Patrick placed his empty tray on the kitchen counter and began to fill it again. Feeling a hand on his arm, he turned to one side to find an attractive blonde woman standing next to him. “Hey, Barracuda. You look nice.”
Roz, Julian’s sister, smiled at him. “Thanks. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a suit before. You clean up nice, Peacock.”
“Thanks.”
“What are you doing in here?”
“Getting more food. You?”
“Looking for another one of those almond square things. They’re really good,” Roz replied with a grin.
Patrick laughed. “There are some on the counter over there.” Patrick pointed to the counter with all of the baked goods.
“Score.” Roz headed over to the counter and helped herself. “So, why are you hiding in here?”
“I’m just trying to be helpful.”
“Don’t lie to me, Patrick.”
Patrick sighed as he continued to fill the tray. “This is a funeral reception. Brad shouldn’t have to deal with people staring at him and whispering. He just lost his grandmother.”
“He asked you to be here, Patrick. I don’t think he cares about anything other than having you by his side.”
“When did you get so good at advice?”
“Around the same time you actually started to listen to it,” Roz responded with a grin. Patrick shook his head with a smile. Arguing with Roz tended to be a waste of time. Especially when she was right. “I think that tray is done. You should get back out there.”
“You gonna keep stuffing your face?”
Roz shook a finger at him, sending crumbs flying. “I can still find ways to hurt you.”
“Like you really want to hurt me.”
“Don’t push your luck.”
“There’s chocolate in the fridge.” Patrick grinned at her, picked up the full tray, and left the kitchen. He successfully dodged around people and made it to the food table. He was about to grab another empty platter when one of the church ladies beat him to it. She smiled at him and then pointed across the room. Taking the hint, Patrick crossed the room and headed to Brad’s side.
There was an older woman hugging Brad when he got there. Once she left, Brad pulled Patrick close. Patrick wrapped his arms around Brad and let the worries he had fall away. Roz was right. Brad was the only one that mattered.
“How are you feeling, Angel?”
“Tired. I just want to go home. Do you think we can leave?”
“I don’t know. Do you want me to go and ask your mother?”
“Please.”
“Okay, just hang on.” Patrick scanned the room until he spotted Graham—whom he had met earlier—and waved him over.
“What’s up?”
“I’m going to go and ask Joyce if I can take Brad home. Can you just stay here with him while I find her?”
“Sure thing.”
“Thanks, man.” Patrick pressed a quick kiss to Brad’s forehead before he moved his lover to Graham’s side. The smaller man twitched himself under Brad’s arm to give his friend the support he needed. Patrick waited until he was sure Brad was supported physically as well as emotionally before he moved away in search of Joyce. He found her quickly. When he caught her attention, he motioned for her to join him.
“Patrick, is something wrong?”
“Brad’s drained. Do you think I can take him home?”
“Of course. He’s been here long enough.” Joyce leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Take my boy home.”
“I will. Thanks, Joyce.” Patrick gave her a small smile before heading back to Brad. When he got there, he pulled Brad away from Graham and into his arms. “Ready to go home, Angel?”
“Mom said we could leave?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Take me home, Pat.” Brad’s request came out almost like a plea.
“Sure thing, Angel,” Patrick replied. “Thanks for standing with him, Graham.”
“Not a problem. Is there anything else you need me to do?”
“No. We should be fine for the night.”
“Okay.” Graham gave Brad’s shoulder a squeeze. “Get some sleep.”
“I will. Thanks, Graham.”
“Later,” Patrick said. He wrapped an arm around Brad’s waist and led him from the hall. Brad seemed to be on autopilot as Patrick took them home. Patrick would have been worried if he hadn’t understood how Brad was feeling. The only thing that was going to help Brad was sleep. Sleep and maybe a cuddle.
The drive back to the house was quiet. So quiet that Patrick began to suspect that Brad had fallen asleep in the car. He parked in the drive behind Brad’s truck, turned off the ignition, and turned to look at his lover. Brad’s eyes were closed, giving Patrick a good look at the dark circles under them. Patrick stretched out his hand and touched his lover’s cheek. Brad turned to face him and opened his eyes.
“We’re home.”
“We buried my grandmother today.”
“I know, Angel. Think you can wait until we get inside before you break down on me?”
A faint smile crossed Brad’s face. “I may even be able to make it all the way to bed before I break down.”
“Good to know.” Patrick tapped Brad’s nose with his finger before he got out of the car. He walked around to Brad’s side of the car and waited for him to get out. Once Brad was on his feet, Patrick wrapped his arm around his waist again. They walked to the door like that. When they got inside, Patrick took Brad’s jacket and gave him a small nudge. “Go get comfy. I’ll lock up.”
“You sure?”
“Of course.” Patrick pulled him close and gave him a brief kiss. “I’ll meet you up there.”
“Thanks.” Brad gave him a weak smile before slipping off his shoes and heading to the stairs. Patrick took a moment to watch him go before hanging both of their coats in the closet. After removing his shoes, Patrick moved quickly around the lower half of the house. The past few days had made the process of locking up the house automatic to him.
Patrick paused in the kitchen to pour Brad a glass of water. While there had been a rather large amount of food at the reception, Patrick wasn’t sure if Brad had eaten any of it. Patrick actually debated making Brad a sandwich before he left the kitchen with only the glass of water. If Brad was hungry, he’d make him something. He wasn’t about to start forcing his lover to eat. At least not yet.
When Patrick reached the bedroom, Brad was lying on the bed. The only part of his suit that he had removed was the jacket, which was draped over a chair in the corner of the room. He was just staring at the ceiling. “It feels weird.”
“What does?” Patrick asked. He joined his lover on the bed.
“Knowing that she’s been buried. She’s really not coming back.”
“No, she’s not.” Patrick pulled Brad into his arms. Once Brad was settled with his head on Patrick’s chest, Patrick began to run his hands over Brad’s back. “A lot of people came to the funeral.”
“Gran had a lot of friends.”
“She was a nice lady.”
“She liked you.”
“I liked her.” Patrick gave Brad’s dress shirt a tug. “Do you want to get out of this?”
“Are you trying to strip me?”
“Only if you want me to.” Patrick pressed a kiss to Brad’s hair. “I just thought you might be more comfortable if you changed.”
“You might have a point.” Brad sighed, pushed himself into a sitting position, and began to remove his tie. Patrick sat up and helped him. Brad batted Patrick’s hands away and removed the tie himself. Patrick started on the shirt buttons, leaning forward to kiss Brad’s throat as it was revealed. When he licked the pulse point, Brad shuddered. Getting all of the buttons undone, Patrick ran his hands over the smooth skin.
“I love the way your skin feels under my fingers,” Patrick murmured. He looked up from his study of Brad’s chest to find his lover staring at him. The look in his blue eyes made Patrick’s brea
th catch. Patrick pressed closer and gave Brad a tender kiss. He pulled away from the kiss when he felt Brad’s hands on his tie. He didn’t want to be accidentally choked with his own tie.
He let Brad remove his tie before starting on his own buttons. Patrick pulled his shirt from his pants, slid it off his shoulders and tossed it away from the bed. He grinned as Brad’s eyes roamed over his chest. The way Brad looked at him was something that he would never get tired of.
“Well, that’s not fair,” Brad remarked.
“What’s not?”
“You’re wearing something under your dress shirt.”
Patrick looked down at the wifebeater he was wearing. “If I don’t wear it you can see the nipple rings through the dress shirt.”
“That would have been very distracting,” Brad agreed. “Now take it off.”
Patrick chuckled and peeled off his shirt. He tossed it in the same direction that his dress shirt had taken. Patrick watched as Brad’s fingers moved over his body. Brad tugged his nipple rings and traced each of his tattoos. Patrick closed his eyes and concentrated on the feeling of Brad’s fingers on his skin.
Gentle fingers pushed against his shoulder, and Patrick fell back on the bed. He opened his eyes to see Brad looming over him. Patrick ran his hand over one of Brad’s arms as he continued to just stare at his lover. He was starting to grow hard just from the way that Brad was looking at him. Patrick shifted, causing his erection to brush against Brad’s leg. He moaned at the contact.
A slightly wicked smirk crossed Brad’s face before he leaned down. Patrick gasped as Brad bypassed his lips and went straight for the mark he had been creating on his neck. The area was sensitive enough that Patrick had been able to feel his tie pressing against it. He hissed when he felt Brad scrape his teeth across it. Patrick groaned in pleasure and dug his fingers into Brad’s back.
“You really like that, don’t you?” Brad followed his question with another nip to the mark.
“You know it,” Patrick hissed. “God, Angel, I fucking love it when you mark me.”
“Good.” Brad’s teeth dug into his neck again, and Patrick arched against him. He was getting dizzy with the pleasure that Brad was creating in him. Goose bumps broke out over his skin as Brad removed his teeth and licked the mark.
Brad nuzzled his neck before he started kissing his way down Patrick’s chest. Patrick let his arms fall to the bed to give Brad more freedom in his movements. He felt Brad’s mouth latch onto one of his nipples while he used his fingers to tug on the other one. Patrick began to thrash on the bed. He couldn’t keep his hands still anymore and lifted one to bury it in Brad’s hair. He pulled Brad’s mouth closer, practically begging for more attention to his chest.
Patrick whined in displeasure as Brad’s mouth left his nipple. He felt Brad lick over the tattoos on his chest before his mouth moved to the other side of his chest to give that nipple the same treatment. Brad shook his head to free himself from Patrick’s grip and looked up at him with a leer. Panting for breath, Patrick was unable to do anything other than stare back at him. Patrick watched as Brad lowered his mouth to his chest, just above his nipple. Brad bit down on the flesh beneath his mouth, causing Patrick to howl in pleasure and toss his head back.
When Brad moved his mouth to the center of Patrick’s chest and repeated the bite process, Patrick shuddered. Damn, I’m going to look like he tried to eat me.
“You might not want to walk around shirtless for a while, sugar.”
“I’m starting to get that impression.” Patrick’s words ended on a gasp as Brad bit at a patch of skin over his ribcage. Brad nuzzled his nose into Patrick’s navel before he sat back with a smile. Taking deep gulps of air into his heaving lungs, Patrick watched as his lover traced the tattoo on his stomach.
“It still amazes me to see something that I made tattooed on your skin.”
“In a good way?”
“Of course in a good way. It looks nice resting over all of these muscles.” Brad leaned down and licked the tattoo he had just been tracing with his fingers. Patrick lifted his hands and ran them over Brad’s shoulders. His fingers tightened on the strong shoulders as he felt Brad working on his belt. Patrick lifted his hips as Brad tugged on his pants, allowing his lover to remove his pants and boxers in one smooth move. He grinned when Brad followed the removal of his socks with a kiss to each foot.
“You have too many clothes on, Angel.”
“Sorry. I’ll get right on that.” Brad climbed off of the bed and began to remove his pants. Patrick watched in rising lust as his lover peeled away his clothing. He loved looking at Brad. Hell, if he was honest with himself, he loved Brad. Period.
“I love you.”
Brad froze in the act of climbing back onto the bed. “What did you say?”
Holy shit, did I just say that out loud? Patrick looked into Brad’s nervous but hopeful eyes and the love he felt for the other man nearly overwhelmed him. Brad needed to know. “I love you, Brad.”
Brad pounced, and Patrick found himself the sudden recipient of a passionate kiss. When Brad finally let him up for air, he was smiling. “I love you too.”
Patrick smiled and pulled Brad into another kiss. This kiss was softer than the previous one, full of all of the love that they had just admitted to each other. Patrick ran one of his hands down the smooth skin of Brad’s back while the other one rested on his lover’s hip. He gave Brad’s lower lip a nibble as he pulled away from the kiss. “Make love to me?”
“Always,” Brad responded. He leaned down to give Patrick one more kiss before moving slightly out of his arms to grab the supplies from the bedside drawer.
Patrick was still hard and aching from their earlier foreplay, but things had changed. He no longer felt the urgent need to rush to the finish. Every movement and touch felt softer and slower. It felt like it was taking Brad eons to run his fingers down Patrick’s chest, but he wasn’t going to hurry him. Patrick didn’t want to do anything to spoil the mood.
Brad’s fingers gave his erection a brief stroke as they slid past it to tease at his hole. Patrick whined and lifted his hips in an attempt to get Brad to slip his finger inside. He felt Brad chuckle against his hip and a lubed finger finally breached him. Patrick moaned in pleasure and thrust back against the digit. He ran a hand through his lover’s hair as Brad slipped another finger inside.
Teeth scraped across his hip before biting down. The sharp bite came at the same time as Brad added a third finger, causing Patrick to howl in pleasure and arch his back. He tightened his fingers in Brad’s hair as he shuddered beneath his lover. Patrick moaned in loss as the fingers withdrew. He felt the head of Brad’s sheathed erection press against his opening and thrust his hips down, forcing Brad inside.
“Easy, sugar. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“In me. Want you in me,” Patrick insisted. He wrapped his hands around Brad’s shoulders and attempted to pull him closer. He’d finally tired of the slow pace. He wanted Brad in him and he wanted it now.
“Sorry, sugar, can’t have you being pushy.” Brad grabbed Patrick’s hands, threaded their fingers together, and pressed Patrick’s arms to the bed above his head. “This is my show.”
Unable to form sentences, or even words, Patrick wrapped his legs around Brad’s waist with a whimper. He tilted his hips and was rewarded by Brad sliding in. Patrick let out a groan as Brad nuzzled his ear. He wanted to demand that Brad go faster, but he was fairly certain that he would be ignored. When the slow rhythm started, Patrick thought he would go insane. Brad was managing to hit his prostate with every stroke.
Brad placed small kisses along his jaw before stopping by his ear. “Look at me, Patrick.”
Patrick looked up into Brad’s blue eyes. He felt his eyes flutter as Brad thrust harder, while still keeping his slow pace. Suddenly, everything was more intense. Patrick couldn’t look away from Brad’s eyes. His pupils were so dilated that only a faint ring of blue was visible around the outside. Patrick cou
ld hear himself panting as he slowly approached the peak of orgasm. He licked his lips, begging silently for a kiss.
With a smile, Brad lowered his head and granted his request. Patrick moaned into his lover’s mouth as the tempo increased. He sucked Brad’s tongue into his mouth, causing Brad’s rhythm to falter for a moment, before resuming at a faster pace. Patrick broke away from the kiss with a gasp as he felt the tingling of impending orgasm.
Brad’s mouth hovered near his ear once more. “I love you, Patrick.”
That was all it took. Patrick screamed as his orgasm shot through him. He could feel the hot wetness hit his chest as the shudders wracked his body. Brad’s fingers tightened on his as his lover followed him into orgasm. Patrick was floating in satiated bliss as Brad collapsed onto his chest. He was pretty sure that Brad had turned his spine to jelly.
“Good to know.”
And apparently he had said that out loud.
“How about I go and get something to clean us up?”
“That would be a good idea, Angel,” Patrick replied. He winced slightly as Brad released his hands. He could feel a tingling sensation in his fingers as the blood started to circulate again. A small moan of protest escaped him as Brad pulled out. A gentle kiss was pressed to his head and then Brad was gone. By the time he returned with a damp cloth, Patrick was feeling a bit more together. “You have a very smug look on your face, Angel.”
“Why wouldn’t I? I managed to turn your spine to jelly.” Brad grinned at him before tenderly cleaning him off. He dropped the cloth on the floor before curling next to Patrick.
“I’m never going to live that down, am I?” Patrick closed his eyes and basked in the tender feeling of Brad running fingers over his body.
“Not a chance.” A kiss landed on his shoulder as Brad stopped stroking his skin.
“I want one of these.”
Patrick opened his eyes and looked to where Brad’s finger was resting against his angel tattoo. “You want a forearm? You already have two.”
“No, you twit.” Brad gave the arm he was tapping a poke. “I want a tattoo.”
Broken Wings Page 17
