about screwing now, I haven’t pushed you nearly enough.”

Gray jogged over to him. “Baby, I could be on my deathbed and still think about your cock.” He straddled Darius’s lap and kissed his smirk. “My sexy beast.”

Darius’s hands found their way to Gray’s ass and gave it a hard squeeze. “Are you seducing me?”

“Is it working?” Gray nipped at Darius’s bottom lip, hoping he’d cave. Working out with Darius was like foreplay. Sweaty, dirty, rough foreplay. They had mud and scratches all over, and it only fueled the urgency. It was too hot for words.

He didn’t need a verbal response anymore. He could feel the effect he was having on Darius, and it sent a bolt of desire through him.

They made out passionately, hungrily, both still coming down from their workout high.

It would be such a waste not to crank up the savagery with some hot, animalistic fucking.

“Fuckin’ hell,” Darius exhaled and wrenched away. “We gotta pack, knucklehead.” He gripped Gray’s chin and kissed him quickly. “Later tonight,” he promised. One more kiss. “Christ, those eyes of yours. Don’t look at me like that.”

It was a small comfort, at least. It gave Gray an ego boost to see the desire so vividly.

“Like what?” Gray smiled and nuzzled their noses together.

It made Darius chuckle. “You’re goddamn adorable sometimes.”

“Only sometimes?”

“Mm.” Darius leaned in and gave him a slow, thorough kiss. “The other times, you’re sexy and fucking beautiful.” He drew a deep breath and hugged Gray tightly. “You have the ability to knock the air outta my lungs. That’s…new to me.”

Gray shivered violently and shook his head. “You can’t say that crap and then deny me when I wanna worship every inch of your body.”

Darius grinned and kissed Gray’s neck. “I thought you just wanted a quickie.”

“Things change.” He palmed Darius’s cheeks and gently rested their foreheads together. “You have that ability too. You own me.” He screwed his eyes shut the second those words slipped out, and he was catapulted back in time to when he was dropped on a carpet blotchy with blood, tears, and semen. A time when his body had a price tag.

“Stay with me, knucklehead.” Darius pushed back Gray’s hair and cupped the back of his neck. “It was the ownership thing, eh?”

Gray sucked in a breath and nodded jerkily. His heart went from calm to pounding in a second, and he cursed himself. Why would he go there? Why did he say something like that?

“Focus on your breathing,” Darius directed. “And don’t let dead sons’a bitches dictate the romantic shit we say to each other.”

Gray choked on a strangled laugh and felt his eyes well up. The crushing weight of the anxiety mixing with a wave of humor threatened to short-circuit his damn brain. Tears rolled down his cheeks, and he whimpered and grinned at the same time.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” Darius wiped the tears away. “Steady breaths, baby. In…out.”

Gray nodded and drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

Romantic shit…

Darius was the best at this, that was for fucking certain. He could use comedy, he could use breathing exercises, he could use tough love—he adapted the approach to the person who needed him.

After a couple minutes of deep breaths and Darius’s soft touches, Gray felt better.

And so tired.

“We need to get some dinner and a good night’s sleep, but first, I gotta grab something.” Darius made a move to stand, so Gray left his lap and brushed some dried mud off his hands. “You wanna come with?”

“Sure.”

Darius took the lead to the back of the cabin—or not. He kept going, toward the toolshed. He opened the door and went straight to a hatch in the floor that Gray hadn’t noticed before.