Benched: Volumes 4-6 Boxed Set Read online

  But moving in together was a big deal. Because people didn’t just—

  “What’s going on?” Juno curled his fingers through the hair behind his ear, sending a tingle down Kyle’s jaw, across his chest, everywhere. “I can hear you thinking.”

  “No, you can’t.”

  “Oh yes, I can. You’re getting lost in there, you didn’t even watch the top plays. Come back and talk to me.”

  He buried his face in Juno’s tshirt, soft fabric stretched over tight muscle, smelling heat and day old cologne and himself, and underneath, just barely, still laundry soap.

  “This is so weird,” he muttered.

  “What’s so weird?”

  “Living together? That’s not weird?”

  “Not really. You’re here all the time anyway.”

  “Not all the time.”

  “Then this is better.”

  “People don’t do this, though,” he said, using his best argument, the one his brain wouldn’t let go of.

  “What people?”

  “I don’t know. Most people. Normal people.”

  Juno snorted. “I don’t think we’re normal people, rook. So, I guess we don’t have to act that way.”

  “You barely know me.”

  “You think that’s true?”

  He didn’t. It was the furthest thing from true. There was no one in the world that knew him like Juno did, who had even figured out how to know him. He’d cracked him open and looked at his insides and took them out and showed them to him, so somehow he knew himself better.

  Which was how he knew belonging to someone was exactly what he needed. Well, no. Belonging to Juno was exactly what he needed. He couldn’t imagine ever needing anything else. And that was the part that bothered him. Maybe scared him. Just a little. Maybe the whole thing scared him just a little.

  Juno slid a hand up the back of his shirt, splaying his fingers, pressing down and holding him tighter, holding him more. It grounded him, a little. Enough to slow his brain back down to something manageable, enough to turn his thoughts back into words instead of buzzing, swirling blips of panic.

  “Go on. Say what you need to say, rook. I’m not stopping you.”

  “How do you know it’s a good idea? How do you know you really want to?”

  “I don’t know how many more ways I can answer that. I want you here. You can keeping asking, but that’s really the only answer I’ve got.”

  “Yeah, but what if you decide you don’t want me? To live here, I mean.” That wasn’t what he meant, he meant the first thing, but Juno let it slide.

  “I won’t.”

  “You could. You might. I can be a really big pain in the ass.”

  “No kidding.”

  “I’m serious. I might really piss you off.”

  Juno laughed, rubbing his back. “What exactly are you planning on doing that has you so worried?”

  “I don’t know. But you know me. I do stupid shit.”

  “So cut it out.”

  “I might not be able to.”

  “I might not want you to.”

  Kyle pushed himself up onto his elbows, Juno grunting underneath him as he dug into the sides of his chest.

  “Christ, those things are sharp.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean you’re gonna poke your goddamn elbows through my ribs. Sit up.”

  Kyle shoved himself upright until he was straddling Juno’s waist, then rocked against him slowly, not able to resist the way Juno’s cock pressed up against his.

  Juno grabbed him gently by the hips, controlling the rhythm as he ground their bodies together. “You’re easily distracted, rook.”

  “Shut up.”

  “Feeling better?”

  “A little.”

  “This is gonna be okay, you know.” Juno slid his arms around him, locking them in the hollow of his back and pulling him down. Close enough to kiss, once, softly, barely touching. “It’s a little weird. But it doesn’t have to be scary. It can be amazing.”

  “You really want me to keep doing stupid shit?”

  “Not too stupid. Just stupid enough.”

  “Stupid enough for what?”

  Juno whacked him on the side of the thigh before grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him down for another kiss. A long, rough one that ended with nipple pinching and hair pulling and that left Kyle hard and hot and breathless. “You’re right. You are a pain in the ass.”

  “You like me that way.”

  “That’s what I’m saying. So shut up about it already. I told you what I wanted. You. Here. With me. Just stop being a little fuck on the field, and you can be all the brat you want at home.”

  “What if I do that?” Kyle asked him, squirming to sit back up, to watch him answer.

  “Then you’ll make me very happy.”

  “No.” He shook his head, reaching down to play with the frayed collar of Juno’s shirt, letting himself give in to the blush that melted across his skin, that never seemed to stop. “I mean, what will you do? If I’m a brat. At home.”

  Juno curled a hand around his hip, drumming his fingers on the curve of his ass. “You know you make me so fucking hard when you blush like that?”

  He nodded, pressing his palm between Juno’s legs, massaging the proof with the heel of his hand until he heard the hungry growl that sent shivers through him. “Tell me what you’ll do. Please.”

  “I guess that depends on just how much of a brat you are. And how I decide to deal with you.”

  “That sounds fun.”

  “Big surprise.”

  “What if I… played my music really loud?”

  Juno’s body shook under him as he snorted laughter. “What are you, fourteen? You gonna smoke pot in the garage too?”

  “I might.”

  “And you want me to tell you what might happen.”

  “Mmmhmm.”

  “Well, if you’re gonna act like a silly little boy, I’ll probably have to treat you that way. Is that what you’re hoping to hear?”

  “Fuck yes.”

  “Get back down here.”

  He was leaning back down when his phone went off again— the too loud, ultra obnoxious, just out of the box ring that he hadn’t bothered to change yet.

  Juno groaned and rolled his eyes, his eyelashes twitching like they were personally offended. “Are you ever gonna answer that?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’s my dad. And if I answer it, he’s gonna want to know when they can come and watch a game, and I can’t exactly tell him I’m on the bench for who knows the fuck how long.”

  “So tell him something else. It’s not like he’s gonna forget your number.”

  “I don’t want to talk to him. Or about him.” Kyle grabbed the phone off the table, turning it off and tossing it on the floor. “There. It’s gone.”

  “Ignoring something doesn’t make it gone.”

  “Close enough for me. You don’t know my dad. He’s a bulldozer. I won’t be able to get off the phone with him until I give him a date. For all I know, Mackey’s gonna fuck with me until next year. Or forever.”

  “He’s not fucking with you. He’s punishing you. And you deserve it.”

  “Hey!”

  “You deserve worse.”

  “Yeah, well, I got worse. You gave it to me, in case you forgot.”

  “Hmm. And you loved every minute of it.”

  “No, I didn’t. Only… sort of. And I hated it.”

  “You loved hating it.”

  Kyle tried not to grin and failed spectacularly. “What do you want me to say? I’m a pervert. You can’t really punish me because I like being punished.”

  “You can be punished. When you let yourself. When you know you’re being bad and you need it. You don’t like getting away with things.”

  He licked his lips, nervous to see his secrets flashed around that way. “Sure I do.”

  “No, you don’
t.” Juno zeroed in on him the way that made him shiver, the way that made him feel naked, like he could see everything inside him. The way that forced him to talk when he wanted to be quiet. “Why is that?”

  “I don’t know. I guess… I like to know someone’s paying attention. To me. To what I’m doing. I like that.”

  “No kidding.”

  He shoved Juno in the chest, half joking, half embarrassed. “Don’t ask me if you’re just gonna make fun of me. It’s not like it’s the least embarrassing thing to talk about.”

  Juno raised his eyebrows, grabbing his wrists at the same time. “Okay. You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have teased you. It took balls to say that.”

  Kyle laughed. “Alright, fuck you.”

  “What, I’m serious.” Juno squeezed his wrists tighter and pulled him down closer when he tried to pull away. “I’m serious,” he repeated. “I don’t want to tease you. I want you to trust me. I want you to tell me everything you like. Everything you need. I told you I’d take care of you, and I will. I’m dead fucking serious, Kyle.”

  Heat crashed over him the way it always did when Juno used that voice. The soft one, the serious one, the one that made everything calm and safe.

  “Okay.”

  Juno reached up and cupped his jaw, cupped his whole goddamn face, his hands were so big. “You want to be here, rook?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good. Because I want you here. I’ve never wanted anything the way that I want you here.”

  “You won’t miss living alone?”

  “Fuck no. I hate living alone. So, really, you’re doing me a favor. That make you feel better?”

  “Why don’t you have a roommate, then?”

  “I do have a roommate. Fucking gorgeous kid. Perfect ass. Bad attitude. Little bit of a self esteem problem.”

  “I don’t have a self esteem problem. Please.”

  “Well, you must not be the egomaniac I brought back here originally. Or you wouldn’t have any trouble believing that I just want to move you in so I can to kiss you and lick you and suck you and spank you and make love to you twenty-four fucking hours a day.”

  “Make love?”

  “Yeah, smart ass. It’s what you call fucking when you do it with someone you’re crazy about.”

  “You’re crazy about me?”

  “Yes.” Juno squeezed his ass gently, and Kyle closed his eyes, his body humming and vibrating with pleasure.

  “How crazy?”

  “Very,” he said, squeezing him again, hard enough to make him squirm and groan. “These jeans are too tight.”

  “They are not.”

  “They are after you’ve been spanked as hard as you have. You’re gonna rub your ass raw. You want that?”

  “Maybe.”

  Juno casually thumbed open the button on his jeans, shifting underneath him as he teased his fingers over his waistband. “Maybe I’m just gonna have to flip you right back over if you can’t learn to take care of yourself.”

  “I’m okay with that.”

  “You are, huh?”

  “Mmm. Anything that comes after you flipping me over, I highly approve of.”

  Juno laughed, dragging his zipper down, exposing the bulge in the front of his shorts. “Then you’re gonna love what I have in mind.” He reached around and slapped him on the ass. “Get up and take your pants down.”

  “Why?”

  “Since when do you need a reason?”

  “Since now.”

  “You got roughed up good today and I want to make sure you’re alright. I’m gonna take care of you. Now, get up and do what I tell you. Pants down. You don’t want to get in trouble your first night here.”

  Kyle jumped up, shoving his jeans down his legs with fumbling fingers. It was just a tease, he knew there wasn’t any real trouble, he’d be lucky if Juno spanked him at all after paddling him earlier. None of that really mattered. Just the slightest idea of a threat, just hearing him say take your pants down was still enough to make his stomach quake as he stood there with his cock wet and straining against the front of his briefs.

  He yanked his shirt up over his head and gasped as he suddenly felt Juno’s mouth on him. Kissing and sucking him through the front of his underwear as he pulled him closer, sliding his arms around him and tugging his shorts down in the back, shocking his skin as the air in the room coaxed goosebumps across his cheeks. He struggled, tied up in his shirt like an idiot, and felt the vibration against his cock as Juno laughed silently before pulling away. When he finally jerked free and tossed the shirt across the room, Juno was leaning back against the couch, watching him intently.

  “You put on a hell of a show,” he said softly.

  “Shut up.”

  “You fucking destroy me, rook.”

  He swallowed, prepared to be laughed at, but not prepared for… whatever this was. Juno studying him, swallowing him with his dark eyes in a way that made him feel uncharacteristically shy.

  “What’s that mean?”

  “Touch yourself for me.”

  He blinked. “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  Kyle hesitated for a second before closing his eyes and slipping his hand down the front of his shorts.

  “No, no,” Juno said, startling him. “Touch where you want to touch. I know what you do. I just want to watch you.”

  He felt his face growing warmer. “You…”

  “I see you. Rub your ass. Feel your skin. After. The look on your face, I almost lose it just watching you. Let me watch you now.”

  He still hesitated, fingering his cock until Juno nodded. “Go on.” Then he slipped his hands back to skim his fingertips gently over his ass. It fucking ached. More than it ever had. But the skin was warm and tight like the pain was hugging him. He loved that part. It didn’t feel like pain at all.

  This time, though, there was something else. A different kind of ache. He just felt different altogether. Knowing he was gay was one thing. Finally getting fucked was another. Juno had actually been inside him. Just a couple of hours ago. It seemed impossible, and he had a burning need to be filled again immediately, just to make sure it had really happened, that it was possible, that it could happen again. That it would feel the same as the first time, fiery and frustrating and satisfying all at once.

  “God, you’re incredible. Turn around. Let me see.”

  Blushing, he turned around, his cock throbbing as he heard Juno take in a sharp breath behind him. After a minute, warm fingers slipped into the sides of his shorts.

  “I’m taking these down now.”

  He nodded, almost sick to his stomach with desire as Juno dragged them slowly down to his ankles, tapping on his calves to make him step out of them, making him feel so much more naked.

  “I swear to god, you’re more perfect every time you take your fucking clothes off,” Juno said, his voice low and rough as it rolled over him.

  God, he knew exactly where to stroke him. Right on the ego.

  “I know you say that to all the guys who move in with you.”

  “You’re right. I do.” Kyle could hear him stand up, could feel him looking him over, could feel his body heat warming him from behind. “You’re still pink,” he said, his lips landing on the side of Kyle’s neck as he stroked his sore ass top to bottom. “Your little toy did some damage.”

  He wanted to peek over his shoulder, see the heat he could feel, but Juno’s mouth felt too damn good, working its way over the sensitive skin on the back of his shoulders, licking and sucking, soft and then hard.

  “Think I’ll have marks?” he asked instead.

  “You really want marks, you freak? What if someone sees?”

  “I’ll just tell them you spanked me.”

  “Yeah, I bet you will.”

  Juno circled him slowly, kissing up over his shoulder and around his chest, up his neck and his chin until he finally stood in front of him, his lips hovering over his mouth. Then he skimmed a hand down his stoma
ch and between his legs, grabbing his cock, yanking a moan from him that he swallowed with a bruising kiss, attacking his mouth as he squeezed his shaft, teasing around the tip with his thumb.

  It was almost too much, the volume dialed all the way up all over his body, every touch reverberating through him, making his insides thump until he had to pull away just to breathe. Juno let his lips go, but tightened his grip on his cock.

  “Jesus, Kyle, you’re always so hard. Like, painful.”

  “Fuck,” he grunted, his voice coming out a thick, garbled mess as he thrust his hips forward. “I know.”

  “You always like this?”

  “Not always. Not this bad. Not… before.”

  “Is it the pain?” Juno asked, continuing to stroke him firmly and gently, the touch echoing his voice. “What does this? Is it being embarrassed?”

  “Both. Neither. It’s you. The things you say. You’re fucking hot. I love…”

  “You love what?”

  “Everything.”

  Juno cupped the back of his thigh with his other hand, pinching at the sensitive skin there while Kyle whimpered and rutted into his fist.

  “I don’t want you to come this way.”

  “Then you’d better let go.”

  “No, you’d better not come,” Juno corrected him, squeezing tighter. “Not until I have you where I want you.”

  “Where’s that?”

  Juno leaned close, overwhelming him as he buried his face in his hair, breathing him in before his mouth moved on to his ear. “I’m gonna take you into the bedroom.”

  “Mmmhmm.”

  “Sit down on the bed. Lay you across my lap.”

  “Yeah.”

  “And rub your bottom until you come all over me.”

  “Fuck.”

  “How’s that sound?”

  He shook his head, hiding his face in the crook of Juno’s neck, pressing his lips against his warm skin. “What makes you think I’ll come from that?”

  “I’m pretty sure I could lay you across my lap and do anything, and you’d come.”

  Kyle groaned.

  “Still think I don’t know you?”

  * * *

  “Come on, rook. Lay down. Let me take care of you.”

  It was stupid to still be embarrassed, but that didn’t stop his body from roasting as he climbed onto the bed and let Juno guide him down over his knees. Once he was there, the only thing to do was bury his head in his arms and squirm as Juno rubbed his hand over his ass, his touch tender and light, like he was some breakable thing. His fingers felt warm as they stroked across him, not cooling off his stinging flesh, just swirling the sensations around like he was mixing paint. Long, slow, dull sparks of pain radiating through him in waves until he lay there trembling and moaning softly, intensely overwhelmed.