Devlin and Garrick

by Cameron Dane

  No. I would have sensed it. He’s not. He flirted with me. Today. And I think he almost kissed me. He didn’t want me to leave.

  Holy Mother of God, up until Grace had come home and their family vibe had knocked the wind right out of him, Devlin hadn’t wanted to leave Garrick or those kids.

  Today had been amazing. Devlin could only remember one Saturday in his life being better...

  *

  ...A soft thud followed by a light scraping noise tickled in Devlin’s ears and tried to pull him from sleep. He mumbled and hugged his pillow tighter to his chest as he burrowed deeper under the snuggly protection of the covers and tried to slip back into the most wonderful dream.

  “Good morning, sleeping beauty.” The man in his dreams manifested in real life and spoke from somewhere in Devlin’s room. “Well, almost good afternoon now.”

  The sound of that voice, so new yet already recognized by Devlin, spread warmth through his insides and brought forth a secret smile.

  Oh, right. I’m not in Redemption. And last night wasn’t just another jerk-off fantasy.

  He had a new awareness of his rectum to prove it.

  Opening his eyes, Devlin turned his head on the pillow and found Gradyn sitting in one of the two chairs at the table in the far corner of the small room. He was dressed in the jeans and flannel shirt he’d worn yesterday and he had his booted feet kicked up on the table next to a handful of paper and plastic bags. The man looked intimidating as hell with his shaved head and tribal tattoos, yet humor and clear intelligence sparked his green eyes, and he smiled in a way that invited a person closer to taste and feel. Devlin’s body hummed as it slowly came out of its slumber, and he knew he’d never seen a sexier human being in his life.

  As Devlin’s staring went on, Gradyn shifted and adjusted himself. “You’re very cute when you’re not quite awake,” he said, his voice a little gruff.

  Speak, Morgan. Clear the fog and open your mouth. “Um, thanks.” Feeling his face heat, Devlin stretched his arms and legs toward the top and bottom of the bed, groaning as each muscle slowly woke up. “What time is it?” He scrubbed the sleep out of his eyes and rolled toward the nightstand. “Shit.” The big red eleven and thirty-seven on the digital clock loomed large and bright. “I never sleep past eight.”

  “I think today you can be forgiven. You have a good excuse. I’m sure you’re exhausted.” The green in Gradyn’s eyes darkened and his lips thinned to a tight line. “And probably more than a little sore too.”

  Even though Gradyn had tasted and touched every centimeter of Devlin’s body so very recently, Devlin experienced a strange sense of shyness right then. “Did you go somewhere?” he asked, and then immediately cursed himself. “I mean, you obviously did.” He eyed the bags on the table. “Where did you go?”

  Gradyn pointed toward the top of the bed, and Devlin looked up to find a note folded on the other pillow. He grabbed the tiny square of paper and opened it.

  Need a change of clothes. I’ll pick us up some food too. Be back soon.-G

  Devlin went to tuck the note into his pocket and remembered he didn’t have on a stitch of clothing. Shoot. He didn’t want to lose it.

  Trying for casual, Devlin curled his hand around the square of paper and got to his feet. “I guess you didn’t drive home, huh,” he asked, as he made his way to the bathroom, “or you would be wearing different stuff right now.” Over dinner last night, Gradyn had mentioned he had an apartment in Oakland and did work with gangs in that city.

  “Didn’t want to be gone from you that long,” Gradyn answered, stalling Devlin in place with his hand on the bathroom door.

  Fuck. Devlin’s balls and cock stirred, and it pulled a funny line of nervous excitement in his belly. “Oh.” Devlin squeezed the paper in his fist and pressed it against his stomach.

  Another soft chuckle took over the room. “Go take your piss, beautiful. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Somehow, Devlin got his legs moving. Before relieving himself, he unzipped his shaving kit and slipped the little note inside an interior zipper compartment lined in plastic. As soon as he emptied his bladder, his stomach grumbled. Loudly. It also clenched with enough force to make him grimace.

  No wonder. You burned off every calorie and more from that dinner you only picked at more than fifteen hours ago.

  Devlin turned the water in the sink on low, and called out, “Denny, can you get a pair of jeans out of my bag for me?” After washing his hands, he quickly brushed his teeth, sighing as the grit went away and the toothpaste left his mouth minty.

  The door creaked as it swung the rest of the way open. Gradyn stood in the doorway with dark denim hooked on the tip of one finger. Dangling the pants just out of reach, he said, “I don’t mind you naked, you know.”

  “But you’re dressed.” Devlin delivered an exaggerated glare as he snatched the jeans off Gradyn’s finger. “It would feel weird.”

  With his shoulder planted against the doorjamb, Gradyn let his gaze drop briefly to Devlin’s cock. He held just long enough to pull an involuntary physical reaction from Devlin, and then he made eye contact again. “Are you asking me to get naked with you?”

  Down, boy.

  Devlin waited the two ticks it took for his prick to comply with his orders and then pulled his jeans up to his waist. Leaving the button undone, and feeling a little more on equal footing now that he had some clothing on, Devlin sauntered up to Gradyn. “Maybe you can take everything off again after you feed me.” He brushed up against the bigger man, pausing with their chest, stomachs and dicks nearly grazing each other. “For some reason,” Devlin licked Gradyn’s chin, “I have an incredible appetite today.”

  He went to slide past; Gradyn grabbed his arm and hauled him right back close to him. He tucked Devlin against his front, and descended. “I’m fucking hungry too,” Gradyn said, just as he took complete possession of Devlin’s mouth.

  Like a freaking stick of butter on a hot stove, Devlin melted into Gradyn’s taking. He opened his mouth and let Gradyn inside with only the slightest flick from the man’s tongue. Gradyn explored deeply and then sucked Devlin’s tongue into his mouth, and Devlin dug his fingers into the man’s back through his shirt, insatiable in his need to fuse their bodies into one again. The noise Gradyn released in response vibrated all the way up from his core and rumbled through Devlin too. He kissed Devlin as if he needed the contact to sustain his very life, and he curled his hands around Devlin’s hips and back to his ass, then shoved his hands under the waistband of Devlin’s jeans to grab his ass. The rough calluses on Gradyn’s palms scratched against Devlin’s bare flesh with every knead of his fingers, and Devlin gasped with pure, unadulterated pleasure. Pushing at Devlin’s sanity more, Gradyn rubbed the blunt tips of his fingers down and up Devlin’s crease, and Devlin slipped past his point of control into voracious, unskilled animal. With a raw keen of need, he writhed his ass into Gradyn’s groping hands, seeking and begging for more.

  Gradyn groaned and jerked against Devlin, but after a nipping bite, he broke the kiss. “Christ,” he leaned his forehead to Devlin’s, “you have the perfect ass.” One more squeeze that shoved Devlin to past half-hard, and Gradyn removed his hands from Devlin’s jeans. “Jesus, man,” Gradyn stole another fast kiss and then straight-armed Devlin out of touching distance, “you respond to my mouth like no one I’ve ever known.” He pointed back at Devlin as he walked to the table and took a seat. “You’re damned lucky I’m starving for actual food too--and know that you need a little bit of recovery time--or I’d have those jeans around your ankles and you bent over the side of the bed in two fast moves.”

  A fluttery sensation went all the way through Devlin and he slumped against the wall. His eyes on Gradyn, unable to break the desire for any kind of contact, he murmured, “God knows I’d let you.”

  Gradyn burned Devlin all the way through with the stare he delivered back. It looked as if he was going to push out of his chair, but he abruptly sank back down an
d grabbed a white paper bag off the table. “Come and eat before I lose my better judgment and we test the resiliency of your ass after all. I bought us sandwiches.” He withdrew two giant wax-paper-wrapped squares from the bag. “I hope that’s okay. I didn’t want to worry about food being cold by the time I got back.”

  “Yeah, that’s fine.” Devlin took a seat and folded his hands between his knees. His stomach still felt like it had a mass of excited butterflies flapping around inside it, and he offered a small smile. “Thanks.”

  “Ham or turkey?” Gradyn held up his left hand and then the right, one wrapped sandwich in each. “I noticed there was ground beef in the pasta sauce you ordered last night, so I didn’t worry about picking something vegetarian.”

  “Ham is good.” Devlin accepted the sandwich and a bottle of cold water. “Thank you.”

  Gradyn stretched out his legs and trapped Devlin’s between them, stilling a jittery tapping Devlin hadn’t even realized he’d been doing.

  “Stop saying thank you, beautiful,” Gradyn said. “It’s just a sandwich. It’s not like I went out and bought you a car.”

  “Right.” Devlin busied himself with unwrapping his sandwich and pressing the folds of the paper flat. “I’m sorry.” As soon as those words left his mouth, he lifted his hand before Gradyn could say a word. “I don’t mean ‘I’m sorry’ I’m sorry, like an apology. Those were the wrong words. It’s just that you excite me and confuse me and make me nervous, but I also feel safe at the same time, and all of that going on inside me makes me fall back on manners and apologies out of habit because I don’t always know what to say.”

  Devlin could see Gradyn hiding a smile behind taking a sip of water, and Devlin wanted to run back into the bathroom to hide. Shit. Every time I open my mouth he sees how un-cool and inexperienced I am. “Never mind,” Devlin blurted. “I was just babbling and ... whatever. Don’t listen to me.”

  “It’s all right,” Gradyn said. “I think I followed what you were saying.” He swirled the remaining water in his bottle and studied Devlin with an intensity that made Devlin’s breath catch. “You’re refreshingly open, Devlin.” For just a second, something within Gradyn seemed to pull all the stark lines in his face to jutting prominence, and his jaw clenched visibly under the design of his tattoo. “You have no idea how attractive a quality that is to me.”

  Devlin swallowed down the sudden lump in his throat. “And now you’ve forced me into having to say thank you again.” Sensing a subtle dark shift in Gradyn’s demeanor, Devlin forced lightness into his voice and a smile to his lips. “After all, it would be rude of me not to.”

  Over the course of just a few seconds, every bit of tension eased from Gradyn’s body, and the glint that had temporarily taken over his eyes dissipated. “Then I’ll be equally polite and say you’re welcome. Oh, before I forget,” animation suddenly filled his voice, “let me show you something.” He put his sandwich down and got to his feet. “While I was out looking for a pair of jeans, some underwear, and a shirt, I passed by this big secondhand store that donates its proceeds to a local children’s shelter. I decided to run in really fast to see if they would have anything decent that would fit me.”

  As he walked backward toward the closet, his step was almost a childlike skip. “Listen to this. It just so happens I stumbled into a favorite charity of the wives of the Forty-Niners. They donate all their husbands’ clothes to this store. So,” he reached into the closet and came out with what looked like a dry cleaning bag, “ta-da!” He tore white plastic covering off the hanger and revealed a charcoal-gray suit jacket. Hanging beneath the jacket was a matching pair of trousers. “Not only was I able to find a pair of jeans and a couple shirts that fit me, but now I can also wear a suit when I take you out later.” He rushed over and held the suit in front of Devlin. “What do you think?”

  I think I’m somehow half in love with you already. Devlin’s chest hurt with that impossible truth. He stuffed the swell of improbable emotion deep down into his gut and soaked himself in Gradyn’s sweet excitement instead. “You’re going to look incredible in that color, Denny.” The rich fabric lured Devlin to reach out and run the back of his hand down the front of the jacket. It was so finely woven Devlin barely resisted pulling it to his face to rub against his cheek. “It feels amazingly luxurious too. I can’t wait to see you in it.”

  “The pants are a few inches too long but the waist is doable and the jacket is a perfect fit.” Gradyn returned the suit to the closet and hung it up. “I figured a hundred bucks for a suit that probably cost close to a thousand was a good deal.” After sitting down again, he took a bite of his sandwich and swallowed it down with a swig of water. “You know, I can’t remember the last time I wore a suit. I guess if you do it every day as part of a job then it’s not a big deal, but for someone like me, it’s nice to feel like there’s something worth getting cleaned up for every once in a while.”

  “I guess working with gang kids wouldn’t be conducive to getting decked out in a suit and tie every day, huh?” Devlin suddenly sat up straight. “Or am I making an ignorant assumption by saying that?”

  “Um,” Gradyn scrubbed his hands over his scalp and down the back of his neck, “what I do doesn’t often require that I wear a suit, no.” He licked the edge of his lower lip and then pulled it between his teeth. “How about you? Any mandatory dress codes?”

  “At the bookstore and coffee shop?” Devlin had told Gradyn about his two part-time jobs over dinner last night. “Nope, both places are pretty casual.” He chewed down a bite of honey ham and swiss cheese with mayo while thinking about it some more. “I suppose I could suit up every day if I wanted to. I doubt the owners would care, but I’d stand out like a sore thumb.”

  “You don’t talk about either of your jobs with a lot of passion.” Gradyn’s comment immediately shot a line of adrenaline into Devlin’s bloodstream. “I know you said you took business courses but you more than hinted that they didn’t get you juiced up either.” A long pause enveloped the room in a thick silence wherein Gradyn studied Devlin in a way that made Devlin feel sick to his stomach and hard behind his zipper at the same time.

  “Is there something specific you want to do with your life, Devlin?” Gradyn asked, his tone making it sound like the most important question in the world. “I don’t see you as a guy who wouldn’t excel at something you loved. It makes me curious about what kind of job might really get you psyched up to get out of bed every morning.”

  Think, Morgan, think. Oh, right. Some of the knots building inside Devlin started to loosen, and he affected his easiest smile. “Do you mean after I got over my crushing disappointment that driving across the country in a cool Trans Am while eluding the law wasn’t a real job?”

  Water spat out of Gradyn’s mouth with his bark of laughter. “What the hell are you talking about?” he asked as he wiped spittle off his chin.

  Devlin started breathing normally again. “I’m talking about Smokey and the Bandit. I watched that movie with my brother and dad when we got our first VCR, and I thought the car in that movie, and driving it way faster than you’re supposed to, was about the coolest thing in the world. I probably watched it at least a hundred times by the time I turned sixteen and got my learner’s permit. Unfortunately, I’ve only ever owned a used Tempo and Corolla.” He shrugged and then took a bite out of the second half of his sandwich. “I guess I’m never gonna be the Bandit,” he said around a mouthful of food.

  “That’s about the cutest damned thing I’ve ever heard, beautiful.” The twinkle of humor left Gradyn’s eyes with one blink, and the pinpoint focus of the man that remained made Devlin shiver. “It’s also a nice way to make me forget about the question I asked. What do you want to do, Devlin?” His voice held command, and Devlin could not ignore the palpitations it incited in his core. “And why would you rather make me smile with a sweet story than talk about it?”

  With difficulty, Devlin swallowed and finally forced down the ham and cheese
lodged in his throat. “It’s not that big a deal, really. I don’t want to become an astronaut or the president or anything. It’s just...” He’d never uttered his secrets to another soul in his life. “I think I want to be a firefighter.”

  “Okay. Not strange at all. So why aren’t you?”

  Having to share his reasons for staying away from that career was why Devlin had never allowed himself to talk about his dream. In this moment, he found he couldn’t look away or shut down in any way with Gradyn Connell.

  “My brother is a firefighter,” Devlin exhaled an unsteady breath, “and I don’t know if I want to be anything that he is.”

  Gradyn frowned, and furrow lines creased his brow. “I don’t understand.”

  That’s because it’s stupid.

  “Tell, me, beautiful,” Gradyn pressed softly.

  “My brother,” Devlin found his lips moving and words spilling out of him in a way they never had before, “he’s older. His name is Aidan, and he’s the reason we had to move to Redemption, where I live now. We used to live in Texas but Aidan got into a lot trouble there, so my parents moved us to Maine so Aidan could start fresh somewhere new.” All these years later, Devlin still got cramps when he remembered staring out that plane window and watching everything he knew get smaller and smaller as they flew away. “I was ten and, God, I hated moving. I hated Aidan for being such a jerk that we had to move away from our cousins and friends and the school where I knew everybody and all of them already knew me.” Devlin looked at Gradyn without blinking and let his anger and eventual guilt from that time come back to the surface. “Back then, I couldn’t understand that if we’d stayed in Texas Aidan probably would have ended up in juvenile detention and maybe eventually much worse.”