Sometimes, when he was alone and his mind was wandering, he could see Percival lying dead. His mind filled in all sorts of things, knowing that the witch couldn’t possibly have been coming back to attack him again and again.
Two drinks in, he stopped. Fuck it. If Sean wasn’t going to come to him, he’d go to the asshole. He replaced the bottle, muttered to his staff he was going out for the rest of the night, and drove to Sean’s. The lights were on inside the professor’s house, the sky darkening around the roof and treetops, and Dane just sat there in his car for a while. He pulled out his phone.
Let me in?
Sean didn’t text back, but he did open the door. He stood there, staring, as Dane got out and grabbed his overnight bag, but fell back when Dane reached the door.
“Lock it, will you?” asked Sean from the couch. He sank back down to the cushions, papers spread out, laptop open, and bottle of wine down to its last quarter cluttering the coffee table. Dane did as told and dropped his bag before sitting in the nearby chair. He wanted to say about a hundred things, but he shoved them all back down.
“You avoiding me, professor?” he asked instead.
“What makes you say that,” said Sean, not a question but an offhand-type comment as he circled a third of a sentence and scrawled something in the margin of the paper.
“Don’t fuck with me.”
“I have a lot of paperwork, as you can see.”
“Yeah, your Friday night is thrilling.” Dane paused. “Is that your first bottle?”
“Glasses are in the cupboard.”
Dane snorted, leaned over, and grabbed the bottle.
“You weren’t using a glass,” he said, and drank. That seemed to get Sean’s attention; when Dane lowered the bottle Sean was staring at him. He set down his pen, pulled off his reading glasses.
“Is there some reason why you’re here, Dane?”
Dane set the wine down, forcing back shock. Sean was acting so cold, he was confused. It was like their relationship had completely changed, they were acquaintances instead of—well, he wouldn’t really consider them lovers. The thought was disturbing. But there was definitely something that was really fucking different now, and Dane did not like it.
“The hell is going on?” he asked. “Did they get to you?”
“The Order? Not yet,” said Sean. He picked up his phone and checked the time. “How long do I have?”
“How the fuck should I know?” asked Dane, and Sean gave him the kind of glare he probably reserved for lying students. Dane scowled, snatched the wine up again, and started pacing the living space. “Look, I report to them. That’s all. They don’t tell me a damn thing.”
“What did you say about me?”
“You can fucking read it yourself,” said Dane. He pulled the tablet from his bag and passed it over. Sean gave him a skeptical look but accepted it and put his glasses back on. Dane finished off the wine as Sean read, face expressionless.
“I see,” he said at last, and set the tablet down on his papers.
“You got any more of this shit?”
Sean sighed, not looking at Dane as he wandered toward the kitchen.
“You’ve been here how many times and you don’t know where the wine is?”
“Fuck it, I’ll get us a beer,” said Dane. He knew where those were. He expected Sean to scrunch his face up, protest having beer after wine, but when Dane returned and passed him an open bottle, Sean took it without objection.
Things were definitely weird. Probably nothing a blowjob couldn’t fix. Dane would just have to talk Sean around.
“Well?” he asked, gesturing toward the tablet with his beer.
“It’s…very casually written,” said Sean.
“Oh, fuck you.” Dane decided he didn’t want to know what Sean thought, after all. “It’s not shit that gets graded.”
“I’m glad the Order likes your style.”
“You know, I came over here planning to suck your cock,” said Dane.
Sean took a drink from his beer.
“Is that supposed to be a threat?” He moved to check his email on his laptop.
Dane clenched his teeth, annoyed and aroused. Of course Sean’s resistance would turn him on. Anything Sean fucking did seemed to turn him on. He just liked the man. Dane almost hated himself for it. What was so special about Sean anyway, that Dane was so taken by him? Dozens of reasons sprang up in his mind, but he washed them away with another drink.
Dane refused to get emotionally involved. Not with anyone. Especially not with a professor a good decade older than he was. He was just here for free booze and easy sex. That Sean understood him and shared one of the shittiest experiences of his life had nothing to do with it.
“Yeah, it is. Now I’m thinking you can suck mine.”
The corner of Sean’s mouth turned up.
“Offering anything else of yours?” he asked.
“You’re not seriously asking to fuck me,” said Dane. He gaped, then glared as Sean leaned back and crossed his arms. “Professor.”
“Well, I’d give you an F for that report.” Sean’s expression was smug and his eyes glittered dangerously. “What, can’t your ass take a pounding? I have an old-school paddle if you’re into that. Wooden. For tough guys like you, that’s all that seems to work.”
Dane put his beer to his lips. Damn. He didn’t usually bottom. In fact, he never bottomed. This shouldn’t be turning him on. Fucking Sean.
“Yeah, I believe you know your way around that paddle,” he said instead.
But his sarcasm only made Sean’s smile the more smug. He stood and Dane could see the bulge forming in his pants, making Dane wonder. Sean might have been a lot wilder before he settled down in his role as professor. Dane hadn’t considered that—been too focused on how typical Sean was to consider that. Plus, with his age…But he was in good shape, and had been up for everything else they’d done so far.
Oh, fuck him. Dane was tempted. Really tempted. He drank his beer until it was gone, then glanced at the stone fireplace across from the couch, unable to look at Sean.
“Not like you to turn down a challenge,” said Sean.
“You can have my ass, but no kink,” said Dane, setting his empty bottle down hard to punctuate that. “My wrists are still raw.”
“Get upstairs,” said Sean.
Dane did as was ordered, Sean following him up the steps, unbuttoning his shirt as he went. Dane hesitated at the foot of the bed, then pulled up his shirt. Almost immediately he felt Sean’s hands on him, gentle, Sean’s lips brushing over his still-injured flesh. The bruises were nowhere near gone yet and everything ached, but Dane was aroused. He leaned back into Sean, let him undo his jeans from behind, lips at his neck.
Dane swore he’d never admit to anyone he enjoyed the thought of letting someone else top him, of allowing Sean to lead like this, softly, caressing. And once the Order had their way, even Sean wouldn’t remember any of this. Sean would walk into Crypt Coffee and assume Dane was the tough, dominant man he put forth. Dane could handle that.
Sean paused to take off the rest of his own clothes, then returned to kiss his way down Dane’s spine. He pulled down Dane’s boxers, releasing him, then planted a hand on each of Dane’s cheeks and squeezed, leaning up to his ear.
“Is this your first time?” he asked, sounding delighted.
“Pervert. How many students did you do this with?”
Sean released him, backed off.
“Turn-off, Dane,” he said, sounding disappointed. “I don’t do shit with any of my students.”
“Yeah, well, I’m a lot younger than you are.”
“You’re too old to be one of my students. Now shut up and get on the bed.”
Dane did as told, let Sean position him and kiss a trail down to his ass again. Sean tugged him to all fours on the bed, Dane forcing himself to relax and breathe out, forgetting to inhale as Sean’s mouth found his ass. Dane felt the heat rising sharply under his skin; he hadn�
��t realized how fucking good a man’s mouth could feel eating out his ass, how it relaxed him, teased him, made him want more. When Sean grabbed his balls and tugged, Dane groaned.
“Fuck,” he said, leaning forward on his arms and closing his eyes. He didn’t want to know how Sean had gotten so good at this. After not long enough, Sean pulled back.
“Still good with this?” he asked, and Dane could have strangled him.
“Shut up and fuck me,” he said.
Chapter 31
Sean applied generous amounts of lube. If this really was Dane’s first time being entered, he wanted it to go as smoothly and enjoyably as possible. And since Sean himself hadn’t gotten to bury himself in an ass in much too long, he didn’t want to ruin his chances at a repeat sometime.
Dane’s ass ate his finger fairly readily, so he added a second and heard Dane gasp. Sean pulled his fingers out, added more lube, worked up to scissoring his fingers a little. He took longer than normal, waiting until Dane appeared completely relaxed before stroking the condom on and lubing up.
“Hey, relax,” he said as Dane tensed again at the feel of Sean’s head against his ass.
“I am relaxed, asshole.”
“Right,” said Sean. He circled Dane’s well-lubed hole with his head, enjoying the sensation, letting Dane relax into it before pushing. Dane wasn’t particularly hard to breach, slickened up so thoroughly, but immediately he made a noise and his ass clenched around Sean.
“Damn…” said Dane, groaning as Sean paused, then pushed himself all the way in. Dane leaned back into him, a good sign, and Sean pulled out.
“How—”
“Fuck me, dammit,” said Dane, grinding back on Sean, who was not about to argue.
He thrust in a few more times at a decent rate, excitement boiling under his skin. Dane felt good, really fucking good, and after a few strokes, Sean really let Dane have it, pounding him again and again while he shifted and groaned beneath him. Sean pulled Dane closer by the hips, closed his eyes and clenched his teeth as he buried himself to the base again and again, Dane’s tight ass working him until he’d gone too far and exploded.
Sean swore as he released and Dane made a noise under him. His ass clenched, wringing everything out of Sean’s cock as he shuddered. Sean reveled in the sensation, gave Dane’s ass a few more strokes before pulling out, trying not to wish he’d gotten to do that without the condom. Sean couldn’t think of anything hotter than watching Dane experience his first load and have it be Sean’s.
“Hope you have spare sheets,” said Dane, interrupting Sean’s fantasy of watching Dane make a mess of himself with Sean’s come.
“What?” he asked.
“Let it go all over the place.” Dane got to his feet as Sean pulled off the condom. Dane had come all over the bed, which Sean simultaneously liked—so he’d been good enough Dane had to get himself off—and found himself annoyed with. He grabbed the sheets and tore them off before anything could soak through. By the time he’d tossed them in the washing machine and grabbed fresh sheets, Dane had managed to find them each another beer.
“Help me put these on first,” said Sean, and Dane objected, but relented eventually. Sean couldn’t help but notice Dane moved stiffly and worried he’d hurt him. “How’s your ass?”
“Nice try, but it’s fine,” said Dane. “Disappointed?”
That began to really worry Sean.
“Have you seen a doctor since…” he asked, not wanting to come out and say Percival’s name. At that, Dane’s expression closed off.
“Not the first time I got a little beat up.”
Sean opened his mouth to insist Dane get checked out—he could have cracked ribs—but shut it again. He didn’t want to nag, and in a few days he’d probably lose Dane altogether. The thought dragged him down from his post-orgasm high and he grabbed his beer, flopped onto the newly made bed.
“Shit, Sean,” said Dane, continuing to stand. He took a drink. “Everything’s screwed up.”
“What do you mean by that?” asked Sean, not bothering to look at Dane, even when he started pacing.
“I stay overnight here. I let you fuck me up the ass.”
“So?” asked Sean, then when Dane didn’t reply, “I thought you didn’t want to talk about this sort of thing.” Desire beyond sex, longing. Love. Dane definitely wouldn’t want to have anything to do with that.
“I don’t. I put in a good word for you. They might let you just walk.”
“I saw,” said Sean. “How often does the Order let people walk?”
“I don’t know.” Dane sank to the bed. “Fuck, am I tired.”
“If you can get it up again after this beer I’ll let you have my ass,” said Sean. He knew he shouldn’t offer, but he wanted to get as much sex from Dane as he could. Even if the Order left him alone, he had a feeling Dane would leave him. Things felt different. That was why Sean had been distancing himself this week, anyway, trying to get back into his normal schedule. Hard enough to deal with having found Bethany’s killer and being unable to tell her family. But watching Dane slowly shut him out because they were no longer working this witches angle together? That was going to be rough, and Sean wanted to give what he got. But if he could squeeze a little more sex from Dane, he’d take it.
“You have enough sheets for that?”
“What are you complaining about? Your bed has what growing in it?”
Dane grinned at him. The beer went fast. They fucked again, Sean on his back, Dane facing him. They were both still sore from the weekend and neither cared, exhausting themselves again, surrendering to each other’s bodies and needs until they collapsed next to each other, spent and satisfied.
Sean woke when Dane got up to use the bathroom and they both went down to the kitchen together. Dane made pancakes and coffee, neither of them speaking, until Dane spiked his coffee and served Sean a plate.
“Thanks,” said Sean, then paused with his fork raised and met Dane’s eye. “For everything. Not just the amazing breakfasts.”
“I don’t want sentimental crap from you. I want to know if you’re keeping my number.”
Sean swallowed hard.
“I can delete it if you—”
“No, asshole, I want to know if you’re interested in getting together now and then. Shit like this. Bit of hard fucking, bit of sleeping in, bit of breakfast.”
“No strings attached fucking.”
“You don’t have to sound so damn disappointed,” said Dane. He took a long drink from his coffee and looked at it in satisfaction as he set the mug down. “Look, Sean, we’re both busy men. I’ve got to kick ass as a Decrypter and run a coffee place. You’ve got whatever professor shit you do. This isn’t a bad arrangement.”
“I can only agree with that if this is more than once every few weeks.”
“What, you want me dirtying your sheets every Friday?”
“Saturday, too, if you can manage it,” said Sean, and grinned. Dane went for his coffee again. “I can cook dinner. Give you some vegetables to eat.”
“Screw that. I’m not doing candlelit dinners with you. Not if you offered your ass to me every hour.”
“All right, all right.” Sean backed off. He’d take what he could get, and he was pretty happy with being offered most of Dane’s weekend nights.
“And just the fucking. I don’t want to hear about your shitty ass students or dean drama.”
“As long as you promise not to drag the Order in on me,” said Sean. They were talking like he’d be given a pass this time. Good. If Dane’s recommendation was taken, Sean figured he could stay out of the paranormal shit. He wasn’t any good at fighting, anyway, and doubted he could kill someone like Dane had.
“Deal. Damn. Ned’s going to miss you,” said Dane, flopping three fresh pancakes onto Sean’s plate. He poured more coffee.
“I can’t see Ned every now and then?” Sean ate with relief, glad they’d made it past the places their conversations could have snagged onto an
argument. “He’s not with the Order either, you said.”
“Okay, asshole, but that’s on you,” said Dane, taking another gulp of his spiked coffee. He paused. “Huh. Probably should check in with him. Haven’t really spoken recently—snapped at his ass this week when he interrupted me writing that report.”
“After breakfast?” asked Sean. “I’ll go with you.”
“Don’t you have papers to grade?”
“I need a break.”
Dane snorted, served himself three pancakes, and drizzled them with whiskey.
“After the ass buffet we had last night and this fucking amazing breakfast, you still need a break? Damn, college students are shits.”
“I wouldn’t criticize them yet. I’ve read your paper, too, and it wasn’t award-winning.”
“Won me some ass,” said Dane.
Sean rolled his eyes.
They showered separately, drove separately, too, Sean grabbing a small, wooden box before heading out to his car. It was something that once had tea in it—the tea company’s name was burned into the lid, but the tea was long gone—but he’d repurposed it. Inside was a USB drive containing everything on what he’d experienced, since he’d found it’d take up too many pages to print it all; the crystal he’d found he still had in his pocket after the ordeal on the island; and a note to himself, short and to the point. When he reached Crypt Coffee—after Dane, as expected—he was relieved to find Winter behind the counter.
“What’s this, professor?”
“Could you do me a favor?” he asked. Sean peered around but Dane must have already gone into the Lair. Winter looked confused. “You have some tea, right?”
“Yeah, sure, but it’s probably dusty.”
“Good. Can you put this with it? Hide it a little.”
“Not a bomb, is it?” asked Winter, and smiled when Sean cringed. She took the box. “Relax, professor, I’m just joking.”
“It’s important that nobody stumbles across it.”
Bad Seed Page 19