Work Text:
“Remember when I told you it was fine and that I didn’t need you to be at this meeting with me?” Link nervously chewed at his thumbnail.
“Mmhmm…” Rhett said, plucking his jacket from the back of his chair. “Of course. I finally re-booked that massage I’ve been trying to fit in for weeks.”
Link winced. “Uhh…yeah…so—”
“No. Uh, uh.” Rhett shook his head, shrugging on his jacket and adjusting the collar.
“Rhett. C’mon,” Link pleaded.
“No, Link. I’m not canceling on that poor woman again.” Rhett tucked his wallet in his back pocket. “And you said—”
“Look. I know what I said, alright?” Link was flustered to the point of removing his glasses. He rubbed at the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “But I didn’t realize Stevie wasn’t going to be there either, and this sponsorship is kind of a big deal…and I’m not—”
“Hey.” Rhett closed his hand around Link’s upper arm. “Look at me, Link," he said, his voice soft and soothing.
Link gazed up at Rhett with tired eyes.
“You got this, bo,” Rhett reassured, his hand gliding up to sit atop Link’s shoulder.
Link smiled, but it was short lived. “You’re sure you can’t be there?”
“Oh for God’s sake!” Rhett sighed in exasperation, his hands falling to his sides. “Really!?” he said, his eyes wide, looking down at Link.
Link pouted.
“C’mon, man!” Rhett whined. “My back is killing me! I really don’t need this right now.”
“Look,” Link soothed. “I’ll tell you what.” He grabbed Rhett, one hand on each of his arms. “You go with me to the meeting...and I’ll give you a massage,” he said.
“Ha!” Rhett laughed, shaking his head and sidestepping Link to grab his sunglasses
“What’s so funny?”
Rhett chuckled, blowing dust from his lenses. “You’re joking, right?”
“C’mon Rhett. You and I both know know that if this meeting goes south and we lose this deal, it’s all gonna fall on me,” Link said, flopping down in his desk chair.
“And?” Rhett teased.
Link wasn’t amused. He rolled his eyes, his head falling back, neck craning over the top of the chair as he looked up at the ceiling.
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic.” Rhett grabbed his own chair and wheeled it over to sit next to Link. “And I meant joking about the massage.”
Link sat up straight. “Whadda ya mean?”
“Well—”
“You don’t think I can do it? Or what?”
Rhett smiled. “Link, I just—”
“No. Be honest.”
“Alright, fine. No. No, I don’t.”
“Pfft!” Link huffed, his brow creased, annoyance painted across his features as he spun away from Rhett and opened his laptop. “Anyone can give a massage,” he said, hammering his password into the keys.
“Not a good one,” Rhett muttered.
“Oh shut up, Rhett.” Link shook his head, tucking himself further into his desk. “Like you’re God’s gift.”
“Never said I was.” Rhett wheeled closer, bumping his chair against Link’s and placing a hand on Link’s desk. “I’m just pretty convinced that the Link Neal special isn’t going to be an acceptable replacement for a missed appointment with a registered massage therapist.”
Link turned to face him and couldn’t look more unimpressed. “Uh, huh. Sure.”
Rhett fell back in his chair, silently rotating slowly from side to side, watching Link as he turned back to his computer. He had several documents open on his screen, all of them relating to the meeting this afternoon. There were annotations and brightly coloured sticky notes on the files on his desk too.
“Don’t you have an appointment to get to?” Link asked, his fingers furiously tapping his keys. “With a registered massage therapist,” he mocked.
Rhett couldn’t help the chuckle that formed under his breath. “I’ll tell you what…” Rhett said, grabbing hold of the armrest of Link’s chair and spinning him around to face him. “I’ll stay for the meeting…”
Link grinned, clearly relieved. “Thank yo—”
“But!” Rhett interrupted, gesturing with a pointed index finger. “You’re gonna have to follow through on that massage promise. None of this ’I’ll do it later’ and later never comes crap.”
Link coughed out in exasperation. “When have I ever—”
“You really wanna go down that rabbit hole, Neal?”
Link averted his gaze.
“That’s what I thought,” Rhett said, smiling as he rolled back toward his own desk. “Send me the updated docs so I can get caught up, you big baby.”
“There ya go again, calling me baby.”
Rhett rolled his eyes. “The files?”
“Fine. Sending. Jeeze.”
Rhett’s computer sounded with the notification of the files being added to their dropbox at the same time Link’s phone screen lit with it’s own notification.
“What’s this?” Link asked, turning toward Rhett, phone in hand.
“That? That’s the phone number for my massage therapist.” Rhett smiled at him over his shoulder. “The one you’ll be calling to cancel my appointment.”
“Hey. I may have bargained, but I never agreed to be your dang secretary.”
“Okay.” Rhett said calmly as he closed his laptop and got up from his chair. “So, let me know how the meeting goes. I’ll—”
“Alright, alright,” Link said, jumping up from his chair to shove Rhett back into his own. “I’ll call.”
Rhett grinned. “Yeah you will.”
~*~
“So?” Link said, closing the door to their office behind them. “You like our chances?”
“I think they’d be crazy to turn down the opportunity to partner with our brand.,” Rhett smiled. “You were great, man. Really.”
“Back at ya, big guy,” Link chuckled, his cheeks flushing as he walked to his desk to set down his notes.
“I shouldn’t have expected anything less. It was all over for them when you buttoned all the way up to the collar,” Rhett teased, crossing the room to flop down on the couch.
“Hey,” Link said, “don’t mock this button.” He pointed to his shirt collar. “This button has done a lot for this company.”
”Alright, alright.” Rhett chuckled. “Praise be to the button.”
“Damn right.” Link sat down next to Rhett and the two of them relaxed, sagging into the sofa.
Rhett audibly winced, his hand shooting to his lower back.
“Oh shit,” Link grimaced. “Still bad, huh?”
“It’s always bad.” Rhett leaned to the side, lifting up the bottom of his shirt to press his fingertips into his skin. “But right now? It’s like a tiny army of fire ants has colonized my L4.”
Link smiled, but his brow was furrowed in concern. “Maybe you should lie down?” Link shimmied to the side, making more room on the couch.
“Mmm, yeah.” Rhett shifted to lay down on his back.
“No. No.” Link grabbed his arm. “On your stomach.”
“Huh?”
“How am I supposed to massage your back if you’re lying on it?”
Rhett turned to face him, his brows creased in pain. “Well this is unexpected.”
“What?” Link asked, taking off his button down, revealing the tight, white t-shirt he wore underneath. “You thought I wouldn’t hold up my end, huh?”
Rhett smiled. “Well, to be honest? I thought it would take a little more coaxing”
“Yeah, yeah.” Link rolled his eyes. “I’m the worst. Now. Just lie down, would ya?”
“Gotta get this off first,” Rhett grinned, tugging a bit at the bottom of his sweater.
“Bareback, huh?”
Rhett paused, looking skeptically at Link for a moment. “You really don’t hear the words that come out of your mouth sometimes, do you?”
“What? What’d I say?”
“Really?”
Link looked bemused for longer than he should have before his expression shifted to one of realization. “Oh ha, ha. Very funny.”
“You’re the one who said it, cowboy,” Rhett grinned.
“You know I could just leave you hear alone with tickle fingers to fend for yourself, right?”
“You say that like it’d be a punishment,” Rhett smirked, continuing the struggle with his shirt, managing only to get it half way up his back before crumpling forward in agony.
“Jesus, Rhett…” Link reached out, laying his palm flat on Rhett’s back. “I’m sorry…I didn’t realize it had gotten this bad.”
“Mmm...it’s just one of those days—tss” he winced, trying again to pull of his shirt.
“Gosh. You should probably see someone about this.”
Rhett turned to Link, sporting an unamused scowl.
“Sorry!” Link waved his arms in submission. “Sorry. No more jokes. I promise.” He suppressed the chuckle that tickled his words.
Rhett shook his head, struggling to free his arm from the twisted fabric of his sleeve.
“Here,” Link offered, grabbing the curled hem of Rhett’s sweater. “Let me help.”
Rhett smiled weakly as Link gently coaxed his arms up and slid his sweater over his head. “Thanks.”
When Rhett was finally free of his sweater, he laid out across the cool leather of the couch, his legs bent at the knee to accommodate Link.
Link tried to maneuver himself to make space for Rhett to fully relax, but soon gave up. “Sometimes I forget the fact that you’re a glorified giant,” he said as he got up from the couch. “There. That better?”
Rhett sounded a satisfied groan of approval into the pillow under his chin as Link placed another on the floor to kneel on.
“So, where does it hurt?” Link asked, settling onto his perch.
“Everywhere.”
“Helpful.”
“You asked.”
“Well... I’ll see what I can do,” Link said, warming his palms together for a moment or two before pressing his fingertips gently into the dimples of Rhett’s lower back.
“Mmm,” Rhett hummed, the tension in his neck and shoulders easing.
Link rubbed his fingers in slow circles, focusing on the area he knew Rhett complained about the most.
“There, yeah,” Rhett wiggled his hips slightly. “Harder though,” he whispered.
Link audibly swallowed, flattening his palms and pressed his thumbs along either side of Rhett’s spine, sliding up until his hands nestled briefly into the curve of Rhett’s waist before his concentration and effort was once again focused on Rhett’s lower back. His fingers teased at the top of Rhett’s jeans, slipping momentarily under the exposed elastic of his boxers.
Rhett’s breathing hitched just a little, and his shoulders and arms lit with goosebumps.
“Is this okay?” Link asked, leaning over Rhett’s body.
Rhett cleared his throat. “Yeah. Mhmm.” There was a long pause where neither spoke, but Link’s hands were still on his skin. “Maybe you could spend a bit of time on my neck and shoulders?”
“Oh. Okay.” Link’s hands fell away and he slid his pillow along the floor. “Here?” he asked, applying pressure to Rhett’s tense trapezius muscles.
“That’s good, yeah,” Rhett breathed, chewing his lip.
“Good,” Link smiled. “Better at this then you thought, huh?”
“Not bad, Neal,” Rhett smiled. “Not bad at all.”
“Was that a compliment I just heard, or do my ears deceive?”
“Don’t get used to it.”
Link chuckled, working his thumbs up Rhett’s neck until his fingers tickled Rhett’s hairline, but his grip was weak. “Hard to really get in there in this position, sorry bo,” he apologized, his hands falling away.
“No. Don’t stop,” Rhett protested.
“I’m sorry, Rhett...but I’d really need to be—”
There was a long silence. “Really need to be what?” Rhett asked, lifting his head from the pillow, looking sideways at Link kneeled next to him.
“Well…” Link hesitated. “I kinda need to be above you, like—on top of you for this to really work.”
“Oh.” Rhett said, looking away, resting his chin on his folded hands.
“Yeah, so I guess—”
“Yeah, it’s okay.”
Link slumped. “Sorry I couldn’t do more—”
“No,” Rhett interrupted. “I mean…it’s okay for you to…”
“Oh.” Link’s voice cracked a little. “Okay,” he said, getting up from the floor. He placed the pillow on the armchair and then stood at Rhett’s side. “So...how are we gonna...where do I...?”
“Uh…” Rhett reached down with one arm and patted the back of his thigh. “Just...sit there. I guess?”
“Umm... okay…” Link hesitated. “You’re sure this won’t just make it worse?”
“Only an ACME anvil falling from the sky could make it worse at this point.” Rhett grinned at the soft sound of Link’s laughter.
“Just tell me if it hurts,” Link whispered as his weight pressed down into the leather on either side of Rhett’s body.
Rhett could feel Link’s thighs against the outside of his own hips before Link’s full weight was resting on him.
Link leaned forward, his body rubbing against Rhett’s as his hands clasped onto Rhett’s shoulders once again, his grip firmer than before. He massaged tensed muscles with the pads of his thumbs, eliciting a satisfied moan from Rhett.
“God. That feels good.”
“Yeah?” Link’s hands relaxed, his palms running down Rhett’s spine until they rested on Rhett’s shoulder blades. “Not too hard?” he asked, kneading deeply into the muscles beneath his fingertips.
“No. No—It’s good.” Rhett groaned loudly into the cushions.
“Sounds like it.” Link’s voice was dripping with satisfaction. “Eat your heart out—What’s your therapist’s name?”
“Theresa.” Rhett shifted under Link’s touch, his hips lifting from the couch. “Her name’s Theresa. Now shut up and rub.”
Link continued applying pressure in just the right places, Rhett’s soft groans of appreciation fueling him on. He leaned forward, reaching up to trace small circles into Rhett’s temple, shifting his hips more than was necessary to facilitate the action, pressing himself firmly against Rhett’s backside.
Rhett tensed beneath him.
“What’s wrong?” Link asked, his voice low and breathy.
“Nothing...it’s just—Are you—”
“Aren’t you?”
Rhett’s cheeks flushed an even brighter shade of pink. Of course he was. He was usually so good at locking this down during a massage, but he’d practically been impaling the sofa since Link had first laid his hand on him.
“No,” Rhett lied, his voice quivering with the effort.
Link pulled away, sitting up straight on Rhett’s thighs. “Bullshit. You’ve been humping the couch for the last 20 minutes.”
Rhett shimmied awkwardly beneath him. “I have not.”
“Look, Rhett,” Link said, sliding off Rhett’s legs and pushing them out of the way so he could sit on the couch.
Rhett sat up, jamming a pillow in his lap.
“I spent the better part of the 9th grade engaged in a pretty serious relationship with my mattress. You’re not fooling anyone.” Link folded his arms behind his head, seemingly unbothered by the fact that the situation in his own lap was on proud display.
“So...what? You knew and you kept—” Rhett picked at the fraying thread in the seam of the throw pillow. “Kept going?”
Link was quiet for a moment, looking rather relaxed as he stared up the ceiling. “I guess I took it as a compliment.”
Rhett smiled. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Link said, turning to Rhett. “Figured you must be feelin’ pretty good, so I must have been doing somethin’ right.”
“Well,” Rhett laughed. “I do generally try to avoid getting inappropriate erections, even if I’m enjoying myself, but yeah…it was good.”
“Good,” Link smiled.
Both of them averted their gaze from one another and a long, pregnant silence followed; but when Rhett’s gaze drifted back to Link’s lap, his awkward throat clearing cough ended it.
“And...uh…” Rhett stuttered. “What’s your excuse?”
Link flushed bright red. “I...don’t know. You were—” Link ran his hand through his hair. “All those sounds—You were moaning and groaning...I’m sorry I—”
“My moaning turned you on?” Rhett asked, brow raised, lip curled up in a grin.
Link looked up from his lap, their eyes meeting as he turned more toward Rhett. “Is it alright if I say yes?”
Rhett swallowed hard around the lump in his throat and nodded in reply.
Link moved a little closer. “And this?” he asked, setting his hand on Rhett’s knee. “Is this alright?”
Rhett nodded again, looking down at Link’s hand and covering it with his own.
Link smiled, leaning in until their faces were only inches apart. “And this?”
Rhett lunged forward, closing the remaining distance between them, his lips colliding roughly with Link’s own.
Link jolted in surprise, but quickly recovered. He got up on his knees, leaning into the kiss further without breaking it. One hand slid up Rhett’s thigh while the other glided up the side of Rhett’s neck, cupping his cheek.
“Link…” Rhett breathed between their barely parted lips, his hands tucked into the curves of Link’s hips. “What are we—”
“Don’t.” Link nipped Rhett’s lower lip. “Just…shut up and kiss me.”
And Rhett obliged, the trepidation that had been keeping him from tipping over the edge into this moment now vanished. He let Link crawl into his lap. He wrapped his arms around Link’s narrow body, his hands warming up Link’s back until they cupped over his shoulders.
Link groaned into Rhett’s mouth as their bodies writhed together, both of them hard and pressing against one another through the fabric of their jeans.
“Fuck…” Rhett whispered as their kiss fell apart, his lips ghosting along Link’ jaw.
“Mmm,” Link hummed, his fingers tangling in Rhett’s hair.
Rhett peppered kisses along the length of Link’s neck until he reached the sliver of his collarbone the peeked out from under his t-shirt.
Link bucked his hips, sucking air through his teeth. “Oh, God…” He moaned his words into Rhett’s hair.
The room was filled with soft gasps and quiet grunts. Link’s hands ran across Rhett’s heaving chest while Rhett’s slide down to cup Link’s round backside, both of them lost in the ecstacy of the other’s touch.
“Rhett... “ Link groaned. “I’m—You feel so—” he was interrupted by Rhett’s eager lips, but he managed to slip away after a few fevered seconds. “I wanna...Can I?” he pleaded into the soft hair of Rhett’s beard, his hand running down the length of Rhett’s torso until his finger toyed with the zipper of Rhett’s jeans.
Rhett thrusted into Link’s hand. “Yes...God, yes.” He nodded against Link’s cheek, reaching down to pop the button of his jeans, but Link did the rest.
With trembling fingers, Link opened Rhett’s fly, his hand slipping inside the waistband of Rhett’s underwear and encircling him.
Rhett grunted, rolling his hips forward and nudging Link’s chin until their lips were sealed together again. Rhett felt himself being tugged toward the edge, his breath coming in ragged gasps between urgent kisses.
“Link…” he moaned, “let me—I wanna touch you. Wanna make you—”
“Okay.” Link shifted backward enough that Rhett could undo his pants, but never stopped the stroke of his fist over Rhett’s length. He gasped when he felt Rhett’s warm palm close around him.
The two of them moved together like they were made to fit; like intricately machined parts finally slotted into place. The thread of tension that had been building between them for a lifetime finally snapped.
Rhett climaxed first, and Link not long after, both of them panting one another’s names until they came down from the high. Rhett toppled over, laying flat on his back as Link collapsed, draped across his chest. They laid together that way until the sunlight faded from the office window.
“Well...that sure was somethin’,” Rhett finally said, running his fingers through Link’s hair.
Link rose up on his elbow, smiling. “You’re not gettin’ that from a registered massage therapist, I’ll tell ya that much.”