WINGS

CHAPTER SEVEN

Mason saw Brent's lustful hunger as his finger lay softly over his lips. The need in him evident, outweighing everything else. Mason stirred in anticipated excitement. He dared himself in that instantaneous moment, and in a bold move, slipped Brent's finger into his mouth. It seemed to do more than grabbing the soldier's attention. Given the seductive and succulent release, Mason watched Brent's gaze turn devilish with greed as he grit his teeth and tightened his jaw. "Follow me, soldier," he taunted.

"Oh, don't worry, civilian...I'm all over your six," he growled.

Mason dug his fingertips into the front waistband of Brent's militant dress slacks. His breath skipped at the touch, and like a good a soldier, Brent allowed himself to be dragged away like a horny hound on a leash. They crossed the threshold of the bedroom and reality set in. Mason stopped short as Brent staggered into him from behind who wasted no time to seize the opportunity and curled his arms around Mason's waist. He leveled his head thoughtfully, cheek to cheek. "Oh. Okay. Mason?" he asked somewhat confused.

"I-I need to say something before we..."

Brent squeezed him gently, trying to ease his sudden hesitation. "Hey. It's okay. If you changed your mind, I'll understand."

"That's not it." Mason moaned lightly at the heated breath caressing his skin.

"Okay? Then you want to talk about it? I'm a good listener, remember?"

"I'm...I'm a virgin," said Mason after a held breath.

Brent went quiet.

A thousand thoughts spread like wildfire. "Say something."

Brent adored Mason's modesty. "Hey, no one's judging here, Ace. And I'm not sure what you expect to me say?"

"Oh, I don't know. How about something along the lines of...can't believe you're still a virgin? Or maybe even uh...who stays a virgin for this long or whatever. I know it sounds ridiculous for someone my age to still be a virgin. I blame Michael for this." Once more, Mason interpreted Brent's held silence to be a clear sign. He was sure Brent was disappointed, or maybe the man regretted knowing now. He sighed, fighting all his temptation not to break free from his arms and just run and find some rock to hide under. This was like waiting for bad news, and Mason didn't see any reason to wait around, especially when it was obvious Brent was having second thoughts even after admitting he wasn't. How many times had he heard plenty of guys' brag about popping some twink's cherry, and later only wished the guy hadn't even told them.

Mason grew humiliated with himself and even more furious at Brent for not saying what he must have been thinking. "I get it, Okay. I think it's pretty clear you don't...this was all a mistake." He began to pry himself from the soldier's arms.

"Hey. Hey. Stop!" Brent demanded, wrangling Mason still in his arms. "Where do you think you're going? And what the hell's gotten into you?"

"I know you don't want this. I can tell, or you would have said something. Just let me go," he insisted.

Brent held on tight as Mason struggled some more. "Wait, Mason. Damn it, stop it! And I'm not letting go until you hear what I have to say."

"For what? So you can humiliate me even more? Go ahead, get it over with. I mean, who would want to sleep with someone who's pretending to be something he's not? I should have told you before now, but I never expected us to get this far. At least not this soon."

Brent swore under his breath, reminded of how Webb's stubbornness ran in their family. "There you go again, putting words in my mouth. Now that's enough."

Mason stood still reluctantly, though he was still holding onto his subjective anger. "Whatever."

"Thank you," Brent said, finally able to relax a little. "Now, I'm going to let you go. And so help me, Mason, if you make me chase you..." Brent waited. "Now, for the record, I never assumed you were pretending to be anything."