Page 27 of Shock & Awe
“Voyeur.”
Kelly laughed. He took the iPad from Nick’s hands and pressed play on the video Nick had found. It wasn’t a full video, just a free sample of something, so it started right in the middle of the act. The sound blasted through the quiet cabin. Kelly held the iPad at arm’s length, cocking his head and frowning as he watched one man ram into another mercilessly, both of them contorting into unnatural positions. Nick leaned against the headboard beside him, but he didn’t take his eyes off the video. There was a lot of moaning and slapping and what looked like some very advanced yoga poses, and by the time the five-minute video ended, Kelly wasn’t certain it had done much for him.
He flopped the iPad into his lap and sighed.
“Nothing, huh?” Nick asked, sounding amused. Kelly shook his head. Nick reached for the iPad and clicked it off. “I tend to like the amateur ones myself.”
Kelly glanced at him, his cock showing interest at the mere thought of Nick getting off to amateur porn.
“They’re more real, less acrobatics,” Nick explained, meeting Kelly’s eyes without flinching. Kelly found it harder to breathe when Nick smiled mischievously. “Real people who are really attracted to each other. It’s sexier. Sometimes just the roll of the hips is all it takes for me.”
Kelly swallowed hard. “You realize what you just said got me harder than five minutes of watching two people fuck.”
Nick smiled slowly.
“You are a devious asshole, you know that?”
“I do.”
Kelly barked a laugh. “Is it possible to just be attracted to one guy, instead of all guys?”
“I don’t know, Kels, anything’s possible. You’re not attracted to all women, are you?”
“Not really.”
“There you go.”
“I’m so confused,” Kelly said with a sigh.
They sat side by side in the bed, looking at each other speculatively. Nick finally shrugged and smiled. He shifted and wrapped his arm around Kelly’s shoulders, pulling gently until they were both reclining against the headboard.
“You know what I think?” Nick rumbled in Kelly’s ear.
Kelly closed his eyes and leaned into Nick, smirking.
“I think you’re thinking too hard. And I know why you’re doing it.”
“You do?”
“The same reason I am. You don’t want to hurt me because you’re my friend.”
Kelly closed his eyes. Nick had the damnedest way of making things seem simple sometimes.
“Take your time figuring it out, Kels. I’ll be here.”
Kelly wasn’t sure if it was the Percocet hitting him or Nick’s simple promise that caused the warmth spreading through his chest. “You’d do that? You’d wait for me to figure things out?”
Nick began to grin. “I got no one better to do.”
Kelly laughed despite trying not to. “What about that guy? What was his name? The fireman?”
Nick cleared his throat and loosened his hold on Kelly’s shoulders. “Aidan. Like I said, that’s been pretty casual. And . . . if there’s something here with you?” He looked up and into Kelly’s eyes. “How could I pass that up?”
Kelly caught his breath, staring into Nick’s eyes and trying to decipher the heavy feeling in his chest. Nick drifted his knuckles over Kelly’s cheekbone, and soon enough their lips met.
Something about the combination of gruff no-nonsense and tender attention was hitting buttons Kelly had never known he possessed. He could hear hints of the staff sergeant giving orders in Nick’s words, but they were blunted by caresses full of adoration and mischief. It was a heady mixture, and it was signature Nick O’Flaherty. It was everything Kelly had always loved about Nick. His brusque leadership under fire—“Get your fat Navy ass down before I blow it off!”—and the warmth of his friendship in times of peace, all boiled down in this moment to a word and a gesture.
Kelly grabbed the front of Nick’s shirt. Nick looked down at his hand, smiling when he met Kelly’s eyes again.