by J. C. Owens
He widened his eyes as he became more aware, feeling the heat along his back, and the strong arm that lay over his ribs and up his chest.
He curved his lips into a smile, feeling a rush of joy.
Enzo was home. They had made love.
Any doubts and fears that had built up over Enzo’s absence were gone. That loving touch had driven them out. His ferocity, force, and need had proven quite thoroughly that he had missed Chase, that it had not been one-sided.
Chase stroked his hand over the arm that held him close.
He would be patient. Today he would ask what had come of Ren, but he knew that Enzo must have done something. There was no chance of Enzo being less than devoted to a single lover. He had seen that all too often, but now that it applied to him, he could only be grateful.
Until the next one took his place.
He squeezed his eyes shut, breath hitching in his chest, then opened them to stare at the sunlight once more. He had known there were no guarantees. He had seen Enzo with his lovers, knew they never held his interest for long. Tracey had been the longest, but then she held the potential for an heir within her.
Chase frowned. He had heard or seen nothing of Tracey since his affair with Enzo had begun. What role would she play now? He swallowed hard, trying to control the wave of jealousy that flowed over him. She could give Enzo a child. What did he have to offer? This would be heaven itself while it lasted, but then…
I love him. She does not.
Would that be enough for Enzo? Would he even recognize what Chase was offering?
He shook the thoughts from himself as though they were annoying flies. He had this moment, more than he had ever believed would come. Now was not the time to worry. He would revel in every touch, in the right to be with Enzo, to call him lover.
Turning slowly, and with care within the circle of Enzo’s arm, he settled himself back on his pillow, gaze fastened upon the feast before him.
Enzo lay on his side, one arm under his pillow, the other pinning Chase close. The intimacy of being this close made him blink rapidly. So beautiful, his Enzo. Long, thick lashes shielded those piercing eyes, and his face seemed younger, more innocent, than the vibrancy he showed while awake.
Cautiously, he reached out, giving into the urge to stroke that black hair, to bury his fingers in its softness. He stroked downward, letting his touch linger on the nape of Enzo’s neck.
Enzo stirred, lips parting, a whisper of breath feathering over Chase’s face. Greatly daring, he shifted his touch, laying his palm over a high cheekbone.
Enzo made a sound, the faintest hum of approval, and turned his face into the touch.
Chase held his breath, wanting to imprint the moment upon his inner eye, so that he would forever have this image.
Enzo had turned to him with instinct, even if it was only in sleep.
He bit his lip, hesitating, then smiled to himself, slipping under the sheet, letting his hands trail over firm muscle and bronze skin. Enzo stretched under his touch and rolled onto his back, one hand under his head, the other flung across his belly, fingers flexing sleepily.
Chase pushed the sheet further back, resenting its intrusion, the way it covered Enzo’s hips and hid his beauty from view. Licking his lips, keeping his eyes on Enzo’s face, he dipped down, letting his tongue trail over flaccid flesh. Enzo’s cock twitched, and he rolled his head upon the pillow, his lips parting ever so slightly, one leg lolling to the side, providing more room for Chase to maneuver. He moaned, the taste exploding over his tongue. It was a bounty, a feast, and he had no idea where to start. His lips trailed down, and he captured a testicle with his lips, mouthing it gently, before sucking it within his mouth, letting his tongue gently lave the tender flesh.
Enzo’s body jerked, and he murmured under his breath, eyes still closed, the hand upon his stomach sliding down to comb through Chase’s hair, stroking faintly at first, obviously still half asleep, before sinking in, and holding him to his task.
Chase hummed, sucking gently upon soft skin. He drew back, resisting the hand in his hair and blew across the wetness, watching in fascination as the skin moved on its own, reacting to the chill. He glanced up again, meeting half-lidded dark eyes, shivering as he heard the deep moan that escaped his lover’s throat.
His own cock hardened at the sound, and he bent his head again, capturing the other testicle, and drawing it into wet heat. He lapped at it, twining his tongue around the precious orb within, providing enough pressure to make Enzo’s hips begin to move in half-dazed reaction.
This he was good at. This he had talent for. He might be ashamed of his past, but at this moment, everything he had learned came to the fore, to please this man he loved so dearly. For this moment, he was confident and heady in his need to please.
“Chase…” The whisper was hoarse, sleepy, and incredibly sexy. He felt goose bumps rise upon his skin at that single sound, his name upon those lips.
He longed to rise, to kiss them, but not yet. First he would drive his lover to need, to show him that he could offer sensuous promise—and deliver total satisfaction. He would bring what weapons he had to bear, and he would keep Enzo as long as he could.
Forever, if he could only have his way.
He let the second testicle slide from his mouth, and Enzo’s faint groan seemed to indicate some sort of sleepy protest. He nipped his way up, so gently using his teeth to torment, to bring to the edge of pain, and yet never over. Reaching up, he grasped the half-hard cock that beckoned him and applied his tongue to the circumcised skin just below the head, knowing how tender and sensitive it was. The tip of his tongue traced under the corona, lapping at its edge, hearing a hiss of breath and looking up to witness Enzo waken fully, his head arching back, his free hand clutching at the sheets.
Precum beaded upon the tip, glistening in the sunlight, and he touched it gently with his tongue, his eyes sliding shut with bliss at the taste. The primal part of him was fascinated, taking Enzo’s essence within his mouth, swallowing it, having it become part of him. He closed his lips over the head, sucking gently, seeking more of the slickness that Enzo’s body was offering to him.
Enzo groaned, a long, low sound, before powerful hands grasped Chase and pulled him up over Enzo’s body, his head canting eagerly to meet the kiss that awaited. Enzo arranged him, so that he straddled the dark-skinned body. He felt the press of that thick cock against his entrance, and shifted his hips, not wanting gentleness.
His whimpering moans seemed to drive Enzo into a darker need. He shifted before thrusting deep.
Chase arched, his lover’s hands gripping his waist, steadying him as he cried out at the piercing, a wail of pleasurable pain that made his senses burn and pulse. The remains of last night’s loving eased the way to a degree, and the burn of harsh entry faded swiftly into hot intensity. He swiveled his hips, loving the sense of pressure within him, the feel of Enzo’s cock pressing, gliding over his prostate with delicious friction. Licking his lips, he looked down into dark brown eyes that gleamed in the light, the look of an awakened predator. Enzo’s hands grasped Chase’s hips, pulling him down sharply each time he rose up to the tip of that thick, hard shaft.
He whimpered at the sensations, the force that spoke to something deep within him. This is what he had always needed, he suddenly realized. Pleasure with a spike of pain, a lover he could trust not to take things too far. And trust he did, despite Enzo’s reputation for wildness. Some instinct that told him he need never worry that Enzo’s feral nature would harm him. The Martinelli would never injure those he cared for, and at this moment in time, for however long it might last, Enzo cared for him.
That was all Chase needed. More than that, he could not imagine.
Enzo watched as Chase leaned across the table, accepting the piece of peeled juicy peach with a hum of appreciation, lingering to suck Enzo’s fingers clean, before sinking back into his chair with hot eyes trained on his lover.
Enzo licked his own fingers to
remove any remnants of juice, his gaze fixed unerringly upon Chase, watching the blue eyes widen, the pupils dilate with lust at the sight.
Enzo chuckled under his breath. “Down, boy. You have worn me out. Last night, this morning—you are insatiable.”
“You make me that way. How do I look at you, and not want to touch, to taste? It is completely your fault.” Chase muttered around his piece of peach.
His eyebrow rose. “I have not had this problem with other lovers.”
“Then they were both blind and stupid, and probably knowing you, you were the one who kicked them out of your bed first thing in the morning, wanting to sleep in peace.” Chase’s expression held a hint of mischief, an expression Enzo treasured on his young lover.
“I would not be so crass.” He smirked. At the disbelieving look Chase gifted him with, he laughed out loud, deftly using his knife to slice the remains of the peach into neat sections. He slid one into his mouth, humming at the sweet juice that exploded over his tongue.
Chase leaned forward, eyes intent, boldly laying a hand on Enzo’s jaw, and tilting his head to lick the juice from his lover’s lips with long, slow sweeps of his tongue.
Enzo kissed him, the sweetness of peach shared between them.
It was long moments before Chase withdrew, smiling, his expression filled with contentment, as he sat back in his chair, and once more picked up his spoon, working on the cereal he had been eating before Enzo introduced peaches.
Enzo watched him fondly, feeling a languid peace steal over him. There was no sense of urgency, no need to break the moment with sexual fervor. This feeling was almost—comfortable—as though the relationship completed something, filled some gap or space within him that had been waiting.
It was so strange, and yet, he could not find the energy to question it. It simply was. It made him wonder why he had taken so damn long to see what Chase could be to him.
The worries were still there, buried, along with a heightened desire to protect the younger man, but in all, he could not bring himself to take away from the pleasant calm that seemed to envelop them both. It was as though this were right and good in a way that he seldom encountered.
This held none of the taint of his work, none of the jaded cynicism for people’s motives that always colored his dealings with others. Chase had joined a very select few that he trusted enough to relax with. Somehow the boy had wormed his way into Enzo’s mind and heart, and for the moment, he found he could not regret that.
He wanted to linger in this moment for as long as possible, as though nothing unpleasant waited outside their intimate haven.
What would it be like to be normal, so have this on a daily basis?
He shook off the introspection, not wanting unpleasant reality to intrude on their time together. For this moment, he was just a man with his lover.
“I spoke with Ren. You need not worry about his return. He understood in his own way. We have been friends a long time, lovers off and on again. There are no promises on either side, although more often it was him who sought freedom.”
Chase stopped chewing for a long moment, eyeing him in silence, before swallowing his cereal and licking his lips, making Enzo’s thoughts scramble most pleasantly.
“I think he may have a little more invested in you then you think. He seemed more fixated on you than a casual fuck buddy.” Chase’s tone held a quiet certainty that made Enzo frown slightly.
“Ren will play with your mind if you give him half a chance. He never takes anything terribly seriously.” He hoped that Chase would understand.
Chase nodded after a moment, but Enzo could see that he was not convinced. He thrust the situation away. Ren was gone for the moment, and if this new relationship with Chase continued, then his friend would have to come to terms with the present way of things. That was that.
“I have sent Stacey to Italy, to a house of mine where she can be protected, until the baby comes and we determine paternity.” He could hear that faint relief in his own voice, somewhat surprised by the level of release he found in her absence. She had become more of a liability than he had quite noticed. The notion of marrying her to legitimize any children seemed more distasteful than he remembered. It seemed being with Chase changed a great many of his viewpoints, the realization making him uneasy in a way he was unfamiliar with.
He forced himself back to calm. This was just new. Things needed to settle into a comfortable pattern, and he would be back on solid ground once more. It was no more than that, nothing to fret upon.
He leaned forward to claim a milky kiss.
Chapter Ten
The first bullet slammed into the Jaguar with a high-pitched whine, and the second shot sounded hard on its heels, but Chase only felt the pain as a sharp sting, as he was flung to the ground, Enzo covering him with his own body, cursing virulently in Italian, shouting at his bodyguards. Chase lay there, stunned, the chaos exploding around him in slow motion. The pain in his shoulder began to escalate, but he gritted his teeth and lay still under his lover, not wanting Enzo distracted.
It had been such a lovely evening. They had attended a high-profile gathering of celebrities, within whose ranks Enzo seemed intimately connected, and very at ease despite the presence of media, and in all probability, police.
Chase had struggled to live up to his own expectations of what he thought Enzo’s lover should be, but Enzo had soon taken him aside and told him to be himself. If he did not wish to speak, he did not have to. If he wanted to meet a certain celebrity or join a discussion Enzo was having, he had only to indicate so, and Enzo would see it done. In other words, he had the control.
It eased him, and he found himself listening, watching, fascinated by this otherworldly phenomenon of vast wealth and influence, and the unreal people who moved within its circles. He surprised himself with the calm aura he managed to project, Enzo’s presence giving him courage. There had been no raised eyebrows, no malicious glances, and it soon became apparent that Enzo held sway here in a way that he would not have expected. People seemed glad to see him, whether in honesty, or in an attempt to flatter the Martinelli, but either way, Enzo hardly needed to circulate. Everyone came to him.
He saw his lover in a different light, for in this atmosphere, Enzo did not seem the drug lord; he meshed with those around him with envious ease, a smooth charm in his smile, ease in his voice. He did not seem to have the tense predator energy that seemed so prevalent with other parts of his life.
If Chase had not known his background, he would have simply seen Enzo as a rich member of this elite society.
He watched him quietly, a little wistfully. This was what Enzo could have been if he not been imprinted almost from birth into violence. In whatever he would have done otherwise, he would have ended up here. He was too clever and driven to be anything but successful. Chase sipped champagne and wished for a way to work his lover free of what bound him. How much of Enzo was the predator who had no conscience, who gloried in violence, and how much was a man who could walk away from it?
That was the truth of it. Much though he prayed for a future, the fact was that Enzo lived a life of violence, and in all likelihood, would die as he had lived. Who was Chase to change the ways of a lifetime? He might love Enzo to his very soul, but he was helpless in the face of reality, and that reality was that Enzo was comfortable with death in all its forms in a way that Chase could not fathom. He did not fear death, could not, after all he had faced as a child and youth, but he saw no need to dance with it, as Enzo did.
If only…
They had left the event at a reasonable hour, and Enzo had directed the driver to a restaurant that he knew well, having bought a share in the business some years ago.
The owners, an older Italian couple, greeted him with exuberance and obvious delight, with nothing of fear in it. Chase warmed to them immediately, and they seemed delighted that Enzo was with such a beautiful young man, who was so shy and blushed at their praise.
Enzo had s
miled and guided him to an outdoor table that overlooked the harbor, lights glinting off the rippling water. The night breeze was warm and gentle, laden with the scent of nearby nocturnal blooms, and he soaked it in, wishing to imprint every detail upon his mind’s eye. This was all so beautiful, with a sense of unreality about it, like an old romantic tale.
It was not hard to see Enzo as his hero.
His lips quirked a little sadly. If only his white knight didn’t head a drug dynasty. Somehow that tarnished the image.
He chastised himself harshly. He loved Enzo despite everything, yet here he was spending the entire evening envisioning Enzo as something he could never be. Even if there was something within the Martinelli that would even want such freedom, it was a well-known fact that the only way out of Enzo’s position was death itself. The very dogs that looked up to him now, would tear him apart, seeing his retreat as weakness.
Chase shuddered, feeling as though premonition ghosted over his skin.
Enzo turned away from the waiter, shooting a look of concern at his young lover. “Are you chilled? Do you wish to move to a table inside?”
He shook his head, feeling a frisson of joy at the degree of caring Enzo was displaying. It was not normal behavior for the Martinelli, so to receive it was an indication of favor that made Chase’s toes curl in reaction. “I am fine,” he responded quietly, reaching across the table to capture Enzo’s fingers. “Thank you.”
Enzo studied him for a long moment, no doubt to satisfy himself that he was telling the truth, before relaxing back in his chair. His thumb traced over the back of Chase’s knuckles with almost absentminded fondness, warmth radiating up his arm from the welcome touch.
The food was fantastic, the scenery breathtaking, with the lights, the water, the soft sound of waves against the pier. They had taken their time, talking about various topics, laughing now and then. Chase wanted to imprint every moment, wanted to hold this within him forever.
