by Ellle Parker
“Yeah, hey, I can see that,” he said, putting a hand on my shoulder. All traces of teasing were gone, and for the moment he was my best friend again. “Why don’t you let me drive when we make a pit stop? You didn’t get any sleep earlier.”
“We’ll see. I’m fine right now.”
We rode in silence for a while, then he asked, “You think McCann’s going to be a problem?”
I thought about it for a minute and tried to honestly pin down my feeling. “My gut says he’ll keep his word as long as we do,” I said finally. “But the threat is still out there, you know? There’s always a possibility, and I don’t like it.”
“You’re just gonna have to let it go, Dino. It bothers you because you know about it, but there’s a dozen other threats out there that aren’t a problem, because we have no idea they exist.”
“What are you, a philosopher now?”
“I am capable of deep thoughts, you know.”
“Yeah, well…it’s my job to know they exist.”
“You’re not fuckin’ Superman. You can’t handle everything, Dino. All you can do is deal with what’s in front of you.”
“I haven’t been managing that too well lately,” I said. “Look at the mess I got you into.”
“Quit assuming everything is your fault. I could have told you not to mess with that package in the first place, but I didn’t. It didn’t seem like a big deal to me, either.” I glanced over at him in the dim glow of the dashboard lights, and he grinned at me. “And you and I both know it’s my own damn fault I got beat up.”
I shrugged and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll give you that.”
“All right, then,” he said, leaning back in the seat. “Knock it off with the angst fest. You already had your mid-life crisis this weekend.”
“Oh, is that what that was?” I asked, biting back a smile.
“You’re fucking forty-one, you dinosaur, you were clearly due.”
That forced a chuckle out of me, and I was grateful for the break in the tension.
In spite of that, I was too wired to switch places when we stopped, and I drove the whole way home, speeding as much as I could and keeping a sharp eye out for cops. We were making good time, though, and it would have been worth the price of a ticket. We hit St. Petersburg by five-thirty and were pulling up to my building at six.
The prettiest sight I ever saw was Ruth and Della sitting out on the patio having their morning coffee. I shut the car off and sat there for a minute, letting the relief sink in. Seth was right, and if McCann or his thugs came sniffing around later, I’d deal with that when it happened. We got out of the car and said good morning to the ladies.
“Dino,” Ruth said with a smile. “How was Miami?”
“Kind of like an asphalt hell. How goes the garden planning?”
Della set down her cup and clasped her hands. “Darling, it’s going to be simply marvelous. We hired a charming young man who’s going to come on Thursday and start building the boxes for us.”
They offered us breakfast, but we explained we’d been driving all night and just wanted to sleep until noon. Della made a lot of sympathetic cooing noises, which I appreciated, and we made our escape.
Inside, Seth hesitated at the stairs and gave me a cautious look, as if he didn’t want to assume anything and start another mid-life crisis.
“Get up there,” I said. “You owe me.”
He grinned broadly and bounded up the steps two at a time.
I let him into my apartment and went to close the drapes against the early morning sun. When I turned back, he stood in the middle of the room, eyeing me with that dark gaze of his. Desire hit me hard. I wanted him, and I wasn’t just thinking with my dick, either.
He came forward to kiss me, and I let him, for a moment. But I was impatient and wanted more. “Come on,” I said, herding him toward the bedroom.
I shut the door and pulled the drapes shut there as well, blocking out not only the sunlight, but the whole damn world. This time when he came up to me, I pulled him into my arms and kissed him hard. Since the phone call at the garage, I’d felt like I had a rubber band wound up tight inside me, and now it was finally loosening.
Actually, I’d been tied up in knots all week. I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Seth’s shirt off over his head, so I could get at his skin, pressing my lips to his chest and running my hands up his back. He was warm and smooth and solid, and I needed to feel him more than I thought possible. It hit home to me just how close I came to losing him. He had several new bruises, and I traced them with my fingers until he started getting impatient.
“Dino, come on, man,” Seth said, tangling his fingers in my hair and tugging gently. “You’re going all mother hen on me again.”
“Sue me,” I mumbled against the soft line of his stomach.
He huffed and squirmed, but didn’t try to get away, which was fine, because I wouldn’t have let him anyway. I’d nearly lost him twice, and I was struck with a need to fully appreciate having him. I’d been given a second chance, and dumb as I had been lately, I wasn’t stupid enough to waste it.
I let go of him and started undoing the buttons of my shirt. “I want you in my bed,” I said, pulling it off and dropping it to the floor.
“Yup,” was his most coherent reply. “I’m on it.”
We stripped ourselves, because we were dead tired and not up to a full-blown seduction. All I wanted was Seth naked and next to me, I didn’t care how we got there.
He climbed onto the bed and waited, and I liked the way he watched me as he rested on his knees, eyes shining, but calm. I kicked off my shorts and damn near got tangled in my socks, trying to hurry up and get to him.
When I did, I pushed him to his back and held him there so I could study him for a minute. I knew I wouldn’t get completely comfortable with being gay overnight, but it was happening faster than I expected. I trailed my fingers over his chest and stomach, and along the inside of this thigh, absorbing the details.
“Oh man, Dino,” he breathed, staring up at me.
“I don’t want to have to be afraid for you like that again,” I said, settling onto him and nudging his head to the side so I could kiss down over his jaw and along his neck.
“Not that I want you to suffer, but I gotta’ say…I kind of like it.”
I moved to kiss his throat. “I think I can manage this without putting you in mortal danger.”
“Even better,” he mumbled, distracted by the path of my hand sliding over his hip.
As I’ve said, I can learn, and I had been paying attention. I rose up and straddled him, angling my hips to drag my cock lightly over his belly and down along the groove of his thigh. He moaned softly and arched his back, straining for the contact he really wanted. I stayed just out of reach, teasing slowly, and enjoyed the view of him lying naked on my sheets.
I could only manage that for so long. I wanted it as much as he did, and I rubbed my cock tight alongside his. He was hot and hard, and the sensation was electric, making us breathless with anticipation. Seth gripped my arms and pushed up with his hips. He slid his hands down my body and caressed my thighs. He clearly wanted more, but he didn’t try to run the show this time. I think it took some effort in his part, but he let me set the pace and the mood.
I wanted it slow, and I wanted to express with my body what I hadn’t been able to say yet. My physical self had this all figured out, and it was so easy to slip into sex as a way of connecting with him. I knew it couldn’t stay like that for long, but it worked in the short run.
I slid our cocks together with lazy fascination, again and again, almost the only place we touched. There was the press of his thighs between my legs, and his hands clutching at my hips, and the dizzying brush of our erections. Excitement made us slick, which fueled my desire, and I couldn’t hold out any longer.
I eased down on top of him, and Seth’s mouth fell open in a low moan. His body felt incredible beneath mine, warm and eager, and I moaned too. He wra
pped his arms around me, and I lined up our cocks, trapped in the crush of our bodies as we moved.
“Jesus,” Seth groaned as he thrust against me. “You are amazing. I could put up with a lot of mothering for this.”
“You might have to.” I shifted so we lay side by side, and I could pull him closer, hooking my leg over his. We settled into a comfortable tangle, pressed tight, with just enough room for the hot friction of our cocks. I rested my forehead against his.
“I can live with that,” he said, panting lightly.
We were too tired to be overly energetic and it took a long time, building slowly as we rocked our hips in a steady grind. That was fine with me, plenty of time for kissing and caressing. He opened his mouth to me and moaned when I flicked my tongue over his. I lost track of everything but Seth and my own pleasure.
When I finally came, the intensity of it caught me by surprise. I rolled Seth to his back, holding him down with the weight of my body while I shoved my cock hard against him, moaning inarticulate words I couldn’t finish for lack of breath. Seth groaned and met me thrust for thrust, clinging to my waist and fucking forcefully until he was spent. The wet heat of his climax spread over my stomach and sent a shiver down my spine.
He was flushed and breathing heavy, eyes half closed. I kissed him, first on the neck, and then on the lips, passionate and slow. I didn’t speak for fear of what kind of sappy drivel might come out of my mouth.
When I finally went to find a towel to clean up with, Seth barely moved. He looked over at me and smiled when I dropped down next to him. He said, “Man, I cannot wait to teach you to suck cock. You’re gonna rule.”
“What makes you think I can’t now?”
Seth snorted and laughed so hard he turned pink. When he was finally able to breathe properly, he sniffed and put a hand on my stomach. “Sorry ’bout that. Seriously, though.”
I rolled my eyes at him and pulled a pillow under my head. Truthfully, I was looking forward to it myself, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him at the moment.
He leaned over and kissed my shoulder before curling up and falling asleep, and it felt good to rest my arm over his back and drift off next to him.
Chapter 33
We slept for a few hours, but eventually had to get up and face the world. I reached for my jacket to check my cellphone messages, but was met with an odd jingling from the pocket. Inside, I found the set of keys and business card Seth’s customer had given me the morning before.
“Uh, oh,” I said, holding them out for Seth to see. “You’re gonna have one really pissed off guy on your hands. He wasn’t too happy yesterday. Sorry.”
Seth looked at the card. “Ah, yeah, this guy. His wife’s the bitch, he’s not too bad. I should be able to smooth things over. The fix is an easy one. I could have it done in a couple of hours. You willing to drop me off?”
“Sure, no problem.”
It was odd to be back to life as usual. Good, of course, but odd. I didn’t have any idea how things were supposed to be now that we were officially dating, or whatever we were calling it. All I knew for sure was Seth definitely wanted more than just sex, and I had finally gotten used to the idea of wanting him at all. Where we were headed from there, I had no clue.
I was mulling it over when I pulled up in front of Ed’s. Seth climbed out of the car and grinned at me. “See you later?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I told him, smiling back. “All right.”
He clapped his hands together and gave me a thumbs up before taking off at a trot. I watched him go, and drove away thinking about what we’d do that evening.
In the meantime, I had errands to run, and a cop to kiss up to. I couldn’t tell Teresa the whole story, because that would cause trouble for both of us, and I didn’t want to lie to her any more than strictly necessary. I thought with some creative editing I could get back in her good graces. I’d done it before, and I could do it again. I turned in the direction of the station and started practicing what I’d say.
I am, at heart, a very traditional guy. A very romantic one too, if I do say so myself. I knew seeing Seth wasn’t going to be the same as dating women, and I was going to have to learn a few new tricks. But you don’t just toss away forty-one years of teaching and experience, and frankly, some of my old tricks were damn good ones.
So, when dusk rolled around, I showed up at the garage. The air was still warm and salty, and the bugs were getting louder, doing whatever it is bugs do when the sun goes down. Seth was inside, working on some dismantled engine part he had spread out on the workbench.
I got out of the car with a bag of Chinese food and a bottle of wine. It was time to work a few of the old tricks on him.
When I went in, Seth greeted me with a smile and wiped his hands off on a rag. He also took the time to unzip his coveralls and kick out of them before coming over to give me a racy kiss that was part hello and part innuendo.
“Fuck, I’m starving,” he said as he broke away and dug through the bag of food.
I grabbed a couple of plastic cups and opened the wine, pouring us each a glass. We sat at the workbench and ate in comfortable companionship, talking about the day and our adventure, but mostly just hanging out. I was waiting to put my plan into action.
When we’d had our fill and were on our second glass of wine, I made my move. I switched off Seth’s radio and took a CD out of my suit pocket, dropping it into the player.
“What’s that?” Seth asked when I turned it on. He looked mildly amused.
Peggy Lee’s I’m Beginning to See the Light started to play as I slipped off my jacket and hung it on a rack of belt clamps. I rolled up my sleeves while he watched, and met his gaze, holding out my hand.
“You’re not serious,” he said, folding his arms over his chest.
“I am. Get your ass over here.”
“Aw, man…” He made a big show of dragging his feet, but he did come forward. “I don’t even know how to dance to this stuff.”
“I can teach you.”
I taught him a very basic move, which he mangled for a while before we finally started to fall into step. The next song was Elvis, singing One Night which had the kind of rhythm I was looking for.
“This is so sappy,” Seth said, shaking his head. In spite of that, he was becoming remarkably cooperative.
I grinned. “Well, if you think this is sappy, just wait until you hear the next song.”
I slipped my arm around his waist and pulled him closer, still leading him through the dance step, but pressing up to him so our bodies touched from chest to knees. With a little work, I was able to rub against his groin with each step. It didn’t take long to get him hard, which made it easier. It also got me hard, which made it more fun.
Seth’s cheeks were flushed, and he was breathing heavy. “Yeah, okay,” he said, following my lead as best he could. “This isn’t so bad.”
The song switched to Unchained Melody, which fit the steps much better, and I put some style into it, managing to be suave as well as incredibly sexy, and just a little dirty for Seth’s sake. He faltered and tromped on my toes, clutching my shoulder to steady himself.
“Keeping watching your feet,” I said. “It takes a while to get really comfortable with it.”
“My feet are not my primary interest right now,” he said in a rough voice.
Yeah, they weren’t mine either.
He toughed it out until the end of the song, then grabbed my hand and started dragging me to the side door. “Playtime’s over, now we get busy.”
“What are you, eighteen? Have a little patience,” I said with a chuckle.
“Shut up and walk, Dino,” he said, giving me a heated look. “And bring that disc with you.”
He let go of me and disappeared through the door, heading up to his apartment and forcing me to follow if I wanted any more of him. I grinned and took the CD out of the player. We could worry about the lights later.
I grabbed the bottle of wine too, and
went after him, thinking maybe I was going to be able to keep up with him after all.
Elle Parker
Elle Parker likes her heroes snarky and human, and she writes with a realism that incorporates humor and everyday detail into steamy and exciting stories. Although she writes a few forms of erotica, her first love and primary focus is M/M Erotic Romance. She works hard to create characters you can’t help but fall in love with.
Most of the time, Elle can be found in her home in the north woods of Wisconsin, working on her latest novel, or spending time with her husband and teenaged kids. When not writing, she likes reading, brewing beer and swimming with the loons. Unless it’s winter. In that case she grabs a book and drinks the beer.
Elle’s Website:
http://www.elleparker.com/
Reader eMail:
[email protected]
Also by Elle Parker
Dino Martini Series
Like Coffee and Doughnuts
Like Pizza and Beer
Lyrical Press books are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp. 119 West 40th Street New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2009 Elle Parker
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Lyrical Press and the L logo are trademarks of Kensington Publishing Corp.
First Electronic Edition: May 2009
ISBN-13: 978-0-98241-705-8