King (Executioners Book 3)

by J. M. Dabney

  “I kissed him.”

  “Finally got your shit together. So, you a couple now?”

  “He’s avoiding me.”

  “You’re in the same house, that’s almost impossible.”

  “It’s possible.” Linc Didn’t Want to be Alone with King

  Fuck, fuck, fuck! He pretended to be busy cleaning the kitchen and refrained from calling Bear to tell the man to bring Mal back. It was childish and a bit cowardly, and he understood that. But he didn’t want to be alone with King. The kiss was a mistake. King had been drugged. Otherwise, there was no way King would have kissed him. He gripped the plate under the water until the blunt edges cut into his hands.

  He tensed as he sensed the moment King entered the room. No matter where they were or how crowded it was, he always knew when King was there.

  “You going to keep avoiding me?”

  He rolled his lips between his teeth and hung his head. Moment of truth. He removed his hands from the water and grabbed the towel to dry them, then he turned around.

  “I don’t want to hear the kiss was a mistake, even if it was.”

  “Who the fuck said it was a mistake?” Genuine confusion thickened King’s tone.

  “It had to be, you were—”

  “If you say I was high, we’re going to have our first fight.”

  Oh, he hated fighting, and he didn’t like King mad. The man grew quiet and pulled into himself. Confrontation wasn’t something either of them dealt with easily.

  “But—”

  He observed King as the man leaned against the wall heavily. King was beyond handsome, and as much as he’d fantasized about King over the years, he’d never anticipated being in this situation.

  “But nothing, baby. This is between you and me.”

  “What about Melanie? What would—”

  King cut him off, and the man smiled.

  “She’s known for a long time.”

  “She would’ve told me. That isn’t something she’d keep from me.”

  He and Melanie shared everything. She’d been the first he’d told when he’d come out. She knew every crush—well, not everyone—and secret.

  “I didn’t want her to.”

  “Why?”

  “You remember the first time we met?”

  “Yes, I just moved back to town, you were at the parent’s house cutting the grass for them.”

  He could never forget that day. It was the first time he’d ever experienced actual guilt. He’d lusted after his sister’s boyfriend. For years, he’d pictured King as his and wondered what belonging to King would be like, even when he knew it was impossible. If King was telling the truth, then he could have a chance at everything he wanted.

  “I thought you were the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. Do you know how guilty I felt? There’s Melanie, and all I could think about was kissing her brother. It was so fucked up, or from the view inside my closet, it was fucked up. I was such a hypocrite. I always knew Melanie was bi, and she’d accept me, but I was terrified.”

  “You wanted to kiss me?”

  “Every time I saw you, heard your voice, or smelled the scent of your cologne, and everything felt…right. Linc, I didn’t plan the kiss at the hospital, didn’t realize it until it was happening, but nothing, and I mean nothing, about that kiss was a mistake.

  “Did you ever think of me as more than your brother-in-law or ex-brother-in-law?”

  He nodded. “I was such an asshole for wanting you. You were dating my sister, married to my sister, and had Mal. I felt like such a bastard the day Mal was born.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I stood in the corner as you and Melanie lay in the hospital bed, cooing over Mal, and I felt so…”

  “So what? Just get it out. If we’re going to see if this dating thing is going to work, might as well start off with all the cards on the table.”

  “Jealous. When I held Mal for the first time, he was exactly like you, and he was perfect, beautiful. I wanted to be able to say he was mine.”

  “Mal is yours.”

  “Yeah, I’m the uncle.”

  “No, you’re as much a dad as I am. Melanie and me were in complete agreement, over the last three years, Mal has been ours. Yours, mine, and Melanie’s, co-parents. It may not seem normal, but you’re more than Uncle Lincoln to Mal, or me and Melanie.

  “Come here, baby.”

  He hesitated, but finally got himself moving across the kitchen, one foot in front of the other. He stopped with only a few feet left between them.

  “I said, come here.”

  King grabbed his t-shirt and tugged him close until their chests were pressed together.

  “Would you go on a date with me?”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, we’re gonna do this right. Dating, getting to know each other as Linc and King, not former in-laws.”

  “We’ve known each other almost a decade.”

  “But I’m sure there’s a lot we don’t know.”

  “Like what?”

  “I’m sure you’ve kept a few secrets.”

  Oh, fuck, he didn’t want to divulge any of his secrets. That would be so bad.

  “No, not really.”

  “Lying already,” King whispered as he leaned in.

  His eyes closed as King’s breath fanned the side of his throat. He nearly lost his mind as King’s calloused hand slipped beneath his shirt and stroked upward until rough fingertips teased his nipple.

  “Now, there’s something I didn’t know.”

  “What?”

  King pinched the small hardened peak, and he bit his lip. He wasn’t ready for it, but he arched his back. His nipples were embarrassingly sensitive, always had been.

  “How sensitive your nipples are.”

  “I thought we were going to date.”

  He tried to distract King, but when King slipped his hands from under his shirt, he nearly whimpered at the loss. Too much time had passed since someone had touched him—since he’d gotten laid. He didn’t want to think about how long. The closest thing he got to sex nowadays was imagining King fucking him rough as he stroked one out before he went to sleep. His sex life hadn’t been the greatest over the years, but abstinence was hell.

  “We are, but I couldn’t resist.” King’s stroked his lips up to his ear. “I’ve waited a long fucking time to be able to do this. Forgive my lack of control.”

  He tilted his head back as King nipped at his earlobe, then sucked and bit.

  “We’re not going to do any more than this until at least after the first date.”

  “Are we going to make it to the first date?”

  He felt King’s smile against his skin and loved that he’d put it there. Making King happy always brightened his mood. King had the biggest smile, and it deepened the sexy crinkles at the corners of his eyes. He’d watched King change from a baby-faced twenty-year-old to a sexy, mature man with laugh lines and a few silver strands in his dark hair.

  “Yes, yes we are. Now, behave. I’m wounded, and you’re taking advantage.”

  He gently pushed King away and looked into King’s shimmering gaze. King couldn’t hide his emotions because it was always right there for everyone to see. Well, he apparently hid his interest well, and he wondered how he had missed it.

  “I’m taking advantage. Did you double your meds?”

  “No, but only because I haven’t taken them.”

  King liked to push himself a little too much, and he was going to have to watch the man a little closer. King wasn’t the type to sit around. He worked hard during the week, came home and took care of Mal, then played in his band. King was never still.

  “Shit, you need to take them and rest.”

  “You’ve been cussing an awful lot lately. Have you been hanging out with the crews again?”

  “I went and had drinks with Livingston, Pure and Little.”

  “Why? Was it like a double date?”

  He nearly snorted at what h
e assumed was a touch of jealousy. That was new.

  “No, not a double date, nowhere near. I think Little had a date, they didn’t show, he called Livingston and Pure. I was there picking up dinner.”

  “Little has the worst luck with dates.”

  “I feel bad for him. On the one hand, he’s a bit crazy and outlandish, but he’s a nice guy.”

  “True, I don’t think he’s made it through a date in the past year. Lily said she’s been tracking him down at his place when she finds out.”

  “Lily and Little as best friends is a bit weird. And he has a place?”

  Little, as far as he knew, stayed at Lily and Damon’s a few nights a week and kept a plentiful stash of clothes in his surveillance van. No one knew much about Little. They knew him now, but his past seemed off-limits for conversation. He suddenly felt ashamed he hadn’t made more of an effort with Little.

  “No one really knows where. His paranoia is legendary, but Mal loves him.”

  “They love their fun Uncle Little. I just won’t take him to the playground again.”

  “What did he do?”

  “Got stuck in the tube. He had three kids trying to push him through, and all he was doing was laughing his butt off.”

  King laughed and shook his head.

  “Let’s get you back to bed. You shouldn’t be up and standing for so long.”

  “Yes, dear.”

  He rolled his eyes as he helped King turn and he walked behind him as the man maneuvered the crutches. It was a slow pace, but he enjoyed the play of King’s powerful muscles beneath the cotton of his t-shirt. The man was built like Bear with bulky muscles, but he didn’t have the man’s height.

  “When is Bear bringing Mal back?”

  “Before he opens the shop tomorrow. Oh, Bear and Mary are dating.”

  “Like we didn’t see that one coming,” he quipped as he helped King back into bed.

  He took the crutches and placed them against the wall beside the nightstand.

  “Tomorrow I make dinner…we’ll have our date.”

  “No, I’ll make dinner. You’re not standing up that long.”

  “Yes, dear.”

  “Don’t yes, dear me. I know you remember, you can’t be on the go all the time. You have to heal. Don’t mess your leg up worse than it already is.”

  He opened King’s pill bottle, shook out two, and handed them to him along with a bottle of water. He waited to make sure the man took them. King was sneaky, and when he was sick, he was even sneakier.

  “I’ll do as you say, on one condition.”

  “And what would that be?”

  “Sleep with me.”

  “I don’t—”

  “Don’t think, just change your clothes and lie down with me.”

  “Okay, but don’t be trying anything.”

  “With my leg, I can’t be loving on you the way I want, so next best thing is you can sleep beside me.”

  “I’ll be right back.”

  He hurried through finishing the dishes and making sure the house was locked up, but on his way back to King’s room, he hesitated. He stood in the middle of the hallway.

  This was happening. King wanted him, and Melanie wasn’t going to hate him or stop talking to him. He’d already lost his parents, so he couldn’t lose Melanie, Mal, or King. They were the only family he had. His parents ignored his coming out, pretended he was going to find some woman someday, then get married and have kids. He wanted to get married and have kids. He just wanted to do it with the man he loved. He wouldn’t lose his family over this—he still had them. He stood a bit taller. He could do this.

  He entered King’s room, grabbed pajamas from King’s dresser like always and headed to the bathroom to change. He glanced at King to find the man stretched out, his arms folded under his head, and King watched every move he made. He could get used to that, but first, King owed him a first date. He couldn’t wait.

  Eight

  Be a Gentleman, King, Be a Motherfucking Gentleman

  Be a fucking gentleman, King warned himself as he pretended to be relaxed—until Linc disappeared into the bathroom. Did he have time to call Melanie? No, no, she'd laugh her ass off at him. Bear would be all calm and logical, and just piss him off.

  He could do this, he shifted his leg on the pillow, then lifted his hands to scrub his face and rub his eyes. He focused on the sounds of Linc getting ready for bed.

  Over the years, he'd lost count of how many times he had imagined that; in bed waiting for his man to join him. Those nights hadn't involved a broken leg and pain meds. He wasn't going to complain, though.

  He slipped his arms back under his head as the bathroom door opened and he turned to watch Linc exit. A groan rumbled up from his chest as a shirtless Linc strode around the bed. The dark, blond hair on the man's chest wasn't as thick as his own, but it covered the man from collarbones to the waist of the pajama pants. Linc's rounded belly was perfect, and he wanted to nuzzle the hairy curve, then head lower.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “How fucking sexy you are.”

  Linc's face turned red, but the man attempted to hide it by bending over to pull down the covers.

  “You are. I've always thought so.”

  He waited until Linc had lain down and turned toward him. Linc avoided looking at him. He wasn't going to let that happen.

  “Come here.” He shifted and slipped his arm beneath Linc's head, tugged Linc to his side. His dick hardened at the weight of Linc's thick frame along his.

  Not the time, he warned himself.

  Linc rested his arm across his stomach and tucked his head beneath King's chin.

  King turned to press a kiss to the man's forehead.

  “You okay,” Linc asked.

  “Yes, I'm fine. I took my meds. I'll be asleep in no time.”

  “What's Melanie going to think about this?”

  He ran his fingers through Linc’s soft hair and closed his eyes to inhale the lemon scent of Linc’s shampoo.

  “She’ll tell me I finally got my head out of my ass. She’s known for a long time.”

  “And still, she never told me.”

  “What would you’ve said if she had?” he asked as he tugged and tilted Linc’s head back. He studied the hazel flecks in Linc’s blue-green eyes. As Linc closed his lids, the long pale lashes fanned his high cheekbones. He placed his left hand on Linc’s face and stroked his thumb along the fringe of those lashes. “What would you have done?”

  “Denied it.”

  An edge of sadness tinged Linc’s words.

  He lowered his head to brush his mouth to Linc’s, and the man’s lips trembled under his. For so long, he’d imagined being able to hold and kiss Linc that the reality paled in comparison to the dream. Linc shifted and raised his chin. He deepened the kiss, and their breathing rough and moans echoed, coming in sync. He pulled Linc on top of him—the man’s weight bearing him down into the mattress and he wanted more.

  He knew it couldn’t go beyond a make-out session, but he wanted it to be more than about the physical. Fuck it; talking could come later. He wrapped his hand around Linc’s thigh and muscled the man on top of him. Linc straddled him.

  “You’re not getting in my pants. You know that right?”

  Linc smiled against his lips. “Who said I wanted in your pants?”

  “At least we got that cleared up.”

  He splayed his hands over Linc’s shoulder blades and stroked downward. His fingers dipped into the hollow of Linc’s spine until he reached the waistband of Linc’s pants. He slipped his fingers beneath the soft cotton and cupped Linc’s fuzzy cheeks. He kneaded the thick muscles.

  “Hey, what about not getting into pants?”

  “Honey, I said my pants, I didn’t say anything about yours.”

  “I think turnabout is fair play, right?”

  He opened his mouth to make a comment, but nothing came out as strong fingers pushed into his loose gym shorts. His ba
ck arched and his body tensed as Linc wrapped his hand around his dick.

  “This isn’t what I had in mind.” He pushed the statement through clenched teeth.

  Linc stroked lower until he had his balls cupped in his palm. He gripped Linc’s hips tightly.

  “I swore I was going to be—”

  He let out a string of curses as Linc pushed his hand between his thighs. He shifted them as far apart as Linc’s legs allowed.

  “Ten years I’ve waited to get my hands on you. All the time you were with Melanie, then all the men I had to watch flirt with you…get to go home with you. Jealous, so fucking jealous.”

  “Is that all you want…to get your hands on me?”

  He knew what everyone thought about him. That he was only a flirt and fuck. They didn’t understand how badly he wanted Linc and not having him killed something inside him.

  “Look at me,” Linc ordered.

  He almost ignored it until the man’s hand disappeared and came up to grip his chin. Firm, full lips stroked over his face, teased the corners of his mouth and he met the man’s gaze.

  “No, it’s not all I want. I want the dates…” Another kiss. “And everything that goes along with it.”

  He almost protested when Linc moved to the side to lay down beside him.

  “Turn over,” Linc said as he nudged his hip.

  He carefully turned to his side and became the little spoon when Linc pressed against his back.

  Linc slipped his arm under his head and banded his other across his chest until his hand hooked under his arm.

  “I’ve never felt quite good enough. I’m fat and hairy, past my prime.”

  “Bullshit.”

  Linc nipped the side of his neck with just enough force to make it sting. He turned his head giving Linc more access. He closed his eyes as Linc stroked his chest, teased his nipples with slightly roughened fingertips, then over his stomach. He held his breath as Linc worked his shorts down his hips. The air in the room was cool against his exposed hip and groin.

  “Let me finish.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good boy.”

  He snorted, and Linc squeezed him tighter. Linc’s fingers played in his thick pubes. His cock was hard and aching. He wanted Linc’s touch there. The man’s firm grip. He didn’t feel like himself. Any other time he’d grab Linc’s hand and put it where he wanted it. Reach around and bring his hand to the thick ridge of dick notched between his cheeks. His shyness was strange but exhilarating. He didn’t have to be on, didn’t have to pretend to be happy because he was. Content to lie there and let Linc love on and touch him.