He sat in the passenger seat trying to appear equally calm and collected. Shoulders back, palms resting on his knees. It would have been more convincing if his heart wasn’t about to break out of his chest. Or if he wasn’t already half-hard from anticipation.
"You good?" Shaw asked, glancing over.
"Yeah. Fine."
"You haven't said anything in two minutes. That might be a record."
Hudson snorted. "Fuck off. I'm—" He stopped, trying to find words that didn't make him sound like a teenager. "It's been three years."
"What—you haven’t had sex in three years?"
He rolled his eyes. "I didn’t saythat.”
"Having second thoughts?" Shaw's mouth curved.
"No." It came out almost desperate. "Just making sure this is real and not some elaborate stress dream where I wake up alone in my hotel room feeling like an idiot."
"It's real."
Hudson shifted in his seat. “Good.”
They pulled into the parking lot of a mid-range hotel. The fluorescent light made Hudson squint. Shaw parked and killed the engine. They sat there for a second, neither saying anything.
"Last chance to back out," Shaw said, turning towards him. His eyes gave very little away as usual, but Hudson noted the tension in his jaw and the way his hands gripped the steering wheel, knuckles pale against the leather.
"After everything it took to get here? Please." Hudson said and got out.
The lobby was empty,just the two of them and the low hum of the vending machine around the corner. Shaw hit the button and they stood there, shoulder to shoulder, the air between them electric.
Hudson didn’t look at Shaw. Shaw didn’t look at him.
Their hands were approximately half an inch from each other.
The display above the elevator read 7. Then 6.
“This is taking forever,” Hudson said.
“It’s been twelve seconds.”
Guess Hudson wasn’t the only one counting.
“Feels like forever.” He glanced sideways at him. “Third floor, right?”
Shaw’s eyes cut to him. “Don’t.”
Hudson grinned. “On three?—”
He went on two.
He hit the stairwell door at a dead sprint, Shaw half a step behind him already, and then it was just the pound of footfalls echoing off concrete and Hudson’s lungs burning. Hudson heard Shaw’s breath right at his shoulder, refusing to let him pull ahead.
Hudson lunged for the third floor landing, threw his arms in the air and turned around. “Yes, take th?—“
His back hit the wall. Shaw’s mouth was on his—desperate and anything but careful.
Fuck.
Hudson cupped Shaw’s face in his hands, his jaw smooth under his touch. When he dragged a thumb over the bottom lip, Shaw closed his mouth around it and sucked hard. The low growl escaping him went straight down Hudson’s spine.
