Chapter Thirty-Nine – Uncomfortable Truths
"If I'm getting too rough, tell me," Jamie whispered in his bunny boy's ear.
Cottontail now had his back to him and seemed to have forgotten all about his earlier inhibitions. Although his nice ass was all naked now, the trembling was gone from his body. Jamie liked the idea of holding a shivering bunny boy in his arms, and for all the right reasons.
He caressed the curve of Cottontail's lower back, enjoying the smoothness of his skin, before dipping lower, along the crack.
"I'll tell you," The bunny boy said back.
"Good boy," Jamie praised him. "I'm going to eat your ass, so I just want to make sure you're not going to give me a hard time about it."
Cottontail's body shook with laughter. "How can someone get too rough when they're eating ass?"
Jamie surprised his partner by slapping his butt cheek.
"Ouch," came the immediate objection to the treatment.
He deserved a nice reward for accepting the slap without any protest other than that. Jamie licked the abused skin, pleased to hear just a small whimper from his partner.
"I would like to bring to your attention that such acts don't count as ass eating," the obnoxious – and expected – reaction followed.
"I see that you're in the mood to provoke me tonight. Don't entice the snake too much, my dear bunny. You know that the bigger they are, the more bunny snakes can swallow."
"Bunnies," Cottontail corrected him.
"I know what I said."
"Also," the bunny boy insisted, and not for his own good, "my ass is going to swallow your snake, so I have no idea if such lessons in biology and day-to-day happenings in the animal kingdom apply."
"Are you always this chatty when you're about to get your ass licked?"
"You should know since you're the only guy who has ever done that."
"Excellent answer, inspector." Besides calling him a bunny, Jamie also wanted to tease his partner over that other disguise of his. While they had in common that they were both costumes, they varied so wildly in nature that they made Jamie think. They both fit the bunny boy. The inspector persona was stiff and annoying, while the rabbit persona had a loose mouth and a tight hole.
Something he had to get to work on right now. Slowly, he fondled Cottontail's ass cheeks and stuck his tongue out.
"Ah," the bunny boy exclaimed.
"What?"
"It's good."
"Okay. But that's no reason to give me a heart attack."
"Come on, Jamie, you're not that easy to scare. And you must have received many commendations for using your tongue that expert way."
"You're still talking, which means that I'm not doing a good job."
It was high time to make the bunny boy shut the hell up, and that required finesse and determination at the same time. Jamie was confident he had both, so he set himself to work. Although a few more fussy whimpers emerged from above, he continued to lick the hole before him. As much as he enjoyed all the sex things he did with guys on a regular basis, this time he wanted to put more effort into it. It was important that he made Cottontail come undone. That was his mission for tonight.
"You might want to be quieter than this," he provoked his bunny boy, "if you don't want to get that fine for indecent exposure."
"I thought you'd cover it," Cottontail shot back.
"I will, but how are you going to live it down?"
"Touché. I'll be quiet."
It was funny how hard the bunny boy tried to remain true to his words. There was this disciplined part of him that appeared to have no place in a person so young, which made Jamie wonder about all the things he didn't know – yet – about his bunny boy. It hadn't often happened to him to be so interested in another person. If he were honest with himself, there was a grain of truth in what those guys enticed by LiveFeed had declared about him. He tended to be shallow, but not for the reasons people believed. When you went through life as smoothly as he did, few things could hurt you, and that was important.
"Jamie, are you still there?"
Cottontail's anxious voice pulled him out of his reverie. What the hell was he doing, forgetting that there was an ass open in front of him waiting to be licked? It looked like this relationship thing developing like an undercurrent was threatening to sweep him off his feet.
"I was just basking in the beauty of your ass," he joked.
"Right. Very funny."
"Well, it is beautiful," Jamie protested. At times, Cottontail's lack of self-confidence rubbed him the wrong way. It echoed inside him, making him remember the frightening times when he had thought he wasn't good enough.
"Then less staring, more licking."
"You're demanding and I love it," Jamie said and began treating his bunny boy to the promised pleasure.
Weird thoughts would have to take a break for tonight, because tonight he was happy and nothing and no one could ruin it.
***
Under different circumstances, he would have thought that Jamie's banter was full of artifice, but that wasn't the case. No, it was the other way around; it felt natural, and too few things in his life had felt natural. Affection was conditional, and if he didn't perform as required there was none to be had.
His train of thought was brought to a halt by the deft tongue in his ass. His lack of experience was one thing; Jamie's insane level of expertise was another. But, above all, the weirdest thing was the connection he sensed developing between them. Sure, Jamie must have done the same thing to many other guys, yet there was the surety that it felt just as special for both of them.
Unless he was deluding himself into believing that. He couldn't discard any of the possibilities, as a good reporter needed to keep their eyes peeled for any eventuality. Presently, however, it appeared impossible for him to avoid being biased; he very much liked the idea that Jamie and he were starting to have a thing.
There was no more room for him to think as Jamie's tongue went deeper into his ass. Obviously, the bad boy seducing the gay boys of Sunny Hill was great at making the guy he liked come undone. His enthusiasm wasn't shadowed in the least by his skill.
Jamie Vayne was perfect. It was the silly stuff silly boys thought, but this time around Hearst couldn't help himself. A wave of happiness washed over him, many parts physical pleasure, but a not so negligible part had little to do with that and a lot more to do with what was going on in his head.
Matters of the heart were connected to the brain in more ways than one. Hearst couldn't remember one instance in his life when he believed himself to be a romantic, but he was one now, while he was having his ass licked by a guy who looked like an Adonis, played drums like a fiend, and had a heart the size of Alaska.
He had never been good at drawing comparisons and witty similes. That was Wen's territory. Tonight, he wasn't going to think of his brother. As much as Hearst cared about his family, he couldn't help feeling bitter from time to time when he thought too much about them. After all, Wen surely wasn't losing any sleep thinking about his baby brother, and now that he was gainfully employed he had to be sleeping well while dreaming big about his future.
He threw his head back as Jamie worked his ass over with his tongue. His long fingers were also inching in, pulling apart Hearst's butt cheeks, which meant that licking was only the first of a many course meal. Not that Hearst minded, the more the better. When he was with Jamie, he didn't think of being who he was, and that afforded him a much-desired break from being himself.
His throat released a symphony of dissonant noises as he voiced his pleasure, bent on letting Jamie know what a great job he was doing. It would have been easy to overlook it, caught up as he was in his own ecstasy, but the crack of a branch, somewhere in the vicinity, brought his shameless moans to a halt.
"Did you hear that?" he asked, a cold chill running down his spine.
"It must be a bird," Jamie said, but he stopped what he was doing as well.
"What if it's not?"
"Do you want me to go check?"
"Yes." He pulled up his pants, shivering at the thought that someone might have seen them. While it sounded sexy and alluringly dangerous to be caught and fined for indecent exposure, it was a different thing when it might actually happening. Jamie was right about one thing; Hearst might not be capable of living it down, even if his partner did cover the fine.
He looked at Jamie, at the smooth way he moved, so graceful, with a spring in his step, but also relaxed. What had he done to deserve a guy like that? It felt like nothing, and Hearst didn't believe in things he hadn't worked hard for.
Under the light of the moon, Jamie's silhouette was growing darker. A gust of wind made the leaves rustle, causing Hearst to rub his arms in an effort to reduce the effects of the chill running through him.
This wasn't like him. He didn't freak out easily. It had to be that he didn't want to get caught because he didn't want Jamie to get caught and made a fool of all over that stupid reality show's feed. When there were things he cared deeply about, it wasn't so easy to be as daring as usual.
His ears caught another sound, this time to his left. If there was someone spying on them, and not just a benign bird, he needed to catch the bastard. Since alerting Jamie wasn't an option, he decided to move on his own closer to the source of the noise.
He moved slowly, making sure that he didn't seem to be looking for anything in particular. To the person stalking them – if it was indeed a person – he had to appear as if he had just decided to stretch his legs by walking about. After years of being the stalker, he knew a thing or two about stuff like this.
Carefully, he reached for his phone and pulled it out as if he wanted to check to see if someone had called. His fingers moved quickly and once the flashlight was on, he directed the beam of light at the place where he had noticed the last noise to have come from. A bush trembled and then hurried steps could be heard scurrying away.
"Fucking hell," he said through his teeth. Without a second thought, he gave chase, jumping straight into the bush, hoping that his sudden move would knock over the person behind it.
There was a reason for his lack of athleticism. He knew close to nothing about knocking someone over, and instead of committing himself to a real pursuit, he only managed the embarrassing result of getting himself stuck in the bush.
Flailing his limbs worked eventually, and he finally dropped to the ground on the other side. Pushing himself up with his palms, he managed to get up and broke into a run. He now heard the person he was pursuing rushing through the woods, no longer caring about being silent. Whether they had succeeded in getting what they wanted or not, they cared enough about not being caught.
"Hey," he shouted, but there was no point. It was too dark, and his lungs could only take so much punishment.
"Are you okay?" Jamie's troubled voice came from behind.
Hearst needed a few seconds to catch his breath. "I think there was someone spying on us, but I lost them."
"Which way did they go?"
He grabbed Jamie's wrist to stop him. "I don't think you can catch them."
"Underestimating me, bunny boy?" Jamie might have tried to make the words sound casual enough, but he sounded pretty damn pissed.
"No, but I really don't want you to abandon me alone here, in the dark."
Jamie chuckled softly and appeared to give up on pursuing the bastard who must have been hiding there.
"Maybe it was someone who wanted to get freaky, just like us," Jamie said, wrapping one of his muscular arms around Hearst. "They probably got scared of us, thinking we were the police, or something."
"I doubt it," Hearst said promptly. "I don't think either of us looks like the police."
"It's dark. You," Jamie said playfully while rubbing his nose against Hearst's, "might even look like a freaking terminator."
"Yep, I'm sure. Well, I hope it's not those guys from your reality show keeping tabs on you. That would be really weird."
"I agree. I hope it wasn't them for their sake. I'll have their balls if they go as far as to stalk me and watch while I'm putting my dick in the guy I like."
"We didn't get to that part," Hearst said.
"Yeah," Jamie agreed, letting out a deep, heartfelt sigh. "The mood is kind of ruined, isn't it?"
"Yeah. I'm so sorry. It was your kink, right?"
"Not really a kink. I just wanted to have fun with you. Spend some quality time before going to sleep."
Hearst laughed and pushed himself into Jamie, rubbing against him. "I don't mind going to sleep with you."
"Are you for real? Not messing with me or anything?"
"Are you teasing me now? Wait, are you thinking of sleeping like in sleeping?" Hearst had to ask.
"I meant both," Jamie said promptly. "Since I'm in no mood to expose you to some freak with nothing better to do than to stalk people and lurk in the shadows, I want to take you home with me."
That sounded like a great plan. Yet, Jamie's words hit somewhere too close to home. Hearst had been a stalker plenty of times before. It had been his modus operandi, as he had to prove to his brother that he could run Xpress with the same guts and pizzazz. Jamie's arms around him were warm, but he felt the chill from before returning.
If Jamie were here with someone else, would he be the stalker? If the events that had brought them to the current state of affairs hadn't happened, what then?
He'd be the freak, the guy who was busy stalking others instead of living his own life.
"Are you okay?" Jamie asked, cutting through the nasty thoughts swarming his mind.
"Yeah. I was just wondering if the asshole might try coming back."
"Let's not wait for him and ruin what's left of our night. I'm sure there's still something to eat in the fridge and some beers, so we'll have everything we need."
Hearst was happy to follow Jamie, but the burden of some uncomfortable truths he'd uncovered tonight lay heavy on his shoulders. It took so little to be a bad person. Whoever had lurked in the dark, trying to spy on them, had to be more similar to him than Hearst liked to believe.
***
Even though he couldn't tell what exactly was happening behind that mask, Jamie could tell that the earlier incident with their would-be stalker had put Cottontail in quite a mood. The bunny boy was unexpectedly broody over it.
Jamie clinked his beer bottle against the other's. "Are you still thinking that LiveFeed put one of their rats on my tail? It might not be them at all. It could be that shitty gossip rag Xpress."
Cottontail shook his head and looked at Jamie. His mask was somewhat crooked, and he felt the need to adjust it. The bunny boy moved back a smidge, taking him by surprise.
"You're freaked out," Jamie noted out loud. "I suppose you're not used to getting stalked often, right?"
"Yes, you would be correct," Cottontail said primly. "I stalked you," he blurted.
Jamie laughed and leaned forward. "Frankly, I thought you were working for Xpress. I mean, you were really, really sus." He stole a kiss from his bunny boy. Without the other noticing, he closed his eyes to express his relief. Cottontail wasn't slipping through his fingers only because of a stupid thing like that. It was good to keep that in mind.
"Look," he continued, "what's the worst thing that can happen? They're going to say that I was licking a guy's ass in the woods. I'll tell them that it was too good an opportunity to pass up and recommend them to try it themselves sometime."
Cottontail grinned, dispelling some of the unease between them that had accompanied them on their way home. "Are you really going to do that?"
Jamie shrugged. "Why not? I don't hide who I am. It's true that we were in a public place, but it's not as big a crime as some might like it to be. As for the sex stuff, I'm Jamie freaking Vayne, right? So, adventurous is my middle name."
"I thought 'freaking' was by how you said it." Cottontail snickered and bit his bottom lip.
"Come on," Jamie said, offering Cottontail his hand. "Let's go to sleep."
"Sleep for real?"
"Yeah, it's late. And we all need our beauty sleep. Also, you can brag later to your friends that you're doing with me what couples do."
"Sleep without the sex?"
"Yep. Although I offer no guarantees regarding tomorrow morning. Once little Jamie is up and about, there's no stopping him."
"Little Jamie, that's so uncool."
"Well, I made you laugh, so the risk was worth it."
Jamie surprised Cottontail by hiking him up in his arms. "Be careful with your head," he warned him while pretending to smack his precious charge against the door jamb.
"No worries. When I'm with you, I'm pretty sure nothing can harm me," came the very polite and appropriate answer.
"Thought so," Jamie replied, full of self-importance.
TBC