by Sean Michael
“Maybe not a bad thing at all,” Kenn admitted. “At all.”
He beamed at Kenn for that, but before he could say anything in reply, a shadow fell over them.
Kenn glanced up and tensed immediately, his mouth going tight. “Dammit.”
“You always did have a filthy mouth on you.” Kenn’s ex Bram stared down his nose at Kenn. He looked like he was smelling a skunk or something.
Dave couldn’t believe it. The guy had a fucking restraining order against him, and here he was—again—harassing Kenn. Dave stood and grabbed his phone to document this. That way it wouldn’t be their word against Bram’s.
“Call 911,” he told Kenn as he began to take pictures, proving that Bram was breaking the law because there he was, right next to Kenn.
Kenn pulled out his phone without any hesitation, making Dave want to cheer. This was so much stronger a response than running away had been. This was telling Bram he wasn’t going to be able to get away with trying to intimidate Kenn anymore.
“Don’t you dare, Kenneth.” Bram’s words were little more than a snarl, the threat behind them clear.
Dave flipped his phone to video and started taping. If this asshole threatened Kenneth again, he was getting it on tape. That was more than just breaking the restraining order.
“The cops will be here five minutes after Kenn makes the call,” Dave said. “I think you should leave before this gets any uglier.” He nodded at his lover. “Make the call, Kenn.”
“I’m on it.” Kenn hit 9-1-1 on his phone and put it to his ear. “Go away, Bram. You’re not welcome here.”
“I have more right than you to be here. You’re a filthy, dirty boy who doesn’t deserve to be sitting in a nice restaurant like this.”
Oh, Dave was going to beat Bram until he begged for mercy. This guy didn’t care for Kenn. Not for a second. He wondered if Bram ever had. He’d used Kenn during their marriage, taking what he needed without thought. And when Kenn hadn’t lived up to his expectations in the bedroom, had gone off the script, Bran had turned on him. Well, no more. No more.
“Hello, yes. I have a restraining order on my ex-husband, and he’s in the restaurant threatening me.” Kenn’s voice didn’t even shake.
Dave was so proud of Kenn. So proud.
“You little asshole! How dare you!” The snarl was gone; this was full-blown yelling. Hell, Bram was almost spitting.
Dave growled, “Get out of here,” because he was ready to do something he was going to regret later, the anger riding him. The need to protect Kenn, even from nasty words, was so damn strong. Of course, hitting Bram would only get him in trouble, because he was sure Bram would press charges.
Kenn stood up, grabbed a glass, and flung its contents in Bram’s face. “Leave. Me. Alone.”
“You tell him, Kenn.” Dave didn’t have to protect Kenn—Kenn was clearly more than capable of protecting himself. So fucking proud. He wanted to cheer and clap his hands but figured that would only add fuel to the fire.
“You piece of trash!” Bram reached for Kenn, face twisted with anger, but Kenn stepped back out of the way.
The manager came up to them along with their server, and Dave moved to stand next to Kenn, offering his lover all his support.
The manager turned to Bram. “I’m sorry, sir, but you’re going to have to go.”
“Me? This is the filthy low-life you should be kicking out.” Bram pointed aggressively at Kenn.
The manager seemed unfazed. “Please, sir. You’re disrupting our guests, and if you don’t go, we’ll be forced to call the police.”
“Already done,” Kenn said, voice cold. Dave put his hand on Kenn’s shoulder and squeezed.
“Then you can wait in the lobby. Dr. Brannigan is a regular here.” The manager made shooing motions.
Bram’s nostrils flared, and for a moment Dave thought he was going to hit the manager. Bram didn’t, though. Instead, he spat at Kenn’s feet and turned, heading toward the exit just as two uniformed officers came in the door.
Kenn sat hard, his face bright red, tears in his eyes. Dave stepped behind him and put his hands on Kenn’s shoulders, squeezing. He offered his support, but he knew Kenn was strong enough to deal with this. And now Kenn knew it too.
The next few moments were a flurry of police and people and questions, and Dave was relieved and pleased when the handcuffs finally went around Bram’s wrists. The man was being arrested for violating his restraining order. Dave knew it was a hollow victory. Unless Bram actually hurt Kenn, this would be a slap on the wrists, and he’d be out in the morning. Still, this was the first time Kenn had not only stood up to Bram, but there had been follow-through. Dave was totally taking it as a victory for Kenn.
The manager came up to them after Bram was taken away, the restaurant finally calming again. “Would you like another mimosa, Dr. Brannigan?”
“Please. Thank you.” Kenn hadn’t even needed to clear his throat.
Dave pulled his chair over so he could sit closer to Kenn. He took his lover’s hand. “You are the strongest man I know.” He was proud and impressed and so pleased Kenn was facing his demons, having them arrested.
Kenn met his gaze. “I’m trying. I’m trying to be strong enough to be yours.”
“I think you’ve got it backward, babe. I think I need to be strong enough to have you.” He wasn’t blowing smoke up Kenn’s ass, either. He truly meant it. Kenn was already amazing. Him knowing his own strength, his courage, and his confidence was only increasing that.
Kenn leaned over and kissed him. “You think so?”
“I do.” He held Kenn’s gaze so Kenn could read how serious he was.
A man cleared his throat, and he and Kenn turned together to find Detective Simmons standing there.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but when you’re finished here, I’ll need you to come down to the station and give us a statement. I know he’s violated the order in the past, but as this is the first time you’ve reported it while he’s still in violation, it’s important we get it all in the file.”
Dave squeezed Kenn’s hand. “We can do that. And I’ve got pictures and video on my phone of what happened.”
“If you can send that to me, that would be great.” Simmons handed Dave his card. “Email is on there.”
Kenn spoke up before Dave could reply. “Of course. Yes. Right now we want to make sure this man is kept away from my partner.”
There was his boy, looking out for him. Kenn was something special. Very special. Not that this was news to Dave, but Kenn kept proving it.
“He’ll be spending the day in jail, Mr. Brannigan.”
“Doctor,” Kenn corrected.
“I beg your pardon?”
“It’s Dr. Brannigan.” Listen to his boy—listen to that confidence, that happiness.
Simmons responded to it too. “I’m sorry, of course. I’ll see you shortly at the station.”
With Simmons’s departure, the last of the hullabaloo finally died down, and the manager brought them each another mimosa.
“Your brunch is on the house today,” he told them—told Kenn, really.
Dave thought that was generous, considering that it hadn’t been the restaurant’s fault Kenn’s ex had shown up and caused a scene.
“Oh. Oh, that’s awfully kind.” Kenn stood and shook the manager’s hand. “Honestly.”
The manager held Kenn’s hand and patted it for a moment. “We hope you’ll continue to come in on Sundays, Dr. Brannigan. We enjoy serving you.”
“This is my favorite place to brunch. You’ll have our business every Sunday,” Kenn promised.
“That’s wonderful to hear. Please stay as long as you like, and we’ll see you again next week.” The manager let go of Kenn’s hand and headed off.
“That was nice of him,” Dave noted. Then he smiled. “You have that effect on a lot of people.”
“Thank you.” Kenn leaned over and kissed him, the touch gentle as hell.
“It’s because you’
re amazing. I’m so proud of how you handled the ex. That was… stunning, watching you stand up for yourself instead of fleeing.”
“I’m tired of his shit.” Kenn waved his hand dismissively. “I have more important things to worry about.”
“Damn right.” Dave thought maybe coming into his own sexually was translating in regular life, too, giving Kenn confidence in himself. He thought they went hand in hand. Or maybe Kenn had needed someone else to fight for. Someone to love. He supposed it didn’t matter because no matter what the reason, Kenn was thriving.
“Do you want anything else to eat?” Dave asked. He was more than happy to enjoy a little more time relaxing with Kenn before they had to go to the police station and give their statements.
“I think I want to finish my mimosa and some of these berries. I wish we had some for the house….”
That was an easy wish to grant. “We can stop at the grocery store on our way home.” He’d buy Kenn whatever berries he wanted. Hell, they could have a lot of fun with berries. His eyes went to Kenn’s nipples, imagining he could see them through the blue dress shirt. They’d look neat, stained with berry juice, the golden rings shining. He’d have to make sure to clean them really well afterward, of course, but the image stayed in his mind.
Kenn stopped, his hand halfway to his mouth with a strawberry in it. “Dave….”
“What?” He didn’t think stopping at the grocery store on the way home for berries was outrageous.
“You’re making me hard, the way you’re looking at me.”
That was the best answer ever.
“My thoughts must be showing, then.” He licked his lips. “I want you and berries and metal.”
“No touching.” Kenn licked the tip of the strawberry. Little tease. Dave loved it.
He groaned. “You’re cheating, though.”
“Uh-uh. Having a berry.”
Was Kenn playing with him? Deliberately teasing him? He knew Kenn was. And he definitely loved it.
“You mean you’re fellating that berry,” he countered.
“I would never do that. Never.” Those white teeth sank in, juice coloring Kenn’s lips.
Dave had to groan again, his jeans becoming uncomfortably tight. Kenn was not the only one getting hard.
“I should take you home and turn your pretty ass the same color as your lips.” He could play with Kenn for the rest of the day, make sure they both went to class Monday morning feeling easy in their skins and happy in their minds.
Kenn’s mouth dropped open, and his cheeks went a pretty pink. “Dave!”
He smiled and nodded. Oh yeah. It was a plan.
“You need to be good,” Kenn murmured. “We’re having berries.”
“And as I said, you fellated those berries. Now we have to stop on our way home and get more, because I have sexy ideas for them. And you. Combined.”
“I was just eating them. Nom, nom, nom.”
Dave laughed softly. “Tease.” He downed the last of his mimosa.
“Are you ready to go home now?” Kenn sounded eager.
“Yeah. We need to stop off at the police station, then the grocery store, but yeah. I’m so ready. I have plans.” He waggled his eyebrows. Kenn wasn’t wearing the plug at the moment—he’d known his boy wasn’t ready to go out in public with it yet—but while they were home, he was going to make Kenn wear that thing all the time. God, it was going to be sexy as hell. Soon, though, he would put the plug in on a Sunday morning, and they would come to have brunch. And he’d know, but nobody else would. They’d all just think Kenn had a sexy walk.
“Good plans?” Kenn left the waitstaff a twenty.
“Oh, the best plans.” He let his thoughts come to the surface and hoped they showed in his face.
Kenn’s nostrils flared. He’d definitely noticed. “Do we have to do the police? That seems like a shitty way to spend a Sunday.”
“We just need to give them our statements, and then it’s over. Do you really want it hanging over us for Monday?”
“No. No, although I hate losing our time.”
“We will tell them that we don’t have a lot of time, that we have plans.” It would be a short detour. They could make sure of that. His pictures and video told the story. Which reminded him…. He grabbed the detective’s card and emailed off both the pics and the video.
Kenn nodded. “Sounds good.” Then Kenn hooked one arm in his, holding on.
It was going to be a wonderful afternoon, despite Kenn’s ex. Maybe even because of him. Now that they both knew Kenn wasn’t afraid of the man anymore, the sky was the limit.
Chapter Seventeen
KENN HEADED across campus, Tim following along with him despite the fact that he was moving quickly.
“So seriously? You’re like… kinky?” Tim asked.
“Shut up, Tim.”
“I can’t believe you hid it from me. I’m your best bud.” Tim was bouncing, joyous. Evil man.
“It’s not public knowledge.” God, he knew better than to have showed Tim the nipple rings.
“Can I see them again?” Tim asked, looking like it wasn’t a joke.
“No!”
“I’m so jealous. Are they hot?”
“Shut up!” He couldn’t believe Tim was talking about this in public.
They turned the corner, their house coming into view, and Dave was there, lounging on the porch in one of the Adirondack chairs. Dave looked amazing. Handsome and wonderful. Happy. His.
Tim hurried past him, making a beeline for Kenn’s lover. “Dave! O. M. G! You are amazing. Tell me you have friends!”
Kenn rolled his eyes and groaned.
One of Dave’s eyebrows rose, and he turned to look at Kenn, then back at Tim. “Thank you?”
“I caught Kenn playing with his nipple ring. So hot.” Tim was not going to let this go.
“It itched. Shut up, Tim.”
Dave’s quizzical expression cleared, leaving behind a wicked grin. “It itched?”
“Yes.” Kenn headed inside without another word. Buttheads.
Dave and Tim followed him, and Tim was not shutting up. “I was serious, Dave. Do you have friends?”
“Of course I have friends.”
“No, no, I mean, you know, kinky friends,” Tim said, following him inside along with Dave. Three was a lot of people for such a small space, especially when he hadn’t seen Dave since last night.
“Shut up. I’m going to take a shower. You’re both fuckers.” He couldn’t stop laughing, though.
“Why am I getting lumped in with Tim?” Dave asked. “And I’m joining you.” Dave turned back to his best friend. “Tim, we’ll see you later, yeah?”
“No fair! I should get to see them again!” Tim insisted.
“No. I shouldn’t have shown you in the first place.” He should have let Tim wonder. Although he knew Tim, and that would have resulted in a different sort of bugging him until he finally gave in and showed them. “Now go away so I can shower, please.”
Tim pouted exaggeratedly, making him laugh some more. Only then did Tim head back to his apartment, closing the door behind him, leaving them on their own.
“Asshole. How was your day?” He really couldn’t be too mad at Tim, right? The man was incorrigible. And his best friend. And wouldn’t hurt him for the world.
“It was good. The students in today’s class are really into it, and we had a great discussion.” Dave went into the bathroom with Kenn. “You look like you had a good day.”
“I did. It wasn’t bad at all.” In fact, it had been pretty damn good.
“I like to hear that.” Dave tilted his head. “No photos from the ex?”
“Nope. Nothing all week.” Which was a little surprising, as he’d thought getting Bram arrested might have had him stepping up the stalkerish behavior, but maybe it had had the opposite effect, making Bram back off.
“Let’s hope that continues to be the case.”
Kenn shrugged. “That’d be great, but
if he starts up again, that’s his problem. I’m done letting his actions affect me one way or the other. I don’t want to waste another second of our time with you giving him a single thought.”
“That’s the ticket—good for you.” Dave held his hands out, eyes warm as they looked at him. And just like that, Bram disappeared from his thoughts, and it was simply him and Dave.
Kenn went right to Dave, pushing in close. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Dave dropped down, bringing their mouths together, the kiss soft but thorough. Kenn let himself melt into Dave, low cries buzzing between them. Dave pulled him close, his chest and his nipple rings rubbing on Dave’s shirt. God, they ached. Itched. He needed to touch them again, stroke them.
What the hell? Why was he so damned horny today?
Dave hummed, fingers sliding between them to tug gently at the rings. Fuck. Fuck, they ached.
“Please… I’m going crazy.” He couldn’t think, so he offered it to Dave.
“You need to come, boy? Have the piercings got you all hot and bothered?” Dave asked, like he knew.
“Yes. This is your fault. You have me needing all the time.” He wasn’t even sure it was a bad thing. Actually, he was pretty sure it wasn’t.
“I’ll take the blame for that, and I don’t think it’s a bad thing.” It was like Dave had read his thoughts. Dave pressed kisses across his face. It was tender and sweet, but with a promise of something further. “Are you going to beg me for more?”
“Jewelry? No.”
“You sound so sure. A ladder here would be endlessly fascinating.” Dave slid a finger along the backside of his cock.
“No….” He shook his head, the thought making him dizzy. He couldn’t bear it.
“We’ll talk about it again,” Dave promised. “After the existing ones are all healed.” Dave began to strip him down, bare him like it was Dave’s right. “I can’t wait until they’re healed enough to play rough, to use chains with them. God, you’re so fucking stunning you make me ache. We’re going to play tonight, boy. We’re going to make ourselves fly.”
The things Dave said always excited him so. The fact that Dave followed his words with actions made him soar.