Wholehearted (13 page)

Lucas was already warming up to him, watching him affectionately from across the room. Declan wanted to put that look on his face whenever he could. It was a good look.

Declan gently folded the ingredients into the eggs and popped four pieces of bread into the toaster. While the eggs finished cooking and the toast was browning, he poured two glasses of orange juice and set one in front of Lucas.

Lucas grabbed Declan’s wrist and pulled him down for a chaste kiss. Declan smiled against his lips, unable to contain the happiness he felt at the simple gesture.

“Food’s almost ready. Are you hungry?”

“Fuck yeah,” Lucas said, the double meaning apparent in his voice.

“Good,” Declan replied, the same color in his voice.

He dished out the eggs and placed the buttered toast on the dish before setting it down in front of Lucas. He dug in as if he hadn’t eaten in weeks, devouring everything on the plate in front of him. Declan chuckled.

“’S good!” Lucas said, the mouthful of food garbling his words.

“Glad you like it,” Declan said and pushed his half-finished plate toward Lucas.

“You don’t want it?”

“Nope, I’m full. Dig in if you want.”

“Thanks, man,” Lucas said gratefully and proceeded to finish off the rest of Declan’s food as well.

When they were both stuffed and sated, Declan rose, clearing their plates and placing them in the dishwasher.

“What do you want to do today?” Declan asked. It felt good, almost domestic to ask the man sitting next to him to make plans for the day. It felt… normal.

“Doesn’t matter much to me. I would like to have a bath though at some point, and, uh, I’m going to need some help,” Lucas said, a little embarrassed about needing someone to bathe him. “There’s only so much I’ve been able to do with a washcloth and the sink.”

“That will not be a problem at all,” Declan assured him with a smile quirking at his lips. “At
all
,” he emphasized.

“H
OW
SHOULD
we do this?”

Declan looked at Lucas, now shirtless with pants hanging so low on his hips it should be illegal. It made Declan want to drop to his knees and give him a tongue bath rather than a traditional one.

“We should probably leave the bandages on for now, and then we’ll get you fresh ones when we’re done.”

“How are we going to keep them dry?” Lucas glanced into Declan’s shower. “You don’t have a removable shower nozzle. How do you not have a removable shower nozzle? Even most rent-by-the-hour motels have removable shower nozzles.”

Declan made a face. “Yeah, but that’s fucking gross. Would you want to use one? Can you imagine where that thing’s been?”

Lucas laughed, the sound filling the bathroom and making Declan happy with the reverberations. “Definitely not. But I’d use one here. Seriously, man. You’re missing the point of life.”

“If you think a shower nozzle is the point of life, I feel sorry for you, Luc.”

Lucas’s eyes shone at him with the use of the nickname. “Well, it would have been useful now, wouldn’t it?”

Declan thought for a second. “Be right back,” he said before dashing from the room and into the kitchen.

When he returned, he was carrying a roll of plastic wrap and a large plastic beer mug on a stool. “I’ve got it. Here—” He took a step toward Lucas. “—hold out your arms,” he said, lifting Lucas’s wrists until his arms were at a ninety-degree angle from his body. He picked up the plastic wrap and scratched along the roll, trying to find the end that always somehow ended up stuck to itself.

“Kinky,” Lucas smirked.

“Very funny. Now hold still,” he ordered as he reached behind Lucas’s back to wrap his lower torso in plastic wrap. Lucas kept his arms extended, and Declan walked around his body, ducking under his arms. He wrapped several layers securely around where the bandages were.

“It’s not going to be waterproof, but it’ll help keep some of the water out when you’re in the tub.”

Declan rolled a stool from the bedroom over to the tub, then leaned over to twist the knobs, causing a heavy stream of water to flow from the faucet. “We should wash your hair first, and then we’ll put a little water in the bottom of the tub and you can climb in. Just keep your cast over the side. Sound okay?”

Lucas shrugged. “What the fuck ever,” he said, echoing the words he’d used what felt like a hundred times to Declan. This time his voice held none of the venom that had been present at the hospital. All Declan felt this time was gentle teasing.

“Sit here,” he commanded and waited for Lucas to take a seat on the stool.

Lucas obeyed, sitting down to face away from the bathtub.

“You’re going to have to lean back a little, over the tub so I can pour water over your head,” Declan instructed. Lucas tried to do as he was told, wincing as the muscles he was using to steady himself protested. “Shit,” he cursed.

“Oh fuck, sorry, Luc. I forgot that would hurt. Uh….” He trailed off, trying to think of a new plan that wouldn’t inflict pain.

“C’mere,” Lucas said, pulling Declan in to straddle his lap and wrapping his left arm around Declan’s back. “If I hold on to you when I lean back, I’ll only be using my good arm, and not my abs.”

Declan wasn’t about to argue. The plan made sense, and it put the hard ridge of Lucas’s erection in perfect alignment with his own. Declan wrapped his hand around the back of Lucas’s neck, trying to add additional support if he needed it. He leaned forward and filled the glass with water. As he did, Lucas angled his hips up, grinding their erections together with slow easy friction. Thank God they were still wearing pants, or Declan may have lost it right there. He was embarrassingly close to coming and they had barely touched.

“Lean your head back,” Declan said, hearing the gravel in his voice. The other man tilted his head back and let Declan pour the water over his hair.

Lucas looked good when he was wet, hair clinging to his forehead. Pulling him forward, Declan leaned forward, sliding his hand down across Lucas’s shoulder, and licked up the side of Lucas’s neck to catch one of the stray drops that had started to trace its way down.

He moaned low, the vibrations of the sound cutting right through Declan, making his already-hard cock jump against Lucas’s.

Grinding against Declan, Lucas tilted his hips up again.

Declan tried to concentrate on something else, anything else to keep him from pulling both their pants down and jacking them off together. He wanted to, goddamn did he want to, but it would have to wait until later. Sometime when they weren’t in danger of falling off the precariously balanced stool and hitting their heads on the side of the tub.

He reached around Lucas, pulled down the shampoo bottle, and poured a little into the palm of his hand. Lucas sat up, staring at him with a hunger that was tough to ignore. Declan rubbed his palms together, spreading the slippery stuff between his hands before running his fingers through Lucas’s hair. Lucas’s eyes closed, and his head fell back a little as Declan rubbed and massaged the shampoo into his hair.

“That feels nice,” he said.

“Mmm hmm” was all Declan could say. He was too busy thinking about what they could do in that bathroom once Lucas was fully healed, the other slippery things they could use to make each other feel good.

Lucas leaned forward, capturing Declan’s mouth in a slow, searching kiss. He returned it with fervor, careful not to bruise Lucas’s lips. His hands were still buried in his hair as they kissed, tongues sliding together, swallowing the moans and whimpers coming from them both. Declan had a brief thought that this was the sexiest session of hair washing in the history of hair washing, before that thought flew right from his brain when Lucas arched his back and shoved his hand down the front of Declan’s pants with determination.

His warm fingers wrapped around Declan’s shaft, tugging gently until his cock was free of the confines of his sweats. Declan’s eyes rolled back at how good Lucas’s hand felt on him. Lucas kissed along his neck, tugged his earlobe between his teeth. Declan thought he was going to lose his ever-loving mind. Between the sensations around his prick and the sound of Lucas’s ragged breathing amplified in his ears, he didn’t know how much more he could take.

He only lasted a few seconds longer before erupting across Lucas’s hand and painting their stomachs with warmth.

“Fuck, that was hot,” breathed Lucas.

“We’re not done yet,” promised Declan.

He reached to the tub once more and grabbed the glass to fill it with water. He tilted Lucas’s head back over the bathtub and carefully poured the water over his hair, making sure he rinsed all the shampoo from his head.

When he was sure he had gotten it all, he put the glass back on the side of the tub and stood, tucking himself back into his pants. His cock jumped in his hand, showing signs of interest despite having just come. What could he say? The man in front of him was inspiring.

He bent down and lifted the tub stopper, then dropped it into place. He checked the water temperature again to make sure they hadn’t used all the hot water during their little interlude. Nope, it was still nice and warm. He let the tub fill with about six inches of water before turning the taps off. He didn’t want the water level to rise too high and risk getting Lucas’s stitches wet.

He turned back to the man who had apparently been studying his ass quite closely as he fiddled with the water. Declan chuckled.

“Come here,” he said, pulling Lucas toward him, careful not to hurt him. He kissed him again, moving his tongue slow and easy into the other man’s mouth. Lucas rubbed up against him, sliding their bare skin together.

Declan ran his hands down Lucas’s back, loving the ridge of muscle on either side of his spine. He kept them moving, diving down the back of Lucas’s sweatpants and pulling their groins into much firmer contact. Lucas responded enthusiastically, moaning loudly and pushing right back. He felt painfully hard against Declan’s hip. Declan squeezed Lucas’s ass, enjoying the smooth skin and firm muscle.

He nudged with his wrists and pushed the pants just far enough over Lucas’s hips that they fell to the floor around his ankles. Declan took a step back, laughing at the disappointed noise that fell from Lucas’s mouth.

“Just wanna look at you in the light,” he said, raking his eyes over the expanse of bareness. Lucas fidgeted uncomfortably as Declan took him in.

He put Lucas out of his misery, turning him around and nudging him toward the tub.

“Climb in, but careful you don’t splash.”

Declan held on to Lucas’s good arm and helped him lower his body into the tub.

Lucas moaned and leaned back against the angled side of the tub, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back.

“Water feels good,” he said.

Declan dropped to his knees, leaning the upper half of his body over the side of the tub.

He dunked a fluffy white washcloth into the water before pouring a small amount of shower gel into the center and rubbed the sides together, sudsing the soap into a foamy lather. Dragging the cloth carefully along the side of Lucas’s bruised ribs, Declan was careful not to apply too much pressure to the tender bones. Lucas opened his eyes, head still tilted back, and watched Declan wash him tenderly. Declan ran the cloth over every nook and cranny, hoping that he was helping to wash away the helplessness and sadness that had seemed to hang heavy over Lucas.

He dipped the cloth down, rubbing slowly along Lucas’s thighs, moving higher and higher with each pass, coming closer and closer to the spot he knew Lucas wanted him most. He drew out the anticipation, wanting Lucas to wait—not too long, but long enough that the release that came at the end would be that much sweeter.

Finally, he reached the apex of Lucas’s thighs, dragging the cloth across Lucas’s angrily red prick. It twitched at the contact, jumping against his stomach. Drops of precome leaked readily from the tip, joining in with the droplets of water that had collected in Lucas’s belly button.

Declan washed thoroughly, Lucas groaning at the frustrating contact. The soft cloth drove him to the brink, but was not enough to push him over.

Finally, Declan had had enough. Not giving him what he wanted was as much torture for him as it was for Lucas. Declan reached down, pulling and twisting the plug to allow the water to drain from the tub. He stood, and helped Lucas up before reaching over to the towel rack and pulling the white bath towel from it. He opened it for Lucas to step into.

Lucas climbed out of the tub and into his arms, putting his hand on Declan’s shoulder for balance. Declan wrapped the fluffy fabric around him and rubbed gently to whisk away any remaining moisture.

When Declan was sure Lucas was completely dry and wouldn’t freeze, he placed his hands firmly on Lucas’s hips, guiding him toward the solid wall next to the door. Once he was sure Lucas was well supported, he pulled the towel from Lucas’s hands, dropped it on the floor, and took his heavy cock into his hands.

“I want to taste you,” he said. His voice wavered slightly—he hadn’t done this since that night with Tim. His heart raced. He hadn’t realized how much what had happened to him had affected him. He was nervous. He looked up at Lucas, who looked back at him with warm eyes. “Is this okay?” Declan asked.