Twin Ties 1: My Brother's Lover (14 page)

“I don’t know.” Evan shrugged, “Don’t really know him that well but I’d disagree from what I’ve seen.”

Utterly baffled, Luka blurted, “What do you mean you don’t know him that well? He’s your identical twin brother! How could you not know him?”

“Long story. Just met the guy a few days ago.”

“No shit?”

“No shit.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.”

“Huh,” Luka grunted thoughtfully, considering this new information. “Well then, trust me, Brennan is the bad twin.”

“I still disagree. He’s as dangerous as a cupcake.”

Luka snorted, “Cupcake. Ha! That’s totally gotta be his nickname from now on. But I’ve gotta warn you, Evan, beware of that cupcake.” He thumbed back over his shoulder at the bathroom, raising his eyebrows and nodding once for emphasis.

“Will do.”

“Wait,” Luka frowned. Finally, he realized one thing he almost missed, something that only sparked upon replaying the incident in the hallway over in his head. “You called me Alek. You thought I was him. You know Alek?”

“I guess,” Evan said evasively.

“Huh. Small world.”

Evan chuckled, sucking hard on the filter of his cigarette, filling his lungs with smoke and holding it there a second. Then he breathed it out and shook his head. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

When Luka heard Brennan emerge from the bathroom, he excused himself, bid Evan goodnight and went to meet Brennan. He found Brennan seated cross-legged on the bed, wearing only a thin, silky-soft pair of white drawstring pants. His tan skin, flushed pink from the quick shower he just took, glowed in contrast. An easy smile spread across his face and he bowed his head bashfully.

“So, seems you may have been right about the not-knowing-you-that-well thing,” Luka said teasingly.

“You really thought he was me?”

“Just for a second there,” Luka admitted, stepping closer, the fronts of his thighs resting lightly against the edge of the high bed’s mattress. He slipped a hand around one of Brennan’s calves, the desire to touch too intense to ignore.

“What’s your brother’s name?”

“Alek. He’s older. More of a stick-in-the-mud. Scowls a lot. Not
nearly
as attractive.”

Brennan laughed brightly at that and Luka sighed, “Wow, you have the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. Makes me want to keep on making you laugh so that I can keep enjoying the view.”

Brennan rolled his eyes, but the smile stayed.

“So, now what?” Luka wondered aloud. Brennan’s hand came to rest atop Luka’s laying on his leg and weaved their fingers together.

“Sleep with me?” he asked softly, some deep-seated, underlying hurt and fear showing in his face. Then, to clarify, he added, “Just sleep, I mean. I have a hard time sleeping these days. Having company helps.”

Luka grinned, his cheeks dimpling. He tucked a lock of dark hair behind his ear and pursed his lips to try to hold in some of his overpowering joy. “Yeah, I’d love to.”

In the kitchen, Evan stubbed out his second cigarette and finished off his beer, too.

They weren’t enough. He was still rattled. Sure, he’d heard the sounds from Brennan’s bedroom, the moaning and heavy breathing and had figured out pretty quickly what was going on, but the last face he expected to see emerging from there was the one
he’d
been fantasizing about and obsessing over since the night at the bar—Alek’s face. Now all Evan could think of was everything he’d done with Alek, only replacing himself and
his
lover with their doppelgangers. It hit too close to home. It underlined everything Evan didn’t like to face about himself, making him queasy but also, horribly, turning him on more than he would have liked to admit.

He realized he was the only one who understood; who realized Brennan was screwing Luka while Evan had been screwing around with Alek at the same time, totally oblivious. What it said about the similarity of his and Brennan’s sexual preferences, about the way their minds worked and how alike they were was all too much for him.

Evan had done a better job than Luka at not gawking, because he really didn’t want to know just how alike Luka and Alek were, so he mainly kept his eyes trained on his hands, but it was impossible not to mentally compare and contrast. It was fascinating to him, the difference in Luka’s personality, how light-hearted and easy-going he came off versus Alek.

He was due to meet Alek for their quasi-date soon. Alek’s friend’s gig at the bar where they first met was scheduled for midnight so Evan had merely been lounging in the dark, biding his time until then, and, of course, trying to block out the moaning coming from across the house. Now he couldn’t bear to be in the house at all, not with Brennan and Luka both back in the bedroom doing god-knows-what. So he got up, grabbed a pack of gum to freshen his breath, pocketed his keys and went outside.

The idea was to get in the car and drive around for a while to kill time but, as Evan walked around the side of the house, he couldn’t help noticing how Brennan’s window was wide open. Evan’s feet took him over to it silently, without any instruction from his brain. Once he was there, right by the window’s edge, he crouched down. Resting his back against the house’s siding, he dug a third cigarette out without thinking about that either.

He could hear them. There was the soft rustling of bodies and bed sheets, the creaking of floorboards and mattress springs. They were getting into bed. Evan imagined them sliding in under the covers, touching each other or maybe not, and wondered what they were wearing, if anything.

“I gotta warn you, I’m a natural cuddler. It can’t be helped. Is that gonna bother you?”

“No, I don’t mind. And if you change your mind, we can still always... you know. I still want you.”

It was Brennan’s voice, but it was nothing like how Evan was used to hearing him. It was scratchy, raw, and aching, and goddamn but it was making Evan hard. Hating himself for it, he palmed himself and shut his eyes, letting the smoke burn at his lungs, letting himself choke on it a little.

There were soft, wet, suckling sounds of kissing and Evan knew he shouldn’t be hearing them, but his body wouldn’t move.

“I want you, too. But let’s at least save that for our second date, okay? I wanna take my time with you, really savor it, and right now, just holding you feels perfect.”

Damn, Bren’s a slut
, Evan thought with astonishment. It did nothing to cool his interest but it did help lift from his shoulders some of the guilt he’d been carrying about wanting to have sex with Alek. If Brennan wanted it, and was so very bluntly vocal about wanting it, maybe it was okay if Evan wanted it, too.

There was more rustling; more smooching sounds too, then a low, choked moan. Brennan.

“You better cut that out if you don’t wanna fuck me.”

A lightning bolt of pure want shot down Evan’s spine, lighting him up from inside. He willed Luka to go through with it. Evan wanted to hear it happen. He wanted to be sitting there, right under Brennan’s window while they fucked.

The cigarette burned at his fingers, so he dropped it, grinding it out with his boot heel.

“Mm, sorry. You just taste
really
good, pretty much everywhere.”

Evan’s mouth watered. His skin prickled and his cock ached, wanting to feel Alek’s mouth sucking kisses down his body, too.

“You’re not stopping,” Brennan pointed out, gasping. Then he moaned like the cry was startled out of him.

“That didn’t really sound like a complaint.”

Soft suckling, small growls and grunts mingled with the faint sound of flesh slapping and rubbing against flesh. Evan palmed himself, needing relief.

“I think
you’re
the evil one. Fucking teasing bastard.”

“Nope, I’m the good twin,” Luka interjected after a particularly wet slurp.

“My ass,” Brennan huffed.

“Mm, yeah, love your ass.”

Brennan snorted with laughter and Evan shifted. It was quarter of, he realized. Damn it. Time to go.

He scrambled away, crouched low until he was well clear of the view from the window. Then he jogged to his car and got inside behind the wheel. There was a dirty rag on the floor in front of the passenger seat and Evan grabbed it. Tugging down his zipper, he pulled out his dick and wrapped the rag around it, beating off fast and hard, gasping and chasing his release.

Inside the house, Brennan put a hand on Luka’s shoulder. Luka was busy sucking on Brennan’s left nipple and palming his ass through the thin pants but he stopped when Brennan hissed, “Wait. Shh!”

“What?” Luka said, looking up through fallen hair, pupils blown wide and black, lips fuller from all of the kissing.

“I heard something. Hold on a sec.” He unceremoniously pushed Luka off, darted to the opened window, and looked outside into the gloom. The light by the front door illuminated enough to begin to make out shapes. The scent of cigarette smoke lingered in the air. His eyes adjusted, helping him pick out more detail. Behind him, Luka groaned in protest and flopped belly-down onto the bed.

The first thing Brennan saw was the still-smoldering cigarette butt crushed into the dirt inches from the house, right by where he was standing. Then, he looked up to see Evan sitting behind the wheel of the Chevy, head thrown back against the headrest, mouth fallen open and brow furrowed. One of his arms was moving....

“Oh my god,” Brennan gasped, embarrassed. Pivoting on his heel, all too aware of the pronounced tickle that stirred low in his gut, the unexpected, somewhat disturbing swell of heated lust, he returned to the bed.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing
my
ass,” Luka retorted. “
What
?”

Brennan gave him a doubtful glance, sat down on his ‘side’ of the bed and leaned back against the pillows. He bit his lip and picked at a nail. Curling his legs up to his chest as Luka propped himself up on his elbows, Brennan muttered reluctantly, “He was outside. Evan. He heard us.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do.”

“Do you know if he liked what he heard?” Luka asked, low and gravelly. It made Brennan’s already restless stomach flip-flop more. Brennan scooted down under the covers and turned his back to Luka, nestling into the pillow.

“Ooh, that’s a yes,” Luka said with sly amusement. He rubbed a hand down around Brennan’s body, cupping the straining line of his dick. “Want me to take care of this?”

Seeing nothing but the after-image of Evan jerking off in the car, beginning to imagine sound effects to go along with it, Brennan blurted, “Nah, I’m good.”

“You sure?”

“Yep. G’night.”

Luka curled up around Brennan, spooning him from behind, being careful to keep his hips tucked back in what seemed a genuine attempt to honor Brennan’s request for sleep. Brennan whimpered anyway. It was very quiet, but loud enough for Luka to hear. He palmed Brennan’s flat stomach and nuzzled into the nape of his neck.

“If you need anything, I’m right here,” Luka offered gently.

“’Kay,” Brennan rasped. “Thanks.”

The band, Raed, was already performing when Evan arrived at the bar. Spotting Alek immediately, Evan made a beeline for him, weaving through the dense crowd to where Alek was waiting in the back corner of the room, hunched over a pair of beers.