by Rhys Ford
“He said he was sorry about Momma,” Martin replied. “I thought maybe he was someone Momma knew, but when I asked her, she said she really only knew Scarlet and her boyfriend. We’d already gotten flowers from them, and Hyunae’s family sent fruit.”
“Did he tell you his name?” I asked. “Shit, do you have a card or something from the flowers?”
“No name,” Martin said. “But Jae-Min’s got the florist card.”
“I got it when I saw the wreath. It says I’m sorry for causing you pain. I beg your forgiveness.” Jae yelped when I grabbed him into a hard hug. “Aish, let go.”
“God, I love you.” He stiffened in my arms, but I refused to let him go, hugging him tighter. Kissing his ear, I whispered, “I told you I’m going to love you. Let me at least be fucking happy you read the wreath, okay?”
“Okay,” he said grudgingly as I let him go. “For that.”
“Thanks, Martin.” I shook his hand and let him pound on my back again. My shoulder wound disagreed with me and sent a warning twinge down my spine. I told it to fuck off and take it like a man. My ribs disagreed and cramped up, showing an uncharacteristic solidarity with my shoulder. “I’ll get a hold of Wong and see if he’ll chase it down.”
“Not a problem. If that’s the guy that shot her, then I’m sorry I let him get out of here.” He smiled, and it was not a pretty sight. “Next time I see him, he and I will have some words.”
“Let me know if he comes back,” I said. “Okay?”
“Sure,” Martin replied softly. “I just can’t promise you he’ll be in any shape when you get here, but I’ll let you know.”
“Good enough,” I agreed. “All he needs is his tongue so he can talk. Anything else… that’s fair game.”
“Man can talk with a stump,” Martin disagreed. “But I’ll do my best, Cole. I’ll definitely do my best.”
Chapter Eighteen
I DUG through my notes for Brandon Yeu’s number after offering to help Jae with dinner and getting rebuffed by a derisive snort. From the noise he’d made, one would think I’d lived on steak and frozen pizzas before he’d come along. If I didn’t have a large chest freezer with half a cow and a stack of extra pepperoni and cheese pies in it, I could almost say he’d be telling the truth.
It took a few deep breaths before I dialed the phone. I was willingly going to break into a man’s life and open up a wound he’d thought long healed. And I was going to do it with a rusty, dull fork only so I could find out what happened to a dead man.
“Hello?” The man sounded young. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but a soft lilting voice wasn’t it.
“Brandon Yeu?” I broached.
“No, hold on.” The voice muted a bit, and I heard him ask someone else something. “May I ask who’s calling?”
“Cole McGinnis. I’m a private investigator,” I replied. “I need to ask him questions about a man he knew a long time ago.”
There was a bit of a wait, only a few moments, but it was enough to make my stomach curl. When someone else picked up, my intestines decided my stomach had the right idea, and began crawling up my throat.
“Hello? This is Yeu.” I introduced myself first then laid out what I’d been asked to do. There was a dead silence on the other end, and then a shuddering sigh. “It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that name.”
“I can imagine,” I replied. “I’m not looking to make trouble for you. I’m only trying to find out what happened to Park Dae-Hoon, so his sons have some closure. If it’s any consolation, they’ve decided to return the money he’d taken, along with any interest. I’d like to arrange that at least.”
“I don’t… know,” he stammered, and in the background someone asked him if he was okay. Yeu murmured something in response, then came back to me. “What do you need?”
“Mostly, to find out if you’d seen anything that night. Anything would be helpful. I’m trying to recreate what happened at Bi Mil. I’m hoping to find something to lead me to where Dae-Hoon went after that.”
“Let me think about it,” Yeu said. “My life is different now. I don’t… hide anymore, but you’re asking me to think about a time of my life I’d much rather forget about.”
“I know,” I said. “It took me a bit to call you. I didn’t want to intrude, but….”
“You’ve been paid to,” he laughed.
“It’s kind of not about the money,” I replied. “One of his sons came to me because he felt like I would understand what his father went through being gay… what he’s going through now. It’s kind of personal. If you want, we can meet someplace other than my office. Maybe even a restaurant? I’ll buy.”
I let Yeu think about it, and by the long hissing sigh I heard over the phone, he was torn. Jae-Min came into the living room with a couple of beer bottles and a small bowl of arare. Neko followed close on his heels, obviously hoping the bowl contained something more cat-palatable. He set the bowl down, then chased her off the storage chest. Flopping on the couch next to me, he rolled his shoulders to work the kinks from his body, and I got lost in the movement of his hard nipples under his T-shirt.
“Okay,” Yeu finally said. “Let’s meet up.”
He named a place in Koreatown I’d eaten at before, and asked if I was free for a late lunch. I noted the time in my calendar, then sifted through my notes until I found the column of transactions from Dae-Hoon’s account. Verifying the amount of money he’d initially given Dae-Hoon, I calculated the interest and named a final amount. He whistled under his breath.
“God, that much?” He sounded blown away. “That’s insane. And they want to give it back to me?”
“I’ll need you to sign a receipt for it,” I said. “But yeah, they want to give it back to you.”
He signed off, and I tossed my phone on the crate, where it apparently offended Neko, because she batted at it from her stalking place on the floor. With her tiny black paw reaching up over the edge, she struck at the phone until she was satisfied it’d been beaten into submission. Her fluffy black tail bobbed along the chest edge. Then she took off, bouncing out of the room with a chirruping song.
“That cat is all kinds of fucked up,” I said, watching her exit. “Where the hell did you find her? Silent Hill?”
“She belonged to a friend of mine,” Jae murmured, looking up from his tablet screen. “He found her outside in a dumpster. Someone’d tossed her in and closed the lid. I think she was only a couple of weeks old. He already had two cats, and they weren’t too happy about having a kitten around. He gave her to me after he got her weaned.”
“What was his name? Moreau?” I took a piece of arare and picked at the seaweed wrapped around it. Jae gave me a look, and I nibbled on the black square I’d peeled off. “What?”
“You’re supposed to eat it all together,” he pointed out.
“I’m also supposed to love women,” I murmured. “Look how well I follow the rules there. How long do we have until dinner?”
Korean food went two ways. Either it took forever to get stuff together, or it was instant. Since I had more than one appetite whetted, I thought it would be in my best interests to find out which one I could sate first.
“About an hour.” He went back to tapping at the screen, then looked at me from under his lashes. “Why?”
“Put that down,” I said, nodding toward the tablet. “And I’ll show you.”
He took his time, deliberately taunting me by turning off the tablet then securing it back into its case. When he bent over to put it on the other couch, I grabbed him by the hips and pulled him back onto my lap. He landed with a grunt and braced himself against the storage chest, glaring at me.
“You could have broken something,” Jae growled. “You could have broken me.”
“I’d have kissed and made it better,” I promised. “In fact, let me try to do that now.”
It was a cliché. I knew it, but Jae’s mouth always had a hint of spice to it. Either a fragrant tinge of clove
s or a more powerful smack of a pepper he’d chewed on. There was always a bite to kissing him.
Of course, there was always a risk of a bite when kissing him too, but it was a chance I was willing to take.
I turned him over, laying him back onto the couch. It was long, and wide enough for me to stretch out over him and still have room to maneuver my hands around him. Jae squirmed under me, laughing when I gnawed on his nipple through his shirt, but eventually I got my fingers under the fabric and up to where the tight nubs pearled on his chest. Lightly pinching at them, I played with his nipples and hooked his shirt up over the back of his neck, exposing his belly and chest. Jae reached for me, but I shook my head.
“Let me taste you for a bit,” I murmured into the hollow of his throat. “I don’t spend enough time doing this.”
“You only have an hour,” he reminded me with a low chuckle.
“Baby, I can have you screaming in less than an hour,” I said against his chest. “How long do you think it’ll take me to make you come in my mouth?”
“Suppose I don’t want to,” Jae said, wrapping his fingers into my hair. Tugging sharply, he pulled until I raised my head and looked at him. “Suppose I want you inside of me instead?”
“Then maybe,” I whispered back. “Maybe I can try to catch a few drops on my tongue when I make you lose—”
I never found out what his opinion on my idea was, because his hands were down the front of my jeans before I could finish my thought. He found my cock quickly, squeezing it hard enough to curl my balls up, and I gasped, lifting my hips instinctively. His grip was firm, refusing to let go of me, and I came back down, pressing my mouth on his until I stole the air from his lungs.
Yanking his pants and underwear down, I tugged them off his legs and ran my hands back up, reveling in the feel of his hard muscles jumping under his skin when I got to his thighs. Sinking my teeth into the long stretch of muscle near my fingertips, I grinned up at him when he yelped in surprise.
“Mine,” I growled. “Stupid thing to say. Very old-school, but fuck it. Mine.”
The storage chest was good for several things. First, it made a good place to put our dinner. Secondly, it had handy drawers I could stash things like pens or condoms in. After having Jae over for more than a week, I nearly filled the damn thing with enough condoms to make balloon animals for every drag queen within a five-mile radius.
Which was a hell of a lot since a cabaret show opened up down the block, and most of the women tottering in that place had more hair on their chest than Neko did.
“Help me get undressed, babe,” I asked, raking my teeth over Jae’s throat.
“No,” he replied with a wicked smile. “But I’ll get you going.”
He’d already popped the top button of my jeans when he first grabbed me, so it was a fairly easy trick for him to slide down the metal zipper. My cock was already too hard to be touched, and I hissed when he slid his fingers underneath my shaft. Tugging me free of my underwear, Jae stroked at my length, easing the sting where my zipper bit me when he pulled my cock free.
“Let me get these off before my dick gets chewed through,” I muttered, but his hand kept moving. “You’re not helping there, dude.”
“I think I’m helping just fine,” Jae replied, and snagged my earlobe with his teeth. Worrying at the bit of flesh he’d captured, he stroked me at the same time. My brain fought with the idea of getting the rest of my clothes off and the all-consuming need to bury myself in Jae’s hot body.
Need always trumped thought. Especially when my brain unplugs at the merest hint of Jae’s mouth on my body.
“You are going to fucking kill me,” I growled. “Turn over. I want to fuck you through the damned couch.”
I got my shirt off quickly and shoved it under Jae’s crotch, milking him as I fumbled with the condom wrapper. Tearing off the end with my teeth, I slid the latex down over my shaft and pulled off some of the lube from the foil. Jae’s back begged to be kissed, and I consented, suckling and nibbling along his spine and rib cage until he writhed under my mouth. His hips canted up, and Jae shifted on the couch, his ass spreading slightly when he bent forward and dropped his head down.
Jae rolled his shoulders forward, jutting his blades out like wings. I took the bait, and bit down hard between them while I slid my lubed fingers into his heat. His entrance coyly closed over my intrusion, kissing my fingertips as I toyed with him. Instead of pushing through his resistance, I ran my touch around him, slowly coaxing his body into accepting me.
“Cole-ah,” Jae gasped when I slid all of my fingertips right past the edge of his entrance, breaching him momentarily before withdrawing again to caress his pout. He swore when I did it again, his back and legs tensing hard enough to make him tremble. He arched, opening himself up further, and moaned, resting his cheek against the arm of the couch. “Please.”
“Yeah, baby?” I kissed the small of his back. Then I went back to teasing him open.
He mewled, a soft keening sound rumbling up from the back of his throat, and he thrust back, impaling himself on my fingers. Chuckling, I drew back, then dipped in again, enough to spread apart his entrance for me. Jae hissed, and his hips twitched, undulating with need.
I was already milking, the tip of the condom damp with my seed. My cock ached, bouncing between Jae’s thighs as I kneeled to press into him. Leaving my thumb hooked into him, I eased in, taking my time as he adjusted to being spread apart so much his skin was taut around the head of my dick. He tightened around me, trying to push back, but my hand against the inside of his ass kept him from moving too much. I flexed my thumb, stretching him a bit from the inside out, then inched in further, massaging his entrance as I went.
Jae whimpered, making huffing kitten cries, and gripped the end of the couch, dimpling the fabric. His knuckles were white, the skin bare of blood across the bone. I pulled out, and he keened, hunching his shoulders in protest. Teasing him with the tip of my cock at his entrance, I moved my hips and pressed in, burying myself deep inside of him.
I moved my hand out of the way, letting the rocking of his body drink me in. The muscles of his ass tightened, firming the round mounds I loved to knead. Resting on my knees, I dug my hands into his creamy skin, filling my palms with the meat of his ass. Pushing his cheeks apart enough for me to see my cock sliding into his entrance, I rocked in, spreading him thin around me.
Jae gripped the couch arm and shoved back, getting up on his hands and knees. My chest struck his back with a smack, and I reached up to lock my arms around his slender waist. Sliding my cheek against his shoulders, I opened my mouth and licked at the salty dew forming over his pale skin. He moaned and cried out my name, moving one of his hands down to cup himself.
We moved together, unwilling to break apart for long. I kissed his shoulders, muttering some nonsensical sounds. He responded passionately, hooking me in then drawing himself off my cock until only the tip remained kissed by his heat. I let him ride me, holding myself still as Jae impaled himself on my shaft. With my hands on his hips, I guided him along my length, slowing him down when he staggered off rhythm.
He growled at me, impatient and needy, so I bit the space between his shoulder blades, and slammed into him.
The couch creaked under us, the springs taking as much of a beating as Jae was under my cock, but I had faith it would survive the assault. Much like Jae-Min, it was stronger than it looked.
“Now, agi,” Jae hissed between his clenched teeth. “Harder. Please.”
I picked up the pace, spreading my hands across the small of his back to hold him still. I didn’t want him moving. I wanted him to take each thrust I gave him as much as he could… until he felt like he was breaking apart under the shock waves coursing through his gut. Dragging my dick over his core, I worked him hard, running my fingers through the sheen I’d drawn up from his skin. Our legs and balls slapped hard together, our skin meeting with fierce sound. His skin was turning rosy where my hands grabbed, and I cle
nched his ass, kneading at the muscled roundness until he cried out.
His hair was plastered to his cheeks when I broke my pace and slowed down to a near crawl. Jae protested, crying out and panting, but I was firm. I’d bring him to his release, but I wanted him to feel me do it. I reached under his belly and lightly gripped his slim, hard cock. Rocking into his hot core, I stroked him off, keeping my fingers off his overly sensitive head until I was ready to come myself.
I felt his passage spiral around me, and his balls drew up to mine. The rush of his sac on my skin was a molten pour of heat on my already hot body. He came into my hand, filling the cup of my fingers, and it overflowed, a torrential tide of seed and satiation. His spicy scent drove me wild, and I lost myself in Jae’s body, rocking hard as he twisted tight around me.
My climax hit with a force that dropped me. My lungs were taut, depleted of everything except the heat of Jae’s skin, and my mouth was filled with his taste, a salty sweetness he only shared with me. I could barely bring my fingers up to my lips when the first wave of my release hit, and my body jerked uncontrollably when I swallowed Jae into my throat, spilling myself into him until I was afraid I would black out over his back.
His spasms slowed, and his breathing faltered, picking up when I slid back onto my knees to give him some air. Gathering Jae up, I pulled him back against me, sliding him into my lap until he sat sideways across my legs. He was lethargic, his eyes sleepy and hooded, the perfect time to cuddle him against me. Wiping him off with the other side of my shirt, I spread his legs wide enough for me to get the condom off, and rolled it up in the shirt, tossing it out of the way.
Jae leaned on my shoulder, unable to do more than draw his knees up and breathe. We struggled to gain our composure, unable to look each other in the eye without chuckling. I brushed the stray strands out of his eyes and kissed his temple, running my fingers through his damp black hair. His breath was hot on my neck, and he surprised me with a lick of his tongue against my collarbone.