Here Comes Trouble (Nothing Special #3)(19)
Green’s hands rubbed his sore shoulders. He was so wound up with tension he didn’t think he could even turn his head without grimacing. His partner worked those strong hands around to the back of his neck, kneading the soft tissue back there. Ruxs kept his head down. It felt so fuckin’ good; he wanted to lay his head in the crook of Green’s shoulder and bury himself in that intoxicating fragrance.
“Hey, why don’t you go on up. Take a quick shower. I’ll turn everything off down here and then come up and finish this,” Green said softly, his massage moving just beneath his hairline.
Ruxs didn’t know if he could tolerate Green giving him a full on massage right now. But it felt too good to decline. “Okay.”
A Massage or a Message?
Green put away the Jack Daniel’s. He’d thought about dumping it but changed his mind. He’d noticed his partner’s drinking had picked up substantially in the last few months. Drinking to the point of getting completely smashed. It was one thing to drink socially with friends to have some fun. It was completely unacceptable to drink to numb emotional pain. He’d leave things for now. But if it began to get too out of hand, he’d veto the drinking. He wouldn’t have Ruxs picking up an addiction. Number one, it would ruin his career and number two, it would be ten times harder on him since he loathed his mother’s addiction so much.
Green turned all the lights off and scanned the outside parking lots for anything out of the norm before going up to his bedroom. He could hear Ruxs in the shower so he changed into some thin sleeping pants and removed his tank top. He was just coming out of his room when he heard the bathroom door open and a big cloud of steam followed his partner out.
Green met him at the guest bedroom door and opened it for him. Ruxs had to turn to the side to walk through. He smelled wonderful. Goodness. Water dripped from his short hair, down over his muscular torso. What was always intriguing to Green was that Ruxs didn’t have one single tattoo or piercing. His body was a large, ripped, unaltered canvas. Perfection. Ruxs’ towel was wrapped low on his hips and Green saw the long treasure trail that lead up to all that slick, black hair on his chest, which looked absolutely delectable when wet. Green never liked baby smooth, hairless men. It just wasn’t something he went for. Well, lately he hadn’t gone for anything, but it’d been years since he’d thought about what he preferred in a man. His life had been consumed with work. Consumed with Ruxs, too. He should change that soon. Ruxs was dating now. He should too.
“Lie down,” Green told him. The room was dark and chilly. The temperature had begun to drop in the late September days but they were still running the air conditioning. He assumed that’s why Ruxs’ dark nipples had goose pimples around them, the brown buds firm and taut. Green yanked his eyes away.
Ruxs pulled out a wife-beater from his dresser but Green took it from him. He was going to rub all that stress, tension, insults, despair, and all the other mess his mom packed on him today right out of him. He took the CD from the nightstand and popped it into Ruxs’ stereo. Green thought of putting it on the thunderstorm track, but thought better of it. The sound of a trickling brook playing over a melodic tune was soft and mellow in the dim room. Green held the eucalyptus-spearmint massage oil in his hand – he meant business tonight.
He could feel the anxiety pouring off of his friend in waves. It was thickening the air and stifling him. Ruxs kept his towel on and stretched his long body across the king-sized bed. Green climbed up and straddled Ruxs lower legs like he always did and slicked his hands up, rubbing them together to make them nice and warm.
At the first touch of Green’s hands to Ruxs’ lower back had him jumping against it. “Shh. Relax, Mark. It’s okay,” Green whispered. He could see the frown-line between Ruxs’ closed eyes.
“Just breathe in deep,” he said while smoothing his palms in an outward motion against the firm muscles. His touch was light at first. Simply letting the aromas permeate through his system to relax him. When he saw the creases began to smooth out on Ruxs’ handsome face, Green began to use his palm over palm technique, rotating in circular motions on one side of his spine and then over to the other. When he started driving out the strain by using a palm on either side of his spine and driving up to his neck. Ruxs began to moan quietly.
Oh god. He’d never heard him sound so relieved.
“Chris,” Ruxs groaned.
“I know it feels good. Relax, I got you,” Green said softly against Ruxs’ ear. He felt Ruxs’ hips flex under him and he wondered for a second if he was putting too much weight on his thighs. So he rose up some and rubbed more oil and began to focus on Ruxs’ broad shoulders. He worked his palms and knuckles into the knots until he couldn’t feel them anymore. Ruxs’ breathing was heavy, almost panting. He should be more relaxed by now. He’d been massaging for over thirty minutes. If it was him, he’d probably be sleep already, but Ruxs seemed to be getting even more anxious. Damnit.
“Come on, man. Try to calm down.” Green leaned in again. He pressed his chest against Ruxs’ slick back and felt him take a stuttering breath. He spoke in the most calming tone his deep voice could muster. “Hey. Shhh. Breathe deep for me. You’re gonna be okay. We’re gonna get through this, man. I’m not going to ever let you go through anything alone. You have me, always.”