Half Moon Rising

by Sandrine Gasq-Dion

  “Your mouth opens before your brain processes, doesn’t it?” Sawyer picked up the towel on the nearby stump and wiped his back. “You better get to Nadine’s before she sends someone out to hand feed you.”

  Troy grabbed Sawyer’s wrist and felt the heat radiating from it sink into his bones. Within seconds, his whole body was filled with its warmth. “Look, I wanted to apologize for last night.”

  Sawyer closed his eyes and willed them to stay human. Jesus, Troy touching him was making his body react instinctually. Everything felt like it was going up in flames. “Apology accepted.”

  “Good, let’s kiss on it.” Troy hauled Sawyer against him and crushed their lips together. His body felt as if it’d been struck by lightning. He could hear his pulse pounding in his ears and his cock became painfully engorged. The fabric of his jeans stretched, rubbing painfully against his erection as he used his tongue to force Sawyer’s mouth open, diving inside.

  Sawyer let out a gasp and Troy took full advantage of his now open lips. His tongue licked the inside of Sawyer’s mouth, fully tasting him. He coaxed Sawyer’s tongue out to play and then they entwined. Troy’s arms wrapped around Sawyer’s waist, pulling him flush against him, like he just couldn’t get close enough. The air heated around them as Sawyer gave as good as he got. Troy’s hand slid down to Sawyer’s ass and gripped it firmly, pulling him into his cock. There was a small whimper and Troy broke the kiss slowly, looking into Sawyer’s eyes. Sawyer’s lips were slightly bruised and he was breathing hard. Troy said the first thing that came into his fried brain. “Wow.”

  Sawyer stepped back, blinking rapidly. “I have to go.”

  “I’m…I’m sorry…” Troy blurted out. Sawyer took off running and Troy wanted to slap himself. What had he been thinking? He’d just been told that Sawyer had a boyfriend. Although the way Sawyer responded, he’d wanted it just as much as Troy. Maybe, if he played his cards right, he could change Sawyer’s mind. Troy shuffled his feet in the dirt and walked towards Nadine and Joe’s. He could already smell the coffee brewing, so he knocked softly on the door.

  “I know you are not knocking on our door, Troy Bishop!” Nadine’s voice floated from the kitchen.

  “Nope.” Troy smiled and walked into the Waters’ house. Nothing had changed since the last time he’d been there. Nadine lovingly kept it the same way, year after year, for her own reasons and Troy loved that about her. He made his way into the warm kitchen and smiled at the group around the table. Sam was eating a mountain of ham off of his plate. “Would it kill you guys to learn how to cook?”

  “Why?” Joe shoved a forkful of French toast into his open mouth. Syrup dripped out of one corner, making a line down his chin.

  John cleared his throat and smiled at Troy. “If you’re not too busy, I have a favor I’d like to ask of you while you’re here.”

  Troy kissed Nadine’s cheek as he grabbed a plate and piled it high. He sat down at the table and spread butter over his French toast, then poured the syrup, making sure he covered all of the slices. “What can I help with?”

  “Would you like some toast with your syrup?” Sam’s stomach ached watching the syrup overflow onto the plate, and stretch out to the sides.

  Troy stuck his tongue out at Sam and smiled at John. “What do you need? Whatever it is, you know I’ll say yes.”

  John sat back and twirled his fork. “It’s Sawyer’s house. He wants to put a deck on the back that overlooks the ocean, and I know you used to love working with wood when you were younger.” John smiled at the mischief in Troy’s eyes the minute he mentioned Sawyer. Yep, Troy would help alright.

  “Don’t you have a degree in architecture, sweetie?” Nadine mussed Troy’s hair, sitting herself down next to him. She spooned hash browns onto another plate and set it down next to his overflowing mountain of French toast.

  “I do.” Troy smiled. When he was younger, he loved Lincoln logs and Lego’s. He’d spend hours and hours making huge houses and skyscrapers, then knock them down and make new ones. His Mother had always said he’d make something of himself one day. Troy was pretty sure she hadn’t meant assassin. “I’ll go over and take a look.”

  ~~

  Sawyer had just opened the door when he heard Troy’s voice. His skin began to heat up and his lips started tingling. Oh man, Troy could kiss. His first kiss had been with his mate and boy what a kiss it was! Sawyer could still feel the heat in his cock from it. He took a deep steadying breath and counted to ten, and then made his way into the kitchen. “Morning.”

  “Ah, I was just telling Troy here you needed help with your deck.” John smiled as his son’s face turned red.

  “Um… yeah. I’m heading out to the lumber yard to get more two by fours and concrete in just a few minutes.” Sawyer kept his back to the table while he spoke. God forbid anyone saw his face right now. He felt Nadine standing next to him and she handed him a plate covered in saran wrap. Bless her.

  “You go on now, Sawyer. Troy can catch up.” Nadine made sure she kept the focus on her as Sawyer snuck out the side door. Troy was nervously picking at his toast and Nadine narrowed her eyes at him. “Troy Matthew Bishop, what did you do?”

  “What?” Troy twisted in his chair nervously under Nadine’s glare. “Okay fine. I kissed Sawyer.”

  John spit his coffee out and coughed. Joe smacked his back as Nadine grabbed the sponge, cleaning off the table. It got eerily quiet until Sam’s loud voice cracked the ice.

  “So, was it good?” Sam smiled.

  “Jesus Sam!” John coughed again and picked up his napkin, wiping his mouth. His attention came back to Troy, and he studied him with his eyebrow raised. “What are your intentions?”

  Troy sat forward with his hands clasped in front of him. “I plan on stealing him from his boyfriend and making him mine.” With John it was best to be honest. He was never one to back down anyway.

  John smiled and took a sip of his coffee. Troy Bishop had no idea what he was getting himself into. “Good to hear it.”

  ~~

  Troy made his way around to the back of Sawyer’s house. Holes were already dug for the footing and lumber lay out in neat precise rows. Troy looked around and found the construction plans and looked them over appreciatively. Sawyer knew his shit. Troy smiled at the intricate drawings, fine lines done with a careful, precise hand. When it was done, there would be a beautiful view of the ocean. He could see himself sitting on the deck with Sawyer, having a beer, or having sex over the porch railing. Sweat broke out on his brow from the emotions his imagination invoked.

  “What are you doing here?” Sawyer asked. He had a beautiful view of Troy’s ass; damn, but the man was sex on a stick. Too bad he had no idea what to do in that department.

  Troy smiled with his back still turned to Sawyer. “Your dad asked me to help, so here I am. You ready to go to the store?” Troy turned and made his way up the hill passing Sawyer. “Coming?”

  Not yet, but hopefully soon, with you on top of me. “Yeah, just let me get my keys.” Sawyer smiled.

  “Oh no, I got a new truck and I need to break her in.” As Troy took his keys out, the photo of his parents slid out of its plastic protective case. Sawyer caught it before it hit the ground.

  Sawyer looked at the picture and felt his heart ache. He knew what it was like to lose a parent. He handed the picture back carefully and smiled. “I can fix that so it doesn’t happen again.”

  Troy smiled and took the picture, sliding it back in. He remembered Sawyer’s mother vaguely. She had a smile that could light up a room. “Well, let’s head out.”

  ~Chapter Five~

  Troy almost laughed out loud. Sawyer was playing with every damn button in his truck. He was moving the seats back and forth, and then switching the AC from high to low. One minute his ass was on fire, the next it was cold again. “You’re flash boiling my balls with the heated seats, Sawyer.” Troy shot Sawyer an amused smile.

  “Sorry.” Sawyer laughed and started playing with th
e GPS. “It’s annoying, does it ever shut up?”

  “Sure, when you get where you’re going. I can change the voice if you want.” Troy smiled as Sawyer pushed the button again and the GPS spoke in French. Another push and Italian was streaming from a soft female voice. “Do you even know where we’re going?” The GPS mocked him from the dash.

  Recalculating….

  Sawyer smiled and turned the GPS off. “Yep, take the next exit.”

  Troy laughed and took the requested exit into town. It wasn’t a huge area, just a few fast food joints and dollar stores dotted the street. A couple of bars along the way offered pool tables and Troy smiled at Sawyer sitting quietly in the passenger seat. “You play pool?”

  Sawyer felt a smile forming. Hell yeah he played pool. “Nope. Why, do you?”

  “Maybe tomorrow we could come back and shoot a game or two.” Troy pulled into the lumber yard and turned in the seat, looking at Sawyer. “Look, I wanted to apologize for kissing you like that. Your Dad said you just found your boyfriend.”

  Sawyer’s brow furrowed and he looked at Troy. His boyfriend? He wasn’t sure how to answer that. He’d have to talk to his Dad about it. “Okay, no problem. Come on, let’s get wood.” Oh Christ.

  Troy bit his lip; so many things came to his dirty little mind at that sentence. He decided to just flash his smile and get out of the truck, before he really stepped in it. “Come on.”

  ~~

  The store was pretty big and they wandered off in different directions to get their supplies. Sawyer grabbed the wood cart and went to acquire the necessary posts required to complete the deck. God, he loved the smell of fresh cut wood. He smelled Nick before he saw him.

  “Nick.” He turned and laughed out loud at the sight of Nick in overalls, red bandana over his head.

  “What are you doing here?” Nick crossed his arms, looking Sawyer over.

  “Getting the materials to finish building my deck. You look like Raggedy Andy.” Sawyer pulled the red bandana off Nick’s head, still laughing.

  “Smartass. Do you need any help?” Nick grabbed at him, wrapping his arm around Sawyer’s neck, tickling his ribs with his free hand.

  Troy came around the corner and saw a guy with his arm around Sawyer. Immediately his anger rose. He took deep, slow breaths and counted to ten, trying to control himself. He had no claim to Sawyer; in fact this guy could be his boyfriend for all he knew. His competition was pretty hot, to tell the truth. Not as hot as he himself, but then again who was? Troy snickered and made his way over, keeping his voice light and friendly. “Hey, I found the stringers, joists and bearers. Who’s this?”

  Sawyer looked up and grinned mischievously, anger was rolling off Troy in huge waves. The worst part, was that Nick felt it too. Sawyer broke free and put the parts in the cart. “This is Nick, we work together.”

  Nick put his hand out and smiled. Troy shook his hand and Nick applied pressure, feeling Troy give back just as much if not more. The anger flowed even stronger from Troy and the pressure on his hand increased. “Nick Stevens.”

  “Troy Bishop.” Fucker was trying to make a point. Troy was good at making points too.

  Sawyer was looking from Troy to Nick; their hands were still clasped as each of them increased their pressure. He pulled on Troy’s shirt, breaking his contact with Nick and ushered him towards the cashiers. “Come on, Troy.”

  “Yeah.” Troy felt the animosity towards Nick getting a good grip on him. God, he’d never felt so jealous in his entire life and he wasn’t even with Sawyer in that way. “Nice meeting you.” Nick followed them to the front of the store as Troy kept him in his peripheral vision. Jesus, the guy was like that rash on your ass that no cream could get rid of.

  “So Sawyer, you free this weekend?” Nick loved this; he was making it his mission to piss Troy off.

  “Um, I’ll give you a call, okay? I’m going to be pretty busy with the deck.” Sawyer was almost sweating. The anger from Troy was rising and the air was being sucked out of the store.

  “You have my number.” Nick winked and made his way back down the aisle whistling.

  ~~

  Troy had been quiet for a good fifteen minutes while they rang up their purchase and made their way out to the truck. He lowered the tailgate and started loading the wood in. As he threw the next log in, it smacked the bed hard, a loud crack reverberating through the parking lot. The anger finally exploded and Troy whipped around, getting in Sawyer’s space. “Is he your boyfriend?” Troy searched Sawyer’s eyes. Jesus, they were so damn beautiful he couldn’t look away.

  Sawyer felt his skin heat as he fought for control. Everything about his mate turned him on. His height, the way his hair shone in the sun, his beautiful eyes. He felt his mouth go dry and fought for something to say. Troy was still searching his eyes, waiting for an answer. Sawyer decided to tell the truth. “No.”

  “God help me, I’m sorry.” Troy grabbed Sawyer and hauled him into a crushing kiss. He wrapped his arms around him, pulling him flush with his body and slipped his tongue into Sawyer’s warm mouth. Sawyer responded by wrapping his arms around Troy’s neck as Troy’s hand slid up the back of Sawyer’s shirt feeling his warm soft skin. Their tongues met and tangled. Sawyer moaned into Troy’s mouth. “Oh fuck, that’s sexy.” Troy moaned against Sawyer’s lips.

  “Oh God…” Sawyer’s mouth and tongue invaded Troy’s with purpose. Everything around him faded as Sawyer gave into Troy’s sensual taste. He forgot they were in a parking lot as Troy moved them to the driver’s side door, pushing Sawyer against it and running his hands up his chest. He felt his cock filling and his eyes shifting. He pushed Troy off of him and moved away from the truck. “Wait.” Sawyer bent over, putting his hands on his knees and tried to regulate his breathing.

  Troy snapped out of his lust haze and looked at Sawyer bent over. Oh fuck, what had he done? What the hell was wrong with him that he couldn’t control himself around Sawyer? Every time he got near him he wanted him, wanted to make love to him, own him. He was batting a thousand at this point. “God, I’m sorry.” Troy fixed his raging hard on. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  Sawyer felt his teeth receding and his eyes were recognizing color again. He took a deep breath and looked at Troy. “I wanted it.” Sawyer almost smiled when Troy’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “I just, I need to tell you some stuff.”

  Troy hesitantly made his way closer and took Sawyer’s hand; he caressed his cheek, looking into those beautiful green pools. He’d never felt for anyone what he felt for Sawyer and he’d just met him. “Okay.”

  Sawyer looked around and saw the parking lot was still pretty busy. He was surprised things had gotten as far as they had. Not that they’d been close to being naked, but Sawyer was ready to touch Troy in ways that were not acceptable in public. “Not here, let’s go back to my house.”

  “Alright.”

  ~~

  The ride back was silent. Troy watched Sawyer as he looked out the window and clasped his hands together in what could only be interpreted as nervousness. What was wrong with him? Every part of him wanted Sawyer; like naked and now. The feel of Sawyer’s skin, hands and lips on his own lingered teasingly. He could still taste him and he wanted more. They pulled into the reservation and Troy was hoping to avoid everyone, just so he could hear what Sawyer had to say. That, of course, didn’t happen.

  “Oh great.” Sawyer sighed. Xander and Grayson were sitting on his porch, smiling like assholes. Sawyer hopped out of the truck and waited for Troy to open the tailgate. “What are you two doing here?”

  Xander watched Troy begin unloading the wood out of the back. “Oh, we’re here to help, big bro.” Xander winked.

  “Fine, I’m going to go talk to Dad real quick. Make sure you actually work, please.” Sawyer gave his brothers the evil eye and made sure they knew why.

  Troy looked at the two brothers just standing there, staring at him. He picked up a bag and threw it at Xander. “Come on, we
have work to do.”

  ~~

  Sawyer still hadn’t returned by the end of the first half hour of work. Troy hoped it wasn’t because of his grope in the parking lot, although Sawyer had been receptive…again. He’d had his fair share of dates over the years, but none of them had ever affected him the way Sawyer did. Just the feel of his skin was tantalizing. Troy reminded himself that he was working on a deck and if he didn’t pay attention, it would be leaning off to the right. With the holes previously dug, the boys held the posts while Troy poured the concrete to stabilize them. They put the level down and checked to make sure it was even on both sides. They hadn’t spoken much except for asking for things here and there, and Troy hoped he wasn’t going to have to discuss Sawyer.