FIVE

 

Dane had told Taylor that he would be here for one week. He had never made any pretense at anything else, and Taylor knew that there was no chance that it wouldn’t happen. One week after the day that he had met Dane, the day that they had gone to the waterfall together, Taylor knew that Dane would leave and that he, Taylor, would never see him again.

Of that week, six days had passed. They had been the best days of Taylor’s life, and of Danica’s, too. Taylor’s new friendship had unexpected benefits for her since Dane was easily able to get her as many ride tickets as she wanted. In the past years, she had been to the fair once, maybe twice, in the time that it was in town. This time, she went every single day, and her smile seemed to be permanently etched onto her face.

The nights, they were for Dane and Taylor. Once Danica was safely back at home, Taylor stole guiltily back to the fair, like a thief in the night. That guilt, however, only seemed to last until he was back with Dane. There was this aura of recklessness around the man that seemed to drive all of Taylor’s inhibitions away, and when they were together, Taylor felt so free that he felt almost like he could fly if he wanted to.

The sixth day was different, though, and Taylor sighed as he told Dane that he couldn’t come back that night, that they couldn’t spend more time exploring the woods around the small town, or sharing food at the diner, or driving into Seattle to watch a movie. Taylor’s mother, who had been the adult at home for Danica over the past six days, had a late shift that night, and she wouldn’t be home until well into the wee hours of the morning. Taylor was needed at home.

“No problem,” Dane assured him, a roguish grin on that face, far too handsome for Taylor to remain strong in the face of it. Dane had him wrapped around his little finger, and that was just the way it was. “I’ll come over. What’s your address?”

And it was then that Taylor knew for sure what he wanted. What he had wanted, but been too scared to think about, ever since the night when he’d thrown himself at Dane and kissed him. Back then, a week had seemed like all of the time in the world, but most of that time had passed, and if he didn’t do this now, he would never get the chance again. Not with Dane, anyway, who was the only man that Taylor had ever wanted this vividly.

So he and Danica left the fair early, and it was a sign of just how tired she was that she didn’t even protest. He stopped by the drug store, and while Danica browsed through the comic book display, just as he had known that she would, Taylor quickly purchased the condoms and lube that he fully intended to need that night.

He had gone back and forth about this so many times, but he knew his own mind now. Dane was leaving, first thing in the morning, he had told Taylor. And Taylor had come to realize something as the days passed.

Dane was the perfect person for him to sleep with.

It seemed crazy because the other man was taking off, but that was actually what made it so good. There would be no awkwardness, no decisions about whether they should keep on seeing each other or not. Taylor had no time for a relationship, and Dane couldn’t give him one anyway.

Once he realized that, the decision was easy. Once, he had thought that he would have to wait until his life cleared up and his responsibility to Danica was relieved a little bit. But he didn’t have to wait, and Dane’s kisses set his blood on fire like nothing else. It was simple. It was utterly perfect.

“Hey, Danica?” Taylor asked, a little flushed as he felt the slight weight of the condoms and lube which he had purchased and tucked safely into his pocket. She turned to him, an eyebrow arched inquisitively, and he shot her a bit of a smile. “I’m going to invite Dane over to dinner tonight, okay?”

“To thank him for how nice he was to us?” she inquired, searching his face, but he simply nodded. It wasn’t like they didn’t owe him that thanks, and he knew it very well. Dane had been amazing to Danica, giving her times that Taylor, acting on his own, couldn’t have possibly afforded. Even just for that, Dane would always have a special place in Taylor’s heart.

“Okay, cool,” she said, but there was more than just that casual acceptance of the plan in her eyes. She adored Dane, maybe even as much as Taylor was coming to do the same, just in her own way.

It was probably good that Dane was leaving. It saved Taylor from having to figure out how to break the news to Danica because they had all three of them known all along that it would be happening.

 

* * *

 

Yes, Taylor realized, it was a lot better that Dane was leaving. After dinner, Danica had curled up on the couch, nestled between the two of them, and as they watched a movie she had dozed off. Even in her sleep, she looked so happy, her head even drifting to rest against Dane’s arm in a way that touched Taylor’s heart far too much.

It would be so easy to let himself do something stupid if Dane were around all the time.

“She needs to go to bed,” Taylor murmured, gently picking her slumbering, warm body up in his arms. She was no heavier than she had been two years ago when she’d been a normal kid. Now, she was a little taller but frail and delicate, and he carried her very carefully, and tucked her into bed, brushing a kiss over her forehead.

She didn’t even stir, though she smiled a bit in her sleep, and Dane had been good for her, too. He’d been good for both of them, and Taylor knew that, whatever happened that night, he would have no regrets.

Quietly, he slid her door mostly shut, and then he went back to the living room where Dane was still spread out over the couch. For the moment, Dane didn’t see him. They had been watching a kid’s movie on Netflix, and Dane was still watching it. While Taylor watched, Dane laughed softly, his face open and relaxed.

God, he was the most gorgeous man that Taylor had ever seen. When Dane was around, Taylor felt like he was constantly being zapped with low voltages of electricity, sending sparks, heat, and energy, racing through his body. He hardly felt like himself, and for a moment, he reveled in the feeling.

After all, he was about to lose it. About to go back to being his normal, boring self in his normal, boring life. So he might as well enjoy it while he could. They had all night, and Taylor could take this moment just to look at him, to admire the stretch of a white t-shirt across a broad, strong chest, over shoulders almost too wide for the cotton to contain.

Dull heat blossomed in the pit of Taylor’s body, and it only grew as he kept on looking. He had never felt anything like this before, never even anything close. And there was not a single reason that he could see to deny himself this pleasure. He had never decided to hold onto his virginity. It had just worked out that way.

For this short time, he let himself almost gloat, to bask in the knowledge of what he was going to have. He and Dane had kissed more than a few times, and each and every time, Dane had swept Taylor into his arms and made him feel urgently needed. But it had always ended before it could go too far, and Taylor was so hard already that his jeans felt like they might burst open if he didn’t free himself from them.

Then, the moment was over. Taylor had looked too long, and Dane had noticed. He quickly glanced up, then shot Taylor a brief, devastating little smirk which made Taylor need to clutch onto the wall briefly, just to steady himself.

“Come finish the movie,” Dane invited, that low, southern drawl coming out more than ever. Dane had the sexiest, deep growl of a voice, and it would have been hot without the Texan accent, but that accent didn’t exactly hurt, either.

It was easy to tell that Dane had no idea what Taylor had planned for tonight, and Taylor took a deep breath and let himself think about the idea that he could just let the movie end and send Dane off with nothing more than a kiss goodbye. That was the safe thing to do, but for once in his life, Taylor didn’t want to do the safe thing.

This was a way for Taylor to have something more, and damn it, Taylor wanted to live a little. So it didn’t even really occur to him to call this off, and he looked determinedly at Dane as he approached him, his gaze unwaveringly focused on Dane’s.

“Taylor?” Dane murmured, and Taylor flushed a little because he heard the question in Dane’s voice, but he wasn’t sure how to answer it. Not in words, anyway. Not just yet. But he had some ideas about other ways that he could get his ideas across.

Way back six nights ago, Dane had pulled Taylor onto his lap, and he had straddled the larger man as they kissed and pressed close against each other. It was the first time that Taylor had had any experience whatsoever with another man’s cock, pressed close and tight against it, and that had been burned into his mind ever since.

So Taylor settled down on Dane’s lap again, facing him, his knees on either side of Dane’s hips. He didn’t try to hide his erection as he cupped Dane’s face and kissed him. In that kiss, he tried to pack all of his gratitude, all of his desire.

“Taylor, darlin’,” Dane whispered when the kiss finally ended. Pressed as intimately close against Taylor as he was, it was very obvious that Dane was just as hard as Taylor was now, just as aroused, and that pleased Taylor greatly, as did being called that sweet, affectionate pet name. Dane had never called him that before. “You know I’m leaving here tomorrow. We can’t …”

Taylor silenced him with another kiss, tangling his tongue intimately with Dane’s, teasing a low, rough growl out of the bigger, stronger man. He could feel muscles tensing under him, could feel heat, desperation, radiating off of Dane’s whole body. If Dane would only let himself go, Taylor would get to feel the force which was contained in those tight muscles. Dane would make it good, Taylor knew it.

“We can,” Taylor told him firmly. “I know that you’re leaving. I’m actually a little relieved because I don’t think I could do this otherwise.”

Surely Dane would understand not wanting to commit to someone. Of all people in the world, Dane should understand that. Dane nodded slowly, those big brown eyes deeply thoughtful, and Taylor knew that he was getting through to him.

“You know this ain’t something you can just take back after,” Dane warned, but his hands had slid down to that particularly intimate grasp on Taylor’s ass. There was tension in that huge, strong body beneath him, and Taylor knew without needing to be told that Dane wanted him, that he wanted to go for it.

“I know,” Taylor murmured, and he slid his fingers around those broad shoulders, desperate to touch, to feel, to see Dane’s body, just as much as he was to be touched by Dane, kissed by him, and stripped bare. His fingertips caught in Dane’s long braid, and the truth was, Taylor had fantasized about that dark auburn braid. Without hesitation, knowing that this was going to be his only chance to do all of the things that he wanted to, he slid the elastic free and plucked at the strands of hair, loosening it to fall free over Dane’s shoulders and down his back.

“I’d ask if you’re sure, but you seem pretty damn sure, sugar,” Dane was smirking, and Taylor knew that he had won, that he would get what he wanted, what he needed, from Dane. It was like when Taylor had loosened his hair he’d also relaxed Dane’s inhibitions.

“I’m sure,” Taylor whispered, and he was. His heart was beating hard and fast, fluttering against his ribcage, but not with nerves. Not with fear. It was all heat and excitement and desire, and when Dane picked him up, Taylor gasped and stroked his fingers through that long hair, soft and silky, as he whispered directions to his room.

Once the door was shut and locked, Taylor could relax because Dane was taking control. Just as Taylor had hoped, Dane, once he relaxed that iron control over himself, was forceful and knowledgeable and went after what he wanted.

Considering that Taylor had only the vaguest of ideas of what he was doing, that was probably a good thing.

“I got condoms,” Taylor whispered, blushing brightly as he said the word. He gestured to the paper bag from the drugstore, and then, with that said, with Dane informed, he could just relax and let this happen.

Dane was so strong, but he was also gentle, as he set Taylor down on the bed.

“I thought about you here. All week,” Taylor whispered, and he hoped that Dane would know what he meant. He had thought about Dane, yes, but he had done a lot more than just think, and from the smirk on Dane’s face, he understood.

“I’m gonna give you so much to think about,” Dane informed him, and Taylor grinned as he nuzzled his face against Dane’s neck, feeling the soft rasp of Dane’s short beard against his cheek and lips. Shaking, but determined, Taylor slid his hands under Dane’s shirt and his fingers, his palms, caressed over smooth, warm skin as he drew that t-shirt right off of Dane’s body.

With his cheeks burning with his own audacity, Taylor still pulled back just to look at Dane, to take in the sight of his bare torso, golden and tight and toned. Dane was just as beautiful, just as ripped, as Taylor had known that he would be. He could have easily been an underwear model, with a body like that, and Taylor found it hard to believe that he was going to get to have him.

Dane reached for him, and Taylor closed his eyes as he felt the thrilling brush of calloused fingertips against his skin, quickly bared by those skilled hands. He didn’t dare to look, not quite, because with Dane as powerful and gorgeous as he was, what was he going to think about Taylor’s slender, leanly muscled body?

But he wasn’t going to let his self-consciousness rob him of this experience. So he swallowed down his pride and his fear and let Dane strip him, and when he opened his eyes, the look on Dane’s face, in his eyes, was anything but repulsed. It was odd, but Dane was looking at Taylor with every bit as much desire as Taylor felt for Dane.

By some miracle, it seemed, Dane did want Taylor. It didn’t make any damn sense to him at all, but it was clearly true, because even still in his jeans it was very obvious just how hard Dane was for him, barely contained by the denim.

“Just relax,” Dane whispered, and it was only then that Taylor noticed that he was shaking, enough so that Dane had been able to notice. Dane settled down on the bed, his big, strong body pushing Taylor’s legs apart, and Taylor couldn’t help but tense up just a little bit. He wanted to be filled, he wanted to be taken, but he couldn’t help but wonder.

“How much will this hurt?” he asked, trying to keep his voice firm, just asking for information and not plaintive at all. He even thought that he might have partially succeeded.

“Darlin’, when I’m done with you, it ain’t gonna hurt a bit,” Dane practically purred, and even though Taylor had expected, and would be completely okay with, Dane just opening his pants and shoving right into Taylor, that wasn’t what happened at all.

Dane leaned over, gripping Taylor’s hips, pinning them to the bed and then clamping his lips around the full, throbbing length of Taylor’s erection. Without hesitation, he took Taylor deep, his lips clenching tightly at the base of Taylor’s dick, and it was only then that Taylor realized what those hands on his hips were.

It was to keep him from writhing around on the bed, because as good as it felt, that hot, pulsing mouth wet and talented around him, he might not have been able to control himself.

Dane, though, gave him everything he could want, along with that deeply thrilling, slightly dangerous feeling of being held down and helpless by someone much bigger than him. His cockhead slid over Dane’s flattened tongue, which caressed over the sensitive underside of his dick, knowing exactly where to touch, where to stroke, to drive Taylor insane.

At the same time, Taylor dimly noticed when Dane slid his finger between the cheeks of Taylor’s ass, brushing over the tight ring of muscle there, rubbing at it gently. It withdrew for just a moment, but Dane never stopped sucking even as Taylor saw him reach for the paper bag and tug out the lube inside, slopping it over his fingers before they moved back.

The lube made those fingers chilly, but Taylor was so distracted by Dane’s mouth that he barely noticed. Besides, it warmed quickly, and Taylor squirmed as best he could as one thick finger started to press inside of him.

There was still no pain, nothing anywhere close. For a moment, it felt uncomfortable, a strange sense of fullness, but that soon faded and Taylor, for a split second, was left to wonder if that was it. If that was the big deal that everyone was so obsessed with. Sure, it didn’t hurt, but …

But then Dane’s finger crooked and the tip of it rubbed over a spot which Taylor had only heard about before, but never actually had any experience with. At that moment, he got it. He completely understood, and he was left gasping and panting as his dick oozed precome into Dane’s hot mouth.

Another finger pressed inside, stretching him, but any pain that there might have been was swallowed up entirely by hot, pulsing, throbbing pleasure, the pressure of a skilled finger on his prostate, his cock oozing and leaking like it might explode at any point inside of Dane’s mouth.

“More, more,” Taylor found himself moaning, only barely able to keep it in a soft whisper, his fingers tangled in the thickness of Dane’s gorgeous hair. His hips trembled, pushing up against the grip which Dane held on one of them, and he shuddered as he rocked toward the stimulation, their eyes holding the whole time.

Right when Taylor was sure that he was going to come, that there was nothing that was going to prevent it, that’s when Dane pulled his mouth away and shot him the sexiest little smirk that Taylor had ever seen.

“You need more, baby?” Dane murmured, his eyes dark and mysterious as he gazed at Taylor. “Do you need more from me, beautiful boy?”

Taylor nodded, aware that he must look frantic, but not even caring. As long as it got him what he needed, as long as he got more, that was all that mattered to him. He was so close to his orgasm that it hurt, and he was swollen a dark red, almost purple, more and more precome oozing out every second to coat him.

“Please,” he begged, and it was like Dane had been waiting for just that one last sign that this was okay, that this was something Taylor wanted to happen. One last chance for Taylor to withdraw his permission, perhaps, but there was no chance in hell of Taylor doing that. Not as close as he was to what he could already tell was going to be the most stunning, perfect orgasm of his life.

Dane finally released his hip, and his other hand slid out of Taylor’s tight hole, which had been opened up quite a bit. Dane was thick, though, and Taylor knew that he was going to fill him up more than even those two thick fingers had done. The thought didn’t scare him in the slightest.

Nor did Dane make him wait, which was good, but Taylor was pretty close to flinging himself at Dane and trying to get that beautiful cock deep inside of himself. Dane gathered up Taylor’s legs, his hands behind his knees, drawing them up and out of the way and leaving Taylor more exposed than he had ever been. More vulnerable.

Somehow, with Dane, that felt right instead of terrifying. Or maybe it was both.

Stopping only briefly, to roll a condom over the intimidating thickness of his dick, Dane took Taylor by the knees again and positioned himself, kneeling there, a huge, strong man. There was only time now for a brief surge of apprehension. Was Taylor even going to be able to take Dane inside of himself? Would anything that impressive fit?

And then Dane was positioned, and in one smooth, slow movement, he started to press inside of Taylor.

There was no way for Taylor to be prepared for what this would feel like. He had thought that he knew, he had thought that he had reasoned all of this out and that he had known what he was doing. But he hadn’t. If he had known what this felt like, he would have begged Dane for this sooner, the very first time they had been alone together.

It did stretch Taylor, and for a while, he wasn’t sure if he could take it at all. But Dane was persistent, and Taylor was determined, and the blunt cockhead delved deep inside of him.

“Shh, darlin’, shh,” Dane whispered, and it was only then that Taylor heard the soft noises that he was making, the slight hoarseness in his throat from his whimpers. He turned his head, trying to muffle the noises. Because now Dane was thrusting at the exact right angle to hit against his prostate and Taylor was seeing stars, his vision half fading as his entire being focused on the incredible pleasure which he was being given.

Dane gripped his chin and turned him back to look at him, holding him captive with those big, dark eyes.

“No. Look at me,” he ordered, and Taylor did. And it was looking at him, deep into his eyes, that Taylor realized that he was going to come, that there was no way he was going to be able to hold it back, and that it was going to be so intense that he wasn’t sure he would be able to keep breathing through it.

It was more intense, more vivid and real, than he had thought, even. He found himself clutching at Dane, clinging to him, his hands clawing at Dane’s broad shoulders as the pleasure ricocheted through his veins. Their lips found each other and Taylor was finally able to give vent to the incredible sensations which surged through him, crying out into Dane’s mouth, letting their kiss muffle it as he shot his come all over himself.

Dane, too, was convulsed with his release, and Taylor felt Dane twitch inside of him, heard the soft, half muffled little noises which showed that Taylor, inexperienced Taylor, had made Dane come, too. The sensation of power that gave him was intoxicating, maybe even almost as much as the sex, as the powerful orgasm, had been.

He didn’t mean to pass out. He really didn’t. It was his inexperience which hit him there. He hadn’t known what to expect so he wasn’t braced against it.

When he woke up in the morning, his ass was sore, but pleasantly so, and his bed was empty. At some point in the night, Dane had left, and even though Taylor wouldn’t have minded a repeat performance, he had to admit that it was probably better this way.

As far as he knew, he was never going to see Dane again, but at least the last memory that he had of him was a thoroughly pleasant one. The sort of thing that he would remember effortlessly for the rest of his life.