Felipe groaned and kissed him back, his fingers fumbling with Trask’s button and fly. He cupped Trask’s cock and squeezed it with a muffled wicked sound against Trask’s lips. Trask caught the edge of the table as his knees threatened to buckle under the wave of lust. Felipe chuckled throatily. “You may have made me whimper, but I can bring you to your knees.”
“You already did.” Trask extricated himself before Felipe got any other ideas and slipped the condom and lube on. “When I was worshipping that fine ass of yours.”
Felipe preened as he lay back and draped his legs over Trask’s chest. “My fine ass wants to feel your cock, and if you don’t—” He broke off with a groan as Trask eased his way into Felipe’s warm and willing body. He felt so good, and Trask half closed his eyes as he savored the feel of him. Felipe pulled his shirt up and ran his hands over his chest, his lips parted in an expression of pleasure that made Trask hungry for more. He braced his hands on either side of Felipe and thrust into him again.
Felipe gasped, wiggling underneath him, gripping Trask’s arms. “More,” he groaned, clenching around him.
Trask obeyed, his heart pounding, and with every snap of his hips, every time he buried himself deeply into Felipe, his lover demanded more in a voice that Trask was helpless to resist.
Trask eased Felipe’s legs down around his waist so he could lean over him. Felipe gripped him with his strong thighs like he didn’t want to let Trask go. Trask kissed his throat and jaw, murmuring tenderly, words that didn’t make sense when strung together, but expressed how Felipe made him feel. He knew Felipe would understand him.
Felipe caught his hands in Trask’s hair. “I love you.” He kissed Trask with a greedy moan.
“Me too,” Trask replied when Felipe finally freed him enough so he could speak again. He never felt about anyone the way he did Felipe. He’d come close. He’d seen the edges of it, but he’d always pulled back and never let himself fall. With Felipe, he didn’t even see that edge coming, and it filled him with an indescribable joy that it had been Felipe. He was worth the wait.
“More,” Felipe gasped, arching against him. As they gripped each other’s hands, white-knuckled, Trask pounded into him with lust and love and sweet aching need until they both tumbled over the edge and Felipe gave that wild battle cry he’d promised.
Trask would never look at the damned gaming table the same way again.
Felipe went limp, his arms and legs sliding from Trask’s body. Trask stayed right where he was, his heart starting to slow as he held on to Felipe. “I think that changed my outlook on life,” he murmured, and Felipe laughed out loud.
“That’s some transcendental sex,” he said and nipped Trask’s ear.
Trask lifted his head and smiled down at Felipe, flushed and warm, his eyes half-lidded with a sated, sexy look. “No, it’s just you.” He slid his hand through Felipe’s dark curls. “You’re transcendental. You’ve got me hooked, Felipe, so don’t go anywhere, okay?”
Felipe lifted up on his hands and brushed his mouth over Trask’s. “That’s one thing you don’t have to worry about.”
Trask wrapped his arms around Felipe and nested his chin on his head. He had him, now he just needed to figure out a way to keep him. Because he never wanted Felipe to have to choose between his family and Trask. He’d never make him. He just hoped it wouldn’t come down to having to pull back and slow down a bit, because he loved this ride that Felipe had him on. It was one he could see staying on for life.
Chapter Thirty
FELIPE CHECKED himself in the mirror again, fiddling with the top button of his dress shirt. Maybe he should wear a tie. He should’ve brought a fucking tie. He frowned fiercely at his reflection and leaned in. “Get a fucking hold of yourself, Suero.” Christ on a stick, this was dinner with his parents, not a night out at the theater. He could not lose his shit now. This was too important.
The bathroom door shoved open, crashing into him as Lady crowded in. “Girl, there is not enough room for two fat asses in here. Get out.” He pointed imperiously at the door, and Lady slunk out again, only to be replaced with a scampering Sophie, who made a grab for the edge of the towel he left dangling off the counter before he shooed her off too. It was a good damn thing Trask was thinking of a bigger place or Felipe would be driven mental before long.
Felipe gave up on panicking in front the mirror and returned to the main room to find Trask half-dressed, his shirt hanging from his fingertips as he thumbed through his phone. “What’s up?” Felipe asked.
“Nothing. Some chatter from friends in my NA group.” Trask tossed the phone on his bed and shrugged into his shirt. “You sure your parents and grandparents want to come all the way to Richmond for dinner? We could’ve gone up to them or met in DC.”
“I think they were looking forward to getting out of town.” Felipe was nervous about Lolo’s last-minute decision to join them. He’d been hoping his grandfather would’ve opted to keep Mariana company. Too bad his sister had not been able to finagle her way into coming along. With her and Lola, it wouldn’t have felt so much like they were facing a judgment of their peers.
Felipe flopped on the bed and watched Trask finish getting dressed. He’d freshly trimmed his beard and cropped his hair on the sides and back, leaving the top in its fuller sweep. Felipe had a serious hard-on for his hair, mostly silver with just enough black left in it to be edgy, and the crisp way it felt when he ran his hands through it. The baby-blue button-up shirt and black dress pants looked good on him. Felipe bet he would rock the hell out of a tux. It just might make his hormones explode if he saw that.
“How late would it make us if I stripped that right back off you and licked you all over?” Felipe asked, running his toes up Trask’s thigh.
“Let’s just say we’d miss dinner altogether.” Trask smiled slowly and knelt on the bed to steal a kiss. He cupped Felipe’s face in that sweet way he had, his thumb brushing over Felipe’s cheek. He could always tell Trask’s mood when he did that. If his thumb played with Felipe’s cheek, he was feeling loving. If it was Felipe’s lower lip… well… that was a whole different kind of fire. “Do I make you happy, Felipe?”
“I don’t think you should be dependent on other people to make you happy, and I know you feel the same.” He’d heard all about Trask’s philosophies for life. Felipe slid his hand to the nape of Trask’s neck and drew him down for a kiss. “But when I’m with you, there’s nowhere else I want to be.”
“Yeah, me too.” Trask gave him a tender kiss and, to Felipe’s disappointment, pulled away. Probably for the best, if Trask had lingered, Felipe would’ve made sure they were late. Trask was already on edge enough without adding tardiness to the mix.
He rolled up and searched for the dress shoes he’d brought. His overnight bag was open, and one shoe was missing. “Sophie,” Felipe said in a low growl. He glanced toward her dog bed and saw the shoe buried among her toys. He stomped over and fished it out. To his relief, it was a little gnawed, but not so bad that it was unwearable. “I’m surprised you haven’t tried to eat the Christmas tree.” He shook the shoe at her as she appeared, watching the waving leather with avid eyes.
“Even she pities that thing.” Trask glanced at the tiny tree, strung with delicate white lights and snowflakes. Felipe had slipped two small packages under there, but to his aggravation, Trask had not commented on them.
Felipe winced at the time on the clock and shoved his shoes on with a sigh. “We’d better get moving or we’re going to be late.”
Trask nodded and grabbed his dinner jacket. He slipped it on and turned toward Felipe, his hands outstretched. “How respectable does this look?”
“Screw the looks. There are lobbyists on K Street who look respectable and are steaming piles of shit as human beings. You’re the quiet kind of respectable that doesn’t look for any reward, and that’s what matters.” Felipe dropped an airy kiss on Trask’s lips and jammed a winter hat on. The temperature had plummeted over the last wee
k, and he was not looking forward to going out into that chill. Not when he could stay inside instead and get naked and warm with Trask.
He knew Trask was not looking forward to this dinner. It was everything he hated. Possible family tension. The spotlight would be on him with the expectation of him opening up and sharing. And Trask had not uttered one word of complaint. It made Felipe ache with how much he loved him. He would make damn sure they took it easy on him and gave Trask a chance.
Felipe adjusted the lapel of Trask’s jacket and gave him a wicked smile. “Personally, I think we should act scandalously. Then being our normal selves afterward will cause no shock waves.”
“You would say that.” Trask leaned over and unplugged the tree, then pointed at Sophie. “You stay out of trouble. We’ll be home soon.”
Home. Felipe liked the sound of that connected with Trask, and he was growing used to the idea of relocating to Richmond. It wasn’t that far from his family. His business with Abby was all online. He was done with his degree except for the formality of grabbing his diploma. There was a whole variety of work opportunities. However it all it played out, he wanted a future with his Tin Man. He caught Trask’s hand and squeezed it. “Let’s do this. You nervous? ’Cause I’m fucking dying.”
“I am,” Trask admitted. “I don’t want there to be drama.”
That was something about Trask that Felipe had pondered long and hard. He kept saying it yet didn’t seem to mind any of Felipe’s moods or behavior. The more he thought about it in connection with Trask’s own past, he realized that what Trask really meant was that he didn’t want to be the cause of drama, not after he’d been in the front and center of it for too many years. Felipe thrived on that kind of scrutiny and proving people wrong, but he had to remember he didn’t carry the same weight that Trask did.
“I promise to be on my best behavior.” Felipe laid a hand over his heart as he gave Trask an innocent look.
“Somehow, imp, that doesn’t fill me with a whole lot of confidence.” Trask held the door open for him and swept Felipe a bow as he walked out. “Our audience awaits.”
Trask was quiet the whole way to the restaurant, and for once Felipe couldn’t seem to find anything to say. He’d never felt like this, not even when he’d introduced his first boyfriend. That had been a fiasco. That dude had been so high-strung he’d made Felipe seem boring. It hadn’t taken more than a few acidic comments from certain parties to reduce him to tears. Trask was made of sterner stuff, though. It would take more than a bigoted old man to frighten him off. This would’ve been so much easier if Lolo had stayed the fuck home.
The restaurant was in a converted tobacco warehouse down on the canal by the James River. His mom had been gushing about it for a week, some big seafood joint. They did love food from the bay and would steam their own blue crabs in the summer, eating them in the backyard with beer in the cooler and citronella candles burning to keep off the mosquitoes.
“You sure there will be something for you to eat?” Felipe asked as they crossed the street to the restaurant.
“Yep, I looked online. They have a lobster mac and cheese. I’ll just tell them to let the sucker live until the next carnivore comes along.” Trask gave him an easy smile. “I’m the worrier, not you, so relax. I’ll have a salad, too, and it’ll be a feast.”
The inside of the restaurant was all dark wood and burnished leather offset with snowy white linen. Felipe shoved back his nerves one last time as he scanned the place and saw his family at the large table set in the middle of the restaurant floor. Great, then everyone would have a view of the gay couple running the family gauntlet before the holidays.
“I see them,” Trask murmured as he waved off the waiter and guided him toward the table with his hand at Felipe’s back. It made him feel like he was being herded to his doom, and he resisted the urge to scowl. That would just set everything off on the wrong foot. Get it together and don’t make a scene.
Felipe scanned expressions as they neared. His mom and Lolo looked grim. His dad was always hard to read, but since he was the one reaching out, Felipe would give him a chance. Mostly he focused on the welcoming twinkle in Lola’s eyes. At least one person was happy to see them. Felipe clung to Trask’s hand and assumed a bright smile. “Mom, Dad, Lola, and Lolo. This is Trask Briscoe.” Felipe glanced back at him, and this time the smile became genuine. Screw the nerves. It might take them a while to warm up, but once they got to know Trask, they’d love him.
He stood back, making the individual introductions as Trask greeted each one of them with his own brand of gruff politeness. His dad was a stickler for manners, so the ma’ams and sirs would sit well with him. Felipe blushed slightly as Trask pulled out the chair for him and Lola chuckled. She reached across the table and gave Trask’s hand an approving pat. “I saw from your picture that you had kind eyes. I’m happy to see the same in person.”
“Thank you, ma’am. I hope you didn’t run into any problems on your way down,” Trask responded. They continued to make polite, noncommittal conversation as they perused the menus, and Felipe realized that Trask was more nervous than he’d let on. He sucked down water like it was Johnny Walker Black and paused each time before he spoke as if he was looking for the perfect words that weren’t abrupt.
“Felipe tells me you own a gaming store. How long have you been running that?” his dad asked after drinks were ordered and the bread passed around. Felipe eyed his dad. He seemed a little mellower around Trask, but Felipe wasn’t certain if that was his hopeful imagination or not.
“About twenty years. It’s been steady, though business picked up quite a bit when I expanded to online sales. I have a few employees, and this one has been making himself handy lately.” Trask smiled at Felipe. “I think he’s angling to kick out my manager and make himself boss.”
“Hell no, Ryan would b—” Felipe caught himself before the curse word slipped out. Of all the nights, this one he had to be on his best behavior. No sense in antagonizing his mom over his language. “Ryan would kill me with complaints. I know who your second-in-command is, and it’s not me.”
“Felipe’s got a job.” Lolo punctuated that with a tap on the tabletop. “A good government job that will keep him through retirement. Retail’s no good. Too many uncertainties. With his degree, he can do better.”
Felipe gagged at the idea of staying at the Department of Transportation until he retired. No way he’d make it. No fucking way.
“You have a point. The trick is changing with the ups and downs.” Trask shifted in his chair as all eyes returned to him. “The store has made adjustments over the years as interests changed.”
Felipe decided it was time to draw attention away from Trask and let him catch his breath. “No way I’m staying in a toll booth for life. Now that I have my degree, I’m looking for another job. Once I find the right place, then I’m out of there so fast they won’t even see me going.” He planned on finding a job that would give him the flexibility to really make a push with Creatures & Cosplay.
“You could take that business degree and do the books for your father.” His mom gave him a smile of encouragement. “It’ll give you some practice while you wait for that project of yours to take off.”
That was a thought. Felipe eyed his dad, who shook his head empathically. Felipe had to smile at that. “What’s wrong, Dad? Don’t trust my math skills?”
His dad smiled fondly at him. “No, I just think we’ll end up butting heads even more than we were the last time we worked together, but if you want a job like that, I can ask around.”
Felipe wasn’t sure any longer that he wanted a job in Southern Maryland. He’d hate to jump into something if he ended up relocating to Richmond. He’d feel like he was ducking out on a commitment. “I’ll let you know. I just want to get my final grades and know I aced the last semester. Hey, Dad, you know any contractors with a good rep in Richmond?”
“Why?” his mom asked, her eyes widening with alarm as Trask squeeze
d his knee in warning under the table. What the hell was that about?
“Trask is looking at this place with a yard. For Sophie, you know. She doesn’t have anywhere to run around at his apartment.” It needed a lot of work despite Trask’s assurances that he could do some of it on his own. Felipe gave Trask a cautious look, but he could be hard to read too.
“I’ve grown out of my loft,” Trask added, “but I’ve stayed because it’s so close to work. This new place isn’t much farther. Felipe’s concerned because it needs a little TLC. I’m going to meet with the realtor next week and see about it. I promised him that I’d have it inspected before I committed to anything. It needs a new roof, but I think the foundation is sound.”
“That’s a good plan,” his dad approved. “If you’re still interested after the walk-through and inspection, let me know. I can get you a list of names.”
“Thank you. I did get a few contacts. A friend of mine flips houses. She’s the one who clued me in on the house.” Trask reached for another piece of bread and slipped it onto Felipe’s plate. Like he needed the extra carbs, but he’d been eyeing it anyway and Trask must’ve picked up on it. “She wouldn’t be interested if it wasn’t a good project.”
Felipe frowned at the lingering worry in his mom’s eyes as they ordered their meals. He didn’t see the big deal or why Trask wasn’t pleased about him mentioning it. He felt like he was wading through one of the swampy areas near his house, with sinkholes on one side and water snakes on the other.
“What’s wrong with the lobster?” Lola asked with a look of concern after the waiter left. “Are you allergic to shellfish?”
“No, ma’am. I’m a vegetarian.” He held up his hand with a smile as Ratree began to apologize for the choice of restaurant. “It’s okay. As I’ve told Felipe, as long as there is a good mac-n-cheese, I’m happy.”
A Whole Latte Sass Page 27
