A Beautiful Disaster

by Marguerite Labbe

  “If you take me bending over as an invitation, we’re going to get nothing done when we get back home.”

  “Isn’t that the truth?” Dakota smirked and dropped on the bed beside him. He reached for the packet and pulled off a condom wrapper. “And I’m dying to hear how much you want this.”

  “You think your ego can handle that much stroking?” The words were teasing, but there was nothing but raw heat in Brenden’s eyes as he handed over the lube. That stroked Dakota’s ego far more than any words. He bet there was only a handful alive who got to see Brenden like this, and he was jealous of every one. Brenden was his. Always had been.

  “From you? Hell yeah.” Dakota knelt between Brenden’s thighs, his pulse skittering. He hadn’t been nervous in bed since his first few times, and it irked him that he was nervous now. He wanted to make it a night Brenden never forgot. Not even when he was old and gray and married to some other dude who wouldn’t appreciate him enough.

  “I want you.” Brenden groaned with need as Dakota penetrated him with his fingers. The sound made Dakota impatient and clumsy. Dammit, he had to calm down. He could fuck Brenden silly later, after they’d become accustomed to the fit of each other’s bodies. Now he needed to go slow, take it easy.

  As reticent as Brenden could be during the light of day, here he was different. He told Dakota exactly what he liked, what he wanted with his soft moans of pleasure, by the flickers of emotion over his face and the breathy little whispers encouraging Dakota to hurry up. It wracked his concentration.

  Brenden’s caresses didn’t help either. His hands found every sensitive spot and lingered over them. But when his fingers slid down to trace the cleft of Dakota’s ass, he captured Brenden’s hand. He had to shut that down before Brenden got any ideas. Dakota had the upper hand. Always.

  He kissed Brenden’s fingertips as Brenden smiled. Then without any warning Brenden’s thighs wrapped around him, and he flipped Dakota underneath him. Dakota stared up at him in surprise as Brenden captured his hands, lacing their fingers together and pinning them down. Dakota’s heart sped up as a surge of raw heat went through him.

  “That’s my position,” Dakota protested, but the protest was weak at best. Brenden was blowing his fucking mind, at times both submissive and dominant. There were all these layers to him that Dakota had never guessed about. And his desire to be in charge crumbled under the need to discover everything Brenden had hidden.

  “You’ll get your chance,” Brenden promised, leaning low over him. Dakota went hot all over as Brenden pressed back and, torturously slow, sank down on his cock. Dakota bit his lip, watching Brenden’s face, the way his eyes were half-lidded, his lips damp and parted. He was an absolute imbecile for not pursuing this years ago, for not putting that expression on Brenden’s face sooner and keeping it there.

  Dakota groaned, pressing his heels into the mattress, his hips bucking up into that sweet, tight heat. Brenden’s eyes widened and he chuckled. “Always got to have the last word, in some way or another.” His teasing words broke off with a groan as Dakota bucked again and Brenden’s grip relaxed.

  This wasn’t enough. Dakota needed more. He craved everything Brenden could give him. He broke free of Brenden’s caging hands and reversed their positions. “Next time,” Dakota promised, capturing Brenden’s mouth as he drove into him. This was what he wanted, Brenden writhing underneath him, his muffled sounds of pleasure escaping as Dakota fucked him. He’d let Brenden take charge next time. And they would absolutely make love before they passed out tonight.

  Brenden clung to him, fingers digging into Dakota’s shoulders, grinding his hips with needy cries at each one of Dakota’s thrusts. Dakota caught his leg, lifting it higher, opening Brenden up more, and Brenden clenched around him. Dakota’s heart pounded, and it was hard to catch his breath with all the emotions that drove him on. He pulled back and swallowed hard at the raw emotion on Brenden’s face.

  “Harder,” Brenden gasped, staring up at him with wild, dark eyes that Dakota thought he would lose himself in. “Dammit, Dakota, fuck me.”

  Dakota shuddered, and for half a second he was afraid those words from Brenden’s lips would make him come on the damned spot. “No more games, Bren. You hear me? No more pretending you don’t want this as much as I do. Got it?”

  He wasn’t sure Brenden understood him, but he nodded and Dakota took it as a promise made. And he would damn well hold Brenden to it. Brenden stiffened and buried his face against Dakota’s neck, muffling his cry of release as he came. And dammit, dammit to hell, Dakota missed witnessing the expression on his face as he did. Next time. Next time he would watch every damn moment of Brenden falling apart.

  His heart squeezed as he caught Brenden’s mouth, kissing him deeply as he continued to fuck him. Each stroke brought him closer, Brenden encouraging him with his hands on Dakota’s ass and his trembles and those mewling cries until the dam broke and he came.

  Chapter Nine

  BRENDEN HAD really fucked up this time.

  He’d stomped all over the promise he’d made to Evelyn and Trev and then went back and blew it up for good measure. He had no business lying there in the dark, holding on to Dakota as he slept naked beside him. His arms tightened around Dakota, as if by touch alone he could keep him.

  From the moment they kissed, it was like Dakota knew every sexy fantasy, every tender dream of Brenden’s, and seemed focused on making each one come true. He hadn’t expected Dakota to let it stay sweet for long. But the fact that he’d been as loving as he was heated and that he’d allowed that side to emerge at all had torn down walls Brenden hadn’t even known he’d erected. He was stripped bare, heart and soul, with every breath Dakota took beside him. For right now, Brenden allowed himself to imagine he was free to love Dakota and Dakota would love him in return. The kind of love that lasted forever.

  Dakota curled in closer to him, nestling his head on Brenden’s shoulder. He’d discovered the secret to Dakota’s need to sleep naked. He generated enough heat to fuel his own star, but Brenden had no desire to pull away. They were both cuddlers. Who would’ve thought that?

  Sometimes they couldn’t be more different from each other, but in so many other ways, they meshed just right. Brenden kissed the top of Dakota’s head and pressed his cheek against his hair. He should get some sleep. He would regret not sleeping when his alarm went off in a few hours and the chaos of day two at the con started.

  Tomorrow when they would have to face reality.

  Like the fact their foster family would have an absolute meltdown if they knew. Thinking about it made Brenden cringe. It didn’t matter he was the Nye’s ward for only eighteen months. It didn’t matter they’d been on their own for well over a decade. Evelyn had instilled it into their heads they were a family. But that didn’t matter. This interlude would remain a secret because there was another reality staring Brenden down.

  Dakota never stuck around in a relationship. Not in all the years Brenden had known him. Not even when he genuinely liked a guy and had chemistry with him. He was happy to watch them walk away, leaving him with good memories. Brenden didn’t expect Dakota to change his habits.

  So what, they’d screw around a few times and then he’d have to endure Dakota drifting off to someone else? Brenden witnessed it too many times to believe it wouldn’t happen to him. Though, at least maybe with him, Dakota would show some regret. It wouldn’t stop the inevitable split. Dakota had made his views about lifelong commitments clear.

  That alone would keep the other ugly reality from biting them hard. They’d never have to tell their family and face their reactions. But as much as the idea terrified him, Brenden would be willing to face it for the dream of having Dakota, of being committed to him for the rest of their lives. That was an impossible wish.

  No, don’t think. Like Dakota said, sometimes he thought too damn much. He had to enjoy the moment, for however long it lasted. Brenden closed his eyes and held Dakota closer, breathing in the scent of him.


  “Mmm, this is nice,” Dakota murmured in a husky voice and ran his hand down Brenden’s side. “I like waking up like this and knowing you’re awake. Then I don’t have to feel guilty for disturbing you when I take shameless advantage of you.”

  Brenden’s dick stirred, as if it hadn’t gotten enough sex in the last few hours. He thought he had problems controlling his body’s reactions to Dakota before. With memories fueling it, he stood no chance of not embarrassing himself in the future. He also had serious doubts about his ability to hide what he felt from Dakota. It had been difficult enough before. Dakota always had a blind spot and believed Brenden’s pretended indifference to their attraction. But the illusion shattered earlier when he’d confronted Brenden and demanded a kiss.

  Brenden still couldn’t believe he’d thrown away years of personal rules and kissed Dakota first. Even telling himself Dakota would’ve laid one on him anyway didn’t help. Once Dakota got an idea in his head, he had to see it through and rarely paused to consider consequences. He had been doomed from the start.

  “You are a closet cuddler. That was a sweet surprise,” he teased in an attempt to deflect Dakota. Despite his cock’s immediate interest, the rest of Brenden’s body was weighed down in a postcoital stupor. He wasn’t entirely sure he could move from this spot.

  “You tell anyone and I’ll call you a dirty liar.” Dakota turned his head and nipped Brenden’s shoulder.

  The thought of telling anyone made Brenden wince. People would not understand. Though Brenden could care less about the general public. His personal life was personal. Their family, however, was a different story. Their opinion mattered to him. The Nyes had given him brothers. He’d missed that bond growing up as an only child. As for his own dad… he sucked. Brenden was more than happy to give Trev that role and pretend the man who passed along his genes to him didn’t exist. And Evelyn had filled that huge gaping hole his mom carved out of him when she died.

  He didn’t want to be the cause of a feud in the family, not after everything they’d done for him and Dakota. He hoped they’d eventually be okay with it after they got used to the idea. If Brenden had to lay in a bet, he’d say Aden would support them first. Zach would be weirded out. But he was getting way ahead of himself, trying to anticipate a conversation that would never happen. At least they had an excuse not to go to Sunday family dinner tomorrow. He’d need a week to get his head straight. Maybe by then he’d be able to look Evelyn in the eye.

  “You, on the other hand.” Dakota rolled over him and nuzzled Brenden’s jaw, completely scattering his thoughts until there was only Dakota. “Get you naked and you lose all inhibitions. I never would’ve guessed that at all. Closet freak.”

  “Closet nothing. You had a false impression of me.” Brenden cupped Dakota’s cheek and brushed his thumb over the stubble already growing on his jaw. “Unlike you, I don’t share the secrets of my sex life with the whole world.”

  “That’s okay. Believe me, I enjoyed discovering you’re a shameless beggar when motivated.”

  Dakota’s cock surged against Brenden’s thigh, and his body responded with a renewed burst of energy. He had years of fantasies built up, and Dakota was fulfilling a good number of them.

  “I’m not too proud to beg.” At least not when it came to Dakota and his ruthless teasing. If they were only going to have this short time, holding back made no damn sense.

  Even in the dim light of the hotel room, Brenden saw Dakota’s wicked grin. “That’s good to know. Any other kinky secrets you’d care to share? Bondage? A fondness for over-the-knee spankings?”

  Dakota would love stuff like that. Brenden could see letting Dakota tie him to the bed, but there was no way he’d allow the other. Fuck no. Now that he thought about it, he’d like to have Dakota tied up. It would flip around Dakota’s usual thinking and habits. Brenden was going to end up with a whole new list of fantasies after tonight.

  “Lusting after my foster brother is shameful enough, don’t you agree?” Brenden said quietly and then bit his lip. He had not meant to blurt that out.

  Dakota went still, and then he framed Brenden’s face between his hands. “It’s not like that. Don’t lay that puritan shit on yourself. You’ve always been my friend more than my brother. Despite what Evelyn and Trev tried to drill into us. We barely lived together as a family, so don’t go beating yourself up about this, you hear me? And that year and a half we lived under their roof, we spent half our time brawling with each other and the other half backing each other up against them. At the time, the last thing either of us wanted was a brother. I didn’t find that with you. I found a friend. My best damn friend.”

  It was good to know Dakota’s feelings regarding their teenage years mirrored Brenden’s. Brenden ran his hand through Dakota’s messy hair, rubbing his fingers through the cowlicks. He didn’t have to repress all those urges to touch him anymore, at least not in private. As a consequence, he couldn’t seem to stop touching him now.

  “I never thought of you like that, a brother I mean.” Brenden had tried, constantly lecturing himself, and it never stuck. “It was easy with the others. You’d think as much as you irritated me it would’ve been easy with you too, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it no matter how many times we were chastised for it.”

  “Yeah.” Dakota rubbed his cheek against Brenden’s shoulder with a sigh of contentment. “I realized that earlier when you stumbled over the word. Damn, I’ve never been so happy with a hotel screwup before. Or Felipe running his mouth.”

  Felipe. Brenden was searching for that troublemaker tomorrow and…. He wasn’t sure what he’d do, but something to get him to shut his fucking mouth. Though that might alert Felipe to the fact he was right. Best to ignore it even if he still had the urge to strangle him. It wasn’t that Brenden was upset about how the evening played out, just that a little warning would’ve saved him from heart palpitations.

  He slid his hand down Dakota’s back and reminded himself to be grateful. If Felipe hadn’t said something he might not have this, though maybe it was inevitable. Dakota had been getting harder to dodge. “How about you?” Brenden asked. “You find yourself looking at me different? You never had any trouble referring to me as your brother.”

  “I won’t now either. Because I know how much it’ll make you squirm when I do.” Dakota snickered and then propped himself up to gaze down at Brenden. “Seriously, though, don’t let it fuck with that egghead brain of yours. We’re adults, responsible and all that, most of the time. It’s not like we’re still kids and you’re looking to jump me when the rest of the house is in bed.”

  Brenden winced and his muscles tensed. Okay, it hadn’t been exactly like that, but Dakota ought to know what happened between them as teenagers. Dakota didn’t like to be reminded of the time when he’d been so out of control. Before it had been moot. Why dredge it up if they were going to be platonic friends? Tonight changed that dynamic. Brenden didn’t feel as if this was a secret he could hold on to.

  “About that—”

  “Nope.” Dakota cut him off with a firm kiss that frayed Brenden’s concentration. Dakota would win every argument for life if he kept kissing Brenden like that. “Forget the past. Forget the future. Let’s focus on now. I have lots of delicious ideas for now.”

  As much as Brenden wanted to hear those ideas or, better yet, have Dakota show him, he couldn’t let it rest. Brenden made one last attempt to get Dakota’s attention. Well, the thinking part of his attention, because clearly, he had his full attention in other areas. “You aren’t worried in the least about what the rest of our family will say?”

  Dakota lifted his head with an irritated expression, and Brenden felt a pinprick of guilt. He really did ruin the mood all the time. There was something wrong with him. Why couldn’t he enjoy the moment?

  “This is not about them. They have no place here. I don’t even want to think about them right now,” Dakota said firmly, and then his voice softened. “This is about me a
nd you and what we want, what we’ve always wanted, which is being naked in bed, screwing the hell out of each other. No strings… no commitments. Just you and me having fun.”

  Dakota’s words sank into him, widening the icy void in the pit of his stomach. Making love wasn’t going to change a damn thing for Dakota. He wasn’t going to fall for a man who had an innate need to compartmentalize everything. Affection, friendship, and lust, that’s all Brenden could expect from Dakota. That’s all he had any right to expect. Here in the dark, if they kept it casual… no one else needed to ever know, because it wouldn’t last. And he’d rather have Dakota’s friendship than nothing at all, even if he craved more.

  He should talk to him. If Dakota knew how he felt…. Brenden cut that idea off ruthlessly. Dakota would look at him in horror if he knew Brenden was in love with him. If there was anything his heart couldn’t take, it was Dakota leveling that expression at him.

  If he was smart, he’d back away before his heart got any more engaged than it already was. Apparently he wasn’t as smart as Dakota thought, because instead of kicking Dakota out to the other bed, Brenden wrapped his arms around Dakota and rolled him underneath him. He was a masochist, an absolute masochist. He’d end it tomorrow before they both got hurt, but until then, there was one more memory he wanted to carry with him.

  “Well then, if it’s all about the fun, and we’re both awake… let’s see how much you can take, Dakota.” The challenge was there in his voice and his words, and Dakota immediately reacted.

  Dakota tried to push him off, but Brenden caught his wrists. Not that he’d been able to keep this position long at the start of the night. This time, however, Brenden was determined to keep the upper hand.

  “I don’t bottom, Bren,” Dakota insisted, stiffening for a moment before he relaxed. It was bittersweet how safe Dakota felt with him. How much he could let go of his need to dominate and be in charge. Brenden relaxed his grip, caressing the inside of Dakota’s wrists with his thumbs. “At least I haven’t in a long time. I’m not looking to experiment tonight.”