Haven 1: How to Save a Life (24 page)

“The way the head of your dick feels sliding between my lips, the way you smell, the brush of your balls in my palm. Fuck, I could do this all night.”

Fuck was right. Kevin’s words were driving Walter as crazy as his mouth had been. He dropped his head back and moaned. He couldn’t help himself.

Kevin slid his mouth over Walter’s cock again. That brought out another moan from Walter as Kevin worked his mouth lower.

It wasn’t long before Walter had to offer a warning. “Soon.” He didn’t want Kevin doing anything he wasn’t ready for.

Kevin didn’t back down. He moved with more determination. His lips tightened. The suction increased.

Walter’s stomach muscles tensed, his orgasm coursing through him. Kevin kept on going, sucking him through it all. Only now Kevin was lying flat on the bed, his hips thrusting his dick into the mattress as he kept his mouth and hands focused on Walter’s cock. Walter gave a last spurt, and Kevin pulled off and groaned as he came too.

His head landed on Walter’s abs. “I did it.” Short gasps poured out of him. He had a huge grin plastered on his face. “I did it.”

“You absolutely did.”

Kevin collapsed onto his back beside Walter. “Oh God, that was amazing.”

“I’ll say.” Walter tried to slow the heavy pants that tore out of him.

“So…” Kevin rolled to face him. “Which is your favorite one to take?” He lazily ran his fingertips through the dusting of hair on Walter’s chest.

“What? Which blowjob?” Walter’s melted brain was having a hard time concentrating.

“The vitamins.”

Walter groaned again, for an entirely different reason this time. “Thought we established that topic was off the table.”

“No, you just momentarily distracted me. I gotta know. Which one do you like taking the best? Fred, Wilma, Pebbles, Barney, Betty, Bamm-Bamm, or Dino?” Kevin flipped onto his back and laughed, the carefree sound like nothing Walter had heard from him before. An all-out belly laugh.

How could he giggle like that after he just came?

The energy of youth.

Walter poked him in the side and turned it into a tickle, then rolled onto him until he had Kevin pinned to the bed. “If you tell anyone I take Flintstones vitamins…”

That had Kevin laughing harder. “Nah. I wouldn’t tell. I’m thinking this secret’s worth some really good blowjobs.”

“You don’t need to bribe me for those.”

“No?”

“Absolutely not.”

Kevin licked his lips. His postorgasm, postlaughter breathing was evening out. The wide-eyed curiosity had returned. “You like sucking cock?”

“Yeah, I like it.”

Kevin exhaled a long sigh. “Oh good.” He laughed again.

Walter joined him as he dropped to the bed, every last muscle in his body relaxed, at ease like he hadn’t been in a long time.

How could he walk away from feeling something this good?

“So,” Kevin said. He leaned over Walter. “We’re good to go on the blowjobs, but I still want you to fuck me. Soon.” He raised his eyebrows in exaggerated excitement. “Very, very soon.”

Yeah, walking away was sounding less and less like the right move. Fuck their age difference.

Chapter Eighteen

Kevin exited the elevator and headed for Walter’s apartment, guzzling a mouthful of the bottled water he carried.

He was hot and sticky and tired. Summer was almost over, and another heat wave had blanketed the city. There’d also been a murder overnight, and he’d had a lot of legwork to do for his coverage of the story. It turned out to be a domestic violence case involving young children who’d witnessed one of their parents kill the other. He just wanted to take a shower, crawl into bed, and sleep for a couple of hours.

The guy walking in front of him stopped at the end of the hall, two doors down from Walter’s apartment.

It was weird having bodyguards go everywhere with him. Even after several days of it, Kevin still got uncomfortable whenever he caught a glimpse of one of Walter’s men. They were like Secret Service agents flanking him on all sides. When Walter had said “team,” he meant it.

What felt even more weird was walking into Walter’s apartment alone. Well, as alone as Kevin could be with his team of security goons waiting in the hall.

Kevin ran his thumb over the gold key Walter had sent to his office earlier that day. It was stupid to be so excited about a tiny piece of metal. Especially when it didn’t mean anything. Except perhaps,
I’m worried your ass might get abducted—or worse—by a long-haired freak phantom, and I really don’t need that guilt on top of everything else in my life.

Kevin shrugged off the thoughts and slid the key into the lock. Before he could turn the handle, the door flew open. The bottle of water in his hand went sailing to the floor, spilling the last of its contents on the carpeted hallway. The security goons on each side of him moved in.

A young man stood inside the open door.

“Mr. Stewart?” the goon on Kevin’s right—Tucker, Walter’s PI friend—asked.

The young guy in Walter’s apartment nodded. He had dark, wavy hair worn a touch longer than Kevin’s, and a wide smile.

Tucker spoke to Kevin. “Mr. Simon said he’d be here. It’s okay to go in.”

“Thanks,” Kevin said as he swiped up the bottle off the floor. The young man stepped aside so he could enter.

Young was definitely right. He was also graceful. How could someone look so coordinated and smooth taking a step sideways?

“Hi.” The young man’s smile widened as he closed the apartment door, leaving Tucker and the others standing guard in the hall. “Are you Kevin?”

“Yeah. Who are you?”

“Matthew.” He smiled again. A wickedly sexy grin.

Kevin couldn’t help but smile back.

“I’m a friend of Walter’s. He knew you had a lot of work today and wasn’t sure what time you’d be done, so he asked me to come by and take care of Charlie.”

Kevin forced the unexpected smile away. Something about the way Matthew had said the word
friend
had Kevin wondering if Walter had fucked him? Too late to avoid the mental picture that formed. There was no way this guy tripped over his pants getting undressed in bed. The empty bottle slipped from Kevin’s hand, but he caught it before it ended up back on the floor. He took a step toward the door. “I’m gonna go.”

“Oh. No.” Matthew seized Kevin by the arm. “It’s not like that. Don’t go.” His hold was light, but he didn’t let up on the grip. He tugged Kevin farther inside the apartment. The little shit was smiling again and damn cute when he did it. “He and I never… I’m just here to feed the dog. Really, nothing more. No need for you to be jealous.”

“I’m not jealous.” Kevin shrugged out of his touch.

Matthew laughed. No, more like giggled. “Sure you aren’t. Why don’t we start over? It’s really nice to meet you.” He held out his hand, and Kevin reluctantly accepted the handshake.

“C’mon,” Matthew said. “We’ll talk while I finish with Charlie.” He led Kevin into the kitchen, where the dog chomped away on the kibble in his bowl.

“Where is he?” Kevin asked.

“Charlie? Right here.” Matthew pointed to the dog, then laughed more. “Sorry. I don’t know where Walter went, just said he had something to do after work and he’d be back later tonight.”

Kevin tried to hide his disappointment as he set his water bottle down. Walter hadn’t told him that he’d be gone, but Walter had said something to Matthew.

Matthew leaned forward, resting his forearms on the counter. He stared up at Kevin. “He didn’t tell you where he was going?”

“No. Why would he?”

The dark hair fell across his forehead as Matthew cocked his head to the side, his expression a bit sad, concerned. “Because you’re dating?”

“I don’t know if that’s what we’re doing.” They hadn’t really been on a date, unless three hours in Walter’s car while staking out a gay bar counted.

“Oh.” Matthew straightened and ducked his head like he’d said the worst possible thing and now felt more than a little bad about it. He seemed an odd mix of insecurity and a comfortable confidence Kevin admired. Hard to stay annoyed—or jealous, if that’s what this was—at finding Matthew in Walter’s apartment.

Charlie finished his food and nudged Matthew in the leg. He bent to pet the dog on the head, then knelt beside him, letting Charlie lick his chin. “You’re such a good boy.” Charlie rolled to his back, and Matthew set to scratching his stomach.

Kevin didn’t want to be an ass, but he had to ask. “How do you know Walter?”

Matthew kept petting Charlie as he looked up at Kevin. “Through Luke.”

“Oh right. Walter mentioned him. He’s…”

Matthew cocked his head to the side once more. He rose and said, “One of my partners.”

“Yeah, Walter mentioned that too.”

“That?” Matthew laughed again.

Kevin had never heard a man sound like that before. Who knew it would sound so charming?

“You think it’s kinda weird, yeah?” Matthew shrugged. “It just works for us.” Charlie let out an excited bark, and Matthew bent to give him more love.

“He likes you.”

“I’m a sucker for dogs. Do you wanna go with me to take him for a walk?”

Kevin should probably have said no, gotten his laptop out, and gotten some work done, but instead he nodded. Five minutes later he and Matthew were outside walking Charlie, heading toward the nearby park with Kevin’s security team flanking them.

Kevin wasn’t sure what Walter had told Matthew about the bodyguards, so Kevin had offered a quick explanation about needing to be careful because of a story he was working on.

Matthew nodded and didn’t push for details. He chatted for most of the walk, talking about his partners, what they each did for a living, the college he attended, and asking Kevin questions about working at the
Daily Voice
. Even with the sun beginning to set, the heat had them slowly making their way along the sidewalk.

Something about Matthew seemed so familiar. Like Dylan. Like Kevin’s brother. Full of light and amusement and like nothing bad could reach him, like there was too much good shit in the world to bother with a bad mood.

It was easy talking to Matthew, just hanging with him.

They grew quiet as they reached the park, and Matthew’s words startled Kevin.

“I’m glad he met someone.”

“Walter?”

“Yeah. He needs to move on. Luke says he’s been blaming himself for a long time.”

“For what? The shooting?”

“That too, I imagine. But I meant for not being able to save Gary.” Matthew let the extension out on the dog leash, and Charlie trotted off to sniff around a nearby tree. Matthew gestured to a bench and sat.

“What was it like for him?” Kevin asked as he sat beside Matthew. “When Gary got sick?” Stupid question. What did he expect to hear?

“We didn’t know Walter then. Luke got the gist of what happened, though.” Matthew picked up a stick and threw it for Charlie to chase down. He stared off after the dog as he spoke. “It was bad. Gary wasn’t even himself near the end. I don’t think he knew Walter was there with him the last two weeks or so. I can’t imagine how hard that had to be. Watching someone you love deteriorate like that, watching him slowly die for months.” He shook his head and kept his focus on Charlie. He wasn’t seeing the dog, though. Maybe thinking about his own life and what it would be like to lose the men he loved.

Kevin didn’t want to wake up one day and realize he’d forced himself so far into the closet he didn’t have anyone to even consider losing.

When Charlie trotted back with the stick, Matthew patted his head, then tossed the stick again. “Walter’s a lot like Richard. If he had to watch me or Luke go like that and not be able to stop it…” He gave another shake of his head. “It would destroy him.” Matthew met Kevin’s stare. “That changes a person.”

“You don’t think Walter will want anything serious with anyone else? With me?”

“No, I wasn’t saying that at all.” Matthew gave the stick another toss and waited for Charlie to take off. “You seem like a nice guy. You’d have to be for Walter to like you, respect you.”

“So just tell me what you’re trying to say.”

“There’s a pretty big age gap between you two, and I don’t think he’ll overlook that in the long run. When he tries to push you away, it’ll be more about what he thinks you need and less about what
he
wants or feels. He’s kinda stubborn.” Matthew paused. A slow grin formed. “But that just means you’ll have to be more stubborn.”

Charlie came thundering back to the bench, and Matthew offered him more affection for returning the stick.

Matthew was right. Walter was just the kind of guy who would do what he thought was the right move. But would it be just about their age difference, or would there be more to it?

Matthew and Kevin walked back to Walter’s apartment, Charlie and a companionable silence between them, like they’d known each other for years. Inside the cool apartment, Matthew let Charlie off the leash while Kevin went to the kitchen and filled two glasses with water. He brought them to the living room and handed a glass to Matthew. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” Matthew sat on the couch and guzzled down a long swallow of the water.

Kevin remained standing. He had the unusual temptation to fall onto the couch and pour his heart out. What was wrong with him? He barely knew this guy. There was just something about Matthew.

“Never mind. I’m a reporter. I’m always asking too many questions. I forget to turn it off sometimes.” He sat in the chair opposite the couch and had a sip of the water. His elbows on his knees, he held the glass in both hands, repeatedly swiping his thumbs through the beads of perspiration on the outside, wishing every problem and worry in life could be so easily wiped away.

“Hey.”

Kevin glanced up at Matthew.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind. Ask me anything.”

Kevin considered him for a moment more before forcing himself to speak. “When did you come out?”

“When I was fifteen.”

“Really?”

Matthew tilted his head to the side, a gesture more common to him than Charlie. “You’re not out?”

“I’m working on it.”

Matthew set his glass down on the coffee table and tucked his legs under him. He grew serious. “It has to be something you do for yourself.”