Page 85 of Out of the Storm

Jeff’s eyes immediately broke away, and Gary’s stomach turned.

After a moment, Jeff looked back up.

“It’s from Don.” He shrugged like it wasn’t that important. “From... the... what happened. I hit my head on the corner of the nightstand.”

Gary kept stroking it with his thumb.

“Geez,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“Can I kiss it?”

Jeff smiled. “Yeah. Sure.”

Gary pressed a soft kiss to the scar. When he settled back down on the mattress, he started petting Jeff’s hair again.

“If you ever want to talk about it, I’m here.”

“I know.”

Jeff closed his eyes, and an overwhelming sense of tenderness filled Gary, making him feel like he might... like he might burst. God, he wished he could help Jeff somehow. Jeff was so sweet, so wonderful. Underneath that hard exterior, he was one of the kindest people Gary had ever met. It was completely unfathomable that someone had ever hurt him.

After a moment, Jeff leaned in again and kissed him, making Gary’s stomach tumble some more. Then Jeff broke away and looked at Gary with unbridled intensity.

“Radio man, I want everything with you.”

Gary had to take a moment to sit with the enormity of those words. He stared into Jeff’s eyes, overwhelmed once more at the affection he saw in them. Finally, he took a breath and smiled softly.

“I want everything with you too, Jeffrey. Butthis”—he took Jeff’s hand and raised it to his lips to kiss Jeff’s knuckles—“is everything to me. Being with you is everything.”

His smile broadening, Jeff hummed contentedly.

“So corny, Gare Bear.”

“Sorry.”

“Nah, I love it. I love how corny you are.”

For the next little while, they kissed sweetly, stopping occasionally only to nuzzle each other’s faces, and when it was close to midnight, Jeff rolled away.

“It’s late, but...” He took the ties from the nightstand. “Canwe try this?”

Gary hesitated, looking from the ties to Jeff. He frowned slightly. “I feel kind of silly that my very sexy boyfriend is offering to suck me off and my first reaction is worry, butpleasetell me you’re not pushing yourself too much for my sake.”

“I’m not. I’ll stop if I need to.”

“Promise?”

“Cross my heart.”

“Gee, I’m really putting that heart of yours through the wringer tonight,” Gary said with what he hoped wasn’t too nervous of a laugh.

“Yeah, it’s pretty horrible of you.” Jeff took Gary’s wrist and moved it toward the bedpost. “Better punish you somehow.”

“Oh, so is that the real motivation behind this? I’ve been bad?”

“So bad. So naughty.” Jeff had to pause tying Gary’s wrist when he burst out laughing. “Sorry, I can’t.”

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