BAB 19

Yeah, but I want it. Zaki sighed because the idea of Pino appreciative eyes on him while he churned out some push-ups made his skin all warm and tight, and that wasn't good.

"I'm trying." Pino misinterpreted Zaki sigh. "You make it hard... Oh never mind." He gave a nervous laugh.

"It's okay." Zaki kind of liked being the one in the position to reassure Pino.

"Okay. Just the scrape on your neck and cheek to go. Bet you're glad you've got a day for this to heal before heading out again.

You have no idea.

"Rough day? Tell me?" Pino asked. Fuck. Zaki hadn't meant to say that last bit aloud.

"It's fine," Zaki said even though a part of him wanted to open up to someone about how hard this was proving to be, what with Cobb and all. But he wouldn't. He'd dreamed of this. Trained for this. Suffered for this. No way in hell was he complaining now.

Pino shrugged. "Tilt your head." His fingers along Zaki neck were like twin rakes of pleasure. Then came the bite of the alcohol and it was all Zaki could do to stifle another moan. Pino's eyebrows danced upward. "Pain slut? I mean, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, with what you guys put your bodies through"

"I'm not." Zaki silenced him. God, one more thing to deny? Really? Only this one he was pretty sure wasn't true. He wouldn't be reacting like this to any random person touching him and doctoring him up. He'd been banged up plenty and never once sprouted wood during the cleanup before Pino.

Pino shook his head like he didn't believe him. He leaned in, examining the scrape on Zaki face, which really was nothing. Zaki had gotten more torn up doing the grinder obstacle course before. Of course, he'd never had anyone taking care of him before. Not like this. It felt too good, like he should pull away.

He jerked away at the precise instant that Pino leaned closer, making Pino fall against him. Holy crap. He had a lap full of Pino, pressed right up against his chest and neck as Pino tried to steady himself with a hand on Zaki shoulder. It felt like the first few seconds of a HALO jump, all exhilaration and rush of air screaming in his ears as he waited for what came next.

And what came next was going to be something. It was there in the hitch of Pino's breathing, in the way Pino subtly leaned closer, in the way Zaki didn't recoil, instead his hand going to Pino's back, as if he could hold him there. It was in the way Pino's eyes dipped to Zaki mouth, inches away from his own. Inches, shrinking to centimeters, then millimeters.

Pause.

Everything hanging on the moment.

Something was going to happen. Right...now. Their lips collided, like they were still slipping, but Zaki knew better. This was deliberate. This was kissing, something that Zaki would have sworn up until two seconds ago that he did not like. He'd been kissed before. A few high school and college girls, and he'd done it enough to know that he didn't really like it, didn't feel what other guys felt when lips and tongues tangled. It'd felt wet. And sloppy. And much, much too close.

But this? This was altogether different. This was kissing, a beast Zaki had never encountered, not like this. There was no mistaking that he was kissing a guy Pino smelled like a guy, tasted like a guy, gripped him with strong hands like a guy. Pino smelled like the citrus shampoo that had shown up in the shower a few days ago, and he tasted sweet, like jelly beans or hard candies with just a hint of the ever-present spice Pino added to everything. And something tangier too, something uniquely Pino that meant Zaki couldn't get enough, didn't want to ever break away.

Pino pulled away first, breathing hard. God, even his sounds were so male harsh intakes of air, a deep groan. Zaki needed more, and he leaned in to get it, but Pino held up a hand.

"Didn't satisfy your curiosity?" Pino tilted his head, considering Zaki with those all-knowing green eyes.

"No," Zaki said, unable to be anything other than honest with the rush of wanting in his head.

"And that's all this is? Just a bit curious?"

Fuck. Pino was handing him the perfect life preserver, the one that could keep him from slipping under the churning water that was his life. And he was powerless to do anything other than nod.

"Wrong answer." Pino stood up and was out of the bathroom before Zaki could think to call him back. Somewhere distant in the house a door slammed. Fuck.

"Meow." Gizmo appeared at the bathroom door.

"You are so much trouble." Zaki groaned, like it was the cat's fault that he'd just made an idiot of himself to Pino.

"Fuck straight guys." Pino punched his pillow. Or rather don't fuck them. Hadn't he been down this road before? He knew better than to kiss Zaki, but he'd been powerless in the face of all those bare muscles and those hungry eyes. God, the soft sigh Zaki had made when Pino landed on him, all low and needy, and then he'd looked at Pino's mouth like it held the solution to a pop quiz on standard deviations. So what had Pino done? He'd deviated from all his resolutions and kissed the guy.

Shit. He flipped over the bed, rumpling his Tardis comforter. He really was going to make a crappy professor. He couldn't even enforce his own damn rules for himself. The whole professor thing had played a part in why he caved though. It had been a crappy day, one where he discovered that even in a tie, people kept mistaking him for a student, and that being an official professor meant far more paperwork and hoops than he'd dreamed possible. He kept waiting for someone to pop out with a hidden camera and tell him this was all a joke, that no way could he be expected to be a professor now and follow all the university rules and be in charge of shit.