Page 44 of One Step Sideways

“That’s a great idea, Mom,” Danny said. “I definitely want somewhere I won’t have to share a bathroom.” Buck smiled and told us they’d filled the small fridge with water, but if we got hungry, Elizabeth needed to empty the fridge of leftovers by tomorrow afternoon because of all the baking she was doingfor Saturday. We excused ourselves after that. I grabbed the bags and Danny laughed when Sadie didn’t stir. “You both know she won’t budge from the fire,” Elizabeth said, so we left her there after Buck had promised to let her out before they went to bed.

“Aren’t service dogs supposed to stay with you all the time?” I asked. Danny nudged me playfully as we entered the barn, as they called it.

“I have you to protect me, don’t I?”

“Yes,” I said simply, vowing right there and then Danny wouldn’t get so much as a paper cut while I was around to prevent it.

The room was amazing, and didn’t look much like a barn to me, more like a guesthouse.

It even had a shower, which while it was okay for us to use separately, unfortunately, despite Danny’s enthusiasm, was a little tight for me on my own, and definitely wouldn’t fit both of us.

As had been the case for pretty much the last couple of days, I was hard again after watching Danny soap himself. He was definitely an exhibitionist, and I was definitely jealous. I loved the shows he put on for me. I just didn’t like the idea of anyone else seeing him. I wanted to keep him. To run away and growl at anyone that threatened him.

Which was stupid and there was no way I was admitting any of that. When it was my turn for the shower, I think I took one of the fastest on record.

Well, apart from some occasions where I’d had to be quick but I shut those thoughts down fast. They had no business being in my head or our bed. The reason I was in a hurry was because Danny was openly watching me and lying on the bed naked. I glanced over again as I rinsed my hair and watched him as he stroked himself. I nearly broke the damn shower, yanking the water off. My body was briefly introduced to a towel, but it was a passing glance, the sort shy lovers had in some of Archie’s books.

I threw the towel…somewhere, and felt my body heat even more, but I knew what I wanted to do. Certainly nothing I’d been tempted with inside. I mean, we all jacked off, but I’d never seen anyone who tempted me like this. I sat onthe bed. “Can I try something?” Fuck, that sounded experimental and not just regular. And fuck, I’d said fuck again, even in my head.

Danny’s expression morphed from teasing to curious. “What?”

I felt my face heat, and since no inmate I’d ever met managed to make me flush once I hit eighteen, that was saying something. All Danny had to do was gaze at me with those hooded eyes and my body temperature rose by a thousand degrees. Red cheeks were the least of my problems then.

“It sounds dumb.”

Danny sat up and took my hand. “Kane, you found me on my kitchen floor a nervous wreck simply because I’d heard a siren followed by a car backfiring or whatever. You talked me down. You didn’t laugh or gloat despite me treating you like shit from the moment you walked through the door. Please believe me when I say I will never answer any question you have with ridicule or annoyance or whatever word you wanna use.” He lifted my hand and, in an echo of what I had done the day before, he sucked my little finger into his mouth. My body lit on fire.

I nearly groaned aloud at my hardening cock, not that it had been soft since the second Danny started stripping, but I managed to hold it together for another moment. “I want to suck you off.”

He blinked, and I nearly launched myself off the bed to go somewhere to hide.To die.Because the heat that burned through me was shame, not lust. I was so fucking—

“Oh god, yes, a million percent please.” And Danny’s fingers clamped down on my arm just to make sure I didn’t run,or die,I supposed.

I paused. I even dared look him in the eye to make sure he meant it. “I’veneverdoneitbefore.” There, he knew my humiliation. His expression softened. His hand came up to my cheek, and it took everything I had not to lean into it.

“Baby, do you know how many gay men or straight women hate giving blow jobs?”

I shook my head even though I wasn’t a hundred percent sure it wasn’t a rhetorical question.

And he’d called mebaby. Again.

He smiled wryly. “Okay, so I don’t know the number either, but trust me when I say a lot of people—men and women—do it because they think it’s expected.” He pulled me closer and brushed a kiss to my lips. “I don’t. I don’t do expectations with sex.” He shrugged. “With a lot of things maybe, but for the purpose of this convo, then no.”

“I might not be any good at it.” I hedged.

“No one’s gonna score you,” Danny said dryly. “But in this bedroom, whenever either of us wants to stop, we just do. We can try something else or just cuddle. I have enough issues to fill a truck—”

“Me too.”

“Then let’s agree to give each other a pass?”

I nodded.

“So, from about sixteen, I was a horny ass,” Danny carried on as if nothing had happened. “I was gay and came from a reasonably small town, meaning school was a bit like an all you can eat carnivorous buffet when you’re a vegan. When I enlisted, it was all about surviving, and no, I’m not a virgin. Yes, I had sex with guys that was meaningless. Yes, I even had sex with guys where I tried to make it into something more, but don’t get me wrong I’ve never had a relationship apart from the dickhead reporter that I should be court-martialed over, but I really hope that what we’re starting now turns into one.” He paused while my brain was scrambling to take in everything he was spelling out.

“You’re not a one-night stand kind of guy Kane, and I’m sick of them.”

We were both naked. Danny had softened, but I hadn’t much. I didn’t speak, just pushed him backwards. I settled on my belly between his legs and watched his huge eyes widen even more.

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