by E M Lindsey
What Ronan needed was to be home in his bed with pills on hand and a long night’s sleep, but they couldn’t go like this. They had to recover, and he had to make good on his promise that they wouldn’t run out on Jonas after those kisses.
“Babe,” Ronan said quietly. “Wet clothes.”
Parker became suddenly aware he was also dripping on the floor, so he moved closer to the table and set Jonas’ glasses down before getting to work on himself. It was far easier for him to strip down, dry off, and then wrap the soft robe around him than it had been for Ronan. He released the suction on his arm, then dropped it onto the coffee table before slipping the robe over his shoulders and moving to Ronan so he could help tighten the belt.
“Looks good on you,” Ronan said, giving it a playful tug.
Parker snorted, then put his hand to Ronan’s cheek and leaned in to kiss him. It started soft and chaste, but Ronan opened for him, drawing Parker’s tongue in before pulling back and nuzzling his nose along Parker’s jaw.
“Can you taste him still?” Parker whispered.
“Yes.” Ronan reached up and squeezed the back of Parker’s neck. “You should go check on him.”
Parker wanted to curl up on the sofa with his husband and not deal with the messy side of this new thing they were walking into. But that wasn’t fair to Jonas. The bedroom door was closed, but not latched, and Parker knew it was a sort of invitation.
And he did want Jonas, he absolutely did. He had fucked up a little, but only because he had no idea how to really navigate any of this. Ronan had always just sort of been there, had been a big part of his life. Jonas was new and unknown territory, and there was no certainty with him.
There was no promise he could trust.
He might feel less wary if it was only his heart on the line, but Ronan was falling too, and Parker would set himself on fire to keep Ronan warm. “Maybe I should…”
Ronan grabbed his wrist, cutting off his protest. “I love you. Go in there.”
Parker closed his eyes, then nodded and gently pulled away. It was a short walk to the bedroom, and he wished it were longer when he pressed his palm to the door and pushed it open further. Jonas was there, facing the window, in fresh dry clothes with his arms clutched around his middle. It was the same pose he’d affected when Parker had come for him—defensive, terrified.
Parker knew some of what Jonas had been through, but not all of it. Not enough.
He was an enigma. Beautiful, but not entirely aware of it. Strong, but he spoke like he’d spent most of his life weak. He wanted, but he was too scared to believe he deserved something that was being offered to him in open palms, and Parker wasn’t sure he had the strength to hold up against such a weighted past.
Parker pictured him the way he’d been with Ronan, though, eyes trained up at the sky for a long moment as fireworks exploded overhead. They lit up his face, the wonder in his eyes, the grin turning up the corners of his mouth. He was a bright spark in that moment. Ronan had been captivated, and Parker had been unable to look away as Ronan touched him, smiled at him, and kissed him.
“Hey, Sparky.”
Jonas’ entire body jolted, and he spun, eyes wide. “Oh. Um. Are you…is everything okay? Is Ronan hurt?”
Parker shook his head, crossing the room with careful steps so Jonas wouldn’t back away. “We’re both good.”
Jonas blew out a puff of air, then his brows dipped in a frown. “Did you just…call me Sparky?”
Parker laughed and reached for him, laying his hand on his shoulder. He felt a little pulse of relief when Jonas didn’t stiffen, didn’t pull away. “Yes.” He was a bright flash of light, all-consuming, even if he allowed himself to fizzle out too fast, and Parker would be happy to reignite him any time he needed. He moved his hand to Jonas’ cheek and stroked the warm skin there with his thumb. “Are you okay?”
Jonas leaned into the touch, his eyes falling shut. “I can’t believe you’re asking me that. I just kissed your husband. Then you.”
“And we kissed you back,” Parker said. He stepped even closer, crowding Jonas back until he hit the window.
Jonas reached up to grip him by the arm, missing it in the space where Parker had removed his prosthetic, and he let out a startled noise. “Oh. Sorry.”
Parker sighed, then released Jonas to pull off the sleeve of the robe, exposing his stump. “It doesn’t bite.”
Jonas blanched. “I…that’s not…”
“It’s okay,” Parker told him quietly, and he meant it. Because Jonas was honest. He didn’t play games, or pretend, or hide. “You can touch me there. I like it.”
Jonas nodded, and he still looked nervous, but he fit his long, delicate fingers over the end of his stump. Parker’s nerves were already on edge from his prosthetic, and it sent waves of stimulation down his spine.
“Does it hurt?”
“Not now. Sometimes it does, when I wear the arm for too long.” Parker leaned his stump further into Jonas’ hand, then pressed their bodies together again. “I like when you touch me. And I liked kissing you.”
Jonas’ fingers spasmed, then dragged from the end of the stump to his exposed shoulder and dug his nails in gently. “Me too. Both of you, I mean. It’s just…”
“A lot?” Parker offered.
Jonas nodded. “I want you both so much. I’ve never ever felt like this before, and at some point, I have to go home. I have to turn everything over to my father, and I don’t know how I can do both.”
“Your job and us?” Parker asked with a grin.
Jonas flushed. “Are you always like this?”
“Yes,” Parker said simply. He hooked his arm around Jonas’ waist and hitched him close, feeling the way his dick had gone half hard pressed against Parker’s thigh. “I am always like this. Can you live with it?”
“I think so,” Jonas breathed out.
“Good.” Parker looked at him, then leaned in to rub their noses together. “I want to kiss you again. Then we should go out onto the sofa and involve my husband.”
Jonas swallowed thickly. “Why does it sound so sexy when you say it like that?”
Parker just grinned, then leaned in, and Jonas met him halfway. The kiss was different this time, with a bit more hesitation, a bit more fear. But Jonas didn’t taste like regret. He tasted like the promise of something good and important.
Parker broke the kiss off after a few moments, surprised at how heavy he was breathing, how hard he was, how much he wanted. “Come on. Let’s go sit.” He trailed his hand along Jonas’ arm until their fingers tangled together, and they walked back out into the main room to find Ronan still on the sofa, feet still up, eyes closed as his head rested on a cushion.
If Parker hadn’t known him as well as he did, he’d assume his husband was asleep, but as they got closer, he saw Ronan’s breath quicken. “We okay?” Ronan asked without opening his eyes.
Jonas cleared his throat, and Ronan finally looked at them. “I think so. I’m sorry I ran.”
Ronan sat up, shook his head, and held out both hands toward the younger man. “I’m not sorry. Parker was being himself and that just happens.”
“Wow. Okay,” Parker said with a grin. He let Jonas go, but instead of joining them, he moved to their pile of clothes and fished his phone out of his pocket. “I’m going to call Charlie and see if he has some spare clothes we can borrow.”
Jonas’ eyes went wide. “Like the Lodge owner?”
Parker frowned. “Yeah. He’s closer to our size than you.”
“I didn’t know you two were friends.”
At that, Parker laughed. “His husband is my secretary at my office. And I was best man at their wedding. I’m basically family.”
As he pressed the phone to his ear, he heard Ronan snort and say, “He was the only one available and in the area. They needed a witness at the courthouse.”
“Hey,” came Charlie’s voice on the line a second later. “Where did you disappear to?”
; “We’re at Jonas’ room right now.”
“Woods? The land guy?” Charlie asked with some surprise.
Parker laughed. “Yes. Ronan wasn’t feeling well tonight and the rain kind of fucked everything up. Do you have some sweats we can borrow so I don’t have to drive home in this robe? I mean, it’s probably bad enough I have my dick and balls rubbing all over the inside of it.”
“God, why are you like this,” Charlie groaned. “I’ll have Eddie send something over. Do you guys need anything else? You know we have a couple of spare wheelchairs for guests.”
Parker put his hand over the speaker. “Babe, do you want Charlie to bring a chair down to get you to the car?”
Ronan considered it for a moment, then wriggled his toes and shook his head. “I can make it.”
“He’s good,” Parker said. He watched as Ronan shifted a little, then drew Jonas closer. He let himself feel it for a moment, waiting for an edge of jealousy, possessiveness he always felt when people looked at Ronan. But it wasn’t there. It was just warmth and a desire to join them. “Thanks, though.”
“No worries. I’ll send Eddie with some sweats.”
Parker hung up, then set his phone on the table before crossing around to the other side of Jonas and sitting. The sofa beneath him was damp from Ronan’s wet clothes, but he barely felt it through the terrycloth, and he was more profoundly aware of the warmth coming from Jonas than anything else.
“You, um…” Jonas said after a beat, staring down at his clasped hands. “You don’t have to go. It’s raining, and you both look exhausted.”
“There’s too much I have at home,” Ronan answered him, his voice heavy with regret. “Believe me, we’d stay if we could.”
It wasn’t entirely that, though. In reality, Parker could have easily driven back to the house and fetched all of Ronan’s things. He knew Ronan was just afraid to rush, to dive in blindly. They both wanted this, but more than that, they wanted it to work. It would already be difficult enough knowing Jonas had to return to Arizona without knowing when or if he’d be back. Not knowing if he’d be willing.
“God, I’m sorry,” Jonas blurted. “I’m so bad at this.”
“You don’t get to be hard on yourself about this stuff. Not yet,” Parker told him. He leaned in, letting his shoulder brush up against Jonas’, and he felt a surge of satisfaction when Jonas leaned in too.
“I think we need to worry about logistics first,” Ronan said. He shifted, using his hands to help shift his tired legs over, then he turned his body to face the other two men.
“You mean like how this is obviously going to be long distance?” Jonas asked. “My dad isn’t going to let me set up offices here.”
Parker’s throat went a little tight. “I understand. I mean, you barely know us, so asking you to give up your job—your family…”
“It’s not that,” Jonas said quietly. “I just don’t have anything else. This is all I’ve ever done.”
Ronan reached out and brushed a hand down Jonas’ arm. “Is it what you want to do?”
At that, he snorted a bitter laugh and shook his head. “No. God, no. The only thing I wanted was to get away from him, from that life. But it’s consumed everything I’ve ever done since I was eighteen.”
Parker reached over and laid his hand over where Jonas was twisting his fingers together, trying to ease them apart. “Not everyone does what they love.”
“Yeah,” Jonas said and squeezed his eyes shut. “But most people don’t let their asshole father control their lives.” He licked his lips and then shuddered. “Shit. He’s not even my father—he hates me. I don’t know why I let it go this far.”
Ronan curled in a little closer, and Jonas shifted against him so Ronan could wrap both arms around him. It was sweet, and Parker felt like he could sit there and just watch the two of them be soft for the rest of his life. “I think it’s a little deeper than allowing him to do anything. I’m not a psychiatrist though, and I don’t want to pretend like I know more than I do.”
“No, it’s…I know you’re right,” Jonas said quietly. “I have a therapist, and she’s already laid it out for me, but I haven’t been able to pull the damn trigger. I feel guilty, which is stupid. But I think I’m also afraid. Everything I have belongs to him.”
“Not everything,” Parker said, and Jonas looked at him.
“No,” he agreed after a beat. “But enough.”
“Let’s not talk about leaving just yet,” Ronan murmured quietly. “Let’s take small steps.”
Before either of them could answer, there was a soft knock on the door, and Parker shot to his feet. “That’ll be Eddie. I won’t let him stay, don’t worry.” He caught the hesitation on Jonas’ face, and the faint amusement on Ronan’s before walking across the room and opening the door just enough for Eddie to press his face in the open space.
“What are you hiding?”
“Two naked men fucking each other in the ass,” Parker deadpanned.
Eddie’s eyes widened. “At the same time?”
“Yes, but you’ll never know how. Are these for me?” He reached out and wrenched the clothes from Eddie’s hands while using his foot to keep the door from opening wider. “Tell your husband I owe him.”
“Um, excuse me, I braved the storm to walk this shit over here,” Eddie complained.
“Only so you could one-up Theo on hotel gossip. I’ll see you at work Monday.” With that, Parker shut the door and ignored Eddie’s knocks until he went away. When he returned, Jonas looked a bit worried, but Parker waved him off as he handed a set of dry clothes to Ronan.
“How bad is it going to be?” Jonas asked.
Parker scoffed. “What, town gossip? Not bad. First of all, I’m Eddie’s boss. Second of all, these Motel brothers know how to mind their business. I’ve handed out more than enough tubes of arnica to trust they’re not going to get judgy or spread rumors.”
Jonas relaxed only a fraction, so Ronan dragged a hand up and down his arm. “This isn’t about them.”
“I just don’t want to swoop in here, fuck up the town, fuck up your marriage…”
“Stop,” Parker sighed, then dropped his robe, profoundly aware of the way Jonas was watching him. He used his teeth and hand to open the bottom hem of the t-shirt, then wriggled his arm into the sleeve before pulling it over his head. He slipped into the pants next, turning slightly to give Jonas a show of his backside, then grinned. “We wouldn’t be here if there was a risk to our marriage, Sparky.”
Jonas startled at the name again, and Ronan snorted a quiet laugh. “Sparky?”
“It fits,” Parker said with a shrug. “You want help with your clothes?”
Ronan groaned, but he eased himself away from Jonas and pushed to stand. “I got it.”
Parker fit himself alongside Jonas again and tucked an arm around his front, hooking his chin on the younger man’s shoulder. “He puts on a good show.”
“I am not a piece of meat,” Ronan grumbled.
Jonas tried to look away, but Parker raised his hand and caught him by the chin, redirecting his gaze to the wide expanse of Ronan’s body. Though he was as large as Fitz, Ronan had never been hairy. He had just a smattering of light brown hair on his chest and the faintest happy trail heading down toward his thick cock.
It made Parker hungry, watching him like that, and hungrier holding Jonas there to share in that moment. Ronan had complained, but it was obvious by the look on his face that he didn’t mind.
“He kind of likes it,” Parker murmured. “Do you?”
“I think you know I do,” Jonas whispered, then swallowed thickly.
“Mm.” Parker parted his lips and ran them along the shell of Jonas’ ear, knowing he was playing with fire, knowing he was too close to giving in. They needed to take their time with this, to treat it as delicately as Jonas was, but Parker was burning for more. He was burning to make those few fantasies a reality.
Ronan returned to his seat, his eyes heavy-lid
ded with desire, but he didn’t lean in to participate. His restraint kept Parker grounded, kept him from crossing a line. Jonas’ body was trembling and flush-warm, so Parker eased back and rested his hand on Jonas’ belly.
“I think we need to start with dates,” Ronan said once things had settled.
Jonas cleared his throat, then nodded. “Dates. Yes. Like…all three of us, or…?”
Parker didn’t have an answer, and from the furrow of Ronan’s brow, neither did he. “We’re all new at this,” Parker said.
“Have dinner with me Monday,” Ronan said, startling Parker. “He works late, and I wouldn’t mind if you kept me company.”
Jonas licked his lips, then nodded. “Okay.”
“And then with me,” Parker said, partly so he wouldn’t be the outsider, but partly because he understood suddenly why it was necessary to be together and apart. “Then maybe come stay on the weekend.”
“Yes,” Jonas breathed out, looking excited and nervous all at the same time. “If you really want that.”
“Yeah, Sparky,” Parker whispered. He ghosted his fingers up and down Jonas’ stomach, making him shiver.
“Kiss him,” came Ronan’s voice suddenly, rough and needy. “Parker, kiss him.”
Parker obeyed without really thinking. He shifted back, taking Jonas by the chin and turning his face so far that his body was forced to follow. He moved his hand to cup his jaw, then ran his thumb below his mouth and pressed down, parting his lips.
“Okay?” he asked.
Jonas swallowed thickly. “Yes.”
Leaning in, Parker fitted his mouth to Jonas’, chaste and easy until Jonas let out a tiny whimper. The tiny flame in his belly burned brighter, want cascading through his limbs. He pressed in firmly, tongue demanding as it thrust past Jonas’ willing lips, and he only stopped when he heard Ronan let out a soft moan.
Pulling away gently, Parker stroked Jonas’ cheek with his thumb, then gently turned his head. “And now my husband,” he whispered.