Chapter Text
The rest of them trudged to the lodge to get dinner. It was silent with none of the guests around. They kept it that way, all of them lost in deep thought while they waited for the cooks to put together meals they could take back to their cabins.
The quiet was only broken when one of the cooks looked over at them, her face pinched with concern. “There’s usually another of you boys. Did something happen?”
Palmer was the quickest to respond, tone soothing. “He’s just feeling a bit under the weather,” he told her. “He’s resting in our cabin right now.”
“He’s the one with the big appetite, isn’t he?” She shuffled along the trays as she spoke, filling the tupperware in her hand a bit fuller. “Does he need something easy on the stomach?”
“That may be for the better,” Salim told her, grateful. She merely nodded, going about arranging things and adding some different choices into a few more containers - some type of stew, mashed potatoes, and a couple rolls of bread.
As she worked, she eyed the rest of them. “You didn’t find anything, did you?”
“Wish we did,” Jason answered for them, not having to act out his sigh. “But in this case, we know the guy who disappeared isn’t a victim. Hernando’s gone because he doesn’t want to be found.”
Palmer started to accept the full containers, putting them in a bag. “Did he or Prudencia ever act strange around you?” he asked.
The cook shook her head, though it was clear she was thinking back through her memories. “Not really odd, no. They seemed like a nice, normal couple. They liked to do activities. Kept Christian pretty busy.”
Salim tipped his head curiously. “What sort of activities?”
“Loved going on hikes, horseback riding, they had a stint of playing archery on a daily basis, that sort of thing,” the cook said. “They loved the educational walks especially. I remember Christian saying they would ask a million questions every time, and he kept having to go research some of them later.”
“Oh,” was all that Salim said in response, but he glanced to the side at Jason, catching his eye.
The cook slid the last of the containers over to them, wiping her hands on her apron. “Here. I’ll be starting on the breakfast pastries now but if any of you need any more, call to the reception desk. I’ll have more brought to you. And if Anja complains about it, tell her Nadine offered."
“We appreciate you, Nadine,” Elliott said earnestly as they collected the rest of their food. They headed out all together, and it was as silent on the way back through the lodge as it had been coming in.
It was only when they were back out in the evening air that Palmer spoke up. “What’s going to happen now?”
They were in the open field, but that did not mean their voices wouldn’t carry. Especially with an agent keeping watch over every single cabin, standing by the doors like sentinels. Salim shrugged, truly uncertain. “I do not know.”
Palmer dropped his voice to a near-whisper. “But you caught something about what Nadine said, didn’t you, sir?” When Salim met his eyes, he offered, “You looked to First in that silent communicating thing you do.”
Salim couldn’t help looking over to his lover, doing that exact silent communication with a shy tip of his head. “Only that it seems odd the two of them were so eager to do so many hikes when, from what we know, they were not outdoors people like everyone else here.”
“Yeah. Why’d they want to know so much?” Jason stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets, squinting off at the now dark woods. “Know what else is bugging me? There was a whole group waiting for Hernando. How’d he get in contact to let them know he was coming? Schulz told us they took the SIM cards out of everyone’s phones when they started the quarantine.”
“They had all of those things in their cabin,” Salim reminded him. “I would not be surprised if they had a second phone. They had to have something.” He frowned, but winced as his brow furrowed. Since Olivia had slapped him, his headache had been growing.
Proving he had a sixth sense for such things, especially when it came to Salim, Jason squinted at him. “You good, Salem?”
Shifting his food into one hand to rub his forehead with the other, Salim nodded gently. He knew better than to mention it and get Jason’s temper going. “Food will help,” he said.
“Let’s get some in you, then.” As they stopped to split to their cabins, Jason fixed Elliott and Palmer with a look. “Hey, if it gets bad with Jer, y’all come get us, okay? Anytime of night.”
Both young men straightened automatically, their arms twitching to salute but stopping before they did. “We will. He’s almost definitely going to have a nightmare,” Elliott sayid. “But hopefully he doesn’t wake anyone.”
“It’s alright if he does,” Salim reassured.
“Just us in these cabins anyway,” Jason agreed. “Not like we haven’t woken each other up before.”
With a few more murmured goodnights, the two young Marines parted and returned to their cabin.
Nick sighed, his lips fallen in sympathy. “Poor kids,” he murmured, before those lips twisted at his own words. “Do I count as old because I said that, now?”
“Mm, your birthday is still a few months off,” Salim said, eyes creasing and brightening. “Whereas someone else here is definitely joining the ‘old’ club sooner.”
Nick snickered. “Yeah, y’know what, they’re your goslings. I’m still cool Uncle Duck.”
“Better a new inductee than the guy who’s chairman of the board,” Jason drawled back, smirk rising as he eyed Salim from underneath the brim of his hat.
Which promptly got tugged down into his face, as Salim playfully grappled him. “If I am chairman, doesn’t that mean I get to boss you around?”
“Like hell!”
Nick backed up, raising his free hand. “Whoa whoa, if you spill the food, I’m not gonna be the one going shamefaced back to the cooks!”
Salim settled down, letting his arm fall from around Jason’s shoulders, but keeping his broad grin. “Okay, you’re right. They must be working hard to feed all of these people. I only saw Nadine and one other. Do you think that is their whole cooking staff?”
Not bothering even trying to answer, Nick just looked at Jason, who rolled his eyes with an exaggerated sigh.
“Nadine Weber and Tobias Neumann,” he recited from memory. “Not the resort’s only cooking staff, but the only ones unlucky enough to be on shift when the quarantine started. So now they’re stuck with feeding everyone without days off.”
Both Nick and Salim frowned. “Damn, that’s rough,” Nick said. “Maybe oughta send El to give them a hand sometimes.”
“I would not mind taking a turn cooking, either, if they agreed to the help,” Salim offered, sounding almost wistful. “I do not know how to make much, and it has been a long time since the last time I cooked for myself and Zain. But I could help chop or stir things, at least.”
Even as he had said it, Jason had not truly thought about their lack of breaks as a thing to fix. He blinked at Nick and Salim, wondering when he had gotten so used to the idea of never having a day off.
The Marines had beaten the idea of having a weekend out of him, he guessed.
“I, uh, can cook a little,” he found himself saying.
A glimmer of fascination brightened Salim’s dark eyes. They widened out eagerly. “You can?” It was not teasing. It was not skeptical. It was said with the delight of a man finding out more about his lover.
“Ohhh, Salem, you’re gonna get to experience Jason’s cobbler for the first time and I’m jealous. That shit is life-changing.”
“Cobbler is… like… something with corn?” Salim guessed.
“Oh, god no. It’s a dessert.” Jason wrinkled his nose in disgust even as he elbowed Nick in the ribs. “But c’mon, man, I don’t even know what kinda ingredients they got. Don’t be setting expectations too high.”
Stepping out of elbow range, Nick was only emboldened, grin widening. “My mom actually lets this man in her kitchen, believe it or not. And my mom doesn’t let nobody in the kitchen.”
Jason crossed his arms over his chest. “For the record, the ‘stay out of my kitchen’ rule is mainly just for you, Kay.”
Nick pretended as though he’d been shot, putting his free hand over his heart and stumbling purposefully. When he caught himself, though, he was grinning. “Suits me just fine. I’m only helpful as far as taste testing.”
“I want to taste test this cobbler. Some day,” Salim said, as they reached the point they had to part to go to their separate cabins.
Jason ducked his head just enough to shade his eyes with the bill of his cap, but he said, “Yeah, they got the ingredients at any point, and I’ll make you one. They’ve been pretty good about the fresh fruit, so maybe we’ll get lucky.”
“It has fruit?” Salim asked, as the two of them headed off to their cabin. Nick veered toward the one he shared with Rachel and Eric after bumping fists with them both. Even with him gone, and with their cluster of cabins set downhill, blocked from sight from the rest of the grounds, Salim waited until they stepped inside to dare get too close to Jason. The German officers were their allies, but that didn’t mean they were safe.
“Yeah, it has fruit. Peach and blackberry are the most common,” Jason revealed as he started to peel off his still damp clothes. He knew the recipes by heart, but he was not getting his hopes up that he was gonna be able to make one. It was not as if feeding a whole host of people all day was easy, and they probably had their own set recipes to make besides.
“It sounds good,” Salim hummed, already thinking of how he might be able to manage slipping into the kitchen at some point to ask Nadine if they had whatever Jason might need for it. He copied Jason, stripping and collecting his clothes to put aside.
And then he flashed Jason a hopeful look. “Do you know what else sounds good?”
Jason made sure Salim was looking him in the eye so that the older man did not miss his eye roll — nor his grin. “Yeah, yeah. Go fill up the tub.”
The smile Jason received was so affectionate he thought he could feel it, like being held. Salim slipped out the back door, pausing with it half open to provide light until he found the lantern left out there.
A few seconds later the water started to run, noisily filling the metal tub.
Jason took a look out the window, eyeing the dark for a long moment, but there was no movement in return. Not even their raccoon friend.
So he followed Salim out, footsteps quick. “Tell me it’s at least hot,” he said.
Turning, Salim drank in the sight of Jason. After an entire day keeping his hands to himself, he didn’t waste a second to put them on Jason’s waist. His thumbs stroked down Jason’s hipbones. His voice slid into a lower pitch. “Once you’re in it, it will be boiling.”
A pleasant shiver ran down Jason’s spine. “Aren’t you always telling me I’m an ice cube?” he joked back, letting his weight settle against Salim’s chest. He legitimately was starting to feel like one, the chill from spending all day in the creek starting to settle into his bones.
The moment Jason pressed in against him, Salim sucked in a sharp breath. His lips pressed together tightly, nose and eyes scrunching. “On second thought…” he teased. But he betrayed himself by wrapping his arms around Jason’s middle.
“Fuck, you’re warm.” Turning around in his arms, Jason downright snuggled against him, pushing as close as he could physically get.
It was more than the warmth he was seeking. Jason had been raw since their fight, and everything that escalated after has only irritated his anxiety worse.
Able to sense it, or at least that Jason needed the affection, Salim leaned in to brush his lips along Jason’s neck. He trailed kisses all the way down to the deltoid of Jason’s shoulder, then moved to the other side. “Are you getting goosebumps from me or from the air?” The playfulness in his voice was impossible to miss.
“Definitely you,” Jason huffed, but it became a laugh before the air was all the way out of his mouth. “Why are we standing here? C’mon, let’s go get boiled.”
Without letting go of Salim, he shuffled them towards the tub like they were a pair of penguins tied together.
Salim in particular had to widen his stance and really waddle so he wouldn’t kick Jason’s heels on the way. He giggled the whole six feet there, and then he lightly pinched Jason’s side. “I have to let you go to get into the tub, rouhi. But then you can come right back to my arms.”
Jason groaned his disapproval, but he finally let Salim go. “I guess.”
As Salim stepped in, Jason trailed his fingers in the water — or at least he started to before he snatched his hand back. “I thought the boiling part was a joke!”
Already standing in the water and sinking down into it, Salim’s brows lifted. He gave Jason a daring smirk. “You spent how long in the Iraq desert and some hot water is going to stop you from getting in here with me?”
He spread his long legs invitingly.
“You’re such a dick.” Wrinkling his nose, Jason openly braced himself as he clambered over the edge, only to start swearing under his breath the second he hit the water. “How the fucking fuck do you stand this?!”
“It isn’t that hot,” Salim argued softly, but watching Jason’s wincing made him sit forward, actually second-guessing himself. “Add some cold if you need to!” He tried to reach around Jason for the tap, all teasing replaced with concern.
Jason’s stubbornness flared up like clockwork and he hunkered down, forcing a breath through his nose. “No, no, I can handle it. I’ll adjust.” Even though he already felt the prickle of sweat on the back of his neck and the water stung enough to make his skin turn pink.
Salim was forced back against the curve of the tub, but he frowned and lifted his foot out of the water, easily reaching for the tap with his toes. “Jason, I do not need you cooked well-done. Stubborn little man,” he grumbled, even as he slipped his arms around Jason’s chest.
The sudden rush of cold water came as a relief. Jason shivered at the sudden contrast of temperatures, but the tension in his body started to ease as the water was brought down a few degrees. “It wasn’t that bad,” he grumbled.
Turning the knob back off before the water became too cool, Salim hummed. “Yes, that is what you were saying ten seconds ago.” He began his onslaught of kisses along Jason’s neck once again, just to see if he was actually the cause of his goosebumps.
“Augh, Salim!” The sting of the hot water was completely forgotten as Jason laughed again, squirming in his hold. Sure enough, goosebumps rose on Jason’s arms, all the way up to his biceps.
Delighted, Salim continued until he had Jason squirming enough to slosh water over the edge of the tub. Only then did he relent, resting his chin on Jason’s shoulder.
He breathed Jason in deeply. “I know we are not meant to be enjoying ourselves here, but I really did not enjoy today until now.”
“That makes fucking two of us. Today sucked ass.” Sliding his hand up to cup the back of Salim’s neck, Jason let his head loll back on the larger man’s shoulder. “And not in the nice way.”
Jason was jostled from Salim’s laughter. “Maybe if you are lucky we can end the night in the nice way.” He let his fingers splay out against Jason’s skin, his thumb idly following the curve of Jason’s pec.
But then he sighed. “And as long as my headache goes away.”
If he had thought about it a second more, Salim could have predicted the way Jason twisted about in his lap, sitting sideways now to get himself a good look at Salim’s face. “You doing okay? What kinda headache?”
It forced Jason to scrunch up, so Salim reached under Jason’s left knee to grab the right and pulled. Gently, he turned his lover and lifted his legs up so he could drape them over the edge of the tub and lean back against the other side. He admitted, “Olivia did not hold back.” But then quickly added, “Today has also been stressful.”
“That goddamn —“ Cutting himself off, Jason instead inspected Salim’s face, searching for any bruising. It was still a bit red, but nothing had darkened yet. He suspected there may be some in the morning. “After this, run to Kim and get some ibuprofen, yeah?”
Eyes slipping shut, Salim allowed Jason to fuss over him. He didn’t want to be hurt, but he didn’t mind that this was the outcome. “What is that? Remember last time I had American medicine.” He did not want to be unconscious again for several days.
“It’s the shit Kim gives us for headaches and bruises, nothing crazy like benadryl.” Jason soothed, brushing back a wild curl. “Basic level. Not near as strong as the shit you had after your wrist.”
Salim couldn’t help glancing down at the scar that now ran up the outside of his wrist. “I hardly remember that, if I’m honest. Probably because of the medicine.” He shifted it down into the water, aware of a slight ache in it now that they were talking about it. He’d accepted that it would probably always do that now, every once in a while.
Jason’s hand followed it into the water, thumb rubbing gently along the muscle. “This won’t mess with you none at all, don’t worry. I’d tell you straight if it would.” Among the lies he refused to tell, any about drugs were at the top of the list.
Salim leaned forward, resting his forehead to Jason’s temple. “I know you would.” He groaned softly as Jason’s efforts eased the pain, his whole wrist relaxing in Jason’s hold. “That feels good. It tensed up when it was storming and has been hurting since.”
Ever since Salim had first given him a massage, Jason had taken the effort to start learning how to reciprocate. He lifted Salim’s wrist back up to focus on it with both hands. “You been doing your exercises like Kim said?”
A little abashed, Salim shrugged. “Not as often since we got here. There hasn’t been as much time.” He knew he was about to receive a glare, but he couldn’t care when Jason rubbed over the knob of his wrist and jolted a nerve. A tingle raced up his entire arm and he made a sound that was as much a groan of relief as it was a yelp.
The glare came, but it didn’t linger. “We’ll make the time,” Jason said, mentally marking it on their schedule. “You gotta be good to it, or you’ll be aching forever.”
They both already knew there were plenty of aches that were going to stay with them forever, but Jason stubbornly did his best to limit them.
It meant a lot to Salim, that Jason was so determined to help. Salim didn’t want it to get worse, but he knew that, before all of this happened, he hadn’t necessarily looked after himself. Zain was always his focus. If Salim was hurt, he couldn’t provide for his son. So even when he was hurt, he had only paid enough attention to it to make sure he could keep going.
Now, he had someone taking care of him.
His breath hitched with emotion. “I know. You’re right.”
Mistaking the reason for it, Jason’s fingers froze in place. “Did I push too hard? Is it tender right there?” he asked, looking at Salim’s wrist as if he was pointedly memorizing the exact spots he pressed against.
Nuzzling against Jason’s cheek, Salim shook his head. “No, hayati, the opposite. It feels very good. Keep going.” He shut his eyes, basking in the comfort of having Jason caring for him.
Jason did without hesitation. Eventually he left Salim’s wrist and worked his way up his arm until their positions became too awkward for it. Only then did he relax back, enjoying the heat of the water a bit for himself. “Once we’re out of here, you’re doing your exercises.”
Jason’s attentions had left Salim in a drifting state, so when he spoke Salim’s brow scrunched up. He knew better than to argue, though. “Okay. After we eat, though. Now that we are relaxed I am aware of how hungry I am.”
“Right. I guess we should do that.” Jason had still only had the apple since breakfast, and his stomach chose to remind them both of that fact with a loud grumble. “Oh, shuddup, you.”
Free hand sliding to rest on Jason’s stomach, Salim lightly pinched a bit of it. “That is my boyfriend you are talking to,” he playfully growled into Jason’s ear.
With a small yelp, Jason tried to curl up to protect his tender belly, which only slid him more firmly into Salim’s hold. “Your boyfriend can sure run his mouth,” Jason shot back, gripping Salim’s arms for purchase.
“Yes, I am very aware that he can, but I am also thankfully very good at making it stop running.” Salim retorted, grinning already as he turned Jason’s face toward him and sealed their lips together.
His point was proven perfectly as Jason melted into the kiss with a groan, not even bothering to put up a playful struggle. They both needed this too much, to sink into one another as much as they did the water, reaffirming all the things they were too afraid to truly say with the press of their lips.
And for a moment, just a minute, it gave them the chance to pretend. That they were already in London. That they had a place of their own, and baths like this were a regular occurrence. That they were safe at last. That nothing would ever tear them apart from each other.
Salim followed the kiss with another, and another, lingering as long as he could.
By the time they got to the actual washing part of their bath, the water was half cool, but it was satisfying to no longer smell like creek when they clambered out. They both only bothered with boxer shorts as they finally ate their dinners, and then Jason made good on his promise to make Salim do his exercises.
“How’s your head?” he finally asked.
“Better since eating,” Salim offered, partially distracted as he bent his wrist back to stretch it. He couldn’t pull it as far as he used to be able to, or put his full weight on it anymore, and he wanted to stretch it more. But he heard Kim’s voice in his head telling him firmly not to overdo it. “Can you time me for this? I need to stretch it for three minutes.”
Scooping up his watch, Jason marked the time and nodded. “Go for it.” As the seconds ticked away, Jason leaned back on one hand, foot tucked under his thigh. It felt easy now to be casual like this, but he knew it was still a gift they could not take for granted. “Guess I won’t bully you into the ibuprofen, then.”
Wrinkling his nose in concentration, Salim glanced at Jason and was glad he asked for the timer, because he’d have lost count without it. Jason looked so relaxed, hair still slightly damp, barely clothed, and he was so beautiful it drew away any pain Salim felt.
“I will still take it, to be cautious,” he murmured distractedly.
“Okay, then one of us is gonna have to put on clothes and go fetch it,” Jason said, swinging the one leg that dangled over the side of the bed. “Cause if any of us make Kim walk to our cabins when nobody’s bleeding, she’ll make us regret it.”
Gaze trailing up that leg, Salim watched the way Jason’s inner thigh flexed. He became transfixed on the fleshy curve that was revealed just before Jason’s boxers cut off his view between his spread legs. “You don’t have to put on clothes,” he heard himself say.
Snorting in answer, Jason realized exactly where Salim’s eyes were at and simply leaned a little heavier on his hand to let him keep looking. “Guess you’re going to get your own meds,” he answered with a cheeky grin. “You can stop stretching now.”
Salim did, allowing his hand to relax back into a normal position. He changed the direction he’d flexed it, pushing his palm downward. What he really wanted to do was crawl forward on his hands and knees to be between Jason’s legs. But he knew Jason wouldn’t let him until his stretches were done.
So he pouted instead. “Only if when I get back you are even less dressed than you are now.”
“I can make that happen.” Jason checked the time on his watch again, nodding to himself. The only hint that anything had changed was the way the subtle gold glow of the scars on his chest started to pulse a little faster.
In the dim light of their cabin, with only the lamps on and the sun set outside, it was eye-catching. Salim’s gaze flashed up to it and he grinned. “How much longer for this stretch?” He asked, playfully impatient.
“Another two minutes.” There was no sympathy in Jason, only a growing smirk. “Keep on lookin’, I’m sure time will go quick.”
Dropping his voice, Salim practically rumbled. “I do not want to hear that I am a menace ever again.” His eyes slipped down again. Watching every minute shift of Jason’s legs. Wanting to have his teeth in the meaty part. Right by where he knew Jason would whine at him to actually have his mouth.
Jason spread his thighs further, letting his other leg drop off the side to stop impacting Salim’s view. “I’m here helpin’ your health,” he answered smoothly. “Ain’t menacing nobody.”
“You are the definition,” Salim accused. Surely Jason had to feel the charge filling the air between them, drawing Salim closer like he was in a trance. He didn’t even realize how he’d leaned forward, about to get to his feet. About to close that space.
Jason held out his right hand, the watch dangling from it. “Uh-uh. Your stretch is over. Go get pants on and go get your meds. That’s the deal.”
Salim didn’t think he’d ever dressed so quickly in his life. He pulled on the first random tee he could find, then a pair of workout shorts. He didn’t bother with socks or shoes. Just grabbed a flashlight and aimed it at Jason. “Get yourself ready.”
And then he was out the door, trekking the short distance to Kim’s cabin.
The light from her window was warm, as were all the cabins in their little half-circle. The moon was barely there, leaving a murk over everything else in contrast.
The shadows of the woods were as deep and still as ever, with only the sound of night insects revealing how much life was within.
When Salim knocked, he barely had to wait before the door pulled open. Kim’s half smile faded with a blink as if he was not who she expected to see. “What’d Jason do now?”
Rolling his eyes, Salim chuckled. “Nothing this time. I was hoping for some, ah- I don’t remember what he called it. Painkillers. For my wrist.”
Face softening, Kim gestured him inside. “Of course. I thought for a second you were here for condoms.” As he waited by her door politely, she headed for a wardrobe with a lock on it. She slid a key from her pocket and opened it, revealing some equipment along with a shelf full of medicines.
Pulling out a bottle and a small ziplock, she transferred six small brown pills from the latter to the former. Then she grabbed a handful of condoms and lubricant packets anyway, adding them all to a paper bag before she locked the cabinet again. “You can have two every six hours. Shouldn’t have any issues, but I suggest making sure you have food in your stomach.” As she handed it over, she lowered her voice. “They should not be a worry for Jason, either.”
Deep appreciation welled in Salim. “Thank you. I think he still prefers not knowing where I keep them, but not needing to worry helps.” Taking the paper bag, he resisted explaining that the condoms were not needed, smiling instead. “Have you been doing alright without company?”
He knew that she could more than hold her own. That didn’t mean she didn’t get lonely being in a cabin by herself.
“You say that like I haven’t been conscripted to take care of this entire mess of people,” Kim answered with a laugh. “It’s been a revolving door all day, especially with the guests and officers being at odds, not to mention Johann. And somehow I got saddled with managing everyone’s normal medications on top of it.” She rolled her eyes, but they both knew she would have already gone stir crazy without the assignment. There had been plenty of times she had sought out the company of others while they were underground.
“We would not be able to manage without you,” Salim told her with a smile. He lifted the bag, giving it a tiny, grateful shake. “I’ll leave you to rest, then. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Salim.” Kim saw him to the door and stood there in the frame, watching as he made his way back. The grass was cool underfoot. He relished it, after so long trapped in a place where nothing grew. But he didn’t slow, eager to return to Jason.
By the time he got back to their door, the lights were down low and Salim could just barely catch the strains of music from the other side. Jason must have put the radio on, playing one of the CDs they had found in the lodge library. It was a slower instrumental mix that Salim had picked out despite Jason teasing him about being a romantic.
When he opened the door, he found exactly what he was hoping to. Jason had shed every stitch of clothing and stretched out on their bed in a nest of blankets, humming faintly to himself even as met Salim’s eyes.
Jason was on his stomach. His legs were spread so that Salim could see the curve of his balls between them. He looked so comfortable, artfully arranged, knowing exactly what he was doing.
Salim was on him in seconds. He straddled the backs of Jason’s thighs and gripped his waist, angling his hips so Jason could feel the instant effect he had, even through Salim’s shorts. Leaning down, his chest just brushing along Jason’s shoulder blades, Salim forgot all about the medicine he’d gone to retrieve. “We haven’t tried this way before,” he spoke right against the shell of Jason’s ear. “Is that what you want?”
“Well, fuck, now it is.” The luxury of a proper mattress had been missing from their lives for a solid year. Nothing about being pressed to the ground or a shaky military cot like this sounded pleasant.
But being pushed down against a resort mattress and two beds’ worth of blankets with the warmth of Salim at his back had Jason’s cock responding immediately, trapping itself between the top quilt and his stomach.
Palms travelling up Jason’s back, then down again, Salim groaned. “Then you will have to lift your ass up for me, baby.” He shifted his weight up just enough to give Jason room to press up on his knees and began kissing a path down Jason’s spine. Every single vertebrae received a press of warm lips, sometimes a nip. “Did you do what I told you?”
He was pretty sure Jason had, if the easy way his clothed cock slid between Jason’s asscheeks without any friction was a good indication.
“You think I’m patient enough to be waitin’?” Jason asked, settling his bare ass back against Salim’s hips. The fabric of Salim’s shorts came away damp from each rub. “You were taking your sweet time.”
“I was barely two minutes,” Salim retorted, but he didn’t make Jason wait any longer as he changed position, getting his legs in between Jason’s thighs and pushing them out to make Jason spread his. Jason was at the perfect height. Salim pushed his shorts down just enough to free his cock and rubbed it against Jason’s ass with a groan.
It was no surprise Jason argued, as if he was in any position to do so. “You were a good five. I’m the one with the watch, remember?” He leaned his head on his crossed forearms, looking back over his shoulder to take Salim in.
He was met with an arched brow and Salim’s hands firmly groping both globes of his ass. “Should I have you see how long you can take it until you start whining for more?” He grinded against Jason again, watching his cock drag between Jason’s asscheeks.
“Oh, come on.” Jason was the one to groan this time, biting down on his bottom lip in a failed attempt to stop it. “I say somethin’ factual, and get you all worked up about it. Sometimes I think you go lookin’ for an excuse.” Rough as his words were, Salim could clearly see him fighting a grin, pretending he was not trying to rile Salim up just as much as the man was him.
“You think I need an excuse to wind you up?” Salim’s fingers flexed into soft flesh, released, and flexed again. He rocked into Jason once more, letting his cock get slick. It was almost like Jason had purposefully used more than he needed, like he knew this would happen. Salim wouldn’t put it past him.
“Does seem to be a hobby of yours, now that I think about it.” As he spoke, Jason pushed back against Salim’s palms, filling his hands as Jason rubbed firmly against the cock Salim was teasing him with.
“One of my- fuck - favourites.” A breathy grunt was pulled from Salim’s chest. “But you always end up making me impatient, too.” He looked down at Jason and that alone made his cock stiffen even more. “I want you, Jason.”
“Watch it. If you keep telling me that, it might go to my head.” The way Jason said it was with the same tone other people might use to recite poetry to their lover. His expression was much the same, lust and affection fully intertwined.
Sliding his hands up to grip Jason’s waist, Salim pressed him down, changing their angle just enough to bring the head of his cock against Jason’s entrance. He bit his bottom lip, starting to push inside, achingly slow. “I will never stop telling you how much I want you,” he vowed. “How much I need you. Allah, Jason, relax, habibi.”
“I’m doin’ my damndest, darlin’ —“ The new angle was unfamiliar, Salim’s cock stretching him in a way that caught Jason off guard. Shocks of pleasure caused him to tremble as he tried to push back against the pressure. “Fuck, that feels good, don’t stop.”
Giving Jason what he wanted, Salim kept slowly moving his hips forward until, at last, his thighs touched Jason’s ass and his cock was buried so deep their balls brushed. Salim moaned, gasping, “Jason.” Gradually, he rolled his hips, making Jason’s spine arch even further.
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Jason breathed the words, digging his fingers into the cotton of his pillow as if it would keep him grounded. The only thing he could focus on was how Salim felt inside of him, each minute shift sending shudders through his body.
When Jason started cursing like that, it was the signal Salim knew meant he could give Jason more. He drew back, only a couple of inches, but he thrusted forward again hard enough that the smack of their skin together filled the room. It was a gorgeous sight, watching Jason’s ass bounce from the impact.
Even more gorgeous was the moan it forced out of Jason’s throat, one Salim knew that he was the only one to ever cause. “I fuckin’ get it now,” Jason gasped, words falling out of his mouth without thought. “Why people like this so goddamn much.”
It reminded Salim of the first time they’d had sex like this. Jason gasping and saying almost the exact same thing. Salim laughed, using all the limited air in his lungs, and leaned down. He trailed his fingertips along Jason’s skin until he could flatten them out along his hipbones. “Tell me how much you like it.” Then he dragged Jason backward onto his cock.
Telling Salim much of anything became impossible as all of the air left Jason in a shout. It took several seconds more for his brain to remember how language worked at all. “L-love it,” he whined into the pillow. “Your cock feels so damn good, like it’s stretching me out for the first time all over again.”
The soft slaps of their bodies meeting grew louder and faster as Salim really began to move. “You’re taking me so deep like this,” he moaned, watching every single thrust force Jason down into the bedding. The sight of Jason clutching the sheets like it was the only thing keeping him anchored was one Salim was never going to forget.
“Would take you fucking deeper if I could,” Jason groaned, trying to thrust back up against Salim but having little leverage to do anything but arch his back and push up on his knees. His own cock slapped against his abs with each thrust, precum dribbling from the tip.
“Is that a request?” Salim asked through pants, having to grip Jason tighter as he fucked into him harder. He reached under Jason until he could wrap his fingers around Jason’s cock. It only took one stroke for it to be slick with precum and sliding against his palm.
Whining sharply, Jason bucked against his palm, pulling himself along Salim’s cock just as Salim was sliding back. They came back together with a slap of skin that echoed through the cabin. “Yes, yes, fuck yes—“
Sweat slid down Salim’s body and he had no idea how moans kept escaping him when he had to pant for breath. But he didn’t let up for a second, pounding Jason into their bed, stroking Jason’s cock without even having to move his hand. He could feel Jason tensing underneath him, and the pressure building until he was right on the brink, trying to hold on just a few seconds longer. “Jason- Jason!”
“Salim, oh god, Salim —“ Salim held out just long enough. Jason’s hips jerked as he clamped down, the heat of his body fully surrounding Salim’s cock, and came messily over Salim’s fingers.
Jason’s body shuddered. Salim could see the quiver run all the way down Jason’s back, and that’s what undid him. He released Jason’s cock to grab his hips again, fucking Jason through his orgasm until his thighs burned and he had nothing more to give. He tried to stay there, buried deep inside of Jason. Tried to catch his breath, knelt up on his knees. But his legs trembled and he had to slide back, slipping out of Jason.
A beautiful trail of his cum slid down the inside of Jason’s thigh.
Jason sagged down onto his arms with a long groan, too hazy to do anything but stay where Salim put him, ass still in the air. Shame was for another time and place where he did not feel fucking fantastic.
He made such a gorgeous, lewd sight, and Salim was jealous for a moment that he wasn’t the artist between them. He groaned, dropping sideways onto the mattress beside Jason. “If we still had that camera…”
A small snort sounded from the pillow as Jason slowly sank down onto his belly. “You wouldn’t,” Jason said, though he sounded doubtful of his own conviction even as he said it.
“Don’t underestimate me.” Salim’s voice was deep and rough, and heavily accented as he laid down. “One day maybe I will have an album full of you, with you looking just like this.”
The mere thought of Salim sitting with a full album of photographs of Jason in compromising positions, enjoying himself while slowly flipping through, sent a pleasant shudder through Jason. “This is revenge for the art, isn’t it?”
Every once in a while, Jason would show Salim a sketch of these moments, of what Salim looked like lounged naked across the mattress, of exactly how his cock fit in Jason’s hand, of his expression caught in a moment of desire. They never dared to keep them, though it pained them both. They all disappeared in a flick of fire.
Every single one, Salim tried to remember. It made him wish he had Jason’s stark memory. But he hoped that meant that, one day, Jason could recreate them all.
He smirked, making himself comfortable on his side of the bed and enjoying the fact that Jason still hadn’t moved yet. He felt smug about it. “You know it is. I don’t know how I would resist not looking through them every day, though.”
“Who says you’d hafta?” Jason finally shifted his head enough to shoot Salim a lazy grin. “I’d want you to look at the real thing pretty often, though.”
“Mm, I do enjoy doing that.” Salim’s eyes trailed down Jason’s body until a yawn overtook him. He reached over, lightly swatting Jason’s arm. “You ruined the blankets so you need to come here so I can keep you warm.”
“I ruined the blankets? I did?” Scoffing did not stop Jason from crawling right on over. “Who fucked me into the mattress and said blankets?”
Once Jason was in his arms, Salim kicked the spoiled blanket off the bed and then reached down to pull the other one up. “And who was it who told me not to stop?” Salim smirked, even while his eyes began to droop. After his incredible orgasm, his headache was gone and his wrist wasn’t even on his mind. Now he was comfortable and sleepy.
“Oh fuck you.” There could not be more fondness packed into the three words as Jason snuggled down against him, pillowing his head on his chest. “You’re so lucky you’re comfy.”
“And you are lucky I warmed you up so much,” Salim quipped back, his arms wrapping around Jason instantly. He playfully shifted his legs back, though. “Keep those feet away from me, though.”
Predictably, Jason immediately stuck his feet against Salim’s calves, even though they were not particularly cold after their antics. “What’s your problem with my feet?”
Out of principle, and because he loved every sweet, soft moment he could possibly steal with Jason, Salim teasingly yelped. “That they are always cold! You are too short to not have enough body heat for your toes.” He quickly rolled on top of Jason, their legs battling, tangling, until he had Jason laughing.
Jason had always had a hard time not laughing around Salim. Now it was easy to let the laughter out. “Not my fault I’m not a generator!! You’re the temperature of the damn sun all the time!”
“You are going to be grateful one day that I am so warm,” Salim insisted, just before he leaned down to capture Jason’s lips. It was his favorite way to make Jason forget about whatever point he was trying to make.
It worked perfectly. Jason melted into his arms like warm butter on fresh bread, all thoughts of argument chased away by the gift of Salim’s lips on his.
They kissed and snuggled and giggled for the next ten minutes until Jason nudged Salim to lay on his side instead of smushing him. They stayed wrapped up together as they finally settled down. Salim rested his cheek on Jason’s hair. “Sleep well, hayati,” he whispered.
“Sleep well, darlin’,” Jason murmured back.
Closing their eyes as the CD reached its final track, the pair fell asleep fast, one right after the other..