Page 118 of Worth the Wait
Their eyes met.
Nathan didn’t expect a grin, or a thumbs-up, or anything showy. Not even a protective stance like Tilly had given. But Alfie didn’t look away. Didn’t roll his eyes. Didn’t turn and skate off again.
He stayed.
And that quiet, steady presence meant the world.
Because sometimes, the bravest thing to do is stay right where you are.
Epilogue
Flipping Hell
Two months later….
Nathan growled, impatience fraying his control as he tore at Freddie’s clothes, backing him up the narrow stairs of the maisonette. He didn’t let go.Couldn’t. Not even to breathe. Every second his mouth wasn’t on Freddie was a second wasted. He only broke away to rip fabric from skin, then he was back. Biting, kissing, claiming. Desperation thrummed through him.
Just like that first time.
Freddie was back on beat. Back to nights. Last night had been his first shift after weeks trapped behind a desk, and Nathan had hardly seen him. Four on, fouroff, and somehow always missing each other in the spaces between.
So this morning, unable to stand anymore time away, he’d come straight from the school drop-off, ignoring his dad’s requests to get to the garage for this, that, or the other because he needed Freddie. Totouchhim. Make sure the job hadn’t swallowed him whole again. That he was still here. Still his. And judging by how Freddie yanked him closer, fumbling for his belt, he wasn’t the only one feeling it. They were almost back to how they’d used to be. Sneaking off. Finding stolen moments. Somehow, that was okay.Morethan okay. Cause it was sorta them.
Clothes were lost along the trail to the bed and Freddie landed flat on his back, yanking Nathan down by the neck for a kiss that was all want and years of knowing exactly where to touch. Nathan climbed on top of him, weight settling low, and a sharp twinge flared beneath his ribs. Not pain. Just a reminder. Tight scar tissue pulling as he shifted. He hissed quietly through his teeth, not enough to stop, but enough to brace one palm flat against the mattress.
Freddie stilled beneath him. “You okay?”
“Fine,” Nathan breathed, reaching for the lube. “Just tight. Still pulls sometimes.”
Freddie dragged his hand down Nathan’s back with a possessive pressure that made his entire body hum. That look in his eyes. Fierce. Knowing.His. That burned hotter than any pain ever could. So with no fumbling with condoms anymore, Nathan slicked them both quickly, the glide of Freddie’s hand on his skin sending shivers down his spine.
Then he was inside him. Deep and gradual at first, steady even through the ache blooming across the scar. But once he was there, settled in the heat of Freddie’s body, alow groan tore out of his chest and everything else faded. Nathan’s thrusts met Freddie’s hips rolling to greet him, and his skin dampened with sweat as he clutched Nathan’s back.
But, out of nowhere, as Nathan was getting into the relentless rhythm of pounding him into the mattress, Freddie gasped, “Have you… ever bottomed?”
Nathan stuttered mid-thrust, blinking through the haze. “Uh… yeah.”
Freddie looked up, surprised. He clearly hadn’t expected that. They’d never really talked about their past experiences. Too busy making new ones. Too busy claiming each other in the present.
“Not often,” Nathan added as he slid deep again, burying himself to the hilt and staying there, pressed flush against Freddie’s body. His breath stuttered against Freddie’s throat as he held him still, refusing to move, to give relief. “But I have. Why?”
“Because,” Freddie bit down on his lower lip, eyes dark and glinting, “fuck me for a bit more. Let mefeelit. Don’t come.” He grinned, wicked and beautiful. “Then we flip.”
Nathan arched an eyebrow at the words.
Not from nerves. Fromwant.
“I really wanna fuck you, soldier boy.” The wildness in Freddie’s eyes hit Nathan in a way nothing else did. Not even war zones. Not even fatherhood.Thiswas the battlefield now, and he was willingly, gladly losing.
“Okay,” Nathan said, low and rough. “But I swear to God, you say one word about how tight I am—”
Freddie laughed, breathless. “Cross my heart.”
Nathan kissed him, hard, all tongue and sweat-drenched skin, then he pulled back far enough to slam back in, driving into Freddie with fierce, relentless thrusts, holding nothing back. Sweat trickled down his spine,muscles trembling with restraint as he fought to make it last. Freddie met him with equal hunger. Panting, gasping, groaning into Nathan’s mouth, digging crescents into his back with his nails, matching every thrust.
Nathan was close.Tooclose.
With a broken sound, he pulled out, breath ragged, cock slick and flushed, desperate against the cool air. He hovered there, blinking down at Freddie and burning the sight of him into memory.
