by Erin M. Leaf
“Yeah, fucking sounds good,” Nick said, a hint of amusement coloring his voice. “Maybe we can try that tomorrow.” He slid up next to Felix with his boxers pushed down. Felix could feel Nick jacking himself. “I’d love it if you fucked me,” Nick added.
“Jesus Christ,” Felix heard himself say, mentally imagining himself pounding into Nick’s hole. He shuddered, and then roughly shoved Nick’s hands aside. He cupped Nick’s dick, and then started stroking him the same way he did it to himself. Nick’s erection felt hard and hot and silky smooth. He leaned over the man, pressing him down onto the bed with his body. If his cock would cooperate, he’d fuck Nick right now, but he was completely spent. He opened his mouth and bit down on Nick’s shoulder. Felix wanted to hurt him, and arouse him, and everything in between. I’m losing my mind, he thought, mind racing over all of the pointless, lukewarm sex he’d experienced for the past several decades. How did I not know this about myself?
“Oh God, yeah,” Nick groaned, startling him out of his thoughts. “Just like that.” His hips started moving. Sweat slicked his torso.
Felix closed his eyes and mentally kissed his heterosexuality goodbye. Nick writhing beneath his hands was the hottest thing he’d ever experienced. Felix rolled over until he was completely on top of him, still stroking his cock, and then he kissed him. Nick opened to him immediately, moaning into his mouth. Felix seized the opportunity and bit Nick’s lower lip. His cock twitched against Nick’s hip, super sensitive after the ridiculous orgasm Nick had given him. Felix grunted, hands twisting around Nick’s erection. “Come on, Nick. Give it up to me. I want to see you fuck my hand.”
Nick groaned, and then his cock hardened and jerked. Felix stroked him through his climax, not trying to be gentle at all. Nick seemed to like the roughness. He grabbed onto Felix’s shoulders and shoved his hips up through Felix’s fingers.
“Aw, fuck,” he finally said, collapsing back down in a boneless sprawl. His dick twitched, jetting yet more spunk into the mess between their bodies.
Felix gentled his touch, then stopped when Nick angled away.
“Hell. You’re a natural,” Nick said, voice breaking.
Felix rolled off him and onto his back. “Shit.” He ran a hand over his face, and then flinched when he realized it was covered with Nick’s jizz. “Shit.”
“You’ve started repeating yourself,” Nick said, leaning over him to grab some tissues from the box on the nightstand. “I’m good, but I didn’t know I was that good.” He laughed.
“Turn on the light,” Felix said, needing to see Nick’s face.
Nick hesitated, but then did as Felix asked.
Felix stared up at him. Nick’s blue eyes had gone dark. For some reason, Felix liked the way his hair looked: wrecked. God, I’m so fucked.
“You all right?” Nick asked settling back down on the bed. He swiped at the mess on his stomach halfheartedly, and then tossed the damp tissues onto Felix. He pulled off his damp t-shirt and threw it down over the foot of the bed.
Felix scowled, but then used the tissues to mop up some of the stickiness gluing his body hair to his skin. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
Felix wiped his hands and tossed the tissues to the floor. “I just fucking figured out that I’m gay. Give me a goddamn break.”
Nick grinned. “Maybe you’re bi.”
Not likely, he thought, but he wasn’t in the mood to argue. Felix rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I don’t fucking care.”
Nick settled down, then stroked a hand down Felix’s arm. “You can totally fuck me when I recover from this.” He waved at his limp dick. “Tomorrow morning, hopefully.” He yawned. “But now I’m going to crash.”
Felix took in Nick’s bare torso, and the answering spark of arousal in his core was all the confirmation he needed. “Shit.”
Nick laughed as he settled in next to Felix. “You need a new swear word.” He rolled partly onto his side and slid a leg over Felix’s.
Felix flicked off the light. Nick’s warmth felt good. He heard him yawn again, and that spurred an answering wave of tiredness. I can figure out all this shit tomorrow, he promised himself, closing his eyes.
Chapter Seven
“Wake up.”
Felix’s eyes snapped open. His cock was hard, and someone was stroking him. Instinctively, he pushed his hips up into the perfect grip even as he rolled and immobilized the man in his bed. His hands went around the guy’s neck and he opened his legs, pinning him to the mattress. Sunlight streamed into the room because he’d forgotten to close the shades. He judged it to be around seven AM.
“Easy there, Felix,” Nick said, a hint of amusement in his voice. His hands had stilled. “Remember me?”
Bright blue eyes looked up at him, and Felix’s fuzzy brain finally jerked into gear. “Nick?”
“Yeah.” Nick twisted his fingers, sending sparks of pleasure down Felix’s spine.
Felix let out a harsh breath. “Christ, I could’ve killed you.” His fingers tightened around Nick’s throat. He could feel the man breathing. The power he held over Nick aroused him. Nick’s hands aroused him. I’m a sick fuck, he thought, even as he rolled his hips, thrusting into Nick’s palms. He made his fingers loosen. God forbid he accidentally strangle the man giving him pleasure.
“But you didn’t kill me. At least, not yet,” Nick said, hands cupping Felix’s erection. “Fuck my hands.”
Felix closed his eyes and rested his forehead on Nick’s shoulder. “This is not how I imagined waking up.” His hips pushed into Nick’s grip again. And again.
“This is exactly how I imagined waking up,” Nick replied. He let go and shoved Felix’s shirt up. “Take this off. I can’t believe you’re still wearing it.”
Felix leaned up and pulled the fabric over his head. Nick was already naked. “This what you want?”
“Oh yeah. Perfect.” Nick was already pulling him back down. “Here. Like this.” He lined up their cocks and stroked them together. “Come on. Fuck my hands.”
Felix groaned, then did as Nick asked. He was already close to coming, and then Nick let go and grabbed his ass.
“Harder. Push down,” Nick said, breathless.
Felix couldn’t do a damn thing except comply. His hips jerked faster, chasing the sensation of Nick’s swollen erection sliding past his. “Fuck.”
“Yeah. You feel fucking fantastic, too,” Nick muttered, fingers digging into Felix’s ass. “So close.”
Felix leaned down and kissed him savagely, hips moving faster. Nick sucked his lower lip into his mouth, then bit down. The pain shot through Felix like a bolt of lightning, and his cock swelled. “Nick,” he gasped.
Nick pushed up, cock hot and wet. When he groaned, spine flexing, Felix shuddered. His orgasm came out of nowhere. He dropped his head into Nick’s neck as his body took over. Heat spread between them, and he thrust, no longer able to keep a steady rhythm. His cock swelled, then softened. When Nick wrapped his arms around him, Felix finally let himself slump down, breathing much faster than he would have expected from such a simple sexual act.
“Yeah. That’s what I’m talking about,” Nick murmured.
Felix snorted, and rolled off of him with a supreme act of will. “I thought you were going to let me fuck you?”
“No time. Jenna will be awake in, like, five minutes.” Nick grabbed the sheet and mopped them both off.
Felix flinched as Nick brushed over his cock. “Easy, there. Are you trying to break me?”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re okay, stop complaining.” Nick tossed the sheet to the floor. “I hope you have more bedding.”
Felix rolled his eyes. “Of course. I also have this thing called a washing machine.”
Nick smirked and rolled out of bed.
Felix watched Nick stride to the bathroom, distracted by his perfectly shaped ass, and then his mind reasserted control. “I’m going to take you and Jenna to a guy I know who can help.”
Nic
k paused, just inside the doorway to the bathroom. “Help, how?”
“He can protect Jenna while we hunt her bastard ex down.” Felix liked that solution. He’d fulfill his contract and help Nick out at the same time. He didn’t mind cancelling the contract, but he didn’t want Edwards indefinitely hanging over Nick and Jenna like a damned curse. He might as well do the job and collect the money, especially since it looked like he might be hanging out with Nick for a while. He wasn’t anywhere near done exploring his newfound sexuality.
Nick pursed his lips. “So, we hunt him down. Then what?”
Felix raised his eyebrows. “You know what.”
Nick tilted his head. “You’re going to let me tag along with you?”
He’s got a point. I’ve always worked alone, Felix thought, but then his mouth opened and words he’d never in a million years ever imagined he would say came out. “Yeah, you’re coming with me. We nullify the problem, collect payment, and Jenna lives happily ever after without some loser ex on her tail. You got a problem with that?”
Nick shook his head slowly. “Nope.”
Felix smiled, feeling strangely at peace for the first time in years. “We leave in a half hour.”
****
Nick stepped out of Felix’s truck, then turned to help his sister down from the back.
“We’re here?” Jenna yawned as she hopped down. “Damn. We’re still in the middle of nowhere, except this time it’s an abandoned warehouse graveyard instead of a forest.” She glanced around. “This is some kind of cliché weirdness, isn’t it? I feel like I’m walking into a bad suspense movie.” She frowned. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea, Nick. They always kill people in giant warehouses, you know?”
“This isn’t the movies, though. It’s real life.” Nick reached in to grab her bag. “Felix says this is the place.” He looked around. His sister was right. Old brick warehouses with broken windows surrounded them. The faintest tang of water told him that there was a river somewhere beyond the cluster of buildings, but he had no desire to go exploring. Gang tags and trash littered the ground. Potholes pocked the asphalt, and weeds poked up through the cracks. If the sun hadn’t been shining down on them, the place would probably look like something out of a dystopian movie, not a thriller, like his sister said. He rolled his shoulders, glad he’d managed to grab his favorite knife on the rush out of his rental house. He could feel it along his forearm, cool and useful. He also still had the pistol one of Q’s goons had left behind. He readjusted it in the waistband of his pants, wishing he had a holster. He did not want to shoot off his own dick by carrying it like this for too long. Maybe Felix’s contact will have something better I can use, he mused.
“This is the place. And you will keep your mouth shut about it,” Felix said, locking his truck. “My contact doesn’t like people knowing where he lives. Hell, I’m taking a risk just bringing you here.”
Jenna looked down at her feet. “I have no one to tell. And you’re helping me. I would never squeal on you.”
Felix’s hazel eyes softened as he glanced at her. “Good.”
Nick suppressed a wave of affection. He liked the way Felix treated his sister. He liked the way the man hadn’t freaked out after his first gay sex. And he really fucking liked Felix’s competence with nasty situations. No falling in love, Nick. You had some fun with him, and maybe you’ll have some more fun, but that’s it, he reminded himself. No attachments in your line of work. It’s not smart.
“Follow me,” Felix said, heading for one of the warehouses. Halfway there, he stopped and changed direction. After a few minutes of seemingly random wandering, Felix led them into a dank alley and stopped halfway down. The far end held a chain link fence, so their only exit was the way they’d come in.
“You sure this guy isn’t going to shoot us on sight?” Nick asked as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He knew that someone was watching them. He’d been in too many hairy situations to ignore his instincts now. He grabbed his sister and put her behind him, not that that would do much good. In these close quarters, the threat could come from behind or above just as easily as it could from in front of them.
“Yeah. I’m sure. I helped him out of a shit situation a while back. He owes me.” Felix pulled out a cell phone and punched in a few random looking characters, and then he waited.
Nick frowned. He recognized a code when he saw one.
When Felix’s phone buzzed, his shoulders relaxed, and he slipped his phone back into his pocket. “Okay. We can go in.” He opened the heavy metal door set deep into the crumbling brick wall in front of them.
Nick followed Felix into the dark building, keeping Jenna behind him. His spidey-sense told him that the shit was about to hit the fan, but Felix’s ease contradicted his worries. “Dammit,” he muttered, drawing his blade. He didn’t want to shoot someone by accident, but he sure as shit didn’t like walking into a dark hole controlled by no one he knew.
“This way,” Felix said, leading them into a hallway on the far side of the vast space. At the end of the hall, a bare light bulb buzzed against the wall, illuminating a newer looking door. Felix tapped on it.
When it opened, Nick froze. The muscular man standing behind the door was someone he knew well, even though he’d only met the guy in person once. And now I’m completely fucked. Who knew Felix’s friend would be my fence? He stepped back instinctively, even though he knew it wouldn’t help. The man’s eyebrows went up, and then he grinned.
“Nick Banner, well, well. What a surprise,” Zero said, dark eyes flicking past Felix to land on Nick.
Felix went perfectly still. “You two know each other?
“We do, indeed, Felix.” Zero smiled as he stepped back to usher them in. “Welcome to my humble abode.”
“Interesting,” Felix said in a low voice, staring at Nick. “You didn’t mention that to me when I told you his name, Zero.”
Nick nearly flinched back at the cold tone, but then he reminded himself that even if Felix turned on them, he wasn’t without skills of his own. He already had his knife in his hand. And I’ve had his cock in my mouth, he thought, hoping that the pleasure he’d given Felix would be enough to convince him that Nick meant him no harm. He made sure Jenna was still behind him. She didn’t deserve to get trapped in the middle of this if it all went to shit. And it’s probably too much to hope that I get through this without her finding out about my real career.
“Oh yes, it is very interesting, isn’t it? Nick is one of the best thieves on the east coast,” Zero said smoothly. “And why would I mention it to you? You know my clients have perfect anonymity, Felix. And, too, I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.” Zero smiled, dark eyes twinkling evilly. “We make a lot of money together, don’t we, Nick?”
Nick grunted as Jenna’s hands tightened painfully around his arm, pulling on the healing wound of his bicep. Yep, and now I’m completely outed, he thought, almost laughing at the irony. His sister had known he was gay since he was twelve, but this? She didn’t know about this. He’d never wanted her to know. What are the fucking odds that Felix’s contact would be my fucking fence?
“A thief,” Felix said, an odd note in his voice. “Yes, very interesting.”
“Nick, what is he talking about?” Jenna asked, fingers digging into his arm.
“I told you that I work from home,” Nick said tightly. “It’s not a big deal.”
“I thought you did something with computers,” Jenna replied, not sounding in the least convinced.
“And he does. We do all of our business together online. He ‘discovers’ the product,” Zero explained, using air quotes to convey a multitude of meanings with the word. “And I sell what he so carefully finds. It’s a win-win situation.”
“Nick?” Jenna sounded like she wanted to make a run for it.
Judging her survival more important than keeping his true career a secret, he turned. “I only steal things that people won’t miss.”
“Precisely, li
ke expensive art and jewelry,” Zero said, stepping back. “And sometimes very protected information stored on private servers. Nick finds all the stuff that people want most to hide, and it’s all insured to the gills. It makes for a very tidy business, you must understand.”
“Oh my God, Nick. Is this true?” Jenna shook her head. “I don’t get it. Why would you do that? I thought you were a web designer or something.”
Nick rubbed his face. The top of his head had begun to throb. “I ended up on the streets with a shitload of student loans and nothing except the clothes on my back, Jenna. What’s there to understand? Our parents kicked me out. I got hungry. Things happen.” Nick was losing patience. He’d come here to help her, and she was freaking out over his fucking job. “Deal with it, sis. It is what it is.” He knew he wasn’t being very nice, but he’d reached his limit of patience.
Jenna stared up at him, eyes wide. “If you’re a thief, what is Felix?” She glanced at the man quietly waiting in the doorway.
“Ah. That is also a very interesting question, my dear, but it’s better answered inside, where the walls don’t have ears.” Zero motioned them through the doorway.
Nick nudged her inside. As soon as the metal door shut behind them, lights flashed on, nearly blinding him. He blinked and cursed. “Jesus, Zero. You’re a paranoid fuck.”
“Yes, I am, and it has kept me alive all these many years. Come,” Zero said, tapping at a security display on the wall. “This way.” He led them down another hallway. At the end, a polished wooden door sat ajar. Zero eyed Nick’s weapon. “You won’t need that in here, Nick.” He ushered them into a lavishly decorated apartment.
Nick fingered his blade as he followed Zero into the apartment. He stopped just inside the door and whistled when he saw the original Harper painting hanging on the wall over Zero’s flashy red sofa. “Damn. I thought a client bought that last year?”