What's His Passion 2 - Climbing the Savage Mountain (22 page)

“I’ll need to get you ready,” Toby cautioned before he allowed Jensen to take him in.

Shaking his head, Jensen motioned to the tube of lube on the top of the blankets. “I got myself ready before I woke you up. I didn’t want to waste any time once you were awake.”

Toby grabbed the slick then squirted some into his palm to coat his cock. Once that was done, he pushed inside Jensen, going slow but not stopping until he was buried all the way. He braced his hands on either side of Jensen’s head and stared into his husband’s eyes. Jensen took a deep breath as his body adjusted to being filled.

Jensen took Toby’s face in his hands then brought him down to touch their lips together. Then, with only inches between them, he said, “You can move. Please fuck me.”

Toby crushed his mouth to Jensen and began to slide out before slamming back in. He knew Jensen didn’t need gentle or cautious. Jensen liked the ache of knowing Toby’d been inside him for a day or two afterward.

“Christ!” Jensen shouted when Toby hit his gland on one of his thrusts.

“Right there.” Toby grinned as he tried to make sure he worked that spot every time, wanting to drive Jensen out of his mind.

Soon their bodies moved together in a familiar dance. Moans and groans filled the room around them, along with the scent of sex and sweat.

Jensen babbled, “Harder. Faster. Toby, please.”

Toby did as he was asked. Snapping his hips, he filled Jensen as deeply as he could. “Touch yourself,” he ordered Jensen.

He rose a little so Jensen could wrap his hand around his cock, pumping in time with Toby’s strokes. Jensen dropped his head back and a long low moan issued from his throat as he came, covering his hand and stomach with strings of pearly cum.

“Holy shit!” His eyes crossed when Jensen’s inner passage clamped down around his length, almost demanding his climax.

Toby came, flooding Jensen’s ass while trembling and shouting. He twitched and shuddered, trying to hold himself up so he didn’t squash Jensen, but it was as though the muscles in his arms suddenly went limp.

“Omph,” Jensen gasped when Toby flopped down on him.

“Sorry. I’ll get off you as soon as my body is working again,” Toby promised.

Jensen ran his hand down Toby’s back to pat his butt cheek. “No problem, love. We can stay like this for a while, though we might be stuck together when we decide to move.”

Toby murmured something that he didn’t even understand. His eyes drifted shut as he worked to calm his breathing.

His eyes popped open when he was unceremoniously dumped on his back. “Hey,” he exclaimed, pushing up on his elbows to watch Jensen wander toward the bathroom. Lying back down on the mattress, he stared up at the ceiling and heard the water running.

“Come in here and clean up,” Jensen called out to him.

Sighing, he climbed out before strolling over to join Jensen in the shower. They washed quickly then dried off. After changing into clean clothes, Toby made sure he had his wallet, phone and the hotel key before he motioned for Jensen to head out.

“Lead the way. I’m starving,” he told Jensen as they left the room.

“The restaurant here in the hotel is supposed to be good.” Jensen rested his hand at the small of Toby’s back while they waited for the elevator.

“Sounds good to me.” His stomach grumbled and they both laughed.

* * * *

The boat they were on stopped and one of the crew members lowered the anchor. Toby bounced in his seat, excitement rushing through him. He grabbed a hold of Jensen’s hand.

“I can’t believe we’re going to do this.”

Jensen shot him an unhappy glance before turning back to watch the water. “You wanted to do it, so I thought we should before the kids come. We won’t be taking these kind of trips often after that.”

“Nope. We’ll be heading to Disney and Legoland.” Toby grinned. “Which would be as awesome as this—just different.”

“
Oi
, you gentlemen married?” The dive captain asked as he went about getting the cage ready to drop.

“Yes,” Toby said slowly, not sure how the man would react. He didn’t want to get his ass kicked in the middle of shark-infested waters, but he wasn’t going to lie to keep himself safe.

“Good on you, mate.” Rusty grinned at them. “Spent a couple of weeks in Hawaii to stand as best man for a couple mates of mine. Got some surfing in as well.”

“What’s an Australian guy doing in South Africa?” Jensen relaxed, keeping his hold on Toby.

Rusty chuckled as he unhooked the ropes holding the cage on to the back deck of the boat. “The sharks and the surf. Why else would I leave my home?”

“Right.” Toby caught Jensen’s gaze and smiled. “Sounds like you’re a little obsessed.”

“There’s nothing better than the sea.” Rusty waved his hand out over the clear blue expanse surrounding them. “Beauty. Power. Danger. Everything a man could want is out here just waiting for us to find it.”

Toby nudged Jensen with his elbow before meeting Rusty’s gaze. “I know a man who feels that way about climbing.”

Rusty turned to study Jensen. “You climb? Rocks or mountains?”

“Mountains, though I won’t be doing that anymore. Probably start doing some more rock climbing now.” Jensen touched the bottom of the scar peeking out from the bottom of his swim trunks. “Broke my leg descending to Base Camp on K2. I’d already told Toby I wouldn’t be doing more of the big ones, but that kind of sealed the deal for me.”

Toby saw Rusty start lifting the hem of the T-shirt he wore. When it had gotten to the height of his chest, Toby gasped at the large scar starting at just under Rusty’s armpit to disappear below the waistband of his shorts. It wasn’t pretty or smooth. The scar was jagged and looked as though it had been extremely painful.

“Got bit by a tiger shark off the coast of California while I was surfing there. Got over a thousand stitches and lost so much blood, they weren’t sure I’d live.” Rusty stared at his scars with a fond expression on his face then touched the small tattoo of a Great White that seemed to float on his hip. “Friends thought I was crazy for getting back in the water afterward, but there’s nothing else I love more.”

“You weren’t scared?” Toby asked.

Rusty shook his head. “Nah. Odds are, it’s going to happen again if I keep surfing or doing this cage diving gig. While in the ocean, I’m the low man on the totem pole sort to speak. Not only are there sharks, but there are other creatures that could kill me just as easily. I’m just not comfortable anywhere else in the world.”

“Rusty, you can get the cage in then start chumming the waters,” the captain said from the cabin doorway.

“Yes, sir.” Rusty saluted him smartly before turning to work with one of the other crew to get the cage into the ocean.

Jensen leaned into Toby’s side and whispered, “That’s a stronger obsession than I ever had. Well, except for you.”

He nodded, brushing his cheek against Jensen’s. “Obsession can be a good thing sometimes though. If he didn’t have that, he might never have gotten over that shark attack. Rusty might not ever have gone back to the water without it.”

“True.”

They were intrigued by the routine the crew had to get everything ready for the dive. It was obvious they’d done it enough times to have it down to an art. The cage floated off the back of the boat, close enough for Jensen and Toby to slip into it without having to swim outside it.

Rusty grabbed a couple of buckets then dumped them over the edge. “This is a special formula the Cap’s come up with to draw the sharks in. It works. We’ll only have to wait for a little bit before they start coming around.”

“How many will come?” Jensen sounded nervous and Toby patted his knee.

Shrugging, Rusty pursed his lips while he stared at the horizon. “Hard to say, but we’ll at least get one to show up and that’s all you need, right?”

“One would be nice.” Jensen’s voice wobbled slightly.

“Yeah. We don’t need a lot of them. One small shark would be enough for me to be able to brag that I swam with sharks.” Toby winked at Rusty, who grinned back at him.

“Well, I guarantee they aren’t going to be small. Probably the smallest will be around ten feet.” Rusty strolled over the gently rocking deck to them.

“What’s the biggest one you’ve seen?” Toby probably shouldn’t have been asking, for Jensen’s sanity at the very least, but he was curious.

Rusty pulled out wet suits for them, plus snorkels and fins. While he did that, he spoke, “Hmm…biggest one I’ve ever seen was an eighteen footer that swam under while I was surfing in Hawaii. She could’ve cut me and my board right in half with one bite, but she wasn’t interested in me at all—just cruised away into the gloom. Nearly wet myself that time.”

They got ready and Rusty gave them tips on using the snorkel. Also, warned them to keep their hands inside the cage at all times.

“Easy to get one of them snapped off like a twig by one of these.” Rusty tipped his head to the side of the boat and Toby scrambled over to see a large dorsal fin cut through the surface.

The water was so clear that Toby saw the massive torpedo-shaped shark swimming by. It was half as big as the boat and it had to be well over a thousand pounds. He heard a click and turned to see Jensen snapping pictures.

His husband shrugged. “I might not be happy about being out here, but I’m not going to pass up the chance to get photos while we were doing it. We’ll pick out our favorite and hang it on the wall with my Everest and K2 pictures.”

“Awesome.” Toby couldn’t wait to get in the water. He wanted to see what they were like up, close and personal.

“All right, mates. Looks like the main attractions are starting to arrive. Which of you wants to go first?” Rusty chuckled when Toby held his hand up. “I figured you’d want to be first. You want the camera? Or you going to trust your man to get some good shots when he’s in there?”

He didn’t hesitate. “I trust him. He’s good at taking pictures.”

“All right. Let’s get in there then.” Rusty helped Toby onto the platform the cage was attached to then into the steel rectangular box that would protect him from the sharks circling the boat.

Two more had arrived while they were settling into the water and Toby gave a silent gasp when one bumped its nose into the steel bars in front of him. Its teeth were jagged rows of serrated triangles and its eyes were black and rather empty, as though it saw Toby as nothing more than a possible meal.

Another rubbed its side along the edge and the cage wobbled precariously. Toby glanced over to Rusty, who just gave him a thumbs up. Obviously nothing was wrong or Rusty would be getting Toby out of there.

He forced himself to relax and began to enjoy being immersed in a world where he couldn’t really do anything except accept what went on around him. It was nature at her most deadly and most beautiful.

While being in the ocean and watching the sharks swim around him, Toby began to get a glimpse of how Jensen felt about climbing mountains and how, in many ways, it made him feel small versus the universe that encompassed him. He thought about Jensen who waited above the surface for him, loving him more than he ever had before.

Chapter Twenty-One

The family you come from isn’t as important as the family you’re going to have.

—Ring Lardner

“Hey Jensen,” Toby shouted from the front of the house.

“Yeah?” Jensen yelled back as he stood staring into the refrigerator. They needed to go grocery shopping soon because the cupboards were getting pretty bare.

They hadn’t had time to do anything once they got back from their trip. They’d been working on building up their clients’ portfolios, and looking for the right adoption agency to work with.

Toby had been excited, but now that the possibility truly existed for them to adopt a child, Jensen was getting nervous. Not necessarily second thoughts. Mostly panicked ‘I’m not sure I can do this’ thoughts.

What did he know about raising kids or being part of a family? He certainly didn’t have shining examples when he was growing up. Yet Toby did, so he could count on his husband to know the right—and wrong—way to do things.

“I need you,” Toby called and Jensen shut the door before heading toward the front.

“Do you need help untying your shoes again? I told you double knots are a pain in the ass to get undone,” he joked as he walked into the living room then stopped dead in his tracks.

Toby stood, his back to Jensen, yet Jensen had a suspicious feeling he was scowling at the couple that sat on the couch. If the stiffness of Toby’s spine didn’t give away his unhappiness, the way Coop stood at attention by Toby’s feet did.

“Coop, go lie down,” Jensen ordered the dog.

Coop looked up at Toby and whined. After bending, Toby rubbed Coop’s ears. “Go on. We’ll be all right.”

Appeased, the dog came over to Jensen to get a pat before he trotted down the hallway toward the kitchen.

“Mother. Father.” Jensen moved to stand next to Toby. Shock roiled inside him at the sight of his up until now absent parents. His muscles tightened with tension. “What are you doing here?”

His father stood then offered Jensen his hand. “Jensen. Son. You’re looking well.”

Toby snorted and Jensen coughed to cover his laughter.
Christ!
Toby had just met them and he seemed to have taken an instant dislike to them.

Jensen shook his hand. “Father. I can’t say the same for you.”

The years of heavy drinking had taken their toll on Martin Brockhoff, leaving heavy lines on his forehead and around his mouth. Broken blood vessels had turned his nose red and dark smudges underlined his eyes. Vestiges of his younger, more handsome, self remained in the full head of dark hair and the rather trim figure his father still had.

“Mother.” Jensen turned to face her. “You’re looking much like I remembered you.”

Which wasn’t shocking, considering how good plastic surgeons were nowadays. Linda Brockhoff’s skin was still wrinkle-free and he imagined Botox’d to the hilt, though he wouldn’t have been able to tell by her lack of expression. Unless she was angry, his mother wore a blank expression. She’d said it was to stop the wrinkles from happening, but Jensen decided it was because, unless it had to do with spending money or partying, his mother didn’t have a thought in her brain.