Justin tried not to check the cameras again to watch Gabriel as he worked in the kitchen, but damn…how could he not? There was a part of his brain that was claiming it was to make sure the man didn’t put anything in the food he was cooking that wasn’t supposed to be there, but there was another little voice in his brain that was cackling like mad and calling him a liar. And he was a liar.

Gabriel was wearing a pair of form-fitting jeans and no fucking shirt. The hidden camera in the kitchen was picking up just so much lean, hard muscle that he was sitting in his basement office with a throbbing hard-on and probably a puddle of drool on the floor. The camera was generally aimed at his back while he worked, which was surprisingly devoid of any tattoos, but he could easily make out many scars stretching across his shoulders and down his back. There were a few places that looked like bullet wounds, but others looked as if the man had been whipped. Justin didn’t know whether it was a lifestyle thing or a hazard of the job…which could also be a lifestyle thing. Ugh.

Then, of course, Gabriel would turn around, giving Justin a clear view of impressive pecs, a flat stomach with killer abs, and the most enticing treasure trail leading from his belly button down into his pants. Oh yeah, he definitely wanted to follow along that trail to see what kind of goodies he’d find. Not that it was a good idea at all. No, sleeping with a co-worker was always a stupid, horrible idea. Unless you were doing it for information.

But he wasn’t doing that with Gabriel. They called a truce and he was sticking by it…as long as he was sure that Gabriel was sticking to it.

Groaning, Justin rubbed his face and flopped back in his seat. When he dropped his hand, his eyes went straight back to the monitor and Gabriel. The man was massaging seasoning into a pair of steaks. He had great hands. Justin shifted in his chair, pressing the heel of his palm into his straining dick while cursing himself and Gabriel. He couldn’t decide if the man was purposefully torturing him or if this was all in his head.

Their first night together in his house had gone fairly well. Upon arriving at his house, he showed Gabriel around, including some of his hiding spot for weapons, should they find themselves under siege. But not all the hiding spots. And not his favorites. He didn’t trust the man enough to show him his favorites. Justin managed to talk the guy into a bowl of cereal and a mild painkiller before he collapsed in bed. Soft snoring drifted from the room less than ten minutes later.

It took Justin far longer to fall asleep. It had been years since he’d tried to sleep with someone in his house. He’d tried dating once a few years back. Chris had been sweet and funny. They’d been seeing each other for nearly two months before Justin let him sleep over. It hadn’t gone well. Justin barely closed his eyes all night, his body twitching every time Chris moved in his sleep. They gave up on the dating thing less than a week later. It was more than obvious that as long as Justin was in this business, dating and steady lovers were not a part of his life.

But somehow, he’d managed to sleep with Gabriel just a couple doors down the hall from himself. Justin was willing to chalk it up to exhaustion and the fact that his body was still recovering from Gabriel little game of Operation. But it wasn’t so much the sleeping part that disturbed him. It was the fact that Gabriel was sitting up with a mug of coffee at five-thirty the next morning. Justin hadn’t stirred when the man moved through his house. That fucking sucked. How quiet was this asshole?

They talked a little over coffee, toast, and more cereal. Justin made it clear that he was going to spend the day working on cracking the doctor’s hard drive as well building out some hacks for Iaso. Gabriel offered to dig around and see if he could spot some easy target for Justin within Iaso as well as search through the news stories related to Iaso’s new drug and the death of two of its doctors. Justin happily agreed. It would keep Gabriel out of his hair and out of trouble.

Over a lunch of … ugh…PB & J sandwiches that earned him a few wordless but skeptical looks from Gabriel, Justin admitted that he needed to run to the grocery store. He hadn’t bothered to stock the pantry for guests because, surprise surprise, he didn’t have guests. But he knew that he couldn’t keep feeding Gabriel peanut butter, toast, and cereal. They took a break from work to make a run to the grocery, giving Gabriel a quick tour of Justin’s little town of Independence. The merc didn’t ask any questions, but Justin knew the man’s mind was soaking in all the details. He tried not to calculate how dangerous it was that Gabriel knew exactly how to find him. It wasn’t often Justin found himself with a price on his head, but he was making himself a damn easy target for Gabriel if it did come up.

On returning to the house, they separated, getting back to the work they’d been at all day. It was only in the past thirty minutes he’d found himself utterly distracted by Gabriel. The man had taken a shower—which he did NOT spy on—and then started making dinner of steaks, baked potatoes, asparagus, and rolls. Of course, Gabriel had to make dinner shirtless. Not that Justin hadn’t cooked half naked plenty of times when he was alone in the house.

Gabriel suddenly turned, his hands resting lightly on his waist. There was a smirk tugging at one corner of his mouth and Justin suddenly had the worst urge to lick that mouth. Just lick his way straight inside until Gabriel was moaning his name.

“I’m putting the steaks on your grill. If you want yours rare, I’d say you’ve got about five minutes to get your ass up here,” Gabriel said, looking straight at his damn hidden camera. Motherfucker.

Justin lifted both hands and flipped off the other man, though he couldn’t see him. He’d been sure that the camera was perfectly blended into the clock on the top of that wall. How the hell did he know it was there? He didn’t doubt that Gabriel knew he had cameras hidden around that house, but how did he guess the exact location?

Fuck. He had to know, or it would drive him insane.

Cursing Gabriel under his breath, Justin quickly locked up his computer and then trudged up the stairs to the main floor of the house. From the exterior, the house looked like your average middle America two-story house with big windows and brick front. But Justin had spent the better part of a year building in false walls, little escape hatches, and even a hidden room. The basement, though, was his sanctuary. It was reinforced like a goddamn fallout shelter. It housed all of his computers, servers, and coolest toys. No one could enter but him.

The kitchen was empty when he walked through. He paused long enough to grab two beers, but just barely stopped himself from pulled the top off both. Most people would see it as a polite gesture, but he knew the missing top would drive Gabriel insane with wonder and doubt. No, he wanted Gabriel relaxed in his house. After a long day of work, it was time to play.

Gabriel stood in front of the grill with two large, thick steaks sizzling over the fire. A pair of foil-wrapped potatoes were staying warm on an upper shelf. Justin held out one of the beers and gave a loud groan as his eyes caught on the black tank top that stretched across his chest and left his beautiful biceps bare.

“Really? Now you put a shirt on? Why bother?”

Gabriel’s smile was wolfish, but his words held a mocking innocence when he motioned to his chest and simply said, “Grease.”

Justin was willing to bet his left nut the fucker was not worried about grease splatter. Oh no, it was easy to taunt and tease and distract when Justin was safely out of the room. But now that Justin was within arm’s reach, Gabriel was all covered up and smug. He didn’t know if that meant Gabriel was a tease, stuck in the closet but flirting with the keyhole, or playing a darker game to get in Justin’s head.

No, truce.

Truce.

Truce.

Truce.

He’d keep repeating that damn word in his head until it finally stuck. Gabriel hadn’t done anything yet to truly set off any warning bells in his head. He was just accustomed to working alone. He never spent this much time around someone else who had the same job title as himself. And considering they looked to be about the same age, Justin was willing to bet that they had comparable experience in the field.

Dropping into one of the four high-top, swivel chairs that went with the table on the deck, Justin set his beer down and sighed. “Thanks for making dinner. I’ll cook tomorrow.”

Gabriel set the metal tongs he’d been using down and twisted the top of his beer as he turned to face. His dark hair was nearly dry from his shower, but it hung down in his face more than it had when he’d styled it. “No problem. I saw you also got chicken and I don’t know many ways to cook chicken. I’m better with steak.”

Justin snorted. “Aren’t we all? Tenderize and then cook until it stops mooing.”

Gabriel took a drink of his beer and then set it on the table across from Justin. “There’s a little more to it than that, but yes.”

“How did you know?” Justin ground out between clenched teeth because he couldn’t wait another second without knowing.

Gabriel’s laughter rang out across the backyard and into the woods that circled his house. Justin could help but sit back at the sound, his cock twitching back to life after he’d managed to calm himself. He’d never imagined such a sound coming from Gabriel. Made him wonder what other sounds he could make.

“You put the clock in the wrong place.”

“What?” Justin cried out, lurching forward in his chair. “What do you mean it’s in the wrong place?”

Gabriel picked up the tongs and flipped over the steaks. The flames flared higher briefly and the sizzling grew louder. Gabriel reached down and adjusted the gas. “The clock should be over the sink or the stove.” He glanced over his shoulder at Justin who just shook his head at him in confusion, earning another low chuckle that went straight to Justin’s groin. “If you’re working in the kitchen, you want to look up to see the time, probably in relation to what you’re preparing or the timing of your guests. It’s not natural to turn completely around to look at the time. The clock is spying on you, not helping you.”

Justin slouched in his chair and snatched up his beer, chugging down a hefty swallow before putting it on the table again. Gabriel made him feel like a goddamn novice. He knew that the vast majority of people who might be in his house wouldn’t even think anything of the clock placement or even think of a camera being there. But those weren’t the people he was protecting himself from. He was worried about the Gabriel’s of the world.

“I haven’t located the camera in the bathroom yet,” Gabriel admitted and then gave a little shake of his head as he continued to stare down at the steaks. “But I’m sure that you’re not using that one.”

Justin chuckled, settled back in his chair. He spun it around to stare out at the wide swath of trees that lined the back of his property. The house was at the end of a cul-de-sac and there were about five acres of woods behind his land that went down into a gully. When he’d been searching for a place, he’d been initially nervous about the woods. He actually came back after nightfall and spent several hours trekking through those woods, convincing himself that he could use them as an escape more than someone could use them as a way to sneak up on him. And then he’d only put in a bid for the house after he completed a thorough background check on all his neighbors.

Everyone on the street here just thought he was quirky, slightly introverted Justin Mallory, software developer. He worked remote out of his home but traveled frequently to meet clients. He wasn’t seen too often but made sure he attended every other street function or party so that he could keep up with the local gossip. Cameras might cover every inch of his house inside and out, but nosy, friendly neighbors were also a good source of cheap surveillance.

A breeze stirred, rustling the trees. They could hear some kids shouting from a few houses away and a dog was barking. The world of hunting down targets and acquiring information by any means necessary seemed incredibly distant. Like a slightly hazy dream. Justin had thought about walking away from the life once, but just thinking about what he’d do with his time when he wasn’t plotting, scheming, or stalking put him to sleep. Regular life was too boring and slow for him.

Sliding his eyes over to Gabriel’s back, he smiled. If he left the life, he wouldn’t have interesting people like Gabriel standing on his back deck, grilling some excellent steaks. He wouldn’t have the puzzle that was Gabriel to tease his brain. And who would want to give that up? Not him.

“How’s the hand?”

“Fine,” Gabriel replied and Justin rolled his eyes. “How’s your side?”

“Hurts like hell,” he admitted.

Gabriel set the tongs down again and turned to face Justin. “Stand up and raise your shirt.”

“What about the grease?” Justin taunted but still slid to his feet.

Gabriel reached out and lifted up the side of his shirt that was covered his bullet wound. A waterproof bandage covered the stitches, keeping it protected. “I need to remove the bandage.”

“Nooo!” Justin pulled his shirt free of Gabriel’s grip and took a step back. “You’re not going anywhere near that hole.”

“I’m not interested in your holes. I want to make sure it’s not infected.”

“It’s not. I’m keeping it clean. It’s healing. It just hurts because there’s a fucking hole in my body that’s not supposed to be there.”

Gabriel stared at him for another second as if trying to decide whether he wanted to believe him or check for himself. Muscles tensed, Justin waited, ready to defend himself if necessary. But Gabriel finally nodded and turned back to the steaks.

“Dinner is almost ready. Would you mind taking the rolls out of the oven? I’ll bring everything inside in just a minute, unless you’d rather have your steak medium well?”

“Nope, bloody works for me.” Justin grabbed up his beer and finished it before moseying back into the kitchen. He pulled the rolls out of the oven and then set about grabbing plates, silverware, and other random bits for dinner. He was pulling out another beer for both of them when Justin joined him in the kitchen with the food. They silently fixed their plates, but Justin’s brain couldn’t miss the fact that it was a comfortable silence. The kitchen floorplan was wide and open, but the way they moved around each other was like a dance. Like they’d danced together before.

“You want to eat out on the deck? It’s a nice night,” Justin suggested. Gabriel nodded and preceded him back to the high-top table.

They settled in to their food and Justin softly moaned at the first taste of the steak as it seemed to melt on his tongue. It had this subtle tang to it that he’d never gotten with his steaks. “Damn, you’re a good cook.”

Gabriel smirked as he chewed. “I can make a good steak on the grill. That’s about it. What about you? What culinary masterpieces are you capable of?”

Justin straightened in his chair and smiled. “Coq au vin.”

“Bullshit,” Gabriel replied without hesitation.

“It’s true.”

“Why am I cooking if you can make coq au vin?”

“I’m guessing you cooked because you wanted to strut around the kitchen without a shirt on and massage some meat.”

Gabriel shook his head, stabbing a piece of asparagus a little harder than necessary. “How is it that you know how to make coq au vin? Do you like to cook?”

Justin’s smile turned a little wry and he focused on his plate. “It was for a fucking job. I was hired by this woman’s family. She’d suddenly died and her family was convinced that her husband poisoned her. They wanted me to kill him. While I was waiting for the coroner’s report back on whether she was really poisoned, I started taking this cooking class that he was teaching. A class that was focused on classic French dishes.”

“You learned more than coq au vin?”

“Not much more. I was pretty good at ratatouille. My beef bourguignon was okay. My tartiflette was horrible. We never got to the cassoulet.”

“Why?”

“The poison test came back positive and I finished the job.”

Gabriel grunted, digging into his baked potato. “That’s a shame. I’ve had cassoulet only a couple times and it’s fantastic.”

“I thought about trying to find another cooking class. Something a little more common than the fancy French stuff. Working in the kitchen was fun. Totally let me zone out and just work.”

Justin moved his food around on his plate for a moment, getting lost in thought. Maybe he really should look into taking another cooking class. Something to get away from the computer and the job. Life had become too much about work recently. Couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone out on a date when the person wasn’t a fucking target. He hadn’t even hung out with the neighbors in a while.

“What about you?” Justin suddenly asked, shoving aside such thoughts. He could think about taking a break from work when he wasn’t in the middle of an important job.

“What about me?” Gabriel replied. He’d been in the middle of cutting a piece of his steak and Justin tried to ignore how the muscles in his hand tightened around the handle of the knife.

“What weird shit have you learned for a job?”

“Nothing,” Gabriel mumbled, his eyes directed down to his plate.

Justin laughed. “Bullshit! You know I took a French cooking class. What did you learn?”

Eyes narrowed, Gabriel looked up and his smile turned sly. “I’ll tell if you make coq au vin.”

Hesitating only a moment, Justin nodded. “Fine. You’ve got it. Now spill.”

“Tango.”

“What?”

“I learned to tango,” Gabriel said slowly, his deep voice curling between them. Justin’s cock grew harder at the thought of Gabriel long, lean body moving around a parquet floor, pressed against his own body in a seductive dance.

Justin cleared his throat and shifted a little in his seat. “What was the job?”

“Seducing the wife of a high-ranking official so that I could access their home and acquire certain secrets.”

“Were you the dance instructor?”

“No, just another student, but I made sure that we were paired together.”

“And how good of a student were you?”

Gabriel’s grin turned a little more wicked and Justin’s dick got harder. “I was a very good student.”

Justin pressed tongue into his cheek, fighting back the offer to enjoy a horizontal tango with the man. They were supposed to be just working. Sex would complicate things. Not that he was even sure that Gabriel would be interested in sex. It was more of a feeling. Maybe the way his eyes watched him. It felt like more than just watching. Or it could just be his own wishful thinking.

“Were you able to discover anything useful?” Gabriel suddenly asked, and Justin was grateful for the distraction. They needed to keep this professional.

“Not as much as I would have hoped,” Justin admitted. “I still haven’t managed to crack the doc’s hard drive. I wasn’t expecting it to be this big of a nuisance. Most people don’t give a shit about their home security when it comes to their computers. There better be something on this thing.”

“We might be able to get something from the other dead doctor,” Gabriel said. “I did a search on her and found that she has a surviving husband and young daughter. With the right incentive, we might be able to get him to talk.”

Justin lifted his eyebrows at the other man and leaned across the table. “Are you really thinking of threatening the man’s daughter after he just lost his wife?”

Gabriel jerked back, a look of disgust twisting his features. “I was thinking that we appeal to his sense of justice. He might just give over the information if it means getting justice for his wife.”

Nodding, Justin picked up his beer and took a quick drink while a sound of disgust escaped Gabriel.

“Well, you’ve made clear your low opinion of me.”

“And you’ve made clear that you’re in this job for the payout,” Justin countered.

“Yes, I want to get paid for my specialized skills, but I’m not going to traumatize an innocent man and his child just because it’s the fastest way to get what I want. You may find this hard to believe, but I do have some scruples.”

Lifting his nearly empty bottle of beer at Gabriel, he tipped it at the man. “You’re right. Sorry.”

Gabriel blinked at him, his full lips slightly parted in what Justin could only guess was surprise. “Thank you,” Gabriel murmured softly.

“I got into the drug trial data stored on the hospital’s server, but it’s a lot of gibberish at the moment. I’m not quite sure what I’m looking for. Right now, I’m just trying to gather names, whether patients or doctors. From there, I figured that we could research each person and maybe track down another potential target.”

“What about on the inside of Iaso?”

Justin sat back down and glanced at the remains of his dinner on his plate. Gabriel had been a pretty damn good cook. He hadn’t enjoyed a home-cooked meal like that in a while.

“Iaso is sealed up tight, which is what I expected. It’s going to take a little time to find a way to get into their system, and even if we find a solid way in, I have a feeling to get the real proof we need, I’ll have to be onsite.”

“And getting inside that fortress won’t be easy.”

“Nope.”

“And a hell of a lot of risk.”

“Oh yeah.”

“Thank goodness the pay day is $22 million,” Gabriel grumbled as he put his utensils on the plate and pushed it forward. The wind stirred, sweeping across the deck and ruffling Gabriel’s hair. He lifted his right hand and pushed it back into place.

“Well, I do have a little good news that will keep us busy, at least for tomorrow.”

“What’s that?”

Justin sat forward and started to peel the label off his bottle of beer. “I finished going through all the data that Marilyn sent over regarding the contract and who she thought issued it.”

“And?” Gabriel prodded when Justin fell silent.

“It looks like it’s the former chairwoman of Iaso Health, Gretchen Lornamen.”

Gabriel’s forehead furrowed, and he leaned forward. “Marilyn thinks that the Iaso’s former chairwoman wants…to stop this drug from reaching the market?”

“And for us to kill whoever put the hit out on the two doctors,” Justin confirmed.

Gabriel stopped and rubbed his hand over his face with a groan. “Is this about destroying the company that she was forced out of or actually stopping a dangerous drug?”

Justin couldn’t help but laugh. “Couldn’t it be a little bit of both?”

“I guess.”

“Well, the good news is that we might be able to get a little more information out of her tomorrow. I’ve been invited to a garden party of the Hamilton County Arts Foundation. They do a little fundraiser every year, and Ms. Gretchen Lornamen is a member of the board. She’ll be there. I thought my boyfriend and I could make an appearance, maybe sneak away to have a few words with sweet Gretchen.”

Gabriel pressed his lips into a firm line, his nostrils flared as he sucked in a breath. “Boyfriend?”

“Yep.”

“No.” Gabriel picked up his plate and carried it into the house.

Barely swallowing a laugh, Justin snatched up his plate and followed behind him. “It’s the perfect cover,” he called after Gabriel. “I’ve already made appearances at other functions for this group as this persona. I’ve needed a boyfriend to finally fill out this character and you’d be such a great boyfriend!”

Gabriel stood with his hands braced on the sink. His narrow shoulders were tensed and the muscles in his triceps were bulging. “And exactly how convincing do you expect us to be?” he demanded, not looking around to where Justin came up beside him and placed his plate on the counter.

“Handholding. A little sweetness. Considerate. Attentive.”

“Affectionate?” Gabriel ground out between clenched teeth.

“I can be.”

Gabriel turned and glared down at Justin. There was barely leashed power in that dark, narrowed gaze. Justin could feel waves of heat washing down off of Gabriel’s lean body. “I can fake it if you can. Just don’t push me, Justin.” He then turned and walked out of the room.

Justin leaned against the counter, straining to hear his soft footsteps as they retreated to the main hall and then up the stairs. There was a part of him that wanted to push Gabriel. Wanted to see what would happen if he pushed the man until that careful control he maintained finally snapped. But it would be a really, really stupid idea.

A loud thump had Justin jerking upright in bed. His finger tightened around the butt of his gun before the fog of sleep completely slipped from his brain. He’d gone to bed after another beer on the back deck and a couple more hours behind the computer. On the surveillance monitor, he’d caught sight of Gabriel slipping back out of the room to work on his laptop in the living room for a couple hours before going to bed. They didn’t speak again about their plan to hit the garden party or the contract. They needed the space.

Another loud bang in the hallway drew Justin out of bed with this gun clutched in his right hand down at his side. Soundlessly, he crept across the room to the door. He couldn’t guess at what he was hearing. Gabriel moved like a fucking ghost. Had someone gotten into his house? Impossible. Opening the door, he immediately caught sight of Gabriel stumbling down the hall, his hands sliding down the wall like he was feeling around. The faint light from a nightlight showed that he was wearing only a pair dark of boxer briefs.

“Have to get out,” Gabriel whispered, but his words were slurred and heavily accented. Something Justin had never heard from the man.

Frowning, Justin put his own gun on the dresser since the other man didn’t appear to be armed and hurried after Gabriel.

“You okay, G?” he called but Gabriel didn’t answer. Didn’t even react to his question like he didn’t even hear him. He picked up his pace when Gabriel got close to the stairs. He was moving like he wasn’t sure that he saw them. “Are you sleepwalking?” Justin asked a little louder, not sure if he should even expect an answer.

“Need to get out,” Gabriel repeated.

“Fuck,” Justin swore, rushing after Gabriel.

When Gabriel reached the end of the wall for the opening to the staircase, he fell forward. Justin grabbed his other arm in time to keep him from going head first down the stair, pulling him backward. Gabriel wrapped his hands around Justin’s arms and pushed against him trying to get free. They went down in a tangle of limbs with a hard thud to the hallway carpet with Justin laying on top of Gabriel.

“Hey! Wake up! You’re sleepwalking!” Justin shouted when Gabriel’s hand clipped his jaw for a second time. Beneath him, Gabriel gasped loudly and his body jerked. Justin watched as he blinked several times and tried to look around himself, but it couldn’t have been too easy with Justin laying on top of him.

“What?” Gabriel finally demanded, his voice full of gravel.

“You were banging around the hallway, sleepwalking,” Justin said with a chuckle.

“What? No, I don’t sleepwalk.”

“Yes, you were. You almost took a header down the stairs. Would have broken your damn neck.”

“I…” Gabriel started to say something but his words broke off on a sigh. He exhaled and closed his eyes. “I…haven’t been sleeping. The trip here, your injury, the break-in…I haven’t slept much.”

“Do you usually sleepwalk when you’re not sleeping?”

“I have, but it’s been a long time.” Gabriel rubbed his face and sighed again before lifting his gaze back to Justin. “Why are you laying on me?”

Justin wanted to say something sexy and witty, but his brain wasn’t functioning right. He’d gone from a dead sleep, to wrestling with Gabriel, to pinning the man down. As it was, he was far too aware of where his stomach was pressed against warm flesh and how his sleep pants had ridden up so that he could now feel the rough hairs of Gabriel’s legs brushing against his. Blood was rushing south rather than supplying his brain.

“You tried to take us both head-first down the stairs. This seemed the best way to keep us both from breaking our necks.”

Gabriel swallowed hard and pushed against Justin’s shoulders. “Well, I’m not in danger of that now. Get up.”

Justin placed his hands flat on the ground at started to push up. At the same time, Gabriel bent his left leg as if to rise as well, but it only allowed Justin to slot his hips perfectly between Gabriel’s. His hard cock rubbed against another equally hard cock and there was no stopping the guttural groan that rumbled up his throat. He was only vaguely aware of the fact that Gabriel had also frozen, a harsh hiss coming from his parted lips.

“Oh fuck,” Justin murmured. He looked down at Gabriel’s pained expression. He was biting his lower lip like he was trying to hold back a moan and Justin wanted to be the one biting that lip.

Instead of pushing off of Gabriel, he leaned down closer, shifting his hips to grind his cock against Gabriel. And this time, a small whimper of need broke from Gabriel’s throat. The other man’s eyes flew open in shock, as if he was checking to see if Justin had heard that single lapse in his tight control. Yes, he’d heard it and he wanted fucking more.

Gabriel released his lower lip and opened his mouth, but Justin was already swooping in. There was no way he was going to give Gabriel a chance to talk. The man was going to stupidly list any number of reasons why this was a bad idea and Justin didn’t give a shit. The one thing that was important at that moment was that the kiss was really fucking good and he wanted more. They both did.

Softer-than-expected lips met his and parted instantly, welcoming Justin’s tongue inside with a hungry groan. Oh God, Gabriel’s mouth was made for kissing. Fire roared through his veins, heating his body and hardening his cock until he was sure he was going to come in his goddamn sleep pants. His tongue slid along Gabriel’s, tangling, and then retreating only to have Gabriel’s follow him. The need built until they were both moving against each other, eating at their mouths as if they could devour each other. Justin had never kissed someone who fit him so perfectly. Gabriel matched him nibble for nibble, groan for groan.

They were going to burn up just from kissing. But he knew it wasn’t enough. Fuck, more. He needed more.

Reluctantly he broke off the kiss and stared down at Gabriel’s wet, puffy lips and glazed over dark eyes. He’d love to see his cock sliding between those lips while those eyes stared up at him, but that wasn’t going to happen tonight. They needed something dirty and fast. Then maybe they could work up to more fun things.

“We’ve got to stop,” Gabriel said breathlessly.

Justin hesitated for only a second. He might be talking sense, but there was no missing the hunger in his eyes. Gabriel’s body didn’t want to stop. Grinning, Justin shifted his hips again, rocking his dick against Gabriel’s, hating the thin fabric that separated them. “Really? Stop?”

“No,” Gabriel moaned. “Fuck no. I need to fucking come.”

“Good.” Putting his weight on his left hand, Gabriel reached down with his right and shoved his sleep pants down below his hips. His cock sprang free and slapped again his stomach. He opened his mouth to tell Gabriel to do the same, but the man was already lifting his hips and shoving his briefs down. At the same time, Gabriel spread his legs so that Justin could fit more comfortably between them. Their leaking cocks touched for the first time and they both moaned.

Spitting on his hand, Justin wrapped his fingers around both of them and gave one experimental stroke. In the relative darkness, he could barely make out Gabriel’s long, thick length and nearly moaned again. Fuck, he wanted to get on his knees and suck that down his throat until Gabriel lost his mind. But they were definitely gonna have to save that for another time. He was already so close to coming…and then Gabriel opened his mouth.

“Yes, please,” he cried out, thrusting up into Justin’s hand. “Harder.” A tremor ran through the tense body beneath his and Justin was pretty sure he could come from just listening to Gabriel fall apart.

He stroked them both together while Gabriel continued to thrust beneath him. Hard hands wrapped around his ass, digging into the cheeks as if to pull them tighter together. Closing his eyes, Justin could so easily imagine those hands grasping his ass as he buried himself deep inside of Gabriel’s body. A couple more strokes and Gabriel came apart beneath him, shouting his name while ribbons of white semen coated Gabriel’s stomach and his hand.

Releasing their cocks when Gabriel was thoroughly spent, Justin put his hands on either side of Gabriel’s head while thrusting his cock along side the Gabriel’s. The warm slide of semen had him moaning. Gabriel blinked slowly up at him and stretched his arms above his head like a cat. Fuck, he couldn’t remember ever looking down on something so damn seductive.

“That’s it. Move against me. I want to see it. Hear it.”

Gabriel’s low-spoken words burned away the last of Justin’s conscious brain. He did as Gabriel commanded, thrusted against his cock, sliding through the jizz and the silken warmth of Gabriel’s skin until he followed him over on a loud shout. He came hard enough to make his goddamn toes tingle and his arms turn to cooked noodles.

On a gasp, he dropped to his elbows, bumping his nose against Gabriel’s.

“This was a mistake,” Gabriel said instantly.

Justin laughed right in his face before kissing him hard. He didn’t miss for a second that Gabriel parted his lips and kissed right the fuck back. Mistake or not, Gabriel had wanted this just as bad as he did.

“That was amazing,” Justin said when he broke off the kiss. “And you’re gay.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes, but didn’t try to shove Justin off him, which was a little surprising. Justin’s entire body was loose and relaxed now. Gabriel could have tossed him across the hallway and he wouldn’t have put up a fight.

“We’re not discussing that,” Gabriel said primly, which only made Justin laugh again. The man kissed like a damn dream and they were both laying there with their dicks in a pool of their own spend. Gabriel didn’t have a damn leg to stand on.

“You’re an ass,” Gabriel added on a sigh as if he could read Justin’s thoughts.

“Sure, and I’ll let you have a go at mine if you let me at yours,” he offered. There was no missing the way Gabriel’s body gave a little jerk at his words and Justin grinned at him.

“Shut up.”

“You’re right.” As if he couldn’t help himself, he dipped his head down again. He brushed his lips against Gabriel’s and felt the man tighten up as if he was fighting him, the kiss, or maybe his own desires. Justin brushed their lips together once, twice, until he felt Gabriel soften and then part for him. The kiss was slower, a lingering exploration. Almost what their first kiss should have been, but it still built back toward the fire they’d experienced earlier.

Justin broke off the kiss and stared at Gabriel in confusion. He could feel the hunger nipping at him again. He’d just come, but there was a little voice nagging him to pull Gabriel to his feet and drag him into his bed to go all over again. Or even just lay there and keep kissing him for the rest of the night. That was…not normal for him.

He didn’t want to think about it. It was late and they both needed sleep.

“I think that’s enough fun for one night,” Justin murmured. Pushing up so that he was kneeling between Gabriel’s legs, he pulled his pants up where they belonged and grinned as Gabriel tucked himself away in his briefs. “If that doesn’t help you get back to sleep, just crawl into my bed. I’ll help you.” With one last wink, he got up and walked back to his bedroom, leaving Gabriel to pick himself up off the floor. He felt kind of like a dick leaving the guy there, but he was afraid that if he touched him again, he’d kiss him, and it was becoming harder and harder to stop.

With his hand on the door, he stopped himself from closing it all the way. Would Gabriel crawl into his bed? Snowball’s chance in hell of that. But with the door open, the offer was there. Justin shook his head at his thoughts before peeling off his sleep pants. He stepped into this shower long enough to clean off again and then climbed into bed naked. He’d only started wearing the damn sleep pants because Gabriel was lurking in his house. Now there was no point.

Justin was out almost the second his head hit the pillow, smiling to himself as he remembered the sound of Gabriel shouting his name as he came.