by Cameron Dane
Grey’s hands curled into fists against Sirus’s back, digging into muscle. Sirus whimpered, loving the sensation. He rubbed against Grey like a cat on a scratching post and slanted his mouth across Grey’s, welcoming a deepening of the kiss.
Moaning, Grey accepted the invitation and sank his tongue into Sirus’s mouth, making Sirus weak in the knees with his minty heat. All sense that it was freezing cold outside flew from Sirus’s body and mind, and he dug his hands between them, working to unzip Grey’s coat. Damn it, I need hard, hot flesh. Grey threw his hands into the fray, and between them they got Grey’s jacket halfway down his arms when the distinct crunching of snow penetrated Sirus’s brain.
“Hold on for a sec.” It took a long moment for Sirus to clear his head enough to comprehend the noise, and by the blurriness in Grey’s eyes the same held true for him.
By the time “it sounds like tires on snow” clicked in Sirus’s head, as well as putting together that it meant he had a visitor, the smartly dressed woman with dark hair styled in a bob already stood at the foot of his steps.
“Mom,” Sirus said, still in Grey’s arms, “you’re here.”
Chapter Fourteen
Wow, so this is Sirus’s mother. Grey closed his mouth quickly, shocked to find himself standing ten feet away from the woman who made up one half of the DNA of the man he was fucking. Sirus’s hands slid from around Grey’s waist, and Grey let his fall too. Even with space for another body now between them, Grey could sense the tightness in the man standing beside him. Sirus was clearly as surprised to see his mother as Grey was.
“Mom, how are you?” Sirus recovered quickly and treaded down the steps, giving the woman a hug. “It’s good to see you.”
The stylish, impeccably dressed woman gave Sirus what seemed to Grey a genuinely warm, squeezing hug back. “It’s nice to see you too, darling.” She pulled away from the hug and looked up at him, light shining in her dark eyes. “But you shouldn’t sound so surprised to see me. I understand Nic told you I was coming for a visit.”
“Yes, he did.” Sirus took his mother’s hand and guided her up the stairs, sliding her a sideways glance as he did it. “But I expected I might hear from you a day or so before you arrived so I could fix up the bedroom and get some stuff for your stay.”
“No need.” She reached up and touched his cheek. “I’m just here for a few hours to visit with my handsome son, then I have to continue my drive to Asheville. I’ll be working there for two weeks. I start tomorrow morning.”
“Well then, I’m happy you made a detour to see me,” Sirus said. “No matter how brief the visit.”
Grey watched the exchange between mother and son, surprised by their comfort with each other after listening to Sirus describe his mother’s attitude about his homosexuality, as well as his initial tension upon her arrival.
“Grey,” Sirus shifted to include Grey in their twosome, “I’d like to introduce my mother, Mrs. Nia Wilder.” He smiled in his mother’s direction. “She’s an interpreter and speaks six languages. Mom, please meet a friend of mine, Greyson Cole.” Sirus reached out and rubbed Grey’s hand, making it very clear they were more than casual acquaintances. “He owns the cabin across the lake, and we’ve been spending some time together while he’s on vacation. He’s a venture capitalist and owns a very successful firm.”
“Co-owns,” Grey said, stretching out his hand in welcome. “I have a partner who shoulders the responsibility equally. Anyway,” he grinned at Nia, “nice to meet you, Mrs.
Wilder. You have a great son.”
“Yes, thank you.” Nia Wilder only offered the tips of her fingers for Grey to shake, and a wave of discomfort smacked him in the face. “I am aware.”
Brrr. Very chilly. So much for first impressions.
As soon as Grey let go of Nia’s fingers she shuffled her stance and edged Grey out of the small group. “Sweetheart,” Nia paused and adjusted the collar on Sirus’s flannel shirt, “I don’t have much time to spare this morning, and I have a handful of family matters I’d like to discuss with you before I leave.”
Well, hell. Grey didn’t have to be dismissed twice.
“Mother,” censure tightened Sirus’s tone, “you can’t pretend a person who is standing right behind you doesn’t exist. Especially when I’ve just told you he’s a friend of mine.”
Grey reached out and twined his fingers in Sirus’s, gaining the man’s attention.
Sirus’s eyes were full of apology, but Grey just shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.”
He brought Sirus’s hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss to it, knowing full well he half did it to force Nia Wilder to see her son for who he was. The other half, Grey just did because he enjoyed like hell touching this man. “We’re all responsible for ourselves, and I’ve been taking care of myself for a very long time.” He darted his attention to Nia, interested to note that she wasn’t so gauche as to turn her head away from her son holding hands with another man, but she did keep her focus squarely to the right of Sirus’s shoulder, just out of visual range of where Grey stood.
Feeling perverse and stubborn, Grey tugged Sirus down the steps, moving ever so slightly until he and Sirus stood right in Nia’s line of sight. He then looked into Sirus’s eyes and forgot all about the woman on the porch giving him the cold shoulder. “Do you think you can make it over to my place later? I might even attempt to cook something for dinner. Does that sound like a plan to you?”
“Oh, okay, sure,” Sirus answered. The damn sweetest smile lifted the edge of his lips. “Around seven? I have a piece I’d like to spend some time with later, and then I’ll come over after I clean up.”
“I’ll see you then.” Grey leaned in, his mouth inches from Sirus’s, but abruptly halted, remaining so close they shared the same square foot of air. “Is this okay?”
Sirus rubbed his thumb over Grey’s lower lip, pulling it in that way that always hit Grey as so fucking sexy. “Absolutely, ye—”
Grey leaned in and pressed a tender kiss to Sirus’s mouth, capturing the rest of his words. Sirus’s lips softened and kissed back, and pleasure shot through Grey from top to bottom. Grey dipped the tip of his tongue out just once, brushed it against Sirus’s lips, and then pulled away, reluctantly letting go of Sirus’s hand as well as his mouth. This time, Grey took a second to rub his thumb across Sirus’s lips. He just barely suppressed the goddamned silliest urge to wink. “I’ll see you later.”
Sirus looked a little dazed. “Yeah, okay.” He waved as Grey walked to his car.
“Bye.”
“Bye.” Grey gave Sirus one last lingering stare, almost moaning at how fucking sexy the man was, no matter how much or little he wore. Grey opened his door, but lifted his focus to the porch, finding a very stoic woman still standing there. “It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Wilder.” He lifted his hand and smiled as if he didn’t give a shit that she snubbed him without having the tiniest idea about who he was. “I hope you have a lovely visit with your son. Have a safe trip to Asheville. Bye.”
Nia Wilder merely lifted one hand and studied her nails.
Grey shook his head, smiled one more time at Sirus, and then drove away.
*
Sirus stood rooted in the snow, his feet freezing like hell, but didn’t move or so much as breathe until Grey’s car was gone from sight. He then closed his eyes and counted to ten, then twenty. After that, he bit his lip, knowing if he opened his mouth he would say something very ugly to his mother that he would never be able to take back. Right now, Sirus believed with every fiber of his being she deserved whatever he threw at her, but he would not put his father and his siblings through a Mother/Son feud. It would kill his father if Sirus never spoke to his mother again.
But hell, how he wanted to run after Grey and leave his mother standing on his porch right this very second.
“Invite me inside, honey,” his mother called down to him, breaking him out of his struggle not to tell her where to go. “We’ll catch
our death of cold out here this morning.”
Invite me inside. Sirus chuckled derisively. He sure liked hearing that a lot more coming from Grey than he did from his mother.
Taking a deep, calming breath, Sirus rubbed his hands together and took the steps up the porch two at a time. “You’re right, Mom. Let’s go inside.” He strode past her and held the door open, sweeping his hand in a welcoming gesture. “It’s time we had another talk.”
Nia stepped over the threshold and walked to the kitchen, her memory of her previous visit clearly intact. “I hope that’s fresh coffee I smell,” she called back to him as he shut the door. “After getting up early to start driving, I could certainly use another cup.”
Sirus moved to the kitchen, but stopped in the doorway and leaned his shoulder against the frame. “It is fresh.” He found her already pouring herself a cup. “Grey made it a little bit ago. He was up before I was this morning and got it brewing.” Sirus just held off the nasty bent that made him want to share that Grey had then come back to bed and delivered one hell of wake-up blowjob to Sirus’s morning wood. “He makes a better cup than I do, don’t you think?”
Nia cupped the mug in both hands and strolled around the small space. “You did a beautiful job updating this kitchen, darling.” She moved in front of him and paused to squeeze his hand. “It still looks very cozy and rustic, but has all the touches a modern kitchen should have.”
“Grey likes it too,” Sirus added. “He was mentioning that very thing this morning over cereal and toast. I’m glad you both approve of my taste.”
“Mmm… Come, sit with me.” Nia slipped her hand in the crook of Sirus’s arm and drew him to the table. She took one seat, and Sirus pulled out the other for himself. “I didn’t want to forget anything, so I made a list of family stuff I need to share with you.”
Her mug of coffee now on the table, Nia pulled an organizer out of her purse and leafed through a handful of loose pages. “Oh, I hope I didn’t forget to pull it from my briefcase.
I can’t believe I would have done that. I knew I didn’t intend to take my briefcase out of the trunk until I reach the hotel in Asheville. Here it is!” She held the final sheet up in triumph. “I knew I had it.”
“I had no doubts.” Sirus eyed the list of names and wondered if his ever appeared on her list when she went to visit other family and friends. Doubtful, rang clear in his head.
Even if it did, it would never say anything like, “Sirus is dating the most wonderful man, and I have great hopes it will turn into something permanent.”
A pointed, familiar ache stabbed at Sirus’s chest; a pain that had sprouted the first time he told his mother he was gay and she acted as if he never said it; a hurt that every time she behaved in the same callous way grew a little nagging needle into a thorn that pierced Sirus sharp enough to bleed.
“First—” Nia began.
“First,” Sirus interrupted, as what happened on the porch reentered his mind, “why don’t we start with the fact that you just completely ignored another human being. A man whom I happen to like very much, by the way. Let’s talk about the fact that in the two times I mentioned his name since he left, you’ve moved right on and pretended you never heard it.”
“Oh, yes, see,” Nia touched her finger to the name at the top of her list, “I’m busting at the seams to share some wonderful news with you.” Sirus’s mother broke out into a huge smile, his comment about Grey apparently Teflon that slid right over her.
“Christina,” Nia mentioned one of Sirus’s many cousins, “is going to have a baby. After all this time trying. Can you believe it? She just called me about it yesterday. Your Aunt Mina is beside herself that she will finally be a grandmother.”
Sirus slumped, his eyes slid closed, and he sighed. This woman. His mother. A CIA trained interrogator would never break her single-minded determination. What in the hell was he supposed to do?
“That is good to hear,” Sirus said, almost on autopilot. “I will call Christina and Aunt Mina later to say congratulations.”
“They will both like that very much, dear.” Nia took a sip of her coffee, but abruptly put it down and grabbed his forearm. “All right, this is important. You need to call your sister and keep her on the phone until she tells you about being selected to play with the symphony. She’s being very low key about everything, and doesn’t want anyone to make a fuss or even make it a special occasion to visit, but she has a solo during her first concert on Mother’s Day. She had to beat out a handful of very skilled cellists to get the invitation.”
Rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands, Sirus mentally added another name to his phone list. “I will give Diana a call as well.” At least his sister always asked about his love life and was happy for him when he had someone special in it. Diana would like Grey. Sirus smiled to himself as he fantasized about them meeting one day. Grey would like unpretentious Diana too.
Sirus jerked at the romantic slant of his thoughts, and sternly reminded himself that he had no future with Grey. His heart squeezed, but he forced himself to pull back into the conversation with his mother. “I’ll be there for the concert. Diana deserves the invitation and the solo, and I will be front and center cheering for her.”
“I knew you would. We all will.” Nia scrunched up her face, and little furrow lines formed between her brows. “But let her tell you, before you mention anything, all right?
It should be her good news to share, but I knew she never would without you knowing how to nudge her toward the conversation.”
“Right. Of course.” Sirus shook his head and tried not to laugh. He and his siblings always knew when their mother spilled important, sometimes private news to another member of the family. They’d all gotten used to getting “just because” calls out of the blue. “You never told me anything. Understood.”
His mother flashed him a winning smile. “Thank you, sweetheart. Oh, this isn’t on my list,” she leaned in and squeezed his hand, “but I must tell you I just met the most strikingly beautiful young woman at a law firm where I was doing some interpreting work. It was for Kline and Sheuster. Do you remember years ago when I worked for them almost nonstop for two years while one of their clients transacted a deal for a European hotel chain? No, of course you don’t, you were too young to remember. Anyway…”
His mother went on, but Sirus sat up straight, his proverbial “Meddling Mother”
antennae twitching at full alert. Not on her list, my ass. She just so happened to meet a beautiful young woman recently? Now, finally, Sirus understood the true reason for his mother’s little detour up to his cabin. A woman.
Goddamnit.
“…I tell you,” his mother raved on, “this girl is as smart and kind as she is attractive, but at the same time she works side-by-side with the big boys and is nobody’s pushover.
We got to talking about our families, and when I mentioned I had a talented, handsome, artist son—”
“Truck driver, Mom.” Sirus gritted his teeth. Double goddamnit. “I drive a truck.
You have to stop telling people you have a son who is an artist. It gives the impression I earn my living in that trade, when you know I don’t.”
“You probably could if you became aggressive with it. You just have to want it badly enough to pursue it. Now, where was I? Oh yes, this amazing woman. Her name is Marisa, and I would just love for you to meet her when you come home for Diana’s concert.”
Stop. Stop. Stop. Sirus slammed the table with his open palm and shot to his feet, kicking the chair out and careening it into the wall. “I cannot believe you, Mom.” He planted both hands on the table and zeroed his focus right in on her face. “If I met her …
what? What do you think would happen? That I would fall madly in love with her and your gay son would turn straight, and then all would be right in your world?”
Nia did not rear back in the face of Sirus’s explosion of emotion, or even blink.
“First, don’t speak t
o me in that tone,” she said. “I am your mother, and you will show me respect. Second, Marisa is a beautiful, educated, sweet woman. Plus, she has an interest in the arts. You will be completely enchanted by her, I know it.”
Curling his hands into fists, Sirus looked away, unable to tolerate his mother’s relentless barrage to alter his sexuality. His gaze alighted on his canisters of cereal, all of them now lined up against the backsplash according to size, like little soldiers. They hadn’t been that way yesterday. Grey. Suddenly, pictures of the man who had spent last night in Sirus’s bed flooded him, filling him up to the brim.
Sirus turned his attention back to his mother, but it was as if he could feel another person in the kitchen, reinforcing his voice. “Enough,” he said, his voice firm. “You need to stop this. Right now.”
“Stop what?”
“Don’t you dare—” Sirus bit his lip and held himself back from shouting. He straightened his chair and sat back down, his heart heavier than he ever remembered it feeling. It hurt. His mother’s behavior hurt him. Physically.
He spread his hands on the table and looked up at her, trapping her gaze. “You know what I’m talking about,” he said calmly. “Are you really going to keep doing this?
Forever?”
“Doing what?” she asked. A newborn baby would have looked guiltier than his mother did.
Breathe, just breathe. “Okay, if this is how you want to play it, we can.” Sirus continued to look at her pointedly. “Are you going to keep trying to fix me up with women, hoping one day one of them will turn me straight? Are you going to continue to refuse to respond to anything I say about a man, and in fact pretend like I never even told you I was gay? I can only assume you’re hoping that if you don’t acknowledge what I say, then you can also tell yourself my homosexuality doesn’t really exist. I’m just your late bloomer straight son who has never had a girlfriend. Right? Is that what you tell your friends when they ask?”