“Make you most happy.”
Sean groaned as he watched Alexei grab the discarded lube bottle. “It’s not a contest, you know.”
Of course it wasn’t, but it was always better when Alexei won.
“Is fun.”
Sean laughed, turning his head and breaking eye contact in the mirror. Alexei glanced down, pleased to see the crooked little smile on Sean’s faintly flushed face. His brown eyes were bright and open, the hesitancy in his gaze that had lingered in the long weeks after Boston gone now. Alexei couldn’t help but kiss Sean when he was like this. Sean wrapped his right arm around Alexei’s neck, keeping him there for a good minute, tongues licking deeply into each other’s mouths.
Sean pressed his ass back against Alexei’s groin, using his free hand to fondle Alexei’s cock. His touch made Alexei groan.
“You should get me ready,” Sean said, biting gently at Alexei’s bottom lip.
“Sore?” Alexei asked.
Sean skimmed his lips over the faint scruff along Alexei’s jaw. “A little, but you won’t hurt me.”
Alexei tightened his hand on Sean’s hip before shifting backward, reluctantly putting some distance between them. He reached for the lube again, absently making a note they needed to add more to their delivery order. He gently pushed two fingers into Sean, watching the play of emotions that ran across his face in the mirror. Sean shuddered, fingers digging into the mattress as Alexei fingered him open. His throat worked convulsively as Alexei diligently stretched him, using so much lube in the process it trickled down his thighs.
When he finally slid into Sean, it felt like coming home, the hot push into his welcoming body drawing a shuddering sigh from Alexei’s lips. Sean let out a cry, body tightening around Alexei. He hooked a hand under Sean’s knee and raised his leg up, opening him up more.
“Shh, kotyonok,” Alexei soothed as he rolled his hips inexorably forward.
“Lyosha!” Sean panted, his entire body shaking in Alexei’s arms.
Sean took him beautifully, loose and open, swallowing every last inch of him into clenching heat. In the mirror, Sean’s eyes were closed, and Alexei nosed at his sweaty hair, pressing a kiss to his temple.
“Watch,” he said, voice gone deep and guttural.
Sean moaned, eyes blinking open. Alexei glanced down at him, seeing the way blackness ate up the brown. He looked beautiful like this, full of Alexei’s cock, body flushed from pleasure. Alexei pulled out a few inches before pushing back in, slow and deep and absolutely perfect.
The sound Sean made when he did so was music to Alexei’s ears.
“Like that,” Alexei grunted as he pulled back out and slid back in again at a slow pace. “Want to hear you.”
Sean didn’t disappoint, giving voice to his pleasure in soft sighs and little cries and words of encouragement that gradually got louder. Alexei relished the noises Sean made in bed. He’d missed the sound when they were finding their footing again, missed the way Sean communicated his pleasure—loudly, at times—when Alexei fucked him just right.
Alexei thrust his way into Sean with languid motions, taking his time, in no hurry to speed up as daylight slowly brightened the room. Their reflections grew less dream-hazy in the mirror as the world woke up around them. Alexei never altered his pace and kept resolutely fucking Sean with slow, deep strokes until Sean was squirming in his arms.
“God, Lyosha,” Sean moaned. “I need you.”
Alexei thrust all the way to the hilt, grinding into him slow and hard, enjoying the cry it drew out of Sean. He squeezed Sean’s thigh just above the back of his knee before drawing all the way out and gently lowering his leg. He silenced Sean’s wordless cry with a kiss, tugging him with firm hands to his knees.
When Sean would’ve braced himself against the bed on all fours, Alexei pulled him upright. He slid his knees between Sean’s and spread them wide, forcing Sean’s legs even wider. Alexei squeezed his pecs firmly before skimming his hands down Sean’s body to rest his hands on Sean’s hips. Alexei rested his chin on Sean’s shoulder, meeting his gaze in the mirror, taking in the sight.
Both of Sean’s hands gripped Alexei’s strong thighs, toned chest arching forward a bit. Sweat glistened on his skin, his hair damp, lips kiss-bitten. With his legs spread wide, his red and swollen cock was on display, curving toward his stomach. Alexei wrapped his fingers around it, stroking it a couple of times, watching how Sean rocked into his touch.
“Lyosha,” Sean practically whined.
Alexei pressed himself more fully against Sean, hissing a little when his cock rubbed between their bodies. “Watch, Senichka. Do for me?”
Sean nodded frantically, his eyes blinking rapidly in the mirror. Alexei settled both his hands on Sean’s hips, digging his thumbs into his ass to spread him open even more. His hole was still slick from lube, wet and a little swollen, still sensitive from last night. Alexei pressed the tip of his cock against that opening, watching the way it gave a little beneath the gentle pressure.
“Wish you could see,” Alexei said as he slowly pushed inside him again. “How you take me so good.”
Sean moaned, hands flexing against Alexei’s thighs as he pressed back against the intrusion, easily taking Alexei’s length. Gasping for breath, brown eyes bright in his face, Sean looked beautiful, a sight no one but Alexei would ever see. He was infinitely grateful that Sean was his, that no one else would ever see his lover in the throes of passion again.
“Mine,” Alexei growled, his grip tight enough to bruise even as his next thrust was as careful, as gentle, as the first.
“Always,” Sean gasped out, raising one hand to tangle his fingers in Alexei’s dark hair, holding on. “Oh, fuck, Lyosha, you feel so good.”
Alexei fucked him slow and sweet as the sun finished rising, taking his time to bring Sean to the edge until he fell over with a drawn-out cry that echoed in the bedroom. Alexei milked every last drop out of his cock, holding him up with one arm as they shared a messy, openmouthed kiss. Alexei was still buried deep inside him, so close that all it took was three more thrusts before he, too, was coming, spilling himself once again into Sean.
He caught sight of them in the mirror, both of them breathing deep from their lovemaking, Sean half-collapsed against him, eyes closed now as they came down from their high. Only when Alexei could feel his cum leaking out of Sean did he deign to move. Sean hissed a little as Alexei pulled out, moving to lie down on his side.
“I’m going back to sleep,” he mumbled.
Alexei laughed, crawling over to him and lying down as well. They were both sticky and sweaty, but getting up to get clean seemed like it would take too much effort. Alexei closed his eyes, letting sleep draw him back under for a little while longer.
He woke sometime later to Sean getting out of bed and walking naked to the en suite bathroom. The bedroom was still dim thanks to polarized plas-glass and blackout curtains, but Alexei could still see every inch of Sean’s body and appreciated the view as he walked away.
“I’m hungry, Lyosha,” Sean called over his shoulder. “Let’s shower so we can eat.”
“You cook?” Alexei asked as he rolled out of bed.
“No. We haven’t left the apartment for the past two days. We’re going to Flapjacks for breakfast.”
On one hand, Alexei wanted to continue being lazy at home. On the other hand, Flapjacks was worth leaving for. The restaurant was a couple blocks away near a Metro stop and was open twenty-four hours a day. They made the best pancakes, mostly because customers got to cook the food themselves on a tableside griddle and mix in whatever ingredients they wanted. Cloned fruit and nuts, bacon, at least six different kinds of syrup—Alexei loved all the options.
He loved proving to everyone when they went there that yes, he could cook.
He just didn’t like to.
They didn’t spend long in the shower, the space more than big enough for both of them to get clean at the same time. The apartment had a lot of room, far
more than the one Sean used to live in before it was blown up last autumn, or the one Alexei used to share—in records, at least—with his brother. Kyle had long ago moved in with Jamie, but the old apartment was still solely in Kyle’s name.
Kyle and Jamie were in each other’s direct chain of command and a relationship wasn’t allowed. That hadn’t stopped them from falling in love, nor had it stopped the rest of the team from covering for them. Alexei would always look out for his little brother, but he knew Kyle was in safe hands with Jamie. They all were.
The apartment he and Sean now owned would have been impossible for them to buy. Being metahumans, they made decent money, but the government still paid them and Federal money wasn’t the best out there. Jamie had bought the apartment for them after Thanksgiving. The first couple of months living here hadn’t been easy, but it was home now, and hopefully always would be.
Alexei pulled on a pair of dark jeans and a white T-shirt with a V-neck that showed off the gold chain necklace he wore. Sean was dressed just as casually, and they left their jackets behind in favor of the warm outdoors.
Alexei slung his arm over Sean’s shoulders, reeling him in close as they walked down the street. “We go back after pancakes?”
“Kind of thought we could do something else? Maybe hit up the National Mall and go to a museum or maybe the gardens.”
Alexei wasn’t a big fan of museums—looking at paintings or ancient objects was boring—but Sean liked to go every now and then. He wasn’t going to say no to something Sean enjoyed. “Is what you want, we go.”
Sean flashed him a smile. “Great.”
Their plan for the day was a fun one—too bad they never got to enjoy it.
As usual, there was a wait to get into Flapjacks. The restaurant always rated high on food blogs and was a big draw for tourists and locals alike. Sean slipped out from beneath Alexei’s arm, intent on adding their name to the electronic list, when a pair of office workers with the rapid strides of people needing to be somewhere cut through the small crowd of people waiting on the sidewalk.
He couldn’t say what tipped him off—just that something did. Before the folded-up piece of synthpaper could smack against his chest, Alexei grabbed the guy by his wrist and shoulder and slammed him face-first against the nearest solid object. The car parked on the side of the street shuddered from the impact, the man’s scream of pain drowned out by a car alarm going off as Alexei dislocated his arm.
The guy heaved against him, and Alexei didn’t think, just slammed him harder against the car, one of the ceramic throwing knives he always carried suddenly in his hand and pressed hard against the man’s kidney.
“Move, I kill you,” Alexei growled.
“Is that a fucking knife?” the guy shrieked, voice gone high-pitched in fear.
“Lyosha!”
Only Sean’s shout stopped Alexei from killing the man in his grasp any number of ways he knew how. He wouldn’t even need his knife to do it. Narrowing his eyes, Alexei didn’t take his weight off the guy, keeping him pinned to the car, the knife and incessant pressure not letting up.
“Fucking hell, man, it was just a goddamn subpoena!” the guy yelled frantically, tears of pain sliding down his face.
“Think it funny to attack someone?” Alexei snarled.
“Oh fuck you, I was just doing my job—”
“Lyosha, no, he’s a process server, not the enemy,” Sean snapped, grabbing him by the shoulder before Alexei could do something stupid.
Like kill the asshole.
“This is assault!” the guy shouted. “Someone call the cops!”
Sean waved two crumpled pieces of synthpaper in front of Alexei’s nose, a grim expression on his face. “Subpoenas. Exactly like the other one.”
He didn’t have to say Jamie’s name for Alexei to know who he was talking about. The team had been informed by the brass when Jamie was served with the subpoena concerning his role as the financial backer to Root Source, Inc. Sean had commented at the time they would probably be targeted for service as well.
Apparently, he was right.
Alexei looked past Sean at the huddled groups of people that had rapidly put distance between them. The other process server was hovering just out of arm’s reach, as if he wanted to come to his partner’s defense but understood that was probably not the best course of action if he wanted to stay alive. Quite a few in the crowd were recording what was happening.
“Need to fix,” Alexei said, jerking his head in the direction of the cameras.
MDF hackers could legally surveil people in an attempt to keep every metahuman’s classified identity a secret in situations like this. The right to privacy was always being fought over in the court every couple of years by the ACLU or other attorneys. Congress had deemed long ago that the needs of the many outweighed the few in this particular instance and that divisive law remained on the books.
Sirens sounded in the distance, growing louder with every second that passed. The Metropolitan Police Department had a quick response rate for most calls, only because this was the nation’s capital. Alexei had lived in Boston, where sometimes they took their sweet time coming into immigrant neighborhoods. But this was an up-and-coming location for more well-off people, so when someone called for help, the police rushed to answer.
Alexei scanned the area, making sure no other threats were present before he let the asshole go, tucking his knife back out of sight. The guy lurched backward, face a little gray, his left arm hanging limply against his body at a bad angle.
Sean put a hand to Alexei’s chest and pushed him back a few steps, shaking his head in warning. “Don’t touch them,” he ordered in a low voice. “Base, we got a problem.”
Alexei ignored whatever conversation Sean was having with the supervising agents on duty back at headquarters over encrypted comms in favor of glaring at the two process servers so hard both men had to turn their backs on him.
“Quit looking like you want to murder them. Cops don’t appreciate that attitude,” Sean said.
“Not care about cops,” Alexei retorted.
“Well, you’re going to have to, because here they come.”
Two squad cars pulled up in front of the restaurant with their lights flashing. The sirens cut out as four police officers got out of their vehicles, hands resting on their service handguns.
“What seems to be the problem here?” one of the older-looking officers asked.
“That asshole dislocated my arm!” the process server exclaimed. “I need an ambulance!”
Alexei rolled his eyes but kept his mouth shut after a sharp look from Sean. Within moments the policemen and women had separated them, guiding both parties farther away from the restaurant and the ogling crowd to take their statements. Alexei decided from the get-go to play dumb foreigner.
Every question the officer in charge of questioning him asked, Alexei answered in the thickest Russian accent he could manage, which was pretty goddamn thick. He might have immigrated to the United States as a preteen from a refugee city in the Ukraine and spent three-quarters of his life in his new home, but his ethnically Russian family had been insular in the beginning. English hadn’t come easy, and while his younger sisters spoke without an accent, Alexei still carried his, even if time had tempered it.
It wasn’t enough to get him out of being patted down against the squad car, in view of everyone else. Alexei sighed heavily when the officer removed both his throwing knives from his person.
“The other guy said you had a knife. Looks like he was right,” the policewoman said in a testy voice. The electronic bodycam and ID bar pinned to the front of her uniform shirt showed her last name, Reed, and badge number. She looked to be in her early to mid-thirties, shorter than Alexei, but solid in a way that spoke of time spent in the gym. “These are illegal.”
“Have permit,” Alexei replied.
“That’s what they all say. Have anything else on you? Drugs, weapons, anything you want to tell me?”
<
br /> “Nyet.” Alexei submitted to the rest of the pat down with a scowl on his face. “Can go?”
“You aren’t going anywhere. You can’t threaten innocent people trying to do their jobs. Guy is a process server. You don’t have the right to dislocate someone’s arm and shove a knife in their back just because you don’t want to be served.”
“Would know if I shove knife in back,” Alexei muttered under his breath.
“What did you just say?” Officer Reed asked sharply.
“He’s a veteran, ma’am. He doesn’t like his personal space invaded,” Sean explained from a few feet away.
“Being a veteran doesn’t give him the right to harm another person.”
“Have right defend myself,” Alexei retorted, still keeping his hands on the hood of the squad car.
“Not like this.”
Alexei refrained from rolling his eyes, but just barely. The officer was still interrogating him when an ambulance from the DC Fire and EMS Department pulled up behind the double-parked police cars. Alexei sighed thickly, knowing the director wasn’t going to appreciate this mess.
“So he wants to press charges, Reed,” her partner said some minutes later. His electronic ID bar said his last name was Arguello.
Alexei glared at where the process server was being coddled by EMS, asking to be brought to the hospital in a very loud voice.
“Not do wrong,” Alexei protested.
“You dislocated his arm and held him at knife-point,” Officer Reed said in a disapproving voice.
Alexei couldn’t really deny that when the evidence was getting tended to in the back of an ambulance. He scowled, but the scowl slipped from his face when Officer Reed unhooked the mag-cuffs from her belt.
“You have the right to remain silent—” she began.
Alexei didn’t hear the rest of it, eyes locked on mag-cuffs, a quiet unease snaking through his mind. He did not want to put those mag-cuffs on, even though he knew there was no getting out of this situation.
He and Sean had each gone through retraining that had unflinchingly targeted what they’d been subjected to while held hostage by Cillian. That included being restrained, and while Alexei could handle it, he didn’t like it.
In the Requiem (Metahuman Files Book 5) Page 5