by Aliana James
He pulled up the comforter and waited until Travis crawled underneath before he walked to the other side of the bed.
“Where are you going?” Travis whined.
“You’re exhausted.” It was bad enough he had his doubts about the last time they were together. Having sex when one of them was half asleep wouldn’t help. Besides, he needed to make sure this was something Travis wanted.
“I am. Raincheck?” Another yawn overtook Travis, and he sank into the pillow and closed his eyes. A second later, a soft snore erupted from him.
Well, that didn’t go as planned.
There was no way in hell he would fall asleep now. After five minutes, he found reruns of an old cop drama and settled in to watch TV.
He drifted off and woke with a start. Something was weighing him down. Travis. He didn’t want to wake Travis as he lay draped across his chest. Alec resisted the need to grind his hips against Travis. It was hard not to do, and damn it, he was hard.
But his hips had a mind of their own.
“What are you doing?” Travis mumbled. “I can feel you grinding against me.”
Travis shifted, kissed the side of his neck and then his cheek. He needed to get with the program but he was enjoying this too much. It would be nice to woken up like this all the time. He placed his hands inside Travis’s pajama bottoms and palmed his ass, shifting so Travis nestled between his legs.
A groan escaped from Travis’s lips as they locked on his. Gone was gentle and soft; this was an all-out assault. Their tongues dueled until Alec had enough and flipped them over so his body blanketed Travis. He devoured his mouth as he sucked on Travis’s tongue and then his bottom lip.
The friction from lying on top of Travis was so intense that he knew he wouldn’t last long. Even though he had fallen asleep, his dick was still primed from earlier.
“Not gonna last.” He peppered more kisses across his chin, roaming down to his neck, while grinding into him.
“Wait.” Travis placed a hand on his chest and pushed.
Damn it, what now? He was so fucking close.
His eyes grew wide as Travis shimmied out of his pants and forced them on their sides. He tugged Alec’s pants down his legs and his hard cock fell into Travis’s hand. Their bodies aligned so their dicks lined up perfectly. Travis wrapped his hands around both their cocks and started the most exquisite torture while he rubbed them together and pressed his lips—God, those freaking lips—against his, their tongues locking together.
“So good,” Travis said as his hands picked up speed.
“Yes, fuck yes.” Alec pulled back and looked at where they joined before he kissed Travis again.
“I’m gonna…”
“Do it. Let me see you lose control, Alec.” Travis growled and bit his earlobe. That was all it took for his balls to tense up and release.
“Fuck yes!” he screamed and his cock emptied between them, prompting Travis’s release. Travis’s face contorted with pleasure, as he shouted out, was the hottest thing he had ever seen.
Alec leaned in to kiss Travis and they both sighed.
“That was…” He started at a loss for words.
“Awesome,” Travis finished.
“Oh, thank God. After the last time, I wasn’t sure.”
“What are you talking about?”
Shit.
“Never mind.”
Travis shifted as he used his pajamas to wipe them both clean and tossed it on the floor.
“Nope. Spill.”
Damn it, him and his freaking big mouth. He’d catch shit for this, he was sure.
“You didn’t say anything, you know?” he said.
“You mean after last time?”
“Yeah. And you did all the work.” He played with the loose thread on the pillow. Here he was at God knows what time it was, his dick still hanging out of his pants with a beautiful naked man in front of him, and this is what they were talking about?
Travis tapped him on the chin and he blinked at him.
“Oh God, what a hardship that was. Hello? Big bad ex-Army Ranger?” Travis smirked. Oh, he was going to kill him. “Have you seen how good you look?”
“This is stupid. It’s late and we both need a shower.” He went to get up but Travis grabbed his arm.
“It’s not stupid. Sorry if I made a joke. It’s just that you have an amazing body…It turns me on.”
“Your body is amazing.”
“Thanks, but we’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you. You weren’t sure about last time?”
Sarah said Travis didn’t talk. He wished he could tell her how wrong she was about him.
“I wanted to know if it was good.” Travis nodded and gestured for him to continue. Did he really want to get into this? “I guess I felt guilty… you didn’t say anything and then we didn’t talk all week…”
“It’s good, better than good,” Travis answered. “So this week, you thought something weird was going on?”
“Well, yeah.”
Now that he put it all out there, it sounded worse than when it rolled around in his head.
“I guess things are weird. I’m having sex with my best friend. Horrible sex.” He rolled his eyes as he shifted to get up from the bed. “We’re sticky and dried spunk is no fun to clean up. Let’s shower.”
Travis’s ass distracted him as he followed him into the bathroom. They were almost to the shower when his brain caught up to what Travis said.
“Horrible? Huh, can’t have my husband thinking that,” he said as he followed Travis into the shower stall. Travis laughed as Alec latched on to his body under the warm water. It was time for him to be in charge.
They’d both get some sleep, eventually.
Chapter Fourteen
Travis
Travis smiled at his phone as he read Alec’s latest text. A knock on his door pulled him out of his thoughts. Alec’s grandfather stuck his head in.
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything?”
“No, sir. Not at all.”
Alec’s grandfather walked in and took the seat on the other side of the desk, placing his cane against the second chair. Travis made a move to come around.
“No need. I’m good. Sit, my boy.”
Travis didn’t understand the reason for this impromptu visit. This man made him nervous, and he didn’t want to do anything to upset him. When Alec spoke of his grandfather, he could hear the awe in his voice. It was a far cry from the utter disdain when Alec spoke of his father.
“What can I do for you, sir?”
“Well, first off, you can stop with the sir part. I expect you to call me Grandpa.”
Travis nodded and waited to hear what he had to say.
“I’ve made some changes in the last year since I came out of retirement. Replacing my sons’ cronies has remained at the top of the list. Not one of those men did any good for my company. So, as of this morning, I fired CJ Lankin. I’m impressed with the work you have done here at Thomson. Your ability to follow the money and make it work the way it’s supposed to is what made the company look good. It’s a shame Thomson doesn’t realize how valuable you are. I, however, can see exactly how much of an asset you are.”
“Thank you, sir. I appreciate your kind words.” Travis enjoyed working with numbers. His colleagues thought he was crazy as he often had late nights trying to make budgets work for various projects, but he loved a challenge.
Grandpa raised his eyes at the word sir and then shook his head. “William, Grandpa, Grandfather or Papa… those are the only names I will answer to.”
“Of course.”
“I wanted to offer you an executive position at Bennett. You’re budgeted for a secretary and an assistant. I’ve learned that having both is a big help. Some departments will need to be absorbed into one another. There is no need to duplicate anything. And I hate waste. Not to say I want to fire anyone, but there will be some cuts and I will offer some employees new positions.”
Grandpa picked up his cane and stood. “You’ll report on Friday. We’ll have a meeting at nine o’clock to go over what needs to be done.”
“I’m sorry—I’m confused. What am I reporting for?”
“Your new position as Chief Financial Officer.”
Travis drew a blank. Something wasn’t adding up. “I’m… a CFO.”
Grandpa frowned as he turned back to the desk. “Are you feeling all right this morning?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” He thought for a minute, replaying the conversation in his mind. “I just wanted the clarification.”
“Oh, you like things spelled out, black and white as they say.” Grandpa laughed. “Figures that you’re a numbers guy.”
Travis came around the desk to get the door for the man. “Where do you wish to meet on Friday?”
“My office.”
“I have work to finish up here, meetings I’ll have to reschedule.”
“Yes, yes. Bring any staff you need with you. We’ll talk transition.”
And with that, Grandpa waved goodbye and said something to Cynthia that made her laugh as he passed by. Travis waited a moment before going to Cynthia’s desk. She had been with him for the last three years. He couldn’t function at work without her and didn’t want to try.
“What was that about?”
“He said that I should get you more coffee. Your brain isn’t connecting to your mouth this morning.”
Travis rubbed his hands over his face. This could not be happening. “What do I have now? Any meetings?”
Cynthia stared at him. “You have a team meeting in fifteen minutes.”
“Okay, reschedule that for later. And come into my office. Give me about ten minutes. I need to talk to you.”
People in this world didn’t make job offers like that. Not jobs of that caliber. Bennett Industries was a massive corporate entity with several divisions that operated like corporations themselves. Alec’s construction division had done almost one hundred million dollars in business last year.
Alec. He would know exactly what was going on. He told Travis that his grandfather discussed every major business decision with the senior staff.
A phone call would be easier than a text message. Alec picked up on the first ring.
“Hey. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine. Quick question.”
“What’s up?”
“Your grandfather was just here.”
“So did you accept the position?”
Travis sat behind his desk, picked up a pencil, and started tapping it on the desk. “That’s just it. He didn’t offer me anything.”
“What did he say? Exactly?”
The background noise quieted. Alec must have gone back to his office. He was glad to have a couple minutes to speak to him without interruption.
“He told me to report to his office on Friday. To bring anyone from my team. Oh, and that he fired Larkin.”
Alec let out a laugh. “Right. So what’s the problem?”
“It’s not funny, Alec.”
Cynthia stuck her head in and Travis waved her inside and pointed to a seat in front of his desk.
“You are funny. If he fired Larkin, the old CFO, and told you to report and to bring team members, what do you think you’ll be doing?”
Travis rolled his eyes. Cynthia’s eyebrows went up, and she smashed her lips together to prevent a smile. Alec laughed again on the other end of the phone.
“You’re kidding me.”
“Why would I be kidding? Everyone agreed. They’ve seen the work you’ve done at Thomson and agreed that younger blood was needed. That job involves someone who has a lot of energy and a love of numbers.”
Travis sat back in his chair, stunned.
“Travis. Two things and then I have to go. Margie is waving at me. First, just so you know, I recused myself from the vote and didn’t add any arguments for or against you getting this position. Grandfather asked several times for my opinion and with Antonio heading up the engineering side I didn’t want an issue.”
“Second, it was unanimous. Even Antonio voted to have you take over. Larkin had pissed everyone off and had issues with some women in the office. Thalia brought that up and had testimonies to prove it. The meeting initially was about some other issues, but turned into something else when Grandfather expressed how unhappy he was with some members of the team.”
Alec told Margie he was leaving in five minutes. He needed more time.
“Senior executives are not in the weekly meeting between Grandfather and the division heads. We have a separate meeting once a month for everyone else. Larkin had complained more than once that he should be in on the meetings but Grandfather hadn’t budged. He didn’t trust him. Anyway, once everyone started mentioning their issues, Thalia pulled out copies of testimonies for everyone. I didn’t get through the first page before I suggested we let him go. Kane mentioned that you should take the position, and the conversation went from there.”
“Alec, this is too much. I’m not sure I can handle all of this responsibility.”
“You can, Travis. I have seen you in action. I know there will be some push back because we’re married but Grandfather will deal with anyone who gives either of us shit. I have to go. We can talk about this over dinner.”
“I can’t believe this is real.”
“It is. You earned it. A quick word of advice; get your ducks in a row today and be prepared for Friday’s meeting. If Grandfather said team, bring a team. Gotta go.”
And with that, he was gone. Travis looked up to see Cynthia staring back at him with eyes wide.
“I’m not going to presume I know what’s going on. Care to fill me in?”
“They offered me the CFO position at Bennett Industries. None of this is public yet so you need to keep this quiet. I have a meeting on Friday at headquarters.”
Travis leaned in, his elbows on the desk. Time to have a little fun. “They’ve also offered me with a new secretary and assistant. Can you imagine? Both! I should be super organized!”
He grabbed the reports on his desk and swiveled his chair toward his computer. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her clutch the notebook she’d been holding to her chest.
“Do you need anything else? I’m going to lunch early, if that’s okay?” she asked, her voice clipped.
“Yeah, one more thing—do you want the secretary or the assistant position?”
He ducked as she swung at him with the notebook.
Alec
They had planned to stay in tonight. If it were up to him, he would have opted for a nice restaurant. But Travis insisted he’d cook and tempted him with talk of stuffed lamb chops. Since Travis was cooking, he wanted to do something for him. Now, he thought, what did one do for a date at home? Would Travis like flowers? Some kind of gift?
He yelled at him last week for the new iPad. The credit card in Travis’s name caused a major fight, and he resorted to near blackmail to get him to keep it in his wallet. He didn’t want to start off the evening with an argument. What said he cared but was small enough to not get him in trouble?
The door of his office opened and Kane walked in. He was wearing a leather jacket and had a helmet in his hand. He put it on the chair, tossed the jacket over it, and crossed to the minibar. A bottle of water in hand, Alec watched him guzzle it before getting up from behind his desk.
He poured himself a ginger ale and sat on an armchair. He figured eventually Kane would get to why he was here and then he could get back to what to buy for Travis. Or maybe—even though he doubted it very much—Kane could help.
“What could you buy for someone that says you care but is not super expensive?”
Kane chuckled as he sat in the armchair.
Alec held up his hand. “Don’t start teasing me again. I’ll kick your ass out of my office.”
“I’d like to see you try.” Kane smiled. “I’m guessing Travis doesn’t want you buying him anything?”
“Yeah, I got him a new iPad last week to replace his broken one, and I pissed him off to no end.” Things were finally good between them; he needed them to stay that way.
Kane paused as he thought. “Flowers?”
“Yeah, I think I’ll pick up some.”
“Something different, not roses. Try yellow daisies.”
Alec looked up in surprise. Kane smirked.
“Oh, that’s good, I like that idea. Anything else?”
“How about candy? Does he like chocolate? Or my dad always used to get my mom these super comfy PJs. You could try something like that.”
Alec hopped up and grabbed his cell phone to take notes. He would hit the store after his site meeting at one o’clock. That should give him plenty of time to pick up what he needed and make it back into the city by five.
“So what brings you all the way out here?”
“It was a nice day to take the bike out. Figured I probably won’t get another chance ’til spring. And I wanted to talk to you about Tyler.”
“What about Tyler?”
“He’s refusing the security detail.”
“What? How?”
“The last two time my guys weren’t allowed in the house. I need you or Travis to speak to him.”
He nodded and took in Kane’s body language. He was fidgeting, playing with a frayed string on his jeans. His knee bobbed up and down and when he wasn’t fidgeting, he occasionally would tap his finger.
Not Kane-like behavior at all.
“How come you haven’t spoken to Tyler?”
“I tried. He won’t take my calls.”
“And you haven’t gone to see him?”
“I have. He won’t talk to me. I end up talking to Sarah and acting like nothing’s wrong.”
“I’ve known you a long time, Kane. What’s really going on?”
Travis mentioned he thought something might have happened between Kane and Tyler but he wasn’t sure. Everything had been fine between them on Sunday.
Kane mumbled. “Not sure.”
It was fun to watch his good friend unsure. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Kane like this. Maybe never.