Harbor’s heart was pounding. What was Theo saying? Was this the part where he told Harbor that he couldn’t stay with him either? “Theo...”
Theo leaned over, bracing one hand on the opposite side of the tub and kissed him. First on the lips, then the bruise on his cheek, and then the cut over his eye before coming back to his lips again. “I love you, Harbor.”
The words ghosted over Harbor’s skin, filtering in through his pores, soaking in deep, and warming him down to his bones. He cradled Theo’s face in his hands and brought their mouths together again. “I love you, too.”
Theo smiled against his mouth. “Even if I feel the need to run sometimes? I guarantee I’m not going to get this perfect right out of the gate.”
“And I am? I think we’ve been doing, okay. Don’t you?”
Theo nodded. “We have, and apparently there has to be a tub of ice water involved for us to have one of these conversations.”
“You started it this time,” Harbor said, heart light. “Give me a hand up and we can continue it the same way we did the last one.”
“Not this time,” Theo said reaching down to help Harbor out of the tub, then grabbing a towel to dry him off.
“You’re turning down a blow job? Really?”
Theo laughed. “I wouldn’t say no to starting with one, but I’d really like to have you inside me. If you’re up for it?”
Harbor growled and pushed Theo up against the wall, the water still clinging to his skin and sliding down in rivulets to drip on the floor around their feet. He claimed Theo’s lips in a kiss full of possession. This man was his to love and fuck and protect and laugh with. His heart tripped and stuttered over itself when Theo kissed him back just as fiercely, branding Harbor as his own with the same hot passion flaring through Harbor’s veins.
“Fuck, I missed you the last few weeks,” Theo panted between kisses. “I don’t want to do that again, go that long.”
Harbor kissed him quiet, wedging a thigh between Theo’s and grinding against the hardness he found there. “Never again. Not if we can help it.”
Theo gasped and rocked his hips, the cotton of his sweats soaking up the water on Harbor’s body and dragging along his skin. “I need you. I want to feel you. Just you.”
Stilling at the words, Harbor pulled back to meet Theo’s blown eyes. “You mean...”
“I’m clean,” Theo said, coaxing Harbor to move again. “My pre-fight physical confirmed it. You?”
Harbor nodded. “So am I.”
Theo pressed his smile against Harbor’s mouth. “Take me to bed Harbor.”
Theo was having trouble putting one foot in front of the other as they stumbled to the bed with Harbor trying to remove his pants and refusing to stop kissing him. “Here.” He laughed, stepping back enough to shuck his pants and briefs before diving back in, only to shriek at the frigid temperature of Harbor’s skin. “Fuck, you’re cold!”
“Come here and warm me up,” Harbor said, shameless, laying back on the bed in all his naked glory. Theo let his eyes trace over all the planes of Harbor’s body: hard, soft, toned, and colorfully tattooed. He was breathtaking, and best of all, he was all Theo’s.
“Theo?”
Coming out of his thoughts, Theo reached into the night stand drawer for their lube, dropping it on the bed before crawling up to blanket Harbor’s body with his own. He settled between Harbor’s spread thighs and shivered, both from the chill still clinging to Harbor’s skin and from the intensity of the blue eyes staring up at him. “You’re beautiful.”
Harbor kissed him. Slow and steady, sliding their tongues together in a delicious dance and deftly rolling them onto their sides. Sliding his hand down, Harbor gripped the back of Theo’s thigh just above his knee and hitched Theo’s leg up to hook over his hip.
Theo was reaching for the lube before Harbor asked for it, popping the cap and squeezing some onto Harbor’s fingers.
Harbor wasted no time, skating his hand down between their bodies, and pressing his fingers into Theo, making him moan and squirm and feel so damn good he thought he might lose his mind. “Come on,” he panted into the hollow of Harbor’s throat, licking the damp skin there and making Harbor shudder.
“Move to your back for me,” Harbor said, pulling his fingers free and gripping Theo’s cock once he’d rolled over. Theo planted his feet and thrust up into Harbor’s fist, snaking his hand around the back of Harbor’s neck to pull their lips together.
Harbor followed the motion and slid between Theo’s legs, letting his cock go to slick up his own and guide himself to Theo’s entrance. At the first stretch, Theo’s mouth fell slack and he closed his eyes.
“Look at me,” Harbor demanded, sliding inch by glorious inch into Theo’s body until they were flush together. For a long moment, they stilled, faces pressed close, breath hot between them.
Theo kissed Harbor’s lips, kissed his face, and ran his hands down the wide expanse of his back to grip the two perfect mounds of his ass. Harbor started to rock, forward and back, lighting Theo up on the inside. “Come on,” he gasped as Harbor began to thrust harder.
“Yeah? You want more?” Harbor asked, nipping at Theo’s lips.
“Fuck, yes.” Theo nodded, squeezing Harbor’s ass and urging him on. Harbor popped up on his knees, sliding his hands up the back of Theo’s thighs, pressing his legs back against his chest and went for it. Harder. Deeper. Faster. And shoving Theo up the bed with every thrust.
Bracing one hand on the headboard, Theo got the other around his cock and came with Harbor’s name falling in broken whimpers from his lips. Falling forward and swallowing the last of Theo’s moans, Harbor shuddered, pulsing his climax deep where he was still buried in Theo’s body.
“Holy fuck,” Theo said after a moment, voice rough. “You should get beat up in the cage more often.”
Harbor lifted off him with shaky arms, leveling Theo with his patent glare and giving another thrust into Theo’s oversensitive body. “I did not get beat up.”
“So sensitive, my love.” Theo teased, wincing only a little when Harbor withdrew and searched around on the floor until he found Theo’s discarded sweats to clean them both up.
Tossing the sweats away, Harbor settled on his back and pulled Theo close until they were tangled together.
“It’s really going to happen now,” Harbor said into the quiet.
“What? The fight?”
“Yeah.”
Theo propped himself up on an elbow, so he could look down into Harbor’s face. “You’ll keep your promise?”
Harbor nodded. “I will. If we’re both going to be in this weight class at this level, fighting each other is going to be part of it.”
“I’m kind of looking forward to it,” Theo admitted, smiling at Harbor’s raised brow. “I mean, maybe it’s dumb, but everything I do these days I want to share with you. Why would fighting be any different?”
Harbor stared at him for a moment, blue eyes serious, then a slow smile pulled at his mouth, making his eyes go soft. “It’s not dumb. I want to share everything with you, too.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
There was a phone ringing. Harbor groaned, one eye coming open as he tried to disentangle himself from Theo and find the damn thing so he could shut it up. He pawed at the nightstand until he got his hand around it, saw Vidar’s name lighting up the screen, and hit decline. His brother would have to wait. They weren’t flying out until that afternoon, and they fucking deserved to sleep in.
The phone rang again. Harbor growled and swiped to answer, ready to tear into his brother. “What the fuck, Vi? It’s seven am.”
“You need to turn on the news.”
“Wha—”
“Now, Harbor.”
“Fuck, fine.” Harbor stumbled out of bed and found the remote to the TV and clicked it on, flipping through the channels. He could hear Theo stirring behind him and lowered his voice. No reason for them both to suffer. “What channel is it?” His voice died o
ff at the end of his question when he landed on a station, and the screen was plastered with pictures of him and Theo. Together. Not training or at fight events.
On his motorcycle sitting at a red light.
Standing in the backyard at Helen’s. Bare chested and holding hands, surrounded by flowers in bloom.
Roasting marshmallows side-by-side around the fire pit at the cabin.
On his mom’s front porch, lost in an embrace with their mouths fused together.
“What the fuck…” Harbor sat down hard on the end of the bed. Someone had been following them? Spying on them?
“Harbor? Who’s on the phone?” Theo’s sleep rough voice came from behind him, and then a gasp when Theo caught sight of the TV.
Swallowing back the bile rising up in his throat, Harbor pressed the volume button to catch what the newscaster was saying.
“The anonymous letter that accompanied the pictures simply stated, ‘I thought the MMA world should know who they’ve let claim the top spots in the Middleweight Division.’”
Harbor hit mute. His chest felt tight and there was a ringing in his ears a moment before the white-hot rage that was always simmering somewhere under his breastbone spewed up and took him over. “Who the fuck did this?” He exploded up off the bed, forgetting for a moment that Vidar was still on the phone even as he chucked it at the wall.
Theo stood up slowly, face pale, and hands out in front of him like he was facing a wild beast. “Harbor.”
“Who would do this? Those pictures were from my mom’s! From Helen’s! Someone’s been fucking following us Theo. When I get my goddamn hands on them…”
Theo’s jaw clenched, and he squared his shoulders like he was bracing himself, but not against what they’d just seen on TV, the evidence of their privacy being invaded, but against Harbor. It made Harbor pause and really look at him. There were tears in Theo’s eyes, and his face wasn’t twisted up in anger like Harbor knew his own was. No, it was painted with…regret.
“Theo?”
“I’m sorry Harbor. I had no idea this would happen.” There was the slightest tremble in his voice, and he looked so resigned that Harbor went to him and cradled Theo’s face between his palms.
“Why are you apologizing to me? You didn’t do this.”
“No. But I know who did.”
Harbor’s eyes narrowed. “Who?”
Theo carefully took hold of Harbor’s wrists, pulling his face from Harbor’s hands and taking a step back. “Well, I guess I don’t know for certain, but there’s a good chance it was Ray Ausman or someone he hired.”
“Ausman? Wasn’t that Helen’s last name?”
“He’s her brother and a couple months ago he tried to take me to court to contest Helen’s will. He doesn’t think I deserved Helen’s house. Or anything really.”
“A couple months ago?” Harbor asked, a coldness creeping into his voice as his guts went numb. They’d been together a couple months ago. “Is there a reason you didn’t tell me? Someone trying to take you to court is a pretty big deal, Theo.”
Ducking his head, Theo blew out a big breath. “The case was dropped. Helen made sure her will was ironclad, and once my attorney investigated after the initial motion was filed, he found that Ray didn’t have the grounds to contest.” He hurried on as Harbor plopped down on the edge of the bed and dropped his head into his hands, “And even before that, I was moving to settle. I didn’t want to give him any reason to dig into me or you.”
Harbor tried to piece together how he was feeling about this…how Theo must be feeling. He had known that Theo hadn’t really opened himself up fully until recently, but he didn’t like realizing something this big had happened right under his nose without him even noticing.
“Look,” Theo said, voice empty and already starting to move around the room. “I’ll gather up my stuff and get out of here, then I’ll fix this Harbor. I’ll call my lawyer and see what kind of legal rights we have and find out how to get the pictures retracted. I’ll release a statement. Whatever you want—”
“What are you even talking about?” Harbor stood up and moved to stand in front of him. “Are you leaving me?”
“What? I don’t want to, but—”
“Then don’t. Because I sure as hell don’t want you to. I mean, yeah, I’m pissed about this, but not at you. Do I wish you had told me about the court thing? Yes. Because I want to be there for you. I want you to trust me. But I get that was then and this is now, and we’ve come a long way. But this,” Harbor pointed at the TV, even though the news had moved on to some other story, “this is not your fault. Period.”
Theo let out a shuddering breath. “Fuck, I don’t deserve you.”
Harbor closed the distance between them and kissed him. “I don’t want to hear that, and I don’t want to hear anymore about what you’re going to do, okay? Whatever we’re going to do, we’re going to do it together.”
There was a sharp rap on the door, and Vidar’s muffled voice filtered through, “Guys, get dressed. The MMAPRO owner wants a meeting. Now.”
“Well, this is a bit of a pickle,” Daniel Proffitt, the MMAPRO president, said leaning back in his desk chair and watching Harbor and Theo with sharp eyes. “But I don’t think it necessarily has to be a negative one.”
“What?” Harbor barked, and Theo started to reach over before retracting his hand.
Vidar and Rory had hustled them down and out of the hotel through a service elevator. The MMA world wasn’t typically big-time news, but apparently their story had already made the rounds. He’d called Carson immediately to see what legal action they could take, if any, about the pictures being taken without their knowledge, and then handed over to a national news station.
Harbor darted his eyes to the hand Theo had just pulled back and very deliberately reached over to lace his fingers through Theo’s. Their eyes met and something that had still been knotted in Theo’s chest came loose. There was love in Harbor’s eyes and that same hard determination he tackled every fight with. Theo was struck suddenly with awe for this man who had chosen to love him despite his faults and his fears, and even when immediately tested, didn’t waver.
“Well, I’m guessing whoever did this wanted to hurt you two boys,” Daniel continued. “Or wanted me and this organization to chuck you without a backward glance. First of all, that indicates a serious lack of homework on their part and second, that makes them just plain stupid.”
Theo felt stupefied. “What are saying exactly?”
“I’m saying, it’s awful this happened. No one should have their privacy invaded the way you two have, and this organization has anti-discrimination policies in place for a whole list of things and sexual orientation is one of them. We’re here to promote fights and sell tickets. I don’t care who my fighters do or don’t sleep with. If they can put butts in seats and sell merchandise and keep this sport focused on the fights like it should be, then they’ve got my support, one hundred percent. And you boys do that.”
“All due respect, sir, isn’t this going to take the focus off the fights?” Harbor asked, voice much calmer than it had been earlier.
“It’s a double-edged sword in this case. The publicity will be great for your fight regardless of how it started, but we’ll have to work to bring the focus back to the fight itself. Which brings me to my real question.” Daniel leaned forward, clasping his hands on the desk in front of him and sending a pointed look at their hands. “Is the fight going to be a conflict of interest for you?”
“No,” they both answered immediately, and they all chuckled a moment as some of the tension in the room dissipated and Harbor continued on, “No, sir. We’re fighters. The same as any other, and at the end of the day, we’ll take on any opponent standing opposite us when the cage door closes.” Harbor turned his head to meet Theo’s eyes. “Even if it’s our boyfriend.”
“And you feel the same?” Daniel turned to Theo.
“Yes, sir.”
“I want you to
know that you have this organization’s full support, and our PR team is ready to assist you in any public remarks you’d like to make.”
Theo smiled, squeezing Harbor’s fingers where they were still linked through his. “Thank you for the offer, Mr. Proffitt, but I think we’ll have it covered.”
Two days later, Harbor leaned into the throttle of his Harley, relishing the rumble of the bike beneath him and the warmth of the man at his back. They’d escaped Vegas mostly unscathed after MMAPRO released a statement that they did not in any way condone the violation of privacy that had been visited upon two of their fighters and were firmly in Harbor and Theo’s corner.
Despite being celebrities in their little corner of the MMA world, there had only been a few photographers camped out at Open Wounds waiting for them to return, and Vidar had made quick work in having them removed from the property. Still, climbing on the bike and escaping for a few days had called to Harbor. He’d been thrilled when Theo readily agreed to go with him.
Pulling into a vista he’d discovered on one of his many random road trips, Harbor stopped the bike just as the sun was sinking below the horizon. There was a small bed and breakfast up the road that would be perfect for them to spend the night in, but there was something they needed to do first.
“Damn Harbor, this is gorgeous,” Theo said, pulling off his helmet and slipping the leather gloves off his hands.
The October air was cool, but not terribly so with the right gear. He and Theo were both decked out in thick motorcycle boots, insulated jeans, Henley thermal shirts, and leather jackets. Theo made the sexiest biker Harbor had ever seen.
Sliding off the bike, Harbor walked to the fence that kept onlookers from getting too close to the edge of the drop off and looked out over the foliage, all in shades of red, yellow, and orange. “Think this’ll do?”
Open Wounds: The Boxed Set Page 25
