Carol Lynne Read online

  “Well, what’re you waiting for? Go kiss his ass.”

  Hearn grinned at the former professional football player. “You may talk tough, but you’re a true romantic underneath all the muscles.”

  Gill smiled and put his fingers to his lips. “Don’t tell anyone. I’ll deny it all in a heartbeat.”

  Within minutes, Hearn was in his truck heading out of town. A huge sign in front of The Gym caught his attention. Slowing the truck to a crawl, he read the bright red letters. “Nate Gills for Mayor.”

  “Fuck!” He didn’t stand a chance.

  * * * *

  As Nate applied the finishing touches to his present, he thought of DC. Not the meeting with Joseph, though that had gone well, no, he remembered what happened afterward. He’d barely gotten back to the room when Rio had pounced.

  For the next four hours, Rio fucked and sucked him in every position imaginable. At one point they’d even called Ryan to include him in on the fun. Hearing his lover’s heavy breathing over the speaker phone as Rio rode his ass had been hotter than hell. With a final swish of his brush, Nate also remembered the long plane ride home on an ass so sore he could barely sit.

  Setting his supplies aside, he lay down and waited for his men to finish their chores.

  By the time Rio and Ryan walked through the back door, Nate had started getting sleepy. “I’m in here,” he shouted.

  He grinned as his lovers came stumbling into the room, wrestling like a couple of kids. One glance at Nate and they stopped. Rio’s jaw was the first to drop, quickly followed by Ryan’s.

  “Instead of just buying you both a box of chocolates, I decided to do something a little different,” Nate explained, glancing down at his nude body covered in painted-on chocolate. “Anyone want a sample before dinner?”

  With their tongues hanging out, his men quickly shed their clothing. Lying on a blanket in front of the big stone fireplace, Nate perused his partners. Rio won for speediest erection, but Ryan had him beat in the drool category.

  Nate laughed as a drop of saliva actually dripped onto Ryan’s tattooed chest. “You gonna waste all that or put it to good use?” To further excite Ryan and Rio, Nate spread his legs in invitation. Damn, he was glad he’d gotten that full wax job while in DC. He couldn’t imagine how much scraping the chocolate out of pubes would hurt.

  Ryan fell to his knees between Nate’s spread thighs. He gently ran a finger over one of Nate’s balls. “They look like two big chocolate-covered cherries,” Ryan said to Rio.

  Rio licked his lips and knelt beside Nate’s torso. “Save one for me,” he told Ryan, licking a path up the centre of Nate’s chest. Sitting back on his heels, he pointed towards Nate. “That’s the dividing line. Everything on that half is yours,” he informed Ryan, who was busy licking his way around the ‘chocolate-covered cherry’.

  Nate giggled and shook his head. “How’re you gonna divide my hole? I’ve only got one of ‘em.”

  Rio’s eyes rounded as his black brows rose. “Fuck.” Rio tapped Ryan on the shoulder. “First one to finish gets his ass.”

  Ryan waved Rio off without even coming up for air. As Rio hurriedly licked away the chocolate on Nate’s stomach and chest, Ryan continued his slow assault below Nate’s waist. Ryan appeared more concerned with taking his time than racing towards the finish. The dual sensations were more than enough to keep Nate on edge. He briefly wondered what his men would say if he let go and added a little cream to their dessert.

  Rio finished with everything on Nate’s upper body, slowing a bit when he licked the confection from Nate’s nipple, bucking when his lover sank his teeth into the sensitive flesh.

  For the first time since he’d begun, Ryan lifted his head from Nate’s groin. “If you want a piece of this cock you’d better get the hell down here.”

  Rio pulled his mouth from Nate’s nipple with a pop. “You tasty motherfucker,” Rio growled, thrusting his tongue down Nate’s throat.

  Nate sighed as Rio broke the kiss and joined Ryan. He was concentrating so hard on not coming, he almost missed the little scuffle between his legs. Opening his eyes, Nate peered down the length of his body to the two men trying to elbow the other out of the way. “Is there a problem?” Nate asked.

  “Yeah. We’ve licked the sides, but Ryan claims it’s only fair that he get the head.”

  “Seriously?” Nate rolled his eyes. “And you call me a baby,” he mumbled. He hooked his arms under his knee and rolled to his side, presenting his chocolate-slathered hole. “Better?”

  Rio looked at Nate’s ass like a starving man. “You got lube? Cuz once I eat it I’m gonna fuck it,” Rio growled in his best caveman imitation.

  Laughing around the ache in his balls, Nate tossed the lube to Rio. “Have at it,” he squeaked, as Ryan’s hot mouth engulfed his cock. Nate leaned up on his elbow to watch the carnal scene. “Ohhhh,” he moaned as the first lick swept across his ass.

  Ryan pumped away at Nate’s cock like he was expecting a chocolate fountain to shoot out the end. “Gonna come,” he warned, as Rio’s tongue dug its way inside his hole.

  “Mmmhmm,” Ryan moaned, Nate’s cock buried in his throat.

  Nate’s hips bucked towards Ryan’s face as he emptied his balls. Ryan started to gag at the force of Nate’s stream, but was able to pull off enough to swallow every drop. Nate’s head dropped back to the pillow as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. “Fuck.” He panted, trying to get his breathing under control, as Rio fucked into him with three fingers.

  He managed to open his eyes, when a tongue stroked across his lips. Nate smiled at Ryan. “Thank you,” he managed to get out, as Rio drove his cock in deep.

  Reaching down, he encircled Ryan’s cock in his hand. Ryan moaned and thrust his cum-covered tongue into Nate’s willing mouth. As Rio continued to rut in and out of Nate’s body, Ryan consumed him with a kiss.

  Plastered against Nate’s back, Rio’s hand joined in pleasuring Ryan’s cock. It didn’t take long for Rio’s roar of pleasure to set Ryan off. Groaning into the kiss, Ryan covered Nate’s hand with jets of sticky warmth, as Rio filled Nate’s ass.

  With both his men panting on either side of him, Nate grinned. Damn, I give the best gifts.

  * * * *

  By the time Hearn entered the bar, it appeared Tyler was on his way to getting majorly shitfaced. He walked over and knelt beside his lover’s chair. “Can I talk to you?”

  Tyler scowled and gave Wyn the stink eye. “You call him?”

  Wyn shook his head. “Hearn was worried about you.” Wyn leaned close to Tyler’s ear but whispered loud enough for Hearn to hear. “He loves you.”

  Tyler’s gaze shot to Hearn. “I know, dammit. Why do you think I’m sitting here getting drunk off my ass,” Tyler pouted.

  Hearn held out his hand. “I was able to get a room. Would you at least talk to me?”

  He watched as Tyler shifted in his seat before finally standing. Tyler turned to Wyn and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you. I hope Ezra doesn’t get too sore that you had to baby-sit?”

  Wyn smiled. “For me, every day is Valentine’s Day. Play your cards right and it’ll be the same for you.”

  Hearn shook Wyn’s hand before leading a swaying Tyler out of the bar. “Second floor,” Hearn said. “Do we need to take the elevator, or can you handle the stairs?”

  Tyler rolled his eyes. “I’m not that drunk.”

  Yeah, you are, Hearn told himself but let it go. With their height difference, he couldn’t get a good grip on Tyler’s waist. Instead, he hooked his thumb through Tyler’s belt loop and helped to hold his lover up.

  Tyler stumbled halfway up the grand staircase, but Hearn’s hold kept him from toppling down. Tyler regained his balance and slapped at Hearn’s hand. “You’re givin’ me a wedgie.”

  Chuckling, Hearn relaxed his hold. Digging into his back pocket, he pulled out the key-card and motioned to the right. “Two-fourteen.”

  Once inside the room, Hearn ad
justed the heat as Tyler dropped onto the king-sized bed. As much as Hearn wanted to join his lover, he knew he had a great deal of making up for first.

  Sitting on the edge of the mattress, he turned to face Tyler. “I need to explain myself.”

  “You bet you do,” Tyler mumbled.

  Hearn reached out and ran his hand over Tyler’s shin. “I don’t think you have any idea just how much I love you.”

  Tyler rolled his head to look at Hearn. “You have an odd way of showing it.”

  “Maybe.” Hearn ran his free hand through his hair. “This isn’t the way I hoped this night would turn out.”

  Tyler leaned up on his elbows. “Kinda hard for it to turn out any other way when you decide to take your ex-lover flowers on Valentine’s Day,” Tyler quipped.

  “It was supposed to be the last. I was gonna ask you to move in, but I knew I had to purge myself of any guilt before moving onto the next chapter in my life.” Hearn stood and started pacing back and forth over the new carpet. “I fucked up. I know that now.”

  Before he could say anything more, Tyler bounded off the bed and threw himself into Hearn’s arms. “What did you say?” Tyler asked, climbing up Hearn’s body to wrap his legs around Hearn’s stomach.

  With his hands on Tyler’s ass to hold him up, Hearn started to repeat what he’d just said. A brief kiss from Tyler stopped him. “Not that part. I couldn’t give a fuck about Mitch. Ask me to move in. Please, ask me?”

  The clamp surrounding his heart loosened. “Will you make me the happiest man alive and move in?”

  Tyler buried his fingers in Hearn’s hair and kissed him, pushing his tongue in deep. The kiss was all the confirmation Hearn needed, as he fell onto the bed with Tyler still in his arms.

  Coming up for air, Tyler shook his head. “See? Was that so hard?”

  Chuckling, Hearn pulled Tyler’s shirt off over his head. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  Tyler sat up, straddling Hearn’s waist. “I’ve loved you since the day I met you. I know it sounds corny but it’s true, and I would like nothing more than to shack up with you.”

  Hearn reached up and ran his fingertips over Tyler’s chest, paying particular attention to the brown pebbled nipples. “There’s something else I want to talk to you about.” He hoped he already knew Tyler’s answer, but as the day had already shown him, he didn’t always get things right. “I want us to petition for guardianship of Gracie.”

  Tyler’s brows shot to his dishevelled bangs. “You mean adopt her?”

  Hearn nodded. “If they’ll let us.”

  Tyler’s face seemed to take on a faraway expression. “It’s a big responsibility raising a child. We haven’t even talked about the important issues involved.”

  “Like?”

  Crossing his arms, Tyler’s entire body seemed to tense. “I won’t spank her. Ever.”

  “Discipline is an important part of parenting. We may not always like it, but we can’t allow Gracie to run the house either.”

  Tyler shook his head. “I’m not talking about discipline. I get she’ll probably need to be grounded or whatever else we come up with, but I need your word that you’ll never touch her in anger.”

  Noticing the rigid set of Tyler’s jaw, a light suddenly went off in Hearn’s head. Tyler’s inability earlier to stand and confront Hearn when he’d hurt him. The vomiting at Hearn’s anger the first night they declared their love…it all made sense. Pulling Tyler down against him, Hearn buried his face in his lover’s hair. “Who hurt you, baby? Was it your parents?”

  Tyler’s breath hitched as the muscles under Hearn’s hands relaxed. Tyler pressed himself even closer to Hearn. “Just Dad. Not all the time. Only when I tried to get him to stop beating on Mom.”

  Hearing the pain in his lover’s voice, Hearn began peppering kisses to Tyler’s temple, slowly moving to his lips. “I’m not your dad.” As he gave in to Tyler’s need for a deeper kiss, he tried to imagine what it must have been like for Tyler as a child. He wondered if Tyler had ever sought treatment.

  Breaking the kiss, he looked into Tyler’s sad brown eyes. “I’ll never raise a hand to you. You know that, right?”

  Tyler nodded.

  “But you have to deal with the fact that there’ll be arguments. We won’t always see eye to eye.”

  “I know.”

  Rolling them over, so he was on top, Hearn met Tyler’s gaze once again. “Don’t be afraid to argue back. Sometimes I need a swift kick in the ass to make me see reason.”

  Tyler grinned. “Like earlier?”

  “Yeah, like earlier.” Hearn reached between them and unfastened Tyler’s jeans. “Can we get to the makeup sex now? That’s the best part of arguing.”

  Chapter Nine

  Hearn threw his pencil onto the coffee table and rubbed his eyes. “I need to just pull out of the race. No way in hell I can win against Nate anyway.”

  Tyler set down his glass of wine and crawled into Hearn’s lap. “You only have three weeks left.”

  Hearn readjusted Tyler so he was straddling his lap. “Do you honestly think I can win?”

  Gazing into Hearn’s deep brown eyes, he knew he couldn’t lie. “No. I don’t.” Before Hearn could say anything more, Tyler put his finger to his lover’s lips, silencing him. “But this is about more than winning. It’s about getting your ideas for the park system out to the townspeople.”

  Hearn nodded. “I know, but I can’t help thinking I’m spending too much time giving speeches and interviews. I should be focussing on you and Gracie.” Hearn pointed to the opposite side of the house. “Helping you get her room ready. Not sitting here trying to figure out how to fix the town’s budget concerns.”

  Tyler leaned forward and nipped Hearn’s lower lip. “We still have four days until the temporary guardianship goes before the judge. That should be plenty of time for you to help me put the finishing touches on the princess’s castle.”

  Hearn smiled, pulling Tyler in for a kiss. “Have I told you how spectacular that room is, by the way? Gracie’s gonna flip when she sees it.”

  Feeling good about what he’d managed to accomplish, Tyler preened under the compliment. “Scary how much I want to move myself into that room,” he laughed.

  Hearn laughed along with him. “Maybe someday we can sneak one of the pretty little boas out for you to play with.”

  Tyler slapped Hearn’s chest. “Don’t be ridiculous.” He purposely waited a beat before adding. “I’ve already got one in red.”

  Laughing so hard he had to hold his side, Hearn shook his head. “See? This is a lot more fun than looking at boring numbers.”

  “I agree, but come summer you’re gonna want these programmes in place. If you truly want to present the plan, you’ll have to figure out how to pay for it. Otherwise they won’t take you seriously.” Tyler gave Hearn one more kiss before climbing off. “Now, I’m gonna watch my TV show and you’re gonna get back to work.”

  He started to settle back in against his corner of the couch, but a heavy-lidded look from Hearn changed his mind. “I’ll just sit over here,” he excused himself, sitting in the chair beside the fireplace.

  * * * *

  Nate watched Hearn put a stack of papers back into an envelope. The town meeting had gone well, and Hearn had impressed the hell out of him.

  “You ready?” Ryan asked, interrupting his train of thought.

  “In a minute. I wanna talk to Hearn first.” Nate turned to give Ryan a kiss before walking over to Hearn.

  “Very well done,” he congratulated, shaking Hearn’s hand.

  “Thanks,” Hearn replied, gazing down at the floor. “I’m not much on public speaking, but you probably figured that out.”

  Nate smiled. Despite what Hearn said, Nate had witnessed a change in the man over the previous month and a half. The Hearn Sutherland he knew a year ago would have never had the self-confidence to run for mayor. “I liked what you had to say.” He slapped Hearn on the shoulder. “Delivery an
d all.”

  “I know I can’t beat you, but I’d already entered the race before I found out you were running as well.” Hearn glanced up and out to the milling crowd.

  Nate could tell the moment Hearn spotted Tyler. Hearn’s love was almost as palpable as he stared at his lover. “I wanted to quit, ya know, but Tyler reminded me of something I taught our soon-to-be daughter.”

  “And what’s that?” Nate asked.

  “Nothing wrong with losing. It’s willing to play in the first place that’s important,” Hearn recited, as Tyler walked up to wrap his arms around him.

  “That’s right,” Tyler agreed, giving Hearn a kiss.

  “I hear congratulations are in order,” Nate said, shaking Tyler’s hand.

  At Tyler’s questioning expression, Nate continued. “Hearn told me you’re adopting?”

  Tyler’s entire face lit up. “Yep. A six-year-old little girl named Gracie.” Tyler became animated when he began bragging about the girl. “Wait ‘til you meet her. She’s the cutest kid I’ve ever seen and will have you wrapped around her finger in no time.”

  Nate smiled, Tyler’s happiness was infectious. “You’ll have to be sure and bring her by the house. I’d love to see her with Rio and Ryan.”

  “What woman are you trying to push on us now?” Ryan asked, stepping up beside Nate.

  “Gracie,” Nate informed him. “She’s the little girl Hearn and Tyler are adopting.”

  “Fantastic.” Ryan reached out to shake the new parents’ hands.

  “You guys ever think about it? There are plenty of kids at the centre in need of a good home,” Hearn offered.

  Ryan chuckled and shook his head. He wrapped his arm around Nate’s head and rubbed his scalp with his knuckles. “It’s all Rio and I can do to keep up with the kid we’ve got.”

  Nate slapped Ryan’s hands away. “Ryan, the hair.” Nate ran his fingers through his hair, repairing the damage his lover had done.

  “See what I mean?” Ryan asked, grinning.

  “Yo,” Rio’s voice called across the room. “You guys about ready?”

  Nate waved to his gorgeous hunk beside the door. “Sorry, Rio’s hot to get home before he misses his show.” He leaned forward. “Desperate Housewives,” he said in a loud stage-whisper.