by Mia Ashlinn
Then there was Megan. Adam might have dated her, and he’d definitely fucked her. But they couldn’t have been more different if they’d tried. Adam loved selflessly and unconditionally. He would never kill himself over their relationship and blame Deke in the note he left behind.
“I know you’re not them, but I just couldn’t get past it. I kept hoping that if I held back, even a little, I would survive when you hurt me. But what I didn’t realize was that I had already given my heart and soul to you. When you left the other day”—he gulped—“my world collapsed because I’m not me without you.”
“And Sarah?”
Deke averted his eyes, unable to say the words while he was looking at his longtime lover. “I’m not me without her, either.” And that made him want to retch. He’d taken seventeen years to get to this point with Adam. How was he supposed to reach the same place in just a few days with Sarah? He didn’t know, but he was going to figure it out because he couldn’t lose her. And he wasn’t going to wait long. After that kiss, his impatience was palpable.
Coughing nervously, Deke tacked on, “She’s a part of me, and I lo…care for her.” Damn, why couldn’t he say the L word?
“Well, that’s enough,” Adam said. “We have a place to start.”
“Start?”
“Yeah, Deke. I don’t expect everything to be better overnight. I know you’re not ready to admit what you feel for Sarah, and that’s fine. At least, you’ve realized you care for her and are willing to try. That’s what counts.”
“What about you? I hurt you, too.”
Adam smiled. “Deke, love is tangled and complicated and, at times, an all-around pain. There are going to be fights. You’re going to hurt me, and I’m going to hurt you. But we can work it out. We will. We have to because I found out that I can’t live without you. It’s rather sick how attached I am to you.” His cheeks flushed. “I have a confession to make. If you hadn’t shown up when you did, I would have come to you. Hell, I planned to talk to you later today. I was just sitting in here, drinking, and working up the courage to approach you.”
Deke’s head swam. That was his Adam—forgiving, accepting, and loving. He smiled then stood and strode toward his partner. Then he did something he’d never done. He parted Adam’s legs and situated himself on his knees in front of him.
“God, Adam. I know what you mean. I was a nervous wreck when I knocked on your door.” Taking his partner’s hands in his, he squeezed tightly. “And it’s not sick. I’m just as attached to you as you are to me.”
Adam chuckled. “I’m glad to hear that.”
Deke was, too. But he had more to say to his partner. He had things he needed to do. So he inhaled what was supposed to be a calming breath but wasn’t. Then he murmured, “You said that you have always given to me, and I’ve always taken. You’re right. Now I want to give something back to you.” Deke slid his eyes closed with a sigh then lifted his lids a second later. “I want you to know how much I l–love you.” I sound like a moron. “I want to show you that we’re equals.”
Adam eyed him nervously. “And how are you going to do that?”
“I want you to”—he paused to suck in a stabilizing breath—“top me.”
* * * *
Sitting in his office with Deke kneeling between his legs, Adam wondered if he’d lost his mind. Surely, Deke hadn’t just said what it sounded like. His partner would never submit to anyone, not even Adam. That was a sacrifice even he couldn’t make. And if he tried, Adam wouldn’t let him. Give and take was one thing. Stealing was another.
Deke stared up at Adam. “Top me,” he repeated, this time sounding stronger and surer than before, but his chocolate eyes contradicted him. The desperate plea for understanding in his eyes, the raw emotion written on his face nearly tore Adam apart. He was grateful that he was sitting down. If he hadn’t been, his knees would’ve buckled.
My God. I did this to him. “Deke,” he grated out. “No.”
“Yes.” Deke nodded. “I want you to top me.”
Adam disagreed. Deke didn’t really want to bottom for Adam. He was doing it to prove that the two of them were equals in the relationship, that they were partners. But he didn’t need to do that. Adam didn’t want him to. The offer was enough.
“I won’t top you,” Adam declared, knowing his answer was the right one. He wouldn’t be swayed on this, no matter the price.
Deke frowned. “This is insane. I’m trying to give you what you want.”
“I never wanted this.”
Deke bristled. “Why the hell not? Most people would beg to top me.”
Adam had to cough to cover a laugh. Deke’s indignation was rather cute. “Relationships are all about giving and taking. There’s a trade-off. I give you what you need and you give me what I need. In this case, I don’t need to top you, and you don’t need to bottom for me.”
Relief flittered across Deke’s face. “Thank God.”
Adam chuckled. “No. Thank me.”
“I’ll thank you all right.” Deke growled. Then, with a wolfish grin, he placed his sizable hands on Adam’s inner thighs and exerted the precise amount of pressure to force him to widen his legs.
Opening himself to Deke, Adam sighed, knowingly. His cock grew rapidly in his slacks, and he was grateful he wasn’t wearing something tighter. Otherwise, he might have died from lack of blood flow to his brain. But what a way to go.
Deke lifted himself to his knees before slowly—too damn slowly—slithering his rock-hard body up Adam’s until they were face-to-face, mere inches separating their mouths. Adam had to grip the upholstered arm of his chair to hold himself back. His body demanded he grab Deke, to touch him and kiss him and, by God, fuck him. But his mind commanded him to let his partner run the show.
Hanging on by a thread, Adam relaxed his muscles as best he could. He clenched his jaw shut so pleas didn’t fall from his lips. He panted for air, attempting to slow his racing heart. The anticipation of what was to come was killing him. They’d gone too long without each other. And he didn’t think he could hold on for long.
Deke, on the other hand, seemed calm, appearing not quite patient but close. His lazy, unhurried movements and even breaths were astonishingly smooth. Though, his smoldering eyes gave away his fierce arousal, the chocolate color positively melting, as did the flare of his strong nose.
Leaning forward, Deke captured Adam’s face between his hands then pressed their lips together. For the first time, he kissed Adam slowly, deeply, the passion subtle but no less intoxicating. The caress of his mouth was loving rather than all-consuming lust spiraling out of control.
Adam groaned, his mouth slipping open. Deke took that as an invitation and swept his tongue inside. He slanted his head to the right, granting himself better access as he kissed Adam hungrily, very nearly inhaling him. Their tongues slid together easily, the moisture coating them creating a carnal playground.
Another groan came from Adam, this time the sound rumbling in his chest. Damn, it felt good to be wanted by Deke to the point of madness. He’d been starved for him but unsure if he was the only one dying from deprivation. Evidently not.
Unable to hold back any longer, Adam ran both of his hands through Deke’s hair. The short strands were unusually soft as he plowed through them, stilling at Deke’s crown. He clasped his partner’s head, holding Deke to him and refusing to let their mouths part.
Deke grunted but didn’t fight him.
Their kiss drew on, continuing until both of their breathing grew choppy and harsh. Finally, they parted their lips amicably. Only they didn’t separate anything else. Their heaving chests kept colliding. Their steely cocks remained in close quarters, only a few fucking layers separating them.
The next thing Adam knew, they leapt apart, ripping at their clothes, stripping down to nothing in a flash. Then they were together again, their hot, naked bodies wrapped around each other, kissing like madmen. The heat radiating between the two of them melded, a fireball form
ing inside of Adam, and his control snapped.
He drove his hands around Deke’s waist, not wasting any time for playtime, and slipped them to the bottom curve of his partner’s ass. He palmed the tight, muscled flesh there, pulling their groins close.
Deke growled then wrenched his lips from Adam’s. “God, Adam. Are you trying to kill me?”
Panting, Adam shook his head, unable to say any more. Instead, he placed his lips on Deke’s neck and nipped the sensitive flesh there.
Deke hissed. “Not now. Later.”
Adam knew what he meant, but he didn’t listen. He wordlessly kissed a path down to Deke’s nipple, making sure to leave behind a wet trail. When he reached the distended nub, he blew a single breath across and watched as the peak grew, stiffening before his very eyes. He smiled to himself then licked Deke’s nipple in one long lash before descending lower.
Pausing at Deke’s bellybutton, Adam explored the indentation, fucking his tongue into and out of it, before placing a hot, wet kiss just below it. Without pausing, he continued on his path, going lower and lower still, until he reached his destination—Deke’s thick, hard cock.
With a sinister smile Deke couldn’t see, Adam inspected his partner’s dick. The proud flesh strained toward him, awaiting his kiss and lick and eventual suck. It knew what it wanted, just as Adam knew what he wanted. He craved a taste of the pre-cum oozing from his partner’s wide tip. He yearned to lick up one side of his long shaft then down the other. And he itched to cup his balls, to toy with them, to suck them in his mouth.
I have to start somewhere. Let me think. Let me think. Oh yes. He went straight for the pearly drop of Deke’s essence, lapping at the weeping crown unabashedly. Greedy for more, he laved Deke’s slit several times before slipping his tongue between it.
Deke threw his head back with a groan, his hips bucking forward forcefully. “Fuck.”
Leaning back, Adam grinned up at Deke, who’d just looked down. “In a minute,” he teased.
Deke’s eyes darkened until there was no brown left. His pupils dilated until only onyx orbs remained. “No. Now.”
Normally, Adam would have fought Deke. Hell, a minute ago, he had fought him. He’d wanted to suck his lover’s cock more than he’d wanted to breathe. But now he couldn’t hold back, not with the taste of Deke’s pleasure intoxicating him and definitely not with Deke looking like he did. The sinful grin, the fiery eyes, the swollen lips, it was simply too much. Adam wanted more.
Rather than speaking, Adam disentangled himself from Deke. Immediately, his body cursed him, craving Deke’s warmth, hungering for his strength again. Adam hurried over to his desk drawer, practically yanking it out, and snatched the only bottle of lube he had in his office.
“Catch,” Adam barked a second before he launched the bottle to Deke, who luckily caught it.
Marching around the side of his desk, Adam bent over and braced his arms on the hardwood. As he remained there, he listened to a bottle being opened then liquid being squirted. His breathing sped up, tiny, ragged pants escaping his mouth as he heard the bottle being shut once again.
A second later, Deke was behind him, spreading his ass cheeks apart. And a second after that, Adam felt the blunt head of Deke’s lubed cock against his back entrance. Involuntarily, his back arched, and he pushed his ass back toward Deke.
Deke chuckled. “I think somebody missed me.”
“As if you didn’t miss me,” Adam grated out.
“Touché,” Deke countered, and then, without preamble, he buried his dick inside Adam.
Adam moaned as his ass stretched to accommodate the thick cock spearing him. Even after seventeen years of Deke impaling him with his massive dick, the burn still ripped through him, singing him deep inside. But God, did it feel good.
Adam’s cock responded enthusiastically to the agonizing blaze of heat, throbbing in time with the blood pulsing through the shaft. He felt his ass clench around Deke’s dick as though demanding he stay. But he didn’t.
Clutching Adam’s hips in his hands, Deke began fucking him earnestly. He hammered his ass with masterful drives of his unyielding shaft. Gravelly grunts and groans erupted from Deke’s mouth as he pulled Adam back, forcing him to meet his unrestrained thrusts.
With each plunge, Adam’s cock swelled, the aching so intense that he could barely breathe for it. He had to force himself to inhale and exhale, his body so focused on the pleasure bombarding him that he forgot anything else. Fucking Deke was all that mattered, and reaching the orgasm he felt building in his balls was his priority.
Like him, Deke seemed to be struggling to breathe. “Can’t wait,” he panted. “Stroke cock.”
Adam didn’t have to be told twice. He wrapped his hand around his rigid dick and started to caress the shaft. Gliding his determined hand up and down his length, he gritted his teeth. The pleasure was too much, and yet it was not enough. His strokes increased, the speed growing into a frenzied masterpiece.
Behind him, Deke continued his assault, bearing down with a fierceness Adam had never experienced with his partner. Deke relentlessly invaded him then mercilessly retreated before savagely impaling him once again. He was like a possessed animal claiming his mate.
Not that Adam was better. He was as savage as Deke, bucking and crying out like a wounded beast. The wild, primitive fucking had Adam howling as he came, his cock erupting and blasting his cum on his desk and on the floor.
A second later, he felt Deke’s dick lengthen then swell before he spilled his seed inside of Adam. His partner released an animalistic cry of satisfaction that rivaled his own.
With a drawn-out sigh, Adam sagged, falling forward and barely catching himself before he hit the desk. As soon as he collapsed on top of the hardwood, Deke followed him down. They lay there, sweaty and sticky, basking in the afterglow, until a booming knock on the door invaded their post-orgasmic euphoria.
Adam cursed.
“Go away,” Deke growled. “It’s not time yet.”
Wyatt continued beating on the door, his strikes coming closer together. “Deke. Adam. I think you both need to come downstairs. Now.”
Chapter 10
“What the fuck?”
Adam’s furious expletive barely registered in Deke’s mind as he scowled at the closed door separating him and Adam from Wyatt. Why the hell was Wyatt so damn early? Deke had given him strict instructions on when to come and get him and Adam. He was supposed to give Deke time to apologize to his partner before interrupting them with news of Sarah’s supposed club crashing. And why the fuck did Wyatt sound like that? His normally levelheaded, laid-back computer guru sounded like an enraged bull one step away from charging into the office uninvited. If he was this unhinged, something had to have happened in the club. Considering Sarah was downstairs in The Edge’s lounge with Ansley and Kylia, Deke had no doubt that his plan to force Adam’s hand had blown to smithereens while they’d been distracted.
“Just a minute,” Deke barked, hoping to stave Wyatt off long enough for him and Adam to dress. Hastily, he snatched his boxer-briefs off the floor then used the fabric to wipe the cum from his cock. Tossing the underwear aside, he bent down and grabbed his trousers before stuffing his legs in each side. When his foot got caught in the fabric, he cursed. Luckily, he managed to disentangle himself quickly. Then he tugged the pants up and over his hips, despite his uncharacteristically clumsy hands.
By the time Deke’s lower half was covered, Adam was completely dressed. “Come on,” Adam ordered. But he didn’t wait for Deke. He stormed over to the door then yanked it open, practically taking the thing off its hinges. When he saw Wyatt, Adam snapped, “Well. Tell us what the hell happened.”
Yeah, Deke would like to know the answer to that question. He’d plotted out every detail of his and Ansley’s plan to get Sarah into the lounge and keep her there until either Adam barged in and publicly claimed her or until Deke did. Apparently, he’d forgotten something. He had to have missed some detail. He just didn�
�t know what it could be.
The Edge’s resident techno-genius frowned at Adam. “Those three women are going to be the death of me. Let’s go.”
Grunting his agreement, Deke retrieved his dress shirt then pulled it around him, fastening the tiny buttons as he followed Adam and Wyatt out of the office. While the three men stalked down the hallway leading to the stairwell, he demanded information. “Is Sarah okay? Did those bastards in the lounge touch her?” If they had, he’d take them apart with his bare hands, and he’d relish every second of it. No one touched what belonged to him unless they wanted to meet their Maker.
Wyatt shook his head. “No. It’s just…you need to see for yourself. But don’t say I didn’t warn you, Deke. You can’t play God and expect everything to go according to plan.”
Adam stopped in his tracks. “Whoa. Wait a minute.”
Deke didn’t have a chance to divert his movements. He slammed into Adam’s wide back. They teetered and tottered around before regaining their balance. When they weren’t in danger of falling on their asses, his partner rounded on him. “You know Sarah is here? In the lounge?”
Deke arched his eyebrow. “Of course, I know. Sebastian told me all about it. Then I confronted Ansley with what he’d said.”
Adam frowned. “Kylia told me.”
“What? Why in the world didn’t you tell me?”
“I think the bigger question is why didn’t you tell me?”
Deke didn’t want to get into this right now. Or at least, he wanted to be hauling ass while he explained. “You walk, and I’ll talk.”
Adam nodded then started for the stairs. Jogging down the steps, he said, “Okay, I’m walking. You talk.”
If Deke hadn’t been so worried about Sarah, he would’ve laughed. “Sebastian came to me after our fight and told me what Ansley and Kylia were up to. At first, I wanted to wring their necks”—he paused when Wyatt growled possessively—“but I changed my mind when I realized that I could use their game to my advantage.”
