Page 57 of Soulmates

Jake laughed, maybe the first genuine laugh since before the challenge back at school. It was a laugh of relief and happiness. Seeing Maddox’s expression relax into his normal smart-ass best friend did something to his insides, which still burned with need for Maddox but also recognized that no matter what they’d become or would become, they were still best friends, and Jake had a feeling they would need that part of their connection in facing what was to come.

But for tonight, they didn’t need to worry about the future. They had a house to themselves, hidden from the world, an empty bed, and each other.

“I had a shower in mind before anything else. I think I have moss growing on me.”

“Sure you do. A shower sounds amazing, though. Which bathroom did you want for yours?”

Jake stepped into Maddox, forcing him to tilt his head up to meet Jake’s eyes. “Smart-ass.” Jake gripped Maddox’s small wrist and tugged him up the stairs and into the bathroom they’d been using.

It was strange to have access to both his hands again, and Maddox seemed to feel the same, rubbing his hands together and rubbing his wrists as if he’d been handcuffed. Maddox went to step out the door, and Jake jerked around. “Where are you going?”

Maddox smiled. “I’m going to go pee without an audience. I’ll be right back.” Jake smiled at that. It would be nice to pee without Maddox in the room. Though Jake didn’t mind as much as Maddox did.

Jake got the water going to the temperature he’d learned Maddox preferred. Being tied together for over a week had given him a crash course in all things Maddox in a way that even being his friends since birth hadn’t done.

He stepped into the shower, leaving his disgusting swamp-coated clothes in a pile on the floor. The hot water hitting his back felt like heaven until Maddox pressed up behind him. Ah, there was heaven. Heaven existed in Maddox’s touch. There was nothing like it, and he was already addicted to the feeling of Maddox’s skin and the pull coming from inside his chest that sang like a plucked chord when Maddox touched him.

He turned to face Maddox and simply stared at him. Nothing could be more beautiful than this man in front of him. His golden waves darkening as the mist from the water clung to the strands, his eyes giving off that ethereal golden glow, the slope of his nose, his plush lips. He looked like an angel.

They washed each other slowly. Breaths hitching as they touched each other with soapy hands. They were quick but thorough. Maddox gripped his hand, stopping him from shutting off the water. Jake turned into him again, and Maddox looked at him with such wanton desire he abandoned the idea of leaving the shower in favor of pushing Maddox up against the tile of the wall, causing a yelp from Maddox. “Fuck, that’s cold.”

“Well, that could have been a soft, warm bed, but you stopped me.”

“I didn’t want to leave here yet. I want to kiss you in here.”

So he leaned his entire body against him and pressed his erection into Maddox’s abs. Maddox moaned as Jake tilted his head down to kiss him. Once again, it was like being set on fire from the inside. He felt that tug in his chest like desperation. He grabbed Maddox’s wrists from where they curled around Jake’s waist and pushed them up, running his hands up Maddox’s arms until he pressed them to the tiles above his head. Maddox leaned his head back even farther at that and sighed into the kiss.

Maddox’s body was completely relaxed. But Jake was a ball of restless energy. He wanted to consume Maddox, which was good since Maddox seemed quite willing to be consumed. They continued kissing as he pushed Maddox’s legs apart with one of his own and slid his thigh up against Maddox’s balls, pressing enough that Maddox had to go up on his toes until he was almost sitting on Jake’s upraised knee. It was enough to let Maddox feel him but not enough to allow any friction, letting the frustration build. Soon, Maddox was wiggling and trying to get his hands free from Jake’s iron grip.

Maddox jerked his mouth away. “Haven’t we spent enough time bound at the hands, Jacob?” The biting tone was undercut by his fierce blush and panting breaths, not to mention the fact that he was hard as granite, dick sticking out straight from his body.

Jake made a point of looking down at Maddox’s erection before answering. “No.”

“Oh, like you’re faring any better,” Maddox said with a pointed look at Jake’s cock, which was just as hard.

“Yeah, but I’m not the one trying to squirm away.”

“I just… I need…something.”

“You’re the one who wanted to stay in the shower.”

“And now I want to go to the bed.”

“But now I like it in here. You’re all helpless and wet.”

“I assure you I can be helpless and dry just as well.”

Jake hummed his assent at that and leaned in to kiss Maddox one more time before turning off the water and grabbing a towel, roughly drying Maddox’s hair before handing it to him.

“Ugh, my hair is going to be a snarl.”

Jake said nothing, just bit his lip and smiled.

Once dry, they headed into the bedroom, where Maddox halted abruptly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Um, I hadn’t thought…er…we didn’t discuss…things.”

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