A.Alcrest: You around, night owl? Missing you.

The tiny circle on the upper right corner of Gage’s icon was orange instead of green, which meant there was a fifty-fifty chance he’d reply. Aaron lifted his coffee to his lips and gently blew upon the surface, sending ripples across the darkened pool. Its heat warmed his upper lip, so he waited to sip, not eager enough to burn his tongue. Despite the early hour, he was more awake than he had been in weeks. The stress was finally over—he’d successfully defended his dissertation.

While Aaron waited for a reply, he went through his email. He’d received electronic confirmation that the university had received his oral defense paperwork, signed by his supervisor, as well as the corrected copies of his thesis. Another email informed him that his degree would be available in four to six weeks, and reminded him that he’d either need to pick it up in person, or authorize a representative to pick it up for him. Aaron planned to elect a representative, even though it meant additional paperwork—the few hours it would take to fill out the necessary forms was worth it. There were bigger, brighter things in his future, and he couldn’t wait to get to them.

Fifteen minutes passed while he worked on assembling the necessary documents. He received no response from Gage.

A.Alcrest: Did you fall asleep at the keyboard again?

A.Alcrest: I’ll be around a little longer. I’ve got some boring paperwork stuff to do. Figured it’d be best if I did it while my coffee cooled. I’ve got a lot to accomplish today, so I’m trying to cram what I can in while I’ve still got the chance.

Aaron tested his coffee again and found it too hot to drink. He set it on his computer desk, the porcelain making a satisfying, heavy clunk as it met the coaster. There was crust in his eyes, and he rubbed it away. He’d only just rolled out of bed. These days, Gage was up later than usual, and the difference between their time zones meant that if Aaron woke up early enough, he could sometimes catch him online.

It seemed he wasn’t so lucky today.

Aaron blew on his coffee a few times and decided to hazard a sip. Molten java scorched his tongue and, regretting his life choices, he set the coffee down again.

A.Alcrest: What are you up to this week, btw?

While he waited for a response he was fairly sure wasn’t coming, he brought up the authorization paperwork that would allow him to name a stand-in to receive his diploma and began to input the necessary information. When the form was completed, he brought up his conversation with Gage again. There was no reply. His little night owl had fallen asleep at the keyboard.

Aaron envisioned Gage in his blue and red plaid pajamas and white t-shirt slumped over on his desk, their conversation window left up. At his side was a stack of books, borrowed from the school library, to supplement research on a paper—a paper he’d rush to do, now that he’d fallen asleep waiting for Aaron to come back online.

A grin curved the corners of Aaron’s lips, and he tucked his rolling office chair a little closer to his desk. He’d give Gage something to wake up to.

A.Alcrest: Well, I’ll tell you what you’d be up to this week if you were with me.

A.Alcrest: First of all, you wouldn’t be falling asleep at the keyboard. If I were home, you wouldn’t be on the computer at all. I’d be keeping you too busy in bed for you to even think about getting online, no matter what papers you had due.

The first stirrings of arousal struck. Aaron leaned back and slid a hand over the front of his boxers, teasing his growing erection. With so much distance between them, talking dirty to each other was as sexual as they could get. From time to time, they video chatted each other, but the time difference made doing so difficult. Aaron was busy in the lab day in and day out, and Gage either spent his nights working or doing his homework. Sex meant words—wants and dreams put onto the screen and expressed through language. It wasn’t ideal, but it was better than having no contact at all.

Aaron craved Gage. Even if the distance hurt, he could never let him go.

A.Alcrest: I’d pin you beneath the sheets and take you in my mouth. I’d make you come over and over until you couldn’t take it anymore… until you’d beg me to stop. But we wouldn’t stop, would we? Because as soon as we caught our breath, you’d be all over me, begging me for my knot. And I’d give it to you again and again and again…

A.Alcrest: Fuck, thinking about you is making me hard. I miss you so goddamn much.

What had started as a semi had now become an iron bar. Aaron undid the small button holding the flap of his boxers shut and guided his cock through. The thrill of touching himself while imagining Gage sent a throb of pleasure through him that made his shaft twitch, and he gripped himself more firmly and started to stroke while he wrote his dirty thoughts with a single hand.

A.Alcrest: Can you imagine what it’ll be like when we’re finally back together? You’ll be waiting for me at the airport, and we’re not even going to be able to make it back to your place. I’ll take you in the airport bathroom, a hand over your mouth so that you don’t moan too loudly. You’ll have to hang onto the stall door to keep yourself upright, because by the time I’m through with you, your knees are going to be jelly. And every little whimper of yours that makes it through my fingers is only going to make me want you so much more.

A.Alcrest: And when we do make it to bed together? When I’m back at your apartment and we sink into the sheets, kissing and touching and needing each other? We’re going to have almost five years to catch up on. All the filthy things I wanna do to make you feel good… fuck, I want you, baby. I wanna be inside you again.

A.Alcrest: Wish you were here right now. Wish we could play. When you read these messages, I want you to promise me something, okay? No matter what time it is, no matter what you have to do, or where you have to be, I want you to touch yourself. Wrap your hand around your dick and pretend it’s me. And if you can’t get off from that alone, then I want you to finger yourself. You know how I’d touch you—how deep I’d go, and what I’d do. Play with your prostate for me, baby, just like I’d be doing if I were there. Push your cum out for me. I want you to come all over yourself. Tribute yourself for me.

Thoughts of Gage, sitting in his computer chair, his hair pushed back at odd angles from falling asleep on the desk and his cheeks flushed with arousal, invaded Aaron’s mind. Gage, effortlessly gorgeous, would tilt his head back just slightly as his hand wrapped around his shaft and started to pump. The sun would catch in his golden-brown hair as he tossed his head back and make the blond strands glimmer. Slowly, he’d pump his hips into his hand, his lips parting in ecstasy, until his body convinced him that a hand around his cock wasn’t enough—that he needed more. He’d twist in his chair and push his fingers into himself, wiggling and scissoring until they were sunken in deep, then press his fingertips against his prostate and push over and over until pleasure pulsed through his balls and couldn’t be contained any longer.

He’d shoot onto his stomach and over his chest, pearly streaks of cum glossing his skin.

That cum would belong to Aaron. It would have been his doing, after all. They were an ocean apart, but still, Aaron was the only one Gage came for.

He couldn’t wait to be home.

Aaron let out a puff of breath as he settled back in his chair, coffee forgotten, and pumped himself closer to climax. He imagined Gage’s tight body taut around his shaft, their bodies made to pleasure each other. Maybe, just maybe, Gage would let him take his heat unmedicated. He’d be on birth control, of course—Aaron wasn’t ready to have children, and wouldn’t be for many more years to come—but he’d skip his heat dampeners, and they’d spend the week working orgasm after orgasm from each other, knotted together as often as Aaron could sustain.

How pretty would Gage look then, with his high cheekbones flushed with color and his skin glowing from endless sex?

A tiny moan escaped Aaron’s lips, barely loud enough to make it to his own eardrums. Pinpricks of sweat beaded his skin, and he shifted in his chair as his pleasure started to build to a simmering high. How many times had he entertained the fantasy of taking Gage’s heat since they’d been apart? Thoughts like those had kept his bed warm on cold nights and guided him through the worst of his loneliness. They’d spurred him on to work as hard as he could in order to finish the research for his dissertation, and now, the task done, he could go home to the young man who’d always owned his heart.

He’d knotted Gage’s ass more times than he could count that stunning summer—kissed him until their lips were so sore that the memory of their passion was bruised onto his skin. Now, with so much distance between them, the bruising kisses and the memory of Gage’s tiny, panted breaths and hitched moans of exquisite pleasure were all that Aaron had left.

But soon?

Soon, he’d make things right. Soon, he’d show Gage how much he cared. He’d gone to Europe to chase the best education he could, intending to come home with stellar job prospects so he could take care of Gage for the rest of his life. With his PhD accomplished and a position at Aurora’s pharmaceutical giant, Synecta, already his, that goal was swiftly becoming a reality.

Aaron bucked up into his hand. He let out a hiss between his teeth and closed his eyes, remembering the taste of Gage’s lips and the way he’d felt so right against his body. Pleasure prickled in Aaron’s balls and tightened his gut, and with a breathless cry, he pushed into his closed fist and came, imagining he was with Gage all over again. His knot swelled, pushing his hand open, and he shot again and again while he pictured how pretty Gage would look now—older, wiser, and in desperate need of him… and how surprised he would be when Aaron knocked on his apartment door, fresh off the tarmac, and dropped to one knee.

They’d waited for each other long enough. Aaron wouldn’t wait any more.

Panting to regain his breath, he plucked a tissue from the box sitting on his computer desk and cleaned up. If he was ever going to get home to Gage, he had work to do.

A.Alcrest: I love you, baby. I’m working hard to make sure we’re together again soon. Keep being strong for me. Our time apart will be over before you know it.

And when it was, their life together would begin.