Strangely enough, that explanation didn’t freak Brendon out. Well, maybe he was a little uncomfortable at the idea of his man’s mama—in any form whatsoever—seeing him bare assed, among other bare parts, but he liked the idea that love could live on. Or linger, or whatever it was that was happening.
“Actually, I think it is pretty cool, you know? Except for the being naked part, I’d rather not, not your mom, you know, not in any, uh…” Shit! Here was a perfect example of another time when he should have bitten his tongue!
Zeke burst out laughing and squeezed Brendon tight enough he thought his eyes bulged out a little. “I can’t blame you there. I wouldn’t care to have either of our mamas seeing me buck naked. But look at the bright side, at least my mama didn’t slap you on the ass.”
Brendon snorted at that and stood. “If she had, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. My naked ass would have been out the door and calling for a ride home last night.”
Standing, Zeke chuckled. “Nah. I doubt she’d have let you out the door, not if she wanted you here.” The chuckle grew into laughter once again as Brendon spluttered, more than a little disturbed by his lover’s statement.
“You…you think she’d do that? Make me stay if I didn’t want to?” Brendon didn’t want to leave, but the idea of being forced to stay, by a ghost at that, was just wrong on too many levels to contemplate.
Zeke looked at Brendon and stopped his teasing, tossing an arm over his shoulders. “Trust me, Mama wasn’t the sort of person who would kidnap someone when she was alive. I don’t think even, ah, passing away, would change that, you know? Now, let’s get your clothes and vehicle before I lose my nerve.”
Brendon nodded and hoped like hell this trip to town was uneventful. He knew it was a big step for Zeke, for them both, really. One thing he was certain of, if anyone dared to so much as look at this man wrong, Brendon was going to go off. Zeke was going to learn that he didn’t have to fight his battles alone any more, nor did he have to hide away from them. Brendon wasn’t afraid to fight Zeke’s battles or his own, and he would see to it that everyone, including the man he was falling hard for, knew it.
Chapter Four
Zeke couldn’t make himself relax no matter how hard he tried as he drove through McKinton with Brendon. He knew, logically, that it was ridiculous to be so self-conscious about it. He wasn’t the only man to drive through the town with another man in his truck. But, he was the only gay man—that anyone knew of, anyways, and that made all the difference. Zeke couldn’t help but feel like everyone was looking, judging and getting ready to gossip and cast that first stone. Hell, they might already be gathering a mob. His chest constricted at his morose humor and he worked hard to keep his breathing normal.
“Are you okay?” Brendon’s voice held such understanding that Zeke almost reached for his hand. He caught himself, tightening his grip on the steering wheel as he glanced at his passenger. Seeing the compassion in those soft brown eyes helped ease the rest of the tension in Zeke’s chest.
“I reckon I’m okay enough for now, all things considered,” he answered. It had been years since he had ridden into town for anything other than a trip to his mama’s grave. It had been all too easy to remain tucked away in the relative safety of his home. He hadn’t seen his sister Elizabeth since she had moved away three years ago, and the last time he had seen his oldest sister Eva…
Speak of the devil and he—or in this case, she—shall appear, Zeke thought as Brendon pointed at the pissed off woman in the car beside him at the stoplight.
“Who is that miserable looking bitch, Zeke?” Brendon glared right back out his window, not looking the least bit intimidated by the hatred pouring off the dark-haired woman.
Zeke couldn’t bring himself to turn his head fully and look. He knew what he would see, and frankly, coming into town was already trying enough for him. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw Eva, still full of anger and hate. Someday, he hoped his sister would find peace instead of the poisonous emotions that seemed to fill her, but he wasn’t keeping his fingers crossed.
One thing was certain, seeing the way Eva was glaring at Brendon, her mouth spewing silent words of hatred reinforced Zeke’s decision to keep the man close. There was no chance that Eva wouldn’t be gunning for Brendon now after having seen them together, even in such an innocent setting.
“That”—he gave the truck a little gas, trying not to appear eager to flee—“is Eva, my oldest sister.”
Brendon whipped his head around so fast Zeke was surprised the man didn’t get whiplash. “That is the bi… That is the sister who went all batshit when you came out to your family? That one?”
Zeke could feel the anger pouring off of Brendon. He didn’t bother to ask how Brendon knew about Eva. He was sure Gloria and Enessa had been feeding Brendon information about him for some time.
“Yeah, she would be that one. When I told my mama, she didn’t freak out or start lecturing me on the Bible or anything, even though she was a faithful church-goer. No, she just said that I was exactly the way God meant me to be, He didn’t make mistakes.” And how had he forgotten that? Zeke checked his mirrors and switched lanes, watching his sister’s face twist with fury in his rearview. “She helped me tell my sisters. Elizabeth, the second oldest, just nodded and went back to her room to study. Enessa, well, she has always been a loving soul. She gave me a great, big hug and told me she loved me.” He smiled at the memory, letting it warm him all over again.
“Nessa is a wonderful person, Zeke,” Brendon agreed. “But that one behind us, she has some serious issues.” He turned to glare out of the back window of the truck. “She also just turned right a block back.”
Zeke nodded. “Probably heading home to prepare for a holy war. You know, I can’t ever recall her being particularly happy, she was always just so angry and judgmental. Even before I came out, Eva would nag and preach and just fly off in rages sometimes, but she never viewed her own behavior as wrong. She seemed to think she was the only righteous person in town, other than her then-fiancé John. Since he was our preacher’s son, he was automatically elevated up the holier-than-thou ladder in her book.”
Brendon flopped back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, she just sounds like a pure treasure to me. Someone ought to bury her and slap an invisible ‘x’ over the spot, then burn the damn treasure map.”
Laughter burst out of Zeke before he could help it. Brendon in a snit fit was just too cute, and it felt damned good to have someone indignant on his behalf. “As good as that sounds at times, she’s still my sister. And I’m pretty sure the devil wouldn’t want her any closer to hell than she already is, too much competition, so burying her probably wouldn’t work.”
Grumbling, Brendon shifted in his seat. “Nessa said that Eva went off in front of them, calling you an abomination and such. She said even your mama couldn’t get her to shut up.”
“Yeah.” Zeke nodded. “She lost it. Said I was ruining the family name, that John wouldn’t want to marry into our perverted family, lots of things like that. Mama couldn’t get her to calm down, and when Eva started physically threatening me, Mama told her to leave. I tried to talk to Mama about it, but she said she wasn’t having that kind of hatred in her house no matter how much she loved Eva. So, my sister packed a couple of bags and left, ran crying to the preacher about all of us sinners, which pretty much put an end to Mama’s going to church. Eva got her husband, her place in the church, and she has all those bitter feelings to keep her occupied, but she tossed aside her family. Didn’t even come to her own mother’s funeral. You can’t tell me that is what Jesus would do.”
Brendon snorted. “Baby, I don’t think you should use her name and Jesus’ in the same paragraph, hour, day or week, just to be safe. So, Eva left, but she would verbally assault you every chance she got in town, and Enessa thinks her constant spewing about how evil gays are is what fueled those idiots to attack you.”
Zeke pulled
into Gloria’s driveway, shutting the truck off as he faced Brendon. “I never told Nessa, don’t want her to know, but Eva did very deliberately work those guys up to come after me. She told me so herself, when she stopped by the hospital to tell me how much she wished I had died like I should have. Like she wanted me to.” Why that still hurt so much, he didn’t know. He’d had plenty of time to get past his sister’s hatred of him, but couldn’t.
Brendon sat motionless on the bench seat for so long that Zeke was starting to worry. He was seriously considering reaching over and shaking the man or something when Brendon finally nodded before getting out of the truck. Zeke slid out and followed him silently to the house, wondering what the hell was going on in the man’s mind. He found out as soon as they stepped inside and Brendon shut the door.
“Look, I know that Eva is your sister, but what she did, it’s all just beyond fucked up. She’s beyond fucked up.” Brendon shook his head when Zeke would have spoken. “No. No excuses. I don’t know your other sister Elizabeth, but I know you and Enessa, and neither one of you are anything like Eva. In fact, y’all are two of the best people I know. I think that, like so many people feel they are born gay, others are born evil, mean or good. Trying to murder your brother—that’s just evil, you know it is. She of all people should know that, being married to a preacher’s son. I mean, what, did she just conveniently forget the whole Cain and Abel story in the Bible? And you may be all chivalrous about never hitting a woman, but I will rip that bitch’s head off if she ever tries to hurt you again.”
Zeke didn’t know what to say, but when Brendon put it like that, even calling his sister a bitch couldn’t irritate him. Before he could decide what he did feel about that speech, Brendon grabbed his hand and tugged him down the hall into the guest room. Zeke assumed he was going to have to help the man pack and was totally unprepared for the shove in the middle of his back that sent him tumbling onto the bed.
“What the fu—” His voice stuck in his throat when he rolled onto his back. Brendon was stripping, throwing his clothes off in a frenzy and kicking off his shoes. Zeke rose up on his elbows to watch, his own cock filling hard and fast at the sight of the beautiful, bare, male flesh before him. Brendon reached into one of the bags sitting on the dresser and pulled out a tube of lube and a condom.
“Scoot up to the middle of the bed,” he ordered as he approached the bed. Zeke’s mouth dried up as he took in the look on Brendon’s face. Erotic, determined and wanting, his expression sent sparks of heat zinging through Zeke. He moved to the center of the mattress, his erection uncomfortable against the denim jeans. When he reached down to unbutton them, Brendon snarled at him, which, he realized perversely, made his cock throb.
“I’ll do that,” Brendon insisted as he crawled on all fours across the bed until he could straddle Zeke’s thighs. Setting the lube and condom down, he reached for the button he had just warned Zeke away from and, with a sharp tug, had the denim parted. Brendon grabbed a handful of the jeans on each side and pulled them down to Zeke’s thighs.
“Good enough,” Brendon grunted, picking up the condom and laying it on Zeke’s chest. He grabbed the lube and coated his fingers then passed the tube to Zeke. “Get your cock ready for me.”
“Sweet fuck, babe.” Zeke picked up the package and thought he was going to shoot before he even got the condom on his dick. Watching Brendon reach back as he leaned down, knowing he was stretching that snug little opening with his own fingers, Zeke groaned. He managed to rub the lube on quickly, so absorbed with the way Brendon was moaning and pushing back against his own fingers that he couldn’t look away. How many was he using? God, he’d love to watch Brendon stretch himself, almost as much as he was going to love fucking that tight ass. Zeke leaned down and caught the next moan with his mouth, latching on to Brendon’s lips like a desperate man.
Brendon sat up suddenly, and Zeke realized his lover had finished prepping his ass. He watched as a strong, tanned hand grasped his cock, pressing it against the lubed hole that was, hopefully, ready for him. Brendon leaned forward again and reached for Ezekiel’s hands, clasping them in his as he sank his hips down, taking in Zeke’s cock inch by torturous inch.
Zeke watched Brendon’s face closely, looking for pain or discomfort. He saw each a time or two, but Brendon just bit his lower lip and kept sliding his ass down, slow and steady, until he was finally, blissfully, fully seated.
“Ah, Brendon, babe, shit,” Zeke panted, wanting to thrust so bad he was shaking. As though sensing his need, Brendon began moving, up slow, down hard and fast. The feel of that sleek, satiny channel squeezing his cock was going to toss Zeke right over the edge in no time and he knew it. He reached for Brendon’s bouncing prick, using the pre-cum on the swollen head as lube, and started tugging. He faltered as his balls jerked tight, muscles tensed and bowed with his rapidly spiraling orgasm.
“B…Brendon, God, oh God!” Zeke was pretty sure he screamed it out, barely aware at first of Brendon’s hand covering his own where it had stilled on his lover’s cock. The touch helped Zeke to focus enough so he resumed stroking, spinning Brendon into his own climax. Heat shot over Zeke’s belly and hand, onto his chest as Brendon’s inner muscles clamped down like a vice, dragging another yell from Zeke. He slapped one arm over Brendon’s thighs, holding him down hard as Zeke’s balls emptied out deep inside his lover’s ass.
Zeke pulled Brendon down on top of him, needing to taste his lips, needing…more, though he didn’t know what that could be after what he’d just experienced. The tender feeling seeping through him had Zeke parting Brendon’s lips with his tongue, entering into his mouth with all the gentleness their fucking hadn’t had. Brendon moaned softly, opening in acceptance, and Zeke felt something inside himself melt. He wasn’t sure what this man was doing to him, didn’t know if he wanted to analyze it just then, but he did know he didn’t want it to stop.
Brendon looked down at Zeke, wondering at the way the man had kissed him, caressed him. Afraid to read too much into it, he started to pull away, only to be wrapped in two strong arms.
“Where’re you going?” Zeke grumbled, watching him through slitted lids. Brendon just shook his head, not trusting himself to speak, not yet. He’d had to bite his cheek to keep quiet while they were making love, afraid if he let out any sound, he’d be yelling out how much he loved Zeke, and he was pretty sure the man wasn’t ready for that yet. For that matter, he didn’t know if he was ready for it, but it was true, he did. Now Brendon was worried he’d blow it all to hell by blurting it out, and Zeke’s sweet kisses were not helping him keep quiet, not at all.
“Hey, what’s wrong, babe? Did I do…something?”
Oh shit. Now Zeke sounded worried, which wasn’t Brendon’s intention. The last thing he wanted was for Zeke to feel any more guilt. Brendon shook his head as much as he could, which wasn’t much at all as he was pressed tight against Zeke’s chest.
“No,” he managed to scrape out. “Don’t ever think that, Zeke. I just…it was just…” Just what? Just me trying not to blurt out something that would send you running for the hills? Somehow, he was pretty sure that was not the answer he needed to give right now. Brendon was feeling his own bout of panic coming on, not wanting to lie to his man but knowing he couldn’t very well tell the truth, either. Zeke hugged him harder and nudged Brendon’s head with his chin.
“It was what, babe? Please, talk to me.”
The soft, pleading tone made Brendon squeeze his eyes shut tight against tears. He was so screwed.
Zeke’s body twitched as he inhaled. “Brendon? Babe?”
Brendon kept his eyes scrunched shut, nose pressed into the smattering of hair on Zeke’s chest.
“Breathe, babe. Can’t you…” Zeke drew in another deep breath. Brendon popped an eye open, catching the sweet scent that had assailed him before. It penetrated his brain. That was the same one Zeke said his mama wore—
Brendon squeaked and jerked out of Zeke’s arms, almost falling off the
man and wounding them both. He reached for an edge of the blanket, trying to cover himself, eyes darting around the room. The sound of Zeke’s laughter reached him, and Brendon glared at him.
“That’s just not right, Ezekiel,” he huffed, feeling his cheeks burn. Zeke rolled to his side, facing Brendon, not bothering to cover himself.
“What’s not right, babe?” His green eyes glinting with laughter, Zeke looked so young and carefree Brendon had a hard time holding onto his pique. A really hard time, but he managed.
“That…that…not when we’re still, you know. That’s just not right, man.” Brendon was aware that he sounded ridiculous, but then again, having your lover’s mother’s…spirit…make an appearance when your man was still buried deep inside your ass…? Naked was bad enough, but this, this was just a whole ’nother level of wrong. His eyes swept around the room again, coming to rest on Zeke, looking so beautiful Brendon felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. He felt a soft breeze ruffle his hair and almost closed his eyes to enjoy it before he caught himself. Letting out a startled yelp, Brendon dove for the bathroom, slamming the door hard enough to rattle the pictures hanging on the bedroom wall.
Zeke chuckled, reaching down to remove the condom and put his parts back in his jeans. Really, Mama, that was just… His thoughts trailed off as he felt that breeze wrap around him. He didn’t fight it, tried to open himself up to it, even. No one would ever be able to convince him that it wasn’t his mama, finding a way to comfort him. And one thing Zeke knew for sure about the woman, she wouldn’t have ever deliberately upset the man he thought he might be falling in love with. Zeke nodded to himself. Yeah, he could admit that much. He wasn’t too far off from falling ass over teakettle for Brendon, but something had been bothering the man. He’d been quiet throughout their frantic fucking, and unwilling to talk after, too. Zeke’s brow knitted in confusion. What the hell had happened? Whatever it was, it had been a strong enough emotion that it drew the comforting—well, usually comforting—spirit to them.
A Subtle Breeze Page 5