Leon rolled aside and sprawled, half on top of Nick and half beside him, resting his head on Nick's shoulder. "Too fucking old for this."
Nick chuckled and ran his hand over Leon's shoulder, loving the difference in their skin color. "You're barely forty.
In your prime."
"I spent ten hours in transit. I'm exhausted."
"You're exhausted because of what you did to me."
"Mmm." He sighed and relaxed against Nick. "That, too. I think this is a record. You really didn't masturbate even once since I left?"
Nick laughed at that. "You think I could have gotten it up this many times if I had? I'm only two years younger than you. Haven't had this many orgasms in one night since I was sixteen and discovered Stroke Magazine."
Leon laughed. "I remember that magazine. First hard-core male porn I ever saw."
"Uh huh. I hadn't even come out of the closet yet, and my aunt gave me a copy for my birthday."
"Aunt May?" Leon asked, then laughed when Nick nodded.
"That woman is somethin' else. Talked to her lately?"
"Last week. She was disappointed you were out of town again. She wanted us to come to her little soiree last weekend." He ran his hand over Leon's smooth head. "You're not going to grow it back, are you?"
Leon tilted his head to look at him. "You like it, huh?"
"Sexy as hell. But now I fear all the boys will be after you."
Leon lightly slugged him in the ribs. "I was sexy before, thank you very much."
Nick laughed. "Why do you think I let you tie me up and put that thing around my dick?"
"I think we need to get us one of those for home. I kind of liked making you pass out." Leon toyed with Nick's nipple until Nick gripped his fingers to stop him. His body had been too sensitized for any more play.
"You buy one, it's going on you first."
Leon grinned. "Promise?"
Nick raised an eyebrow then laughed. "Promise. But I fear you're better with your mouth than I am."
Leon leaned up on his elbow so he was over Nick. "Your mouth is the hottest, nastiest thing I've ever felt." He kissed Nick gently. "So fucking hot." Then he laid his head back down on Nick's shoulder and sighed.
"Hey, hon. We can't sleep here."
"Why not? It would be very easy to sleep."
"Because we might drown."
Leon grunted.
"If you sleep on tile, you will be way more stiff than you are already. Think you feel old now?"
Leon pushed up onto his knees. "You're such an ass."
"But you love me anyway." Nick got up and reached for the bar of soap Leon had set in the dish on the wall. "Turn around."
Leon turned around, giving Nick his back. Nick washed Leon's back, then moved around him and did a quick yet thorough job on his front. The poor man looked dead on his feet now that the excitement was over. "Go dry off and get dressed. I'll buy you a drink and then we'll head home to our own soft bed."
Leon gave him a quick kiss before he opened the glass door and stepped out of the shower. After quickly washing, Nick stepped out, grabbed a fluffy towel off the rack, and went back into the dungeon room. Leon had turned up the overhead lights and was trying to wiggle his way back into the leather pants.
Nick laughed when Leon cursed. "Need some talcum powder?"
"Am I supposed to air dry before I can get dressed again?"
Nick picked up his jeans and stepped into them. "You can just wrap a towel around you and wear it out of here."
Leon turned a narrow-eyed glare on him, which made Nick laugh again. Nick finished dressing, and eventually Leon wiggled his way into the leather pants with a lot of fucks and shits and hells along the way.
Hand in hand, they walked back out into the club and found seats at a small, round table in one corner, away from the throng of patrons, which had grown considerably from an hour ago. The waiter came by and took their orders then left them alone.
"You know, Nick..." Leon scooted his chair closer to Nick's and took his hand in his, lacing their fingers together.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
Leon shook his head. "Nothing. Not really."
"Something, though. Talk to me."
The waiter dropped off their drinks and quickly left after Nick dropped a bill on his tray and thanked him.
"I know your family is here and all," Leon said, leaning in close so he didn't have to speak over the music. "But I was offered a job in Portland...Maine."
Nick's heart fluttered a little wildly. "What job?"
"One of the companies I was sent to last week. A law firm, actually, that needs a good accountant. The pay is three times what I make now."
Nick looked down at their joined hands.
"I won't go if you don't go with me," Leon said softly into his ear. "I won't go anywhere without you."
But it was a fantastic opportunity for Leon. How could he say no? But to leave his family? Aunt May? His mom? He looked up into Leon's eyes and saw the longing there. "Tell me about Portland." Nick hadn't ever been off the West Coast, had barely ever left the Pacific Northwest except for a couple of long weekend trips the two of them had taken to San Francisco and once to San Diego. He was born here, grew up here. It was all he knew. Seattle was his home.
"The winters are colder," Leon said. "Summers are warmer, too, and the humidity can get bad."
"You're not selling me on this."
"Maine is just as beautiful as Washington. Even better in the fall when the trees turn red and orange and every little farm has loads of pumpkins out front. All the lobster you can eat, and it's affordable. I swear, babe, the seafood is just as good as here."
Nick made a face. "I've had Atlantic salmon before."
Leon chuckled, but there was a slight strain behind the sound. "Lobster, clams, oysters. Haddock. Oh, babe, the haddock is better than Pacific halibut. And there's this house I looked at just outside the city, which is tiny compared to Seattle. Portland only has a quarter of a million people in it, and the history is amazing. The cobblestone streets, the—"
Nick held up his hand. "You looked at a house?" Nick loved their house here. It was cozy and nestled in the forest. It was like their own private hideaway.
"I did. The law firm gave me a list of real estate available in the area. I looked at a few, and this one was...breathtaking."
Nick swallowed hard. It sounded as though Leon had already made up his mind. He wanted the job, wanted to move all the way across the country.
"It's on this bluff overlooking the ocean, with a deep expanse of ancient forest separating it from the highway. It's more of a bungalow than a house, just two bedrooms and a den, but it's got this wraparound porch, and a sunroom that faces over the ocean. When you're sitting in that glassed-in room and the sun comes up, it's the most amazing thing I've ever seen."
Nick pulled his hand from Leon's and reached for his drink.
His fingers trembled as he grasped the icy glass and lifted it to his mouth.
"Nick, baby."
"Give me a minute," Nick said, then took a deep swallow of his bourbon. He'd been looking forward to Leon's job changing back to the way it had been, when Leon came home by six every night so they could spend their evenings together before Nick left for work. So they could have weekends together again. To do things like attend Aunt May's little parties with her freaky old friends. To have Sunday dinner at Mom's once a month. To spend the afternoon wandering through Pike Place Market buying fresh seafood and veggies to take home and cook over the fire pit they'd built in their backyard.
Leon didn't have any family left, had moved around the country as a kid with a father who'd been in the military. He had no roots anywhere. Nick's were so deep he wasn't sure they could be dug up. Wasn't sure he wanted to dig them up.
But God damn it, he loved Leon with all his heart.
"What's the job market like for someone like me?" he asked. He could run just about every type of heavy machinery made, was certified to work on most of it too. But in this economy, finding a job wouldn't be easy. Giving up the one he had might be close to insane.