Page 24 of Eight Count Heat
"Someone's tense," he observes, the corner of his mouth lifting.
"You talk too much." I cup the back of his neck, fingers threading through sandy hair, and kiss him hard.
He responds immediately, hands sliding up under my shirt, mapping familiar territory. This is what I need: direct, honest, uncomplicated. No mind games, no hidden agendas, just skin and heat and momentary escape.
We navigate across the room, his hands tugging my shirt over my head while I work at the drawstring of his shorts. Clothes hit the floor in our wake as we fall onto his narrow bed in a tangle of limbs. Eli lets me take control, understanding without words that I need it tonight. But there's nothing passive in the way he meets me halfway, challenges me, pushes back.
"Turn over," I growl against his ear, already reaching for the drawer where he keeps supplies.
Eli complies, but not without a smirk over his shoulder. "Demanding today."
I silence him with a firm hand between his shoulder blades, pressing him into the mattress. His skin is hot beneath my palm, muscles shifting as he adjusts his position. I take my time preparing him, relishing the way his breath catches, how his body responds to my touch. Sliding my fingers in and out of his tight hole while he pushes back against me. Gripping the back of his neck until he gasps.
"Get on with it," he urges, voice rough with impatience.
"No." I grab his hips, holding him in place. "We do this my way."
I pick up the lube, slicking myself thoroughly before digging my fingers into his hips and pulling him back against me. I position myself, sliding in slow before pushing the rest of the way in with a force that rocks the bed against the wall. I want to go slow, to savor the feeling of him clenching around my cock, but too much is swirling in my head and the only way to make it stop is to lose myself in him. I pick up my pace until Eli’s voice is the only thingI can hear. Each thrust punctuated by his gasps, my growls, the slap of skin against skin.
Eli isn't having it. He pushes back against me, demanding more. "Stop holding back."
"I'm not."
"Liar." He looks over his shoulder, hazel eyes dark with challenge. "You want to lose control. So lose it."
If that's what he wants, I'll give it to him. I increase the pace, each thrust punctuated by his gasps, my growls, the rhythmic impact of the bed against the wall.
Something primal takes over, a possessive hunger I usually keep locked down tight. I wrap one arm around his chest, pulling him up and back against me, my other hand sliding down to wrap around his cock.
"Jackson," he gasps, head thrown back against my shoulder, throat exposed. An offering. A surrender.
I accept both, my teeth finding the curve where his neck meets his shoulder, not breaking skin but marking him in my own way. His body tightens around me as he comes with a hoarse cry, the pulses triggering my own release. Wave after wave of pleasure crashes through me, emptying my mind of everything but this moment, this connection.
For precious seconds, there's nothing but sensation. No thoughts of coxswains with hidden secrets. No memories of past betrayals. Just completion, and the blessed silence that follows.
When awareness returns, we're both breathing hard, sweat-slicked and tangled together on sheets that will definitely need washing. I ease away, reluctant to break contact but needing space.
Eli winces slightly as he shifts to his side. "Remind me to stretch more before these workouts."
A laugh escapes me, unexpected but welcome. "That's what you're thinking about right now?"
"Among other things." His eyes track me as I move to grab tissues from his nightstand. "Like why you needed that particular form of stress relief today."
I toss the box to him, avoiding his gaze. "Just one teammate helping another. Isn't that what this is?"
"Sure." His tone says he doesn't believe it for a second. "Just like all those other times we've 'helped' each other since freshman year."
I don't answer. We've never defined this thing between us. Never needed to. It works because we both understand the unspoken rules.
"You want to talk about it?" Eli asks, voice lazy with satisfaction.
"About what?"
He props himself up on one elbow, studying me. "Whatever had you fucking me like you were trying to exorcise something."
I sit up, reaching for my shorts. "Just blowing off steam."
"This about the new cox?"
