by Sean Michael
“One more meet, baby, and we can go to Australia. They won’t know you from Adam down there, and you can swim and play in the ocean. Relax until the season starts up again in February. Hell, maybe we’ll race a few in Down Under and not come back until April.”
He nodded, leaned back against Jess. “Yeah. Yeah. One more meet and then we can have a summertime Christmas.”
“Looking forward to it, baby?” Jess asked, voice low and intimate, finding his belly beneath his T-shirt and stroking.
“Yeah. We need some time away. The spa was good, but I miss being somewhere more settled. I miss the ocean.”
“We’ll go to Australia, and when we get back, all this crap’ll be out of the way, and we’ll put the place in Austin up on the market. Buy ourselves something nice on the beach to make home base.”
He couldn’t help but notice Jess didn’t call the house in Austin home. “I’m sorry, Jess. I’m sorry all this shit happened.”
“Shh. Stop that, baby. It’s not your fault. All you do is swim, yeah? You never asked for any of this.”
Mike nodded. “I just want to race.” He just wanted to swim.
“I know, baby. And that’s all you have to do. You leave the rest of the shit to me.” Jess left a kiss on the back of his neck.
He purred, just relaxing against that strength.
“People forget, you know? They get caught up in standings and medals, and they forget why they got into this game, why they’re here to start with. They forget how much they love the water, but you never do, do you, baby?”
“I was born in the water, Jess. My folks died in it. It’s… it’s what I’m about.”
“I know, baby. I know that about you.”
“You know everything about me, Jessy.” He smiled, leaned.
“I do my best.” Jessy slid his hands up beneath Mike’s shirt and teased his nipple.
“Mmm… feels good.” It did. Good and hot and right.
“Hedonist.”
“Your hedonist.”
“And don’t you forget it.” Oh, there was that little growl, the one that said that he was Jessy’s, and anyone who argued had better watch out.
Mike grinned, stretched a little. “That mean you won’t share me?”
Jessy growled again, lower, louder. “I don’t share.”
“No. No, I’m yours.” He turned, lifted his face for a kiss. “All of me.”
“Every last solitary inch.” Jess’s mouth closed over his, tongue invading, even as he was tugged in close. He loved how they fit together, how Jess’s fingers cradled his head. How Jess loved him. “Mine,” murmured Jess, mouth leaving his to trail kisses along his jaw, cheek, neck.
“Yes. Like you’re mine.” He stroked Jessy’s neck.
Jess nodded, Mike’s blue eyes looking seriously into his own. “I am, Mike. Nobody else’s.”
He nodded. What they had was bigger even than swimming.
Jess nodded again, too, and then brought their mouths back together again. “Come to bed, baby. Make love to me.”
“Anytime, Jessy.” He took Jessy’s strong hand and led his lover to bed.
Jessy stopped him before he could climb into the bed. “I mean I want you to make love to me—I want to feel you inside me, baby.”
“Are you sure?” Jess wanted that so rarely that it always was a little different.
“Have I ever asked for something I wasn’t sure of?” Jessy’s blue eyes were steady, dark with need.
“Never.” He started stripping Jessy down, loving each and every inch of bared skin with his hands and his lips.
Moaning, Jessy dropped both hands to Mike’s head, his neck and shoulders, touching and holding on.
“I love you.” He bent, worked Jessy’s pants open and down, kissing the flat belly, working to make Jessy feel good.
“Love you, baby.” The words drifted to him, Jessy’s hand in his hair, petting.
He didn’t linger at Jess’s cock, just focused on stripping, then turning Jess around, mouth working up the strong legs. Groaning, Jess spread his legs a little, giving him a more access.
“Bend over the bed, love? I want to taste you.”
Groaning, Jess bent, hands on the mattress, legs spreading wide.
“Yeah.” He spread Jess’s cheeks, tongue sliding to wet the tight little hole, breathing in the heavy musk. Oh, his Jess was… Yeah.
Jess jerked and pushed back toward him with a moan. He kept the touch light, licking and wetting for a long time before pushing in and fucking that hole with his tongue. The best sounds came from Jess, all wanton and hoarse. Finally he couldn’t wait anymore, and he knew Jess was wet and slick and….
Oh.
Love.
He stood, covering Jess’s body and sliding in deep.
“Oh, fuck!” Jess moaned, fisting the sheets, body pushing back, sending him deeper.
“Good. So good.” He wrapped his hands around Jess’s hips, tugged.
“Uh-huh.” Jess groaned, body rippling around his cock, tight and hot.
“Going to love you forever.” He whispered the words against Jess’s spine. “Always.”
“Yes.” Jess hissed the word, pushing, moving him harder, faster.
“Want. Want to feel you come. Need to.” He shifted, cock pushing until Jess groaned. Yeah. There.
“Fuck. Don’t stop.”
“Not. Not gonna. Not gonna stop.” He’d fucking die first. He needed to make Jess come.
Jess made a sound and pushed back harder, meeting each thrust. “Baby. Oh.” Jess squeezed Mike tight as he shot.
Mike almost sobbed, it felt so good, so sweet, but that would mean he had some breath, which he didn’t, so he just pushed deep and came.
Jess kind of collapsed onto the bed, bringing them both down. “Oh, Christ.”
“Uh-huh.” He reached up, petted Jess’s head.
Jess’s body went tight around his cock for a moment.
“Love you.” He gasped, moaned.
“Love you, baby.”
He nodded, held on. He knew.
Jess reached back, hand patting whatever skin Jess could reach. “Yours, baby.”
He leaned in, mouth brushed Jess’s shoulder. “Yeah. Mine.”
“And you’re mine,” murmured Jess. “Now get over here and kiss me.”
“Pushy old man.” He slid over Jess’s body to face him.
“I have to be to keep up with you, kid.” Jess gave him a wink, mouth pressing against his.
He smiled against the kiss, sliding his tongue into Jess’s mouth. Jess opened up to him, hands hot as they slid on his skin. He cuddled in, melted inside. Jess’s mouth gentled on his, tongue lapping at his lips.
One more meet. One more and then they could go to the ocean.
Chapter Seventeen
SECURITY WAS much tighter at the National Championship than any of the meets they’d been to before. Jessy knew part of it was normal. The Championship was a big meet, huge. He also knew it was tighter this year than in the past because of the attacks on Mike. And he knew that the security wasn’t going to matter. Mike’s attacker was one of the people on the inside, only the police hadn’t found any evidence and nobody would believe it. No one wanted to believe it. Hell, he didn’t want to believe it.
He didn’t let on to Mike, but he was more tense than the kid, fucking worried about what was in store next.
The first day passed without a hitch, but instead of relaxing, Jess got tenser. Waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Day two of qualifying races was another story.
Mike opened his locker, grabbed his bag, and a dull explosion sounded, a pop. Mike dropped the bag. The locker room went quiet; then the giggles started, Mike’s face and hair and chest dripping with pink dye.
Jessy was there in seconds, hands moving on Mike, checking for injuries. “Are you hurt?” he growled.
Mike just stood there. “Take me home.”
“No.” No fucking way. They’d worked too fucki
ng hard. Mike had worked too fucking hard, and he deserved this. He deserved his day in the sun.
The security guards finally showed up, and he rounded on them. “I want the event director in here now. I want a personal bodyguard for my swimmer. Right now! We are not going to be intimidated out of this race.”
Mike went for the showers, scrubbing hard. Jeff came over, a bottle of rubbing alcohol in one hand, spare trunks in the other. “Hey, Mike. Here. This’ll help. The guys are here for you. We’ve got your back.”
Jessy nodded to Jeff. “Thanks. You keep your eye on Hank’s boys. Anderson especially.” Enough was enough. He didn’t give a shit what the cops said; the people who would get Mike’s back needed to know who the trouble was going to come from. “Can you get me and Mike fifteen minutes of privacy?”
“Absolutely.” Jeff looked. “Okay, boys. Out. Now. Move. I mean it.”
Jessy waited until they were alone and then turned Mike and looked into the dark eyes, ignoring the pink that covered his face. “You can’t give up now, baby.”
Tears. Real scared tears. “Jess. I….”
He wrapped his arms around Mike, holding the kid tight. “Shh. Shh. Baby, this is the Nationals. The first big step on the way to the Olympics. Just think about it.”
“Yeah. I’ll be the pink swimmer.”
“That may be why they notice you before you get into the water, baby, but once you take that plunge, all they’re going to be able to say is ‘look at that pink swimmer swim, wow, he’s lengths ahead of the rest of the field.’”
“I’ll do it, but I don’t want to. I’m done. I’m tired of this shit. I just want to swim.”
“I know, baby, but trust me. If you go home now, you’re going to question that decision for the rest of your life. Two more days of qualifying rounds and three days of races and you’re done for the season, having overcome adversity, persevered despite the odds. You’ll be a swimming legend, baby.” What he hated most about this was the way it was hurting Mike, taking the joy out of the competitions.
Mike nodded. “I’ll race. You keep the reporters and the other swimmers away from me.”
He nodded. “Jeff and the UT boys are going to run interference.” He took Mike’s face in his hands, looked into those eyes. “Baby, if I truly believed this asshole was going to escalate this into actually hurting you, I’d have you out of here so fast your head would spin.”
“Okay.” Mike nodded, sighed. “Help me get this shit off me.”
He took the rubbing alcohol Jeff had brought and carefully cleaned Mike’s face. It didn’t take the paint off completely, but it did get rid of the worst of it. Mike kept his eyes closed, kept quiet, kept holding him.
“I’m sorry you got targeted like this,” he said, talking softly, giving Mike something else to hold on to. “And if we can ever prove that Anderson is behind this, I promise you I will fight for it to be made very public, so everyone knows this kind of behavior goes against everything the national governing body of swimming stands for. Fair and friendly competition my ass.”
“Did you know my dad? Did you know someone—a fan—stalked him? My aunt Kathy told me about it.”
“I heard rumors; I never knew the truth. They tried to keep it pretty quiet.” He shook his head. “That’s not what this is.”
“I know.” Mike nodded. “I just think it’s weird.”
Jessy nodded. “The thing is, you’re a lot like your dad. He had that innate love of the water too. He made swimming look easy, effortless. Christ, I was so damned jealous of him. I worked my fucking ass off and often didn’t even qualify for the final heats. I never would have dreamed of hurting him as a way to get my shot, though. You see, this is where Hank’s willingness to bend the rules on doping comes into play—how the hell are his kids supposed to understand what’s right and what’s wrong?”
Mike shrugged. “I…. All I want is to swim. Just that.”
Jeff came down, tapped on the wall. “Is he competing, Jessy?”
He looked into Mike’s eyes and nodded. “Yeah, Jeff. He’s going to do what he came here to do.”
“Good to hear it. I’ll let the proctor know.”
“Thanks, Jeff. We’ll be out in five.”
He turned back to Mike, stroking a pink cheek. “I know you just want to swim, baby. So just go out there and swim. You let it all go. You forget about everything and focus on that wall. The UT team and I have your back.”
Mike nodded. “I’ll try, Coach. I’ll try.”
He took a kiss, hard and quick. “All I want is your best, Mike. That’s all I ever ask.”
Dark eyes met his. “That’s what you always get.”
“I know, baby.” He stroked Mike’s cheek again and then leaned in to turn off the shower and tossed Mike’s towel at him. “Come on. Let’s go show them what you’re made of.”
Mike dried off, nodded. “Pink dye and orange swim trunks. No one would ever believe I’m gay, clashing like this.”
He chuckled. “As long as I believe it.”
“Yeah. I bet I can convince you.”
“I’ll bet you can too. You can have a go at it after the day’s heats.”
“Yeah? Breaking the no-sex rule again?”
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t seem to have slowed you down any, so I suppose I’m rethinking it.” Besides, they both needed to know Mike was alive and fine. Even if he was pink. Hell, they’d pretty much plowed through the no-sex rule a lot the last month or so.
“Oh. Well. That’s an incentive.” Mike smiled, winked. “A good one.”
Damn if the kid wasn’t there pumping up his ego and making him feel good, despite everything that was going on. “Then go out there and hit that wall so I can drag you back to our hotel room and we can break the no-sex rule again and again.”
Mike dried off, dressed. “Keep the reporters away from me, Coach. I won’t deal with them today.”
He nodded. “You won’t deal with anyone, baby. Strictly off-limits.”
He stuck close to Mike as they went out. There were three qualifying heats that Mike was swimming today, and aside from Mike’s time in the water, he was sticking to his swimmer like glue.
There was giggling and pointing. Mike just turned the music up louder and louder, eyes on the ground.
Jessy glared at everyone, making most of the gawkers look away. Nobody was fucking messing with his boy today. “The wall, Mike. Just focus on the wall.”
Mike’s eyes were closed, music blaring, his swimmer quiet, so still, hiding in himself. He rubbed Mike’s shoulders, offering quiet support. Jeff and the UT boys ran interference, Jeff stopping Hank from coming over, from interrupting them. Jessy aimed a glower at Hank, his eyes saying a thank-you to Jeff, his hands not communicating any of it to his swimmer.
It seemed like forever before Mike’s races were up. Forever and no time at all, all at once. Finally, though, Mike was on the blocks, skin dyed pink, focus on the water.
Jessy watched Anderson like a hawk, standing as close as he was allowed. The buzzer sounded, and Mike sliced into the water, pushing furiously, water just churning, all that anger pushed into the strokes, into the water.
As soon as Mike hit the wall and headed back, Jessy nodded. Kid was on his game, was going to win his heat and move on to the finals for this race.
One race. Two. Three. Mike didn’t speak, didn’t smile, just swam and won and won and won.
As soon as the last one was over, they were leaving. Once again he just handed Mike his sweats and they headed for the car.
“Good job.”
Mike shrugged. “Yeah.”
One of the security guards stopped them, and he growled. “You already know our opinion on who’s doing this—we haven’t got anything else to say.” Taking Mike’s arm, he went straight for the car.
A motor roared, tires squealed. Mike went tight and still beside him.
“Get in the car,” he growled, pushing Mike, then turning to look behind him.
“Jes
s! Love!” Mike’s scream was sharp, scared.
The car was barreling toward him, and Christ, if it hit Mike, Jessy was going to kill the kid behind the wheel. “Get in the car!”
It just kept coming, and then there was a sickening crunch, and he turned his head, looking for Mike, making sure his baby was okay as the world went dark.
Chapter Eighteen
FUCK.
Fuckfuckfuckfuck.
He’d held it together for the whole thing.
The cops.
The ambulance.
The cops.
The doctors.
The reporters.
Anderson was in police custody, the bastard bloody and screaming, the little rental car….
Mike chewed on his bottom lip and paced, growling anytime anyone came near.
He needed to know Jessy was okay.
He needed to know.
Right now.
A group of doctors and nurses came from the operating theater, a gurney wheeled out and down the hall.
One of the doctors entered the waiting room with a chart. “Next of kin for Mr. Turner?”
“Me. Me. That’s me.” He ran over. “Is he okay? Can I see him?” Now.
“You can see him in a minute. I’d like to tell you what to expect, what we’ve done to fix his injuries.”
Oh God.
OhGodohGodohGod.
“What? What is it? Is he? Is it bad?”
“It could have been, but he was brought in quickly enough that we were able to stop the internal bleeding. That’s what the surgery was for. We also had to put some pins into his right leg; he’s got three bones broken. Luckily Mr. Turner was in good shape. He pulled through the surgery like a trooper.” The doctor checked his chart. “He’s going to look pretty bad until the swelling and bruising fades, but all in all he’s a lucky guy.”
“He’s gonna be okay? Honest? Can I see him? Now?” He was going to scream if they didn’t let him in.