by Liz Crowe
Parker whooped when someone scored. “Hey, did you ever play with….”
“Yeah, probably. All of ’em at one point or another.” Nicco dropped into a chair, beer in hand, letting resentment burn bright. “I’m old, remember?” Parker’s eager face turned back to the screen, as he bent one leg then the other stretching out his quads and hamstrings, his lithe body moving under Nicco’s gaze.
They both watched the match unfold, go into stoppage time then get decided on penalty kicks. By the time it ended they sat side by side on the couch, an easy familiarity between them. Without a word Parker jumped up and disappeared into the bathroom. Shower noises drowned out the final commentary from the broadcast.
Nicco flipped the television to a music channel. When Parker re-emerged dressed in a towel and nothing else, the latest R&B song drifted through the large room. Nicco walked up to the object of his desire, deciding to be as straightforward as he could.
“Look, Parker, I’m, um, not gonna kid you. I want…ah….” The expression on Parker’s face stopped him. Deer in the headlights, combined with a tinge of anger and abject terror sent red flags flying all across Nicco’s brain. “Never mind.”
He sat back down and drained the rest of the beer. A complex array of emotions played across the young man’s face. Nicco watched, amused, and then resigned. “It’s okay. I understand. I’d try to escape me too. I come with my own media circus now. Why would you want to subject yourself to it?”
He stood and made his way to the bar again, needing to drown, to shut out, to close off any and everything. “You should go, young Parker. You aren’t safe here. Not with me.” He kept his back to the man, throat hot and tight with unsaid words.
Before he could pick up his drink, strong arms encircled him. A firm chest pressed against his back. Lips found his neck, trailed down to his shoulder. The unmistakable sensation of fully aroused male pressed close, made him groan and raise his arms, reach behind him, and grip Parker’s thick hair in his fingers. “You don’t want to do this,” he whispered still facing away from the man he suspected he already loved.
The hands roamed across his body, down, yanked the towel away in one quick motion, leaving him bare and exposed and pulsing—heart, soul, and body.
Parker heard nothing but Nicco’s breathing, felt nothing but Nicco’s soft, silky skin. He kissed the deep brown flesh, closed his eyes and let his hand move, taking him places he never thought he’d go. But he had to, now. He required the man’s lips on his like he required oxygen to breathe.
Nicco turned slowly, held out his arms. Parker went into them, as lips, tongues and teeth clashed with urgency. Nicco’s hands roamed all over him. Parker heard himself moaning, sighing Nicco’s name. His brain released every ounce of tension and anxiety he’d been harboring about this very moment, the moment Parker became true to himself at last. His eyes burned but Nicco kept kissing him, muttering something around his lips as he reached down to tug Parker’s towel off.
He grunted when Nicco gripped him. He trembled, confusion taking hold, making him dizzy. The hand kept up its steady rhythm, lips stayed on his, tongues met and retreated. The room dimmed around Parker’s vision.
“Holy shit.” His whole body pulsed with energy he couldn’t contain as he groaned and shook, mortified at his teenager-ish knee jerk orgasm. “God.” He broke away, stepped back, his ears buzzing with shame and a low hum of still unfulfilled need. “I’m, um, sorry.” He took another step away from the man who’d compelled him to act this way. Now he really needed to leave but wanted to stay, to wrap himself in the blanket that was Nicco and never emerge.
Nicco held out a hand, his gaze soft, his full lips pursed with concern. “It’s okay,” he soothed, putting a hand to Parker’s boiling hot face. Lips touched his, gentler this time, but firm with purpose.
Parker sighed and wrapped his arms around the other man, reveling in the hard planes, the angles, and rough skin. Nicco maneuvered him backward towards the couch. They stayed standing, hands unable to settle as Parker allowed himself to touch Nicco all over.
The amazing velvet of Nicco’s shaft filled Parker’s hand as he palmed it. His own cock surged back to life, springing up between them.
“Let go a minute. Trust me. I need to feel you against me,” Nicco murmured into his mouth. Parker wound his shaking fingers in the silky depths of Nicco’s hair, groaning with satisfaction as their bodies melded, heat meeting heat. Nicco broke away then, put his hands on either side of Parker’s face. Parker tried his best to calm his breathing but he couldn’t, didn’t want to.
“Fuck me. Nicco. Please…I…want you to.” Nicco blinked, took a long breath, then pressed kisses to his nose, both cheeks, his neck, making him moan and fist his hands in the long, silky hair again. “Please. God, Nicco.”
“No, Parker. I can’t. I won’t. I’m no good for you….” Their lips met again and they dropped to the couch together even as Nicco protested. Parker couldn’t tell where he ended and Nicco began. The realization made a bright beam of happiness pierce his brain.
“Stop!” Nicco pulled away then, disentangled himself and sat, his shoulders heaving. Parker leapt to his feet, stood in front of the man who’d enticed him on so many levels. Putting a hand to his chin he tilted the dark, handsome face up. Their mutual nakedness felt completely natural. Parker’s usual reticence about nudity vanished in the flash of Nicco’s dark, sexy stare.
“I won’t stop. I want this. So do you. I will stop pretending though. If you will.” He stepped closer, his throbbing sex inches from Nicco’s lips. “If you won’t fuck me then….” he gasped as the other man rose, gripped his face, and stared into his soul.
“I’m not going to fuck you, Parker. But I am going to make love to you. Over and over and over again.” Parker dropped his hands to his sides, let Nicco kiss him, allowed himself to accept his touch everywhere, then nearly make him pass out with the sensation of lips, tongue, and throat.
Their combined breathing rasped, loud, overpowering the music pounding from the speakers. After nearly bringing on another mind-blowing orgasm and making Parker want to cry with satisfaction, he stood, wiping his lips. “Now. To the bed.” He took Parker’s hand and led him into the other room. The curtains billowed around them, lending a surreal air to the lusty energy between them.
Nicco sat, tugging Parker down next to him, palmed his cheek, and kissed him long and deep, making every nerve in Parker’s body sing out. He reached for Nicco’s cock, needing something to touch, another connection of some sort. Nicco shifted his hips to give him more access. Their lips parted.
“That’s it,” he whispered into Parker’s skin. “Now lie back, let me show you….” He eased him down onto the bed, kissing and licking every inch of skin.
Parker’s body ached, his head pounded, and an emptiness he’d never sensed before made itself known, beating into his brain, making him feel hollowed out. He pulled Nicco’s face up from its current mission lapping at his nipples. “Please. Show me.”
Nicco’s heart fluttered, his body pulsed with something he refused to name as he stood and retrieved a tube of lubrication and some condoms from his suitcase. A virgin—not something he’d encountered in a while. But this delicious man—his Parker—lay there, so ready and amazing all spread out on the bed. His bed. His Parker.
Nicco shivered, shook his head, and smiled, lying alongside the other man, running his hand down Parker’s beautiful face, neck, shoulders. He leaned in for yet another mind-boggling kiss, groaning at the touch of the other man’s hand on his flesh.
Go slow. Take it easy. Enjoy. It might be the only chance you get.
He smiled and cupped Parker’s heavy, contracted sac, ran a finger beneath it, caressing the smooth skin between balls and ass, making the other man buck his hips and whimpers escape his lips.
Unable to resist, he lapped at the fluid pearling the end of Parker’s long cock as he worked his way lower. He sensed Parker’s body pulse, then give, as he pressed his gene
rously lubed fingertip in, a little at a time.
“Yes… Let go. It’s okay. Relax…my love,” he whispered, keeping his lips near Parker’s, his own body near explosion. Dear God but he was tight, glorious, and amazing.
Parker spread his legs, propped his feet on the bed, and offered his most tender and sensitive body parts to Nicco, making him gasp, taking deep breaths of aroused man. His own cock twitched and throbbed. Parker’s hips bucked harder. He released a low, deep groan, filling Nicco’s head with noise, lust, and a kernel of something scary.
“Parker,” he whispered. “My love, I think you’re ready.” He pressed hard, felt him release, give way. He groaned. “Jesu, Parker. Querido.”
“If you don’t fuck me now I’m really gonna be pissed.” The breathy voice made him grin, as he eased his fingers out, as the beautiful man lying on the bed hissed, and blew out a breath.
Nicco stood, shaking and speechless, then ducked into the bathroom to wash his hands and roll a condom down his shaft. When he emerged, Parker had turned over. “No.” He said, his voice hoarse. “As tempting and perfect as that is, I… I want to look at you. I need to watch your face while we make love.”
The man’s beautiful blue eyes bored into him. His handsome face held tension, but Nicco sensed real relaxation roll through the room for the first time since they’d met. He ran a hand down Parker’s cheek, his throat constricted with emotion. He positioned himself between the man’s legs, put a hand over the long shaft between them and paused. “Might hurt at first. I’m sorry. But you’re ready, mi amor. I know you are.”
“Kiss me,” Parker sighed, angling his hips up, giving himself completely in a way so perfectly, quintessentially Parker it made Nicco’s eyes burn with unshed tears. “Please,” he said, his hand on Nicco’s face.
Nicco covered the other man’s lips, using all of his control to not shove his way into Parker’s willing body. He moved slowly, easy, loving the sweet sensuality of the moment more than anything he had ever done. He blew out a breath as he breached the tight muscles, letting the lube he’d smeared on the condom slicken the passage. Parker groaned low and throaty as Nicco finally slid in deep.
“Oh, my God….” Parker cried out, arching beneath him, offering his whole self. Opening his eyes, he met Nicco’s. Then, that moment, Nicco knew—he’d found his true love.
Parker’s body clenched as Nicco’s cock reached high, then he smelled the deep, spicy scent of release as Parker cried out and clutched his ass.
Nicco let it take him. He clutched at the strong legs bent up against him. The climax made tears spring to his eyes. He sighed, content and happy possibly for the first time in his entire, useless life.
Parker stared at the ceiling as his body calmed, cradling Nicco’s dark head to his shoulder, his body languid with satisfaction. After a few minutes, Parker tilted Nicco’s face up and pressed lips to his.
“Don’t ever leave,” he whispered.
“I won’t,” the man sighed as he stood, threw away the condom, and hit the bathroom. He emerged, wiping his hands on a towel. “You okay?” Parker sat, wincing, and limped to the bathroom. His ass stung but his heart was full and his brain calm for the first time in years.
“I’ve never been more okay in my entire life.” His leaned in the doorway, watching Nicco stretch out on the bed. “How is that? You are bad. I should avoid you.”
Nicco’s face softened. “I’ve been bad, yes. But now, I’m completely good. With you. Badness over.” He raised a dark eyebrow. “Well, other than the badness I’m about to get into with you.” Parker sighed and flopped down beside him, tugging the satin duvet up to cover their naked flesh. “Roll over, lover. I need some sleep,” the man whispered. He kissed Parker’s shoulder, making his skin quiver. “We have a whole week. Never fear. I’ll teach you a lot. But you have to promise to teach me something.”
“What?” He muttered, easing into sleep, held tight in Nicco’s arms. “If it’s the one move where I take the ball away….”
“How in the hell I can ever stop loving you.”
Parker smiled, pulled Nicco’s hand to his lips. “Okay. It’s a deal.”
Chapter Fifteen
Parker flopped down on his leather couch, exhausted in body and mind. And lonely beyond belief. He’d spent six weeks of the offseason time traveling with Nicco, seeing places he never thought he would—Paris, Rome, Madrid. During their time away to themselves, he’d learned more about his lover than he thought possible.
Including the fact that Nicco seemed stuck in constant “go fast” mode. It wore Parker out on a certain level, irritated him when he wanted to laze around on a Sunday, watch TV, read, fuck a few more times before taking a nap as the hustle and bustle of an Italian street below floated up to their open hotel window.
“Lazing around” simply didn’t enter into Nicco’s daily plan. He would take time to screw around, happy to teach Parker all the fun ways they could get off together. But after the first time when Nicco had asked how he could help but love him, he seemed to be on a mission to make Parker come as many ways as possible. Not that Parker complained about it. But they never revisited the emotional connection of their first time, not once. Which pissed Parker off.
He required that, along with the physical. One of the things he found out about himself during the admittedly fun, sexy trip was how well he slept in Nicco’s arms. Of course, in the morning, after a vigorous and fully satisfying lovemaking session Nicco would literally leap out of the bed as if his skin were on fire and force Parker into a long day of sightseeing, drinking, eating, and then a full night of clubbing.
At times, Parker wondered if the man remembered he had uttered the “L” word. By the time they got home, he wondered what had made him think Nicco capable of love at all. Lust, yes. Fucking constantly, without a doubt. Capable of nonstop fun days and nights. But Parker wanted something more—a return to their first night. The slow, erotic, easy love they’d shared but had not experienced since.
So when they’d landed back on Michigan soil from their long vacation, sun burned, sore in intimate places, and irritable, he’d turned to Nicco in the taxi and told him he needed a break. Just a short one, so he could sort out how he felt.
Nicco had stared at him, unblinking, for over a minute, dismay in his eyes morphing into something resembling anger. Then, finally a scary neutrality masked his face, as if Parker’s behavior were to be expected. As if nothing had happened between them but a whole lot of sex.
Now he sat, having spent five days ignoring the man and feeling as if he’d had something vital ripped out of his chest. He stared at the sports network, not seeing or hearing it. Picking up his phone, Parker willed Nicco to call or text, or something. Two could play at the ignoring game he guessed. He cursed and tossed the device to the floor, falling almost immediately into a deep sleep.
After the La Luna vacation, they’d decided to keep their relationship quiet as long as they could, not out of embarrassment but jealousy. They craved privacy to explore each other’s bodies while being able to still function in public without photographers, admirers, and haters dogging their every step. It had worked, but entailed an annoying routine of “who stays over” and “hide the incriminating car somewhere” at both of their homes, which had led Nicco to suggest the vacation.
Tension reigned supreme around the Black Jacks headquarters, even during the offseason. After the initial supportive groundswell for Nicco’s coming out, three team members had requested transfers. Nicco had had to hire a security guard for his suburban condo complex, thanks to a couple of scary brushes with vehement hate groups.
It had been a trip, a buzz, a crazy, surreal set of weeks strung together where Parker was alternately ecstatic and orgasmic, or furious with Nicco’s seemingly blasé attitude about their relationship. Parker didn’t get it. He simply could not imagine a way they could be together and still play pro sports, and half the time he thought Nicco didn’t even care one way or another. Maddening, but d
ear God he missed him.
When the buzzer sounded, signaling someone on the ground floor of his building wanting in, he jerked awake, disoriented. He groaned and got up, every single bone, muscle, and sinew on fire with pain from a hard workout. Figuring it was Nicco, half glad and still half mad at him for proving such a stubborn asshole, Parker hit the entry button, then poured a huge glass of water while he waited.
Smiling when the doorbell sounded, he opened the door, something appropriately sexy and inviting on his lips. The sight of the tall, dark and angry looking Terrance made the smile fade. “Can I help you?” he asked, tugging a shirt down over his bare torso when he realized it was not Nicco on the other side of the door.
“No, but I’m going to help you,” the suave-looking man said, keeping his distance outside the door.
Parker glared at him, crossed his arms, and said nothing. Terrance smiled, his teeth shining in stark contrast to the deep mocha hue of his face. “Oh…you are cute. I can see why Nicco would be smitten by you.” He leaned on the doorjamb, loose-limbed, comfortable in a way Parker envied.
“I don’t need your help,” he said, his hand on the door, ready to slam it shut.
“Well, we’ll call this an information session then. I’ll tell you what I think you should know about your new boyfriend. And then you can decide what you do with it. How about it?”
Parker scoffed. “Beat it, Terry. I’m good. Nicco’s good. We’re together. That’s all you need to know.” Although, of course, they were not together, and had not even exchanged a text message for days. He set his face in calm lines, trying to exude a “take your jealous shit out of my house” vibe.
“Hmm….” The other man smirked. Parker tried hard not to slam the door in his face. The deafening silence from Nicco in the last few days had never sounded so loud. “Not sure you realize this but,” he looked down at his hands as if ashamed of what he was about to say, “Nicolas Garza is a sex addict.”
Parker blinked. It sounded like something you might toss out as a joke, a half-compliment…or something painfully obvious.
