“Affection.” Cody repeated the word as if it were an unobtainable dream. “That’s a good word for it.”
It was the best word for what Julian was looking for. Affection meant respect. It meant that two people mutually agreed to share their lives. They would work for the greater good of them as a couple without the impossible expectations of love cutting them off at the knees.
He thought he’d had that with Blane, but he’d been wrong. But maybe, just maybe, the dream wasn’t dead yet.
“Julian?”
He turned to Cody. His eyes were wide, and they focused solely on Julian’s lips. “Yeah?”
“How about one final round of Truth or Dare?”
There would only be one better way to end this night. “Sure. And I choose dare.”
Cody leaned closer, his breath fanning over Julian’s hot, flushed skin. “I dare you to kiss me.”
His lips parted, preparing to protest, and his brain fired off questions. What if a reporter was around? What would kissing a man in public do to his election numbers? How would Spencer Baldwin turn this into a scandal?
Julian didn’t wait for his rational mind to answer. Kissing Cody felt too right. He closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to Cody’s. Cody responded in kind. He pushed himself into the kiss, forcing his tongue inside Julian’s mouth. He curled his fingers around Julian’s shirt, clutching at his chest in want and in need that caused a moan to escape from the depths of Julian’s long-denied soul.
He felt completely on display as the hot, explosive, scandalous kiss melted his flesh.
Cody placed his big hand at Julian’s nape, forcing their lips into an even more passionate exchange. Julian groaned and his already-melting flesh sizzled.
He ran his hands over Cody’s shoulders, massaged the muscled caps, and followed the line of sinew down to his bulging biceps. He curled his tongue around Cody’s, pulling him farther inside, but he couldn’t get Cody deep enough to satisfy either of them.
And what they both needed definitely required a more private venue.
Cody broke the kiss first, his breath leaving his body in ragged pants. “Damn, that was good.”
It was better than good. It was delicious. Their kiss, this entire evening, opened up a wealth of opportunities too good to be passed up. Julian pressed his lips back against Cody’s, swiping another wicked lick across his lips.
Cody trembled under its weight, and the reaction brought an impish grin to Julian’s hungry, desperate lips.
“Good dare,” Julian said when he finally mustered the strength to pull away.
“Are you kidding me?” Cody said between heaving breaths. “That was like the best dare ever.”
“I haven’t given you my dare yet.”
“Oh yeah?” Cody grinned down at him before molding their lips together once again. “Something tells me I’m gonna like it.”
Julian glanced over Cody’s shoulder at the bright neon sign of the building across the street. “Are you ready?”
Cody groaned. “You have no idea how ready I am, so just do it already.”
“All right, then.” Julian pointed to the sign and then wiggled his eyebrows. “Here it goes.”
Chapter Four
“OH my God!” Julian stood from the edge of the bed shortly after Cody finished filling in the gaps of their evening. “I dared you to marry me.”
A wicked grin slid across Cody’s lips. “You sure did.”
Julian’s pulse raced and his breathing turned labored. His career was officially over. “Why?”
“Why else?” Cody held up the finger with the wedding band. He reminded Julian of a kid who had ice cream and cake for breakfast. “You liked it, so you had to put a ring on it.”
“Oh please. You’re not Beyoncé, and we’re not really married. We can’t be.”
“Afraid so.” He snatched a piece of paper off the nightstand and waved it. “At least according to the State of Nevada and our drag queen officiant.”
The room spun. If Julian didn’t get himself together, he was going to throw up. Again. “We were married by a drag queen?”
“Yup.” Cody held out the paper. “See for yourself.”
Julian stomped across the room and ripped the document out of Cody’s grasp. After he swept his eyes over the very real and very legal certificate, the mint chocolate chip from last night threatened to make another appearance. His career wasn’t over. It had just been obliterated. He might as well hand over his Senate seat to Spencer Baldwin right now. “You’re not joking.”
Cody shook his head, and the wry smile Julian recalled from last night once again dangled from the corners of his lips. He was enjoying this a bit too much. “Afraid not, baby doll. If it helps, a Cher impersonator sang to us as we walked down the aisle.”
The only person this helped was his Republican opponent. Why had he done something so recklessly stupid? Once the public got wind of this, everything he’d done for the past decade would go up in flames.
Unless. Maybe he could find a way to keep the public out of this. He was a politician, after all. He had influence. He knew people. All he had to do was call in a few favors, and with luck—the kind only a room full of leprechauns could provide—he could get a quickie annulment and find some way to sweep this under the rug.
“Will you stop looking so constipated? You’re ruining my honeymoon.” Cody leaned back on the bed. His robe fell open, revealing what Julian now remembered calling the yummiest cock he’d ever tasted. Good God. How much had he had to drink last night? Well, obviously enough to dare a complete stranger into getting married by a female impersonator. His grandmother was right. Alcohol was the devil, and so was Truth or Dare.
“Will you be serious for one moment?” Julian put his hand up, trying to use their marriage certificate to block the view of Cody’s nakedness. “And would you please cover up?”
“What for? We’re married. If you can’t see my junk, then who can?”
Julian turned around. “It’s not appropriate.”
“Yeah, well, you had no problem being inappropriate when we consummated the shit out of our wedding. You got up close and personal with every inch of me last night. You even said I had the yummiest—”
“I remember.” He held up his hand for Cody to stop talking. “I don’t need—”
“A blow-by-blow?”
If Cody didn’t stop joking around, this accidental marriage was going to turn into a shotgun wedding real quick. “Will you please stop?” His words came out in a breathless whisper. He’d never felt this helpless or powerless in his life.
“Okay. I’m sorry.” Cody stood behind him. He rested his hands on Julian’s bare shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze. Julian immediately relaxed, and the need to run screaming from the room faded. “I’m just trying to make light of this situation because it’s so fucked-up.”
It was the first thing Cody had said this morning that made any sense. It was also a bit of an understatement. This had gone so far past fucked-up he could barely see it waving good-bye to him on the horizon.
“And don’t worry. I won’t keep you trapped in a loveless marriage.”
Cody’s words resonated deep within Julian. That had been precisely why they had gotten married in the first place. They both wanted the same thing out of life—a partnership based on mutual respect and affection. They had gotten so caught up in finally finding someone who saw relationships the same way that they looked past the consequences of hastily jumping into marriage.
But was finding what he’d been looking for worth all the chaos it would cause?
Julian turned and glanced up into the warm smile that spread across Cody’s handsome, stubbled face, and a tiny voice from deep within him answered yes. He beat that voice back down into the void it sprang from and stepped out of Cody’s reassuring touch. “We need lawyers.”
Cody sighed. “Yeah. You said that already.”
That was when he remembered Cody’s rather precar
ious financial situation. He was a part-time waiter and a full-time author who had yet to have one manuscript see the light of day. “Don’t worry. I’ll pay for them both.”
“Nah.” Cody turned around and plopped back down on the bed. His shoulders slumped, and he gazed out the window as if he’d seen something that had suddenly vanished. “I’ll pay my own way out of this.”
“Nonsense.” Julian rushed over to his phone. He needed to call his lawyer. Now. “What’s the use of having a wealthy husband if you can’t enjoy some of the benefits?”
“Did you just make a joke?” The laughter in his voice was unmistakable.
Julian picked up his phone and glanced over at Cody, who had tied the terry cloth robe tight around him. “I don’t need alcohol to pull the stick out of my ass all the time.”
“Glad to hear it,” he replied with a chuckle. “It would be nice to end this the same way it began.”
Julian clicked open his phone and noticed a dozen text messages from Adria Fuentes, his campaign manager. He didn’t have time to deal with her right now. He could only handle one crisis at a time. “You mean with the disdain I first regarded you?”
Cody laughed. “Okay. Maybe not how it first started, but what it turned into after that, after we got to talking and had some fun. I know you’re probably facing a political shitstorm, but last night was probably one of the best nights of my life.”
If Julian was being honest with himself, it had been for him too. It would likely be one he never forgot, but it had gotten out of hand. It was time to slip the reins back over his life and steer onto the path he’d been traveling before Cody.
AFTER Julian left a message with his lawyer, he disappeared into the bathroom.
When Cody heard the click of the lock, he fell backward onto the bed and let out a long, deep sigh. After years of doing everything he could to avoid being like his mother, he was now one divorce closer to mirroring the fucked-up love life of Linda Hayes Baker Mills Guerrero Ross Elliott.
Fuck. He hated himself so much right now, not just because he was headed for divorce court, which was bad enough, but because he’d foolishly allowed himself to get swept up in the events of last night.
He’d made some bonehead decisions before, but this one took the cake. He couldn’t beat himself over the head about it too badly, though. After all, his new husband had ticked all the important boxes.
Hot. Check.
Independent. Check.
Smooth brown skin that made him thirsty. Check.
Sane. Check.
An all-you-can-eat ass. A big, slobbering check.
Insatiable sexual appetite. Oh-my-fucking-God-yes check.
And the most important: not looking for love. The biggest damned check of them all.
It was no wonder Cody had said “I do” as quickly as he had, but in the cold, shaming light of day, none of those checked boxes mattered.
Julian no longer saw the potential they’d both recognized last night. Not that Cody blamed him. When he first woke up, it took his alcohol-soaked brain a few minutes to piece everything back together. When the memories finally did come flooding back to him, it had been like watching a movie. The events seemed surreal, but as the morning went on, he remembered they had wanted each other.
Had it been fueled by desire and alcohol? Most certainly. But their decision to walk down that aisle, laughing, hand in hand, had been based on more than just the need to get naked and sweaty together.
They had gotten married because they believed they had found the life they had always dreamed of living.
The ocean of disbelief that had crashed over his new husband this morning shattered all that.
It was probably for the best. Cody did better alone, living by his own rules. His free spirit didn’t take kindly to the traditional yokes of society, and that was what being married would be—a hitch in his life.
A buzzing filled the room, and Cody glanced over at the nightstand. It was his cell phone. He didn’t need to look at the caller ID to know that it was most likely Sam, Mando, or Brett calling to inquire if he had scored.
He sat up, sent the call to voice mail, and fell back onto the mattress.
A second later the buzzing returned.
Fuck. They were going to bug the shit out of him until he answered. They didn’t have time for this. Sam was getting married today.
Cody sat upright in bed.
Oh shit! Sam was getting married today, and they were all supposed to meet for a late breakfast. One glance at the clock told him that had been two hours ago.
He snatched his phone off the table and saw Sam’s number flashing on his screen. He cleared his throat and answered, “Hey, man. Sorry about missing breakfast. Want to meet for a late lunch?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” his best friend asked. “That’s what you have to say to me right now?”
Cody rolled his eyes. Ever since Sam had gotten engaged, he had acted more like the stereotypical bride than the groom. Cody had lost count of the number of calls he’d received over the past few months where Sam provided him with wedding details he didn’t really care about. What did it matter to him where people sat or what color boutonnieres the groomsmen wore?
All he needed to know was the time and the place.
“Look. I’m sorry I missed the big breakfast, but—”
“I don’t give a shit about that,” Sam practically screamed on the other end. Cody could hear muffled conversation in the background, which meant Sam most likely had him on speakerphone. “Is it true? It’s not, is it? Mando is just spreading shit again, right?”
A string of Spanish curse words echoed through the phone. Mando was obviously in the room and clearly didn’t like being called a liar, even though he usually told more lies than truths.
“I have no clue what you’re talking about.” Cody rubbed the bridge of his nose. This conversation was making his hangover even worse.
A rustling noise preceded Mando’s voice blaring over the speaker. “Don’t play dumb. We know what you did last night.”
Why the hell was Mando getting bent out of shape? He’d been at the table when Sam had told Cody to go after Julian. They all knew a long night of drinking and screwing was likely to follow. “What about it?”
Brett’s voice now echoed through the speaker. “So what they’re saying on TV? It’s true. Fuck, man! Really?”
TV? “What the hell are you talking about?”
Cody grabbed the remote control and switched on the television. The frenzied words of a reporter filled the room, but Cody couldn’t make out what she was saying. All he could focus on was the image of Julian and him walking out of the all-night wedding chapel.
The text above the picture read Senator Canales Marries Waiter.
JULIAN stood for long minutes under the scalding-hot water. It made him feel more human and certainly less queasy. He’d begun to think the waves of nausea would never stop crashing down upon him. Fortunately the hot spray sent them back to where they came from, and with any luck, they’d never return.
Now that he felt more like himself, more in control of his faculties, it was time to plan out the next few moves. First he had to call Adria and fill her in on what happened. She’d likely go nuclear and scream into the phone, which wasn’t all that uncommon. For such a little woman, she carried one hell of a big stick. Truth be told, she scared Julian a little bit, which was why she held the position of his campaign manager.
She’d know what to do to cover this up and what to do to spin the story if it happened to leak out.
Julian sighed and dunked under the water again. Who was he kidding? The likelihood of someone finding out about this was like ten to one, and it could very well prevent him from keeping his seat on the Senate. He’d built his campaign and his reputation as being an honorable and moral gay man. It had been the only way to combat the negativity the conservatives had been flinging at him. They assumed that because he was gay, he had multiple sex partners, couldn’t
be monogamous, and would ultimately destroy all of creation with sin.
His truth beat out their lies.
Just because he was gay didn’t mean he didn’t believe in the sanctity of marriage. That was why he showcased his commitment to family values in endless ads with his parents and siblings. He also ran numerous ads with other couples, gay and straight, who had been happily partnered for years.
He’d proven to be a champion of marriage in all forms, which was why hasty nuptials and a quickie annulment could be so damning for his political career. He would be just one more politician proving he couldn’t be trusted.
He didn’t want to be that kind of man. In fact, he had spent most of his life trying to be the exact opposite of his womanizing father.
But now—well, now it appeared he was more like his father than he’d thought, jumping into bed and damning the consequences.
Julian turned off the shower, and his new husband’s voice screamed at him from the other room.
“Honey, there’s something out here you really need to see.”
Why did Cody insist on using cutesy terms of endearment? “Don’t call me that. It’s Julian.”
Cody’s voice suddenly came from just outside the locked bathroom door. “Anything you say, cuddle bear, but you really need to see this.”
Julian groaned. He had a good idea what Cody wanted him to see—his cock peeking through his robe. While it had been a rather nice image, such sights wouldn’t solve their current predicament. It would likely only make matters worse, especially considering how quickly he had succumbed to his new husband’s charms.
Okay. He really needed to stop referring to him as his husband. He was Cody. Nothing more.
Julian finished drying off, wrapped the towel around his body, and stepped out of the bathroom.
The television was up full blast, and some reporter was raging on in a scandalously agitated manner. Since the station was set on typically conservative news station, that was par for the course. “Really?” he asked as Cody stood in front of the television. “That’s definitely grounds for a divorce.”
Suddenly Yours Page 5