“Is that how you got your nickname?” he asked. “Because I hope to God it’s not because of Mitsy’s being torched.”
“No, not Mitsy’s.” I looked grimly at him. “At first, it was because of drag racing. You know, down that strip by the docks? I would smoke all my friends away on my first bike. Back in the day when my dad was still alive and life was pretty simple. Pretty good. But then later…smoked weed at first…then tried heroin…just stuck, I guess…”
I let the sentence hang there so he could fill in the blanks himself.
“I can see how messed up that would be,” he said, and he sloped his body toward mine, as if he needed that closeness as much as I did. Maybe he was jealous. Of a man I wanted no part of any longer. Just the thought of being with Jake made me want to hurl.
“That why you’re always chomping on that damn gum?” he asked.
I nodded. “Habit I picked up in rehab. That bother you?”
“Nah, it kinda fits. Besides, I like the taste of cinnamon.”
He lay down in my arms, and I pulled his warm body flush against mine. It felt so fucking good, I figured I’d keep him wrapped up for as long as I could and then I’d always have the memory to play back in my head.
“Leave it to my pop to get your real name out of you,” he said after a while, probably still thinking about how I’d earned that nickname. “But I dig it.”
“Yeah?” I said. “Did you almost call it out while I was fucking you?”
He kissed my shoulder. “Would you have wanted that?”
A shiver ran through me. “Maybe.”
He tapped our lips—once, twice—before I pulled his mouth to mine, needing something, anything from him. We kissed and nuzzled for long minutes, our tongues lazily rubbing against each other, our hands searching and gripping.
“So what does all of this have to do with me?” he asked, settling back down against me. “Why would Jake ransack my place and leave his fucking mark, as you called it?”
I gave him a furtive look, hoping he figured it out on his own.
It was as if a light bulb had gone on over his head. His eyes widened, and he jerked away from me. “So he’s been checking up on you, and he thinks you and I are…oh hell.”
“Well, we are, aren’t we?” I said, raising my eyebrows. “He’s not stupid. And if he figured it out, eventually others might, too. Not sure why else he’d bother you.”
“Fucking great,” he said through clenched teeth. “I haven’t been laid by a decent guy in forever and when I finally am…”
“You can’t even keep it private. No kidding,” I said, finishing his thought. “I feel like shit that I brought this on you. Jake’s not a guy you want in your business.”
“Hey, man,” he said, finally touching me again. His fingers wrapped around my nape, and I practically wilted into his embrace. “It’s okay. Not your fault.”
“It’s absolutely my fault,” I said, my lips moving to his neck. “Goddamn it.”
I found myself unwinding simply from having him near. When his fingers pushed through my hair, all of the coiled tension inside of me began seeping out. Replaced by a deep thrumming in my gut.
“I haven’t screwed around with a guy since Jake, and if he’s been watching me…” I took a deep breath and squashed down my anxiety. “Thing is, he might get jealous over the ladies, but he knows I love being with men.”
“Is that so?” Vaughn smirked, his length hardening against my thigh.
“Yeah.” I smiled sheepishly. “I just, fuck…or maybe it’s just you. You and all of that charm you’ve got, reeling me right in.”
“I know the feeling.” He smiled into the crook of his arm, looking like a younger version of himself. Then he cleared his throat as he remembered the seriousness of the situation.
“So, he knows what you’ve been up to with the Scorpions?”
It was the one sticking point in my mind. “Not sure.”
And then the bigger thought I wasn’t certain I should even share aloud came tumbling out. Being around him made me feel like he’d keep my secrets. “Hope I’m not being double-crossed.”
His head sprang up, dozens of questions in his eyes.
I shook my head, not willing to share any further. I didn’t want him to know that I watched my back when I was with the Scorpions club even though Fish was real tight with Mal.
“Think you should tell the prez?” he asked.
“Fuck, I don’t know,” I said. “No way I need him catching wind of my private life. He won’t be too cool with it. And hell, this is the first time I feel…”
“Feel what?” Vaughn asked, now rubbing his fingers over my thigh, not realizing how much I craved that contact from him.
“Like maybe I belong somewhere,” I said, shutting my eyes. “Those guys are my family. More so than any family I’ve had. I mean, even my dad had his demons. Worked himself to the bone. And my uncle, he…we haven’t spoken in years.”
I felt the heat from Vaughn’s lips as they hovered above me, but I kept my lids closed. He kissed my cheek and then moved across my jaw. “Even if you gotta stay in the closet about liking sex with men?”
“That part never fits, but the rest…yeah,” I mumbled as he sucked on the skin right beneath my ear.
I wouldn’t tell him that I also felt like he fit, which was totally contradictory to what I had said.
Hands gripping his hair, I groaned, tangling my legs with his, my erection poking at his stomach.
“Are you out to your dad?” I whispered.
“Nah. But I guess I never had any good reason before.” It seemed like there was more that he wanted to say, but he held himself back. So I waited him out, nearly desperate to know more.
“The last man I’d been with regularly had been an investor in my bar. Before the Disciples became involved,” he said. “I should’ve known better. We were so different.”
“Different how?”
“That what’s he did for a living. Investing in shit. Had loads of money,” he said, and my chest tightened because I had nothing to show for myself. Only my patch and my sobriety. “He knew my dream was to own a bar, and I think he offered to front me the last of the money because he enjoyed fucking me. It wasn’t like we were building something together. Wasn’t that deep, really.”
I tightened my arms around him. “So what happened?”
“He found somebody he liked fucking better. Even moved out of state for him.” He sighed. “I got pissed. Dude was cheating on me, said he’d been doing it for weeks.”
“Shit,” I said. “That’s messed up.”
“He acted all offended that I was mad, pulled out of the bar business, practically left me stranded.” He huffed out a breath. “If it wasn’t for Mal stepping in with his idea, I probably would’ve gone belly up.”
“Looks like Mal had a hand in saving the both of us.”
“Fuck,” he said, barking out an incredulous laugh. “Guess so.”
My fingers trailed up and down his back, feeling every smooth plane. “I need to find out some things first before I tell Mal anything.”
“So we probably shouldn’t…” He trailed off, and my stomach clenched. “I don’t want to make any trouble for you…or me, for that matter.”
“No way you need to be involved in my shit,” I said, trying to keep the disappointment out of my voice. Even though I knew this thing between Vaughn and me was time-limited. I was supposed to get him out of my system, not get caught up in him even further. “I need to keep you out of it.”
“Yeah…” he said, the same hesitant look in his eyes. “But…what we just did…was it good for you?”
“Hell yes,” I said, grabbing his face and kissing him hard. “More than good. Incredible.”
His fingers curled around my neck and then he was kissing me, his tongue invading my mouth. I got so lost in the way his lips felt that I wished we had more time together. Never had someone had this effect on me. It was like every time his skin was
next to mine, I lost my train of thought. Disappeared inside him. I couldn’t get enough.
“How about you?” I asked, dragging my lips away. “Did you…you know…?”
“Pretty sure I won’t forget you fucking me for a good long while.”
My heart squeezed so goddamn tight I nearly gasped out loud.
Right then I heard the automatic garage door. Felix was home. Pretty soon his boots would be clomping up the wooden steps to the back entrance. Vaughn remained quiet, listening as well. When I heard the heavy door shut behind Felix, I relaxed and turned back to Vaughn.
“Guess we should…” he said, hesitating. “Hell. Before the shit that went down tonight, I was hoping maybe…”
“Maybe what?” I held my breath.
He kissed my shoulder. “I thought maybe we could’ve seen each other on the down low every now and again. But that idea doesn’t look promising.”
I smiled sadly, because I had been wondering the same thing. “Mal is probably gonna have everybody’s eyes on you. If it’s not me watching over you, it’ll be someone else, so that’s going to make it a bust, anyway.”
“Yeah.” He sighed in resignation and then pushed back the sheets. “Should get some sleep.”
“Or we can go at it again while we’ve got the chance.” I was tired as hell, but I still wanted him. God, I wanted him.
“Fuck yeah,” he said, grinning and then twisting his head into the pillow. “How thin are your walls?”
“Not too bad,” I said, thinking of how few times I’d been able to hear Felix banging some chick downstairs. “Let’s give it a couple of minutes. He usually turns on music. Says it helps him sleep.”
Chapter Fifteen
Vaughn
I must’ve nodded off, because the next thing I felt was my hard-as-nails cock surrounded in wetness and warmth. I heard shallow breaths and an erotic murmur that could only be coming from the one man who got me entirely too worked up.
I opened one eye, and a tangle of blond hair came into view. I glanced down the length of his body, imagining what we must’ve looked like together. Smoke’s back muscles straining, his firm ass slightly lifted in the air, his mouth bobbing up and down between my legs.
His tongue was circling the underside of my cock as he took me all the way to the back of his throat, my girth stretching his lips wide. My hips began swaying toward his mouth as if they had a mind of their own.
“Mmmm…” I murmured in a groggy, lust-laden voice. “What did I do to deserve this?”
“We had unfinished business,” he said as his lips suctioned the crown, licking underneath, exactly the way I loved. I gripped a handful of hair and groaned. “You zonked out on me, old man.”
“I ain’t got that many years on you. Six, maybe?” I huffed out as his thumb circled my balls. “So you felt the need to wake me up?’
“Oh yeah. Couldn’t help myself.” I felt the vibration of his voice on my skin as needy pinpricks of heat licked at my lower spine. “This cock is perfection. So damn thick I can barely fit the entire thing in my mouth.”
I wanted to make a crack about fitting it in his ass, but that was a subject that wasn’t up for discussion. Besides, I could barely think straight with his mouth and lips and tongue expertly blowing me. His fingers added extra pressure to my sac. In another minute I was going to come, and I wasn’t ready for this to end.
“You gonna fuck me again?” I panted openly and grabbed more firmly onto his hair, tightening my fist around it.
He pulled my cock out of his mouth but still held my dick in his hand, stroking with a firm grip. “You want me inside you again?”
“Please,” I said, pumping into his fist as his fingers reached down to his own engorged cock, his hungry gaze sliding up to mine. I couldn’t help feeling smug that he was already so hard for me.
“You think he’ll hear us downstairs?”
“His bedroom is on the opposite side.” He smirked. “Like I said last night, he sleeps with music on.”
I strained my ears. “I think I can hear it. That horrible 80s shit.”
“Next time ask him to change the station.” He laughed and then sobered as if remembering there wouldn’t be a next time.
“Let me turn over,” I said, attempting to lift up and out of his grasp.
“No,” he said, laying a kiss on my collarbone. “Stay just how you are.”
I sank back down and yanked his mouth toward mine, my tongue tangling powerfully with his. The kiss was deep and lingering and so intense it felt like it might be our last. I thrust the thought aside. If he wanted to fuck one final time, I needed to savor all of this. His taste, his spicy smell, his sexy noises.
Our slick cocks were rubbing between us, and I was already so close from his mouth being on me that the friction alone would send me over the edge.
“Fuck me,” I said in a hoarse voice, brushing my lips against his.
He reached for lube and a condom in his bedside drawer, which momentarily reminded me of the mess that had been strewn across my bed last night, and my stomach nearly revolted. Smoke seemed to know almost instinctually what I was feeling, and he grabbed my face and kissed me so hard, my thoughts vacated my brain. All I was left with was sensation.
“I want to be inside you so bad,” he said as his finger slipped beneath my balls and pressed against my ring of muscle. I tensed briefly before opening my legs wider to allow him better access. I groaned and pumped against him as he slid a second finger alongside the first. He thrust a few times and then curved them upward, finding that perfect spot inside that instantly turned my limbs to mush.
“Uuuhhh,” I said as my cock hardened even further. The pleasure receptors inside my brain went haywire, and my eyes slid shut while he continued to indulge me. “I need you. Now.”
He lined up his dick with my hole, and we both groaned as he pressed inside.
“Oh fuck fuck fuck,” Smoke chanted, and then he inhaled deeply through his nose. “You feel so damn good.”
This position was so much more intimate because the way he was staring into my eyes was nearly my undoing. Facing away from him before, I could get lost in the moment. But watching him get his pleasure—take it from me—made me wish we could screw in his bed anytime we wanted. And that was such a dangerous wish.
He drove in more forcefully, his hands clutching my thighs, his balls slapping against my ass.
“God, yes,” I slurred, watching how a flush crawled up his chest to his neck and face. He was straining, drenched with sweat, and toeing the line of his orgasm. I allowed him to take me to the precipice time and again until I was damp and begging for it. He grasped my cock and pumped me until I was muttering senselessly.
“Uhhhh, Reed!” I called out his given name without any forethought. I shuddered violently as spurts of come burst over my chest and neck, some of it landing on my chin.
His eyes widened in wonder, and I considered whether I’d just ruined it all until his gaze deepened with passion and something else I couldn’t name.
He bent over and licked the come off my neck, then traced the outline of my lips so that I could taste myself on him. I threw back my head and groaned against the pillow.
“Goddamn, Vaughn. So fucking sexy.” His thighs began quivering as he drove inside me like a man on a mission. His movements became labored and uninspired right before his eyes rolled back in his head and he came so hard, his teeth practically clattered.
* * *
We had fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion. By the time I woke up a couple of hours later, the rays of sunlight through the window were already bright and blinding. The bed was empty beside me, and I couldn’t say I wasn’t disappointed.
Last night with Smoke had been amazing. I wasn’t sure what would even compare. But I couldn’t spend any more minutes thinking about that. I needed to compartmentalize this time with him in my brain and get the hell on with it.
I pulled on my jeans and shoved my fingers through my messy hair. Wh
en I entered the kitchen, Smoke was standing over the sink in only his sweats, pouring a cup of java.
He looked back at me. “How do you take yours?”
“Black.” It would’ve felt pretty nice and domestic to have him serve me coffee if there wasn’t a sense of anxiety and gloom hanging over us this morning.
He reached for a cup and began pouring. I was tempted to sidle up behind him and kiss his skin—his shoulder or his neck—but somehow the harshness of reality made me reconsider. Besides, after we had laid it all out last night, this had been only a hookup, and we needed to be careful now because of his suspicions about the other club.
He handed me the mug, and as I took a big swig, I noticed how his eyes scrolled down my body, checking me out in the daylight.
“You like what you see?” I asked with a smirk.
“More than,” he said, and then slurped at the brown liquid in his cup.
“You’re not too bad yourself,” I said, and then turned away to search for my keys on his coffee table so that my hardening cock wouldn’t betray me.
“Want some toast or cereal or something?” He looked so earnest that it made me want to pull out a chair and plop down, but we both knew I had already overstayed my welcome.
“Nah, it’s cool. I rarely eat breakfast anyway,” I said, taking another grateful swig. “Besides, we slept late. Better hit the road and get my place back in order.”
“Our cleaning crew has already been to your apartment,” he said, motioning to his phone lying on the counter. Maybe he’d gotten a call from Mal and that was what had woken him up.
A wash of relief swept through me that I wouldn’t have to walk back into my place with it looking how it did last night. “Thanks, man.”
“No problem,” he said. “Least I could do after…”
I held up my hand. “No need to say it.”
I went back to his room, pulled on my shirt, grabbed my wallet, and used the restroom.
The Darkest Flame Page 9