Free Worlds Apart by Barbara Elsborg

was noisy in the still of the night, his stuttered breaths punctuating Taylor’s every move. Do it. Do it. When Taylor pulled Niall’s other hand to his groin, Niall’s breathing grew noisier still. They stood maybe a foot apart, playing with each other’s dicks, guided by each other’s hands, fingers slipping and sliding, cocks preening and crying silent tears of delight. Taylor couldn’t look Niall in the face.
    “I’ve dreamed of this,” Niall whispered.
    Am I dreaming?
    The strangeness and familiarity of touching another man’s cock, like his and yet not like his at all, buzzed in Taylor’s head where pressure grew as synapses snapped to link neurons. Explosion loomed lower down. Their hands moved faster, fingers tightened and their breathing became more ragged.
    “Oh fuck,” Taylor panted.
    Taylor’s hands were slippery with precome as he raced toward orgasm. He’d have been ashamed of coming so fast with a woman, but suspected Niall was as close as him. Taylor’s balls drew up to cup the base of his cock, white light flared in his head and he closed his eyes. Yes, yes, yes. His toes curled as he spurted into his hand and into Niall’s. Taylor sucked in a breath with each wrenching spasm, pleasure racing through his veins. Then Niall was coming, releasing warm, liquid silk onto Taylor’s fingers as he gasped into the night air, and somehow that moment was just as good.
    As Taylor opened his eyes, he saw silver light shimmering just over Niall’s shoulders. For a moment, the light seemed solid enough for Taylor to touch and then it disappeared. What the hell? He blinked. Had to be some weird refraction of moonlight or alternatively a head rush brought on by an orgasm-fried brain.
    Oh Christ. An orgasm-fried brain. What have I done? He lifted his head to look into Niall’s eyes and saw everything he didn’t want to see. Pleasure. Desire. Expectation. Reality checked in. He stood naked in the middle of the lawn, jacking off with a guy. How could he have been so stupid? I am not fucking gay. Burning with embarrassment, he pulled free and walked away, come dripping from his hands until he stooped to wipe it on the grass. He’d gone no more than ten yards before he turned and stalked back.
    “That’s never going to happen again,” Taylor snapped. “I like women.”
    “I ask nothing of you,” Niall said.
    Taylor scanned Niall’s face, but it was now empty of expression. He turned and walked back to the house. Mistake, mistake, mistake, said his brain.
    No it wasn’t, said his cock.

Chapter Six
    Roo’s expectation that waking at 8:15 a.m. would give her time to get up, get ready and get to work had been a touch unrealistic, she thought as she took the chewing gum out of her mouth and used it to attach her heel to her shoe. She squirted paste on her toothbrush, sucked on it, fastened her blouse and slipped on her shoes at the same time. Brilliant multitasking! Then unzipped the tent and climbed out to pull on her skirt while she brushed a bit more vigorously. Roo threw the toothbrush back inside, and zipped the tent again. Then unzipped it to grab her purse. Zipped and unzipped it to get the water bottle so she could refill it. Roo wasted another minute staring at her spaceship trying to think if she’d remembered everything before she headed for the road.
    In daylight she could see she wasn’t far from civilization. Roo bulldozed her way through the rhododendrons to reach the drive and brushed bits of foliage from her hips. Then she ran.
    After a couple of yards, the heel fell off her shoe and she lurched to a halt. She went back to grab the wayward plastic cube, slipped it in her purse and set off again on an awkward lope.
    Sleeping in the tent hadn’t been too bad, probably because she was so exhausted. The can of SpaghettiOs hadn’t appealed for breakfast, so she hoped Taylor was the sort of boss who provided donuts and pastries and freshly brewed coffee—and a shower. Though she needed to