A Million Tiny Pieces

by Nicole Edwards

  Ignoring Phoenix’s pleas, Tarik stretched forward and settled himself atop Phoenix, holding most of his weight above him as he found Phoenix’s mouth, kissing him roughly. The angle was a little tricky, but when their tongues met, Phoenix lifted his head, giving Tarik better access as he searched, tasted, savored.

  Tarik indulged in the warmth of Phoenix’s mouth, relishing the hint of mint and coffee. When he pulled back for air, he continued by trailing his mouth along Phoenix’s neck, then planting kisses across his broad back, down the divot between the muscles along his spine, enjoying Phoenix’s groans, the way he lifted his hips, begging for more. Sliding down his body, Tarik once again straddled Phoenix’s lower legs, kneading Phoenix’s taut ass cheeks roughly, dipping his finger between them until Phoenix’s breaths were coming sharp and desperate. He grabbed the lube, squeezed a generous amount on Phoenix’s asshole before inserting the tip of his finger.

  “Fuck. Oh, hell. Tarik, it’s too much.”

  Tarik didn’t even respond, just continued to rim Phoenix’s tight hole with one finger, dipping it in to the second knuckle, teasing him, tormenting him, driving him higher, making him more desperate. He wanted Phoenix to be delirious with need. He pushed his finger in farther, deeper.

  “Tarik.” The way Phoenix said his name was a warning. When Phoenix reached beneath his prone body to stroke his own cock, Tarik gripped his arm, stopping him.

  “Not yet,” Tarik bit out. “I’ll say when you can come.”

  “Damn it,” Phoenix growled. “I can’t take any more.”

  “What do you want?” Tarik asked, sliding his finger deep into Phoenix’s puckered hole again. “Tell me.”

  “I want you to fuck me.”

  “How? Do you want me to sink my dick into your ass? Take you slow and easy?”

  Fuck. The thought of Phoenix’s ass clenching around his thick cock made the damn thing pulse and throb.

  “I don’t give a fuck,” Phoenix groaned, his body bucking restlessly. “Just fuck me.”

  Reaching for the bottle of lube, Tarik managed to squeeze more onto his fingers, coating them liberally before replacing one finger with two. Inserting the digits slowly, he encouraged Phoenix to relax as he eased inside him once more.

  He continued to fuck his ass with two fingers, adding a third when Phoenix was gripping the comforter and thrusting back against him, once more begging. By the time he had begun an even, rhythmic pace, Phoenix had relaxed somewhat, his breaths soughing in and out of his lungs, still mumbling for Tarik to fuck him.

  “Turn over,” Tarik commanded, retrieving the condom and sliding it over his dick before adding a generous amount of lube and stroking himself. “I want to see your face when I take you this first time.”

  Phoenix flipped over, spreading his legs around Tarik’s thighs, his wild eyes glued to his the entire time.

  Pushing Phoenix’s knees back, forcing them closer to Phoenix’s chest, Tarik instructed Phoenix to hold them there. He was spread open for him, his rock-hard cock resting on his stomach, his balls tight, an inviting sight that had Tarik nearly gasping for breath, anxious to thrust into him, to claim him, to take him for the first fucking time.

  It was nearly too much to think about.

  Once more, he began to finger Phoenix’s ass while he stroked himself slowly, watching every expression that crossed Phoenix’s handsome face as he did.

  “Damn it, Tarik,” Phoenix snapped, his head going back, his body straining as Tarik worked his fingers inside, massaging Phoenix’s prostate, bringing him higher. “Fuck. Oh, holy … fuuuck. What the hell are you doing to me? It feels too… Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Don’t make me come yet, Tarik!” Phoenix gripped his cock tightly, banding his fingers around the shaft, clearly trying to hold back.

  Tarik slowed his movements and then pulled his fingers from Phoenix’s ass before leaning over him and guiding the head of his dick to Phoenix’s tight entrance.

  Their eyes locked, held as Tarik slowly pressed forward.

  “So tight.” Sweat was beading on his brow as he fought the natural resistance of Phoenix’s body, trying to get past the tight ring of muscles. “Relax for me, Phoenix. Stroke your cock.” Tarik sucked in a breath. “Oh, fuck, you’re tight.”

  Phoenix kept his hand between his legs, gripping his dick while Tarik slid in another inch. Phoenix hissed, pain flashing across his face. Tarik didn’t stop, although still attempting to take things slow despite the overwhelming need to sheath himself in Phoenix’s tight ass. He didn’t want to hurt Phoenix, but knowing that the pleasure Phoenix would find was looming in the near future, just as soon as Tarik was buried inside him, kept him inching in deeper.

  Phoenix’s body continued to stretch around him, the oversensitive head of Tarik’s dick breaching the ring of muscles.

  “Oh, fuck,” Phoenix moaned as Tarik pushed in more.

  “Am I hurting you?”

  “No. Yes. No. Oh, hell, it’s… It’s different. I feel… Fuck. Just don’t stop. I want to feel you inside me.”

  Tarik grinned but then gritted his teeth when Phoenix’s ass tightened around him. “Relax,” Tarik ground out. “Once I’m inside you, I’ll fuck you just the way you need.”

  “What are you waiting for?” Phoenix asked, his voice strained.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said softly, leaning forward and placing his arms on each side of Phoenix’s head, bending him nearly in half as he pushed in deeper.

  Unable to resist, Tarik leaned down and kissed him. This time he did keep the kiss slow and easy, their tongues sliding together as Tarik seated himself inside Phoenix fully. He circled his hips, grinding against Phoenix, going deeper until Phoenix was moaning, his hands sliding over Tarik’s back, holding him in place.

  Pulling back slightly, Tarik locked his gaze with Phoenix’s once more. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted this. To be buried to the hilt inside you.”

  Phoenix didn’t respond with words, simply held him tighter, trying to force him deeper.

  Pushing up onto his hands, Tarik lifted his hips, withdrawing slowly before sliding back in, watching every expression on Phoenix’s too handsome face, waiting until Phoenix relaxed once more.

  And then he began to thrust into him. He maintained a steady pace until his balls drew up tight to his body, and he knew there was no way in hell he was going to last. He wanted to make this as good for Phoenix as he could, but it was overwhelming. He’d wanted this for so damn long.

  “Tarik,” Phoenix pleaded, pulling Tarik’s head down, biting his bottom lip. “Fuck me. Hard. Make me come.”

  Tarik crushed his mouth to Phoenix’s and began to drive into him hard and fast until he was hammering into Phoenix over and over, pounding him into the mattress with every punishing thrust.

  Coming up for air, Tarik stared down into Phoenix’s face, watching the moment he’d dreamed about for so fucking long.

  “Oh, fuck, Tarik! Oh, fuck. I’m gonna come. Fuck.”

  Tarik held out until he felt the warmth of Phoenix’s cum hitting his stomach, his chest. Then and only then did he come, his cock pulsing in time with his heartbeat.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  PHOENIX DIDN’T WANT to move from where he was. If he could, he’d stay for the rest of the day, right there in Tarik’s bed. He was pleasantly sated, yet the hunger for Tarik still pulsed beneath the surface of his skin. It was a different type of need, though. One that had him wanting to claim Tarik the same way he’d been claimed a few minutes before. Something more primal than the first time Phoenix had fucked Tarik.

  “Hey,” Tarik grumbled as he rolled onto his side to face Phoenix. “What’s the plan for the rest of the day?”

  Phoenix was grateful that Tarik wasn’t going to make this weird. As much as he’d enjoyed what had happened between them, as much as he craved doing it again, he didn’t want to dwell on it.

  At least not right now.

  “We need to talk to Mia.”

  “Ye
ah,” Tarik agreed as he rolled onto his back and sighed, “I was hoping that shit would go away on its own.”

  Phoenix knew what Tarik was feeling. The fact that someone was trying to use Mia as a pawn in this game was far too convenient, something that definitely suited Landry’s intentions. He was out to hurt anyone he could, and it pissed Phoenix off that Landry had put Mia in his crosshairs. It was one thing for him to go after Phoenix, something entirely different to involve an innocent woman.

  Before he’d come down to Tarik’s condo, before he’d even tried to call Mia, Phoenix had given in and read the article. It was all bullshit, every last word, but he knew Mia well enough to know she’d be hurt by the accusation, although she had attempted to play it off when he’d eluded to it on the phone. She hadn’t seemed interesting in talking about it, so he had let it go. If they were lucky, she wouldn’t buy into it, but she’d still be hurt, and Phoenix damn sure wasn’t going to allow that to happen.

  “I’m gonna take another shower,” Phoenix said, still making no effort to move. “Then we’ll figure out what we want to do. Maybe grab some lunch, wait until she gets home, and go talk to her.”

  “Great plan,” Tarik stated, also not moving.

  After another minute, Phoenix laughed, forcing himself to crawl over Tarik. Before he hurdled him completely, he was pulled back down, and Tarik’s greedy mouth found his. Phoenix gave in to the kiss as easily as he’d given in to the man earlier.

  “I’m not much for conversation afterward,” Tarik whispered, his breath fanning Phoenix’s lips. “But I want you to know that I fully intend to do that again in the very near future.”

  Phoenix smiled down at him, a foreign sensation filling his chest. It was the same sensation he got when he was with Mia. “What if I’m not willing to give up control next time?”

  “More power to you, boss. Just be ready to do what needs to be done.”

  “I think I’ve proven my abilities to do that already.” Laughing, Phoenix pushed away and got to his feet. As he dressed, he stared down at Tarik, still lying prone on the bed, gloriously naked, semi-aroused again. It wouldn’t take much to give in again, but Phoenix needed to work through all this shit in his head. They had to do damage control before it was too late.

  Half an hour later, Phoenix was showered and dressed in another pair of jeans and a maroon polo and heading toward the kitchen. Tarik had apparently finished before him and was sitting at his table with his laptop open, his hair wet. Feeling an odd sense of intimacy, Phoenix walked right over to Tarik, leaned over his shoulder to see what he was looking at on the computer screen. “Anything new?”

  “I called Mia to check on her.”

  Phoenix cocked an eyebrow. “And?”

  “Same as when you called. She said she needed to go talk to her mother about the article.”

  Phoenix stood tall, watching Tarik’s face intently. “She okay?”

  “Seems to be. Said she read it but didn’t elaborate much.”

  “Shit.” Phoenix thrust his hand through his hair.

  “She’s not buying it,” Tarik explained, although the words didn’t help Phoenix feel any better. He wanted to see her. Talk to her himself. Make sure she really was all right.

  “So what now?”

  “Let’s grab something to eat,” Tarik said, getting to his feet.

  Tarik closed the gap between them and surprised Phoenix when he kissed him.

  “Food, huh?” Phoenix asked when he felt something inside him release. Tarik’s ability to calm him wasn’t surprising. Not after all that had transpired between them over the last few weeks.

  “Yep. And then we’ll figure out what the next step is.”

  With a nod, Phoenix figured what the hell. He couldn’t fix the world at the moment.

  Didn’t mean he wasn’t going to come up with a plan to make it right. But first, he had to eat.

  »»»»»♥«««««

  MIA SAT AT her mother’s kitchen table, her hand wrapped around a coffee mug while she watched Clarice Cantrell read the article that Mia had seen that morning.

  “This is…” Clarice’s ice-blue eyes came up to meet Mia’s.

  “I know. It’s ridiculous, Mom.”

  “Well, yes. That’s a given. Not unexpected, because this is Damien we’re talking about here,” Clarice said, her eyes lowering to the screen once more.

  It was no secret that her mother didn’t like Damien. The feeling had always been mutual, but Mia suspected that was because Damien thought everyone should like him. Mia had always been caught in the middle.

  Not anymore.

  “What I want to know is what you’re doing with this man,” Clarice said, raising the screen to show her the picture of her and Phoenix where they’d been captured at the Mexican restaurant. It looked incredibly intimate, the way Phoenix was cupping her face, his expression serious as he stared down at her. She was surprised her mother had focused on that image and not the one of her holding hands with two men. Not that she was going to bring it up.

  “His name’s Phoenix, Mom,” Mia told her, taking a sip of her coffee.

  “And you’re only friends, right?” The disbelief in her mother’s tone told her she was going to have an argument on her hands if she tried to go that route.

  Mia smiled. Her mother knew her so well. Or she thought she did, anyway. “It might be a little more than friends,” Mia admitted.

  Clarice’s eyes widened. “Mia, please don’t tell me you’re gonna get caught up in this lifestyle again.”

  Setting her coffee cup on the table a little harder than she should have, Mia took a deep breath. “Mom, I’m twenty-four years old. Keep that in mind before you grill me on what I’m doing in my personal life.”

  “Yes, well, twenty-four or not, you’re still my daughter. I had to sit back and watch Damien ruin your life.”

  “He didn’t ruin it,” Mia said defensively. “Not entirely.” No, he’d merely shattered her heart, but that was all behind her now. “Regardless, I’ve grown up since then. Learned my lesson.”

  Clarice cocked a perfectly plucked eyebrow before glancing down at the screen once more. “What if there is some truth to this? What if this Phoenix guy actually did set this all in motion?”

  “Mom, seriously!” Mia exclaimed. “This is Damien we’re talking about. The man doesn’t know how to tell the truth.”

  “Maybe so, but listen to me for a minute. What if this Phoenix really is using you?”

  “He’s not,” she assured her.

  “And how do you know?”

  Mia wasn’t about to tell her mother the details of what had transpired between her and Phoenix, or her and Tarik. She knew better. Clarice, ever the overprotective mother, would only hear what she wanted to, anyway. No matter how frustrated her mother made her, Mia knew it was only out of love that her mother worried.

  “He’s not,” Mia said, keeping her tone calm. “We’re just … dating. It’s not serious.”

  Her mother’s eyes raked over her face, and Mia wondered whether or not she could tell she was lying. It was serious. Maybe not for Phoenix. Maybe not for Tarik. But for Mia, it was as serious as it could get. It was the sole reason she’d stayed away from them for an entire week, trying to put some distance there so she could think.

  She’d been down the disastrous marriage road already. She had no intentions of doing that again. The problem was, she felt herself falling for both of them. Hard. And the worst part about it was she knew, without a doubt, that she would not survive another round of heartache. Not at their hands.

  “Mia, I can’t help but feel we’ve had this conversation before. I only want you to be careful,” her mother said soothingly.

  “I will. I promise.” Needing to change the subject, Mia turned the question on her mother. “Now when are you going to tell me about your new boyfriend?”

  Clarice’s face went white, and she got up from the table, heading toward the coffeepot. Mia watched her carefully, trying to k
eep from smiling. Her mother clearly didn’t like when the tables were turned and she was the one in the hot seat.

  “I… What are you talking about? I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  “Liar, liar, pants on fire,” Mia offered with a grin.

  She didn’t know for a fact that her mother was seeing someone, but she had a good idea. After their holiday vacation, she had been pretty positive her mother was seeing someone but didn’t want her to know. The way she responded now only cemented that suspicion.

  “I’m not lying,” Clarice declared, but Mia noticed she still wasn’t looking at her.

  “Mom, seriously. It’s okay.”

  Her mother turned around, holding her coffee cup in her hands as she peered across the kitchen at Mia. Her blue eyes reflected her doubt as she asked, “Is it?”

  Mia returned her cup to the table and got up, crossing the room to stand in front of her mother. “Of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be?”

  “Your father…” Clarice began.

  “Has been gone a long time, Mom. He wouldn’t want you to spend the rest of your life alone. You know that.”

  Her mother’s watery gaze lifted to hers. “He’s a nice guy. I really think you’ll like him.”

  Mia smiled, her heart warming at the thought of her mother finding someone who made her happy. It was all anyone ever wanted. The fact that Clarice had spent the last fourteen years mourning the loss of the man she’d loved with her whole heart told Mia just how deeply her mother’s love went.

  “Come. Sit. You can tell me all about him, starting with his name.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “WHERE ARE YOU?” Phoenix asked the caller on the other end of the line.

  Tarik pulled the Escalade into the condominiums parking garage, wondering who was important enough for him to pick up the phone at this point in the day.

  “Are you coming home?”

  Easing into the parking spot that was reserved for Phoenix, Tarik left the SUV running. Something told him his evening wasn’t going to end yet. As it was, they’d spent the better part of the afternoon fucking around to pass the time, both of them anxiously waiting to hear from Mia and disappointed that they hadn’t.