Resilience

by Bailey Bradford

  “Naked,” Adam managed to tack on. He’d been very naked, very horny, lubed up and

  ready to go. “Okay, I see your point.”

  Todd pulled Adam to him, a hard, quick move that would have made Adam stumble

  had he not been pressed to Todd. “We didn’t even eat dinner, and it was amazing,” Todd said in a bare whisper.

  Adam opened his mouth to agree and moaned as Todd slanted his mouth over his. Last

  night had been amazing, with Todd making love to him first, then, once they were recovered, Adam had explored every inch of his lover’s body until Todd had begged to be taken.

  Like Adam would ever say no.

  The kiss ended and Adam clung just a little, stroking Todd’s lean cheek. “Are you going to be okay? I mean—”

  “I know what you mean.” Todd gave him a chaste kiss and, damn it, Adam’s cock

  leapt.

  The simplest touches from Todd…

  “And I’m all right as I can be, considering. I knew they hated me, so it isn’t a surprise. “

  Todd sighed and stepped back. “I got to have some coffee, honey.”

  “Yeah, me too.” Adam poured them each a cup and they drank it as they chatted. “See

  you at lunch.” Adam tossed Todd an energy bar. They really needed to quit skipping meals but considering they mostly did so after intense lovemaking—or talking in the morning and forgetting about breakfast—at least neither of them should have to worry about gaining any weight. They’d just collapse from malnutrition.

  Jade and Verna were more solicitous than usual. Adam thanked whatever deities

  existed for his vet techs. They’d stuck by him and Todd through thick and thin, and when Todd had been recovering, really, if it hadn’t been for Jade and Verna, Adam probably would have lost the clinic.

  “Is Todd coming for lunch?” Verna asked.

  Adam was looking through a vet supply magazine, trying to figure out if he really

  needed the new autoclave in there. Nothing was wrong with his, it just wasn’t new and shiny and holy shit, almost five grand! Adam slapped the magazine shut and turned to find Verna and Jade both holding containers. “What’s that?”

  Verna squirmed but Jade stepped up and put the rectangular dish—Adam could see it

  was food through the clear plastic lid—on his desk.

  “Usually when there’s a death in the family, people bring food,” Jade explained. “And I know Todd isn’t going to the memorial—”

  “He can’t,” Adam said, just in case Jade and Verna weren’t aware of how tender—

  hearted his man was. Todd would have gone.

  “I know. Mrs Benson always was a vindictive bitch, and there’s not one good thing I

  can say about Mr Benson, but Todd is a sweetie. He deserved better parents.”

  Adam couldn’t argue with that. Verna set her dish on his desk too. Jade added a paper bag. “There’s plates and silverware and some cold drinks in the fridge. Verna made cake, too.” Jade shrugged. “I don’t care that the old bastard is dead, and if that makes me horrible oh well, but I do care about you and Todd.”

  “We both care,” Verna said, finally speaking up just as the door chimed announcing a customer, or an early Todd. “We’ll take our lunch and lock up as soon as Todd gets here, that way y’all have plenty of time—”

  “Jade? Verna?” Gabe’s voice carried into Adam’s office and was almost as loud as if he were standing right in there. “Adam? Maybe they’re in surgery…”

  “Back in the office,” Adam called out. “Come on back.”

  And, in short order, he had more containers on his desk.

  “It’s a funeral thing,” Gabe explained.

  Adam’s lips twitched as he looked at all the food. “I’ve heard.”

  Jade and Verna went to attend to the kennels and Mika and Gabe sat on the leather

  couch Adam had spent many a night on, before Todd.

  Gabe elbowed Mika, who let loose with a much put-upon-sounding sigh, but the

  fondness in his expression was undeniable. “We figured, Todd being all nice and kind like he is—oomph!” Mika’s glare wasn’t anything short of sincere when he turned it on Gabe. “What the hell? I was explaining like you wanted me to!”

  “No, you weren’t,” Gabe argued. “You just implied that Adam wasn’t all nice and kind too.”

  “Well, I’m not,” Adam said at the same time that Mika snapped, “You interrupted

  before I could finish!”

  Gabe huffed and rubbed Mika’s side until the irritation fled his expression and he was all but purring. Then he turned his attention back to Adam. “You know what I mean.”

  “I do,” Adam said with a nod. “I know I can be difficult sometimes.” He eyed Gabe, knowing the man would pick up on the challenge.

  “Oh, fine,” Gabe muttered. “I elbowed him too soon. But he’ll love my apology.”

  Adam would swear the temperature in the room had kicked up ten degrees. “Uh,

  yeah.”

  Mika cleared his throat, twice, before speaking. “Anyway, I think you and I have a lot in common, Adam. And we all know Todd is pretty unique. He came through a hellish

  childhood, and even into adulthood, and turned out to be probably the nicest person I’ve ever met.”

  “I’d like to get my feathers ruffled over that but I’ve never been self-delusional,” Gabe said. “We figured he’d be here for lunch, and wanted both of you to know y’all had our support.” Gabe looked at the food on the desk. “Glad Verna and Jade felt the same.”

  The door chimed again. Adam looked at his watch and frowned. Too early for Todd

  and there weren’t any appointments until the afternoon.

  “Got ‘em,” Verna said as she dashed by. “Oh my, Mrs Walker,” he heard her say.

  “Mrs Walker?” Adam started to get up and the door chimed again. Mrs Walker didn’t

  even have a pet anymore, not since Darcy had passed away.

  “Hello, Jerry, here, let me—”

  Adam frowned. “What the hell is going on?”

  Jade hurried down the hall.

  Gabe and Mika sniffed—and that was just—but Adam wasn’t going to judge. “Guess us and Verna and Jade weren’t the only ones who wanted to let y’all know—”

  Between the door chime, the voices in the lobby, and Gabe’s delighted chuckling, Adam couldn’t hear who was doing what, but soon his office was full of food, and Todd was with him, shaking hands and accepting the hugs and comfort of more people than Adam could keep track of.

  It was moving, and maybe Texas, or Shasta at least, wasn’t such a shithole after all.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Todd was aware of a few people looking at him funny in the following weeks, but he’d experienced that before and so he didn’t allow it to bother him. He didn’t have time to worry over people judging him and gossiping over being excluded from his own father’s funeral, or his mother’s refusal to even look his way. Well, whatever, he couldn’t do anything about that.

  His office was all neat and tidy as he finished up every loose end he could before going home. Tomorrow he and Adam, along with Gabe, Mika, Aidan and Zane, were going to

  board a private jet—and, holy crap, he couldn’t wrap his mind around that still!—and fly to Amsterdam. He wondered, too, if they were flying into the midst of a secret war zone. To be truthful, Todd was a little scared, more for Adam than anything else, but he’d do everything he could to protect Adam.

  Todd snorted. Like Adam couldn’t take him in a fight. Adam was tough, his core

  unshakeable, whereas Todd often felt like he was still growing after being stunted all of his life. Until Adam. Everything always came back to then—it had been Todd’s true beginning even if he had been born a quarter-century before then.

  Adam was simply everything to Todd. When he had those awful morbid moments, the

  realisation that one of them would likely ou
tlive the other, Todd hoped he died first. Then he felt bad, but, honestly, if Adam did pass before him, Todd knew he’d be one of those people who died shortly after of a broken heart.

  “What a happy friggin’ guy I am today,” Todd muttered to himself. He needed to shake the morose mood. Tonight he wanted to make love to Adam, well, he really wanted to feel Adam spread him open, fill him with fingers and cock, and drive all the hidden worry from Todd’s mind for a while.

  “Hey, don’t worry, everything’ll be all right here while you’re gone,” Manny said,

  hopping up from where he’d been leaning against his desk. He smiled so broadly it made Todd’s face hurt. Manny held out his hand and, once Todd shook it, his deputy used his other hand to thump him on the back. “You just go enjoy the hiking with Adam and y’all’s friends. And watch out for bears and bobcats. Been lots of those cats attacking people what with the drought driving ‘em closer to civilisation.”

  Todd hoped his lungs stayed attached to whatever the hell held them in place. Manny

  wasn’t a tiny thing by any means, and he was very enthusiastic with his thumping.

  “Maybe y’all should carry a gun or a bow,” Manny was rambling on. “Although I

  reckon Gabe and Mika would not be happy about that.”

  “Understatement,” Todd agreed. “They do rescue strays, so, yeah, shooting any critter wouldn’t go over too well.”

  “Yeah.” Manny sighed and his smile dimmed to almost nonexistent. “Just be careful,

  Sheriff Benson. There’s a whole bunch of people who would be upset if you got hurt or something.”

  What a weird thing to say. Todd suspected it was just Manny’s way of showing concern but it still creeped him out. “Yeah, well, thanks. I’ll try not to be bear bait.”

  “Good, good.” Manny squeezed his shoulder. “And, if you need anything, just call me.

  You got all my numbers, right?”

  “Yes, Manny.” Todd frowned at him. “What am I, three?” He didn’t mean to be snippy,

  but Manny was being weird.

  Manny’s skin turned swarthy on his cheeks. “I just, well, we aren’t used to you being gone, Sheriff. I can handle it,” he tacked on quickly, “but it’s just… You never took vacation before, not more than a day here and there, yanno, and even then you were mostly here. So it’s just different, I guess. But good, you need a break.”

  Try as he might, Todd couldn’t detect anything other than sincerity in Manny, and

  some of the tension balled in his chest began to unknot. “Okay, well, thank you then. Now stop being all…” Todd waved a hand. “We’re good. I gotta go.”

  Todd thought about Manny being worried about him, and about the way so many

  people had rallied behind him when he’d been banned from his father’s memorial service.

  More people had come to the clinic to offer him and Adam comfort than had gone to the service. Many more, from what he’d been told.

  Sure, there were some people looking at him cross-eyed lately, but they didn’t matter anymore other than as people he was sworn to protect, and he’d do that. He would never discriminate against someone because of how they treated him. It’d be harder if they were asses to Adam, but Todd thought he’d still do his job.

  At the house, the lights were on and Adam’s car was in the drive. Todd’s heart did a happy lurch and so did his cock. Usually he and Adam were in sync when it came to their sexual needs. He really, really needed Adam tonight.

  Todd got out and locked his vehicle. The walk up to the door seemed to take twice as long as usual, and, by the time he reached it, his cock was uncomfortably hard. He flipped through his keys, found the one for the door and had just started to slide it in the lock when he heard the snap of the deadbolt being undone. The door was opened and Todd flushed with heat and desire from his head to his toes.

  Adam stood wearing Todd’s favourite clothes—if he couldn’t get Adam naked, seeing

  him in his faded, hole-ridden jeans and the tight white tank, feet bare, hair mussed and the shadow of whiskers on his face was not as good as totally bare skin, but it certainly didn’t suck, either. Damn, but it just flipped every switch Todd had.

  And Adam knew it, too. His dark eyes burned and his cock was already half hard and

  pressing against the placket of his jeans. Adam stepped back, just enough to let Todd inside and still be able to shut the door. He did so, then furrowed his brow at Todd, giving him an authoritative look that, God, made Todd want to drop and worship at his feet. “Why are you still dressed?”

  Todd had never got naked so quick in his life.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  He loved the eagerness that made Todd’s movements jerky, his breaths short, his eyes almost solid black when the pupils blew. And Adam really loved the way Todd sank to his knees, looking up at him with a worshipful gaze as his hands hovered in front of Adam’s zipper.

  Adam let him wait a moment, drawing the tension out until Todd began to quake with

  anticipation. He tucked his hands in his back pockets and nodded. “Take it out and get me hard.” Todd reached for the button at his waistband. “Just your mouth for now, babe.”

  This hadn’t quite been what he’d had planned, but Adam would swear he could feel

  Todd’s need before he ever got out of his vehicle. He’d watched Todd pull up, and

  something had burned in his gut. Whatever it was that let him know it, Adam could see Todd’s need to be dominated, controlled, at least for a few hours.

  Todd’s breath seeped through the layer of denim covering Adam’s cock. He had a

  second to rethink the no-hands bit when Todd had to burrow for the zipper tab. The metal ground against Adam’s flesh and it wasn’t a comfortable experience. “Hang on.” Todd

  glanced up, worry clear in his expression. Adam stroked over his cheek, thumbed his lips and felt his balls tingle. He pushed a hand behind his zipper. Better to lose some skin off his knuckles. “Go on.”

  Todd did, bringing teeth into play now. He bit Adam’s hand through the taut material, a pinch that didn’t really hurt. Todd looked up at him through thick gold-tipped lashes and licked over the bite before finding the tab again.

  It was so tempting to just grab Todd’s head and fuck away. The man had an exquisite

  mouth, could take Adam deep, and suck Adam’s brains right out of his dick. But Adam

  needed to stay in control, and fucking Todd’s face until he came wasn’t exactly doing that.

  Todd got the zipper down then slowly fingered the edge of Adam’s waistband, as if silently asking permission.

  “Okay, get it out.” Adam pulled his hand back beneath the kisses Todd brushed over his skin. “And pull my jeans down enough to get to my balls.” His hands went back in his pockets lest he lose his resolve and bury his fingers in Todd’s hair.

  Todd began peeling down the denim, pressing his cheek against Adam’s cock just as

  soon as he could get to it. The bristle of stubble against that sensitive skin was both pleasurable and painful. Adam grunted, unsure if he wanted it to continue, and Todd slid his hands down Adam’s hips, gripping them tight, the tips of his fingers curling against Adam’s ass.

  Then Todd inhaled deeply and rubbed his face over Adam’s cock. He dipped his head

  and nuzzled Adam’s balls, nosing and rubbing, pushing into them as if to cover himself in Adam’s scent. A low groan floated up from him, then wet heat striped Adam’s sac as Todd licked him.

  “Fuck yeah, soak ‘em,” Adam ordered. He propped his elbows against the door and

  tilted his hips, wishing now he’d taken his jeans off so he could spread his legs wider. As it was, Todd had some room, but he couldn’t get his head under there and suck Adam’s nuts like Adam wished he could.

  But Todd tried, sucking each nut, pulling it into his mouth and laving it with his

  tongue. He scraped his teeth over the skin, shooting goose bumps down Ad
am’s thighs. The hums of approval and slurps and eager looks from Todd had Adam vowing to himself to do this again in bed, because his damn knees were on the verge of buckling. He loved this, could come from it probably, especially with Todd so enthusiastically going after his balls. Soft whimpers tinged with a good dose of desperation were coming from Todd now with each

  lick and suck. His fingers would leave bruises on Adam’s hips and ass, and that was fine.

  Adam liked mementos from his lover.

  Adam was feeling pretty desperate himself, but he also wasn’t in a hurry to bring this to an end. He did grab the base of his cock, though, and rubbed his shaft over Todd’s hair, on the sides of his head, signifying his readiness for more.

  Todd made a happy, needy little moan and released Adam’s ball sac. It slipped from his mouth with a lewd noise and Todd licked a straight line up from Adam’s balls to the

  sensitive underside of his crown. “Yes,” Adam hissed when Todd flicked his tongue over the spot repeatedly. Todd opened his mouth and tilted his head, sucking there until Adam’s breath clogged in his throat and he had to have more. He let go of his cock and caught himself before he could fist his hand in Todd’s hair, instead cupping his jaw.

  “Please,” Todd whispered, and Adam frowned even as Todd licked around his glans.

  Todd nipped the rim with his lips folded over his teeth, but the shock of it flicked on a switch that highlighted Todd’s need.

  Here Adam had been trying to hold back, because sometimes Todd needed rough, and

  Adam always worried about the why of that. But tonight his lover just needed him to be the strong one, and that didn’t always mean holding himself back. Adam knew what Todd was feeling, he thought, had experienced the urge before and Todd had answered it,

  overpowering him and taking him, yet keeping him safe at the same time. It was a fine line of trust and love, and one Adam could walk for Todd.

  “Open,” Adam demanded, and Todd gave him that trusting look, licked his lips and

  coated them well for entry, then parted them and waited. Adam traced Todd’s lips with his crown, adding his own bits of moisture to that soft skin. “You want this? Want me to fuck your mouth? Come down your throat and make you take it all?”