Desires' Guardian

by Tempeste O'Riley

  The chuckle became a full-on belly laugh. “I never said over his desk, dear. That’s all yours, though it would look great on canvas….” James trailed off, and seconds later, he realized the call had ended. Chase looked at the phone and grinned. Yeah, he knew what James was off to paint. Wonder if I can talk him into letting me buy it?

  Chapter 16

  CHASE KNEW Mark and Nichelle were gone for the day, though Mark was probably upstairs in his loft, so it was just Grayson he had to wait out so he could spend time with Rhys. For the first time in years, his initial instinct hadn’t been to run to James. Not calling James right away and waiting while Rhys found out about his past was one of the hardest things he’d done in a long time. However, if they were going to be a real couple, with a possibility of a future, he had to be open. Only problem was, he couldn’t talk about Ethan. Not yet, maybe never. Thankfully, James had stepped in and rescued him.

  He closed down his computer, intending to follow James’s suggestion. Truthfully, he had thought of it a few times lately but hadn’t wanted to risk being caught having sex by Mark or Nikki. Somehow, that no longer mattered to him. Living his life, however, did. Once he was certain everything was saved and off, he grabbed his pack and went to the reception area to wait. Settling into one of the comfy chairs, he planned his attack, determined to have his way with Rhys. He just hoped Rhys was good with office sex.

  A short time later Rhys came out with Grayson, laughing. They made it to the IT area before either man noticed Chase wasn’t there. He took the opportunity to ogle Rhys’s tight butt and the sensuous way he moved.

  After a moment, Rhys turned, searching for him. “There you are.”

  Chase flashed him a smile. “Yep, finish up with your friend, hun. Changed my mind about staying late.”

  Rhys’s face fell a little, but Chase bit his tongue so as not to give away what he’d planned. “Oh, okay. I’ll take you home in just a minute, then.”

  “No worries.”

  Grayson and Rhys spoke for a few more minutes while the other man gathered his things. He waited while Rhys walked Grayson out, knowing he would have Rhys at his mercy soon.

  Checking the door to make sure he had time, Chase hurried into Rhys’s office, set his backpack on one of the chairs, pulled out an individual packet of lube and a condom, then tucked both into the front pocket of his jeans. He looked around, happy Rhys was such a tidy guy. His desk held his computer, a few loose items that were easily moved to safety, and a file folder he carefully placed on top of the closest file cabinet.

  Once he was happy with his setup, he sat behind the desk in Rhys’s chair and waited. When he heard Rhys come back inside, his pulse spiked and his mind spun with what he intended to do to his man.

  “Chase?” Rhys called curiously.

  “In here, Rhys,” Chase replied, dropping his voice a little.

  A moment later, Rhys stood in the doorway, brows pulled together, forehead creased. “What are you doing in here and… hey, where’s the stuff I had on my desk?”

  Meeting the incredulous man with a heated, heavy-lidded gaze, Chase crooked his finger, motioning Rhys forward. “Shut the door and come here.”

  “You okay?” he asked but did as told. “What’s going on?”

  Chase shifted, widening his legs so Rhys stood between them. He reached out and grasped the belt in front of him, unhooking it.

  “Uh, not that I don’t like you when you’re being friendly, but what are you doing?” Rhys asked.

  Annoyed he needed to catch Rhys up with the plan, he huffed and stood, forcing the bigger man against the desk. He slipped his hands under the red T-shirt, dragging it up the tight, defined muscles. Once he’d exposed a thin strip of lightly freckled skin, he teased it lightly.

  Rhys’s groan had Chase’s cock hard and throbbing, begging for attention. He ignored it, determined to drive Rhys as crazy as he already drove Chase.

  “Chase? Baby?”

  Chase tugged on the shirt, annoyed it was in his way. “Off,” he mumbled as he dipped his head to leave barely there kisses across Rhys’s chest.

  Rhys obeyed, much to Chase’s silent satisfaction. He rubbed his hands and fully clothed body against Rhys’s half-naked one. He reveled in the whimper when he pinched both nipples between his fingers, tugging and twisting, careful not to injure.

  “We’re still in the office,” Rhys panted, pushing into Chase’s ministrations.

  “Mm… I know.” Swiping his tongue across one of Rhys’s peaked nipples, he teased and tormented it before sucking it into his mouth hard and carefully biting down and worrying the nub. The groan that slipped out of Rhys had Chase practically giddy, loving how hungry the man always turned in his hands.

  “Ohh… my place is just… upstairs,” Rhys forced out between moans.

  “Don’t want to wait. Want to live,” Chase countered, tracing his fingers along Rhys’s abs, teasing down the light ginger hair that ran from his navel to his groin.

  “Live?” Rhys shivered when Chase dipped his fingers beneath the waistband of his jeans, ghosting a touch across the tip of Rhys’s cock. The dampness there thrilled Chase even more than the sounds falling from the man’s delicious mouth.

  “No past.” Chase stood on his tiptoes so he could nip along Rhys’s collarbone and up his neck. “No future,” he added, pulling Rhys down a little more. “Just you, me,” he continued before sucking on Rhys’s pulse point, “and what we can do together,” he finished, and bit down on the spot he’d just teased, hard.

  “Ch-Chase….”

  He smirked against Rhys’s throat, loving how his man trembled for him. “You want more, boy?”

  “Not a—”

  Chase knew Rhys would argue over the word boy, so he twisted both nipples and bit down again, pleased when Rhys words turned into a low, long moan.

  Releasing one tight red bud, he latched on with his mouth as he deftly unbuttoned Rhys’s jeans, pushing them and his boxer briefs off his hips. After a moment of fighting with the material, he hobbled Rhys. Chase pulled back and looked his lover over, desperate to be inside now but not ready to give up on his torture yet. He took Rhys by the arm, spinning him away so he faced the desk, and pushed down on his shoulders. “You’re going to need to hold on tight.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “That should be perfectly obvious,” he cooed. He trailed his fingers down Rhys’s back and buttocks, loving how his skin goose fleshed and the muscles twitched. He frowned as he realized Rhys was still too tall. “Spread your legs, babe. I’m not getting a ladder to fuck you.”

  Rhys chuckled, but instead of cooperating, he shifted so quickly Chase was startled when Rhys turned, scooped him up, and laid him out across the desk. “Rhys!” he squeaked, unsure what was going on.

  Chase watched in stunned silence as Rhys deftly undid his pants and stripped him, leaving him in nothing but his shirt. He opened his mouth to object but gasped instead when Rhys bent over and licked a path up one thigh. The moan that came out would have embarrassed him if he’d been able to think clearly. Right then, though, he couldn’t care about anything but how Rhys touched him.

  “I’d love you to fuck me, baby,” Rhys rumbled against where his thigh joined his groin. “But later. Right now….” Rhys repeated the same action on the other side, pulling another moan from him. “I think you need to let go and let me love you,” Rhys finished, then nuzzled Chase’s sac.

  “Rhys….”

  Rhys traced the tip of his tongue around the head of Chase’s weeping cock. Chase propped himself up on one elbow and tangled his hand in Rhys’s soft, short hair—not hard enough to hurt, but enough to pull another groan from his lover. Rhys’s eyes widened, and his lips parted just enough to suck the head of his cock between them.

  Wrapping one large hand around Chase’s length, Rhys nursed on his cock, sucking and licking, with just a touch of teeth, making Chase writhe and whimper continuously. When Rhys tightened and relaxed his lips rhythmically, a
ltering the pressure and suction on Chase’s rod, Chase keened, trying to warn Rhys. “Clooooose….”

  Rhys’s eyes twinkled as he met Chase’s gaze, taking him deeper and harder, swallowing repeatedly around his tip. A moment later, Chase felt a wet finger slip behind his balls, rubbing along his taint as he writhed and moaned. Rubbing his tongue along the underside of Chase’s cock, Rhys hummed, sending him even higher. When Chase felt Rhys’s finger massage and probe his hole, he was so far gone and needy, he pushed back instead of pulling away, as he normally would. Rhys pushed inside him, his movements careful as he continued until he managed to hit Chase’s happy spot. Chase yelled as Rhys continued to rub and press while sucking harder.

  Chase slammed his hands down on the desk, scrabbling for something to hold on to as his back arched. Just before Chase came, Rhys pulled off, stroking him hard and fast until he shot, decorating his chest with his release.

  Before he could process what Rhys was doing, the man climbed up onto the desk and knelt over Chase. Chase watched, dazed yet fascinated, as Rhys stroked once, twice, and once more before he roared out his pleasure, adding his spend to what was already on Chase’s body. Without thinking, Chase wrapped his arms and legs around Rhys, pulling him down to press his lips against Rhys’s in a silent thank-you as he continued to shudder from the power and depth of his need fulfilled.

  Minutes later, when his brain kicked on again and his breathing calmed enough so he wasn’t afraid he would pass out, Chase shifted under Rhys, frustrated at his lack of space. He didn’t really want Rhys to move, though, so he focused instead on caressing Rhys’s back, arms, and hips as he waited for his lover to calm and move.

  When Rhys finally moved to lift off him, Chase shifted again to help him lie down where he’d just been. Chase watched, entranced, as Rhys rested, his eyes wide and glassy. He pulled a pack of baby wipes from his bag before wiping first himself and then Rhys down.

  He quickly donned his clothes and then focused on Rhys again. Using slow, careful strokes, he cleaned Rhys of all traces of their come, kissing and petting him as he went.

  “Hun? Rhys?” Chase asked against Rhys’s back, his voice soft, awed. “You need help?”

  His only answer was the nod from Rhys. Chase pulled the rolling leather chair closer and then helped maneuver Rhys until he was sitting in it, sprawled back, his legs wide. Rhys’s strong arms shot out and pulled Chase into his lap.

  “Thank you, sweetheart.” Rhys nuzzled Chase’s damp temple.

  Chase chuckled as he snuggled into the wide chest. “You don’t need to thank me for that, hun. I think we both enjoyed that.”

  “No,” he rumbled against Chase’s skin. “For giving us a chance. For trusting me with your secrets.”

  “Thank you for not giving up on me.”

  “Huh?”

  “James told me about all the plotting against me.” He swatted Rhys’s arm. “Including ruining my date with Adrian, you ass.”

  Rhys grunted.

  “Poor guy deserved better than that.”

  “Can find his own boyfriend. He can’t have mine.”

  “As much as I like the sentiment, hun, I think you might want to move before you stick, permanent-like.” He giggled at the indignant grumble, amused at how rough yet sweet the man beneath him was.

  Rhys plucked at Chase’s clothes, a deep frown on his face. “How come you’re dressed?”

  Chase ignored the question and instead said, “Don’t worry, baby, I think you’re yummy like this. Maybe I should keep you naked all the time.”

  “Yeah, sure, that would go over well come time to work.”

  “Hmm…. True, they don’t all need to see what you’ve got going on under your clothes. Fine,” he sighed. “I supposed you can wear clothes when outside the doors of whichever apartment we’re at.”

  “Gee, thanks. I’m no one’s slave boy.”

  “No, but I like the idea of the easy access. Now hush and get up. I’m hungry, and I haven’t eaten all day. Caffeine only goes so far.”

  “You didn’t eat? Why?”

  “I, um, couldn’t before. Between this morning and worrying about how things would be when you returned from James’s, I, well….” He shrugged, unsure how to finish.

  “Sweetheart, you can’t go without eating.”

  “The thought of food, ugh.”

  “But now?”

  “James reminded me that life is for the living and that I needed to embrace the life I have, not stay mired in the past.”

  “Good for him.”

  “Yep, then he told me to go fuck you over your desk. I’m thinking the man’s a genius,” he added, grinning. The flush that spread over Rhys’s cheeks had him laughing so hard, tears slid down his cheeks.

  “It’s not that funny.”

  “Yeah, it is,” Chase managed to get out. “Though you did derail my intentions. Have to say, though, I rather like your plan. We’ll have to try this again. Soon.”

  Rhys stood, still holding Chase, and unceremoniously dumped him in the chair. Chase watched as Rhys fought to untangle his jeans from his leg and then get redressed.

  “There,” he said, stomping his shoes back on. “Now that I look mostly presentable again, how about if I take you to dinner before you and your skinny self waste away?”

  “Skinny! I am not. I’m trim and fit, not scrawny. Thank you very much. Of course,” he added and smirked, “a few more times like that, and I won’t need my gym membership anymore.”

  “Ass,” Rhys rumbled and slung his arm around Chase’s shoulders. “We can take my bike and go for a ride after dinner.”

  Chase nodded, scared a little. How the man had gotten to him so deeply, he had no idea. But the only person in his life outside blood relations who knew more about him was James. He knew he should hate this, especially because it happened so fast, but instead all he felt was relief. “That sounds like a plan.”

  WHEN THEY exited, Rhys stopped short at the sight of a sticky note on his office door. He pulled it off and read it, then looked to where Mark’s office door was closed. Cheeky bastard, he thought fondly, thankful their friendship was stronger than titanium, or he was certain Mark would have interrupted and killed him.

  He handed the note to Chase and failed to stifle his amusement when Chase blushed and ducked his head. “Oh God. And I’m supposed to teach him and Aurora how to make those truffles her parents love,” he whined.

  “I’m sure you’ve been heard before.”

  “Yeah, but not by my straight friend and boss!”

  “All it says is lock up and not to scare the neighbors too much. You’ll be fine. Let’s slip out, though, before he catches us and makes a liar out of me.” He guided Chase outside, taking a moment to lock up before they went to dinner.

  “STILL THINK you’re being weird,” Chase muttered and stomped into the living room at Rhys’s place. “I’m perfectly capable of staying in my own apartment.”

  “I’m not leaving you alone yet, and that’s final.” Rhys tugged him down into his lap and wrapped his arms around him. “Not after this morning, cariadon.”

  Yeah, he didn’t want to think about that morning. Truthfully, he didn’t enjoy the idea of sleeping alone that night either, worried his old nightmares would return and he would end up screaming himself awake. Not that he wanted Rhys to see how broken that event had left him. “Just for tonight, though. I’m not some charity case. Okay?”

  “No, you’re my boyfriend, and as such, I get the right to be there for you when bad things happen.”

  “I’m not some helpless girl, ya know.”

  “Thank heaven for that. I don’t do chicks!” Rhys laughed so hard he snorted, while Chase glowered. “Ah, come on. Even the hardest badass out there needs a friend once in a while.”

  “Fine, just remember who wears the pants in this family,” Chase quipped, snuggling into Rhys more. He was so tired.

  “Um, last time I checked, we both do, cariadon.”

  “Not t
he point,” he mumbled and then thought about what Rhys had said. He’d called him that weird word again. More than a couple of times now, he thought. “Why do you keep calling me cari… that word?”

  “I told you what it means. It’s what my dad calls my mom, what Ryan called Janet, and what I intend to call you.”

  “It’s not that I object to pet names, obviously, but I’ve never heard the word before you called me that back at the B&B.”

  Rhys shrugged, shifting his big body and Chase with the movement. “It just is, okay?” he grumbled.

  Chase wasn’t sure if Rhys was uncomfortable expressing why it was so important to him or if he thought Chase actually objected to the name. “It’s nice, Rhys. Now, sit still so I can rest. You keep moving.”

  “Yes, dear.” Rhys twisted once more before holding Chase against him and stroking his hair gently. Moments later, he remembered nothing, exhaustion having finally won.

  Chapter 17

  CHASE WAS unsure how it happened, but the next week and a half flew by. He spent most nights with Rhys, usually in his loft above the office. Most days he spent focused on his consulting work and helping Mark and Rhys with anything not related to the murder-suicide cases. Grayson tended to those needs. Grayson was a quiet guy most of the time, but he was also very good at his work and loyal to Rhys above all else. Of course, Chase still wondered how the man was able to simply drop his life and leave DC on a moment’s notice, but no one had answered that question yet.

  “Hey, Chase, come on,” Grayson said, interrupting his musings. “Rhys has been by three times now wanting to take you to lunch. The code will still be waiting for you when you get back.”

  He pivoted in his chair to face Grayson, confused as to what he was talking about. He didn’t remember Rhys stopping by. “Huh?” he asked, rubbing his tired eyes.

  “You are still dating the big, burly ginger boy, right? Him,” he added and pointed to where Rhys stood speaking to Nichelle at the front desk. “He keeps coming by, but you ignore him every time.”