Marc moved inside him, gently, until Jason demanded more. “Really fuck me. Like the way those guys were getting fucked at the club.”

As his mind flashed back to the hardcore sex he’d seen all around in The Viaduct, Marc gave him what hewanted, pulling back until just the tip remained inside, before thrusting into the depths. He gave it to him with long, steady strokes, increasing in speed and force. The sounds of their skin smacking together obliterated the rain. Jason’s wide back glistened with sweat. Marc ran a hand across his spine, placed it on his shoulder and fucked him even harder. They gasped and grunted together, engrossed in each other, lost in sex.

“Fuck me,” Jason growled through gritted teeth.

Their breath came faster and more ragged. There was no way to prolong this. They were too caught up in the raw, animal passion of their fuck to hold back.

The catch in Marc’s desperate grunts signalled the end. He cried out, helpless, as something inside him tightened, his balls throbbed, the insides spasming in the most intense and pleasurable way.

“Oh, God,” he cried. It was almost too much. The spasms continued all through his groin, building, intensifying, getting stronger, prolonging the exquisite ache as he came. With a roar he buried his cock inside Jason and surrendered to the orgasm as it rode right through him.

Jason let out a deep-throated laugh as they moved apart. He turned to reveal the wet front of his jockstrap. “I didn’t even touch myself,” he gasped. “I just shot my load spontaneously. I’m pretty sure that’s a first.”

It had been a night of many firsts for both of them.

Marc went to the bathroom to dispose of the condom. When he returned, Jason had removed his damp jock and lay naked on top of the bed. He gazed at Marc with soulful eyes. “You don’t mind me lying here, do you? Or are you going to chuck me out?”

Marc laughed and flopped face down onto the bed beside him. “No chucking out from me.”

Jason rolled onto his side. He ran his hand along the curve of Marc’s back. “That’s progress then. I thought we weren’t going to do this again.”

Marc murmured, turning his head to face him. “Neither did I. It doesn’t seem like such a big deal anymore.”

“Tonight upset you? Going to The Viaduct?”

“Upset is the wrong word. It’s just… I don’t know. Opened my mind. Made me think about Theo in a different way.”

“Just because he went to the club, we have no idea what he used to do in there. And like I said earlier, during the Blyham Strangler days, a lot of guys went there. It was the safest place to go for sex.”

“I’m not judging him for what he used to do. He lived a far more enlightened life than I ever have.”

They lay quietly for a while, lost in their own thoughts and listening to the incessant rain.

“I wonder if he was there tonight?” Marc said at last.

“Who?”

“Whoever killed my brother.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I don’t know. It just came into my head.”

Jason’s hand lingered in the small of Marc’s back. He said, “If it was anything to do with Soloman Archer, then I very much doubt it. The reason Soloman hires escorts like Theo is because he can’t be seen with other men in public.”

“I guess you’re right. I know you say it’s a safe place, but to me, it just felt dangerous.”

“It’s different, not dangerous. Unlike the other bars across the city, I’m not aware of a single incident of violence being reported in The Viaduct. For Blyham, that’s remarkable.”

Marc sighed then yawned. “I’m knackered,” he admitted.

“You should sleep. Forget all about this until tomorrow.”

The warmth of Jason’s hand on his back was comforting. “Will you stay?”

Jason moved closer. “If you want me to.”

“I do.”