The Price of Secrets

by Terry Poole

  “Do you feel what you do to me every time?” Kelly growled as he rubbed the firm bulge in his pants against Nathan’s matching one. “All you need to do is look my way and I’m lost, wanting you so damn bad.”

  Kelly smashed their mouths together. Calling it kissing was too tame a description. It was more like he attempted to devour Nathan, absorb him into his body through their lips. Somehow the next moment, neither of them were wearing shirts and Nathan could care less. Skin. He needed to feel Kelly’s skin against his more than he needed to take his next breath, his mouth never left Kelly’s. Breathing was overrated.

  A noise on the other side of the door threatened to break him out of his lust induced haze. “We shouldn’t,” he murmured against Kelly’s jaw, pressing nips and kisses along it.

  “We need to get back to them,” Kelly replied, latching onto and sucking hard on that place on Nathan’s throat that drove both of them wild.

  “Ungghh.” Nathan groaned, struggling with the snap of Kelly’s pants. “Need you. Now.”

  Scrambling to his feet, Kelly dragged Nathan’s pants off before standing and hauling his pants down his legs. His boots halted his progress. Nathan drooled at the sight of Kelly’s beautiful cock as it was released from its confinement and slapped against Kelly’s abdomen. Fluid dribbled down its veined length, showing him how eager Kelly was for him. Nathan dropped to his knees on the floor, spreading his legs wide, injured feet out of the way. He leaned over the edge of the tub, arms against the opposite side for support, presenting himself to Kelly.

  “What you do to me,” Kelly murmured as he ran a hand down Nathan’s back and around the globes of his ass. “So beautiful.”

  A moment later, something cool and liquid dribbled down his crease. He didn’t know where Kelly had found lube and at this point he was so far gone, he didn’t care.

  “Baby, it’s going to be quick. I need you too much.”

  “Me too. Hurry.”

  One finger breached him before quickly becoming two and then three. The slight burn was nothing compared to the need to have Kelly inside of him, connecting them. The fingers disappeared and Nathan whimpered in protest even though he knew something better was coming. Kelly draped himself over Nathan’s back as the head of his cock nudged at Nathan’s opening.

  “Oooh, yes,” Nathan moaned as Kelly entered him in one long stroke. Nothing in the world compared to having his love filling him. Kelly paused but Nathan didn’t want him to wait and pushed back against him, sending Kelly even deeper.

  “Damn, baby. I’m not going to last. You feel just too good.”

  “Move,” Nathan growled, undulating against Kelly and driving sensation after sensation up his spine. “Need you.”

  Kelly pulled out until just the head of his cock remained inside Nathan, then slammed home. He quickly set up a fast rhythm and Nathan had to shove his hand into his mouth to muffle his screams as Kelly unerringly found his prostate over and over. Kelly slipped an arm under Nathan’s hips, gripping him and drawing Nathan’s body firmly back into his. Kelly hammered into him again and Nathan’s orgasm flew over him with the force of a forest fire, burning him up from the inside out. He barely maintained the awareness to realize that Kelly had slowed and was gently pumping his release into his channel with a deep chest rumbling groan.

  Nathan could feel Kelly’s erratic panting against his back begin to slow, matching his own. Both of them dragged in frantic mouthfuls of air, gasping through the aftershocks zinging through their bodies. Kelly rubbed his cheek against Nathan’s shoulder then pressed a kiss to the nape of Nathan’s neck.

  This was what Nathan loved, the intimacy after the storm. He could feel Kelly’s heartbeat against him and inside him as if they were one being. He turned his head, seeking Kelly’s mouth, the kisses soft, and the touches gentle.

  A soft knock on the door, then Brendan asked, “Um, guys? Is everything okay in there?”

  “Yes, we’ll be out in a few minutes. Kelly’s taking good care of me.” Nathan was surprised that he didn’t sound as breathless as he felt.

  “All right then.”

  Kelly’s chest began to shake against Nathan’s back and he realized that Kelly was laughing. “Taking good care of you.” Kelly snorted. “I sure am.”

  “I…oh, you.” Nathan began to chuckle with him.

  Placing his hands on either side of Nathan, Kelly slowly slid out of him. “Stay put baby and I will take good care of you.”

  Nathan folded his arms against the tub, rested his head on them and gave Kelly a small satisfied hum. He felt utterly boneless as a warm washcloth cleaned him and then strong hands lifted him back onto the toilet seat.

  Dropping his head back on his shoulders, Nathan sighed. “How about you just leave me here?” He raised his head and leered at Kelly. “Or better yet, carry me to bed and take very good care of me again?”

  “You are incorrigible.” Kelly laughed, dropping a kiss to Nathan’s lips. “Come on. Let’s get you dressed and finish fixing up your feet.”

  Nathan dropped his head back again, closed his eyes and huffed. “Fine, if we must.”

  “We must.”

  He felt Kelly kiss him once more and he smiled.

  Chapter Eleven

  It sure was easier to walk now that Kelly had rewrapped his feet and gotten him his slippers from the bedroom. Nathan walked slowly down the hall with Kelly right into organized chaos in the kitchen. The kids were at the table playing with coloring books and toys. His mom stood at the base of the stairs directing Giselle, on the second floor, into which guest room to put her bags into.

  “Just put them into my room,” Brendan called up the stairs effectively silencing his mother.

  His mother turned to give him a quizzical look then broke into a huge grin. “What he said.”

  Grabbing Brendan’s sleeve, he tugged and pulled his brother aside. “I’d like us to talk to Dad while we have the chance.”

  Brendan nodded without saying a word. He knew what was eating away at Nathan and he was probably just as anxious as Nathan to get to the bottom of it. He stayed beside Nathan as he approached their father.

  “Dad, could we have a word with you?”

  “All right.” His dad’s gaze shifted from Nathan to Brendan and back again. “Something wrong?”

  “No, we just need to talk to you in private about something that came up while we were in Columbia.”

  His dad rose to his feet. “Vicki, we’ll be in the den for a couple of minutes. Can you handle things?”

  “Of course, I can. Go on.”

  The three of them made their way down the hall with Kelly trailing along after Nathan, his hand on his back in silent support. Nathan hadn’t asked him to join them but he was glad Kelly did anyway. He had a feeling he was going to need Kelly when the truth came out, if what he suspected was true.

  His dad ushered them into his den and sat at his desk as he and Brendan sat in the padded chairs arranged around the room. Kelly remained standing behind Nathan, his hands reassuringly resting upon Nathan’s shoulders. He watched as his dad took in the stiff postures of everyone arrayed before him before he clasped his hands on the top of his desk and leaned forward.

  “Okay, boys. What’s up?”

  “Like I said, we found out something in Columbia that we needed to talk to you about, get your input.”

  His father nodded. “Go on.”

  Nathan sucked in a deep breath and felt Kelly squeeze his shoulders. “It turns out that Brendan and I both have the same blood type.”

  “Okay.”

  “It’s a rather rare blood type that only occurs in one percent of the population.”

  His father reclined back in his chair looking very calm, deceptively calm. Nathan recognized his boardroom face as it slid into place over his features. He knew! He knew exactly what Nathan was about to say.

  “You see,” he continued, “the thing about this very rare blood type is that it’s genetic. One parent must have it to
pass it onto a child.”

  Matt said nothing, continuing to stare impassively at Nathan.

  Here it goes, Nathan thought. “So how is it possible for me and Brendan to be both AB- when I know neither of my biological parents were AB-? But you, the brother of my biological father are?”

  At this point, Nathan was angled forward, sitting on the edge of his seat, waiting for him to answer. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Brendan doing the same. They were both eager for the truth.

  Their father suddenly appeared every bit his age as he scrubbed his face with his hands. He took a huge breath before squarely facing both of them.

  “When my brother married Ruth we already knew he couldn’t be a father.”

  “What?”

  His dad held out a hand stopping Nathan from saying anything else. “My brother had an accident as a child which left him with only one partially functioning testicle. I told Franklin and Ruth that I would be their sperm donor so that they could have the kids they so desperately wanted. The problem was that when Annabeth was born, something tore inside Ruth and she had to have a hysterectomy to save her life. It also guaranteed that she couldn’t produce the male heir that Franklin wanted so badly.”

  Slowly rising to his feet, their father moved to stand before the window. He clasped his hands behind his back as he gazed unfocused out the glass.

  “We were thrilled when Vicki, your mother, became pregnant with twin boys.”

  Nathan gasped suspecting, knowing, what was going to come next. A very pale Brendan exchanged glances with him.

  “The ultrasound showed two boys, fraternal twins. Frank and Ruth pushed and begged for us to give them one of you until we finally gave in. We could still see you, just never tell you. If you had been identical twins, their crazy plan would never have worked. Your mother had a very hard time dealing with it. So did I.” He paused, his eyes closing, chin falling to his chest. “It was…the biggest mistake of our lives.”

  “But Brendan and I have different birthdays and…and…” Nathan lost his voice as his throat closed up on him.

  Fraternal twins? Twins!

  Their father sighed once more, and opened his eyes. Slowly, he lifted his head, back still to them. “Two couples go to a private hospital and each come out with a baby. It wasn’t hard to pay the doctors to falsify the documents and change Nathan’s birthday. Money can do so damn much,” he said bitterly.

  “So… Nathan really is my brother in every sense of the word.”

  “Yes.”

  “And Annabeth is my half-sister.”

  “Yes, Brendan.”

  “Were you ever going to tell us?”

  Their father shrugged. “I don’t know. After we took Nathan from Frank and Ruth, and he became our son legally, your brother again, it just didn’t seem necessary. You two were always close, like real brothers. No one spoke about it and we all acted like it had never happened.”

  Brendan rose shakily to his feet while Nathan remained sitting, completely stunned. He couldn’t even process what he had just learned, his mind numb. Twins.

  “Didn’t seem necessary? Never happened?” Brendan’s harsh tone jerked Nathan out of his stupor.

  “Don’t you think it would have been nice for Nathan to know that those monsters weren’t his real parents? Why did you leave him with them for so long?”

  Their father flinched before he spun about to face them. “We didn’t know!” He turned to look at Nathan, pleading. “You know this. We didn’t know.”

  Nathan nodded. They’d worked this out long ago. His parents, no, those people who had verbally and physically abused him for years. Always striking him where it wouldn’t have been easily seen so no one would know the hell he endured. It hadn’t been until he was caught kissing a young Kelly that the true nature of his life came to light. Badly beaten as a result and thrown out of his home, only to be found by his actual father as he aimlessly wandered the streets in shock.

  Oh, my God, the people who truly loved him were his real family. But did this massive revelation really change things? No, not really. Nathan felt like a massive weight was lifted off his shoulders to know that those people were not his parents that this was his family and he loved them all.

  “But he deserved to know! He’s my twin. I deserved to know!” Brendan yelled.

  Nathan slowly got up. His father observed him warily as Brendan fell silent, both watching him, to see what he was about to do. He closed the distance between himself and the man who’d taken him in. Claimed him as his son without a second thought, when he was fifteen and horribly hurt. Silently, he wrapped himself around his dad and hugged him hard.

  “You are my dad,” he said quietly. Maybe he should have been told this a long time ago, but… “I love you and that’s all that really matters.”

  He felt his father’s arms rise and tentatively circle him. When he didn’t move away, those arms squeezed him tightly. Nathan could feel his dad’s body began to shudder against him. “I love you, Nathan. I always have.” Tears evident in his voice.

  As the room became blurry, Nathan realized tears were flowing down his own face. Another set of arms came around them both and he glanced up as Brendan joined in. His brother’s shiny eyes filled his vision.

  “And you are my brother.” Brendan gave him a watery smile. “I love you too.”

  Unable to speak, Nathan slid one arm around his twin and pulled him tight, foreheads pressed together. His brother, his twin. His heart was full to bursting.

  After a few minutes, they separated, wiping eyes and faces. Kelly’s mouth curved with tenderness as he too swiped at his wet cheeks. Nathan could see the need in his face and went into his welcoming arms. He buried his face into Kelly’s neck and breathed in his comforting scent. He was sure that Kelly understood that this did, and didn’t, really change things at all. They were already a true family and this just added an extra layer of cement to that bond. And now Kelly and he had added to that family. Life just couldn’t get better.

  Their father cleared his throat, swiping at his eyes again as he watched Nathan and Kelly. “We should head back to the kitchen before your mother comes looking for us.”

  “My mother. My real mother.”

  “Yes. You have no idea how happy she will be that you finally know the truth.”

  Kelly reached for the door handle and froze. His fingers only inches from the metal.

  “Kelly?” Nathan inquired, concerned at the odd expression on Kelly’s face.

  “Nothing.” Kelly shook his head before giving Nathan a halfhearted smile. “It’s nothing.”

  Finishing his action and opening the door, the four of them made their way back to the kitchen and their father stepped to one side allowing Nathan and Kelly to enter first. There was a man at the table sitting across from their kids with his back to them.

  “Look who popped by to see how all of you were doing,” his mother cheerfully called from the counter where she was putting together sandwiches.

  Kelly suddenly clenched Nathan’s wrist. Nathan felt as if his heart had frozen mid-beat as the man slowly turned in his seat to face them.

  §§§§

  Kelly smiled at the other man even though he wanted to strangle Jerry where he sat so calmly. A bad feeling had swept over him just before they’d left Matt’s study. Now he knew why as he smoothly inserted himself between Nathan and Jerry and gave the man a hearty slap on the shoulder.

  “Hey, Jerry. Good to see you,” he lied.

  “Good to see you too. I see you got the doc back in one piece.” Jerry nodded in Nathan’s direction.

  “Yup, sure did.” Kelly walked up to Vicki and slung an arm around her shoulders.

  “Mom.”

  Vicki’s gaze snapped up to his. Kelly had yet to call her mom and she knew it. “I heard Stevie fussing in the other room. He must be awake from his nap and I bet the kids would love to meet their new cousin.” He took the bread knife from her hands. “We can finish making the sandw
iches.”

  Without missing a beat, Vicki smiled up at him and nodded. Bless her sharp mind.

  “Kelly, I think that’s a marvelous idea,” she agreed before walking over to Maria and Jesus and putting an arm around each of them. “Since it sounds like he’s awake, how would you two like to meet Stevie?”

  “Stevie?” Jerry asked.

  “My sister’s son. She and her husband had to attend a wedding and I said I would watch little Stevie for a few days for them.”

  A thump sound came from down the hallway.

  “Coming, Stevie,” she called over her shoulder. “Let’s go kids, before the little rascal climbs the rails of his bed and gets into trouble. Let’s grab the books and crayons just in case Stevie wants to color too.”

  She grabbed Luis’s sleeve. “You too, dear. Come give me a hand and you can meet Stevie as well.”

  Luis opened his mouth to speak but Vicki hushed him. “I could really use the help. Let’s just let the men visit.”

  Looking over at Kelly and Nathan who both gave him encouraging nods, Luis shrugged and began collecting crayons from the table.

  “I’ve already made several sandwiches. Help yourselves to them and the fixings,” Vicki said to them as the two children eagerly helped her and Luis collect the books, crayons and the toys from the table. Vicki then led Luis and the children down the hallway and out of harm’s way.

  Kelly was sure Steven would summon help and Vicki and Luis would do what they could to keep the children and themselves safe. He just had to keep Jerry from suspecting that little cousin Stevie was not actually a child but their boss.

  “Brendan, would you help me with the sandwiches?” Kelly called over to him.

  Matt patted Brendan’s shoulder. “Come on, son. Let’s finish making them so Kelly can catch up with his partner.”

  “Thanks, Matt, Brendan. That would be great.” And that would also put both men behind the island which they could use for their protection if worse came to worse.