Finding Peace (Finding Series, Book 3) (17 page)

“Always,” Gray said just before Luke’s mouth closed over his.

***

One kiss – one soft kiss was all it had taken to set their bodies ablaze with need but when Gray palmed Luke’s ass to force their cocks together, Luke rolled them so he was on his back and Gray was settled between his legs.

“I need you inside me,” Luke said as his hands framed Gray’s face.

“Are you sure?” Gray asked.

Luke nodded as he yanked his shirt over his head.

“Can the restraints wait till next time?” Gray asked with a small smile.

Luke laughed as he remembered his request to have Gray tie him up the first time he made love to Luke.

“I’ll still make sure you feel everything I’m going to do to you,” Gray promised huskily as he nipped at Luke’s lips while they worked the rest of their clothes off.

“Next time,” Luke conceded and then he closed his eyes and let out a moan as Gray’s tongue latched on to one of his nipples. Gray tortured the other before moving lower and searching out Luke’s belly button. But instead of stopping to give some love to his swollen dick, Gray continued down his legs and even to his feet before slowly making his way up his body again. And the man never once touched his raging hard-on.

“Gray,” Luke grumbled.

Gray silenced him with an almost brutal kiss that left him breathless and all of Gray’s playfulness disappeared as his next pass down Luke’s body was a carnal assault on his senses. Fingers, lips, tongue, teeth – they touched him everywhere, sometimes gentle, sometimes bordering on just this side of pain. But each contact just drove his need higher and higher and when Gray’s mouth did finally suck him in deep, the shock of it had Luke screaming in relief as he began shooting down Gray’s throat. The orgasm completely consumed him and when it was over, the only things he could move were his lips when Gray kissed him. Drops of come transferred from Gray’s mouth to his and Luke shivered as his own bitter, salty essence slid down his throat. He felt Gray settle all of his weight on top of him as he peppered his face with gentle kisses and when Luke finally opened his eyes, Gray’s were right there to welcome him.

“Missed you so much,” Luke managed to get out despite the well of emotion in his throat. He’d come too close to losing this…way too close.

“I love you, Luke. No matter what happens, please don’t ever doubt that. Only you,” Gray said almost desperately.

“Never again, Gray,” Luke said.

Gray nodded and then kissed him. The seduction began all over again and by the time Gray’s mouth reached Luke’s cock, it was once again at full attention. But instead of sucking him deep, Gray just licked him a few times and then his mouth went lower. Although he had mentally prepared himself for this moment, Luke realized the second Gray’s tongue flicked over his hole that all his mental preparation had been for shit.

“Fuck, yes!” Luke cried out as Gray caressed him over and over. Each lick had pre-come dripping from Luke’s cock and he couldn’t resist closing his hand over the hot flesh and stroking it to match Gray’s touch. The feeling of Gray’s stiff tongue pushing into him had Luke freezing completely as he tried to adjust to the sensation of the intimate caress but after just one lick, Luke was frantically jerking at his dick while he pressed his ass against Gray’s talented mouth. He muttered a colorful protest when Gray’s tongue slipped from his body and moved upwards but then Gray was licking over his balls and Luke released his dick so he could push himself up with his hands to watch. The sight of Gray between his legs, drawing Luke’s testicles into his mouth and sucking on them proved to be too much and Luke dropped back on the bed and put an arm over his eyes. He barely noticed when Gray released him because his body was so sensitive that wherever Gray’s skin touched his, he felt sparks of electricity dancing around.

“You okay?” Gray asked as he brushed a gentle kiss over Luke’s lips.

Luke managed a nod and dropped his arm. “It’s almost too much, you know?”

Gray nodded in understanding. “You’ll feel it soon.”

“What?” Luke asked.

But Gray just smiled and then reached into his nightstand to pull out a bottle of lube. “I haven’t been with anyone else,” Gray suddenly said. “I can wear a condom until I get tested again to prove it. I don’t even know about STDs with my condition …”

Luke’s passion cooled at Gray’s telling statement and he wrapped his arms around Gray and rolled him to his back and pinned him with his gaze. “You never,
never
have to prove something like that to me because your word is good enough, do you hear me?” Luke said firmly. At Gray’s slight nod, Luke whispered, “Someday I’m going to make you believe – really believe – that I didn’t mean those shitty things I said.” Luke kissed Gray long and hard until they were both squirming with renewed desire and then Luke rolled them over so he was on his back once more.

***

Gray’s hands were shaking as he scooped up the discarded bottle of lube that had fallen onto the bed during their exchange. He hadn’t realized until that moment how hung up he still was on the things Luke had said to him at the police station. Even as he’d followed Luke down the stairs to stop him from leaving, there’d been a tiny voice inside of him telling him what a fool he was – that one day Luke would shred him again with his words. But now that he could see the truth in Luke’s eyes, could feel it in his touch, he knew he could put that day in the past where it belonged. He had a whole life of memories ahead of him with this man and he wouldn’t tarnish any of them with the darkness that was born of one bad choice.

Gray remained where he was on top of Luke’s warm, hard body as he slid his hand down to search out Luke’s hole. He relished in being able to see the reaction in Luke’s eyes when Gray’s finger played with him and then finally pushed inside of him. There was a little bit of everything there – fear, discomfort, awe, excitement, pleasure. But it was when Luke’s eyes connected with his that he truly felt whatever it was that had linked them together from the moment they met.

“So good,” Luke whispered as Gray’s finger massaged him. He found the bundle of nerves he was seeking and wasn’t surprised when Luke gasped and then lifted his whole body up as pleasure lanced through him. He kept up the gentle probing as he added a second finger and was pleased when Luke didn’t react other than to beg him for more. Luke’s cock was leaking against his own so Gray didn’t linger for too long and when he finally began joining his and Luke’s bodies together, he leaned down to whisper “love you” against Luke’s lips just before he pushed forward.

***

Luke had been expecting the pain of Gray’s entry but it didn’t last long and once he got past the strangeness of feeling stuffed full, he managed to relax. The move allowed Gray to slip even farther inside of him and he groaned at the sensation of Gray’s thighs brushing up against his ass. Gray had slipped his arms beneath Luke’s legs to open him up as wide as possible and while he’d felt vulnerable at first, he quickly fell in love with the position because it allowed Gray to be as close to him as physically possible.

As Gray began sliding in and out of him in slow, leisurely strokes, a strange, burning sensation began in his ass and a twinge of worry went through him that the funky feeling would get worse. But instead, something else flared to life and the sensation disappeared altogether and was replaced with a tightening that began deep in his belly and continued to build as Gray moved in and out of him. The friction was intense because of Gray’s size and Luke found himself incapable of speech as Gray’s pace increased. He managed to return the soft kisses that Gray kept brushing over his lips but that didn’t last long because Gray shifted the angle of his hips just a little bit and hot streaks of pleasure flashed through Luke’s body. After that, Luke became a mass of grunts and moans and he could only follow as Gray took him higher and higher. And in that moment that he hung on the precipice and his eyes burned into Gray’s, he felt it – what Gray had been talking about – that moment when no one and nothing else existed but the two of them and it was pure perfection.

And when he finally fell, Gray was there to catch him.

Epilogue

“What the fuck, Gray?!”

Gray smiled at the outraged shout and he looked down to see Ripley cocking her head curiously as heavy footsteps stomped towards them from the bedroom. He hit the send button on the email he’d just finished typing to his new agent and then closed the program.

“A cliff, Gray? He goes over a fucking cliff?” Luke shouted in disbelief as he held up the hardback if to show Gray what he was referring to. Since Gray had been hearing the same reaction from a lot of his fans in the two weeks since his most recent
Nick Archer
book had been released, he just sat there and tried to bite back his smile. Luke’s investment in the series had started once he managed to finish the first book shortly after they’d gotten settled in the cabin. Since then, he’d been maniacal about getting through all six books without receiving any spoilers from reviews or from Gray himself. And Gray had had a hell of a lot of fun hearing Luke wonder aloud about what would happen next to the harried Detective Archer.

“It’s a fake out, right?” Luke asked. “He got out of the trunk before the car went over.”

Gray just shrugged and Luke let out a colorful curse.

“Tell me,” Luke finally ordered.

“Make me,” Gray responded. Heat flared in Luke’s eyes and by the time he’d dragged Gray out of his desk chair and kissed him into a stupor, he didn’t seem to care anymore about what the plans for the next book were, if any. It was Gray who came to his senses before Luke could get his shirt completely unbuttoned.

“You’ll be late for class,” he murmured against Luke’s lips.

“Shit, Luke muttered before placing another more chaste kiss on his mouth and drawing back. “Tonight,” he warned.

“Dinner tonight at the ranch,” Gray reminded him.

“Cancel,” Luke quipped.

“Really?” Gray asked knowingly.

“No, not really,” Luke bit out. “After,” he said with a pointed glare and then he was leaning down to run his hand over Ripley’s head. “Call your brother,” he said for good measure before he leaned down and kissed Gray once more. “Love you,” he said softly and a tremor went through Gray at the naked need he saw in the other man’s eyes.

“Love you,” Gray responded and it took everything in him to open the fist he had clenched in Luke’s shirt.

Luke gave him one more longing look and then quickly left the cabin. Gray wasn’t surprised when his phone beeped to indicate he had a new text. He chuckled when he saw the screen.

Tell me.

Another text appeared a second later.

No, don’t.

Living together had been an easy decision after Luke left the military even after they’d asked him to come back after the truth about Shaw had been revealed. In truth, Gray would have gone anywhere Luke wanted and as much as he would have hated it, he would have supported any and all of Luke’s future deployments. But the morning after he’d made love to Luke in L.A., Luke had told him he wanted to take classes so he could become a paramedic. Even though the decision to return to Dare had been Gray’s, Luke hadn’t hesitated for even a second since it meant he’d have the opportunity to rebuild his relationship with Rhys. They’d both had the chance to meet Rhys’ lovers, Callan and Finn, and he and Luke had been welcomed into the tight-knit, make-shift family that also included Dane, Jax and little Emma.

Gray’s health had continued to improve and a subsequent visit to the doctor had shown no additional tumors. While the threat of reoccurrence would always be there, Gray knew he’d be able to get through it and not just because he had Luke by his side…no, he’d beat it because he had too much to live for now and not even cancer was going to take that from him.

The only sticking point for Gray had been Roman whom he hadn’t seen or spoken to since his visit to the cabin shortly before Gray’s chemo had ended. He’d been hopeful that Roman’s message to him via Luke was a sign that they could build a relationship but every time Gray asked him to stop by Dare as he was passing through or to even call him, Roman sent a brief text to cancel. But Gray hadn’t given up and it was with that thought in mind that he dialed the phone. There was no answer of course so he left his standard message before hanging up. A moment after he did, his phone rang but it wasn’t Roman calling him.

“Hey,” Gray said softly as he stood up and went to the couch to get more comfortable since he knew exactly why Luke was calling him. It was rare for Luke to make the entire drive to Missoula for his class without calling Gray just to check in and no matter what Gray was doing or where he was, he always had the same answer when Luke asked his catch-all question.

“Keep me company?” Luke asked.

“Always,” Gray whispered.

The End

***Check out the next page for a sneak peak of Roman’s story, Finding Forgiveness***

Finding Forgiveness

Chapter One

“What can I get you?”

Roman Blackwell took one look at the bartender’s cowboy hat and plaid shirt and guessed he wasn’t going to find his favorite brand of whiskey in a place like this so he simply said “Scotch, neat” and then turned around to study the surprisingly busy club. He’d been to more gay clubs than he could count but this one was on the top of his “What were they thinking” list. There was the obligatory mirror ball above the dance floor but for the life of him, Roman couldn’t figure out how it jived with the honky-tonk country music blaring from the antiquated sound system or the dark, wood paneled walls that looked like something you’d find in the house of a 70’s sitcom family.

He’d had high hopes when the app on his phone had showed that a club called
Reds
was within a few miles of his hotel in the not so busy downtown section of Missoula, Montana but when he’d arrived, he’d found that the app had left out a strategic apostrophe and
Reds
was actually
Red’s.
The sight of a few Harley Davidsons sitting out front among the half dozen pick-up trucks – two of which were attached to horse trailers – had been the deciding factor in whether he stayed or not. He’d always found bikers to be an interesting bunch when it came to random hook-ups because despite their testosterone driven demeanors, tattoos and leather wear, they usually ended up being the guys that begged him the loudest to get them off when he had them pinned beneath him.

But despite the Harleys out front, he wasn’t seeing any men who looked like they belonged to the Hogs. What he did see was a lot of cowboy hats, bolero neck ties, blue jeans and cowboy boots in all sorts of textures and colors. And the dancing…there wasn’t a pole or cage in sight and while there were a few guys who might as well have been fucking on the dance floor consider all the gyrating they were doing, Roman was waiting for the moment when the whole group broke out into a line dance.

“Hey.”

Roman glanced to his right and saw a pretty little thing sizing him up. No way the emo guy had been there a minute ago because he certainly would have noticed the full, pouty lips, nose piercing and hint of eyeliner framing bright blue eyes. A shot of lust went through Roman and he shifted his weight so he could give the guy his full attention.

“Buy me a drink?” the guy asked as he let his long fingers rub over his hip and down his thigh.

The bartender slid Roman’s drink in front of him but instead of ordering the guy a drink, he took a swig of his own. Emo guy pouted prettily but didn’t seem too disappointed because he sidled up even closer to Roman. But when he placed his hand on Roman’s thigh and let it travel towards Roman’s dick, Roman grabbed his wrist.

“Where is he?” Roman asked coolly as he took in the leather pants and vest the guy was wearing. There was no doubt the guy was linked to the still absent bikers but he definitely wasn’t one himself.

“Who?”

Roman turned the guy’s arm over and pointed to the tattoo on the guy’s forearm. “Cooter,” Roman said with a chuckle as he read the name tattooed beneath the words
Property of
.

“He’s playing,” Emo Guy said though from the smile on his face, whatever or whoever Cooter was playing with didn’t seem to bother him. “Want to go watch?”

While Roman liked fucking bikers, he wasn’t really interested in brawling with them over some boy toy that had so far only managed to get him half hard. But curiosity got the best of him so he gave the guy a brief nod and then swallowed the rest of his drink. Emo Guy took his hand and began leading him through the still sedate crowd of cowboys. Several of them openly stared at him and a few even sent him inviting looks but he ignored them. As they drew closer to the far side of the bar where a red curtain separated the main room from what he assumed was a private area, Roman could hear hearty laughs and deep, rumbling voices.

As Emo Guy pushed the curtain aside, Roman realized it wasn’t a private area – it was just a room with a couple of pool tables. But that wasn’t what had his attention. No, it was the half-naked guy bent over one of the pool tables that caught his eye along with the huge guy pounding into him from behind. Several other guys were standing around the table and a couple even had their cocks out and were stroking them as they urged the guy doing the fucking on.

The first thing Roman noticed about the guy getting fucked was how still he was as the biker rammed into him. His hands and cheek were pressed flat against the green felt. His shirt was still on but was pushed up to reveal a slim back and even under the dim light hanging above the table, Roman could see his hair was a startlingly shade of light blonde. His body kept jerking as he was brutally fucked but he made absolutely no sound and didn’t struggle against the man holding his hips as he thrust into him. His eyes were open and staring in Roman’s direction but not looking directly at him.

“Fuck, yeah!” one of the onlookers shouted as the guy doing the fucking cursed as he came. He held himself inside the guy for only a few seconds before pulling out and then another guy was stepping up and slamming into him.

“That’s Cooter,” Emo Guy said with pride.

Roman shook his head at the sickening sight. As much as it bothered him, especially considering how young the guy pinned to the table looked, he wasn’t complaining about the harsh treatment and he didn’t look drugged or drunk so Roman turned to leave. But just as he reached behind him to pull the curtain back, his eyes once again caught on the guy’s and some unnamed emotion went through him when he saw how empty his gaze was – like he wasn’t even there. He’d seen that look before and it had fucking haunted him his whole life.

“Such a pretty little slut,” Cooter snarled as he fucked into the guy. His big hands reached up and fisted in the guy’s hair and he yanked his head up and held it at an unnatural angle as he continued to brutalize him. The guy still didn’t make a sound and when Cooter slammed his head back down on the table and pinned it there with his beefy hand, the guy’s eyes looked exactly the same. Cooter grunted as he came and Roman felt the bile rise in his throat as he watched the man pull out and a trickle of blood ran down the guy’s inner thigh.

“Bleeding just like a bitch,” Cooter said in satisfaction and as the next guy moved into position, Roman dropped the curtain and began moving towards the pool table.

One of the bikers stepped in his path and said, “you gotta fucking wait your turn, man!”

But Roman just kneed him in the groin and then slammed his hand into his nose. The guy shouted in pain as he hit the ground and then Cooter was coming at him. Adrenaline surged through his blood as he saw a smattering of blood on the guy’s condom covered cock and he didn’t hesitate to slam his fist into Cooter’s bulging neck. Cooter gasped and Roman hoped to God he’d managed to cause permanent damage to the man’s trachea. The guy that was about to fuck the man on the table stepped back but Roman grabbed him by the balls and squeezed hard. The man screamed like a stuck pig and froze in place. The only two men still standing had enough sense to back off and one of them quickly tucked his own dick back in his pants as if to protect it from Roman’s wrath.

“I suggest you take your friend there” – Roman motioned to Cooter who was struggling to draw in air – “and go before I rip your fucking balls from your body and jam them down his throat.”

The biker he was holding on to nodded and as soon as Roman released him, he and another guy dragged Cooter to his feet and helped him stumble out an emergency exit. Roman had no idea if Emo Guy had taken off when the whole thing started and he didn’t care. All he cared about was that all the bikers were gone but he wasn’t stupid enough to assume they wouldn’t return once they had the chance to regroup. He turned to the pool table and saw that the guy hadn’t even moved during the commotion but awareness had returned to his gaze and even though he lifted his head slightly to look over his shoulder at Roman, he didn’t move otherwise. When he dropped his head back into the same exact position, a surge of anger went through Roman as he realized the man fully expected him to take the bikers’ place. But his rage dissipated as he eyed the blood on the man’s thigh.

Roman sucked in a couple of deep breaths and then reached down to pull the man’s jeans up. He closed his hands over the man’s upper arm and pulled him upright. Shock went through him as he got his first good look at the man’s face and he realized that he wasn’t a man…he was a fucking kid. Late teens maybe – twenty at the most.

“Do you need medical attention?” Roman asked as the kid finally reached down to zip up the pants that Roman was still holding up around his slim waist. As soon as he was done he shook Roman’s hand off.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” was all the kid said as he ran a hand through his light hair. Roman didn’t miss how striking the young man was but his affect was so fucked up that Roman didn’t know what the hell he should do. Maybe if the kid had begged him to take him home or to the ER or even if he’d shown some sign of being intoxicated or drugged, Roman would have had a place to start but the guy was so disconnected from what had just happened that Roman was clueless. He had a very strong suspicion that if he just left him, he’d fold himself back over the pool table for the next guy who walked into the room. That or he’d go looking for the bikers so they could finish him off.

“Is there someone I can call for you?”

The kid shook his head and then pushed past Roman. But when he swayed and nearly fell, Roman grabbed him by the arm and made a decision that he knew he was going to regret come morning. “What’s your name?”

“Hunter,” came the disinterested response.

“You have two choices, Hunter. Either you tell me who to call to come get you or you’re walking out of here with me right now.”

Hunter’s mossy green eyes looked around the room as if he was finally seeing it and then his gaze went to the pool table. “You,” he finally said but he didn’t take his eyes off the pool table until Roman pulled him from the room.