Breathe (19 page)

waist. “Come here.”

Jay came to him easily and parted his lips, leaning in, inviting the kiss Lincoln

had craved since he"d crawled out the window at Jay"s parents" house the other

night.

Hell, kissing Jay was something Lincoln had craved since he"d first seen the

man. Those lips were irresistible. Even watching him smile got Lincoln"s heartbeat

going faster. He wanted to help the man smile more, to know what would make Jay

happy. Wished he could be someone who filled the void. Did the universe know how

to play a cruel joke or what?

Jay dropped the pencil and envelope. He wrapped his arms around Lincoln,

clinging to him. And Lincoln didn"t mind one damn bit. If they had been any other

two people, he"d admit what he was feeling was more than a crazy need to fuck Jay,

admit that he was feeling anything at all.

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He backed Jay to the workbench behind them, running his hands up and down

Jay"s body as they kissed, wanting so desperately to fuck the man, to yank off their

clothes and bury himself in Jay until balls met ass, until all other thoughts were

gone and all that was left was the two of them—their bodies, their need, their skin,

their breath. He couldn"t ask Jay, though, couldn"t assume Jay would want that—

would want his first time accepting another man into his body to be with Lincoln of

all people.

Jay removed his shirt, and Lincoln followed suit with his own, then opened

Jay"s jeans. They kissed again, and the intense urgency of Jay"s desire slammed into

Lincoln. Or was there something more to it? More to the way Jay clutched and

caressed, the way he devoured Lincoln"s kisses?

Forcing himself to focus on their bodies, pushing everything else aside, Lincoln

tugged Jay"s jeans and underwear past the man"s hips. Jay boosted himself to sit on

the bench, and Lincoln helped him get his pants off. Getting Jay naked was fast

becoming a favorite pastime. He leaned in and added kissing a naked Jay to his

favorites list.

So much of what they were doing went on that list.

Jay raised his legs and hooked them around Lincoln"s hips. Lincoln wanted to

get his pants off, but the kiss, those legs tight around him, drove him crazy,

distracted him. He didn"t want to let go. No one had ever been as sexually raw, as

sensual as Jay.

“Need to touch your skin,” Jay said. He unzipped Lincoln"s pants and slowly

caressed the length of cock to balls. Lincoln shoved his pants lower while Jay bent

and kissed with lips and tongue from the tattoo on Lincoln"s arm to his neck, to his

ear.

The man"s mouth, his tongue, drove Lincoln crazy. He couldn"t wait any longer.

He pulled back, gripped Jay"s cock in one hand, and bent over the man, wandering

his tongue over cock and balls in an openmouthed kiss that had Jay groaning, his

eyes closed, his head tilted back to the wall behind him.

Lincoln opened his mouth wider and stroked Jay"s prick with his lips, wanting

nothing more than to taste the man, to help Jay let go, to give him a moment of

pleasure.

Jay worked his hands through Lincoln"s hair and slowly rocked his hips. The

sweet, sensual way he fucked Lincoln"s mouth and ran his fingers through his hair,

the low purrs Jay couldn"t seem to control—it was unlike any other blowjob Lincoln

had been a part of. He wanted to keep it going, but before long Jay cried out.

“Yes. God, yes. Linc!”

With those shouted words, Lincoln took his own cock in hand. Two quick

thrusts into his palm, and he came with Jay. He swallowed and sucked until Jay"s

body was so limp, the man could barely sit up. Lincoln straightened. He had a

stupid smile on his face. He knew it, but he didn"t care.

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Jay licked his lips and gave a lazy grin in return. “You are very good at that.”

He caressed Lincoln"s arm, stopping to pet the wolf.

“I do believe that was a combined effort. I haven"t come that fast in a long

time.”

“You came?” Jay"s eyes widened.

“I did.”

“But…”

“But what?”

“I wanted to, uh…I wanted to return the favor.”

Lincoln laughed. “It"s not a favor, Jay. I like sucking.”

“Oh.” Jay"s cheeks pinked.

So goddamn cute. Lincoln stroked the heated flesh of Jay"s cheek with an open

palm. “I like sucking you.”

Jay ducked his head. He trailed his fingers along the edge of the tattoo on

Lincoln"s arm and said, “The eagle is a symbol of courage.”

The touch. The words. Something made Lincoln shiver as Jay traced the

feather that decorated the widest part of his biceps. Jay knew just when to use a

soft hand and when to get more intense.

“My grandfather was Iroquois.” Lincoln hadn"t talked about the old man to

anyone since his death. “I like the freedom of the eagle.”

Jay nodded. “The Iroquois believe the eagle can see the past, present, and

future with one look. The eagle can alert you to coming changes.” He kept stroking

the skin with the tips of his fingers, moving in a slow caress.

“You sound like my grandpa.”

“You get along with him?”

“I did. He died when I was in high school. Best man I ever knew. Worked his

ass off to help my mom take care of us. And he was my dad"s father, not hers.”

“Sounds like a good man.” Jay glided his fingers across Lincoln"s chest.

“Sounds like you.”

“Nah. Grandpa wasn"t the kind of man who ended up in jail.” Lincoln drew in a

sharp breath as Jay scraped a fingernail over one nipple. “And he never cheated.”

“Cheated?”

“I got the tattoo the week after I cheated on the first serious boyfriend I had.”

Lincoln pulled back and wrenched on his briefs and jeans. “Some stranger I met at a

bar hits his knees, and I let him suck me off just like that. I hated myself for it, for

putting sex above something more. My boyfriend tried to tell me it was okay. Turns

out he"d had his own share of strangers sucking him off in back alleys. Didn"t sit

right with me, though. A week later, I"d broken it off with him and my mom had

died. I got the tattoo an hour after the funeral.”

“How old were you?” Jay asked, naked and still sitting on the workbench.

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Lincoln leaned into him again and kissed his neck. He didn"t want to give up

the touches. Not yet. “Nineteen.” Jay smelled like the fresh, woodsy cologne he wore

lately and like the bike oil and sweat, like the adrenaline of race night.

With his hand, Jay burned a path down Lincoln"s body, fingers sliding over

skin, over the tattoo, petting the image of the running wolf. “The wolf symbolizes

loyalty and fidelity.”

“How do you know all this?”

“I"ve read a lot. Native American history, symbolism. I was studying to be a

history teacher before—” He removed his hand from Lincoln"s arm. “I had to drop

out.”

Stupid. Jay was too smart not to do something more with his life. Lincoln

traced Jay"s jaw with the palm of his hand. “I got the tat to remind me of what I had

done. I told myself I"d never cheat again. That wasn"t the kind of man I wanted to

be.” He forced Jay to look at him. “And I expect the same from someone I"m seeing.”

The words could scare Jay off, but Lincoln needed to say them, needed Jay to know

what was happening between them—whether they wanted to admit it or not. Make

sure Jay understood where this was headed if they kept things going the way they"d

been.

Jay dropped his head to Lincoln"s shoulder. “What are we doing?”

“I don"t know, but the idea of stopping this bothers the hell out of me.”

Neither man spoke for several breaths.

“I"m sorry about your mom,” Jay finally said.

“Thanks.” Lincoln ran a hand over Jay"s back. A slight shiver in response

didn"t mean anything, did it? “It was just Nance and me after that. She was fifteen.

I promised my mom I"d always take care of her.”

Jay lifted his head. “She"s lucky to have you.”

“Not lucky enough.” Lincoln backed up. Jay reached for him and held him

close. Another long, deep kiss and Jay raised his legs and wrapped them around

Lincoln again.

“Ow.” Jay dropped a leg to the table.

“What is it?” Lincoln twisted him sideways and looked for the cause of the

pain.

Jay slid a hammer out from under his ass. “Fucking around in a garage is

dangerous.”

Lincoln laughed. “You okay?”

“You need a room with a normal bed.”

“So quit your bitching and take me to your place.”

In unison, they froze, eyes wide. Jay tensed beneath Lincoln"s hands.

Shit
. He needed to shut up. There was no way they could walk into Jay"s house

and—

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Sloan Parker

Jay jumped off the table and pointed to the ceiling. “What"s the room upstairs

for?”

“Storage.”

“Is it livable?” He picked up his clothes and dressed.

“It"s got heat and plumbing. It was built to be a living space before Nancy and

the asshole bought the house. They never finished it. Didn"t have the money.”

“You could do the work yourself. Then you"d have your own room.”

Lincoln leaned against the workbench. If he did, he could give Davy his room

back. “It"ll need drywall. The electrical isn"t finished.”

“That"s doable. Then you can stay with your sister but have some privacy.”

“It"d be a lot of work.” Lincoln stared at the steps leading to the second floor.

“Not sure I"m up for that.” It would mean moving on. He didn"t deserve that. Not

yet. Then what was he doing with Jay?

“I"ll help,” Jay said. “With the bike. And the room. We can take a look tonight.”

Lincoln kept staring at the steps for a moment more, then said, “All right.”

Jay smiled as he tucked the wedding bands beneath his T-shirt.

Lincoln"s gut churned. He hadn"t noticed the rings that time. “But not tonight,”

he said. “I"ve got something to take care of first.”

* * *

wooden frame.

“Fuck.”

His shoe slipped half off. He freed it from the windowsill before it fell to the

ground, and he crawled inside, landing with both feet on the toilet lid. Too bad his

shoe still hung from his foot. He tripped and fell forward, bracing himself with the

towel rack until his feet found the floor. He stuffed his foot into the shoe and waited

for any sign of the Shaws.

His deep breaths echoed off the flower-stenciled walls in the small pink bath.

Same bath he"d sneaked into at the age of nineteen, on the night he and Katie

ran off to Vegas. She had packed all her clothes and belongings so she wouldn"t have

to return if her parents took the news of their marriage how she had expected them

to. She and Jay lugged her bags into the guest bath and out the window.

He had wanted to use another entrance, both then and now, but the bath"s

first floor window was the only one sheltered by shrubs and trees in a way none of

the neighbors would see the activity. It was also the only window where movement

in and out wouldn"t kick on the outdoor motion lights. It worked as well as it had

when he"d come for Katie.

Jay slowly opened the bathroom door and crept through the house and into the

living room. He didn"t need to turn on any lights to find his way around that part of

the house. He"d been there enough times he could manage not to run into any

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furniture. Once he moved on to other areas, he"d need the flashlight he had tucked

in his back pocket. He"d also need it to search for what he hoped not to find:

evidence the Shaws were threatening Lincoln.

The plan: search as much of the house as possible in three hours and leave a

full half hour before the Shaws returned home. He didn"t want to chance getting

caught. Retired pro baller Stuart Shaw would pummel any intruder first, ask

questions later. Better to leave plenty of time to go over every room if need be and

get out long before tackling commenced.

But where to start? The offices? Stuart and Emily each had offices on the first

floor.

Jay hurried toward the back hallway. Two steps down the hall and the slight

creak of footsteps echoed above him. Jay clicked on the flashlight and pointed it

toward the ceiling. Like that would give him a clue. He cursed at himself and

flipped off the light, holding his breathing in check as he waited to hear more.

Maybe he had imagined it.

Nope. Another creak. Someone was walking around upstairs. The house was

dark, and the Shaws should have left twenty minutes earlier.

He padded to the staircase. Had he somehow missed their return? Or maybe

one of them had stayed home. He"d assumed both of them would go to their

Wednesday night church meeting. Like they always did a year ago.