This is really a combo of Chapter 13 and an Epilogue - I'm just a little too superstitious to end with 13 Chapters!!
Summary - AU/AU Jack is a trainee architect at a company owned by Mitchell Del Mar and his cousin Ennis. A light hearted office romance - nothing too angsty or dark in this establishment.
Many thanks to
gwylliondream for stepping up to the plate for this chapter. You are a star and I promise to keep my end of our deal ;)
Big hugs also to
hesamathgeek for the support and encouragement you have provided since the days of FTO. I hope to work with you again someday.
Feedback - please!
Last chapter recap - Jack and Ennis confess their mutual attraction, Scott and Ella take advantage of Jack's good mood (and empty bed), and our boys get down and dirty on the desk in Ennis' apartment... we rejoin the action at that point :)
****
Jack let out a long, low groan as Ennis finally slid into him. All the way into him, their groins locked together tightly. Ennis grabbed Jack’s hands and laced their fingers before stretching Jack’s arms up over his head and onto the desk beneath them.
“Damn, you feel good,” Jack panted as Ennis started to move slowly. “But then I knew you would.”
Ennis’ dark eyes gleamed in the dusky evening light. He punctuated his words as he thrust into Jack’s body, “If you only knew… how many times… I thought about doing this…”
“It wouldn’t be… half as often… as I thought about it.” Jack continued, his breath catching in his throat and eyes closing as Ennis slid over his prostate again and again. Familiar wildness began to swell in his balls and Jack knew that this was all going to be over embarrassingly quickly. Again. Goddamn it, but Ennis fit him perfectly, from the length of his cock, to the stretch of his torso, to the curling of his fingers around Jack’s. It was all too perfect, too good. Jack lifted his mouth up in silent invitation as he approached the point of no return. “Please… more.”
Ennis claimed his mouth and continued to rut into him, fingers winding tighter around Jack’s.
Jack stretched his legs wider and tried to get Ennis in as far as possible, desperately craving that extra fraction of an inch that would make him explode.
Ennis moaned deep in his throat and pounded harder, hips circling forcefully against Jack’s, pushing in as far as he could.
Jack couldn’t hold himself back any more and felt the pressure overflow, erupting out of him, spreading between their slick bodies. A few more erratic thrusts and Ennis was right there with him, hips jerking as he emptied himself into Jack with an animalistic growl.
****
Jack awoke to the gentle caressing of fingers across his chest. He opened one eye lazily and turned to see a shadowy vision of Ennis lying on his side, head propped in one hand, his other trailing over Jack’s ribs.
Jack smiled at the image and slid his hand down his stomach to grasp at his cock, not at all surprised to find it half hard already. He loved dreaming about Ennis. It was amazing and never failed to get him off. He closed his eyes again to hold onto his dream, sinking back into the soft sheets and blissful oblivion. He began to jerk off slowly, letting his imagination pull him in.
He smiled wider and sighed deeply when another hand slid up his thigh to unravel his fingers from his cock. Hmm, nice.
“Let go, that’s mine,” Ennis breathed in his ear, as his warm hand replaced Jack’s, circling his erection.
Jack’s eyes shot open. Until he heard Ennis’ voice, Jack was convinced he had been imagining everything. He had fantasised about this scenario so many times that it took a moment for his sleep-fogged brain to realise that this was actually the real deal. Ennis was real. Him, being here in Ennis’ bed, was real. And Ennis was really jerking him off.
It was everything he imagined, and more. Ennis’ fingers knew exactly which spots to tease and tantalise. Jack stretched in pleasure, his hands winding into the crisp cotton sheets tangled above his head. “Oh God, please don’t stop,” he moaned.
“Don’t plan to,” Ennis murmured, ducking his head down to lick Jack’s shaft from bottom to top, tongue circling the head, before slowly, slowly sliding his lips all the way down.
Jack grunted and squeezed his hands tighter into the bedding, trying not to buck his hips up too hard. This was so much better than any fantasy he had ever had. The warm, wet suction on his dick wasn’t unfamiliar, but Ennis just seemed to do it so well. So right. Gentle fingers caressed his inner thighs, stroking closer to his ass. Jack still felt highly sensitive back there and knew that as soon as Ennis touched him, he would go off like a rocket. He wasn’t wrong. Those careful fingers reached their goal and Jack couldn’t stop the rush of heat to his groin that spilled over into Ennis’ waiting mouth.
****
A few nights later, Ennis and Jack arranged to meet at a bar not far from Jack’s apartment. It was an old, dusky place that reeked of sawdust and stale cigarettes. The jukebox on one side blared out country music and Jack almost felt like he was back in Wyoming again. He had no idea that places like this existed in the city, but clearly Ennis did, as did the crowd of customers lining the bar.
As Jack looked around, he spotted Ennis leaning against a pool table, arms folded, dressed in worn blue jeans and a soft white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looked as sexy as hell, the denim of the jeans snug enough to hug his thighs and crotch. Lucky, lucky, jeans. As he got closer, Jack greeted Ennis with a nod of the head and got a small smile in return. Jack wanted nothing more than to plaster himself up against Ennis and drag him into a dark corner. Now that he knew what Ennis felt like and looked like under those clothes, he couldn’t wait to get more, but this was sadly not the time or place.
It was a night to celebrate, of sorts. Scott had finally moved out - and back in with Ella, which meant that Jack now had his place to himself again, although if things went as planned then Jack wouldn’t be living there for much longer. He had serious designs on buying one of the Saturday Bridge units and wanted to ask Ennis about it.
Ennis raised his hand to the bartender and grabbed a couple of beers before leading Jack to a booth along the wall where they could sit in relative privacy. Ennis seemed perfectly at home in the southern-styled bar, which surprised Jack. But then again, he could easily picture Ennis dressed in a western shirt and cowboy hat; a sexy Marlboro man sitting astride his horse. The idea made him shiver. He had no idea if Ennis could actually ride a horse, but perhaps he would find out one day. There was so much to find out. He slid into the booth opposite Ennis, downed a mouthful of beer and looked at him, wondering how much he could say. What he could ask.
Ennis caught Jack’s speculative expression, “everything ok?”
“Sure.”
“Something you want to say?”
Jack smiled, “I was just thinking about stuff, you know. You and me. Work, houses and so on. You know that Scott’s moved out of my place at last?”
“Yeah.”
“And my lease is up in a few months?”
“And?” Ennis raised an eyebrow, fingers stroking the neck of his beer bottle.
“And you know I love the Saturday Bridge development?”
“And?”
“And I was thinking that I’d really like to buy one of the apartments out there.”
Ennis nodded slowly, “I don’t see why not.”
“I’ll buy off plan. I know the place isn’t finished yet.”
Ennis took a swallow of beer, “will probably be a good six months or so, but there are still several units we haven’t released yet.” He looked at Jack with a small smile, “including the penthouses.”
With an estimated price tag of nearly half a million dollars. Jack choked back a laugh, “yeah, like I’d be able to afford one of those.”
Ennis lowered his eyes and picked at the label on his bottle, “well, I might be able to cut you a deal. Plus there is one special apartment up there which is significantly smaller than the others. More affordable. Only one bedroom.”
“There is?” Jack’s brow furrowed in confusion, “I don’t remember that on the plans.”
“Well let’s just say that I made some last minute… improvements.”
“You did?”
Ennis looked smug, “I did. I had a feeling I would have a willing buyer, I just needed to give him what he needed. There are some benefits to being the boss..”
Jack gaped, “really? Oh man, I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything until you’ve seen the plans - or the price.”
“Sure, ok.” Jack couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. “Thanks… Ennis.”
“Pleasure,” Ennis said warmly and Jack felt his insides squirm.
Ennis shifted in his seat again and his knee pressed against Jack’s. Jack pressed back and they smiled self-consciously at each other, silently drinking their beers.
A movement back at the bar caught Ennis’ attention and Jack watched as Ennis nodded his head at someone. Jack turned quickly to see who it was. There, sitting at the bar nursing a beer, was the last person Jack ever expected to see in a place like this. Dressed in a black biker jacket and jeans so tight they looked like they had been sprayed on, was the tattooed man. Looking right at them.
Damn. Jack didn’t know where to look. The peaceful contentment he was feeling at being with Ennis evaporated and he was suddenly nervous. He was really hoping that the dude wasn’t harbouring any lingering feelings towards Ennis. He sure didn’t want to cause a scene.
Ennis cleared his throat and Jack realised that he had been staring at the tattooed guy. He swung back around to look at Ennis, who was watching him with an amused expression.
“That’s… him.” Jack said in a low voice.
“Yep.”
“What’s he doing here?”
Ennis shrugged, “we used to come here sometimes. This place serves good beer.”
“Does he know…?” Jack gestured between himself and Ennis.
“He probably does now.” Ennis replied, lips twitching. He moved his thigh pointedly and Jack realised that they had wound their legs together under the table. Definitely an intimate gesture. Most people wouldn’t even notice, but it was right in the line of sight of the tattooed guy.
“Is that a problem?”
Ennis shook his head, “no. Not at all. Despite appearances. He’ll deal.”
Jack knew it was asking for trouble, but he couldn’t help but look back over at the bar. The tattooed guy was watching them intently. He caught Jack’s eye and raised his beer deliberately to his lips, keeping eye contact steadily. He smiled around the mouth of his bottle and gave Jack a slow, sexy wink. Jack felt his cheeks flush and he turned back to face Ennis, clearing his throat.
“Er…good…glad he’s ok with it.”
Ennis laughed.
Jack smiled in response, realising that he had rarely heard Ennis laugh. He looked forward to hearing it more often.
Ennis shifted in his seat and wound his legs tighter around Jack’s. “It’s you and me now, that’s the important thing.”
And about time too. Jack lifted his beer bottle in salute, “I’ll drink to that.” He sat back and watched Ennis, not quite believing his luck in finally getting this man. All those months of watching and waiting had paid off. Designing amazing apartments together was only the start of it.
****
The gentle breeze ruffled Jack’s dark hair as he leaned against the railing. The bright sunshine hurt his eyes, but he was enjoying the view too much to go back inside and get his sunglasses. He sighed in contentment as the sun warmed his naked back and he rested his chin on his folded arms as he squinted out at the mountains on the distant horizon. Did it get any better than this?
The sound of the French doors opening behind him dragged his attention away from the landscape and he slowly turned around to see Ennis coming out of the apartment, dressed in a pair of low slung cargo shorts, nothing else. Ok, so maybe the view up here is better, Jack admitted to himself as his eyes roamed over Ennis’ naked torso.
“Grill’s ready,” Ennis said, holding up a bag of raw meat, “shall I throw these on?”
“Yeah, good idea,” Jack replied with a smile, “but you might wanna cover up. Those things can spit like crazy.”
“Sure enough,” Ennis grinned, looking down at himself. He retreated back inside and returned a moment later, shrugging on a green t-shirt. He came over to Jack and shoved Jack’s sunglasses at his chest. “You should put these on too. Can’t draw for shit if you can’t see.”
“Yessir.”
“It’s ‘Mr. Del Mar’ to you, boy,” Ennis said, slapping Jack’s ass as he turned to drop the steaks onto the hissing grill.
Jack bit back a snort of laughter and pushed his shades onto his nose, “in your dreams,” he mumbled under his breath. He dropped a quick kiss on the back of Ennis’ neck and went back inside to grab the salad from the fridge.
He paused for a moment in his kitchen, and not for the first time couldn’t quite believe his luck. He had a gorgeous home, a gorgeous man and a fantastic job. His life was finally going places. Jack couldn’t have felt happier.
A few people had found out about Jack and Ennis’ relationship over the past few months, but it wasn’t something that they had broadcast. Ennis told Jack that Mitchell knew about them, no surprises there. Jack had confessed that Scott had learned about them too, but despite Jack’s concerns, Ennis hadn’t seemed too bothered about that. Jack’s boss, Avery, had made a passing comment the other week when Jack had dropped into his office with some drafts.
“So, I hear you netted yourself a big fish, kiddo?” Avery had said with a wide grin.
“Guess you could say that,” Jack nodded with a smile.
“Just watch out for those teeth, ok?” Avery had advised.
It wasn’t the teeth Jack was worried about, quite the opposite in fact as those teeth were capable of the most delicious things. He bit his lip and made a hasty retreat from Avery’s office before he blushed like a schoolboy and betrayed his lecherous mind.
And that was that.
Jack was in a place he loved, doing a job he loved and on top of everything else, his gorgeous man was outside right now, cooking dinner for them in the late summer sun. It was perfect. Ennis was perfect. He could seriously fall for this guy.
Oh who was he kidding? He was halfway there already.
THE END
A/N - if anyone missed the most recent 'cast' pictures, you can find them here;
http://annabirmingham.livejournal.com/25584.html#cutid1 Thanks so much to you all for reading, I'll see you around! Anna x