For the Love of Muscles Read online

  “Uh, well no. I just, uh, was interested, is all. Congratulations.”

  “Thank you. Now how about you explain why you ran away from me like a scared rabbit the other day?”

  Naturally, my faux rabbit fur ruffled. “I am not a rabbit!”

  Carter might have cracked a smile, but he still scowled a little. “I think you might be, since you practically hopped out of the gym like your ass was on fire.”

  My eyes narrowed. “Are you making fun of me?”

  Carter’s stare became exasperated. “Dude, I realize I’m not the world’s greatest communicator, but you didn’t even give me a chance to finish a sentence the other day. What’s a guy got to do to tell you he’s interested and wants to have a cup of coffee?”

  I gulped. “Really? You mean that? You’re not just taking pity on a guy who can’t help sporting a boner around you?” I might have heard someone gasp nearby and prayed I hadn’t just scandalized a staff member. Too late now.

  “If you would’ve let me finish, I would’ve said that you’re different because you’re not fawning all over me or trying to maul me in public, even if it’s hard not to do.” His wink made me want to hit him.

  I snorted with something like relief. “You’re a barrel of laughs, aren’t you?”

  “No, I mean it.” Carter lowered his arms and briefly touched my face with the tips of his fingers. “I get ogled a lot because of the way I look.” As he spoke, I took note of the men and women checking him out in the background, and they weren’t subtle. “People are always trying to get into my space—or pants—because of that, too. I’d rather spend time with someone who can see past some of that, and we can have a real conversation about things other than whether I can bench press them in bed, which I can do, if you’re interested.” His smirk made me blush and my cock got a little hard, right there, in public.

  “Gah.” I closed my eyes, took a breath, and thought of lying on nails or eating raw chicken. Yup, my dick deflated. “Carter, I’m sorry about my reaction that day. I just…I really, really have a thing for guys who look like you, but that’s not all I want, you know? And it always turns into something that’s only superficial. I’m way too old for that. So yeah, I’m hugely attracted to you, but I…do you understand, at all?” I knew I wasn’t being very clear.

  “No, I get it.” He smiled. “We’ve both been hurt and taking chances is difficult. It’s been hard to resist talking to you, though I had to say something last time because I thought you were going to faint after your workout.”

  I rubbed the back of my neck. “I was trying not to pounce you. Do you know how challenging it is to keep any semblance of control around you, especially since you’re doing your routine right there, in front of me? Shirtless?”

  “Why do you think I chose that spot?”

  I gaped, and he laughed. But before he could continue, the walkie-talkie at his waist beeped, and someone asked him to cover them on a break.

  “I’ve got to get back to work, but how about coffee and conversation later?”

  I wanted to say “no,” but then I remembered Sam’s words, and I could also see him and Melanie stealing glances at me from where they were making sandcastles with the kids. They were giving me a “thumbs up” sign. Okay, then.

  “Sure. When are you done here?”

  “Six-thirty. You mind hanging out ‘til then?”

  “Happy to. And thanks for…I guess, calling me on my shit?”

  Carter grinned. “Anytime. Later.”

  He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before jogging back to his station. A man comfortable with himself, not afraid to show affection in public, and hot as hell? Dear God.

  I was not blushing. Nope. It was the heat of the day, fuck it.

  * * * *

  “The guy propositioned me in the shower, then struck a pose that he probably thought was sexy, but really, really wasn’t,” Carter said, and I cackled at the latest in a line of experiences he’d shared with me about shenanigans at gyms where he’d worked out in the past.

  “God, I wish you could’ve had a waterproof camera on hand for all those times. Think of the vlogs! People are nuts, aren’t they?” I shook my head and sipped the latte he’d bought for me.

  We were at a Caribou Coffee about two miles from my condo, and three from Carter’s apartment, as it turned out. I wore shorts and a T-shirt, both of which had seen better days, and Carter was similarly dressed, though nothing could hide his magnificence. A majority of the clientele seemed to feel the same, including the baristas, who kept stopping by to ask if Carter—not me—needed a refill. Must be a new service they offered, all of a sudden.

  Whether Carter noticed the attention, or cared, he never showed it. His focus was on me, and me alone. In the two hours that we’d talked, I felt the usual attraction, but also a building sense of knowing that he seemed to be someone who I could open up to, who could be a friend, maybe more.

  “So tell me about your bad dates or hookups.”

  “Please. Isn’t it all the same? Guy meets guy. ‘Let’s have sex. Maybe we can try a relationship?’ Guy gets cold feet. Guy sleeps around. We break up. On and on it goes.”

  Carter looked sympathetic. “I know what you mean. I’m thirty-nine and I still have yet to find ‘the one,’ if that person even exists.” He sipped his black coffee and sighed. “I do hookups now and then because that’s less hassle, but it leaves me feeling empty, you know?”

  “I do.” I briefly touched his hand but resisted doing more, because I didn’t think I’d stop. “What do you want in a relationship? Are you looking for ‘forever’? Sex ‘til the day you die? Kids?”

  “I wouldn’t mind kids, but I’m okay without them. I want a ‘forever relationship’ with someone that isn’t superficial, works hard, can appreciate the silly things that life has to offer, but is serious when it counts. Sex is cool, but when all this muscle turns to flab and my sex drive is dead, where will we be then?” He grinned.

  I laughed. “Like you will ever stop your routine.”

  His smile, then, turned sheepish. “True.”

  “I want someone I can love and care for, who is a friend and understands that I’m not perfect, I can be a butt sometimes, but can ‘see’ me anyway. Sex and attraction? Hell, yeah, but after that fades, I want to still have a comfortable friendship as we walk into the sunset on the beach, hand in hand.”

  “Sappy, aren’t you?” But his look said he understood and might just feel the same way.

  I sniffed. “Maybe.”

  “I can live with that.”

  I set aside my coffee cup and said, “So, what’s next?”

  * * * *

  “Fuck,” I muttered, pressed hard against my front door, which I’d just barely locked before Carter attacked. I was glad I wasn’t wearing a cup, because my hard cock rubbed against his thigh in the best way possible, and one of my legs wrapped around his as we kissed each other like breathing wasn’t a thing.

  God, the feel of him. The way his muscles bulged and flexed beneath my hands, the scent of him, drove me mad. I could get off just on that alone, and I was already close.

  “You want to come, don’t you?” Carter said against my lips before moving to my neck and sucking up a spectacular mark, no doubt, that would be hard to hide tomorrow. Hell, yeah!

  I nodded, suddenly without words as lust overtook my brain and whisked my body to new heights. I spewed in my shorts, uncaring of how much of a slut that made me look. As if that was a bad thing.

  “Damn, you’re sexy,” Carter murmured as he placed his hands under my ass and kissed me again, his tongue tangling with mine as he humped my stomach. Then he groaned, hands tightening on my butt, and I felt his wetness through the material that barely separated us. Good thing I had a washing machine.

  I remained in his arms, legs now wrapped around his waist as we calmed, but I knew that wouldn’t last long because I wanted more, needed more. I could get it up whenever, wherever, because this was Carter, and h
e was here, with me.

  “My bedroom’s down the hall to your left,” I said as I licked his neck and nibbled on his left earlobe.

  Carter and I exchanged kisses as he carried me down the dimly lit hallway, such a turn on, because I am not a small guy, by any means. When we got to the bedroom, he set me down and I stripped naked, as did he. From the nightstand, the lamplight allowed me to see the vision of beauty looming before me. I needed to touch him, worship his body, show him how awesome, how sexy, I found his dedication to muscular perfection.

  I took his hand and dragged him onto the bed, where I ended up on top. Taking my time, I played with his hair, massaged his scalp, kissed his nose, and nipped his chin.

  Then, I licked and sucked his deltoids, biceps, triceps, rubbing my check against his magnificence, and my once-more hard cock leaking copious amounts of fluid. Throughout all of this, Carter moaned at my ministrations, caressed my body when I let him, and called me “beautiful.”

  “You are perfect,” he murmured as his hands did some exploring of their own. “Long and lean and a perfect match for me.” I could’ve cried from his tenderness.

  When we were both so hard I could barely stand it, I reached under one of the unused pillows—I had several—for the lube, and had Carter get the box of condoms out of the drawer and place one on his dick.

  He looked dazed with lust as he watched me prepare myself with three fingers, and he didn’t help things by pinching my nipples and slowly stroking my cock.

  “If you want me to last, you’d better stop,” I said, gasping at the sensation caused by his touch.

  “Then hurry,” he replied, removing his hand to stroke my thigh and brush teasingly against my balls.

  Finally, I positioned myself over his cock. I took a breath, then sank down slowly until fully seated. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the fullness of him inside me and felt his hands spasming on my legs as he kept himself under control until I started to move.

  Mother of God, how sexy to have this big muscular man at my mercy as I rotated on his cock, making him feel each squeeze as I moved up and down, increasing bit by bit until we slapped against each other, the sounds loud in the room as we urged each other on. It could have been minutes or hours, I didn’t care, when Carter gasped and arched his back, whispering my name as he shot inside me, veins bulging and hotter than fire in his release.

  That was all it took to send me over, and it seemed to go on forever until I fell into the safety of his arms.

  * * * *

  “My, my. Don’t we look rested,” Sam said the next day as he brought me the usual stack of work, a knowing grin on his face.

  I refused to rise to the bait but couldn’t help my smile. “I have a lunch appointment and may not be back until after three o’clock.”

  “You plan to get another hickey at this appointment?”

  I flipped him off.

  Sam snickered. “I’m happy for you, you know? That you finally took a chance. Love might be a good look on you.”

  “I’m not in love yet, but I might get there,” I replied, knowing that, at least, was true.

  “I think you will.” Sam winked, then left for a meeting.

  Carter and I seemed a good match, and in time, we might end up making it great.

  THE END

  ABOUT J.D. WALKER

  J.D. Walker likes to keep her stories short and sweet, with the occasional novel or novella. A multi-published author, she is also a musician, artist, language enthusiast (German and Spanish), and lover of all things knit and crochet.

  For more information, visit lifebyjo.com/jdwalker.

  ABOUT JMS BOOKS LLC

  JMS Books LLC is a small queer press with competitive royalty rates publishing LGBT romance, erotic romance, and young adult fiction. Visit jms-books.com for our latest releases and submission guidelines!