Twenty minutes had passed since the elevator jerked them to a stop. Twenty minutes of Nicholas trying to avoid looking into Shepard’s eyes for longer than necessary. Twenty minutes of Nicholas trying not to think about how good the man smelled. Like pine, and sex, and coffee. Twenty minutes of Nicholas fighting a deep and powerful urge to spin Shepard around and pin him against the elevator wall, where he could devour him with his mouth, encasing him in his arms. He had already gotten the apology off his chest, which made him feel better but still not great. He held onto the regret of pushing Shepard away that night, and that was something Nick hated. He tried his damndest to avoid living with the spiny specter of regret hovering over him. He even managed to move past the initial regret he felt over allowing himself to settle into a toxic relationship with Anna. He saw now that it was necessary to move him to a better point in his life. It also gave him one of the greatest gifts of his life: his baby girl, Emma.

Rejecting Shepard was different. That didn’t feel like a move that was supposed to enhance Nick’s life. There were no blessings or gifts coming from that. He couldn’t see any logical reason he could have had to push him off that night, except for the fear that had stolen the wheel driving his actions. A kiss wasn’t a binding contract. He wouldn’t have been forced to automatically tie Shepard to his and Emma’s lives, and yet there he had been, open to the potential but too scared to take the chance.

Thankfully, the twenty minutes were passing by with some good conversation. Shepard’s nerves seemed to have completely subsided, especially after they had a chance to speak to the fire department and moved down to sit on the floor. Nick didn’t even think about it before his hand had moved to hold onto Shepard’s. He wanted to make sure Shepard was comfortable, and sure enough, he seemed to have been very comforted by Nick’s presence. That was something Nick couldn’t ignore. He felt the same way, using Shepard as an anchor. He was definitely scared, but he was better able to keep his anxiety at bay. He knew that Shepard needed a solid support. If they both started freaking out, then things would have been exponentially worse. Instead, they were sitting on the floor, cross-legged, their backs against the wall behind them, Nick’s knee gently touching Shepard’s. They were in a deep discussion about the drawbacks of putting pineapple on a pizza. Thankfully, they were both in agreement about it being a huge no-no.

“Seriously,” Shepard said, “I’ll inhale a can of cold, sliced pineapples, but don’t put those things on my cheesy, meat-covered dream of a pizza. The sweetness and the texture.” Shepard shook his shoulders. “Ugh, the worst.”

“How about mushrooms?”

“Meh, I can handle a few. But I’ll pick them off most of the time.”

Shepard kicked his legs out, his scrubs drawing up so that more of his legs showed. “I gotta stretch.” He pushed up from the floor and started stretching his arms, twisting his body, rolling his neck, pushing his shoulders back. Nick thought he should do the same. He got up and dropped his head, letting his body bend inward, down toward the floor, getting the blood flowing again. The fire department had already arrived and were busy trying to get the elevator to work through mechanical means before they moved on to their plan B. Since the elevator had stopped between floors, they couldn’t just pry the doors open and have them walk out, so things got a little more complicated. Both of their phones didn’t have any signal so they used the emergency phone to communicate with the fire department.

For now, though, it was just the two of them in a tin can suspended above fourteen floors.

“Do you ever think about what happened between us? Back in the on-call room?” Nick wasn’t sure where the question came from, but all he knew was that he had to ask it.

Shepard took a moment to answer, sucking in his bottom lip as he thought. “Every day,” he said, honesty clear in his voice. “You left your mark on me, Nick. Since before we even did anything. You had me feeling all kinds of things. I thought I’d get over it by dating someone else, by forgetting about us altogether.” Shepard chuckled sadly. “But that’s something I just can’t forget.”

“Neither can I,” Nick said, feeling himself opening up like a flower toward the sun. “You weren’t the only one walking away with a mark that day.” Nick moved closer to Shepard. “And then when you met Emma, suddenly that mark you gave me turned into a crater-sized impression. You seemed so natural holding her. And she seemed so happy, too.”

“I was nervous. I thought things weren’t going to go as well as they did. And I know how important she is to you.”

“I never saw that meeting going any other way.” Nick took a few steps forward. Shepard licked his lips. “Although it really did put me on a different level, seeing you holding her. It was definitely one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen.” Nick’s face broke into a grin. “You also looked pretty hot holding a baby.”

“Oh, I did?” Shepard teased. It was his turn to take a few steps forward. There wasn’t much space between them anymore. Nick could practically feel the heat coming off through Shepard’s thin scrubs. His dick shifted in his scrubs, reminding him just how badly he wanted this. The fire spread through him at a furious pace. “I guess dad is a good look on me. Although you’ve got that look down to a science.”

“All it requires is a decent five o’clock shadow and a body that balances the tight rope between doughy and muscular like a drunken Cirque Du Soleil performer.”

Shepard cracked up at that line. Nick joined in. Then, from one moment to the next, Shepard was in Nick’s arms. It was as natural as breathing. And it happened that smoothly as well. Nick almost hadn’t realized what was happening until his lips were inches from Shepard’s. This time, there was no pushing away. Nick wanted it all, and he was the one initiating it. For a second, he was nervous Shepard would push him off, a bitter sliver of the karmic pie, but that immediately subsided the moment Shepard lifted his hands and encased Nick’s head as their kiss deepened.

It went on for a few more minutes. Nick stumbled backward until he felt his back hit the cool steel wall, the elevator slightly shaking with the impact.

Both of their bodies were pressed together now, and the scrubs they had on might as well have been see-through. The fabric was so thin, Nick could feel everything and it was fucking magical. He could feel Shepard’s muscular body against him. And that wasn’t all he could feel that was hard. Unless Shepard carried an extra stethoscope in his pocket, he was pretty sure that Shepard was rock hard and, damn, was he packing. It felt like a third leg pressing against Nick, which only made him start kissing Shepard even harder. Their tongues lashed together, probing one another, hands gliding over each other, squeezing and kneading and tugging. This was the accumulation of a year’s worth of fantasizing. It was boiling over, the passion so intense, Nick was already feeling his balls tighten with a need to release. He was close to coming and he hadn’t even taken his clothes off yet.

This guy is something else.

Shepard pulled back for a breath. He glanced down with a sexy grin. Nick was hard, that part was obvious from the thick outline against his dark blue scrub pants. The thin fabric looked like it was close to tearing. He licked his lips and came in for another kiss, pushing Nick back onto the elevator wall, rubbing his body against Nick’s. Both of their hard cocks pressed together through their scrubs, the heat and friction between them threatening to start a fucking bonfire.

“You feel so good against me,” Nick groaned, low and deep, his hands roaming over and under Shepard’s scrubs, feeling his smooth, warm skin. He ran his hands up over Shepard’s strong chest, feeling a slight covering of fur around his pebbled nipples. Shepard gave off a delicious moan the moment Nick started to play with his nipples, teasing them between his fingers, tugging at them while his tongue went back to probing Shepard’s mouth, swallowing the moans. Nick’s hips pushed forward, pressing his cock harder against Shepard’s, relishing in the sensation he felt knowing that Shepard was just as hard as he was. He glanced down and almost came undone right then and there. Shepard’s cock had been aimed up so that the head was pressed against his light blue scrubs, which were darkened from the precome spilling out of Shepard’s dick.

“Fuck,” Nick growled. He wasn’t sure what had come over him, but he knew he needed to have a taste. Maybe it was his way of making up for being such a dick over the past months, maybe he just needed to suck Shepard’s dick and it would cancel everything else.

Shepard’s eyes widened in surprise as Nick made quick work of untying the knot that held Shepard’s scrubs around his waist. He looked up, a sultry grin on his face as he kissed at Shepard’s bulge through his already wet briefs. Nick mouthed it, going up and down, rubbing it with his hand while making sure his gaze stayed locked with Shepard. He was looking down, a trance falling over him as his eyes glazed and his fingers knotted in Nick’s hair. That had the effect of driving Nick crazy. He loved having his head played with, his hair tugged. He felt his cock give a pulse against his briefs, aching to break free, an urgent need to release coming over him.

He ignored it all. Nick put all his focus on Shepard and his pleasure. He wanted to give the man an orgasm that would rock him to the core. He wanted to do it by worshipping every single fucking centimeter of Shepard’s body, starting with his rock-hard dick. Nick smiled up at Shepard as he pulled the scrubs down, tugging them down over Shepard’s massive bulge. His black Calvins were easier to pull down, which was good because Nick was ready to tear the briefs apart if it took another second longer.

He was rewarded by the sight of a fucking magnificent cock bouncing out into freedom. Perfect. Nick didn’t realize dicks could look so damn good. He’d really only seen his own in real life, in a sexual setting and not in the exam room, and the last and only time he and Shepard hooked up, it was in a dimly lit room and went by in a flash because of how much passion had been pent up between them. This time, though, the elevator was very well lit and Nick was down on his knees, at eye level with the magnificent specimen of a dick. He had the best seats in the damn house.

“Fucckk,” Nick hissed, grabbing the base with one hand, which didn’t even cover the whole thing. He grabbed the rest with the other hand, feeling the velvety warmth that radiated across his palms. He fucking loved it. He could feel Shepard pulsing in his grip, his fingers tightening in his hair, pulling him closer. Nick was in heaven. He opened his mouth and took the head in, immediately tasting the salty sweetness of Shepard’s excitement. He couldn’t help but compare it to the times he’d go down on Anna, and already, he knew which one he preferred. His tongue swirled around the crown. The taste was intoxicating. Nick loved it. He moved a hand down from the base to play with Shepard’s tight balls. He enjoyed the weight of them in his hand as he gently applied pressure, all while his lips moved further down Shepard’s dick. It was definitely a mouthful, and one Nick was going to need to practice at swallowing.

I’m always up for a challenge.

Nick managed to fit more of Shepard down his throat than he was expecting, the moans coming from Shepard only encouraging him to go even farther. He was about halfway before he had to come back up for air. He used his hand to stroke up and down the wet length, rubbing his thumb over the tip and causing Shepard’s knees to shake. “Oh, fuck,” he said from above, his voice taking on a tone Nick had only heard from him once before. “I’m so close already.”

This drove Nick wild. He wanted to make Shepard blow, and he wanted to take it all. He went back to working Shepard’s stiff cock with his mouth, licking up and down the sides before popping the head back in between his lips, sucking and slurping and slipping a hand down, past his balls, pressing on the sensitive stretch of skin between his cock and his ass. This had Shepard shaking. His fingers twined tighter in Nick’s hair. His moans grew to grunts. Hips started to thrust. Nick took as much of Shepard’s cock as he could, opening his mouth wide and readying himself for Shepard’s release. He could feel Shepard tensing, his thrusts becoming erratic. His grunts turned to words that became tangled on his tongue. “Fuuck, coming,” Shepard managed to moan out. He moved to pull his cock out but Nick grabbed onto his thighs and held him in place, looking up as Shepard blew his load down Nick’s throat. He swallowed every last drop, honestly, a little surprised at how much he liked it. He licked Shepard’s twitching cock and got back up on his feet, his lips shiny and plump. Shepard looked spent but also like he had just won the fucking lottery. He had a goofy grin on his face that quickly warmed up back to smoldering-hot levels as he reached down and started grabbing Nick’s hard cock. They came in for a kiss, their tongues swirling, Shepard surely tasting himself on Nick. The thought almost made Nick come right then and there, with Shepard palming his hard-on over his scrubs.

Then, as if someone was waiting for a cue, the elevator suddenly jerked downward as the motor started up again. This had both of them scrambling to look presentable and hide the fact that they had just raised the temperature in the elevator by at least a hundred degrees. Nick was beginning to think that a cloud of steam would float out as the elevator doors dinged open again.

“Guess they fixed the technical issue,” Nick said, breathless as he ran a hand through his hair, hoping to make it look less like sex-hair and more like mess-hair. Shepard let out a laugh as he tied a knot on the front of his scrubs. He was flushed and still had that “cloud-nine” quality to him. The kind of look someone got just after they had their world rocked by an orgasm.

“I’m upset I didn’t get to return the favor,” Shepard said, smiling.

“So am I,” Nick toyed. He had tucked his boner into the waistband of his scrubs so that he wasn’t pitching a visible tent for whenever those elevator doors opened, but he was definitely still rock hard. “I’ve got Emma for the next couple of days. Let’s meet up on Friday. We can spend the day at Griffith Park and see where the night takes us.” It was still a few days away, and the wait was going to be brutal, but Nick knew it would be so damn worth it.

“That sounds absolutely perfect.”

The elevator stopped on the ground floor, the doors sliding open to a crowd of people clapping and cheering. Nurses, other doctors, patients, residents, even a couple of firefighters.

If I knew I’d get this reception every time I swallowed, I would have started sucking dick much sooner.