And he had a lot to offer.

  Ultimately, Jay was happy with how the night was progressing, especially as he stepped back into the living room and took in Aaron’s kneeling form. His graceful, slender body melted into the pose he’d been left in. The dim lighting of the room cast long shadows, highlighting the smooth skin and soft curves of his thighs, tempting Jay to reach out and touch. He may have looked almost fragile, if not for the hint of muscles flexing beneath the skin.

  His head hung low, blocking his face from view. An uninterrupted stream of soft moans accompanied the gentle sway of his body until he perked up at Jay’s approach.

  “Are you feeling okay?” Jay asked in a hushed voice.

  “Yeah, I’m good,” Aaron whispered as Jay took off his blindfold. After blinking to adjust his eyes, Aaron’s unfocused gaze trailed up and down Jay’s naked body, a small smile forming on his lips.

  Jay crouched down and removed the clamps, watching Aaron hiss as blood rushed into his nipples. When they were red and engorged, Jay tapped one of them, causing a violent spasm through Aaron’s body.

  A torrent of filthy images flooded Jay’s mind, ideas for the future, ways to take advantage of Aaron’s sensitivity. He had to use all of his willpower not to come right then, not to cover Aaron’s chest with his release and rub it in. Gripping the base of his dick to keep from exploding, he pinched the other nipple, making Aaron buck and shout.

  “Ohhh, I’m going to have fun with that next time,” Jay said with a grin. “But right now, you deserve your reward.”

  When Aaron’s breathing calmed, he continued. “You get to choose how you come tonight. Either with my cock down your throat or your tongue in my ass.”

  He had a good idea of what Aaron would choose, and he was proven correct as soon as Aaron jolted up with a new gleam in his eyes.

  “Fuck, yes,” he panted. “Sit on my face, Jay. Fuck yourself on my tongue.”

  A smug smirk played on Jay’s lips as he circled around to release Aaron’s arms. He rubbed them with care, making sure blood was circulating properly. Eventually, Aaron whimpered that he was taking too long. He seemed on the verge of begging, his neglected dick hard as steel and leaking, but Jay planned on keeping him on edge a while longer.

  “Lie on your back.”

  Aaron scrambled to the ground, eager to follow every command. Jay grabbed a throw pillow off the couch and placed it under Aaron’s head, letting him shift around until he seemed comfortable.

  Jay’s shorts were on the floor near the couch, and he grabbed them on a whim before straddling Aaron’s chest and slowly lowering himself. Aaron moaned under him, his hips thrusting up as his cock twitched, and Jay leaned in to take a closer look. He hadn’t had a chance to explore during their first scene, so he took his time now, running his fingers softly up and down the shaft.

  It was a gorgeous sight. Slightly curved, about the same size as Jay, a mouthwatering pearl of precome sitting on top of the slit.

  He couldn’t wait to have a taste.

  A shiver ran through Aaron as Jay trailed the light, slippery fabric of his shorts over the wet tip. The perfect reaction. Jay figured out exactly how to tease Aaron for the next few minutes, until they were both desperate for release.

  He inched back, hovering his ass above Aaron’s face until he could feel hot breath on his taint.

  “Double tap anywhere to tap out.” He paused, waiting for Aaron to demonstrate. Once Aaron lightly slapped his thigh twice in a row, he craned his neck to make eye contact.

  “Don’t be afraid to get sloppy. I want that talented tongue worshipping every inch of my hairy asshole.”

  Aaron’s hands flew up to his ass, spreading him wide. A second later, he buried his face in Jay, moaning loudly and with abandon as he covered the hairy crease with his saliva. He kneaded Jay’s cheeks while dipping down to give his balls a lick before trailing his tongue back up until it reached the hole.

  Jay closed his eyes and exhaled slowly when Aaron started making tight, firm circles around his rim, prodding at the nerve endings. With how worked up he was, he could come from just this—the tight grip Aaron had on his hips to keep him close, the eager moans of pleasure that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Aaron was exactly where he wanted to be.

  He pushed down the rising tide of his orgasm and teased Aaron’s cock with the whisper of the silky fabric, moving it out of reach every time Aaron lifted his hips to get more friction.

  Through it all, Aaron never stopped, continuing to swirl his velvet tongue. He burrowed further between the cheeks, rubbing his lips against Jay’s entrance before creating a soft suction with his mouth. Jay couldn’t help thrusting back at the sensation, immediately shifting his weight before he crushed Aaron, who didn’t seem to mind, alternating long, firm licks with nipping at the short hairs around Jay’s hole.

  A moment later, Aaron’s tongue breached him, and they moaned at the same time. Aaron kept going, delving as deeply as he could, gliding in and out of Jay’s channel.

  “Fuck, you feel so good. Who knew my little slut was so good at eating ass?” Jay emphasized his words by spearing himself on Aaron’s tongue.

  His orgasm wasn’t far off. He could feel it growing in his stomach, his balls tightening, and his hole clenching. Aaron must have enjoyed the tight squeeze, his cock jerking and dripping onto his stomach. Jay leaned down and blew his breath on the tip, choking on air when Aaron’s muffled rumbling zinged across his every nerve ending.

  He couldn’t wait much longer. Forcing himself to think, to remember anything from Aaron’s long list of likes, Jay scraped his nails up Aaron’s shaft, while the other hand reached down to give the base of the dildo a powerful tap. He wanted to give his pain slut the violent orgasm he craved.

  Pressing against the base to make sure the toy reached as deep as it could, he grabbed Aaron’s sack and rolled it in his hand. A powerful tremor shuddered through Aaron’s body, and Jay lunged down to suck the leaking tip into his mouth.

  The first spurt of come on his tongue was creamy and sweet. Jay hollowed out his cheeks and sucked hard, scraping his teeth against the sensitive skin. Aaron’s tongue remained lodged inside Jay as he shook and screamed through his explosive release.

  Jay let go when the trembling subsided, spitting Aaron’s come into his hand and using it as lube. It took three strokes before white ropes shot out of him and landed on Aaron’s stomach and groin. His vision blurred with the intensity of the pleasure, and he slumped over, unable to hold himself upright anymore.

  After taking a few moments to ride out the powerful waves, Jay gingerly detached himself from Aaron’s grip and shuffled down between his legs.

  Using soft, slow movements, Jay slid the dildo out of Aaron’s hole and sat back on his heels to appreciate the gorgeous, naked man splayed before him. With his eyes closed, a satisfied smile across his lips, his cheeks covered with saliva and his stomach glistening with Jay’s release, Aaron was the picture of perfection. The relaxed expression was a testament to Jay’s skill, and he preened with pride as he ghosted his palms up and down Aaron’s legs.

  “There’s nothing hotter than you lying on my floor, fucked out and covered in come,” Jay said with gravel in his voice.

  “Fuck, Jay. Rub it into me and leave me here.” Aaron blinked his eyes open and stretched his arms above his head. “Come back whenever you need me to thoroughly examine your balls and asshole with my tongue again.”

  “Tempting.” Jay chuckled. “Let’s get you cleaned up so I can cuddle you on the couch while you try to convince me that you feel perfectly normal.”

  He helped Aaron to the couch and darted out of the room to grab a damp washcloth. After wiping the worst of the mess off Aaron’s stomach, he settled next to him and wrapped both of them in a fleece blanket. Aaron rested his head on Jay’s shoulder, humming softly as Jay massaged his skin wherever he could reach.

  Aaron was the first to break the silence.

  “I didn’t expect aftercare to be like this. I thought it’d be more clinical, but it’s mostly cuddles.”

  Right. Aaron was experiencing everything for the first time. He didn’t have a point of comparison for what they were doing. In Jay’s experience, the moments immediately after the scene were serious, subdued—a time to care for the sub, to make sure they were physically and emotionally okay. The kind of sweet post-scene intimacy he’d been enjoying with Aaron seemed reserved for established couples, not casual hookups.

  Not that there was anything casual about his feelings for Aaron.

  “It’s different for everyone,” Jay hedged. It wasn’t a lie. It was different.

  Aaron was different.

  “I should go,” Aaron said after another few minutes. “I still have some things to do for work, and I have to get up early to get Mark and Rachel from the airport.”

  “Are you looking forward to seeing them?”

  Aaron rolled his neck. “I guess? I just saw them last month, so it’s not like I miss them yet. But I’m really excited to do all the touristy things I haven’t done yet. I heard the zoo just got a baby elephant, and I can’t wait to see it.”

  “Sounds like fun.” Jay paused. “When will I see you again?”

  “Probably not until they leave.” Aaron offered a sheepish grin. “Between entertaining them and staying caught up on work, I’ll barely have time to sleep.”

  Jay wished he had any kind of claim on Aaron’s time, but all he could do was nod in agreement and hold Aaron in his arms for as long as he could.

  He watched him get up and get dressed, wishing he could walk up and claim his mouth in a kiss. He’d never disrespect Aaron’s limits, but the desire was so powerful, he had to look away.

  There were so many things he couldn’t do.

  He wished he could tell Aaron how much he’d enjoyed their time together, but he couldn’t find the words.

  He wished he could ask Aaron out on a date, turn their physical arrangement into a romantic one, but he couldn’t find the courage.

  And as the door closed behind Aaron, Jay wished he could be content with what they had—the friendship, the sex.

  But he couldn’t.

  It wasn’t enough.

  Chapter 23

  AARON

  “Yes, I understand. I’ll be there by the time it starts.” Aaron hung up and walked over to the bench where Mark and Rachel sat while waiting for him to get off the phone.

  “Are you done being completely irreplaceable? Can we go look at some penguins now?” Mark whined. Rachel narrowed her eyes at Aaron, picking up on his shifted mood.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “I have to go in. Fuck! I gave them the slides with everything they need, but they decided I have to be there after all.” Aaron dragged his hands down his face, resignation slowly replacing every other emotion. It was irony at its finest—he had to go in for a presentation on employee morale while his own was at an all-time low.

  “They can’t do that!” Rachel exclaimed. “You took the day off.”

  “Not anymore.” Aaron jabbed his finger at his phone screen as he ordered a rideshare, trying to take out his frustrations on the unyielding plastic.

  “Do you want us to go with you? We can come back another day.”

  Aaron shook his head. “No, that doesn’t make sense. You’re already here, we paid for the tickets, so you might as well go ahead and enjoy yourself. Send me some pictures of cute baby animals.”

  They tried to argue, but Aaron wouldn’t hear it. His morning was already ruined, but that was no reason to bring Mark and Rachel down with him. He cast an envious glance at them strolling toward the brightly colored zoo map, then headed to the exit to meet his ride.

  By the time he arrived at work, he’d managed to calm down enough to avoid scowling at everyone who crossed his path. With a few minutes to spare before the meeting, he ducked into his office to put on the emergency suit he kept hanging on the door, a charcoal black that matched his mood.

  After changing, he stepped out into the hall and bumped into Zoe.

  “Aaron! I thought you were off,” she said.

  “I thought the same thing,” he grumbled. “But apparently, my presence was required.”

  “I’m sorry. Let’s sit together. We can play meeting bingo.”

  The suggestion lightened his mood. It was their favorite game to play at boring meetings—a combination of corporate buzzwords, haughty behaviors, and general cluelessness. The middle square was an open-ended “Technology fail,” and it was almost always the first one to get filled in.

  As the head of HR, Zoe probably shouldn’t have encouraged this game, but then again, she was the one who invented it.

  They’d only been friendly for a few weeks, and already she was making his work life so much more bearable. He was glad he’d made that impulse decision to pop into her office and offer to bring her lunch. He needed a work friend more than he realized.

  They slipped into the large conference room, already full of people, and took the empty seats at the far end of the table.

  “Welcome, everyone. Thanks for joining us today.” David smiled at the board members and tapped his keyboard to bring the projector to life. As the CEO, it was his job to lead the meeting, and Aaron didn’t envy him one bit.

  Time crawled to a stop as each department head gave their report, and Aaron discreetly picked up his phone to escape the boredom. There were a few pictures from Mark waiting for him, bright sunny shots of his friends’ happy faces with various animals sleeping in the background.

  He flipped over to his conversation with Jay. Despite Aaron’s promise to himself to cool it, they’d texted a bit over the weekend. He wanted to use their time apart to quash his growing crush, but it was difficult to stay away. Whenever anything happened, good or bad, his first instinct was to message Jay.

  It was getting ridiculous. When Mark had bought him a bright orange baseball cap with Chicago spelled out in pizza slices, Aaron put it on and snapped a selfie, sending it to Jay before he even realized what he was doing.

  The draw was too powerful.

  AARON: I should quit my job and become a traveling tie salesman. I could see the world and spread the good word of paisley at the same time.

  JAY: Aren’t you at the zoo right now?

  AARON: See previous text and take a wild guess.

  JAY: Ah, shit, you got summoned? Was there a strategy emergency? Did someone forget whether you’re driving innovation or transformation?

  AARON: You clearly don’t have our passion for excellence.

  Zoe nudged him with her elbow, and he looked up from his phone. “You’re not paying attention,” she whispered. “I just got the back in the day square.”

  Aaron flipped open his notebook to check his board. “I don’t have one of those, but I have a good feeling about bashing Gen Z employees during the IT report.”

  He was proven correct. After Wei, their director of IT, finished explaining how the newly adopted platforms improved the employee experience, a crotchety board member went on a rant about useless apps. Wei wisely chose not to argue with him and sat down without another word.

  The next slide appeared on the screen, and it was Aaron’s turn to stand up.

  “Aaron Copeland, our new director of strategy, will go over the progress we’ve made in reestablishing our brand.” David gestured in his direction, and Aaron stood from his seat as everyone turned to look at him. There was a point in his life when their piercing, judgmental gazes would make his palms sweat, but that time was long gone.

  He launched into the spiel, covering the information on the screen. There was no real reason for him to be here. He’d put the slides together under the assumption that someone else would be presenting, so he kept it simple and self-explanatory. Anyone could have done this, leaving him to enjoy his time off in peace.

  “Why should we care about this?” a board member interrupted him in the middle of his speech about the importance of employee engagement. A severe woman in a gray pantsuit, her expression somewhere between bored and displeased, she glared at Aaron with barely-disguised frustration. “Didn’t we decide to concentrate on our clients?”

  “You are absolutely correct. We’ve been positioning ourselves to be seen as a client-centric organization.” Aaron fought a smile at the low, triumphant hiss from Zoe. He must have handed her another square. “But our greatest asset, now and always, is our employees. We can’t promise the best possible service without staff to deliver on that promise.”

  “What the hell are you saying?” The man with the Gen Z vendetta jabbed in the direction of the screen. “Only fifty percent of our employees want to do their job?”

  “That’s not what employee engagement means…” Aaron trailed off, recognizing a lost cause. “Fifty percent is actually great. The average in the US is around thirty percent, so we’re ahead of the curve. Non-profits typically have higher engagement rates, but a major reorg like this was bound to affect employee morale. We just have to make sure we’re keeping an eye on the numbers.”

  “I assume you’ve already created an Employee of the Month program?” another board member piped up, using the most condescending tone possible. Aaron really wanted to go off on his own rant about how programs like that didn’t do shit, and companies should just pay people better and recognize their accomplishments in a timely manner, but no one would listen anyway.

  “We’ll take that under advisement.” He offered the room a tight smile and sat down, reaching for his phone the moment he lost everyone’s attention.

  AARON: They just asked me if I’m going to start an Employee of the Month program. I’m speechless.

  JAY: Spoken like someone not good enough to make employee of the month.

  AARON: At least no one suggested pizza parties.

  * * *

  The next day’s tourist activity was kayaking on the lake. It had been Rachel’s choice, and she giddily strapped on a life vest and dragged a bright red kayak into the water, wielding her oar like a pro, while Aaron and Mark stood on the shore and watched her. In the course of the sixteen years they’d spent together, their only interaction with a body of water was splashing in the ocean on their honeymoon.