EMS Heat 06 - Red Lights and Silver Bells (2 page)

"Not before she managed to hurt him," Gladys seethed.

Before Matt could further defend himself, she grabbed Dylan's hand and led him to a nearby examining room. He allowed himself to be ushered around like some kid because he knew there would be no way he'd get out of the ER without giving into her demands.

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

Even after a few months, it still felt unsettling to see this kinder, gentler side of Gladys. Dylan nodded and hopped up on the table. She gathered some sterile water and gauze pads, then carefully began to clean his wounds.

"It burns a little," he admitted, hissing when she brushed over a particularly tender spot.

 

"Sorry, do you want me to get you something for the pain?"

 

"No, I have a few hours left in my shift. When I get home, I'll pop some Tylenol."

 

They were quiet for a few moments before she spoke again. "How is everything else in your life going?"

"Things have been great since I moved in with Kaleb." He smiled, a warm feeling going over him as he thought about the blue-eyed, blond firefighter. There were still times that Dylan couldn't believe they were actually together.

"Do you miss not living with your brother anymore?"

 

Dylan shrugged. "He's probably glad to get me out of his hair. Not only that, but I love Kaleb, so it's only right that we took the next step and moved in together."

 

She paused in her cleaning and locked gazes with him. "I have a question, honey. Did you ever tell Lucas about what your dad did to you?"

As always, whenever he thought back to the events that led to him leaving home, Dylan's stomach clenched. "No, the only ones in Flint who know are you, Clayton and Kaleb. Guess that shows you how special you really are to me."

Her lips didn't curl into even a hint of a smile as she continued to study him. "You're not going to totally heal until you share everything with Lucas."

 

"I'm getting better," Dylan argued. "Kaleb's really

helping me work through things." "I guess so. You didn't faint at the sight of your own blood this time," Gladys snorted as she rolled her eyes. While she did treat Dylan a hundred percent better than anyone else, that still didn't mean he was completely clear of her meanness.

"That's probably because I didn't get a good look at it," he admitted.

 

"No, because you're too busy trampling our holiday decorations."

 

"Sorry about that. If it makes you feel better, you can call me the Grinch of St. Michael's."

In truth, he didn't suffer an ounce of remorse for trashing the tree. He hadn't been feeling the whole holiday thing to begin with. Even more so since he'd found out that morning he'd be forced to work the twenty-fifth. That little piece of news had shredded the last of his ho-ho-ho.

Gladys pointed a hard finger at him. "Look here, kid, I never thought there'd be a day where I'd be saying this to someone else, but you really need to get the chip off your shoulder."

 

"Come on, cut me some slack." He sighed.

 

But she continued, "The stick out of your ass…"

 

"I thought that I could count on at least you to be mature."

 

"You great, big Droopy Dog, pouty baby."

 

"Be nice to me. I have to work Christmas."

 

She pulled a bored face. "Welcome to the medical field, brat. If you didn't want to work holidays, then you should have been a bank teller."

Since he'd already been slapped with the
kid
and
brat
label, he figured he had nothing to lose by going all the way. Allowing his bottom lip to protrude some, he asked, "So does that mean I don't get my hug?"

"Why do I put up with you?" She threw down her supplies with a heavy sigh before she came over and wrapped him in a soft, warm embrace.

 

"Because I'm cute?"

 

"Hate to break it to you, but that charm only works on Kaleb."

He would have argued that it must work on her, too, since she'd actually showed some compassion. Something that was as rare as a Big Foot sighting. That might mean she'd let go though, so he kept his yap shut and instead soaked in the comfort of knowing that someone other than Kaleb and Lucas actually gave a damn about him.

Chapter Two

Kaleb turned off the bath water, just in time to hear the front door open. Giving his setup one last glance to make sure everything looked perfect, he rushed out to meet his poor, abused paramedic.

Dylan stood just inside the apartment, the saddest, most forlorn expression on his face. Kaleb had to bite back a smile. He may love Dylan more than he'd ever thought possible, but boy could his man turn on the drama sometimes.

"I'm very dirty," Dylan declared, his voice barely above a whisper.

His normally carefully combed, brown hair was sticking up in places, pieces of tinsel and colored glass sprinkled through the mess. While his bright green eyes usually sparkled when he looked at Kaleb, they now were bleak and dull. Even his uniform looked as if it had been run over by a dump truck, several stains darkening the navy fabric. The jacket even had a large dusty, scuffmark along the back.

"I heard you had a rough day," Kaleb ventured.

 

Dylan glanced up from under his lashes, a frown marring his full lips. "I got accosted by a very naked, very horny Hazel."

 

"Yeah, I know. I hate to tell you, but it's already the talk in the EMS community." Kaleb winced in sympathy as he thought about the cracks that would be coming Dylan's way.

 

"She kissed me," Dylan said, his voice raspy with horror. He brought a hand up to his mouth and shuddered.

 

Kaleb had to hold back the eye roll that drama earned. No one but Dylan could get away with it and still manage to be cute at the same time. "That must have been horrible," Kaleb offered.

 

"It was. She tasted like the floor of a taxi cab."

 

"You've licked a lot of those, have you?"

 

"Well no, but I can imagine what it would be like." He stuck his tongue out slightly in the classic
gross
gesture.

 

"Come into the bathroom and brush your teeth then," Kaleb suggested, hoping that once Dylan saw his surprise, the whole woe-is-me routine would end.

 

"Good idea. I ate a whole roll of mints, but I think I could use some more cleaning."

Kaleb started to usher Dylan into the small bathroom of their equally small apartment. Well, maybe it wasn't exactly small, at least not by most apartment standards, but it certainly wasn't as big as their last place. At one point, they'd lived in Kaleb's house, but mounting repairs on the old dwelling, combined with a slash in Kaleb's work hours had forced them to move. At first he'd been upset and angry at the city for cutting not only into his income, but that of every firefighter in the city. Then he realized other places in Michigan had it much worse. Besides, size didn't concern Dylan or him, so long as they got to live together. They made it partway down the hallway before Dylan stopped to voice another concern. "I think I permanently broke Gladys's Christmas tree."

Now that Kaleb would have paid cash to have seen. Even if the battle-ax acted nice toward Dylan, Kaleb would never be the woman's fan. "I'm sure she'll forgive you."

 

"She already said as much, but I still feel bad."

 

Kaleb decided that was probably the first time anyone had uttered those words in conjunction to the mean nurse. "She'll get over it. After all, it was an accident."

 

"It was." Dylan scrunched his face up. "Who would have thought that Hazel could run that fast?"

 

"Do I have to pick you up and carry you to the bathroom?" Kaleb asked, before Dylan could start rehashing his crappy day all over again.

 

Dylan gave a put-upon sigh as he started walking again. "Fine, but I don't see why you're in such a…"

 

He trailed off as they entered the bathroom. Kaleb smiled as he watched Dylan's gaze travel to the bath full of hot, bubbly water, to the numerous lit candles, then to the bottle of wine.

 

"You did this all for me?" Dylan asked in a soft voice.

 

Kaleb came up behind him and slowly slid Dylan's jacket off. "Yes, but if you want I could always see if Gladys wants to share it with you."

 

For the first time that evening the smile Kaleb loved so much filled Dylan's face. "Let her get her own. The only one I want in there with me is you."

He turned around and stood on tiptoe so their lips could meet. Dylan tasted strongly of mint and the same sweetness that always lingered in his mouth. Kaleb plunged his tongue inside, gently stroking until he'd earned a moan from Dylan.

Kaleb started to carefully unbutton Dylan's shirt. "Are you sure there's enough room in there for both of us?"

 

Dylan cast a quick glance at the tub. "It may be cramped, but I don't mind. It'll be worth the discomfort to be held by you."

 

"I plan on doing more than just holding you." Kaleb stripped Dylan's uniform top off only to find a thermal shirt underneath.

In the winter, most EMS workers tended to dress in layers in case they got stuck on long extrications at car accident scenes, so the thermal shirt didn't come as a surprise. Kaleb took that off, too, only to find a t-shirt still hindering his progress.

"Sorry." Dylan gave an impish grin. "It was cold outside today."

Kaleb pulled it over Dylan's head and finally encountered blessedly bare skin. He spent a few moments exploring it with his fingers before dipping his head so he could run his tongue around one nipple. Dylan let out a sound halfway between a sigh and moan as he softly caressed Kaleb's hair.

"Do you have thermal bottoms on under your pants?" Kaleb asked, not bothering to hide his grin when Dylan nodded.

 

"I didn't want to freeze my ass off like I did last week when I responded to that snowmobiler-versus-tree call."

 

"I'll tell you what. You take them off and I'll get naked and meet you in the bath." Kaleb picked a few stray pieces of glass from Dylan's hair and tossed them

 

into the garbage.

Dylan moved quick, things getting a bit awkward when he got to his boots. He hopped around for a few moments, somehow managing to look desirable even while being clumsy. There was a reason his co-workers had long ago smacked him with the nickname
Trippy.
The incident with the Christmas tree hadn't been Dylan's first klutz performance and it probably wouldn't be his last either.

He still managed though and Kaleb soon got an eyeful of the paramedic's perfectly rounded ass. When Dylan turned and tilted his head down slightly as he stroked his own cock, it was Kaleb who stumbled a bit in his undressing. The way the low light made for an ideal silhouette of Dylan's sensual profile could only be described as sheer perfection. Even his cheekbones, which would be considered too round on others and his eyes which would have been overly large on anyone else, added to his sexy appeal. Somehow, even after everything he'd suffered though, Dylan managed to keep a small bit of innocence that called to the protector in Kaleb.

Despite the show Dylan gave, Kaleb managed to yank off his sweats and t-shirt. Soon he was settled in the bath, Dylan leaning back against him. Dylan let out a happy sigh, as he all but snuggled into Kaleb's chest.

"This is one my favorite things to do with you," Dylan confessed, all the earlier trace of doom and gloom missing from his voice.

 

"What? Taking care of everyday hygiene? If you like this so much, then wait until we brush our teeth together later. You'll probably cream your pants from excitement," Kaleb teased.

 

He got the reaction he'd hoped for. Dylan let out a soft chuckle as the last signs of worry fled his face. "No, I mean that I just like having you all to myself."

 

"You know that I'll always drop anything to be with you."

 

"Yeah, I think I'm finally realizing that. I just keep expecting you to dump me like everyone else has."

Not for the first time, Kaleb had to grit his teeth against the hot wash of anger toward Dylan's parents and family. First they'd cut off Lucas and then later Dylan when it had come to light the brothers were gay. While Kaleb didn't exactly have a
Walton's
vibe when it came to his own family, there is still no way they'd ever completely turn their backs on him in that kind of manner.

"I'm not going anywhere, ever," Kaleb promised as he kissed Dylan's temple.

 

Dylan tilted his head a bit so they could lock gazes. "Why me, Kaleb? You could have any guy in Flint, yet you chose to be with the dorky virgin."

Kaleb gaped at him in shock. Even after all these months of having to deal with Dylan's insecurities, it still shocked Kaleb every time he realized just how little his lover thought of himself. If it was anyone who could have their pick of men, it was
Dylan.
More than once, Kaleb had caught both men and women ogling the cute dark-haired medic.

He knew better than to voice those opinions aloud though, for Dylan would just get embarrassed and deny them. Kaleb decided it would just be safer to change the topic. He gave Dylan's hip a healthy pinch and snarked, "I hate to break it to you, but you haven't been a virgin for a while."

"It's only been a few months since we hooked up at Pandora's," Dylan shot back, referring to the local gay nightclub.

Kaleb thought back to that night. To the moment when he'd spotted Dylan, scared and hiding in a corner of the club and how both of their lives had been forever changed. Before Dylan, Kaleb had only wanted onetime fucks with no strings attached, and yet here is he was in an actual functioning relationship. He couldn't be happier either.

Lightly fingering up the long, angry, red scratches covering Dylan's cheeks and neck, Kaleb asked, "Did you get these checked out?"

 

"Yeah, Gladys cleaned them for me." Kaleb smiled. Leave it to his sweet guy to bring out a soft side in even someone as jaded as her. "She really dotes on you."

 

"I know and all I had to do was tell her that no matter how mean she was, I'd always be a friend to her. Who would have
thunk
that you could actually catch some vinegar with honey?"

 

Now it was Kaleb who laughed. He loved the way Dylan's thought process went sometimes. "I don't think that's how that saying goes."