Twin Ties 1: My Brother's Lover (31 page)

While Alek tackled the neglected yard, Luka trimmed the hedges along the house and chopped at some of the overgrown weeds. He finished off by using the weed-eater on the periphery of the property, pretty much doing whatever he could to be useful until Alek was done. The abrupt end to their conversation had only heightened Luka’s already typically overwhelming curiosity, and he wasn’t going anywhere until he wheedled out some answers. It was apparent to Luka that Alek was more than tired or cranky, he was unequivocally freaking out. It was in Alek’s eyes, posture and attitude, and Luka would be doing Alek a disservice, as his only family, if he didn’t do his best to get to the bottom of it.

When the yard work was indeed done, the pair of them sat on the back porch. Sipping cold beers pulled from the fridge, Luka sighed and patted Alek’s leg.

“Tell me, oh wise one. Why did we just bust our asses doing the lawn of a house we don't even live at?”

Alek bowed his head and stared at the ground by his feet. “Because Evan’s got enough on his mind without worrying about that, too.”

And just like that, Luka remembered what Brennan confided in him about Evan. Aching for Alek, Luka fell quiet. But he knew he should act like he didn’t know what Alek was talking about, so, when he was sure his voice would come out sounding normal, he asked, “What’s up?”

Alek simply shook his head, and rubbed dirty fingers over his eyes. He braced his forehead in a hand, his elbow propped on his knee.

“Dammit. Aleksy, talk to me,” Luka pleaded. He didn’t like how Alek looked at all. He hadn’t been this upset about anything since they were teenagers.

“It was just supposed to be a quick, dirty fuck in the bathroom. That’s
all
. How did I get here? Losing my damn mind over some broken
kid
? I feel like he’s under my skin or something. Like when I wasn’t paying attention he got inside me and twisted everything up so I can’t even tell up from down. He’s all I see, all I can think about, and all I want. And knowing... what I know... what could have happened, what could still happen. I start to get this panicky feeling.” Alek clutched his chest, frowning severely, “Like I can’t breathe, like someone’s squeezing my heart inside their fist. I didn’t sleep much at all last night. There was no way I was taking my eyes off of him. And now I’ve gotta fuckin’ go to work and deal with those drunken jackasses. I don’t know. I don’t think I can leave him.”

Alek spewed this all out without thinking or censoring much. If he
was
thinking, he might have realized how little sense he was making, but luckily Luka knew Evan’s secret already and read between the lines.

“I’ll be here. I’ll make sure he’s okay until you get back,” Luka said gently.

Alek’s arm, the one holding his head up, started to shake.

“Aleksy,” Luka sighed.

Looking sideways at his brother, Alek set his jaw with fierce determination, his eyes wet with tears.

“C’mere.” Luka pulled him over, letting Alek lean on his shoulder and wrapping him in a lose embrace. “Maybe we’re
supposed
to be here. Maybe we’re supposed to look out for them. Like fate.”

“You don’t believe in fate,” Alek murmured doubtfully, but lightening up nonetheless. “Or true love. Or any of that stuff.”

“Well, I did say
maybe
.”

“You’re so full of shit,” Alek grinned.

“Should we go check on the kids, old man?” Luka sighed, slapping Alek’s knee.

“Why does everyone keep calling me that?” Standing, Alek cracked his back and hobbled wearily over to the back door.

Once inside, there was no immediate sign of Brennan or Evan. The house was quiet—too quiet. The Popovic brothers stood in the kitchen and listened for any sign of their lovers. Then, Luka spied the iPod dock Brennan had set up on the counter for when he was cooking. Pointing at it, he turned to Alek. “I have an idea!”

“Oh no,” Alek groaned. “Your ideas terrify me. What now?”

Luka fished his iPod out of his pocket and scrolled through his playlist until he found what he was looking for.

“They can’t still be sleeping, right? I mean, we slept a lot when we were that age, but not for
this
long,” Alek pondered.

On the other side of the house, Brennan paced agitatedly between his room and the bathroom with bare feet and a dressed in new change of clothes. Evan had been in the shower for a half-hour. He answered Brennan’s shouted questions by telling him to go pee in the bushes outside if he needed to go so badly, or saying he was almost done time and time again, even though the water was never shut off, frustrating Brennan to no end. Evan went so far as to say that if Brennan was waiting so they could talk about what happened, he’d happily stay in there all day.

They had literally raced each other to the bathroom. Evan wanted it all to himself, unlike Brennan, so he could get thoroughly cleaned up without an audience, and since he happened to be laying a few inches closer to the door when they were in bed together, it gave him just enough of an advantage. He won the race and Brennan was forced to clean up with moist towelettes and tissues after Evan locked him out. It was clear enough from Evan’s tone of voice that he was fine and simply seeking privacy, but Brennan was stubborn enough to linger anyway.

Luka, grinning like a cat, set the iPod in the dock and hit play, cranking up the volume. House music started blasting from the tiny speakers, thumping with a pounding beat. Alek cocked an eyebrow at his brother. “Seriously?”

“What? It’s an experiment,” he argued. “Hey, I was offered a lap dance earlier, so I just wanted to see if maybe.... Ha!”

Luka broke into delighted laughter as Brennan bolted down the hallway toward him, sliding gracefully on the wooden boards until he collided with Luka, who caught him to keep him from sailing right into the cabinets. Brennan laughed with him. Reaching up and hooking his arms over Luka’s broad shoulders, Brennan began to swivel his hips along with the bass beat, keeping his body loose and fluid, his eyes locked onto Luka. Brennan teased his full bottom lip seductively between the points of his teeth and smiled wickedly. Holding on to Brennan by the waist, Luka started to lead, urging Brennan’s movements on. Their bodies fit together, with Luka’s thigh snugly nestled between Brennan’s legs and Brennan rocking rhythmically against the thick muscle, riding it.

Alek watched them with amusement, but also kept an eye out for any sign of Evan.

After a few more beats, Brennan pivoted on a heel, leaning back into Luka’s chest, shimmying and shaking his ass. Undulating against Luka’s body, he raised his arms loosely over his head. Brennan’s lips went soft and his eyes closed half-way over. Turning his head to the side, toward Luka, Brennan gave him a heated look. He rubbed a hand down the front of his body and pulled Luka’s hand snugly around the front of his waist as he circled his hips in tight figure eights, dips and sways that had him rubbing right against Luka’s crotch.

Alek just stared, completely captivated, murmuring, “Damn.”

Unable to
not
hear the loud music coming from his kitchen, Evan let curiosity win out over shyness. Tugging a clean shirt over his head, he shuffled toward the source of the noise. He got as far as the doorway when he saw Brennan doing smooth hip-rolls and dry-humping Luka with movements perfectly synchronized to the thumping bass, wearing the sexiest pout Evan had ever seen and shaking his ass like a go-go dancer. Evan broke into a big, easy grin that took over his face, banishing all cares and worries away. He tried to hide it with a hand to his mouth, but it was too late, Brennan had already seen him and was bouncing his way.

“Should we just hang a cage in here for you to dance in?”

“Only if you promise to tuck some dolla’ bills in my g-string,” Brennan smirked.

“Oh my god,” Evan chuckled. “You actually have one, don’t you?”

Brennan winked at him. Grabbing Evan by the hips, Brennan fit their pelvises together with a hard tug, their legs interweaving as he palmed Evan’s ass and guided him slowly into the dance. Evan gazed heatedly down between their bodies as Brennan rocked them with his thumb hooked in Evan’s back pocket.

For the moment, Luka and Alek weren’t even there. They weren’t whispering in each other’s ears and gaping at the arousing sight of the other set of twins dirty dancing together. It was just Evan and his seductive other half who had, not two hours earlier, made Evan come so hard he saw stars.

Brennan’s free hand came up and cupped Evan’s jaw, stroking gently over the bristles of his morning stubble. The guilt, built up in Evan’s heart while he washed up, melted quickly away. He felt the heat in Brennan’s stare, the soft warmth of his touch and the firmness of his lithe body. Evan closed his eyes and grabbed Brennan’s ass, gripping it, feeling the muscle work as Brennan rotated his hips. Their cocks squeezed together through insubstantial layers of fabric.

The intimate, bold touch set something off in Brennan. He exhaled against Evan’s skin and leaned in, mouthing over Evan in a feather-light brush of lips against lips. A shiver raced down Evan’s spine and blood surged between his legs, making his cock swell and his balls ache. The moment went on and on. The almost-kiss dragged out.

He could tell Brennan was waiting for him to make the next move, but Evan couldn’t do it, at least not until Alek came up behind him, trapping Evan between the two of them and dancing along with them. Then, the tip of Evan’s tongue slipped out, teased at Brennan’s top lip and, when Brennan opened for him, lightly touched the tip of Brennan’s tongue. Brennan surged in, kissing passionately and moaning. Alek nipped gently at the shell of Evan’s ear and his hand snaked across their bodies, wrapping behind Brennan, overlaying Evan’s hand on Brennan’s backside.

The song ended, fading into the next, and Evan broke the kiss, breathless and dizzy. Brennan’s hand slid up under Evan’s shirt, caressing his bare skin and they just kept dancing. Alek’s mouth latched on below Evan’s ear, and Evan’s eyes cracked open just enough to see Brennan watching Alek suck a mark to his skin. Evan tilted his head to give Alek more room and his cock twitched inside his jeans. Brennan’s next push against him was more pointed and fervent, grinding right against Evan’s hard-on.