“We’ve met. Damn media,” Sam swore angrily. “They are like fucking vultures out there!”
Anderson looked up at Sam, who was just standing there glaring at Jack.
“So the media is out there huh? That’s why Byung left through the back on his motorcycle,” Anderson smiled. “What’s up?”
“What’s up? You all right?” Jack asked breezing by Sam who was standing there like a bulldog since the door had simply burst open.
“Yeah I’m fine… I was just going to take a shower. Jack, I need a favor.”
“Name it.”
“Find me a condo in Manhattan,” he asked. “The realtor probably has some ready. I know you have connections and can get me something nice and real fast.”
Jack grinned. “Let me do ma thang,” he snapped his finger dramatically and Anderson laughed. “I’ll call you tomorrow…wait did you get a new cell?”
“Oh he will,” Sam cut in. His voice had a dark edge to it and Anderson knew he was in trouble.
“Good,” Jack turned to Sam. “Thank you.”
“No problem…” Sam nodded his head.
After Jack left Anderson turned to Sam. “Well I guess I have been a bad boy,” he winked. “I think you should spank me.”
“Yes,” Sam replied with a smile. “But we have to have this talk now—before I change my mind and then…”
Anderson faced him with his full attention. “All right. Let’s talk, Sam.”
Sam went silent and fear began rising within Anderson. It was like bile seeping up his throat into his mouth and Anderson wanted to shout in anger.
“Sam—spit it out.”
“About what happened today,” Sam began. “It got me thinking that he could have killed you…he could have taken you away from me and then I’d be left knowing you were the one but losing you because I was a fool and never opened my mouth to tell you how I felt.”
Anderson tilted his head. Was he hearing things? Was he alive or awake?
Sam continued, “I thought of him coming over here and I was so angry and so damn scared…” he stopped to caress one side of Anderson’s face. “I love you, Andy. I didn’t believe it was possible but as I sped over here thinking of him hurting you I just…”
“Wait,” Anderson interrupted. “You love me?”
Sam nodded and Anderson thought his world was perfect then.
“When it comes to love, I didn’t want to put any word in your mouth,” Sam said. “Words are not what I want you to put in my mouth Sam,” Anderson grinned. “I love you. I loved you since the morning I woke up and you weren’t there. I wouldn’t have admitted it because I was pissed off at you…”
“You always seem to be pissed at me.”
Anderson eyed him but shook his head, “Don’t I though? Look, I’m not saying it’s going to be easy with you jetting around the joint catching bad guys and me in lectures. I don’t know if we’ll ever see each other.”
“You make it sound impossible.”
“It’s damn close. I’ve seen the hours you work—when was the last time you slept?”
Sam pushed back slightly and arched a brow. “So you and me—is this how it ends?”
Anderson shook his head, “if I have to come down to the precinct and take advantage of you and this sexy body of yours in one of the interrogation rooms then so be it. But this is not where this ends.”
Sam arched a brow again. “One of the interrogation rooms…hmm…kinky!”
Anderson laughed, “You just couldn’t help yourself could you? But seriously, a relationship can never be perfect. And I don’t expect ours to be. But I am willing to work on it. I am willing to put all these little, asinine things to the back of my mind and just be with you. And besides,” Anderson trailed off to undo the buttons on Sam’s shirt. “You’re very sexy, Sam Morgan, and that is hard to find in a good man.”
Sam laughed but stilled Anderson’s hands on his buttons, “we can’t stay here tonight because of the crime scene, so if we start something we will definitely give the forensic team a rather strange impression of us. Let’s go back to my place.”
Anderson moaned but kissed Sam in disappointed agreement.
Chapter Fifteen
After all those years, Sam had finally just blurted out his love to someone. He had put his heart out there and thank heavens that Anderson hadn’t stomped on it. Sam wasn’t sure he could have handled that. He had left the room of the house where Anderson was busy packing up some boxes to sit down with his laptop to try and find fares and a hotel in Jamaica to spread his father’s ashes in St. Elizabeth. It was a place that had a very sad story about two lovers who couldn’t be together so they jumped to their deaths from that spot—Lover’s Leap, they called it. Sam smiled watching Anderson fussing with a box. There was something strangely comforting about being home, with Anderson. His eyes caressed the muscles of Anderson’s back—each curve, the smooth, hard darkness of it. When he realized what he was doing, Sam was leant against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest with a smile on his face. He pulled himself together and walked into the room. He caught Anderson around the waist and kissed his neck.
The sound of Anderson’s moan filled the room. It was a beautiful sound that was intoxicating and addictive. Sam needed to hear that sound in his home, always. “You wanna take a break?” Sam asked.
“A work break?” Anderson turned in Sam’s arms to take his lips. “Or a fun break?”
“A little of both.”
“And our trip?”
Sam groaned but pressed his face to Anderson’s neck. “Two first class tickets to St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, in three days for a week at a five-star hotel. Happy?”
Anderson smirked, “Yes. Now we can take a break.”
“Good, because this cop’s stressed,” Sam smiled. “On your knees Anderson. Release me.”
The smile that Anderson gave him both melted Sam’s heart and turned him on. Slowly, Anderson moved down Sam’s body—dropping a kiss here, a kiss there. He grabbed the sides of Sam’s shirt and tugged, ripping it. When his mouth latched onto one of Sam’s nipples, all Sam could manage was a strangled sound of pure pleasure. Hot, wet tongue lashed the tight bud and Sam’s hands found the top of Anderson’s head. He held on, panting for air as Anderson moved to the second nipple. Sam’s toes curled and uncurled. His body shuddered sweetly. He moaned in disappointment when Anderson left his nipples and slumped downward to his knees. Sam didn’t have time to sulk much because soon Anderson’s mouth was wrapped around his cock.
Making love to Anderson felt different. It felt right. It felt as though since he had confessed his love to the professor, things were better. Every touch was fire, every lick was divine. Anderson pulled on him and Sam could have sworn he was losing his mind. He felt delirious. He dug his nails into Anderson’s bare shoulders, caressed the back of his head and pushed Anderson’s head down until Sam could feel the back of Anderson’s throat with each thrust. The feelings pulsating through him began to become a little much and Sam tried to pull away before he exploded. Anderson wouldn’t let him go.
“Andy, I’m gonna…” was all he could say before his whole body trembled, his knees knocked and his cock erupted in Anderson’s mouth. Panting for air, Sam slumped down to one knee with his still erect penis throbbing before him. Anderson was smiling at him and Sam knew what he had to do. He barely had the energy but he stood up and grabbed Anderson’s shoulder. He pushed him backwards into the kitchen then rushed into the bedroom. He rummaged through the bedside table and returned with a small tube of lube. He didn’t have time for anything else, he was desperate to be inside Anderson. When he was ready, he bent Anderson over the counter and entered him roughly from behind. He watched with delight the way Anderson’s back arched and the way his head bent backwards into Sam’s chest. Sam gripped his hips and slammed forward, grunting his satisfaction. He lifted a hand to caress the side of Anderson’s face but was stunned when Anderson simply turned his head and sucked one of Sam’
s fingers into his mouth.
Sam licked his lips and bent forward to allow his tongue the absolute delight of tasting Anderson’s skin.
“Andy…” Sam gritted his teeth, straining for control. He couldn’t want to come again so soon. But with Anderson Sam no longer had control over his body, his thoughts or his emotions. With Anderson, his body mutinied and did exactly what it wanted to feed the crazed love he felt for the professor. Sam reached a hand around and grabbed Anderson’s cock. In rhythm with his hips, Sam jacked Anderson in a tight fist. Anderson writhed, grabbed the counter and shoved backwards and forwards. With his free hand, Sam allowed it to move up Anderson’s body, stopping only briefly to tweak a tight nipple then up to Anderson’s neck. Holding him in place, Sam drove into Anderson over and over, all the while jerking Anderson’s cock until hot liquid burst forward from the hard, dark, pole. Then and only then, did Sam let go and allowed himself the pleasure of an orgasm—his second in minutes.
He turned Sam in his arms, still trapped against the counter and took his lips. He kissed Anderson hard before lifting his head. “I love you,” he told him holding his stare. “I love you and I don’t want you to forget it. I don’t want you to forget…” It was as though once he got the words out the first time, saying them again wasn’t all that horrible. It got easier and easier and with each time he said those three, small words, he realize how very truthful they were.
“And I love you, Sam,” Anderson whispered. “You wanna move in with me?”
Sam arched a brow. Both men were still trying to catch their breath. Sam was gripping the counter and his body was somewhat holding Anderson upright. “Whoa… you sure? This is kind of sudden.”
“Look, Sam,” Anderson sighed. “I want you here. I work in the day time, you work like a vampire on no sleep—if you move in with me at least we get to see each other when you crawl into bed. And besides, if I want a booty call I don’t want to be speeding through the streets.”
Sam laughed, “Did you just say booty call?”
Anderson nodded.
Sam simply laughed harder. He laughed so hard that Anderson had to shove his tongue down the cop’s throat to shut him up. Sam moaned and kissed Anderson back. To Anderson’s surprise, just the one kiss and he could feel Sam’s cock growing from where it lay between their bodies.
It was getting dark outside when both men finally rolled out of bed. Sam showered while Anderson was on his computer answering some questions from some of his students. He submitted their marks from their paper on Homer and sent Byung and Jack an email. He then walked naked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. When he didn’t see anything in their worth having he picked up the phone and ordered a pizza. It was only after he hung up the phone that he realized that ordering a pizza meant he had to put clothes on. Well, not really, he could answer the door naked but he didn’t think that would go over well with the pizza guy. Anderson chuckled at himself as he trudged back up the stairs into his bedroom and hauled on a pair of pants. He grabbed some money from his wallet and went back down the stairs into his den. He sat there with is back to the door, staring out the window at the slight rain that had started over New York.
“Baby, you all right?” Sam’s voice cut through the fog of his mind. Anderson turned to face Sam with a smile.
“I think so,” he spoke truthfully. “At least I think am starting to feel better. I am happy you’re coming with me to Lover’s Leap.”
Sam chuckled lightheartedly. “Yeah. Just know that I love you but we are not jumping.”
Anderson grinned, “Fair enough. I ordered a pizza. It should be here any minute. There’s no food in that damn fridge.”
“Good because I’m starving,” Sam walked over to sit on the desk so that his legs were on either side of Anderson. “One cannot live by booty alone.”
“Too true,” Anderson laughed and reached in for a kiss simply because he could.
Epilogue
The heat on the small island was unlike anything Anderson had ever experienced before. The moment the door to the plane opened and he had stepped off, the heat slapped Anderson in the face. He gasped for air but it was too humid. Finally his body got somewhat used to the air and he stepped forward and down the steps from the plane. He had visited before with his father but that was a long time ago. He was barely a teenager then and the last time they were there was to let his mother’s ashes fly free in the wind on Lover’s Leap. The sun bore down over the island mercilessly but the natives there didn’t seem to mind. The men removed their shirts and the women walked around in booty shorts. Anderson chuckled and ducked into the black car that he had hired to take them around the island to wherever they wanted to go. If it was one thing he wouldn’t be doing in Jamaica, it would be driving. Driving in New York was bad but driving on the small island was worse. He did not want to chance another tragedy.
The driver chucked their bags into the trunk and soon they were off. He moved over and rested his head against Sam’s chest with his father’s ashes clasped tightly in his lap.
“You’re tired,” Sam spoke. His voice was husky and sweet.
“A little,” Anderson lied. He hadn’t slept the night before. Even after Sam had woken up and taken him hard. He thought he’d be too tired to even wait until his head hit the pillow again but he stayed there, long after Sam went back to sleep, just staring at the ceiling.
“We still have a ways,” Sam offered. “Take a nap.”
But even after Sam kissed his head, Anderson couldn’t sleep. He was too tired and worried to sleep. He took the comfort that was Sam’s shoulder and rode out the rest of the way up the large hill. When they got to the top the driver opened the car doors and Anderson stepped out first. He walked slowly with his father’s ashes, through some trees and a little ways up a much smaller hill. He moved carefully out as far as he could go before he opened it. He took a deep breath and stuck his hand in. He removed a handful and released it in the air while saying a small prayer. He watched the white mist of what was left of his father, his hero be carried away on the wind like a wisp of smoke. He didn’t want to let go but finally he turned the container upside down and watched the wind take his father away. Anderson prayed that he was going to his mother, that he was going home. He stood there, his heart broken but happy that his father was now where he had wanted to be since his wife’s death.
After the ashes were completely gone Anderson bowed his head but didn’t have time to wallow in self pity for Sam’s large arms snaked around his hips. He was pulled backwards into Sam’s chest and Anderson breathed out of his mouth long and hard. He was thankful for Sam and he hoped that his father saw how happy Anderson was about his love life. Anderson still had a ways to go before he was completely at terms at not having his father to have Friday dinner with anymore.
“Saying goodbye is never easy,” Sam spoke, kissing Anderson’s ear lobe. “For the lack of a better term, it sucks. But you know something?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a part of life. All we can do is to love those other people who are left in our lives, just a little bit more. Pay more attention and smile at them a bit more—that lover, kiss him a bit more, make love and laugh more. I’m not saying forget your father, far from it. What I’m saying is that we can’t let the loss of one blind us to those still with us.”
“You’re a smart man Sam Morgan,” Anderson whispered against the warmth hardness that was Sam’s chest. “A very smart man.”
“That’s why you love me,” Sam told him cheekily.
Anderson spun in Sam’s arms to cradle the cop’s face, “I don’t know if I told you this before,” Anderson locked eyes with Sam. “Thank you—I know it couldn’t have been easy with me freaking at you but you caught him . You got the guy that killed my father and I am so very, very thankful to you.”
“I wanted to tell you something. Something from the interrogation with Erickson,” Sam replied instead. He released Anderson and walked over to a fallen tree to si
t on. He stretched his legs out before him and Anderson tilted his head watching the worried frown that passed over Sam’s features. “I wanted to do it at a time when I thought you were ready but that time never seemed to come up.”
“All right,” he nodded slightly but didn’t move.
Anderson listened intently while Sam reiterated everything that had taken place up until when Erickson pulled his little Houdini move out the window and high-tailed it to Byung’s. Anderson felt sick in his stomach. His knees threatened to give out so he moved quickly and flopped down beside Sam, “so he did all this, all these people dead because he thought my father and his friends wrecked his life?”
“Seems so,” Sam nodded.
“My god. After Yale, my father barely kept in touch with most of those men,” Anderson explained. “I mean he stuck with Percy and a few others but that was about it. I never met this Erickson person…” he trailed off and looked at Sam. “He thought I had it easy? I had it well but I was no Einstein. Every grade I got in school I worked my ass off for. I skipped school dances, boys’ nights out, camping…just so I could get homework done on time and get my grades. I worked for every A I ever got and that asshole thought it was easy?”
“Baby, breathe.”
“Don’t tell me to breath, Sam! Jesus some people are just so fucking evil!” Anderson stopped himself and did as Sam had suggested. He breathed. He then turned to Sam, “and the book?”
Sam went silent and Anderson nodded his head but turned away.
“I’m sorry,” Sam told him.
“Me too.”
“Are we going to argue about this now?” Sam wanted to know.
“No,” Anderson shook his head. “No, we’re not going to argue… I don’t want to fight. I am too tired for that.”
“How about making love?”
Anderson grinned, “If Jamaicans didn’t believe that gay men should be burnt at the stakes I would take you up on that offer right here. But we should wait until we get back to the hotel. Then, Sam Morgan, I am all yours.”
The Orchid Murders Page 19
