A Reason to Believe (23 page)

to kiss Matt for all he was worth.

Whether it was lingering tension or a remnant of

the adrenaline from earlier, these kisses

accelerated quickly beyond simplicity. He met the

caress of Kiernan’s tongue, his own moving into

Kiernan’s mouth in an unmistakably sexual rhythm.

Kiernan

moaned,

pressing

forward,

thighs

widening. Matt slid his hand around Kiernan’s

waist, dropping to the taut ass. He curved his

fingers into the solid mound of muscle and yanked

him forward.

Kiernan arched his pelvis. Lifting his leg, he

hooked his knee over Matt’s hip. Matt’s cock was

filling and lengthening, and, feeling vaguely out of

control, he pressed more firmly into Kiernan,

gripping his thigh as he rocked against him. Their

lips parted and Kiernan’s head dropped back.

“God,” he moaned. “You feel so good.”

“You too.”

Kiernan was all lithe motion and unexpected

strength, his leg locking and squeezing tight around

Matt’s waist, his hips surging upward. Matt could

feel Kiernan’s hard cock against him and he

wanted to touch. Even as the thought passed

through his mind, Kiernan’s hand moved between

them, his palm covering the bulge in the front of

Matt’s trousers.

“Fuck,” Matt muttered, pushing into the caress.

“Okay,” Kiernan whispered, and then he kissed

him again, luring Matt’s tongue back into his

mouth. He sucked on it so hard and so skillfully,

Matt could imagine it was his prick, and it

throbbed in response. Kiernan stroked him firmly,

up and down, fingers pressing.

Matt was afraid he might embarrass himself. It

had been over a year and a half since anyone had

touched him in passion, and he was shaking with

the effort it took not to come.

He caught Kiernan’s wrist with a growl,

removing his hand and pinning it to the tile.

His mind filled with images of ripping off

Kiernan’s jeans, shoving his knees to his chest and

taking him right on the kitchen counter. He was so

caught up in pressing him backward, in kissing him

as deeply as his tongue could manage, Matt didn’t

realize anything was wrong until Kiernan stiffened

and he heard the sound of a throat being cleared.

He straightened in shock, his eyes wide as he

jerked his head toward the back door.

Standing in the open doorway was Aidan

Fitzpatrick, her black brows nearly to her hairline,

a tote bag over one shoulder and a suitcase at her

feet. Just behind her was Sheila, holding the screen

door in her hand, her face both flushed and highly

amused.

“Um, hi, sis,” Kiernan said gamely, dropping his

leg from around Matt’s waist and struggling to sit

up. Matt took a step back, and immediately both

sets of eyes dropped in unison to the front of his

trousers. Cursing explosively, he turned his back.

There was a moment of charged silence.

“Well,” Aidan said finally, her tone surprisingly

mild. “I believe the mystery of why you’re so

determined to remain in town has been solved.”

Sheila laughed brightly even as Matt ran his

hand roughly through his hair.

He was never going to live this down. Ever.

Chapter Ten

It wasn’t the most awkward evening of his entire

life. There had been the night when he was fifteen,

when he’d told his parents he was gay. He was

quite certain that had been worse. And then there

was the time when his brother had unexpectedly

come to visit him at college and hadn’t knocked

before walking in on him and his boyfriend. They

had not been studying. He was sure he’d never

seen anyone quite the shade of green Bill had been.

So, yes, he’d experienced worse. It didn’t make

the next four hours any less uncomfortable.

He excused himself not long after the women

arrived and went to change his clothes. In reality

he just wanted out of the room so he didn’t have to

look into the knowing, amused faces. His arousal

hadn’t lasted much beyond Sheila’s laughter, but

his embarrassment had. The people closest to him

all knew he was gay, but he’d never been one for

public displays of affection. Having his sister-in-

law catch him with his tongue down someone’s

throat while they humped on his kitchen counter

was well beyond his comfort level. He changed

into jeans and a fleece pullover, straightened up

the bedroom, even put out clean towels in the

bathroom before coming to the conclusion he

couldn’t hide forever.

Aidan was very casual about the whole thing,

ordering pizza on her cell phone, although she had

sent Matt more than one pointed look. Sheila was

worse, winking at him every chance she got,

deciding she could stay for dinner because her

children’s father was capable of boxed mac and

cheese. Her real reason for staying was to torment

him as much as possible. Kiernan acted as if

nothing out of the ordinary had happened, being his

usual irrepressible self. He followed Matt into the

kitchen when he went to get something to drink.

“You know,” he murmured, leaning against the

counter at Matt’s side. “This whole thing will be

easier if Aidan believes the reason I’m staying is

because we’re involved. If that’s all right with

you.”

Matt sent him a sardonic look. “Well, given

what she walked in on, that shouldn’t be a

particularly hard sell.”

Kiernan grinned. “My thoughts exactly.” He took

a glass of Coke and paused, eyes bright. “It was

fun, yeah?”

Matt grunted softly. “Yeah, it was,” he

acknowledged grudgingly.

Kiernan winked and walked out of the kitchen

and Matt found his eyes dropping to Kiernan’s ass.

Okay, he had to accept he was fixated. And the

way Kiernan’s ass had felt in his hands, hard

muscles flexing… Sighing, he picked up two more

glasses and followed.

Kiernan didn’t do anything overt as the evening

went on, but to his sister, the signs must have been

unmistakable. He sat beside Matt on the couch, not

leaning on him but close enough. Matt found

Kiernan’s eyes turning to him often, warm with

affection. He knew he blushed more than once,

something

which

Sheila

seemed

to

find

particularly entertaining.

Kiernan was also a tactile person. Matt had

noticed it before, but he became even more aware

of it with watchful eyes on them. Kiernan touched

his knee or the back of his hand, and Matt could

feel both women cataloging each casual brush of

his fingers. This gave Sheila something else to

smirk about. By the time he walked her to the door,

he was happy to see her go. And then she stopped

in his entry, looked up at him, and her hazel eyes

were suddenly awash with tears.

“Sheil,” he whispered, but she shook her head,

circling his neck with her arms and hugging him.

“I’m glad. We’ve been so worried about you.”

She leaned back, studying him with a misty smile.

“Just don’t make it too hard for him, all right? He

so obviously really likes you.”

“Sheila.”

“Fine, I won’t say anything else. And I won’t

mention it to your brother.” She paused

meaningfully. “Yet.”

“Thank you.” Matt dropped his hands into his

jeans pockets. “Let’s see what happens first,

okay?”

She nodded, kissing him on the cheek before she

went out into the falling snow.

Aidan didn’t remain in the living room long

after Sheila’s departure. She said she needed to

sort their luggage out. Matt thought she was trying

to give them some time alone, an impression

reinforced when she sent her brother an enigmatic

look as she left the room.

Kiernan sat next to Matt on the sofa, their thighs

touching. Feeling as ill at ease as if he were on a

first date, Matt drank half a glass of Coke, fidgeted

with the hem of his shirt, reached for the remote

and turned on ESPN. He watched the commentator

talking about the Broncos and the Steelers, but

didn’t hear a word of it. His mind was

preoccupied with the arm pressed to his, the leg

snug against his thigh, the sound of Kiernan’s soft,

regular breathing. He hadn’t felt this unnerved

since he was a kid, which was ridiculous given

that he’d already had his tongue down Kiernan’s

throat.

“Um, I think I’ll go help Aidan with the

luggage,” Kiernan said finally, rubbing his hands

on his knees and standing.

Matt looked up, torn between relief and

disappointment. “Okay.” When Kiernan didn’t

leave, Matt arched an eyebrow at him. “What?”

Instead of answering, Kiernan leaned forward

resolutely, propping his hands on the back of the

couch on either side of Matt’s shoulders,

effectively caging his larger body between his

arms. Matt tried to look intimidating but if the

smile pulling at Kiernan’s lips was any indication,

he was failing miserably. Without hesitation,

Kiernan lowered his head, covering Matt’s mouth

with his.

Matt tensed, but when he felt Kiernan’s tongue

touch his lower lip, he closed his eyes, opened his

mouth and relaxed into it. It seemed every time he

kissed Kiernan, his mind was perfectly happy to

take a hiatus and allow his body to simply feel.

Reaching out, he blindly caught Kiernan’s hip in

one hand, his other lifting to slip around the

slender waist, feeling the strong, solid line of

muscle running up his side. When Kiernan broke

the kiss, he paused with his cheek pressed against

Matt’s.

“You think too much,” he whispered, then

leaned back, his eyes bright. He kissed Matt again,

a quick peck on his lips, before straightening

away. “‘Night, Matt.”

Shooting a jaunty grin over his shoulder, he

walked from the room. Matt watched him until he

heard the bedroom door open and close. He spent

a long hour staring unseeing at the television

before he gave up and went to get bedding.

He shifted on the couch, reaching down to lift

the comforter up over his shoulder as he rolled

onto his side, unable to relax. It had stopped

snowing. The sheers over the windows were

closed, but even the light felt cold, and he

burrowed deeper under the blankets.

He should be sleeping but his mind simply

wouldn’t settle. Between the shots fired at them,

and then the kiss in the kitchen…

Kiernan confused the hell out of him. He could

admit it to himself in the midst of the longest part

of the night. There was no question he liked him. A

lot. He was funny and disarming and sexy. Matt

was stunned by how forcefully he’d reacted to just

a kiss. There was something about him, something

that drew Matt in like a magnet.

Thinking about Kiernan sent a warm rush of

blood to his groin, and Matt reached down to

adjust himself in his jockeys. It had been years

since he’d been hard so many times in one day. In

fact, he hadn’t been as aware of a man on a purely

physical level since Brad. He had no idea how he

felt about it.

Sighing again, he closed his eyes, determined to

try to get some sleep. It had been a hellish few

days. He’d met Kiernan on the twenty-sixth and

today was…he counted. The twenty-eighth. Hard

to believe so much in his life had changed in just

two days. But he’d known Brad was someone

special from the moment he’d met him, too. He

yawned as he drifted toward sleep.

Moments later a wisp of charged air brushed his

cheek.

Matt’s eyes shot open and he lurched into a

sitting position, and was only then aware of the

heavy feeling in the room.

He looked around quickly, but there was no

small child anywhere to be seen, Still, the certainty

he wasn’t alone had him looking over the back of

the couch. He saw nothing but a dark hallway

behind him.

“Abby?” he whispered. “Are you here?”

There was no sound in answer to his question,