Sandpipers' Secrets (11 page)

Struggling to sit up, he deeply regretted disturbing the delicious post-coital snuggle they had going on, and Lark’s pitiful whine at his insistence that they let him up only added to Brody’s torment. He really didn’t want to go anywhere. His well-loved and sated body was heavy and slow. It tempted Brody to collapse back into their arms, where he knew he would be welcome to stay until morning. And probably more than welcome to join them in another round or two of fucking. But he fought it off.

“Stay,” Zak insisted, reaching out with a light, restraining hand to capture Brody’s wrist.

“Please stay. Just for a little while,” Lark added, leaning forward to place a soft, tender kiss along the line of Brody’s lower jaw, taking the time to add a tiny lick against the faint hint of his stubble.

Brody shuddered a little and closed his eyes, but he managed to shake his head in denial. He really
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couldn’t. “I’m sorry. I really…I have to go. I want to stay, believe me. It’s just…I have to go. I’ll…can I come back tomorrow night? I just…I need to go now.”

The seconds of silence that followed unnerved Brody to the point of caving in and begging them to let him stay. What would he do if they ended it right here and now because he couldn’t give them this?

The way Zak and Lark were looking at him right now, a little concerned and perhaps a touch hurt, as if they were struggling not to take his refusal personally, almost weakened Brody’s resolve. But finally, Zak broke the tension and saved him from being completely irresponsible.

“Of course you can,” Zak reassured, gently pulling Lark away and back into his arms so Brody could finally get up and start dressing. “You’re welcome here anytime. We’ll always want you here.”

Brody shivered at those words. Zak couldn’t have said anything more precious—or made it any more difficult for Brody to leave. Curse the gorgeous bastard! But Brody steeled himself against the longing looks and tempting warmth of the men curling up into the corner of the couch. He began to search for his scattered clothing. He had to go. At least for now.

* * * *

Lark closed the door quietly and leaned against the frame for a moment. It had been one hell of a crazy night. He didn’t ever want to walk in on a scene like the one in the kitchen tonight. Not ever again.

Man, the look on Zak’s face had nearly killed him. But it had also been an astonishing turning point in their relationship with Brody. So although hearing Brody say he had to go certainly wasn’t what Lark had wanted to hear, at least now they had moved on from uncertainty and frustration.

Lark wished Brody had reconsidered and stayed with them though. He wanted the man here—in their arms, in their bed. Lark wanted them all to ride the wild, exciting lust while it was still new and fresh until they couldn’t move. But at the same time, Lark had heard how much Brody really did regret having to leave, and that gave him some small measure of peace and a sense of victory. The need obviously wasn’t one-sided. And Brody had asked to come back. That had to be a good sign.

And instead of running from them when he’d heard what Gus had said about them, Brody had come to them. He’d opened his heart and accepted them, warts and all, regardless of whether the rumour was true. That meant everything to Lark.

Yes, he’d been hurt when Brody had shrugged instead of telling Gus to go fuck himself. But Lark suspected that it was just Brody’s way. He didn’t seem to like confrontation. And if Brody could accept the suggestion of something as taboo as incest, then Lark figured he could accept a casual shrug.

Then of course there was what had happened after Brody came to them this evening. That had been incredible. No doubt about it. And there had been a lot more than just animal lust and attraction going on.

Unfortunately, Lark was also more certain than ever that Brody was hiding something. Of course, Lark
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wanted to know everything right here and now. And more than that, he wanted to jump right in and fix whatever was wrong. But Brody’s secrets were his to tell, not Lark’s to pry out of him with a crowbar.

And just as Lark and Zak were big enough to fight their own battles with idiots like Gus, Brody was a man and they couldn’t interfere where they were not yet welcome.

It just made Lark all the more determined to get to know Brody, and for Brody to get to know them.

Perhaps then he would allow them to help. Before it was too late. Before one, or all of them was hurt by whatever Brody wasn’t telling them.

Brody wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing at the restaurant today—on Monday, everyone’s day off.

He’d made arrangements to come back to see Lark and Zak tonight, but when Wolf had gone for a nap Brody simply hadn’t been able to resist coming to see them again. It had pulled at him until he finally gave in and walked the few blocks to the restaurant.

He knew he wouldn’t be able to stay long, maybe an hour at the most, but he wanted those sixty minutes with his lovers.

His lovers.Brody tried out the sound of it, repeating it over and over in his brain. Tasting and assessing it.

Finding he really liked the idea.

Seeing the back door to the restaurant flung open, probably to let much-needed cool air into the stuffy kitchen, Brody veered away from the stairs to the apartment and opted for trying his luck in the restaurant itself. It was a pretty good bet that if one was there, he’d find them both. Zak and Lark seemed to be rarely apart. Brody was glad he wouldn’t have to waste precious minutes of his free time searching them out.

Quietly stepping into the kitchen, he peeked into the office and spotted Zak hunched over and hard at work at the small, scarred office desk. Surrounded by an ocean of paperwork, Zak looked busy and frustrated, as he ran his hands over the short bristles of his hair and huffed out a tired breath. Lark was nowhere to be seen.

Brody began to worry that maybe he should leave. Zak looked like he’d rather not be disturbed. And Brody wasn’t sure about the idea of just the two of them being together without Lark around. Maybe that was some sort of boundary he didn’t know about yet.

Zak looked up and Brody’s chance to slip away was lost.

“Brody!”

“Um…hi.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry. I can see you’re busy. I’ll just go.”

“No!” Zak stood up and hurried over. He enfolded Brody in a tight hug, clasping him against a hard wall of muscle.

For a second, Brody closed his eyes and breathed Zak’s warm, spicy scent. It was a smell that was becoming more familiar every day and had started to make him half-hard now whenever he caught a hint of it. It was all male musk with a touch of something spicy. And Brody was falling in love with it.

“Hi,” Zak breathed.

“Hi,” Brody replied, struggling to keep his voice even and casual when all he wanted to do was rip the man’s clothes off.

“I’m glad you dropped by.”

“You are?”

“Yeah.”

Zak leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. It ended all too quickly. So Brody pulled Zak down and took another one. A second light kiss lead to a third, and by the fourth, neither of them could hold back from opening their mouths to deepen it to something more thorough. More satisfying.

Exploring and tasting every inch of Zak’s mouth, Brody pressed into Zak’s solid warmth until there wasn’t enough room to squeeze a slip of Zak’s long forgotten paperwork between them. They rubbed and clung and moaned together until the need for air forced them to part.

Zak sank to his knees, and Brody’s heart pounded hard and fast in his chest.

“Zak? What—”

“Want to taste you,” Zak murmured as he worked open the buttons of Brody’s pants.

Brody’s cock sprang free to bounce against his belly. It seemed Zak’s kiss had already made Brody’s cock start to drool as much as his mouth. A drop of pre-cum smeared into his shirt, but Brody didn’t care. All his concentration was focused on the sight of Zak carefully adjusting Brody’s pants and boxers until his cock and balls were perfectly exposed above the waistbands.

“Zak I don’t—”

“Shh, just enjoy.” Zak used the tip of his tongue to lick up the pre-cum from the slit of Brody’s cock.

Brody threw back his head and thrust his hips forward helplessly.

It wasn’t that no one had ever gone down on him before. It just wasn’t something that had happened often. Brody was accustomed to being the one expected to give this pleasure, not the one who received it. He wasn’t exactly sure what to do. His hands wanted to run over the stiff bristles of Zak’s crew cut.

He wanted to thrust into Zak’s mouth, to fuck Zak’s mouth until he came. But he wasn’t sure how Zak would feel about that.

Then the sensation of Zak’s hot, wet mouth closing over his shaft and swallowing him down to the root overwhelmed Brody.

“Zak! Ah! Stop, Zak, I can’t—”

Zak’s mouth released him and Brody was so conflicted about whether that was a good thing, he missed the first few words Zak whispered to him.

“—got you.” Zak licked at Brody’s shaft again as if he couldn’t wait to get back to it. “Just relax. Let me.”

Zak’s mouth sank back down over his cock, and Brody watched this time as more and more of his hard shaft disappeared between the man’s lips. Zak’s cheeks hollowed a little as he sucked him in. Then Brody saw him swallow and felt the smooth walls of Zak’s throat caress the head of his cock.

“Ah! Fuck! Zak!” Brody couldn’t help himself, he had to reach out and cradle Zak’s head between his hands as Zak continued to suck and lave and deep throat his desperate cock.

Brody didn’t try to move or manipulate Zak in any way. He just used the feel of the fine, spiked hair brushing against his palms and fingers to ground himself as he began to wind up for one almighty orgasmic release.

“Ah, fuck! Ah, fuck!” Brody chanted, before finally bellowing Zak’s name.

Brody couldn’t restrain it any more. He thrust into Zak’s hot, welcoming mouth and came in long, continuous gushes of seed that Zak swallowed eagerly. Jerk after jerk of his shaft emptied his balls until Brody was spent.

Brody found that he was holding Zak’s head pressed to his groin. He gasped and released Zak, afraid he might have gone too far, been too physical. Zak simply smiled up at Brody and licked his lips before surging to his feet.

Brody’s heart swelled with emotion. He pulled Zak into a bone-crushing hug. His breath came in panting gasps and his legs trembled. Sex had never been anything more than physical. What the two of them had just shared was far more. Brody could only lean into Zak and wait for his heart to slow and his mind to catch up.

“I…I, ah…” Brody tried after a few seconds.

“Yeah, me too.” Zak’s voice was steady, but husky and Brody heard him clear his throat.

Brody wriggled as he tried to get down on his knees so he could start relieving Zak.The man’s probably cursing up a storm in his head right now because I haven’t started on his blow job already. But Zak only tightened his arm when Brody tried to kneel down.

“What’s wrong?” Zak asked.

“I…um…I just thought you…you know?”

For a moment, Zak looked at him, carefully scrutinising him until Brody felt an almost overwhelming need to squirm. It became difficult to maintain eye contact.

“I’m fine,” Zak finally said, pulling him close again and taking a deep breath. But Brody could feel the steel-hard ridge of Zak’s erection pressed against him.

“Don’t you want me to…?”

“Not right now. I just want to hold you for a second.”

“But—”

“Shh.” Zak said, squeezing him a little. “That was just for you. You don’t have to do me because I did you.”

Brody didn’t understand, but he couldn’t really argue. Especially when being held by Zak and losing himself in the solid warmth and tempting strength of Zak’s arms was so compelling. It just felt so right, so…perfect.

“But—”

“Shh.” Zak kissed the top of his head lightly and squeezed again.

“Will you let me make it up to you tonight?” Brody eventually asked, not just wanting to reciprocate now, but truly wanting Zak. He wanted to take the thick cock he could feel pressed up against him into his mouth and demonstrate his desire for Zak. It was a very new, very heady sensation that made Brody almost drunk with the delightful feeling it created inside him.

“Mmmm, I’d like that.” It was almost as if Zak sensed the difference, had wanted him to come to this point all along—not just returning the favour, but wanting it.

Brody felt blessed and so lucky to have found Zak and Lark. To be allowed a chance, a window of time—however small—to be with them and to get to know them. He couldn’t believe he had resisted for so long before taking the leap. Worse still, he’d almost lost the chance because of someone else’s stupid, malicious gossip, when it was really none of their business.

“I could never think of you or Lark as disgusting, or what you have together as wrong. I think…I think it’s…beautiful.”

The words tumbled out of him without any conscious decision on Brody’s part. The easy, relaxed mood began to evaporate around them and Brody really didn’t understand why. He only knew that he could have kicked himself for bring it all up and making Zak look distinctly uncomfortable so soon after his mind-blowing orgasm.

Wanting to reclaim some of the ease there had been between them before he’d opened his big mouth, Brody tried to change the subject. “So why are you working today anyway? I thought Lark had a strict

‘no working on days off’ rule.” Brody had thought Zak would come back with a retort about how bossy Lark was, or how it was good for the man not to get his own way all the time. Instead, Zak sobered and pulled away even more. “What’s wrong?” Brody asked; worried by the serious, dark look he saw in Zak’s eyes.