Back at the guesthouse, Brian put aside the wine Justin had insisted on buying on their way back, while Justin locked up.

Brian decided a shower was a good idea after the long, hot day they’d had. He was testing the temperature of the water when Justin joined him, throwing him a bashful smile.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I have to piss real bad.”

“Since when do you ask my permission to piss?” Brian laughed.

Justin focused on the pressing matter, shrugging in answer. “Since I have no fucking clue where we stand…”

Brian stepped closer, turning his husband around when he was done. “We stand right here. The shower is running, waiting for us to wash.” He helped a surprised Justin out of his clothes, before leading him into the shower stall. “Come on, I promise not to bite,” he murmured against Justin’s neck. “Unless you want me to,” he added, his teeth grazing the sensitive spot behind Justin’s ear.

“Fuuuck.”

“We could fuck, if you want.”

Justin glanced back, raising a brow. “I don’t want to start another argument, but I’d rather do it in bed… after so much time. You may think it’s lesbianic, but…”

Brian stopped Justin’s silly excuses with a kiss. It was supposed to be an innocent kiss but, all too soon, he had pushed his husband against the tile wall, his hands in the blond locks, his tongue checking him for cavities. They hadn’t shared such a carnal kiss in too long.

Justin wrapped a leg around Brian’s thigh, humping against him, moaning at the sinful things Brian was doing with his tongue.

Brian pulled Justin closer to his body, dropping his mouth to pepper kisses on his throat and shoulder.

“Fuck the shower!” Justin exclaimed. “I need your dick in me like… a year ago!”

Brian managed a chuckle, before helping Justin out of the shower. They didn’t bother with towels, heading to the bed dripping wet.

“There’s lube in my bag,” Justin instructed from his position on the bed.

“What about condoms?” Brian inquired, grabbing the bottle.

“We haven’t used them in years. I don’t know why I wanted to buy them the other day… maybe to see your reaction?”

“I'm sorry. I’ve been such an asshole.” Brian knelt next to him, rubbing a hand across Justin’s ample butt.

“Less talk, more action. Fuck. I’m so horny!” Justin shifted around, slowly stroking his dick.

Brian rolled Justin onto his front, parting his cheeks gently, licking around the pucker. Encouraged by the sounds coming from his husband, he kept sucking and licking, dipping his tongue inside, until Justin was almost crying from the pleasurable torture.

Using generous amounts of lube, Brian pushed a finger inside his husband, then added another, slowly breaching him, not wanting to hurt him at all. When Justin was ready, he coated his dick with lube and propped himself up against the headboard.

Justin accepted the silent invitation to sit on his husband’s lap. Balancing with his hands on Brian’s shoulders, Justin guided his dick home.They both cursed at the feeling of being reunited after so long. When their eyes met, they made a speechless vow to never again let so much time pass between fucks.

It took Justin a bit of slipping and shifting to find a rhythm, but then he used Brian as his personal sex toy, not that Brian disapproved. He was a fervent participant in their lovemaking. When Justin tired of bottoming from the top, Brian pushed him onto his back, before plowing him into the mattress.

If there was anyone nearby, they were well aware of the couple’s activities, but Justin and Brian never cared if others heard how loud they got.

The first round in bed didn’t satisfy them in the least, and soon they explored the whole suite – the walls, the couch, the table, the door leading to the bathroom, finishing with the bathtub. They shared a bottle of wine while relaxing in the scented water.

“How are you feeling? Sore?” Brian checked, keeping Justin between his legs, running his fingers over his arm.

“Now, I feel amazing. Ask me again tomorrow.” He sighed happily, taking a sip from the bottle.

“I’m not done with you, Sunshine.” Brian bit Justin’s earlobe.

“If you want me to walk and sit tomorrow, I think we should stop right now.” He tilted his head, smirking at his husband. “Buuuut…if you still want more, like I do…. give me that special treat…”

Brian’s eyebrows rose so high, they got lost in the wet hair plastered to his forehead. “The extra rare special treat?” he mused, stealing the bottle from Justin’s hand.

“Please?” Justin turned around, wrapping his arms around Brian’s neck. “I promise to make it worth it. Don’t I always?”

After a few gulps of wine for courage and a heated staring contest, Brian sighed loudly. “Once. My ass is not as used to it as yours.”

Justin laughed, carefree, before getting up. After bending to take the stopper out of the tub, he helped Brian up. He then took Brian’s hand, leading the way to the bedroom.

Justin was even more careful with Brian, preparing him thoroughly, pushing two fingers into him gently, curling them to play with his prostate, while sucking on his dick. When Brian was on the edge, Justin pushed into him. They were both so turned on by that point that it didn’t take long before they found completion.

That night, they fell asleep in each other’s arms, happier than they had been in months.

oOo

Justin’s fantasy of waking up in Brian’s arms and making love was just a dream.

When he opened his eyes, he found the spot next to him empty and slightly cold. Maybe Brian was in the bathroom? As he became more aware of his surroundings, though, he distinguished the unmistakable clicking sound of a keyboard coming from the front room.

Wrapping the bedsheets around his naked body, Justin went in search of Brian. Sure enough, he was on the sofa, typing furiously on his laptop, in all his naked glory.

He stopped briefly when he spotted Justin, throwing him a smile. “Morning, Sunshine!”

“Hey.” Justin shuffled closer, sitting on Brian’s lap, blocking his way to the coffee table where the computer sat. He kissed him slowly, glad when Brian responded eagerly. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m surprised you didn’t hear my phone ringing earlier. There’s a problem at the San Francisco headquarters. Some pipe leaking that managed to ruin what the team had worked on for a month. I have my Pittsburgh and Chicago teams trying to help as best as they can. The presentation should be next Wednesday. It’s the John Varvatos shoe store campaign for their fall collection.”

Justin could remember Brian stressing over this for the past month. “Oh, fuck! Is everything gone? What kind of leak?”

“You know I choose only old buildings for my office space. I guess the guys who restored it didn’t pay close attention to the old pipes. Give me ten minutes to finish my email to Ted. I called for breakfast a while ago. It should arrive soon.” Brian pecked Justin’s cheek, reaching around him to keep typing.

“I can sit next to you…” he offered, realizing how uncomfortable it must be for Brian to type the email, even though he appreciated the gesture.

“Don’t move.” Brian brought him closer, hugging him tightly. “I'm almost done.”

“Seriously, I'm not paranoid. Let me up.” Thankfully, a knock on the door helped him escape the suddenly suffocating Brian.

By the time Justin finished inspecting what Brian had ordered for breakfast, Brian joined him at the table. He poured himself a cup of coffee, slumping into a chair.

“It will be okay. Do you have to be in San Francisco to solve this?” Justin asked, spreading butter on a slice of bread.

“Most likely. Up for a trip?”

Justin shrugged. “I don’t have anything planned, so yeah. I could accompany you.” He smiled, liking that Brian proposed such a thing.

Brian smirked at Justin over the rim of his cup. He ate some of the egg-white omelet he’d ordered, before leaning back in his seat, watching the blond. He tried to remember the last time he simply observed his husband doing something as normal as eating.

Suddenly, Justin stopped chewing. He wiped at his face with a napkin, shifting uncomfortably. “What? Do I have something on my face?”

Brian leaned closer, cupping his cheek. “You’re beautiful.”

“God, Brian! Stop this.”

“What? It’s true. My Sunshine.” He reached out to pull him closer and kissed his lips.

“If I didn’t know you could be extra sweet and romantic, I’d say you’re bipolar. Just yesterday morning you went after the waiter because he was hot.”

“I didn’t fuck him.”

Justin snorted. “Yippie!”

“Are we fighting again?” Brian asked, confused.

“No. I’m just trying to get used to your mood swings again.” Justin grinned. “We have an hour before we have to see Ethan. Wanna walk on the shore?”

“Now we’re on first name basis?”

“I guess it’s only normal. The man saw my snot. I cried on his shoulder.”

“I'm so sorry, Justin.” Brian stood up, wrapping his arms around Justin and kissing his head. “Finish here and we can walk around if you want.”

.

.

.

They arrived at their therapy session twenty minutes later, dripping wet.

Justin’s idea for a walk had the lighthouse as their destination, where they fucked at the top of it. What neither of them expected was a light summer rain trying to interrupt them. It didn’t. If anything, it got them more excited and horny.

Ethan stared at his soaked patients, stepping aside. He excused himself to bring them towels.

When he returned, he expected to find them standing in the hallway where he’d left them, feeling awkward and out of place. Instead, Ethan found them in the kitchen working on making tea, while giggling, kissing, and touching each other like two teenagers.

“I brought you towels and two bathrobes. I strongly recommend to get out of these wet clothes,” he advised.

Justin turned around, startled. “Oh, I guess, yeah. I hope you don’t mind that we intruded… but I figured some tea would help.”

“I'll finish up. You know where the bathroom is.”

“You do?” Brian frowned.

“I had to piss the other day. Did you forget?” Justin reminded him gently.

“Oh, I… Let’s get changed. I can’t afford to get a cold.”

Ethan stared after them in awe. When they’d left the prior day, he hadn’t expected miracles, but to see them so happy and in tune with each other made him proud of his hard work.

He carried the tray with their tea to the living room. He’d barely sat in his overstuffed chair when the happy couple came into the room holding hands.

“Hey, Ethan! Sorry for the mess,” Justin said, as if only then seeing Ethan for the first time.

“It’s all right. I figured you weren’t coming at all when I saw it had started raining,” Ethan said conversationally.

He tried not to comment on how close the couple sat on the couch, wrapped around each other. It made him extremely happy to see them doing that voluntarily, apparently without even thinking about their actions.

“We were already out. We visited the lighthouse,” Brian informed him with a large smile.

“That’s wonderful. The view is breathtaking, isn’t it?” Ethan realized they couldn’t answer truthfully, judging by the blush Justin was wearing and the smirk Brian had on his face. “I see there was some progress…”

“Hmmm… If you prefer to call it that…” Brian joked.

Justin reached for a cup of tea. “We spent a spectacular night together.”

Brian grabbed his own tea, smiling. “Every night and day from now on is going to be spectacular.” He kissed Justin’s cheek fondly.

.

.

.

The rest of the session went better than all the others.

Ethan was pleased to see both Justin and Brian answering all his questions sincerely and even trying to find solutions for their problems.

“This means that when you get home tomorrow, you're going to consciously spend more time together, right?” Ethan asked as their time drew to an end.

Justin smiled brightly, tilting his head toward Brian. “We'll be quite busy. We have to see the family, then focus on unpacking and repacking our bags. Brian has to be at the San Francisco office, and I will accompany him.”

Brian pulled Justin closer, kissing his head. “It's gonna be two tiring days, but I presume the following week will be much more relaxing. Sure, I'll be there for business, but that doesn't mean I won't have time for Justin. I'm actually looking forward to our time there.”

“Me too.” Justin turned his focus to Ethan. “The last time we were in San Francisco together, we were both caught up in our separate activities and never in the hotel room at the same time.”

“Not this time,” Brian promised seriously.

“It's refreshing to see this amazing change in you, Brian. I must admit, I had my doubts during this week,” Ethan admitted. “I'm happy you're willing to change things and show Justin how much he means to you.”

“I doubt we could have gotten through that dark period without you,” Justin said softly.

Brian snorted. “We'd have passed through it eventually, but this week has been eye-opening on many levels. It reminded me that work and money are not the most important things—you are. I've been hurting you for too long, and I hope to have your forgiveness for how I've been treating you.”

“I already forgave you, Brian. We were both guilty on different levels. If I had tried to push you a little harder, you'd have stopped destroying us, but I guess somewhere along the line… I gave up too.”

“The good thing is that now you're both aware of what happened to bring you to the spot you were in when Justin contacted me. From now on, you only have a bright, beautiful future to anticipate. There will be bumps; there will be fights; there will be dry, dull moments, but I trust both of you to get past them. If I trust anyone to do it, it's you.” Ethan beamed at them. “I've never seen so much love and such trust, such a connection, in any other couple that crossed my threshold.”

“Hear that, Sunshine? We're strong.” Brian elbowed Justin, making him giggle.

“If you ever need advice, you have my number. Like I said, there will be times when things aren't going to be all unicorns and rainbows, but with faith and talking about your problems, you'll get over them.”

“Thank you so much!” Justin untangled himself from Brian, walking to Ethan, who stood up. He hugged him tightly. “You helped us immensely.”

Brian joined them, pulling Justin back by his shoulders, extending his hand to Ethan. “I'm not going to say thanks for rekindling the fire because we all know that's bullshit, or for helping us find balance, because we'd have found it… eventually. I'm going to say thank you for reminding me what a wonderful, strong man I have by my side, one who is willing to stand against a storm and wait forever for me to figure out what the fuck am I doing. Justin has always had faith in me. He'd always known me, even when I didn't know myself.”

“That's so beautiful.” Ethan smiled, shaking Brian's hand. “I'm glad I could help. You have no idea how gratifying it is to see the couple I've counseled walk out of here happy and with positive thoughts about their future.”

Justin grinned, grabbing Brian's hand. “We better change into our clothes.”

When they returned from the bathroom, Ethan was waiting in the entryway. “I have one last task for you while you're here. I'm aware it will be especially difficult for Brian… but I want you to be spontaneous. Do something you wouldn't usually do.”

Brian's arm around Justin's shoulders flexed, tightening his grip. “For a second, I thought you wanted a go with Justin.” His words made Justin's face burn in embarrassment, stealing an amused yet worried look at Ethan. The man was trying not to laugh. “Then I'd have been spontaneous by punching you in the face,” Brian added with a smirk.

“Good thing I didn't suggest anything like that, huh? Don't worry. I have no intention of getting involved ever again after losing my partner.”

Justin gasped, elbowing Brian for making their therapist think of his apparently dark past.

“Don't worry. Helping couples occupies most of my time, which keeps me from succumbing to depression. Now, enough about me. It's your big moment, finishing your therapy so successfully.” Ethan brightened, but Justin could tell he wasn't all right. So he hugged him again, thanking him for his time and help.

Brian slung his arm around Justin's shoulders when they left, whistling loudly.

“From the grouch you were last Sunday when we arrived...” Justin said wistfully.

“Life is good.” Brian leaned over to kiss Justin's cheek.