Page 56 of Rat

“Don’t go getting smart with me, Sebastian.”

“Don’t ask dumb questions.”

The officer untwisted the lid and took a sniff.

“It’s Vaseline,” Sebastian mumbled. “For sore lips.”

The officer narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s what you use it for…”

He gave Rory a pointed look.

“What?” Rory backed up a step. “We don’t do anything like that.”

Sebastian snorted, then flung his arm around Rory’s shoulders. “No, we go at it raw, likeanimals.”

The officer shuddered and wrinkled his nose. “I don’t want to hear it.”

“Look, it’s not banned. I bought it downstairs in the canteen.”

The officer huffed, then tossed the pot back into the mess of their cell.

“Come on,” he shouted over his shoulder. “There’s nothing in there.”

The other officers trudged out, and Sebastian beamed a manic smile at them.

“Arseholes,” Sebastian growled.

He still had his arm around Rory, and when he pulled it away, he dragged his hand along the back of his damp T-shirt. “Someone’s been working hard.”

“I was in the gym with Captain.”

“Yeah, sorry I sent Vince down to interrupt, but I thought you’d want to know about the cell search.” Sebastian stepped into the cell and whistled at the mess. “Utter arseholes. It looks like a bomb’s gone off, doesn’t it?”

Rory froze and stared wide-eyed at Sebastian’s back.

Sebastian picked Rory’s mattress off the floor and threw it on the top bunk. “But it’s not going to sort itself out.”

Rory started sorting through the clothes. He folded each item and placed it in the closet. He couldn’t look at Sebastian, and each time their bodies bumped or brushed, he shivered.

Sebastian’s hands lingered on Rory as he seemingly steadied him while he squeezed past. At one point he came up behind Rory and pressed his crotch to Rory’s arse as he put the pillow back on the top bunk. Pleasant chills ran the length of Rory’s body at the contact. He scrunched his toes and flexed his hands to stop blood flowing to his cock.

They’d been sharing a cell for almost three months, but they rarely stood up at the same time. Rory usually waited on the bed until Sebastian was done.

Sebastian placed his palm on Rory’s chest and stopped him reaching for any more clothes. He thought he’d been found out as a rat or that Sebastian could smell his arousal. In that moment, he didn’t know which was the worse option.

“Your heart’s going crazy,” Sebastian murmured.

“I was sparring with Ollie.”

Sebastian frowned, then pressed the back of his hand to Rory’s brow. “And you’re burning up. Captain better not be working you too hard. You’re still not 100 per cent after…”

“After?”

Sebastian slipped his hand under the bottom of Rory’s T-shirt. Rory gasped. His eyes slipped shut as Sebastian traced his thumb over the scar, no longer hidden under a bandage but pink and slightly tender.

Sebastian took his hand away. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“You didn’t,” Rory breathed, reopening his eyes.

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