That happened after they’d greeted each other with several heated kisses—the result of having been apart for the last two weeks.
“It is home,” Kyle replied while putting the hamburger patties he’d made into a frying pan to cook. “If you feel like setting the table, the plates and stuff should be in that box.” He pointed to one of several that were sitting in a corner of the kitchen. “The furniture might be in place. I’m afraid I can’t say the same for the rest of my stuff.”
“We can deal with that after we eat,” Brax said, getting plates and silverware to put on the small table in the main room. “Your condo must have been smaller than I imagined, if this is all the furniture you had.”
“It was a bit bigger than this one, but not by much.” Kyle flipped the burgers then took the bowl of potato salad out of the fridge, handing it to Brax. “Since it was only a landing place between jobs, I didn’t accumulate much more than the basics. Even with that, I gave some of what I didn’t want to a couple of shelters, or just got rid of it.”
“Now, you can start accumulating new stuff,” Brax replied, patting Kyle’s ass with his free hand before taking the bowl in to put it on the table.
Kyle put the burgers on buns on a plate, turned off the stove then joined Brax. “Shit,” he muttered. “I knew I forgot something when I was shopping.”
“Like ketchup?”
“Yeah. And probably a dozen other things, too, that I won’t realize until I need them.”
“So we eat bare burgers. It won’t kill us,” Brax replied, taking one from the plate. “Hell, we’ll actually taste the meat, not the condiments.” As he dished out some of the potato salad, he said, “You must have mayo and mustard to make this.”
Kyle grinned. “The deli did. I can’t, won’t lay claim to it, so if it’s horrible…”
“Naw, it’s pretty good,” Brax told him after taking a bite.
They were almost finished eating when Kyle pointed a finger at Brax and said, “Do you want to tell me about that stakeout? You were very close-mouthed about after it happened.”
“It was just a normal one. I told you, we were hired to get the goods on a man who claimed to have been more injured in a car accident than he really was. I got pictures of him dancing at a bar and passed them on to the insurance company.”
Kyle shook his head. “I know you, Brax. There’s more to it than that. You might as well tell me, unless you want me to ask Judd tomorrow morning.”
“He doesn’t…” Brax snapped his mouth shut.
“The guy attacked you, didn’t he, when he realized what you were doing?” Kyle frowned. “He did, but since you’d healed before going in to work, you didn’t bother to mention that bit to Judd.”
“Okay. Yeah.” Brax looked away, avoiding Kyle’s gaze. “He and his friend tried to force me to give them my phone. The friend had a knife, and he used it. I took a shot at them, they split, end of story.”
Kyle’s frown deepened. “You told me you never carry unless you’re expecting trouble.”
“I was erring on the side of caution. He stood to make a small fortune if the insurance company paid up. That can make people do stupid things if they think someone’s on to them.”
“Okay, I get that, but damn it, Brax, you didn’t have to lie to me.”
“I didn’t want you worrying, since you were halfway across the country. I’m sorry. I should have told you.” Brax gave him a small smile. “Besides which, I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell you the whole story. I promise, I won’t do that again.”
“Thank you,” Kyle replied tartly. He tented his fingers, staring at Brax. “I’d rather know what might happen and worry, than worry because I’m afraid you’re doing something dangerous and trying to keep it from me.”
“I understand. The same goes for you, though.”
“Me?” Kyle looked at him in surprise. “My job is hardly dangerous. I gather information, figure out who did it, and let the authorities know.”
“You’re going after crooks who’d rather not end up in jail.”
“They don’t know it’s me,” Kyle replied.
“We did,” Brax pointed out.
“Because I was stupid. I never should have visited Caleb’s business in person.” Kyle smiled wryly. “Or tried to tail you. That is not my forte.”
Brax grinned. “If you’re going to do that, you need a two-car tail.” He sobered again, saying, “Your job might not be dangerous most of the time, but if Caleb and I were human, and different people, we might have tried to eliminate you. You know that.”
“I do. But you aren’t, and you didn’t. Instead, I met a man I care deeply about, so I promise to be much more careful from now on.”
“You do? I mean care?”
“Don’t you?”
Brax took Kyle’s hands, nodding. “I knew I liked you a hell of a lot. I didn’t realize just how much until you weren’t around. When I said I missed you, I meant it. You being gone left a…okay, this sounds corny, but it felt as if there was a void in my life and only you coming back could fill it.”
“Not at all corny. I felt the same way.” Freeing one hand, Kyle cupped it behind Brax’s head, leaning in to kiss him deeply. “I don’t think that will ever change.”
“I know it won’t for me,” Brax replied fervently. “I want you in my life.”
“I am, last time I checked.”
“I meant totally, absolutely, with all that entails.” Brax kissed him hard. “Everything.”
“If you mean what I think…”
Brax nodded as he stood, holding out his hand. “I do. I might be a bit early…” He looked around, spotting an antique clock on the wall over Kyle’s desk. “It’s only eight.”
Kyle let Brax pull him to his feet. “I don’t think it’s written anywhere that we can only have sex between ten and midnight.”
“Hadn’t better be,” Brax retorted, grabbing the hem of Kyle’s T-shirt to pull it up and off him.
Kyle quickly went to work on the buttons on Brax’s shirt, kissing him after each one was undone.
“You had better have lube stashed somewhere,” Brax said, flipping open the closure of Kyle’s jeans. “I’m definitely in need of more than a blowjob.”
“Well, damn. And here I was going to start with that and work up to more interesting things.”
Brax finished what Kyle had begun, stripping off his jeans—after toeing his shoes off. “I have no problem with that.”
Not to be outdone Kyle undressed in a flash, which was easier since he was barefooted—something Brax apparently hadn’t noticed until right then. “You were planning this all along,” he muttered, his expression lighting up with a wide smile.
“Not really. I generally go without shoes when I’m at home.” Kyle put his hands on Brax’s shoulders, steering him into the bedroom.
They toppled onto the bed, Brax sprawling over Kyle, causing Kyle to say, “Definitely an Alpha.”
“Are you complaining?”
“Not even, as long as you are when it comes to screwing.”
Brax grinned. “I am, and from what you just said, I take it you’re a bottom.”
“Yep. However…” Kyle flipped Brax onto his back, straddling him. “Before we get to that…” He bent, laving his tongue over each of Brax’s nipples—once, then again, nibbling them when they hardened.
From there, he kissed and licked his way down to Brax’s hard cock, before he took it in his mouth. He proceeded to torment it until Brax, seemingly having had as much as he could bear at the moment, turned the tables on him then did the same while Kyle writhed with pent up need.
Brax finally stopped, looking up as his lover. “Now that you’re more than ready, get on your hands and knees.”
Kyle instantly complied, telling Brax the lube was in the nightstand. He hissed in a breath when, moments later, Brax pushed in a finger to find and stroke his gland. A second finger joined the first, stretching him.
“I want you…in me,�
�� Kyle gasped. “Now. Before I lose all control and come without you.”
“That can be arranged.” Brax positioned himself against Kyle’s hole then began to ease in, wrapping his fingers around the base of Kyle’s cock. “No coming until we’re both ready.”
Kyle let out a gasp, half pain, half pleasure, when Brax pushed all the way into him. The gasp became a moan as his lover began to ride him, slowly at first until Kyle pushed back to take him in again, saying, “Faster. Harder. I want everything.”
“Greedy man, aren’t you?” Brax replied, amusement melding with desire in his voice. He did as he’d been asked, all the while pumping Kyle’s cock in synchronization with their movements. Suddenly, with a shout, he came. Kyle followed seconds later, his orgasm consuming him as he collapsed on the bed, with Brax sprawled over him.
“Not bad, for a first time,” Brax said several minutes later, pulling out then wrapping Kyle in a tight embrace. He nipped Kyle’s earlobe, asking, “Now what’s for dessert?”
“Ice cream,” Kyle replied without blinking an eye. “Chocolate or chocolate.”
Brax laughed happily. “Then I’ll opt for chocolate, after we wash up.”
They took turns doing that, then, stark naked—because they knew this wasn’t the last time they’d make love that evening—they went into the kitchen to get bowls of ice cream and more coffee, after brewing a fresh pot. When they finished dessert, they cleaned up the remains of their dinner, did the dishes, then returned to bed.
Chapter 14
Life for Kyle and Brax settled into a routine. Brax spent his days at work, while Kyle researched art thefts he was working on and then—too often in Brax’s estimation—left town to investigate them in person. Brax knew it was necessary. That didn’t mean he had to like not having Kyle close at hand.
When Kyle was in the city, they spent most of their spare time together—dinners, movies, occasionally going to a club to dance—and a least two or three times a week going out to the preserve to run as wolves. They always ended the night in bed together, at either Kyle’s or Brax’s apartment.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this contented with my life,” Brax said late one Friday evening as they lay beside one of the small lakes in the preserve. In deference to the cooler weather, they had clothed themselves after their run, before lying in each other’s arms, looking up at the moon above them.
“I know exactly how you feel,” Kyle replied, glancing at him with a smile. “Only one thing could make it better.”
“Which would be?” Brax asked, one eyebrow lifted in question.
“If we were living together.”
Brax rolled onto his side, resting on one elbow to look at his lover. “Like you move in with me? My place is bigger.”
“Not by that much,” Kyle replied. “I was thinking, maybe a house? We don’t have to, if you don’t want to. It’s just an idea.”
“A damned good one, if you want my opinion.”
“Duh.” Kyle swatted Brax’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t have mentioned it if I didn’t.”
“And you’ve got one all picked out already.”
“Not even close. That’s a decision we have to make together.”
“This weekend, since you’re not heading out to some unspecified destination to track down another art thief.”
“About that,” Kyle replied, feigning a frown. When Brax growled, Kyle pulled him down to kiss him, laughing against his lips. “I’m not.”
“Had me going there,” Brax muttered. “We’ll do our research first, so we’re not spending half our time seeing houses that are all wrong for us.”
“No kidding.”
They did, Saturday morning, using a national realty site to choose several they thought might work for them. The rest of the weekend was spent looking at them. Halfway through their trekking from one to another, something occurred to Brax.
“I won’t have any problem terminating the rental on my apartment, because I’ve been there forever, but you might. You only rented yours a couple of months ago.”
“It’s a popular building, despite, or maybe because of its age. I don’t think they’ll have any problem finding another tenant. I’ll offer to continue paying the rent until they do. That should satisfy them.”
In their initial online search, they’d eliminated anything over three bedrooms, or homes without much in the way of a yard. There was one thing they didn’t realize until they actually saw the houses they thought they were interested in—windows, big ones, were a must. That eliminated three of the houses off the bat. By the end of Sunday afternoon, they’d narrowed it down to two.
“We need to think about it, and maybe take another look some evening this week,” Brax told the realtor.
“Whenever you wish. Just give me a call,” the woman replied.
They did, Tuesday afternoon—revisiting the two houses, before telling her which one they wanted and setting everything in motion to buy it.
What attracted them the most about their choice, other than the large windows throughout, were the hardwood floors, the stone fireplace in the living room, and the fact that the house backed onto a greenbelt that ran along a wide stream.
* * * *
A month later—with Kyle spending half his time, he swore, telling Brax to relax and stop being so impatient—the house was finally theirs.
“Now all we have to do is decide which of our furniture we want to move over here,” Brax said, wandering through the house with Kyle right beside him.
“All of it?” Kyle replied. “It’s big enough. One of the bedrooms will be ours; the second one can be for guests.”
“What guests?” Brax asked, grinning. “I’m not sure I know anyone I’d invite to spend the night, to say the least of a weekend or a week.”
“Me, neither, since Judd and Caleb have their own homes. That doesn’t negate the fact we can put my bed in there, and the dresser. The third bedroom will work well as our office. We can put one of our sofas in what the realtor tagged as the reading room.”
“At least between us we have enough books to fill the shelves in there, so that works,” Brax replied with a wry smile.
“The first thing we have to do, though, is let Caleb and Judd know we have the house.”
Brax smiled evilly. “After which, we can tell them they’re going to be slave labor when we move.”
“That, too.”
* * * *
“Congratulations on closing on the house,” Caleb said when Brax called him Monday evening. “If you need help moving, let me know.”
“Are you reading my mind,” Brax asked.
“More like I know you. When do you want to do it?”
“Saturday, hopefully. If we can get everything packed up by then.”
Brax had already told Judd, and gotten the same response, so things were set to go—more or less. Lynn insisted she was going to help, too. Neither Brax nor Kyle had any problem with that. As Brax said, earning him an eye roll from her and Judd, “Many hands make light work. Or something like that.”
* * * *
“Whatever possessed me to buy all this junk?” Brax grumbled, trying to fit one more item into the box he was packing.
“The same impulse that made you buy this?” Kyle asked, holding up the second coffee grinder he’d found in one of the cupboards.
“Toss it. It doesn’t work.”
“Then why…?”
“I was going to try to fix it, then bought a new one instead.”
Kyle shook his head in amusement as he continued emptying the cupboard.
By the end of the week, they had managed to either pack or dispose of everything. In Kyle’s case it was easier, as he’d only brought what he’d needed from his New York condo when he’d moved to the city. The rest, as he’d told Brax after his original move, had gone to shelters, or into the trash, depending. Taking a break from packing Thursday evening, Brax went to over to the house to install a top-of-the-line security system.
They spent Friday night at Brax’s apartment, getting up bright and early to go pick up the truck they’d rented. When they returned, Judd was sitting on the front stoop of the building, with Jenna and Lynn. Caleb showed up a few minutes later, and after Brax introduced him to everyone, the group set to work. When they made the first delivery to the house, the women, of course, had to go through it from top to bottom, making suggestions on how to decorate it. Brax and Kyle looked at each other and shrugged.
“Better listen to them,” Judd cautioned. “If you don’t, the first time you invite us for dinner, Jenna will want to know why you didn’t.”
“We’re doing that?” Brax asked.
“Dinner? You bet. You owe us at least…” Judd looked at Jenna. “Ten, maybe?”
She nodded in agreement. “Definitely.”
By the end of the day, they had managed to get everything from both apartments over to the house and put in place. As they all collapsed on whatever seat was available, Kyle asked if they wanted him to call out for pizzas. His question was answered with “Hell, yes,” and “Duh,” or variations thereof from the others—so he did, ordering a six-pack of soda as well.
While they waited, Brax dug out the coffeemaker and coffee, then brewed a pot. “I even remembered which box we packed the cups in,” he said, setting them out on counter between the kitchen and dining area—for those who preferred coffee instead of soda.
The pizzas arrived and they all dug in, trading stories—good and bad—about moving from an old to a new place.
Then Jenna changed the subject, smiling happily. “We have an announcement,” she said, taking Judd’s hand. “I’m pregnant.”
Cheers erupted, followed by congratulations from the assembled friends.
“Are you all right,” Brax asked Lynn, quietly, having noticed that there seemed to be an undertone of sadness in her well-wishes.
“Yeah. I’m fine. It’s just…” She chewed her lip. “I’m never going to find someone and be as happy as they are, or as you and Kyle. Not with…” She stopped, staring down at the floor.
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