The fighter an mm romanc.., p.19
The Fighter: An MM Romance, page 19
“You have three.”
“Four.”
“Three and a half.”
“Four, asshole.”
Chen growled low in his throat, but it wasn’t very menacing. “You’re getting pathetic in your old age, Husk. Might have to tell Devlin we need to put you out of pasture soon.”
Tav didn’t show panic. “Four weeks.”
Chen huffed. “Fine.” There was a pause. “No one took you back to your apartment last night. So where are you, Husk?”
“Pipe burst. I’m at a hotel for now.” He rattled off the name and room number.
Chen repeated it, likely to a member of his crew.
“Can I go now? Your voice is making my head throb.”
“Oh, fuck off. Check in again same time next week.”
The call disconnected. Tav blew out a breath and dropped his head between his shoulders. “Fuck.”
I abandoned the coffee table and sat beside Tav, who immediately leaned into me, putting all his weight against my side, so that I had to brace myself, so I didn’t topple over. I carded my fingers through his hair. “You did so good.”
“So much can go wrong,” he said.
“Yeah,” I said honestly. “But I’ll do anything to make sure it goes right. Anything. Do you believe me?”
He didn’t speak for a long time, but his fingers flexed on my thigh, and he nuzzled my shoulder. Finally he lifted his gaze. “I feel a little crazy, but I do. I think I believe that maybe…” he pulled his bottom lip between his teeth before letting it go. “Maybe you can do anything.”
TWENTY-ONE
Tav
I wanted to put all my trust in Con, and I was maybe seventy-five percent of the way there. What held me back was that I didn’t trust life. All of this still felt too good to be true. How the hell did I randomly meet the one person who not only wanted to take on the world for me, but who also was slowly becoming my world?
After the phone call with Chen, I felt adrift as my mind conjured up all the worst-case scenarios about how the next few weeks could go. Con led me to the bedroom, while I steadily felt my concussed brain snag on problems and issues and—
“Brush your teeth.” Con put a toothbrush in my hand, so I did.
“Wash your face with this.” He squirted a dollop of creamy liquid in my palm, so I rubbed it into a lather and scrubbed it onto my face before rinsing it off.
“Dry it.” He handed me a towel, so I did.
I avoided the mirror like I always did, and if Con noticed, he didn’t say anything.
“Strip down to your boxers,” Con ordered me, and I did, because this was all so much easier when I didn’t have to think. When I could just do what he told me to, especially because my mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of my sister being hurt, of my nephew crying—
“Tav,” he gripped my face hard with both hands, and I looked him in the eye. We stood beside the bed, me in my boxers and Con in nothing but pajama pants. For a moment, my mind cleared as I focused on the smooth skin of his broad shoulders, of the darkened skin around his nipples that contrasted with the rest of his paleness. I reached out without thinking, thumbing one of the stiff peaks. My body drifted closer, until his elbows were trapped between us. He lifted one hand and pressed two fingers between my brows. “You’re thinking hard. Worried?”
I didn’t want him to think I didn’t trust him. That wasn’t it. But I couldn’t stop my brain from cycling over and over again.
He should get mad. He’d done nothing but reassure me, but his eyes didn’t darken. He didn’t look frustrated. Instead, he nodded, almost to himself. “We’re going to get in bed. I’m going to read to myself, and you’re going to put your head between my legs and warm my cock.”
My breathing sped up as the memory of the first night we spent together flashed in my head. That had been a goddamn dream. All I had to focus on was Con’s dick in my mouth as he’d worked with his slutty little glasses perched on his nose. I swallowed as my dick jerked. I knew no orgasms, and that was fine. I didn’t need one right now. I just needed Con to turn off my brain. “Will you wear your glasses?”
I normally didn’t shock Con, not like this, but his eyebrows lifted in surprise, before he grinned wide. His eyes sparked in amusement, and I loved when he looked like this. “You like my glasses.”
I ran my finger down the bridge of his perfect nose. “Yeah. I do.”
He laughed softly, and that made me smile. When he settled into bed with a few pillows propping up his shoulders and head, he reached onto his nightstand to grab his book and glasses. He slid them onto his face with a grin at me, and a delighted shiver slid down my spine. He looked so hot in them, like a professor, and when he kicked off his pajama pants, I immediately shed my boxers before slipping into the sheets. My cock was half hard as I settled between his legs. His cock was the same, and I immediately drew the tip into my mouth to relish the salty, musky taste of Con. It’d been a while since I had him in on my tongue, and my mind began to fuzz around the edges. He held his book with one hand while the other gently cupped my head. I relaxed and hummed around his spongy head, lightly tonguing at it.
“Like that,” he murmured. “No deeper. Just the tip.” His fingers carded through my hair, as I just barely suckled. “That’s perfect.” His cock remained half-hard, and I liked the softness of it between my lips. “Just focus on me. I know what you need, and this is it, isn’t it?”
I hummed around him, my eyes closed. My mind was like drifting snow. His fingers scratched at my scalp. My neck. My ears. He read a few lines from his book out loud, and while the words didn’t penetrate my contented haze, his voice did. The low tones eased the tension in my shoulders. I curled my body between his legs, turning myself so I could rest the side of my face against his thigh while keeping his cock in my mouth.
His voice continued, and my mind drifted. Snow. Soft rainfall. White noise. Con’s cock. Peace.
Morning light filtered through my eyelids, and I felt a stirring next to me. “I have to get up for work,” Con’s voice whispered near my head. “You keep sleeping.”
And because my body seemed conditioned to obey his commands, I listened.
When I woke again, the clock on the nightstand read nine-thirty in the morning. I rolled onto my back and stretched my arms over my head. Already, my body felt better, and that likely had to do with getting a good night’s sleep for once. I didn’t hear my neighbors fighting, or rodents scuffling, or horns blaring. Con’s apartment was like an oasis.
I rubbed my eyes and remembered that Con had said he had to get up for work. He hadn’t left, had he?
I climbed out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweatpants before doing my business in the bathroom. I could feel that the skin of my face was less tight, so the swelling must have gone down somewhat, but I still avoided the mirror when I washed my hands at Con’s double sinks.
I padded down the hallway in search of Con, checking the spare bedroom, the kitchen and living room, before I spotted him through the set of glass doors that led into his office. He sat at his desk wearing a pair of suit pants with no shoes and a dress shirt with the top buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His cell was pressed to his ear, and while I could hear him when he spoke, his voice was muffled. He spotted me immediately and smiled before lifting a finger in the air.
I smiled back and waved him away. He was busy, and I didn’t need babysitting. I made myself breakfast with Con’s fully stocked fridge and pantry. I scrambled some eggs with cheese and veggies and then piled my plate with a muffin and fruit. I normally didn’t eat all this food on a regular basis, and a few more weeks of this would be visible on my waistline, but I’d kept myself thin for so long, and I missed food. Would Con still want me without a six-pack?
He emerged from his office as I was scraping my plate and stopped next to me where I sat at his island. His hand warmed the back of my neck. “You going to lick it too?” He pointed his chin at my plate.
Smirking, I picked it up and gave it a long lick down the center.
He laughed, his voice deep and husky, and it made me grin. He smelled like coffee and expensive cologne. Still laughing, he leaned down and dropped a kiss to my temple, his lips lingering there. My heart skipped at the casual touch. The affection that wasn’t sexual. His fingers brushed my left eye. “The swelling has gone down. How do you feel?”
“I feel good.” I twisted in my seat. “Look, can you just show me the gym? I’ll walk real slow on a treadmill. What Sam doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”
He rolled his eyes as he grabbed a glass and filled it with water from the dispenser in his fridge. I’d never lived anywhere that had a fridge like that. “I’m not worried about hurting her.”
I carried my dish to the sink, rinsed it, and loaded it in the dishwasher. If I was going to live here, I wasn’t going to make a mess of Con’s place. At my apartment, it hadn’t really mattered if I cleaned since everything had felt dirty anyway.
He took a sip of water and watched me. His phone beeped, and he glanced at it. I was reminded he had been working. Like a real job and everything. Maybe he didn’t have time to show me the gym. “Hey, Con, it’s okay if you’re busy. It’s not a big deal, and I can find something else to do.”
He slipped his phone back in his pocket and frowned. “No, it’s fine, and it won’t take long. Come on.” But he didn’t walk toward the front door. He was still barefoot. I glanced down the hallway and then back at him before following. “Did you want to go get dressed, or…?”
He placed his hand on a doorknob of a door off to the side of his kitchen that I’d noticed but hadn’t paid much attention to. I had figured it was a closet or something. He gave me a smile as he swung it open and gestured for me to walk inside.
The room was as large as his bedroom, and mirrors lined three walls, while the fourth was all windows that looked out over the city. The floor was a spongey black and gray speckled tile that felt clean and soft under my feet. A TV hung in the corner, and a treadmill sat in front of the windows as well as an exercise bike. I spun around, taking in some of the weight machines as well as an entire rack of dumbbells. Some of the equipment, while in great condition, looked used. But what caught my eye was the pristine heavy bag hanging in the corner. I walked over to it, brushing my fingers along the fragrant, oiled leather.
“There’s a gym on the fourth floor.” Con stood in the doorway, hands in the pockets of his pants, shoulder leaned against the doorframe. “But I’m anti-social and don’t like it.”
I let my palm rest on the heavy bag. “You use this?”
“No.” His smile was soft. “It’s new.”
That was what I thought, and I felt my breathing speed up. “When did you get this installed?”
He held my gaze. “The day after you left my apartment with a bruised face and knuckles.”
“You didn’t know I was a fighter, then.”
“Just in case.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, unsure if I was supposed to find this creepy or romantic. “You bought a heavy bag and had it installed in your home gym just in case you ever saw me again and just in case I liked to use one?”
“Oh, I was going to see you again.” There was that tone, the one that made me get into his car all those months ago.
Still, I scoffed. “Come on—”
“I was close to finding you.” His posture was less casual now as he walked toward me.
I felt air whoosh from my lungs. “You were looking for me?”
“I was.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew you were mine.”
“After meeting me three times?”
“I knew you were mine after the first time, but it took me longer to accept it.” He stood close enough to touch now. “Does that bother you?”
It should, right? That would be a normal reaction. But then we weren’t normal about each other. “No, it doesn’t.”
His hand cupped my face, thumb stroking my cheekbone. “Even if I hadn’t gone to that fight, you would have ended up here eventually, I would have found you. I would have emptied out your apartment, and I would have done everything I could to keep you with me.”
“I think I’m getting more out of this than you’re getting out of this.”
His laugh was a surprised bark, and his hand dropped from my face. “You can’t be serious.” I clenched my jaw and refused to answer. His eyes went wide. “Tav, you make me happy.”
“I bring you trouble.”
“My life was trouble before you. You make the trouble worth it.” I sucked in a breath as his fingers fluttered over my stomach. “I have this apartment, and a lot of money, my own company, and power. And I was miserable. None of those things mattered until I got to use them to help you.”
I kissed him. I licked at the seam of his lips until he opened for me, and for the first time, Con was passive while I controlled the kiss. I wrapped my palms around his neck and held him immobile while I plundered his mouth. My heart pounded, and my knees shook. My cock hardened in my sweatpants, but I ignored it, because the kiss felt too good, and Con tasted great. His pulse fluttered beneath my hands, and our chests brushed as I angled my head to get deeper.
I kissed him until I thought maybe we could just stay locked like this forever. But then his phone chimed again, breaking me out of my trance. I dropped my hands and stepped out of the kiss. Con remained where he was, face flushed and eyes dazed, parted lips swollen and wet. He shivered as he swiped at his chin and chuckled. “For the next six days, don’t kiss me like that again.”
I grinned at him, and he exhaled before running a hand through his hair and adjusting his pants. He pointed at my crotch, where the outline of my dick was clearly visible through the fabric. “Fix that, because Nik and Ben will be here in—”
Down the hallway, Con’s front door beeped and opened.
He sighed heavily. “They’re here.”
“You better not be fucking!” A man’s voice called out from the direction of the door. It wasn’t Nik’s but it was vaguely familiar. “He’s got a concussion!”
Con lifted his gaze to the ceiling for a minute before eyeing me again. “I’m serious, do something about that.” He pointed to my dick again before marching out the door of the gym.
“There you are!” The same voice said, closer now.
I wasn’t quite sure what to do with my dick other than tuck it in my waistband and hope for the best. Although it was already softening at the sound of two more men in the apartment who I wasn’t friendly with.
I emerged from the gym and shut the door behind me. Nik, my nemesis, stood in the kitchen. His gaze immediately shifted to me, and he gave me a head-to-toe scan that should have been offensive but instead felt almost caring. He gave me a chin nod, like we were old friends.
The other man had his back to me, and at Nik’s gesture, he spun quickly. His blond hair was perfectly tousled, and his light eyes shone in the morning light invading Con’s apartment. He stood a few inches shorter than both Con and Nik and beamed a bright smile at me with his handsome face. While Con stood with a tight expression, clearly uncomfortable with the company, the man acted like this was his home. “Hey, we didn’t get a chance to meet before, because you were out of it, but I’m Ben.” He pointed a thumb at Con. “He has two friends, and I’m one of them. The other is this guy,” Now he pointed to Nik, “Who you apparently almost stabbed.” He wiggled his light eyebrows. “Would have paid to see that.”
Ben approached me, and I almost took a step back, unsure about this strange man in my space, but he caught me before I could. His arms wrapped around my waist, and he hugged me. I stared at Con over his shoulder, dumbfounded at being touched so casually.
Con rubbed at his eyes like he was in pain. “Ben, for Christ’s sake, don’t just touch people without asking.”
“But he’s not just people.” He pulled out of the hug and patted my chest. “Wow, you really are a big boy.”
“Ben!” Con barked.
He backed away, palms in the air. “Sorry, I got carried away. This is an exciting time for Conrad.”
“I’m not a teenager on a first date.” Con was seething, but I liked it that he had friends that didn’t let him lose himself to guilt and memories. Maybe if I had someone like Ben, I could have handled the last five years better.
Con turned his ire to Nik. “Why do you always invite him along to things? I asked you to come, not him.”
“Hey,” Ben frowned. “I’m starting to feel unwelcome here.”
“You think?” Con snapped.
Nik shrugged and grabbed an apple from a bowl on Con’s island. “He showed up at my apartment this morning and demanded to join me on my errands. This was one of my errands, so he’s here.”
“Were you at the fight?” I asked Ben. His familiar voice was starting to trigger some memories.
Ben met my gaze, and his expression lost a lot of its humor. “Yeah, kid. I was.”
I let the kid comment go. But Con didn’t. “Don’t call him a kid.”
“You know what, Conrad?” Ben grabbed Nik’s apple, took a bite, and then handed it back to him. Nik didn’t even blink. “This is an A-B conversation between me and Tav. C your way out.”
Con’s nostrils flared. “I’m going to C you into your grave—”
I placed a hand on Con’s back, and he snapped his jaw shut.
“Thanks for being with him there as a friend and someone he trusted,” I said.
Ben’s lips parted slightly in surprise, and Nik stopped mid-chew. Ben blinked and then smiled. “Yeah, of course. You feeling all right? You look better than when I last saw you, but that’s not saying much.”
“Better. Con knows a good doctor.”
Ben blinked again, his gaze shifting to Conrad before returning to me. “Yeah. Con does.”
