Page 42 of Better Late Than Never

“Eh, I think I was just so focused on moving on, being a dad, doing my job…” Connor sighed. “Didn’t really spend much time thinking about what I needed or wanted. But now that I’m here and I’m alone, and my boys are off on their own…” He trailed off.

“Time to think about yourself?”

“Long past time, yeah.” He looked right in my eyes. “To be clear, that’s not why I wanted this. With you.” Pulling me a little closer, he softly added, “Yeah, I’ve been dying to be touched, but this? This is because I haven’t been able to get you out of my head.”

“Me too.” I brushed my lips across his. “I, well—it hasn’t beenthatlong since I’ve been laid. But I’ve been wanting you like crazy ever since I saw your profile.” Longer than that, but he didn’t need to know I’d had a crush on him since the day he’d reported for duty in Rota.

“It hasn’t been that long?” An eyebrow arched and some mischievous curiosity sparked in his eyes. “How long has it been?”

“Uh…” The heat in my face killed any thought I might’ve had about playing this cool. “Well…” I cleared my throat. “I’ve got an occasional booty call out in El Puerto.”

“Do you?” There’d been a hint of jealousy the first time I’d mentioned Isidoro, but now there was just curiosity and maybe a little mischief.

“Yeah,” I said. “He’s a Spanish local. The guy I told you about who I talk to using the translator app.”

“Mmhmm. And when was the last time you were with him?” He was fighting a grin.

“Why?” I laughed. “You really want to know how long it’s been since I was in another guy’s bed?”

“Just curious.” Connor half-shrugged as he let that grin come to life. “Call it living vicariously through someone who actually has a handle on his sexuality and navigating the scene in this area.”

“You don’t seem to be struggling too hard with your sexuality.”

“Eh.” He wobbled his hand in the air. “I’ve known for a long time that I’m bisexual, but it’s been intimidating, putting myself out there and getting into bed with someone. I envy people like you who had the freedom and the confidence long before I ever did.”

“We all come to things in our own time,” I said. “You’re not the first queer guy to dip his toes in as an adult and you won’t be the last.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” he said with a dry laugh.

“I’m serious. Back in Yokosuka, there was this civilian contractor who was—I want to say late forties? I think he was almost fifty. I was the first man he ever touched.”

Connor’s eyebrows rose. “Really?”

“Mmhmm. He came from a seriously repressed background, and he’d had a nasty divorce for a lot of reasons that had nothing to do with his sexuality. None of us had a clue he was gay until I ran into him in this really tiny gay bar in Nagasaki. It was one of those places you had to know someone to even find, so God only knows how he heard about it, but there he was, and there I was, and… do the math.”

“Wow. So you’ve done this before, then? Helped some older guy get the hang of sex with a man?”

I smiled and trailed my fingertips down his arm. “You make it sound like I’m running a charity.”

He laughed, unaware of what that did to my pulse. “That’s not what I meant. Just… that you’ve got the patience for it, I guess?”

“Patience?” I slid closer to him and kissed him. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been enjoying the hell out of being in bed with you. Patience, my ass.”

He laughed softly as he ran his hands up my back. “Fair enough. And I hope you weren’t kidding about topping me.”

Excitement zipped through me. “If you want me to top you, you better believe I will.”

Connor bit his lip, eyes gleaming with renewed hunger. “Yes, please?”

Oh, fuck yeah…

“Have you, um…” I hesitated. “You said you bottomed with your ex-wife, right?”

“Yeah. Like I said, she wanted to try pegging.” He blushed as he added, “Turned out we both liked it.”

“Okay, so you know how much prep you need, and you know how much you can take.”

“Mmhmm. And I, uh… I didn’t stop just because she and I did, if that makes sense. So it hasn’t been four-plus years since I’ve been penetrated, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

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