Kian turned and looked at him. He smiled “You are just radiating happiness,” he said, and Nathan just smiled sappily and handed Kian the coffee he’d asked for. Kian took a sip and glared at Nathan and the cup. “What the fuck is this?” he asked.
Nathan was confused and took a sip. It hit him that this was Kian’s first cup of what passed for coffee now. He blushed. “It’s our version of coffee. We’ll have to find you an old machine if we can. And they are nothing like yours, I’m sorry.”
Kian huffed and patted the sofa beside him. Nathan sat down and Kian curled into him. “I can live without coffee, as long as I’m with you, but get me the right ingredients and you’ll never have to eat substandard pies again,” he spoke softly into Nathan’s ear.
Nathan moaned when Kian bit at his ear lightly and turned into the affection. Nathan pulled Kian closer and arched his neck as Kian’s lips wandered over it. He loved the feel of Kian’s lips on him and whimpered when he had to still Kian’s head.
“Please, baby. They only let me bring you home because I promised you wouldn’t exert yourself. We have a couple more days to wait. Please,” Nathan practically begged when he saw the stubborn look on Kian’s face.
His Balance was strong and headstrong, and Nathan was slowly learning that on a daily basis. Noah had told him that a Balance was always in charge, and Nathan believed him. He would do anything Kian wanted and not think twice about it. But Kian still needed his rest and balancing what his Balance wanted or needed and what was good for him was a delicate balancing act. Nathan stopped a snort of laughter at that thought.
Kian threw himself back on the sofa. “Only because we are expecting visitors,” he said.
Nathan turned questioning eyes to him.
“Your pet doctors should be turning up soon. They said they were going to start that dream study soon and keep me informed. Chloe also wanted my opinion on training our Empath abilities. Gaia just said that Balances had to learn to listen to their instincts about people and situations. I don’t know how to train that, but maybe Chloe will have some ideas.” He took his coffee off the coffee table and took another sip. He grimaced again and glared down at the cup again. “Pass me your tablet again and log me into that shopping thing you have.”
Nathan did as requested and logged into the shopping apps he had loaded up. At least all purchases were paid for by the Tower, so Kian could shop to his heart’s content.
He opened the door to his pet doctors an hour later. Noah raised an eyebrow at Kian in his blanket cocoon, tapping and swiping at a tablet.
“Shopping.” Nathan shrugged.
Chloe walked over to the sofa and looked over Kian’s shoulder. “Ooh. What’s that?” she cooed.
Kian looked at her and gave her cheek a quick kiss. “I’m shopping. So far I’ve order green coffee beans, which I’m going to have to roast, a type of percolator, and I’ve found an ancient domestic coffee machine that I know made a good coffee back in my time. It should all be delivered in the next few days. I’ve also order some basic pie supplies, flour, sugar, fruit, and so on. We do have an oven, right?” he called over his shoulder at Nathan.
Nathan nodded. “An oven, yes, and basic supplies, but you need to order pie tins and any baking ware you need. You can probably find the things you’re used to on a retro site.”
Kian nodded and kept swiping. “So tell me what you’ve found out?” he asked.
Chloe moved around the sofa and sat beside him. “We’ve made a start. It appears that every Balanced Watchman had recurring dreams up until they met their Balance. When we questioned the Balance about the content of the dreams, we realized that the dream was usually about some place the Balance spent a lot of time. Their part-time job, their school, family business, even a house for some of them. A little creepy, but we can work with it. We are having all unBalanced Watchmen note down all their dreams and we’ll start looking for a recurring one and start working on an algorithm and research. If we can make this work, then we’ve solved a massive problem,” she said as she pointed at things of interest on the screen.
Nathan and Noah had made their way to the kitchen area, and Nathan had poured substandard coffee for the rest of them. Noah placed a cup by his wife and retreated back to the kitchen.
“How are you doing, Nate?”
Nathan shook his head, grinning. “I’m happy, Noah. I feel whole. Having said that, I feel like I’m out of my depth here. How do I keep him safe? How do I keep him happy?” he asked, a little panic in his voice.
Noah took a sip of his coffee and smiled. “That’s something every Balanced Watchman goes through and something that you’ll go through on a daily basis. Just remember that your Balance will let you know when something is wrong. Always trust your Balance. The Empathy thing explains so much about how Chloe just knows stuff. So trust in him at all times. Beyond that, just love him to distraction and you’ll be fine.”
Nathan knew he was smiling like an idiot, but he didn’t care. “I already love him to distraction, Noah.”
Noah laughed at him quietly. “Very obvious, my friend, and he loves you, too. Chloe will rip you to shreds if you fuck him, however, before she clears him. I’m sorry I am not about to interfere with that. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do all the work and still give him what he wants.”
Nathan nodded. He tapped his fingers on the table. “Noah…the date…ah…how did you know when to pull us out? I thought we were going to try for it on New Year’s Eve. That’s what the death notice said. How did you…” He trailed off, looking down again. If it hadn’t been for these two, he would have lost everything.
“That was all Chloe. She found the police report, and M.E. Report stated he was found New Year’s Day but they thought he’d died December 30, 1999. A lot of this has been instinct for Chloe. It’s probably that Empathy thing. We sort of followed where she felt she had to go. And that’s the result,” he finished, looking over at the two Balances on the sofa.
He sighed and stood up, taking his empty cup to the sink and rinsing it out. Nathan watched him walk over to his wife and extend his hand to her.
“We should head off, love, and let these two have some privacy.”
Nathan walked them to their door, seeing them out. He closed the door and locked it carefully. Then he walked to Kian and dropped a kiss on his head before walking through to the bathroom. He turned on the bathtub functions, allowing it to self-fill, setting it at a warm-to-hot temperature, and switching on the bath-warming feature ensuring the bath stayed hot and comfortable.
He went back out to find Kian sitting where he had been left with a curious look on his face. Nathan went over and slipped his arms under him, quietly lifting him into his arms and walking with him into the bathroom. He set Kian carefully on his feet and unwrapped him slowly from his blankets. He peeled off Kian’s shirt, running his fingertips over the waterproof bandages over his wound. The wound was healed, but the new skin would appreciate some protection from the elements for a few days yet. Nathan helped Kian step out of his sweatpants and then stood back to quickly shuck his own clothing. He stepped into the tub and held out his hands for Kian. Kian stepped into the tub carefully, and Nathan wrapped him up in his arms before lowering them both into the water.
“You’re very quiet,” Kian whispered.
“Mmm, just thankful that my pet doctors are incredible. They gave me everything. Thankful that I found you and you chose to stay here. And thankful to Gaia and her entourage for stepping in,” Nathan said into Kian’s neck.
He let his mouth move over Kian’s neck from the left to the back and to the right. Licking and biting his way along. His hands roaming Kian’s chest and shoulders. He kept his mouth and hands moving from neck to shoulders and chest to hips, never allowing either to rest for long until Kian was whimpering and undulating in the water. He was hard and panting in Nathan’s arms.
“Nate, Nate, please, Nate, don’t stop,” he panted into the steamy air.
Nathan moved
from behind Kian until he was in front of him, knees on either side of Kian, bracketing him within Nathan’s larger frame. Nathan leaned forward and ran his wet hands through Kian’s hair, slicking that mop back and away from his face. He followed his hands and nipped gently at Kian’s lips, kissing him slowly, tasting his man and relishing in it. His tongue licked at Kian’s teeth and then played with Kian’s tongue until both were hungry for breath and Nathan was hungry for Kian. He pulled away enough to look at the man under him. He ran his fingers to Kian’s hard nipples and tweaked them gently.
“I know this is maybe a bit too slow and soft for you, but I really need to do this gently. I wouldn’t forgive myself if I hurt you right now, even if you wanted it. So we are going very slowly here. I am going to do all the work. You are going to lie there and enjoy and try not to move because if your recovery gets set back by even a day, Chloe will skin me alive,” Nathan told Kian seriously.
He waited for Kian’s nod before lifting himself onto his knees and reaching back to find Kian’s hard cock. Holding it carefully, he slowly backed himself onto that hardness and huffed for breath as the head breached him. He quickly claimed Kian’s lips when the man took in a breath to speak and kept him quiet. He eased himself down carefully until he was sitting in Kian’s lap and then stayed there for a few seconds just enjoying Kian’s mouth and being filled by him. Nathan pulled himself off Kian a little and pulled his mouth away at the same time.
He brought their foreheads together, just breathing in each other’s space, and sank slowly back onto his man. And he kept doing it, just lifting slowly and sinking just as slowly.
“I love you, Kian. Love you…love you…” he kept whispering. He could hear, “Love you, love you, love you,” from Kian.
Nathan kept a very slow and steady pace. He couldn’t afford to lose any control. Kian was too important to allow him to be hurt. But Kian needed and wanted this contact. He needed the physical connection, and Nathan had to give it to him. Kian’s need was almost a physical ache to Nathan, and when a Watchman’s Balance ached, a Watchman would move the earth to stop the pain.
There was sweat rolling down Kian’s face, both from the heat in the bathroom and from what they were doing. Kian had his hands clenched into Nathan’s hips, keeping him from moving too far away. Nathan’s hands had migrated to the lip of the tub, and he used them to steady himself and lift. His legs were burning. He could see Kian was close. He was panting and rolling his head back and forth, mumbling nonsense, a prayer of, “Nate Nate Nate Nate,” falling from his lips. Nathan couldn’t hold back for any longer. His cock was standing against his belly, the head red and angry, the feel of the silky water as it moved against it a torture.
“Kian, Kian, I’m close, so close,” he told the man under him.
“Thank God for that,” Kian panted back and then moaned and arched into Nathan and climaxed, his cock emptying inside Nathan and twitching violently inside the confined channel. The feel of it drove Nathan over the edge, and he spilled into the bath water. He fell into Kian’s waiting arms, and they caught their breath together.
Eventually Nathan pulled himself off Kian’s lap and pulled himself out of the tub. He held his hands out for Kian, who let himself be pulled gently out of the tub and wrapped in a fluffy, warm towel. Nathan swiftly rubbed himself dry and stepped back into Kian’s space. He picked up his Balance in his arms and carried him to their bed. He climbed in behind his man, curled around him, and fell asleep, his last thought, I get to keep my dream man.
THE END
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The Watchman of Alcatraz (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) Page 8