Ben promised himself he could wait five more minutes. They would be talking. Seth would want to check Zach’s eyes. He tried to convince himself that Seth wouldn’t be attempting to persuade Zach that being with Ben was a bad idea. Should he call him? He’d said he would wait here, but if Zach wanted to talk to Seth some more, maybe he should go. He fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed.

“Baby.” Zach’s voice was warm and wrapped around him.

Ben closed his eyes imagining it. “How did you know it was me?”

“Smartphone. Where are you, and are you coming for me or shall I get Matt or someone to bring me?”

Ben swallowed his nerves down. “I’m just out the back. Are you ready now? I didn’t know if you wanted me to wait or if I should just see you in the morning.”

Silence.

“Do you want to not see me until the morning?”

“I want you now,” Ben confessed.

Zach made a sound of contentment and hung up. Within seconds, he saw Zach let himself out of the staff entrance. He was smiling. Ben practically flew into his arms.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do. He looked furious.”

“Hush,” Zach hugged him tight, reveling in the lithe body clinging to his own. It was okay. “You’re mine,” Zach promised. “Seth’s gonna have to get used to that.”

Ben nodded against his shirt and stepped back. “I ought to put the cart on charge and swap it for another one.” He could have done that already. “Was he angry?”

Zach seemed to consider the question. “You know it was kind of odd. I honestly thought he would be on my case a little more, but we spent more time talking about Chris than me.”

“Professionally or personally?”

Zach shook his head, climbed into the cart, and they set off. “Seth’s not gay.” Ben glanced at him.

“You don’t sound convinced.”

Zach shrugged. “He’s had plenty of girlfriends, I think Chris fascinated him because he’s a doctor.”

Ben scoffed. “And his gorgeous looks have nothing to do with it.”

Zach grinned. “I wouldn’t know, but how about we stop talking about my brother and start talking about what I plan to do with you when we get in bed?”

They actually never made it into bed before Ben had his hands all over Zach. Not that Zach was complaining. “Do you have any idea how much I wanted to strip you naked while we were at the hotel? Looking so fine,” Ben murmured and took over undoing Zach’s buttons. He parted the shirt and immediately bent his head, sucking Zach’s nipple into his mouth and worrying it with his teeth and tongue. One hand snaked behind Zach’s neck and the other cupped the bulge in his pants.

“Baby,” Zach managed to get out before Ben lifted his head and fastened his mouth on Zach’s. Baby. Their thing. No one else had ever called him that, and no one else had ever said that to Ben. It was theirs. Zach grunted in satisfaction and eagerly returned kiss after kiss, arching his neck when Ben’s lips trailed over the skin there. “Feels so good,” he murmured, glad that Ben seemed perfectly capable of stripping them both because Zach doubted he had either the coordination or the concentration needed. He would have just ripped everything.

“You got lube?” Zach rasped as they fell on the bed, barely willing to separate their mouths to satisfy some ridiculous need for oxygen. Ben moaned as Zach trailed his lips over Ben’s chest and lightly flicked his tongue around his nipple. But he didn’t stop there. It was far too interesting to carry on his exploration down to the sensitive skin on his lower abdomen, and when he licked at Ben’s balls, drawing one into his mouth, he thought Ben was going to come apart, but instead, he dug his fingers tightly into Zach’s shoulders.

Yeah, you hang on. After giving his other ball the same treatment, Zach gently released Ben’s sac, nuzzled the side of his cock, and licked up the thick vein all the way to the tip. Ben was hard. Hard, leaking, and begging for something, anything. His fingers would leave bruises tomorrow, and Zach loved it. Loved the stamp of ownership. He opened his mouth and licked the crown teasingly.

“Zach,” Ben almost wailed. “I—you. Please…” Zach let go and reached for the lube. He had another idea that he suddenly desperately wanted.

“In me?”

Ben hesitated.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” Zach hurried out.

“Oh God,” Ben groaned. “Why does that sound like the hottest thing ever?” Ben sat up and returned the breathtaking kiss of moments ago. “Roll over and get on your hands and knees,” he ordered.

Zach was almost ashamed at the whimper that escaped his lips.

“Have you ever done this?”

“Once or twice in college, but I didn’t like—”

Ben stilled. “Baby, I love what you do to me. If you don’t—”

“They were big guys. Bigger than me. I felt trapped,” Zach rushed out. “I know it makes no sense.”

Ben brushed a gentle, sweet kiss on his lips. “We all have things we like and don’t. You know I adore it when you get bossy in bed. I love you holding me down, but that’s been built because I trust you. I absolutely trust you enough to put myself in such a vulnerable position. The thought that you can hold me still and I can’t move makes me so hard I want to come just thinking about it. I only had two casual boyfriends before you, and they were the same size as me.”

“Iserio Dunas,” Zach said. “The hairdresser.”

“You knew? It was before I met you.”

“He suggested we get together. All of us,” Zach added pointedly, “but I told him that was impossible because I don’t share.” The thought of anyone else’s hands on Ben had kept him awake more nights than he cared to remember.

Ben sighed. “I love that you get jealous even if you have no need to be. Does that make me shallow?”

“It makes you human,” Zach confirmed and wriggled. He was hard, and the sheet pressed him in interesting places.

Ben chuckled. “Aww, baby. You uncomfortable?” He trailed slim fingers down Zach’s spine. “Get up on your hands and knees.” Zach moved fast, and Ben took the lube from where Zach had left it and knelt up.

Ben put some lube on his fingers and bent over, kissing Zach’s back. Zach arched and groaned, letting his head drop at the same time as Ben reached down and played with his fingers around Zach’s hole. “Fuck,” Zach gasped. “Why did I never want this before?”

But he knew. They had always been in such a hurry. Sex had been something they rushed and fit in between times of being apart. He was usually so horny by the time he got his hands on Ben, it would never have occurred to him to even think about changing it up. Not that Ben had been any better. He couldn’t count the number of times he had come in and Ben had him naked before they had even made it to the bedroom.

Ben kissed every part of Zach he could reach and never stopped teasing and gently playing in his hole with those sinful fingers. Zach gasped when Ben reached around with his other hand and gripped his leaking cock. “If you don’t get inside me right this minute, it will be too late.” Zach was on the edge. It would take nothing for him to jump off.

Ben murmured something and lifted, positioning himself at Zach’s entrance and slathering more lube on. Zach swallowed, trying to moisten his dry throat. He could feel the ache start in his groin. His balls were on fire and his cock was rigid and throbbing. He bent down, unable to hold himself any longer and put his head on his arms.

“That is so sexy,” Ben muttered. “How you opened up then,” and Zach groaned as he felt the first hesitant push of Ben’s cock. He pushed back into the burn without Ben having to say anything, but judging from Ben’s moans, he was incapable of instructions. Ben lowered himself over Zach’s back, and while Zach would have given his partner a minute, Ben pushed, helpless to hold back. Zach bit down on the gasp; it had been a long time. “Zach. I can’t.” Ben was garbled and sexy, and the best thing that had ever happened to him, and even if he couldn’t walk for a week, there was no way—

“Nghh” Zach managed as Ben pulled back a little before pushing back, causing a shower of sparks to light up his skin.

“Touch yourself,” Ben pleaded. “Get yourself off because I can’t hold on.”

Zach eagerly reached for his aching cock, wrapped his fingers around the base, and tugged. The sparks shot through his head, his balls. Every part of him lighting up and drawing tighter.

“Zach,” Ben gasped and rammed harder, pushing Zach forward and thrusting his cock through his own fingers. He pulled back and did it again, and again. Zach clamped his lips together, determined not to shoot before Ben. Ben suddenly seemed to freeze for a second then began to shake, and Zach’s cock pulsed in his fingers as pleasure streaked through every cell in his body, taking Zach along for the ride.

It was a good job he was on the bed. He wasn’t able to hold anyone up this time, even himself.

The next morning, Zach lay in a sated sprawl, not entirely sure where his limbs ended and Ben’s began. Not that he was complaining. “I know I need a shower, but the bathroom seems an incredibly long way away. You’d have thought if Daniel was going to get you a luxury cabin, the shower would have been closer, next to the bed even.” He felt Ben’s lips lift into a smile from where they were pressed against his belly. “Or you could carry me.”

Ben’s shoulders shook. “I don’t think I could even lift you, never mind use forward motion at the same time.”

Zach sighed. “But I’ve lost weight,” he protested.

Ben lifted his head, and Zach knew he was looking at him. “Don’t say that like it’s a good thing,” he scolded.

Zach threaded his fingers through Ben’s hair which he had tied back last night but was working loose. “How about I get myself in the bathroom and you wash me?”

He felt Ben crawl up the bed and dropped a kiss on his lips. “Good call.”

“Hey,” Zach said in protest as Ben jumped up and left the bedroom.

“I’m just gonna let Kai out.”

Zach growled in protest but smiled, remembering what he had thought last night about his new normal and how much he was gonna love it. Reluctantly, he got up and went to his bag to get out the eye drops he had to put in every morning and fervently hoped they would be a thing of the past soon. He paused, his hands on the bag, realizing he hadn’t thought about his sight yesterday at all. It was no big deal to Ben and that was making him more relaxed. He would go to the clinic tomorrow then, if everything was okay, insist the visits were reduced to at least weekly until he had the oil taken out at the end of the month. Ben walked back into the bedroom after a few minutes. “He’s eating, but maybe after our shower and breakfast, we could take him for a walk?”

Zach nodded then stopped. “Seth. I promised we would join him. I think he’s leaving straight after breakfast.”

Ben closed the gap. “Sorry, of course, but I'm sure it would be better if I wasn’t there. I’ll just—”

“Please?” Zach took Ben’s hand. “I told him that I loved you last night.”

“You did?” Ben sounded incredulous.

“Why the surprise? I’ve told you enough. Why would you think I wouldn’t tell my brother?” Zach let Ben’s hand fall and turned to go into the bathroom. He was sick of the constant battles. Ben and Seth were the two most important people in his life. It sickened him they didn’t get along.

Ben caught him back up. “I’m sorry. Of course, I will come to breakfast. Just don’t blame me if I stab him with a fork if he starts anything.”

Zach chuckled. “We can set your attack dog on him.”

“Well, I hope you don’t mean Kai,” Ben said, taking Zach’s hand, “because the only thing he’s likely to do is lick him into submission.”

Zach dropped his voice. “You pretty much licked me into submission this morning.”

It didn’t take long before they were on the golf cart with Kai happily running alongside them. “As soon as I get this operation over with, I’m going to start running again. If we weren’t in a hurry, we could have easily walked it.”

“Yeah, it’s so nice to be able to wander about everywhere.” It didn’t take any time to get back to the hotel and they both climbed out.

“How many cabins do you think Daniel will get?” He’d hate to see it crowded.

“Not many,” Ben assured him. “He wants each one to have its privacy. He was originally talking about renting them out, but Josh says he might just keep the guests at the hotel and use the cabins for permanent residents.”

“That’s a nice idea.” He didn’t need to see Ben to know his eyes were on him.

“It might get lonely.”

“Why? You planning on leaving me?” He felt Ben’s hand on his arm to stop him then Ben turned and took his face in his hands.

“Do you understand why I’m so scared?”

“Of me not being content to stay here?”

Ben stepped up to him, and Zach automatically opened his arms. Ben nodded and laid his head against Zach’s chest.

“The only reason I went back to the places I did—like South Sudan—was because I was losing my mind. I spent two years trying to find you. I decided you simply weren’t interested. That you obviously didn’t love me as much as I did you.”

Ben lifted his head. “I know, but then why didn’t you ever reply to my email? I know I was asking for more time, but I wrote that just before I had my final reconstructive surgery and—”

“What email?” Zach froze.

Ben was silent.

“What email?” Zach nearly shouted and gripped each of Ben’s biceps. “I never got an email from you.”

“I didn’t send it to you,” Ben admitted.

What? “Then how was I supposed to be able to read it?” Ben was making no sense.

“I’d gone back to Boston,” Ben explained. “I have no idea why because, as you know, it was never a happy place for me, but I’d heard about a doctor who was doing great scarring reduction. I’d been in two days when I heard the nurses talking and Seth was mentioned.”

“My brother?” Zach froze. “Seth knew where you were?” His brother had known where Ben was all along and never told him?

He would kill him.