Hidden Depths by Kira Stone

Under a foggy night sky, high tide pummeled the wooden pier as Pat carried the last of his belongings to The Pelican’s Pursuit, an ocean-going research vessel owned by Jamie Keane. Trepidation and confidence shot through his veins in equal measures. Confidence in the fact that he could do what he was hired to do; trepidation that his close proximity to the delectable Jamie Keane during the voyage might lead to… complications.

“Welcome aboard, Professor,” Douglass said, leaning across the ship’s rails to help him haul his large duffle bag onto the deck.

Douglass was short, powerful, and the perfect submissive. As Jamie’s personal assistant, he followed his Master around with dog-like devotion. It was cute in a way, but Pat found himself growing irritated with the fact that Douglass never left him and Jamie alone for long. Then again, maybe that was for the best.

“Thank you, Douglass.”

“My pleasure, sir. Please follow me to your quarters.”

Though the ship was large and sturdy enough for ocean travel, Pat didn’t expect much in the way of privacy. As a general rule on research vessels, crew slept four to a room in narrow berths deep enough to prevent a person from rolling out of bed as the ship rocked in the swells.

Pat was a bit surprised when Douglass showed him to a room easily one quarter of the ship’s living space in size. “This is the captain’s quarters,” Pat pointed out.

“Yes, sir,” Douglass replied as he carefully set Pat’s bags on the floor. “Master and I will share the room next door.” There might have been a satisfied smirk on his face, but if so it lasted only a second.

Whatever, Pat thought with a mental shrug. “When do we leave port?”

“Now,” said a new voice. Jamie’s voice. The voice that had been haunting Pat’s dreams since their first meeting two months ago.

Pat cleared his throat and turned to face him. “Jamie, everything ready?”

“Of course. Did you expect otherwise?”

Though Jamie Keane looked no older than twenty, his body language spoke with timeless authority. His amber hair hung to an unfashionably long length. Today it was free flowing rather than tied back into a ponytail. The cabin’s yellow lighting didn’t do his green eyes justice, so sharp and always assessing. And his body… well, Pat had spent far too much time imagining what lay under the loose tee shirts and worn jeans that seemed to be Jamie’s trademark apparel.

“No, I knew you’d be on top of it.” And, God help me, I want to be on top of you.

The easygoing smile Pat expected didn’t come. Instead, Jamie waved a dismissing hand at Douglass without breaking his eye contact with Pat. “Prepare to depart. When ready, follow the course I charted. Go.”

Douglass scuttled backward out of the room. His retreating footsteps were audible in the ensuing silence.

“There’s one more item we need to discuss, Professor.” Jamie’s face was unreadable, and Pat couldn’t fathom what aspect of the project they’d neglected to cover during their almost daily phone calls over the last two months. “And that is?”

“This.” Jamie was chest to chest with him in a heartbeat. Before Pat could register his surprise, Jamie’s lips fused to his, devouring his mouth. Blood fled from Pat’s head, heading south, as if someone had released all the controls on the Hoover Dam, making it nearly impossible to think let alone speak.

Jamie broke away as abruptly as he’d begun, and Pat quickly found his tongue. “What the hell –”

“You want me.” Jamie licked his lips as if he were trying to capture another taste of Pat. “Isn’t it better to know now than to spend the rest of the trip wondering what it’d be like to fuck me?”

Oh, sweet Jesus. Pat ran a hand through his short hair and took a deep breath. Jamie. The stale air of the cabin was filled with the intoxicating scent of him. Clean, without artificial sprays to conceal his own special scent — a blend of man and the sea. “That’s not exactly professional behavior.”

“The question remains, Professor. Would you rather know… or is it the mystery that makes you hard?”

“I’m not… I don’t…” Pat didn’t dare take another deep breath; it wouldn’t help.

“Uh-huh.” Jamie covered Pat’s crotch with his hand, fingering the hard column of flesh on the rise. “Tell me, Professor. What do you want?”

Lying would be stupid. “You. Damn it.”

“Good answer.”

The engine engaged with a primal roar that vibrated through the soles of Pat’s shoes. The shudder as the ship lurched forward sent Jamie stumbling into him. Pat’s arms wound around him in a tight embrace. As he’d fantasized, the smaller man fit neatly against his own body.

“That’s it, Professor. Don’t hold back now.”

The man drove him crazy. Personally and professionally. Several months of frustration boiled over into one primal need to take and conquer. Pat pulled Jamie’s head back by grabbing a handful of hair, then took control of his mouth with deep, tongue-thrusting kisses. The ship continued to pick up speed, canting so that Jamie’s body rested more firmly against his. Pat ensured that by getting a tight grip on Jamie’s ass with his free hand, holding him there.

“Your ass is mine,” Pat growled, wanting to make it clear that he had no intentions of playing bottom boy.

“This time,” Jamie agreed.

This time… Wouldn’t once be enough to purge himself of the deep lust that had been building inside him since the day they’d met? Pat wanted it to be so, and yet feared it would not. Think later, act now. “Shirt off,” Pat ordered.

“Yours?”

“Ours.”

Fabric flew through the air in tandem as they both shed their shirts. One heated gaze later, they sent shoes and pants across the cabin as well. Jamie dove into the full-sized bed, and Pat watched as the young man slithered out of his tight navy blue underwear.

While all of Jamie was just as mouthwateringly perfect as Pat had imagined, his cock was a true work of art. Uncut, jutting up from a nest of neatly trimmed pubes, and thick enough to fill Pat’s palm. Jamie lay back on the pillows, stroking his hard length lazily, his green eyes now dark and stormy.

Pat shed his own underwear with a hint of self-consciousness. Whatever his real age might be, Jamie looked to be in his college prime. Pat was well past that point in life and although he kept in good shape there were some signs of encroaching middle years that no amount of exercise could hide. However, as Pat crawled up Jamie’s body, the young man’s “come and get me” gaze never changed.

“On your stomach,” Pat directed softly.

Jamie rolled over between Pat’s legs. Pat ran his hands down the muscled torso to Jamie’s hips, and then back up. Again he explored Jamie’s back, just for the sheer joy of having a body to touch that wasn’t his own. Young, firm flesh met his fingers and Jamie purred like a cat.

“Didn’t expect you to be a gentleman,” Jamie mumbled.

Pat froze. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Thought you’d tear up the sheets, not press them neatly beneath us.”

Anger, embarrassment and humor careened through Pat’s brain, making him stutter. “Is that what you think?”

Jamie rose up on his arms enough to look over his shoulder. “Yes, Professor. That is what I think.”

“Then let me change your mind,” Pat growled.

Pat raked his nails down Jamie’s back, then parted the halves of his ass. His near virgin pucker was a sight to behold, even in the cabin’s dim yellow light. He ran his thumb over it, feeling the tight ring of muscle flex, guarding the entrance. With more force than care, he pushed a finger inside.

“Oh, thank you, sir. May I have another?”

Jamie’s teasing was going to drive him insane. If he wanted it rough and hard, then that’s exactly what Pat would give him. “No, you get this instead.”

Pat lined up his cock and entered him with one driving thrust — then immediately cursed a blue streak. Not only did it burn like hell, but he’d forgotten two very important things. “Lube. Condom.”

“Bareback and spit,” Jamie retorted breathlessly.

“Irresponsible…”

“Fuck me!”

Pat knew he was clean, but the pain gave him pause. Then the ship rolled over a high swell and Pat drove deeper into Jamie’s sweet ass. Decision made.

It hurt but, holy mother and all the saints, did it feel good. Pat gripped Jamie’s shoulder with one hand, and the side of the bed with the other. He pushed Jamie down at the same time he pulled himself up, and together with the ship’s motion, it created a ball-busting rhythm.

Jamie raised his ass. Pat knew he hit the right spot when Jamie keened his pleasure. Jamie clawed the sheets and the thin fabric soon shredded in his hands. The tearing sound was music to Pat’s ears. He kept up the frantic pace as pressure built in his balls. His body hummed with the need for release, and Pat cursed when his climax hit the point of no return.

“Fuck… Jamie,” he ground out.

“Cum, want it,” Jamie replied harshly.

“Take it.”

Pat clawed Jamie’s back as his seed filled Jamie’s ass. He continued to thrust while Jamie’s internal muscles milked his cock. His vision spun until only his connection to Jamie anchored him. Panting, his body shuddered one last time. Then, as the ship’s rocking motion settled into a more sedate rhythm, Pat slumped over Jamie’s back.

“Mmmm… knew you had it in you, Professor.”

“Quit it with the professor shit, or I won’t finish you off.”

Jamie laughed and rolled over. “No worries.”

Pat smelled the cum on Jamie’s skin before his eyes settled on the wetness spreading over his lover’s abdomen. “You…”

“Yup, came like a neophyte teen.” Jamie rolled out of the bed and donned his scattered clothing. “So now you know.”

“Can I get back to you on that? I’m still dizzy,” Pat replied with a well-satisfied smile.

Jamie gave him a quick grin then headed for the door. “I’ll send Douglass down to deal with the sheets.”

The young man disappeared through the opening. Pat rolled over on his back, his arm resting against his forehead. In vivid detail he recalled every moment of their hot sex as if the replay would further cement the memory in his mind.

Slowly, he got up and went to the head for a quick cleanup. Coming back to his room, several things collided in his mind. First, there was blood on the sheets but none on him. Somewhere along the line, Jamie had bled and said nothing. Secondly — and this one really baffled him — he couldn’t think of a time when he heard Jamie breathing hard or even felt a rapid heartbeat. He couldn’t deny the evidence of Jamie’s orgasm though. Was it possible for someone to be so fit that good, hard sex didn’t get their heart pounding?

Stumped, Pat got dressed. It seemed that with sex, as it was with everything else, Jamie’s ways were mysterious.