Page 76 of The Long Game

“Yes.”

“The insides of your thighs?”

“Yes.” That breathy quality was back in Jack’s voice and it made Grady’s cock throb.

“Can I open your jeans?”

Jack’s head bobbed in a fast nod.

Grady swallowed to moisten his dry throat. “Can I touch your cock, Jack?”

Jack’s knees gave but Grady held on and Jack slapped his palms onto the countertop. He sucked in a shaky breath. “God, Grady, yes. I want that.”

Jesus, Grady had always asked his partners for what they wanted. He needed to have their permission, both because it made him hot and because it left him free to be totally focused on doing exactly that. But now.Fuck.Everything before was lukewarm compared to hearing Jackbeg.

Moving carefully to make sure Jack’s legs would hold—and, hell, his own legs, too, for that matter—he flicked his finger over the button to Jack’s jeans.

Jack shivered with anticipation.

“Tell me what you want me to do,” Grady said.

Jack shook his head and thrust his ass back, thick muscles rubbing over Grady’s cock. It made him dizzy. It made himwant. It did not, however, distract him.

Grady stroked his fingers down the front of Jack’s jeans and onto one trembling thigh. “Like that?”

“Yes.”

He rubbed his hand up and down, barely skimming. On each pass he trailed the barest touch over the very edge of the tented denim before reversing course.

“You can touch more,” Jack said, fast. Barely a whisper.

Grady ran a hand over the other thigh and into the crease of Jack’s hip. “Better?”

Jack groaned and ground his ass against Grady’s cock. “Fuck me, you’re such a tease,” he whined, though Grady could hear the laughter in there, too.

“Hmm…not tonight,” Grady said, knowing Jack hadn’t meant it as a demand and proving he’d been one hundred percent correct about Grady being a tease. He trailed a finger up Jack’s inseam and nudged his balls before sliding away.

Jack whimpered. “Why not?”

Grady pressed his face against Jack’s cheek where it was still turned toward him. “When I fuck you, Jack, I’m going to take my time with it. I’m going to map every inch of your body and know every damn thing that makes you quiver. Makes you shout.”

Jack shuddered.

“I couldn’t possibly do all that tonight. Too much still to learn. And too worked up,” Grady admitted, gripping Jack’s thigh and grinding against his ass in counterpoint to Jack’s movement. “I’m afraid I’ll come as soon as I get my pants off.”

Jack let out a breathless laugh.

“And when I fuck you, Jack,” Grady growled, “it’s not going to be quick. It’s going to take hours. It’s going to be as long andhard or soft and slow as you need it to be. And I’m not going to rush to get there.”

Jack pressed his cheek against Grady’s face and sucked in a ragged breath. “Please touch me,” he whispered.

Grady couldn’t ignore the plea. Not any longer.

With a flick of his fingers, he popped the button on Jack’s jeans. Jack’s stomach jumped against his hand, then stilled as he held his breath for the seconds it took Grady to carefully draw his zipper down.

In hindsight, Grady wished he could see what he was doing, but he wasn’t going to rearrange them now. Hell, it was debatable if either of them had the coordination to go two steps without hurting themselves.

He peeled open the front of Jack’s jeans like he was unwrapping a gift, then lifted Jack’s shirt and ran his palm from Jack’s sternum to his belly button. He circled the divot once with a finger, promising himself he’d spend more time exploring later, then followed the trail of hair beneath. His eyebrows lifted when he passed the point he expected to find the waistband for boxers.

---