Rialto

by Drake, Jocelynn

  “I had help myself. People sometimes need help to get past the really rough stuff.” He glanced at Hollis, who was busy navigating the intense traffic. Ian had all the support he could ever need. He smiled at his husband, who threw him a smile back.

  It took them over an hour to get Max situated at the rehabilitation facility. They had spoken with nurses, doctors, counselors, nutritionists, and more. But those weren’t the only members of Max’s support team. That morning, Ian had gotten him a new phone and programmed the numbers for himself, Hollis, Rowe, Noah, Lucas, and Snow. They were all there to help him fight. By the time Ian and Hollis climbed into their car to leave, Max looked a little frightened but also determined to see this thing through.

  Ian expected there’d be bumps in his road, but at least Max seemed willing to try. If he pulled through this and got clean, Ian planned to offer him a job. He’d talked with the man a lot the last couple of days and Max had been angry, jealous, and so hyped up on drugs, he could barely function. Ian got the feeling he wasn’t that bad of a guy. He certainly seemed thankful for all they were doing.

  As Hollis drove them home, Ian reached out and took his hand. He threaded their fingers together. “Have I told you lately how lucky I feel to have you?”

  “I’m the lucky one,” Hollis replied, tightening his fingers.

  They drove in silence for a while until he noticed that Hollis kept glancing at him. “What?”

  “How are you feeling about the foster thing now?”

  “I still want to do it at some point, but the last few weeks have shown me I was taking on too much, and I still have some baggage I need to work through.”

  “We both do.”

  “I think we need to go ahead and finish the classes but hold off on the rest until we work through some of it. I need to get In Good Time off the ground and turn more of the work at Rialto over to my manager. If we’re going to have children, I want to be around more.”

  “I’ve already talked to Shane about fewer night jobs, and he’s on board with me. But as for working through the baggage, are we talking therapy?”

  Ian nodded. “I still plan to go back. I hadn’t realized we were pushing so many emotions down when it came to my time with Jagger. I thought I’d really gotten past all that. But I still carry a lot of guilt.”

  “What happened to you wasn’t your fault.”

  “No, but I feel like I should have done more for the people who’d still been trapped there. Max is a perfect example of that.”

  “What happened to Max isn’t your responsibility either. And what you’re doing for him now is wonderful.”

  “All I’m doing is paying for his rehab.”

  “And planning to visit him. And offering to be a support during the process.”

  Ian shrugged. “I can make time for him.”

  “And planning to offer him a job. That could easily backfire.”

  Ian sighed and ran his free hand through his hair. “I know. But I have to try.”

  Hollis lifted their joined hands and kissed the back of Ian’s. “I love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  He shivered when Hollis kissed his hand again. The butterflies going crazy in his belly were so welcome. He hoped he’d always feel them when Hollis loved on him.

  And speaking of loving, Ian wanted to go home for some of that. They’d had Max in their place and hadn’t really had the time to connect following all the chaos with Rialto and then the rescue.

  Of course, when Ian hadn’t been hovering over Max in his recovering, he’d been hovering at Rialto. The destruction hadn’t been horrible, but it still made his heart clench. A company had been called in to deal with the smoke and water damage. James was in the middle of hiring a contractor to make the necessary repairs. The earliest estimates coming in were that it would be two weeks before Rialto could reopen. As part owner, Lucas was already butting in, trying to squeeze out an earlier timeline.

  For now, Ian was leaving James and Lucas to hash it out. There wasn’t much he could do until the repairs were done. This forced mini-vacation could be a good thing. He could turn his attention to his new restaurant and his sexy husband.

  “How about you take me home for some makeup sex?”

  “Nothing to make up.”

  “Then just the sex.”

  Hollis grinned. “I’m up for that.”

  They didn’t let go of each other all the way home and once they got inside the condo, Hollis pressed Ian up against the closed door. He cupped his neck and stared down at him. The love shining in his eyes sent Ian’s butterflies winging through his stomach again. He loved this big, protective man more than anything on Earth.

  Hollis kissed his forehead, then his eyes and nose, before pressing their mouths together. Ian opened for him and Hollis’s tongue slid into his mouth. The kiss was slow and sensual, making Ian’s toes curl in his shoes. He slid his hands up Hollis’s back, tugging him closer. Hollis kept kissing him over and over. It didn’t take long for Ian’s cock to harden.

  When Hollis reached for the buttons of Ian’s shirt, Ian was already breathing heavy. His husband unfastened them slowly, bending down to press kisses to each batch of skin he revealed. He latched on to a nipple and swirled his tongue around it before moving to the other.

  Ian gasped and held the back of his head.

  Hollis dropped to his knees and opened the fly of Ian’s jeans. He tugged them down to his thighs, then ran his hands over Ian’s hips. “Such sexy hips.” He ran his finger over the muscle there before cupping Ian’s testicles. He caressed them as he ran his tongue around the head of Ian’s cock.

  It felt so good. Ian’s head hit the door, but not for long because he wanted to watch. There was nothing sexier than Hollis going down on him. Blue eyes locked on his as Hollis took more of him into his mouth.

  Ian moaned, still cupping Hollis’s head. He added his other hand and directed Hollis’s movements. The soft groan from Hollis vibrated around him as his tip hit the back of Hollis’s throat. Ian pulled almost all the way out and pushed back in. Hollis hollowed his cheeks, the suction feeling so fantastic, Ian shuddered. His mouth was warm and wet and tight, enticing Ian to pump his hips more.

  Hollis reached around to grasp his ass, one finger brushing over his hole. Ian held his breath as Hollis lifted his hand to Ian’s mouth. Ian sucked on his fingers, getting them nice and slick. Hollis took those damp fingers back to his ass and slid one finger inside him even as he sucked harder on Ian’s cock. He hit Ian’s prostate, and Ian couldn’t stop the long moan that escaped his throat.

  “Fuck,” Hollis bit out when he pulled off. He stared up at Ian. “Love this.”

  “I do, too,” Ian panted. “Don’t stop.”

  “Never.” Hollis took him deep again as he pushed his finger in and out of Ian. He lifted his head, ran his tongue around the head of Ian’s cock, then sucked him down. His slow movements were going to drive Ian crazy, and he started pumping his hips even as he clenched on the finger inside him.

  Hollis picked up the tempo and Ian gasped again and kept thrusting into that wet heat. He went faster and faster as Hollis added a second finger and pressed onto his prostate. When his orgasm barreled through him, Ian yelled and hunched over Hollis. Pleasure exploded and he scrunched his eyes tight as wave after wave of it overtook him. Hollis swallowed him, taking everything he gave, then licked him clean. He slowly pulled out his fingers and Ian clutched at them, not ready to have them gone.

  Hollis chuckled and the sound was broken with lust.

  Ian took a moment to get his vision back, to get his breath back. He stared at his husband and saw that he’d opened his pants and was stroking himself off. “Mine,” he whispered, pushing Hollis to his back on the floor. He tugged Hollis’s jeans down and nuzzled his balls, kissing around them before pulling one into his mouth. He sucked it, getting it nice and wet before he kissed up to Hollis’s hip.

  “You’re killing me, baby,” Hollis said, his voice raspy.
“Suck me.”

  “You know I like to savor my treats.”

  “Savor faster. Watching you lose it has me on the edge.”

  Ian could tell. Hollis was breathing hard, his hips writhing on the floor. Ian grasped the base of his dick and licked the pre-cum at his tip. “Mmm,” he said as he slowly took Hollis deeper into his mouth. He ran his tongue over the silky, soft skin and Hollis jerked against it. He hollowed out his cheeks and kept going until the spongy tip met the back of his throat. He swallowed around it and Hollis cried out.

  Fuck, he loved doing this. Loved the noises he could pull from his husband. Hollis gave himself over to sex in a way that awed Ian.

  Hands landed in his hair as Hollis clasped his head. He thrust up into Ian’s throat and Ian choked. Hollis groaned and pulled away, then did it again. Ian let himself gag, knowing how hot that sound was when on the other end. Then he went to town on Hollis. He sucked and licked and let him slide into his throat, moving fast, the way Hollis liked it.

  “Fuck, baby!” Hollis thrust his hips up over and over, his panting loud in the silence of the condo. A long, rumbling groan sounded just before Hollis’s back bowed off the floor. Hot semen hit Ian’s throat and he swallowed. And kept swallowing as his husband unloaded into him. When he was done, Hollis collapsed onto the floor, gasping air into his lungs. He sprawled there a moment before he tugged Ian onto him. He wrapped his arms tight around Ian and kissed him, no doubt tasting himself on Ian’s tongue.

  They kissed for a long time before Ian slumped against him and buried his face in Hollis’s neck. He smiled because they hadn’t even made it to the bedroom. God, just knowing how much his husband wanted him made him so damn happy. He let the joy swamp him, and he lifted up to look into Hollis’s dazed blue eyes. He smiled. “Love you with everything in me.”

  “Hell, Ian…I didn’t even know what love was until you. You’re my everything.”

  “You’re my everything, too. Promise me we’ll be like this forever.”

  “Oh, it’s for forever.” Hollis grinned. “We’re going to be eighty and still all over each other because I’ll never get enough of you.”

  “Promise me.”

  “I solemnly swear that I will ravish you in the doorway even when we’re old.”

  Chuckling, Ian got to his knees and looked at Hollis, who still wore his clothes, with his jeans pulled around his thighs. His dick, soft now, lay against his thigh. It was still shiny and wet-looking. Ian ran a finger over it, then sent both hands up under Hollis’s shirt. He put one over his beating heart, loving the bump against his palm. “We’re going to have a good life together. I have a feeling we’ve seen the last of my past interfering. A good feeling.”

  “So do I.” Hollis laid his hand over Ian’s, and he could feel the warmth of his skin through the shirt. “So, after a little time, we’ll resume all the steps to becoming foster parents and we’ll do this thing we both want.”

  “I can’t wait to have a family with you.”

  “We already are a family, GQ. You and me? We’re family.”

  They were. And they had a big extended family with all their friends. Ones who dropped everything to help each other, support each other.

  All the tension Ian had been carrying through this experience with Max drained out of him and he leaned down to press his lips to Hollis’s, pulling back just enough to see him. Their breaths mingled between them as he stared into the prettiest blue eyes that looked at him with so much affection. He still had Rialto to get straight, still had the new restaurant to open, and yes, he still planned to finish the steps needed to get foster kids in his home, but right then, he wanted to wallow in Hollis’s affection. He stood and held out his hand to help Hollis up.

  “Come on, husband, let’s take this to the bedroom.”

  Epilogue

  Thanksgiving, 2020

  (One year later)

  Ian gripped the steering wheel of his new SUV as he carefully maneuvered the vehicle around a particularly tight turn into Lucas’s neighborhood. He loved his new car, but the thing was just so much bigger than his old Volt that its size took some getting used to. His eyes might tell him he was safely in his lane, but his body was screaming that they were taking up the entire road.

  “Should I have driven?” Hollis asked from the passenger seat. There was no missing the laughter in his tone.

  “No, I’m fine. I’m only going to get used to it by driving it,” Ian said primly.

  A giggle from the back seat drew Ian’s eyes to the rearview mirror and the twins that were still safely secured in their car seats. Ian’s heart swelled every time he saw their smiling faces, and he was pretty sure that was never going to change.

  Tyler and Thomas were three-year-old foster kids who had been placed in their home just a month ago, and Ian was already in love with them both. Honestly, it hadn’t taken him long at all to adore the kids. And he was thrilled to see Hollis fall for them just as hard.

  That wasn’t to say that there hadn’t been plenty of rough moments and stumbles along the way. There had been nightmares, coloring on the walls, food disagreements, and even a few fights between the twins.

  But there had also been snuggles, cartoons, bedtime stories, toys, splashing in the bath, and so much laughter. Ian was sure he’d already laughed more in the first month of the twins being in their house than he had in the last six months.

  Ian turned his attention to the road and smiled as the large mansions flashed past their windows with their perfect lawns even at the start of winter. They deserved the laughter. The past year had been filled with chaos, but also fun. In Good Time had launched without a hitch to lots of enthusiasm on the part of Cincinnatians. He didn’t think it was going to be as popular as Rialto, but Ian didn’t mind. It meant that fewer people were being turned away each night because there wasn’t room for them.

  Ian cut down on his hours at both restaurants so he could help Max as he worked his way through drug rehab. That had been ugly as he battled both withdrawal and old demons in therapy that was long overdue. It had been enough to send Ian back to therapy for once-a-month sessions. Max had stirred up old memories, old nightmares, and old doubts. Talking it out with a therapist helped him get a handle on those traumas again.

  Max was starting to get on his feet. He’d moved in with Rowe and Noah. The Masters of Mayhem had been there to help through rehab and offered him a safe place to simply be himself, while providing some quiet oversight to make sure he didn’t backslide into bad habits when he struggled. He was also working as a server at Ian’s new restaurant. If everything continued to progress, Max announced that he was going to start some online classes in the summer for a business degree.

  At the end of the street, Ian directed the SUV down the long, winding driveway to the sprawling red-brick mansion with the black shutters and elegant double doors. Lucas never did anything small. But then, he had a sneaking suspicion that there was a very deliberate reason in Lucas’s mind for the giant house. He wanted to fill it with family—both with his made family as well as any children that he and Andrei had.

  Ian parked the SUV behind Snow’s Mercedes and sighed. “We’re the last ones to arrive.”

  Hollis unbuckled his seat belt. “Andrei did warn us that it takes longer to get out of the house with a kid.”

  “Yeah, but thirty minutes to get ready? That’s insane.”

  Hollis snorted. “Only because they decided to make a game of taking off their shoes and hiding them from you.”

  Ian sighed, but he was still smiling. This was the first time the twins were meeting the entire family, and Ian wanted to be prepared for anything. He’d made a few dishes for Thanksgiving dinner while agreeing to hand the turkey and some of the sides over to Andrei’s mother, Sonja. He’d also spent time prepacking bags for the twins such as clothes, toys, and other random things. Everything had been ready…except for the boys.

  That had been a thirty-minute production getting them dressed, into coats, a
nd into their car seats. He’d been exhausted before they even left the driveway.

  Ian popped the trunk and got out of the car. They’d get the kids inside first and then send someone out to fetch the food he’d brought. His main focus was making sure the boys were comfortable. The holidays were turning into big gatherings each year, and he was worried about Thomas and Tyler being overwhelmed.

  He held Tyler’s hand while Hollis had Thomas as they walked up to the massive house. Climbing the stairs, Ian laughed to see Daciana’s tiny face pressed to the window beside the door. Her dark eyes were wide as she took in the little boys. She was only weeks away from her second birthday, and she was a lively little one that kept her fathers on their toes. She disappeared when they were only a few steps away, but Ian could hear her high-pitched voice calling for someone. From their distance, Ian wasn’t sure if it was English or Romanian she was speaking. Probably a mix.

  Ian opened the door and they were immediately hit with a wall of joyous voices and laughter. Tyler’s hand tightened in Ian’s and he scooted closer, clinging to Ian’s pant leg with his other hand. Ian looked over at Hollis to find that he was now carrying Thomas. Yeah, the family could be a bit overwhelming, but Ian was hopeful that the boys would feel at home within a short period of time.

  The soft patter of small feet could be heard approaching them. Daciana appeared around the corner, wearing an oversized pink T-shirt that read Kung-Fu Princess, and sparkly purple leggings. Her dark hair hung down her back and was wild. Lucas had gotten quite good at braiding his daughter’s hair, but it never seemed to stay that way for long. She looked torn between rushing toward Ian for a hug and hesitating because of the unknown little boy.

  The whole matter was settled a second later when Andrei walked around the corner holding a three-month-old boy with a head full of dark hair.

  Stefan had been born at the end of summer after yet another lengthy search for a new surrogate. Lucas and Andrei admitted that they wanted a second child right away, so the siblings would be close in age as they grew up.