by A. P. Moraez
“Thank you.”
“Yeah, sure.” More muffled background sound. “Look, if half of what that guy told me is true… Hoofslope ain’t ready for that kinda crap, Ash. You’re in danger. We all are. And the more we wait, the more danger we’re in.”
“I know. I’m sorry we can’t meet immediately. I’m gonna talk to Logan and see if we can make it back sooner, okay?”
“Yeah, you do that.” More noise, this time, the distinctive sound of footsteps climbing stairs and the jingling of keys. “Look, Ash, I gotta go. This is a burner phone; I’ll get rid of it as soon as I hang up, so don’t try to contact me. If something else happens, I’ll hit you guys up, okay?”
“Alright. Thank you so much for believing in me, Miller.”
“No problem. Just try to come back asap, alright? See you soon.”
He didn’t wait for Ash to respond; the line went dead.
“What’d he say?”
“He knows,” Ash croaked out. “He probably knows everything.”
“But he wants to talk to you, right? That’s what I overheard.”
“Yeah. Says he wants to hear my side of what Matthew told him.” Ash exhaled heavily, not even capable of relaxing under Logan’s warm hands, massaging his back up and down. He propped his head on his hands. “Says he feels that he owes it to me and the O’Farrells.” He snorted a humorless laugh. “Props of living for so long in a small town, I guess.”
Ash turned, anxious, in Logan’s arms, and asked, “I know that you wanted to use this as some sort of mini vacation for us, but… but if we do that I think I’m gonna die of anxiety. What if he changes his mind and doesn’t wanna hear me out anymore?”
Logan was nodding even before he finished, expression fallen in sadness. “I understand.” His eyes assessed Ash for a moment, then he said, “Can we just stay just one more day? It’s Sunday. I doubt that he’ll be back to Hoofslope before Monday night, since he’s driving all the way from Tompas. We could just stay one more day and fly off tomorrow morning. I… I really wanted to take you somewhere?”
Ash smiled. “Another surprise?”
Logan perked up a little. “Kinda.” He slid his right hand from Ash’s cheek all the way down his neck, shoulder and arm, leaving a trail of warmth behind, until their fingers were interlaced. “I just wanted us to get away for a while, even if it’s just one day.”
After considering the offer for a moment, Ash relented. “I suppose you’re right. It’s not like he’s gonna have to tell anything to his boss until Tuesday or something.”
Logan beamed at him, immediately perked up. “You won’t regret it. I promise.”
Ash shrugged. “Might as well enjoy our trip. Who knows how long it’s gonna take for them to throw me in jail after we go back.”
“Don’t talk like that,” Logan said, voice low, but firm, “I told you I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”
Ash didn’t believe it. He didn’t believe even all the money in Logan’s bank account could protect him from the Law. Not after everything he’d done. He’d hidden away important information from Miller, an act that had probably only served to put himself, his family, and maybe his whole town in danger. As the deputy had said, probably knowing now everything about Leonardo Lazarus, their little hideaway in the mountains wasn’t equipped or in any way ready enough to deal with a psychopath like that. Ash hiding info from him had probably put the man on the defensive. He had no reason to trust anything that could possibly come out of Ash’s mouth and, even if he, as he’d said, liked him, there was no way he’d keep secrets from his superiors if he thought Ash was dangerous or that they wouldn’t be able to deal with Lazarus on their own, even with Duke’s and his teams’ help.
Nevertheless, he nodded, trying to comfort Logan. The man was clearly anxious and excited to take him to wherever it was he wanted to. He wouldn’t spoil that happiness. If this was the last thing they’d be able to enjoy together before Ash’s whole life caught fire, then he’d clamp down on his freaking anxiety and do his best to enjoy the hell out of it.
“C’mon,” Logan urged, lying down on his back, head back onto the soft pillows encased in white linen, “it’s late. Let’s go back to sleep.”
Ash clenched and unclenched his fists a couple times to get a grip on his nerves. Then he turned off the bedside table’s light and got under the covers.
“Everything will be alright. You don’t worry, ‘kay?” Logan said as he pressed kisses onto Ash’s cheek and forehead in the dark.
Their lips met and, as Logan encased Ash’s body in his powerful arms, they kissed slowly and tenderly. Ash could get lost in that moment, insulated from all the bad in the world by darkness and the taste of the man he’d always cherished the most.
“I love you,” Ash said against Logan’s lips. “You’ll never know how much.”
“I know.” Logan pressed a soft kiss to Ash’s lips, then tugged Ash’s head against his neck. He pressed another gentle kiss to the top of Ash’s head. “Sleep now, love. We should wake up early tomorrow.”
“You get me all curious and you expect me to just go to sleep,” Ash mumbled against the solid column of Logan’s neck. Why did he always had to smell so clean and fresh? Unable to resist, Ash bit him lightly there, and the shiver that ran through Logan’s body was the best reward.
Logan’s chest rumbled and he slapped Ash’s behind under the covers. “Enough with that now,” he growled, “we have to rest. It’s been a long day and we really have to wake up early tomorrow.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“To a special place.”
“Uh.”
“Sleep.”
“You’re an asshole.”
Logan chuckled against his forehead. “Yeah, now close your eyes and shut your mouth. And none of that biting bullshit no more.”
“Alright.”
A few seconds passed in silence.
“Logan?”
“What?”
“I really do love you. More than anything.”
Arms tightened around him and that was the last thing Ash remembered from that night.
IT WAS A little past eight next morning when Ash gingerly opened his eyes, mouth against Logan’s chest. They’d moved in the night, but never disentangled. He was lying on top of Logan in bed, Logan had one heavy arm wrapped around Ash’s waist, under his pajama top, while his other arm was sprawled above his head on the pillow.
Logan’s morning wood was hot pressing against Ash’s now exposed stomach, since his pajama had ridden up in his sleep. It got his dick instantly hard too.
Ash pressed his lips to the smooth skin of Logan’s right pec, which was rising and falling slowly, the man clearly lost in slumber. Ash grinned as he traced Logan’s nipple with the tip of his tongue as he wrapped his hand around Logan’s heavy cock. He stroked him gently twice, then let his hand glide down to cup his balls. It’d never stop turning him on, how big Logan’s parts were; each of his heavy balls fit perfectly in Ash’s palm.
Still massaging him there, Ash glided upwards, licking Logan’s neck, tracing his collarbone with his tongue and lips, until he latched his mouth to the man’s neck and sucked him there. Not too hard; he didn’t wanna leave him with a hickey. Just enough so that he’d wake up.
Sleepy sapphires emerged from behind his pale eyelids and long, dark eyelashes. Logan moaned deep when Ash brought his hand from his balls and stroked his cock again, squeezing once he reached the bulbous head.
“Good morning,” Ash whispered against Logan’s lips.
The tip of Logan’s lips turned up. “What you doing?” he rumbled out, all lazy.
Ash stroked him gently; another squeeze around the ring of his thick cockhead. “Nothing,” he answered, feigning innocence.
Logan’s arm around his waist tightened and in a flash Ash was under him, back to the mattress. Narrowed sapphires studied him from just one second before Logan let his whole weight fall down onto Ash, as he knew Ash loved, and t
heir mouths joined in a sloppy, deep kiss. It was the most ridiculous thing that Logan didn’t have morning breath. Ash still tried to find one single imperfection in him, but always came up empty.
Their cocks were rubbing together and that, plus all the powerful, warm muscles encasing him from every direction, had Ash tonguing Logan frantically, lost in lust.
So much man; so much fire in him. It was like Logan was always up for it, even when he’d just woken up by Ash’s teasing. It was one of the hottest things about him, how he was always ready to fuck.
Eventually, Logan broke their kiss and licked a path to Ash’s beauty mark, where he closed his mouth in sucked hard, clearly wanting to leave a mark, as he always did.
Ash laughed.
“The fuck you laughing about?”
“You.”
Logan left his neck alone and leaned up. The movement made their cocks press even closer together, and Ash whimpered even as he laughed.
“Am I funny to you?” Logan pretend-growled, then leaned his elegant neck down to bite Ash’s neck right where he’d been sucking.
“Stop,” Ash cried, laughing, as tingles assaulted his spine, running from where Logan’s teeth connected with his skin.
“Tell me,” Logan requested, their gazes locked together again.
Ash brought one hand up and buried it in the soft hair at the back of Logan’s head. “It’s just funny to me how you… how you act like an animal sometimes, wanting to mark me and stuff.”
Logan’s eyes darkened and he crashed their mouths together once more. Ash wanted to die that way, with Logan’s tongue deep down his throat.
“I can’t help it,” Logan admitted, heavy breath against Ash’s lips. “That’s just what you do to me. I want everyone to know you’re mine.”
Ash lost his breath, for a moment, at his admission. Then he shook his head and shoved Logan away. The man looked adorably stunned as he watched Ash’s movement and how he knelt on the bed and then sprung to his feet.
“Where the fuck you going?”
“You said we had to wake up early today.”
“Yeah, but… but we don’t have to get out of bed right now. Come back.” Logan tried to grab Ash’s hand, but Ash quickly sprung back.
As usual, Logan had slept naked, contrasting with Ash’s body, hidden behind the comfy pajamas. Logan’s morning wood was peeking from under the duvet, and it went a long way to make Ash shut his problems up. He was feeling empowered this morning, even though something at the back of his head was telling him he should be feeling anything but.
“I’ve got a better idea,” Ash said as he started to undress his pajama top. When he finished, Logan was looking at him as if he wanted to swallow Ash whole. It got his dick twitching, and he made sure Logan could see that when he started on his pajama bottoms. “We’re gonna take a shower together, I’m gonna swallow all the cum that’s practically bursting through that huge thing of yours, then we’re gonna have some breakfast with the guys, and head out to this special destination you wanna take me to, before curiosity kills me,” he finished as he dropped the pants right next to Logan’s head on the bed. “What’d you say?”
Logan jumped from the bed so quickly and grabbed him with such ferocity that he didn’t even have time to react. God, it was such a turn on for him, how big and strong Logan was compared to him. Logan kissed him with passion all the way to the suite bathroom.
When the hot water started to run over every ridge and hard curve of Logan’s smooth, fair skin, Ash fell to his knees and took Logan’s cock into his mouth.
Ash made sure to keep eye-contact as he twirled his tongue around Logan’s mushroom head a few times, the way that always got Logan crazy, before he swallowed everything he could, mouth stretched to the point of pain, just how Ash liked.
“Fuck, baby,” Logan moaned. He had his back against the wall in a way that the hot spray was mostly bathing only Ash’s back, not his body. Still, he was still wet from entering the shower, and all the creamy skin was like looking at pure heaven. “So perfect,” Logan murmured between loud moans, “So fucking hot, Ash.”
Encouraged, Ash brought his hand up from Logan’s thigh and cupped his balls. When he started rolling them in his hand, Logan lost it and started thrusting into Ash’s mouth. Ash could barely fit half of the long, thick monster into his mouth, but he did his best. He rolled Logan’s heavy balls in his hand and took whatever he had to give, marveling at the heavy weight of Logan’s cock against his tongue, the way it stretched his mouth to a point where Ash couldn’t think of anything but the salty taste of Logan and the animalistic groans and moans coming from the big guy.
It wasn’t long before Logan brought one hand behind Ash’s head and started pressing him down on his cock. Ash choked, but took it like a champ.
A few seconds later and hot, thick sperm filled his mouth, running hot down Ash’s throat.
“Fuck yeah,” Logan moaned, hips pumping convulsively, not giving Ash a break.
Logan wouldn’t like it, but he was too turned on to wait for a return blowjob. Just three strokes on his sensitive shaft had Ash was painting the tiles with his own sperm. He didn’t manage to swallow everything Logan had been storing in his balls, so a little ended up running down his chin. With a finger, mouth still thoroughly filled with Logan’s still hard length, Ash collected the ejaculate and put it back in his mouth, never stopping the licking and sucking he was still doing.
He sucked and licked, head bobbing up and down Logan’s cock, and swallowed cum, and a sense of contentedness wrapped all around him. This was what he was born to do. He was born to be on his knees for this man. To be his cum dump. With Logan, like this, he was whole.
When his cock finally started to soften, Logan tugged Ash up by his armpits and joined their mouths. The kiss tasted like cum and sex, and Ash just wanted to be here in this moment forever.
Unfortunately, they had places to be.
They showered quickly and, taking care of washing each other thoroughly with Logan’s scented oils before they got out, brushed their teeth, dressed in casual winter clothes, and got out of their room for breakfast.
The suite encompassed the whole floor, so Duke and Ian had taken the other room for themselves. The other two teams that’d come with them to Italy had taken the downstairs floor, where they monitored who got in and out of the hotel, as well as traffic in the surrounding streets. Mind-boggling for someone like Ash, who’d been contentedly living in a one-bedroom, one-kitchen, one-everything little wooden house a few months ago, but it was necessary. You could never be safe when someone like Leonardo Lazarus was involved.
Apparently, Duke and Ian were on par with Logan’s plan for the day, for they didn’t bat an eyelash when Logan said they should be ready to leave soon.
They had a light breakfast. Well, light except from the part where Logan got mad at Alec. Understandably so.
While Ash sipped at some grape juice, and spooned some tiramisu, he’d checked his phone, worried that Miller might have tried to contact him again during his sleep. What he saw, though, were several Instagram notifications. Ash clicked on them and burst out laughing.
The others eyed him curiously, so Ash turned the phone so that everybody could see.
Alec had posted a photo of him and Ash last night, that he’d taken while they strolled around the Sala delle Cariatidi, before the event. He’d grabbed Ash by the waist and planted his mouth on Ash’s right cheek and snapped the thing even before Ash could properly register what’d happened. In the picture, Ash was laughing and Alec too, even though Alec’s lips were pressed against his cheek. It was a cool picture and Ash loved it. The kick, though, was that the imp had marked both Logan and Ash with those @ things and written to Logan in particular: You should take better care of your boyfriend before someone steals him away, honey.
Ian and Duke were choking on their food, laughing at Logan’s red face. Of course Logan wasn’t really angry at his friend, but he was an actor, in the end, so he p
layed it out like he was super pissed. He went all out and unfollowed Alec on Instagram. Ash could still hear when Alec called a few minutes later and ripped Logan a new one for doing that.
They were already leaving the Hotel front doors, headed for Duke’s Mercedes, when Logan decided to follow his friend back again.
“You really aren’t gonna tell me where we’re going?” Ash whined, taking Logan’s hand in his as they settled in the back seat.
“Patience is a virtue,” was Logan’s answer, a playful smile on his lips.
Ash sighed. You shouldn’t mix an anxious person like him with surprises. Annoyed, he let go of Logan’s hand and scooted a little to the side, so that he could look through the window.
The engine had barely roared to life when Logan’s arm snaked around his shoulders and brought him right back.
“It’s gonna be worth it,” Logan rasped against his ear, “I promise.”
“How long till we get there?”
“A little more than half-an-hour.”
Ash sighed again and relented, hugging Logan back as Milan’s downtown rushed by.
THEY TRAVELED NORTH and Ash was struck by how beautiful Italy was. Truth be told, he’d never read much about the country and, in school, people didn’t go much in depth about Europe, focusing more on the USA. His brain automatically had always associated the place with good comfort food, wine, and fashion. He’d never thought he’d be surprised by so many cute houses along the road; so many beautiful lakes and green. The trees alone, huge and imposing, took his breath away. While yes, it was the middle of winter, it wasn’t that cold today. The sun was out and the day was beautiful, perfect for a walk around the park. He missed going out and just being in nature. One more thing that had been taken away from him because of that monster.
“Are we there yet?”
Logan chuckled. “Almost,” he answered in a half-whisper. “You see that bridge up ahead?”
Ash leaned up so that he could see better where Logan was pointing through the front panel of the car.