Page 100 of Worth the Wait
“Nate…fuck…fuck,I can’t…” Freddie gasped, every muscle in his body drawn tight.
“Yeah, you can,” Nathan growled, sliding a hand down to grip Freddie’s thigh, holding him open, keeping him exactly where he wanted him. “You’re taking it. So fucking good.”
The praise hit him like a punch to the chest.
Freddie bucked up against him, lost in the rhythm, in the stretch and slide and slick friction where their bodies met. Nathan’s breath hitched, his own control fraying, and he wrapped his free hand around Freddie’s cock, stroking in time with his thrusts.
It was too much. The skin slapping skin, the wet slide of Nathan’s palm, the weight of him, the stretch inside, the years of want crashing down intothis.
Freddie came with a broken cry, pleasure ripping through him like lightning. Hot, intense, and obliterating. He shook, clenching around Nathan as he spilled between them. Nathan swore under his breath, hips stuttering as heplunged deep one final time and came with a guttural moan, spilling into the condom, trembling above him.
For a long, breathless moment, neither of them moved.
Their panting said enough and Nathan’s weight pressing down on him, solid andreal, had Freddie’s heart racing as if it didn’t know how to slow down.
Eventually, Nathan shifted, pressing a kiss to the side of Freddie’s neck before carefully slipping out, falling to his side and discarding the condom. He then slung his arm heavily across Freddie’s chest.
Freddie stared at the ceiling, still floating, still stunned by it all. Not just the sex—thoughChrist—but what it had meant. What Nathan hadbeen. The tenderness in his touch. The certainty in his control.
Nathan brushed his fingers through the sweat-damp hair at his temple. “You good?”
Freddie turned his head, met his eyes. “You just rewired my entire nervous system.” He kissed Nathan’s forehead. “So… yeah. I’m good. You?”
Nathan laughed, low and warm, and leant in to kiss him again. This time it was gentle, unhurried, almost shy. “Fucking marvellous, mate,” he said with that familiar Essex lilt.
Freddie barked out a laugh, caught off guard by the cheek, the glow, the easy charm that was so unmistakablyNathan. That voice, that grin. It hit him all at once, everywhere at once.
It was like coming home.
They lay in the quiet hum of afterglow, Freddie tracing idle lines along Nathan’s spine with his fingertips, neither of them quite ready to move. Eventually, the silence became too full, too charged, and Freddie couldn’t help himself. He dipped his head, smoothing a soft kiss to Nathan’s temple.
“You knew what you were doing.”
Nathan stilled for a beat, then he pulled Freddie closer. “So did you.”
Freddie let that hang between them, but it wasn’t enough. He could feel Nathan skirting around what he’d really meant. Choosing not to answer, not yet. So he asked again. This time, more direct.
“There were others, then?” He scratched his nails down the curve of Nathan’s back. “Men, I mean?”
Nathan lifted his head and looked Freddie in the eye. “As there were for you. I’ve met two of them already.”
Freddie winced. Touché. “Technically, Jude, Mr Ellison, didn’t make it past first base. And in the interest of transparency, I ended things with him. So he’s not likely to either.”
“Good to know. But the fireman?”
Freddie sighed. “Yeah. Okay. He… did. I also ended things with him. For an absolute final time. A few months back.”
Nathan arched an eyebrow. “Final time?”
“Yeah. Sixth time’s a charm, right?”
Nathan snorted, then collapsed back onto Freddie’s chest. Not quite sulking, more making a point. The playfulness helped, but it didn’t erase the tension humming beneath. Talking about other men after what they’d done wasn’t easy. But Freddie still needed to know.
“Was it… many men?” Freddie bit his lip, gliding his fingers over the ridges of taut muscle on Nathan’s back. “Or was there one you…y’know…did it all with? A boyfriend? Partner?”
He felt the shift in Nathan’s body. The breath that deepened, the way his lashes tickled Freddie’s chest as he closed his eyes.
“There were a few,” Nathan finally admitted. “On base. On deployment. Never anything serious.” He paused, then added, “Things are different in the forces. You learn to keep your head down. Most of it was quick. Discreet. Sometimes a shared tent, sometimes the back of a vehicle. You don’t build a life with someone out there. You survive the night.”
