Me: Are you hungry? Should I cook? Order something?
Kingston: I got it taken care of. Be there soon.
Ten minutes later, Merrick arrives with his arms full.
“What is all this?” I ask when I open the door, reaching out for a bag.
“Dinner. I went to Freeman’s and got curbside service so I wouldn’t have to go in. I looked it up before I drove out here. They have a good selection of food,” he says with a shrug. “Let’s hope it’s good.”
“I’ve been there before. It’s pretty good,” I reply, taking the bag to the kitchen.
“I got steak medallions, chicken teriyaki, rice, baked potatoes, fries, steamed veggies—”
“Is that all?” I ask, cutting him off with a chuckle.
“What? I was trying to cover my bases,” he says, putting two more bags on the counter.
“What’s that?” I ask, pointing to a brown paper bag.
He pulls out a bottle of Johnnie Walker with a wicked grin on his face. “For the celebration portion of this night.”
I cover his fingers with mine when I move to grab the bottle. “What are we celebrating?”
He comes in close and presses his lips to mine. “I’ll tell you later. Let’s eat.”
“What if I want to celebrate a different way?” I ask cheekily.
He wraps his arm around my waist and squeezes my hip. “We could have a threesome with Johnnie,” he says with a wicked grin. “We can lick it off each other if that’s what you want.”
“Maybe.”
He smirks and kisses me again. “Where’s the dishes?”
We fill our plates with food, and I grab a couple bottles of Coke out of the fridge, and we sit down at my small dining room table and enjoy dinner together.
“What’s the news?” I ask between bites. “You seem awfully happy, so are you gonna fill me in, or what?”
Merrick wipes his mouth with a napkin and grins. “You’re impatient.”
“I’m curious,” I amend.
He pushes his plate away and rests his arms on the table. “I told the guys.”
My eyes widen as I stare at him in shock. “You did?”
“Yep.”
“And they’re okay with it?”
“Carlos was mad that I felt I had to hide it from them for this long, but they’re not mad-mad.”
“And Sky? Jay?” I ask, forgetting my own food.
“Sky said he was suspicious. He knew I wasn’t always going with the girls we’d meet up with. I guess they would go find their friends who were with Sky, so he knew I wasn’t hooking up with them.” He pauses and chuckles. “And I guess Jordy was right, because Sky said he noticed I was different around you, plus I ran after you in King’s Tavern that night and blew off that chick and left her number in the sink. He probably saw it when he went to the bathroom after us.”
“You told them about me?” I ask, my voice going higher.
“Was I not supposed to?” he questions.
“No, I mean, it’s fine. I’m just surprised.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I just thought maybe you’d keep all that to yourself.”
Merrick’s brows pull together as he reaches for my hand. “It’s never been about being embarrassed of you. I’ve just been afraid of how people would react to me being gay in general.”
“Yeah, I get it,” I say. “So we’re celebrating that they took the news well and you don’t have to leave the band?”
He shakes his head. “No. Well, sure, we can celebrate that, but there’s something else.”
“What?”
“We go to New York in a few days to have a meeting with our manager and the head of the label, and while I’m there, I’m gonna tell them, too. They can come up with some sort of strategy on how to come out to the public, whether it’s a statement written by a publicist or if I need to get online and say it myself, but soon it’ll all be out there.”
Joy threatens to escape through my lips in the form of laughter and a smile. I want to jump up and down and throw myself at him for taking these steps, but something deep in the pit of my stomach keeps me from getting too happy. He’s said this before. He’s told me he had plans to come out, only to not. I keep a tight grip on my happiness, because I can’t allow myself to believe it until I see it.
“That’s good,” I say with a smile.
“That’s it?” he questions. “I’m coming out, Ali. This is huge.”
I stroke his hand with my thumb as he keeps a light grip on my fingers. “I know it is, and I’m happy you’ve told your brothers and bandmates. That in itself is huge. I’m proud of you. I am.”
“You don’t think I’ll do it, do you?”
I sigh. “I don’t want to fight with you about this, but we’ve been here before, and I don’t want to get my hopes up too high. That’s all. If I let myself believe that when you come back from New York, I can run outside and throw myself in your arms and kiss you in front of any and every one walking by, only to have that not be the case, I won’t be able to handle it.”
“Ali, I’m telling them. I’m tired of the secretive shit, too.”
I squeeze his hand and give him a small grin. “Okay.”
He growls. “I hate that you don’t believe me, but I guess I understand why.” Merrick pushes away from the table and stands up, tugging me to my feet as well. He holds my face in his hands and says, “I’m telling them because I owe it to myself to live my life the way I want, but I won’t lie and say it has nothing to do with you. I yearn for the day we can go out and be ourselves. I want to hold you and kiss you in front of people like everyone else has the right to do. I want this for us. I want you to know how much you mean to me, Ali.” He steps back and makes a point to look deeply into my eyes. “I’m telling them, and once it’s all over and done with, me and you are gonna have a long talk about our future, and this time I’m sticking to the plan.”
My heart flutters in my chest, and hope begins to take flight. It’s hard to ignore the sincerity in his voice and eyes. He wants me. He wants a future together, and I have no doubt that the shroud of secrecy is killing him. It feels like it’s the right time. Maybe it’ll happen this time, and perhaps I should stop being such a pessimist about this.
I wrap my arms around his waist and step toe-to-toe with him, angling my head up slightly. “Okay. Let’s take Johnnie to bed and celebrate. Then we can talk about these plans.”
Merrick bites down his lip before they curl up into a satisfied smile.
39
Alejandro
Present Day
Sprawled naked across the bed, I watch Merrick as he grips the bottle of Johnnie Walker and pours a small amount of the amber liquid on my chest. The alcohol drips off both sides, and travels down the middle of my stomach.
Merrick leans over me and licks the whiskey from my skin. “Mm,” he moans, gazing up at me with hooded, lust-filled eyes. “This is the best threesome we could have.”
“The only threesome we’ll have.”
He chuckles. “Someone doesn’t like to share.”
He crawls on top of me, straddling my hips while wearing nothing but his boxers. “Open your mouth for Johnnie.” I do as he says and he carefully pours a sips worth of the alcohol into my mouth. “Now open up for me.”
Merrick frees his erection through the slit in the boxers and scoots up, running the tip across my bottom lip.
I open my mouth and swirl my tongue around the circumference of his cockhead before he pushes in farther.
“Goddamn,” he groans.
He fucks my mouth for a minute before climbing off me. “Mm,” I moan, licking my lips.
“Who tastes better? Me or Johnnie?” he asks teasingly.
“I’m not sure,” I reply, reaching down to stroke my cock. “I may need another taste test.”
Merrick shoots me an unamused look before wrapping his lips around the head of the bottle and swallowing down a mouthful of whiskey.
“Come suck
the taste off my tongue,” he commands.
I scramble up and get on my knees, capturing his face in my hands, and plunge my tongue in his mouth. I suck his whiskey-flavored tongue into my mouth, eliciting a low moan from his throat.
“Lay down,” I tell him.
He lifts a brow but lies his large body across my mattress. I yank his boxers down, revealing his impressive erection. I keep to the side of him and steal the bottle from his hand, and pour a generous amount of the liquid onto his stomach. The man is so cut, the alcohol pools in the crevice between his abs.
I drop down and slurp the liquid into my mouth, taking some time to lick up the trails that traveled a little lower.
Merrick watches me with intense eyes, so I move between his legs and slowly lick and kiss my way around his cock, putting my lips everywhere except where he wants them to be.
“Goddammit, Ali,” he growls. “Suck me.”
My eyes flicker up to his and I offer him a wicked smile as I bypass his cock and lick around his balls.
“Oh. Mmm,” he moans, flopping back to the bed.
After teasing him for a little while longer, I get off the bed and put the bottle of Johnnie on the nightstand before reaching into the drawer and grabbing a condom and some lube.
I toss those on the bed before getting comfortable between Merrick’s legs again. This time, I don’t play around. I grip his cock in my hand and take him deep in my mouth.
“Jesus,” he gasps, his hands shooting to my head where his fingers tangle in my hair.
I do a mixture of licking, sucking, and stroking his cock, loving the way he reacts to me. He’s nothing but grunts and moans of pleasure.
When I finally pull myself away from his dick, I grab the lube and pour a generous amount in my hand before reaching around and prepping myself. Merrick snatches the condom up and rips it open, quickly sheathing himself in latex.
With another handful of lube, I stroke his cock and then straddles his hips. I rise up and reach for his erection and slowly sink down on him.
“Fuck, baby,” he exclaims, holding onto my waist.
Once I’m comfortable, I start rocking my hips back and forth and move up and down, letting him fill and stretch me.
“Come here,” he murmurs, pulling me down.
I keep moving as I lean over him, bringing my chest to his. Merrick places his hands on my back and stares deeply into my eyes.
“You’re so fucking sexy.”
I find it hard to think the sexiest man I’ve ever seen finds me sexy, but his compliment sends warmth through my chest. I press my lips against his in response.
His hands move to my ass as I ease away from the kiss. “You know how much you mean to me, right?”
I nod against his head with a moan, but that isn’t the response he wants. He brings his hands to my face and aligns my eyes with his.
“You know I love you, right?”
An overwhelming urge to cry hits me and I don’t even know why. He’s deep inside me, but his words reach a deeper part of me. Those three words penetrate my heart and burrow themselves far in the center.
“I love you, too.”
He kisses me softly and passionately, bringing our tongues together in a dance.
“Never forget that,” he says, grabbing a hold of me and rolling us over in one quick movement. He readjusts his cock and pushes back inside.
He thrusts deep and hard, lighting every one of my nerve endings on fire. Merrick braces himself over me, rocking his hips back and forth while his mouth nips at my neck and jaw.
“Fuck. Your body was made for mine,” he grunts. “It’s just so fucking good.”
“It’s yours. I’m yours,” I pant, feeling the beginnings of an orgasm building.
Merrick gets on his knees and keeps fucking me while he reaches down to stroke my throbbing cock.
“Oh, yes,” I moan.
“This is mine?” he questions.
“Yes. Oh, God. Yes,” I cry.
He drops his head back. “Jesus Christ.”
I chance a glance at him and feel like I’ve just been transported into my favorite porn. His body shines with sweat. His abs contract as he thrusts in and out, and his bicep flexes as he strokes my cock. Merrick’s hair flops onto his forehead and his tongue dances across his sinful lips.
“Oh, my God!”
My balls tingle and tighten and I force myself to watch his every movement.
Merrick hitches one of my legs up higher on his hip as he continues to fuck me into ecstasy, and his hand strokes me to perfection.
“I’m. . .oh shit,” I yell just as the first ribbon of cum shoots out.
“Ah, fuck,” he says with a grunt, watching the cum cover his fingers.
After my cock is spent, he lets go and yanks me even closer, holding onto my hips as he punishes me with his cock.
It’s only a couple minutes later that he’s filling the room with a guttural roar as he comes while buried deep inside my ass.
“Jesus Christ,” he breathes.
He stays inside me as he leans over and drops his forehead to mine, and I trail my fingers up his arms, holding onto his biceps.
“Mm, that was amazing,” I say.
He slowly pulls out and lies on his back next to me, pulling the condom off. “Probably better than that, but I’m too exhausted to think of a better word.”
I chuckle. “And you call yourself a songwriter.”
“I could write a song about you.”
“My lips? I remember you telling me that,” I say with a grin.
“Oh, no. This song would be about much more than your lips,” he says, caressing my face.
My grin grows into a Cheshire Cat smile. “I look forward to hearing it.”
Merrick winks at me before climbing out of bed to get rid of the condom and go to the bathroom. It takes me a few minutes before I’m willing to even attempt to get out of bed, but when I do, I throw on my boxer-briefs and strip the bed of its covers. We were kind of careless with the whiskey, but it was definitely worth it.
An hour later, after we’ve both showered and gotten the bed fixed up, we crawl under the covers together.
Merrick wraps his arm around me and nuzzles his scruffy face into the crook of my neck.
“You’re gonna leave the tell-tell sign of whisker burn on me again.”
“I don’t care,” he says. “Soon everybody will know we’re together, and I dare them to say anything about me leaving any sort of marks on you. Should I give you a hickey, too?” he teases, sucking a small section of flesh into his mouth.
“Maybe if we were seventeen,” I say with a chuckle.
“Ah, seventeen. That was a good time, huh?”
“Yeah, it was.”
“Remember our first time?” he says with a low laugh.
“How could I forget?”
“Mm.” He pushes his body against mine. “Good night, baby.”
I can’t help the ridiculous smile that covers my face. “Good night.”
40
Merrick
9 Years Ago
Tonight’s the night. After months of hand jobs, blow jobs, and intense make out sessions with a little dry humping, me and Ali are finally going to take the next step.
I think everyone is nervous about their first time, but I won’t lie and say I didn’t do a little research about this. Me and Ali had some things to learn when it came to anal sex. We started off by trying solo anal play, then learning about lubes, stretching, and the importance of foreplay.
Yesterday, we went to the store to stock up on condoms and lube, and tonight Elijah is out with Jenn, so we have the house to ourselves for a little while.
When I hear the doorbell ring, I jog down the stairs, racing Sugarfoot to the front door.
“Hey,” I say with a heavy breath as I pull it open.
“Hey, is he gone already?”
I circle his wrist with my fingers and yank him inside. “Yep, so kiss me.”
He ch
uckles before leaning in and giving me a soft kiss.
Sugarfoot nudges our connected hands with his wet nose, wanting our attention.
“Hey, buddy,” Ali says, reaching down to pet his head.
“Let me give him a bone so he’ll leave us alone,” I say, heading to the kitchen.
With the bone in his mouth, Sugarfoot trots off to his bed, and I grab Ali’s hand and pull him upstairs to my room.
“You in a hurry?” he says with a chuckle.
“Uh. Duh. Plus, I wanna make sure we don’t waste any time. I’d hate for Elijah to come home early and ruin this.”
“Yeah, that wouldn’t be good.”
Once we’re in my room, I close and lock the door, then spin around and gather Ali in my arms. “Are you nervous?”
“A little.”
“You sure you still wanna do this?” I question, pushing his wavy hair out of his eyes.
“I’m sure.”
I plant a few kisses on his soft lips before I pull away and reach into my sock drawer to dig out the condoms and lube I shoved in one of my socks the other day.
After tossing them on my bed, I sit down on the edge of the mattress and tug Ali onto my lap. He straddles me, leaning in for another kiss. Our lips and tongues are already in tune with each other, moving together in a slow dance that sparks desire in both of us.
We break apart to start removing our clothes, and we stop when we’re both only wearing our underwear.
“Lay down,” I say softly.
He does, and I start to plant kisses over his chest and stomach, moving down until I reach the waistband of his boxers. Tugging them down, his erection pops free, and I make sure to spend plenty of time bringing him pleasure with my mouth. I move lower, knowing I need to focus on his ass to get him ready.
Ali gasps, curses, and pants with heavy breaths as I do everything I read I should do. I use my mouth, and then my lubed up fingers. My cock gets exceptionally hard, and I can’t wait to see what he feels like when I get inside him.
“You ready?” I ask, reaching for a condom.
Risking it All: An M/M, rockstar, second chance romance (Kingston Brothers Book 4) Page 16
