Page 88 of Monsters within Men
Noah reached out for Zeke, wrapping his hands around Zeke’s forearms as if Zeke might run away if he didn’t hold on to him. “It’s good to have you back here.”
Zeke ducked his head. “I missed you,” he said, so quiet he almost didn’t catch it.
“Do you want to come up to my room? We’ve still got that extratrainingto get to.”
Zeke laughed, his now-familiar dark blush creeping up his neck. “Sure,” he said. “I have three days’ worth to catch up on, so we better get started.”
As they walked to Beech block in silence, guilt-ridden thoughts swam shark-like around Noah’s brain. He shouldn’t be doing this. Pursuing Zeke when it put his relationship with his squad in jeopardy. But hadn’t he just witnessed Meredith and Splat lose their chance at love? Did he really think Splat would want the same for him? And wasn’t London on the brink of collapse? Who knew how much time he had left on this planet? He couldn’t waste a single moment on regrets, on not knowingwhat if.
Their pace increased as they grew closer to Noah’s room, taking the stairs two at a time to finally reach his door. Noah slammed the door behind them. Then, he turned to Zeke, his heart pounding so loud that Zeke could surely hear it.
Noah froze, not knowing what exactly to do next, not wanting to push Zeke into something he wasn’t ready for.
For a few moments, they stood there in the dark room, staring at each other’s shadowy outlines.
But then every inch of Noah’s soul magnetized towards Zeke. Like a breath of air after being submerged underwater. Like seeing your home again after being lost in the dark. Like Noah’s true north.
Zeke let out a loud, unsteady breath, prompting Noah to close the gap between them. He slid his arm around Zeke, pulling him towards him. Zeke collapsed against his chest, almost knocking him off balance. As Noah guided them towards the bed, he tripped over a stray object on the floor, surging them backwards. Despite his best efforts earlier to tidy his room, something had slipped through the net.
As they fell onto the bed, Noah fumbled around in the dark, taking three attempts to turn his bedside table lamp on while still cradling Zeke in his arms. Turning to face him, he found his slightly parted lips were glinting where he’d just ran over them with his tongue. Noah swallowed, his anticipation growing stronger with each passing second.
Hands quickly found Noah’s hair, removing the band that held it with far more skill than the time before. When Zeke ran his fingers through it ever so slowly, ever so gently, it sent electric shock waves from his scalp to his feet. One gentle, lingering kiss on Noah’s collarbone preceded another, slightly higher, and then another. Finally, their lips collided.
And then it was Zeke’s hands pulling Noah’s hair, Noah’s lips against Zeke’s neck, bodies thrashing, hearts pounding. Gone was the nervous energy from their frantic fumble in the bus shelter. Now Noah would savour every last second of this moment; sear Zeke into his mind and body.
Noah tenderly bit down on Zeke’s bottom lip. Gasping, Zeke pushed further into him, as if he couldn’t possibly be close enough. They broke apart to sit up, tearing off shirts as quickly as possible before coming back together again, lips finding lips, skin finding skin. Noah’s head spun: touch-drunk, kiss-drunk, euphoria-drunk.
He sank back onto the bed, lying flat and pulling Zeke on top of him. Zeke’s wide eyes looked wild in the low light; his grin lopsided as he lowered his head to find Noah’s again. Both of Noah’s hands brushed the soft skin of Zeke’s back, gentle until Zeke’s tongue flicked against his and Noah dug his nails into Zeke as he tried to hold back a moan. For the last three nights, alone in bed, he’d had plenty of time to fantasise about this moment, but the euphoric feel of Zeke’s weight pushing him into the mattress was a thousand times better than he could have ever imagined.
Zeke’s mouth left his and a needy, pitiful sound escaped Noah’s lips before he could stop it. Zeke devoured his neck, chest, nipples as he ran his hands down Noah’s torso, travelling lower and lower until he reached Noah’s trousers, where his erection was pressing almost painfully against his zipper. Tugging at Noah’s belt, Zeke’s eyes met his, asking a question.
Noah groaned softly. “I’m supposed to be teaching you, remember?”
“I think I already have a fairly solid foundation,” Zeke replied, making quick work of the belt before pulling down both the layers of fabric separating him from Noah.
Noah arched his body up, quickly kicking down his remaining clothes until they hit the floor with a soft thump, leaving his fully erect cock completely exposed. Zeke was clearly fighting hard not to stare at it and his cheeks quickly turned a delightful deep beetroot colour.
“Why are you laughing?” Zeke said, pursing his lips and pulling back.
Noah grabbed his face, pulling back to him to kiss him deeply. In one swift move, he flipped them over, positioning Zeke under him. “Because you’re fucking adorable.”
Noah’s hand reached underneath Zeke’s trousers, stroking the skin he found there. “Can we even the score?”
“Seems fair.”
After Zeke’s clothes had joined Noah’s on the floor, he bracketed Zeke’s head with his arms, hovering his body inches above him.
“If you want to stop—”
Zeke blinked. Stared at Noah. “Why would I want to stop?”
“I don’t know. The sight of another guy’s dick might have untriggered your experimental phase.”
Zeke’s jaw dropped as his eyes became saucers, so wide they reflected his own dark-maned portrait back at him.
“Noah…” Zeke said, his hand cupping Noah’s cheek. “You arenotan experimental phase.” His eyes flashed with hunger.
Noah needed no more encouragement. He lowered his body fully onto Zeke’s, enclosing him like a blanket, while pushing his tongue back into Zeke’s mouth, where Zeke readily parted his lips for him. He began to slowly grind against him, his aching cock desperately seeking some sort of friction.
