by Aiden Bates
"I think that's a fairly safe bet." Ryan sat back. "How much do you think she knows, though?" He took a sip of his iced tea. "I mean if this was a current case, then yeah. I'd be all over it. You'd probably have to tackle me to keep me from getting into the car and driving up to Needham right the heck now. But she was born in eighty-two, wasn't she? How is she going to have anything to say that would possibly make things any clearer?" Ryan tried not to think too hard about Nick tackling him.
Nick glowed, absolutely glowed, with excitement at the ability to share his expertise. It obviously made him so happy to be able to be the expert here. "Honestly? It's possible that she might not be able to tell us much. Sometimes, though, younger family members have old stories that were circulated through the family. Those stories might not mean anything to them, but they can be important clues for us." He patted the table.
"Huh." Ryan hadn't thought about that, but he guessed it made sense. "Well, that's better news than I had."
The waiter brought their dinners out and disappeared before Nick replied. "I don't want to hear bad news, man."
"Sorry." Ryan wasn't sorry, but he figured it was the thing to say. "I thought you should know. I heard from Forensics. James Townsend was killed with the pipe that we found with Maureen's body. DNA is a match. And the baseball bat we found at the scene is also a match."
"Okay." Nick drummed his fingers on the table. "So? Shouldn't that be good news?"
"So neither one of them has the slightest hint of Maureen's blood. Her remains show evidence of a severe beating at the time of her death." Ryan made a face at his dinner.
Nick stabbed down at his steak. "Damn it. Without that, we'll never have a chance of convicting her killers."
"We'll get Townsend's, and that'll be something, but yeah. I really want to nail them for both." Ryan scowled and then he saw the look on Nick's face. He put his hand over Nick's. "Hey. It's okay. We'll find a way, okay?"
Nick blew out a long stream of air. It wasn't quite a sigh, but the sentiment was similar. "Yeah. Yeah, okay. We'll figure something out." He managed a little grin. "It's not like this is our first rodeo. Either of us."
"No. It isn't." Ryan smiled at the alpha as a little bit of heat flared deep inside of him.
Nick changed the subject, and they talked about some cases they'd worked on in the past. They talked about dumb criminals they'd met, and dumb criminals they'd busted. Ryan wasn't a big fan of talking about his family, but he liked hearing about other people's families. It turned out that while Nick was a cop from a long line of cops, they weren't necessarily supportive of his current assignment.
"They think it's irrelevant," he said with a wave of his huge hand. "They're like, 'Sometimes the bad guys get away, Nicky,' and, 'Wouldn't it be best to focus those resources on putting a bunch of bad guys away instead of throwing them away on one person?'" He shook his head. "I don't know."
"Yikes. I bet that make family dinners a little awkward." Ryan grimaced.
"Sometimes. It's why I take this job so seriously. I'm proud of what we do, and the closure we bring to families." He lowered his eyes and blushed, adorably. Ryan looked away.
They finished their dinners and then they lingered for a little while, neither one wanting the evening to end. They were both enjoying the other's company, unusually enough, and neither seemed to be interested in pushing the other one's buttons. They couldn't stay forever, though, and when the waiter brought the check, Ryan made a snap decision.
"You're welcome to come by and watch a movie or something, if you want." He kept his voice casual. He didn't expect anything to come of it; Nick wasn't interested in that way. He didn't expect Nick to say yes, but he thought that he would put it out there just as a gesture.
Nick, to Ryan's eternal surprise and very slight panic, agreed. They paid their bill and headed out. Ryan tried to focus on the road and not on the movie, or on what would happen during the movie. Would they relax, or would they get right back to arguing like two old men?
He had no idea how he kept things casual as he entered the house. It could only be some kind of miracle. "Can I get you anything?" Ryan handed Nick the remote as he headed toward the kitchen. "Beer, water, something else?"
"Water's fine." Ryan could hear the leather of the couch rustle as Nick sat down.
Ryan got two glasses of water and returned to the living room. He locked the door before he sat down beside Nick. He tried to sit close enough that he didn't look like he was snubbing his temporary partner, but far enough away that he wasn't making Nick uncomfortable either. "What did you pick?"
"Uh, Spaceballs. I don't know, it seemed like something good and lighthearted." Nick blushed. "I mean, if you'd rather watch something else, that's fine."
Ryan shook his head. "No, no, Spaceballs is fine. A little screwball comedy is probably good for us, considering what we've been working on." Ryan had probably seen Spaceballs fifty times, but he didn't care. The likelihood of him being able to follow a complex plot right now was about zero.
Nick hit play and they settled back to watch the comedy. Ryan wasn't entirely aware of when it started, but by about the time that the movie was a quarter of the way done, he and Nick were a lot closer together. He hadn't consciously moved, but his body wasn't in the same position that it had been before. Nick, too, had gravitated toward the center, and what was more, his arm was securely wrapped around Ryan's shoulders.
Ryan glanced over at Nick, only to find him watching Ryan instead of the movie. "Are you even watching this?" he asked his guest, a little smile playing around his mouth.
Nick chuckled softly. "Is it bad if I admit that you're really distracting?"
"Not really." Ryan ducked his head for a minute, and then he reached over Nick for the remote and turned the movie off.
Nick's hand went right to Ryan's hip. It probably wasn't an invitation to anything. He probably just wanted to steady Ryan as Ryan showed off every inch of his terrible manners and reached across him. At the same time, just feeling the warm flesh of Nick's hand even through his clothes made every fiber of Ryan's being run hot with desire.
"You going to be okay if I kiss you?" Ryan asked him, freezing in place.
Nick's breath was a hot breeze on the back of Ryan's neck. "I think I'll be more than okay."
The position was awkward. The only way that Ryan could think of to do what he wanted was to climb into Nick's lap and straddle him. Maybe he could have done it differently, maybe not. Ryan wasn't exactly thinking with his creative brain just then. All that he knew was that he wanted to be as close to Nick as he could be, to press their bodies together with as few barriers as he could manage.
Nick was surprised by his boldness. Ryan could see that in the way his eyes bulged for a moment, and the way that his other hand flailed for a moment before grabbing on to Ryan's other hip. Once he overcame his shock, though, he joined right in. He kept his hands firmly on Ryan's hips as Ryan claimed his mouth, licking in to taste as much as he could of this infuriating and intoxicating alpha.
It was okay to just kiss for a little while, to explore the different sensations of one another's tongues and teeth. He could feel Nick hardening beneath him, his impressive length providing incredible friction against Ryan's own hard cock. If it felt this good now, how amazing would it feel once they got their clothes off?
Nick's hands finally moved from their hold on his hips to caress Ryan's ass, which only made him want more. It was just a caress, just a grope really, and Ryan was already ready to beg. What was it about this one alpha? He couldn't sit here and analyze it right now. All he could do was give a little moan of encouragement.
"You okay with this?" Nick asked him, in his ear. He moved his hands up to Ryan's belt, which he unbuckled. He worked slowly, with a sexy little grin on his face. "You okay with me opening these up like this?"
"Oh hell yes," Ryan bit out. "We should probably head upstairs, though." The last thing they needed was some neighbor looking in on them.
"Right." Nick blinked. Ryan hadn't realized that his eyes had been hazy until he blinked. "You're completely right. We should head upstairs." He helped Ryan get off of him, and then he stood up. "I mean, technically we shouldn't do this at all. I mean, we work together."
"Do you really care right now?" Ryan asked, giving him a measured look.
"Nope. I will later, but I haven't been able to get your scent out of my head since the day we met."
Ryan stroked Nick's stubbly cheek. "Awesome. Let's head upstairs." He took Nick's hand and led him up to the second floor.
Once they were in his bedroom, he checked and made sure he had lube and at least one condom. He put both on the nightstand, within easy reach, and turned to the alpha. "Where were we?"
Nick pulled him in, rough and demanding, and smashed their lips together. "You were letting me get rid of those pants," he purred, and nibbled on Ryan's earlobe.
Ryan moaned as his lover fumbled with his pants, and then again as the cool air hit his oversensitive skin. "Please, Nick," he whispered.
Nick ran his hand along the curve of Ryan's ass again. This time there were no barriers, just bare skin against bare skin. There was nothing like it in the world, and he leaned into the touch. "Someone's eager."
Ryan's face got almost as hot as the rest of him. Yes, he was eager. He was too eager. He shouldn't want this at all, but instead he couldn't wait to be naked and have this man inside of him. Some of it was just him being an omega, and having gone through a bit of a dry spell lately. Some of it went deeper, and he knew that he should give some thought to that later on.
"Yeah," he gasped out. "I am eager." He reached down and palmed Nick's hard cock through his pants, eliciting a hiss and a squeeze. "Is that such a bad thing? Hmmm?"
"No." Nick kissed him again. "No, it isn't. Take off your shirt and go lie down in the bed."
Ryan had never gotten a dress shirt off so quickly without a pair of scissors. He got into bed and onto his belly before Nick finished stripping down, which earned him a kiss right between his shoulder blades. "I love your face," Nick murmured into his ear, "but I love you like this too. All laid out for me, so I can see and touch." He trailed a finger down the crease of Ryan's ass before he reached for the lube.
He prepped Ryan quickly, as though he couldn't wait to get inside of him. Ryan didn't mind. He liked foreplay, of course, but right now he just needed. He pushed back into the fingers opening him up, anxious to have them replaced by something better.
He didn't have to wait long. Nick worked his way into him with short little thrusts, moving closer every moment until he was fully sheathed in Ryan's body. The stretch was intense, but Ryan smiled through it. It had been a long time since he'd felt this good. After a moment, his body adjusted and he could tell Nick to move, and hope that his lover could feel as good as he did.
Nick set up a vigorous pace. At first he was willing enough to leave Ryan crouched on all fours, but after a few minutes he seemed to need more. He hauled Ryan upright, still thrusting, and turned his chin so that they could kiss as Nick thrust into him. Every part of them that could touch, now, was touching, and Ryan loved every minute of it.
It didn't take very much to make him come, just a couple of light tugs just before Nick finished. They fell down onto the mattress together, still joined, and lay there for a minute or two. Then Nick gently pulled out of Ryan. He tiptoed off into the bathroom to dispose of the condom, and came back with a washcloth to clean Ryan up.
Ryan smiled as he wiped away the evidence of their pleasure, and then bit his lip as Nick squirmed. "You can stay, if you want," he said.
"I shouldn't." Nick chewed on a knuckle.
"But you want to."
Nick crawled into the bed beside him and took Ryan into his arms. Ryan burrowed into the safe shelter and fell asleep there.
***
Nick woke up in a bed that wasn't his own. There was no moment of panic. Scent explained to him, even before coffee jump-started his brain and his memory, exactly where he was. Rich sandalwood told him that he was in Ryan's bed, and rich sandalwood mixed with the scents of sex told him that he'd surrendered to his own baser urges.
He was, however, alone. This was not what he expected, when he'd agreed to stay the night. The bed beside him had been occupied; he could see the wrinkles in the bedclothes. It hadn't been occupied in quite some time, however, and that didn't sit quite right with him.
He fumbled for his clothes and threw them quickly onto his body before heading toward the bathroom. He could see that it had been used recently, and for a hot shower too. Ryan had left him a towel and washcloth as well as a new toothbrush, still in its package, on the vanity.
He used the toothbrush, but skipped the shower. He'd take care of that at home, very quickly, along with a change of clothing. He didn't care if people figured out that he and Ryan were sleeping together, or had slept together, whichever turned out to be the case. But showing up in the same clothes two days in a row was too much to be tolerated, even by the guys on the Cold Case Squad.
He made his way downstairs, where he found Ryan. His lover was sitting at the dining table, where he'd set out two place settings and a huge bowl of what looked like rice. He was dressed and ready to go to work, and he had a little smile on his face while he sat and sipped coffee while reading the news.
He looked up when Nick entered the room, and a huge smile broke out over his face. "Nick! You're up!" He frowned. "You didn't like the towel?"
"No, no, the towel was nice. I just… I mean, I can't go in there in the same clothes, man." Nick felt his face get so hot he thought it might burn the tablecloth. "That's just nasty."
"Oh. I hadn't thought of that. Nothing that I have would fit you."
"I don't think anything you have would fit my thigh, man." Nick made sure to brush a kiss across Ryan's cheek before he took a seat at the table.
Ryan leaned into the touch, and Nick let out the little breath he'd been holding. "I wouldn't go quite that far. I'm wiry, not a twig." Ryan snorted, but gestured to the food. "Help yourself. It's sticky rice with peanuts, and there's coffee too."
"You woke up early enough to make this?" Nick gaped. "Dude, for real?"
Ryan shrugged. "I have an electric rice cooker, man. I turn it on, I go work out a little, and when I come back it's all done. This one has peanuts. Sometimes I do it with egg." He sipped his coffee again. "It's a traditional breakfast food."
Nick had questions, but he let them lie. He knew that Ryan didn't talk about his family if he could avoid it. Instead, he dished some out onto his plate. "So you're kind of a morning person, I take it."
Ryan chuckled and spooned some rice onto his own plate. "Nah. I found, once I started working, that if I didn't work out before I went to work I was likely to skip it entirely. It was hard to get into the habit of working out as soon as I woke up, you know? But I did, and now I'm kind of glad." He smirked. "What about you?"
"No. Not a morning person at all." He lifted his coffee cup in a kind of salute. "If I didn't have your scent around as a reminder, I wouldn't have had the first clue where I was or what I was doing here until I had coffee."
Ryan laughed out loud. "That memorable, huh?" He clapped his hands, and Nick knew he was being teased.
"Jerk," Nick said, flipping Ryan off. "Last night was incredible."
Ryan went from teasing to contented like someone had flipped a switch. "It really was, wasn't it? I'm glad we did that." His cheeks darkened. "Thank you."
They ate their breakfasts fairly quickly. They had jobs to do, after all, and while no one was going to breathe down their necks about being a little bit late, they both had a certain dedication to the job that wouldn't let them just blow off work. That was a shame, because Nick wouldn't have minded spending a little bit more time with Ryan that morning.
Nick drove the twenty-five minutes back to his house in Ashland. As he drove, some of the rosy hue fell away from the situation, and a vague sense of dread pooled in his stoma
ch. He'd enjoyed everything about the night before. He'd had dates with omegas. He even had omega friends. But he'd never felt that much desire, that much of a pull.
When Ryan had asked him to come back to his place, Nick had been absolutely certain that he didn't mean for anything sexual to happen. And Nick had intended to respect that. He couldn't stop himself from staring, and then they'd been in such close proximity that things had just kind of happened. The sex had been great, but it hadn't been appropriate.
They shouldn't be trying to build a relationship while they were trying to solve a case. Nick didn't have a lot of experience with relationships, but from everything that he'd seen and heard, they took a lot of work. Solving a forty-year-old murder also took a lot of work, and he was pretty sure that neither of them had enough energy to do both at the same time.