Deadly Coincidence (Brantley Walker: Off the Books Book 4)

by Nicole Edwards

  “Full weekend,” Reese told him. “We’re gonna stay up there for a coupla days. Back here on Monday.”

  “And y’all are here this mornin’ because…?”

  “Bored,” Reese admitted. “Catchin’ up on a few things.”

  Baz lifted his mug in a mock toast as he stood and walked around behind his desk. “Same.”

  Reese watched as the man’s gaze swung to the second-floor loft. He figured JJ was the real reason Baz was here today. Everyone knew she was spending the holidays alone. Her preference, she had informed them. While Reese knew nothing about JJ’s personal life—the woman did not disclose much to anyone—he knew she didn’t have a close relationship with her mother or father and rarely saw them.

  “Don’t worry about her,” Brantley said softly, clearly seeing Baz’s concern. “We’re gonna make her go with us.”

  Reese grinned, took a sip of his coffee. He knew Brantley wasn’t kidding. He’d already stated he had every intention of forcing JJ to go with them to both family meals, even if he had to hogtie her and put her in the truck.

  Reese only hoped it didn’t come to that.

  *

  After spending most of the day fucking off, doing not much of anything at all, Brantley was happy to sit down in his living room with Reese, watch the television he’d been convinced he needed to buy to fill up the space. He’d been quite content with the bare minimum in terms of furniture and only one television in the house, but evidently it was customary to furnish the family spaces, as Reese referred to them.

  Brantley had conceded to Reese’s demand for a couch and a coffee table. At some point, Reese promised they would be adding a table to the dining room, but for the moment it remained empty. Brantley continued to pester Reese for the hell of it, trying to convince him they needed to hang a heavy bag from the ceiling and turn the room into a gym. Who needed more than one table to eat at? The small one Reese had snuck into the breakfast nook was overkill if you asked him. Especially since they sat at the enormous kitchen island for dinner most nights.

  However, one new thing Brantley was quite fond of was the Christmas tree they’d put up and decorated. It sat in the corner of the living room in all its artificial and fake-flocked glory, right in front of the big picture window overlooking the backyard.

  It had actually been Brantley’s idea, and he’d seen the surprise on Reese’s face when he suggested they do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was an alpha male who’d spent his life on the battlefield. He’d heard it from everyone, getting harassed by his friends and family. Didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy the simple things like colorful flashing lights dangling from a tree and maybe a candle or two on occasion.

  Although he hadn’t told Reese as much, he looked forward to creating their own traditions as they settled into their life together. It was new for both of them, even if for different reasons. While Reese wasn’t a stranger to romantic relationships, Brantley knew being in one with a man was foreign for him. And Brantley hadn’t had one for his entire adult life. By design, of course. Until Reese, he’d never met a man he wanted to spend any significant amount of time with. But the day he’d laid eyes on Reese Tavoularis, he’d known there was something different about him.

  Brantley glanced over at Reese, saw he was watching him. “What?”

  “You’re not watchin’ the movie.”

  He smiled sheepishly. “Busted.”

  “What’s on your mind, navy boy?”

  His grin quickly morphed into something far more daring. “Definitely not the movie.”

  “No?”

  After placing his beer on the coffee table, Brantley shifted on the couch, moving into Reese’s personal space, forcing him to the side and down so that he was lying flat on his back.

  Reese’s eyes glittered in the twinkling lights from the tree, his grin instantly heating all those places inside Brantley that used to be cold and dark before he came along.

  “You’re on my mind,” he whispered, moving over Reese so they were aligned from chest to knee. “You’re always on my mind.”

  “What you mean to say is you’re thinkin’ about sex.”

  Brantley couldn’t help it, he smiled wider. “Busted again.” He leaned down, pressed his lips gently to Reese’s. “But sex with you happens to be my favorite thing in the entire world, so why wouldn’t I think about it twenty-four seven?”

  He groaned softly when Reese’s hands trailed up his sides, sliding beneath his T-shirt, over his back. He’d never paid much attention to what it felt like when a man touched him. His previous encounters had been about one thing: orgasm. He hadn’t spent much time indulging on the way to the goal, but with Reese, he found he thoroughly enjoyed the journey.

  Straddling Reese’s thighs, he leaned forward, grinding his rigid erection against Reese’s, loving the moans he elicited from the man when he did.

  When Reese worked Brantley’s T-shirt higher, Brantley allowed him to remove it. When it was out of the way, he stared down at the sexiest man who’d ever been beneath him, rocking his hips, enjoying the friction on his dick.

  “Push your sweatpants down,” he commanded, continuing to watch Reese’s face.

  Brantley lifted his hips to allow Reese to do as instructed but didn’t go far. Once the gray cotton was down far enough to free Reese’s enormous cock, Brantley returned to what he was doing.

  “You like that?”

  Reese nodded, eyes closing as he gently rocked, mimicking Brantley’s smooth, unhurried rhythm.

  “Now push my sweats down.”

  Reese’s eyes opened, his hands gliding down Brantley’s sides again, fingertips dipping into the waistband before pushing them down over his ass, freeing Brantley’s cock.

  Then they were skin to skin, the heat of their bodies adding an erotic element to their somewhat innocent encounter.

  Reese grunted, his fingertips digging ever so lightly into Brantley’s back as he held him there, allowed Brantley to continue the bump and grind that provided a unique intensity to their lovemaking.

  As much as Brantley enjoyed fucking Reese, sliding deep into his body, he loved this just as much. He loved watching the pleasure contort Reese’s handsome features as he accepted Brantley’s touch. It was how they’d started out. Slow and easy. Taking their time, introducing Reese to this new realm where a man could bring him pleasure despite what he’d thought he wanted all his life.

  “Brantley…”

  “Tell me, baby,” he whispered, still watching him. “What do you need from me?”

  “More.”

  “More what?”

  “Everything.”

  Brantley leaned in, licked Reese’s lips until his mouth opened, allowing him inside. He explored him, loving the way Reese allowed him to remain in control, trusting him to give him the pleasure Brantley knew he needed.

  He swallowed Reese’s soft moans as he continued to rock his hips, their cocks gently rubbing, friction intensifying.

  “You want to feel my mouth?”

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  He nipped Reese’s lower lip. “You want me to suck you?”

  “Fuck, yes,” Reese groaned.

  “You want me to tongue-fuck you?”

  Reese’s hips bucked, his hands firmly gripping Brantley’s hips. “God, yes.”

  “You want to feel my cock deep inside you?”

  “Brantley…”

  He ground his hips down, increasing the pressure, the friction. “Tell me.”

  “You’re gonna make me come.”

  “Not yet,” he warned. “Not until I’ve had my fill.”

  Brantley trailed his lips down the hard line of Reese’s jaw, over the corded muscles in his neck, lower. He paused long enough to jerk Reese’s shirt up roughly, exposing the smooth, hard wall of his chest. While Reese undulated and squirmed, Brantley tortured and tormented with his lips and tongue and teeth. He laved and nipped Reese’s nipples, licked and sucked his hot skin as he ventured lower.

  When R
eese started to take his shirt off, Brantley told him to leave it on. He liked seeing Reese like this. Mostly dressed but exposed. Sweatpants pushed down to his thighs, shirt up high on his chest. More importantly, he knew Reese enjoyed it, too.

  Shifting lower, he kissed his way down Reese’s flat, rigid stomach, following the trail of soft hair that led to the treasure reserved only for him.

  He teasingly flicked the sensitive head of Reese’s cock with his tongue, then licked the velvety smooth length again and again.

  “Brantley…” Reese grunted, thrusting his hips up. “Suck me.” He growled low in his throat. “Quit teasin’. Put your mouth on me.”

  He did. Enveloping Reese’s throbbing cock in his mouth, sucking him down to the root, holding him there before releasing him. Brantley repeated the action, long, slow draws, listening to the guttural groans that rumbled inside Reese as the pleasure assaulted him.

  He fucking loved this man. Every damn thing about him. And he especially loved that he could give him pleasure and that Reese was unabashed when it came to accepting it.

  Brantley maneuvered Reese’s sweatpants farther down his legs, leaving them around his ankles and using the soft cotton to position Reese how he wanted him, forcing his knees toward his chest, feet in the air, exposing him more.

  While Reese groaned, Brantley blew cool air on his balls and anus before leaning in and licking him.

  “Oh, fuck … so good. So … good.”

  He knew how much Reese enjoyed his wicked tongue, so he worked him into a frenzy, tongue-fucking him for long minutes while Reese’s hips pitched and plunged in his attempt to get more.

  “Brantley! Oh, fuck… Fuck me. Fuck. Me.”

  He knew a demand when he heard one, and he couldn’t resist, his cock so fucking hard it throbbed in time with his heartbeat.

  Using his own saliva as lube, Brantley shifted to his knees, guided his cock against the tight ring, and pushed in slow, deep. He watched Reese’s face to ensure he wasn’t causing undue pain. If he’d been prepared, he would’ve brought the lube from the bedroom, but he hadn’t anticipated this.

  “You want me to get lube?” he offered, inching in deeper, going painfully slow, praying Reese said no because he wasn’t sure he could pause long enough.

  To his shock, Reese’s hands curled around his hips, jerking him forward until he bottomed out.

  Brantley grunted, the overwhelming pleasure, the exquisite heat of Reese’s body threatening to drain him dry before he was ready.

  “I’ll take that as a no.” He shifted, getting into a better position, adding more saliva as he retreated slowly.

  After a few strokes, the pre-cum leaking from his cock helped lube the way, allowing him to slide in deeper, faster, the blistering heat of Reese’s body making his head spin and his heart race.

  “Hard. Er,” Reese growled roughly. “Now.”

  He gave him what he needed, slamming home, retreating, slamming in again. Over and over, he fucked Reese, driving them both straight up to the razor-sharp edge until the pleasure overwhelmed. The electricity sparked in his spine, and he knew he was dangerously close as he pounded away, watching Reese, waiting, waiting…

  “Oh, fuck, yes!” Reese cried out, his body bucking, cock exploding.

  Brantley drove into him one final time and came in a fierce rush that left him breathless and light-headed.

  And so fucking content.

  Chapter Four

  Friday, December 25, 2020

  This year, Christmas Day was going about the same as every other day. Chaotic and crazy were adjectives Reese would use to describe it.

  It had started with breakfast with Brantley’s parents, Iris and Frank, as well as Brantley’s three sisters, two brothers-in-law, three brothers, the offspring that belonged to them, and last but not least, JJ. Oh, and Tesha. Couldn’t forget her. But she’d been on her best behavior, so Reese couldn’t really say she’d contributed to the chaos and craziness that had filled that house.

  And while it had left him with a bit of a headache, Reese couldn’t deny he’d had a great time. The Walkers were an interesting bunch, and he found he enjoyed being around them.

  However, he would have to admit, he had also enjoyed the three-hour drive from Coyote Ridge to his mother’s house in Plano. During the trip, JJ and Tesha had chilled in the backseat, both of them catching some sleep while Reese had relaxed in the passenger seat. He never even asked to drive, knowing Brantley would’ve insisted, and since it was Christmas, he figured there was no reason to get into an argument if it could be avoided.

  Now, as he sat at his mother’s dining room table, he was immersed once again in family, but not so much chaos. Theirs was a much more laid-back kind of get-together.

  “So how’s work?”

  Reese glanced at his brother, saw that Zachariah, better known to anyone he introduced himself to as Z, was directing the question at him.

  Fork in hand and halfway to his mouth, Reese answered with, “Good. We’re busy.”

  They had just sat down to dinner—he and Brantley, his mother Cindy and her boyfriend Hugh, Z and RT, his sister Jensyn, and JJ. The eight of them were comfortably scattered around his mother’s huge dining room table, feasting on pork roast with potatoes, carrots, and baby onions and his mother’s specialty: sweet cornbread while Tesha relaxed at Reese’s feet, likely hoping for a scrap or two to make it to her. They’d been told they had to eat the healthy stuff before they could move on to the desserts. The kitchen counters were loaded with more sweets than they’d be able to finish in a week. And that was saying something considering Z’s enormous appetite.

  “Cold cases?” Ryan Trexler, known simply as RT to his family and friends, asked.

  Reese nodded. “For the most part, yeah.”

  “Any luck?”

  “A little,” he admitted. “There’s a reason these cases are cold.”

  “Oh, I’m sure. If it were easy to solve missing-persons cases, no one would be missing, huh?”

  Reese picked up his iced tea. “Exactly.”

  “Are these mostly in the Austin area?” Hugh asked.

  “Yes, sir.” Reese looked his mother’s boyfriend in the eyes as he answered, aiming to show him respect being that they’d hardly spoken much to one another.

  This wasn’t the first time he’d met Hugh Weston, the sixty-six-year-old investment banker born and raised in the suburbs of Dallas, but it was the first time he’d spent a decent amount of time with the man despite the fact his mother had been dating him—exclusively—for quite a number of years.

  It wasn’t that he had anything against the guy. In fact, he thought Hugh was good for his mother. Since his father had been comatose after his accident, right up until he died, Reese’s mother had needed someone to lean on, someone who could be there for her, and Hugh had filled the void. He seemed to make her happy, and for Reese, that was all that really mattered. He simply didn’t know much about Hugh, and he couldn’t deny the ingrained desire to unearth as much information as he could in an effort to appease his own curiosity.

  Not that he would. That would be a violation of privacy, and being that his brother seemed content with Hugh, Reese figured there weren’t any skeletons in the guy’s closet. After all, Z did work for Sniper 1 Security, had access to information Reese probably couldn’t even get his hands on. He could only assume that meant Z had done his homework at some point and deemed the man worthy of their mother’s love and attention.

  “For the most part, we stay in and around central Texas,” Reese elaborated. “We do have cold cases across the state that we’ve been assigned, but until we expand the task force, we’re havin’ to focus on local ones.”

  “When will you be expanding?” RT asked.

  Reese glanced at Brantley for the answer to that.

  Brantley looked his way, finished chewing, then answered with, “Beginnin’ of the year.”

  When he didn’t elaborate, Reese finished for him. “We’ve got six add
itional positions approved by the governor’s office. It’s just a matter of interviewin’ candidates.”

  Again there was an expression on Brantley’s face that Reese couldn’t quite identify.

  “Fun stuff,” Z joked. “I know that’s how I’d wanna spend my day, closed up in a room with a stranger, askin’ all kinds of stupid questions.”

  “The eternal optimist,” RT said with a grin. “One of the many things I love about you.”

  That earned a laugh from everyone.

  “What about y’all? How’re things with Sniper 1?” Brantley prompted.

  RT wiped his mouth with a napkin then smiled. “We’re actually lookin’ to expand as well.”

  Being that Sniper 1 Security was a family-owned business, started by Bryce Trexler, RT’s father, and Casper Kogan, it was in the process of being passed down. RT had taken the helm years ago, and recently Casper’s son Hunter had stepped up to the plate. From what Reese had heard, they were taking it in a new direction, expanding not just in employees but also in the work that they did.

  “Openin’ a new location?” Brantley inquired.

  “We’re lookin’ at some property in Austin and some in Houston. Tryin’ to decide which’ll be more beneficial.”

  “Not out of state, huh?” Reese asked.

  “Not for operations, no. We’ve got operatives who live in different states, which gives us the coverage we need, but I’d like to keep the general functions close to home.”

  “Overseas?” Brantley asked.

  “We’re venturing into it more,” RT replied. “Right now, we’re assignin’ our most tenured agents to those positions.”

  “What’s it like in the private sector?”

  Reese was a little surprised by Brantley’s question. Anytime they’d discussed private-sector workforces, Brantley tended to tune out. Reese figured that had a lot to do with the fact Brantley’d spent most of his life working for the government. And everyone knew Brantley wasn’t fond of major change.