No Sacrifice Page 25

  Before he could speak, however, Marcy slapped the table. “What am I thinking? Y’all want coffee, right?” Without waiting for an answer, she kissed Avery’s forehead. “Ya want a chocolate shake, honey?”

  Avery looked up at Patrick with big eyes. “Can I, Da?”

  Chance had a feeling Patrick was too relieved that he didn’t have to come up with an answer to the other question, because he seemed struck dumb. So when Patrick didn’t speak, Chance did. “I’d say it’s okay, Squirt, but a small one.”

  “Yay!”

  Marcy threw Chance a look that made him uncomfortable, but she didn’t say anything other than “I’ll be right back, sweetie,” and gave Avery another kiss before scooting out of the booth.

  Patrick deflated next to Chance. “Uh, I hadn’t thought of that,” Patrick muttered.

  Chance let go of Patrick’s hand and put the arm around him. “I should have known she’d want to know what happened.” Chance frowned as he thought it over. “Does she know about you and Em?”

  Patrick nodded, frowning. “Yup. Back on moving day.”

  Chance chewed on his lip for a moment. “I’ll just tell her I decided to ask.”

  Patrick looked up, raising an eyebrow. “No.” He paused a second, looking thoughtful, then nodded. “I’ve got it. She doesn’t need to know why. I’ll just tell her—”

  “Tell me what?” Marcy asked, setting the coffee cups on the table—three of them—and Avery’s milkshake.

  “Em and I, as you know, split up.”

  “Right,” Marcy said, sitting down and pulling the sweetener container toward herself.

  “Well, what you don’t know is that we were kind of on the outs for a while. And I realized that I was ready to move on.” Patrick shrugged as he poured a bit of creamer into his cup. “I’d been thinking about him for a long time, so I thought it was past time I asked him out.”

  Chance’s head whipped around. “You have?”

  Patrick looked up at him, and Chance saw the red cheeks. Patrick nodded. “Yeah. Probably…. Hell, probably since that first night we met.”

  Chance couldn’t have stopped the grin, no matter how hard he tried. “I didn’t know that,” he whispered, then kissed Patrick’s cheek. The color darkened, and Chance’s grin widened. “If it helps at all… I’ve been thinking about you for just as long.”

  Patrick looked up at him, raising an eyebrow, and Chance nodded. He didn’t want to confess there in front of Marcy that it’d been even longer. He’d save that for later.

  “Awwwww!” Marcy nearly crowed. “That’s so sweet!”

  Chance rolled his eyes, making Patrick chuckle. “Marcy, really,” Chance said, shaking his head, but she just reached across and smacked his hand.

  “It is. You deserve someone good, honey. You’ve been alone too long.”

  Chance could feel his face heating. He wanted to move or hide or something, but he didn’t want Patrick to think he didn’t want to touch, so he just sat there. To his surprise, though, Patrick kissed him this time, then turned back to Marcy. “I hope I am good for him.” He felt one of Patrick’s hands on his leg, and the heat faded.

  “Well, I am so happy for y’all!” She turned to Avery, who’d been busily sucking on his milkshake. “What do you think, sweetie? Do you like Chance and yer da going out?”

  Avery nodded. “Yes! I like going out with Chance. He sat next to me at dinner, and he even kisses me!”

  Marcy raised an eyebrow at Chance, burying a smirk. Chance rolled his eyes at her. “He wasn’t happy with me sitting next to Patrick. I had to sit with him, and when I kiss Patrick, I have to kiss his cheek too.”

  She laughed. “That’s adorable. Y’all have to tell me next time y’all wanna go out. If I have just a little more notice, I’ll get someone to cover and watch him.”

  “Thanks, Marcy. We had fun tonight, but it would be nice to go out alone sometime.” Patrick shook his head. “We’re a bit more… uh… restricted in where we can go with him.”

  “I’d say so.” She stood up. “Y’all want some pie? On the house, to celebrate!”

  Chance chuckled and glanced at Patrick, who nodded. “Sure. Peach for Patrick and I’ll take apple. Then it’s time to get Squirt to bed.”

  “Awww, but Chance!”

  “Nope. It’s late already, Squirt. You want to spend time with me tomorrow, don’t you?”

  “Yes!” Avery hurried to say.

  “Well, you gotta get rest, then.” Chance reached across and bopped Avery’s nose. “Besides, I’d like a little bit of time with your da, okay?”

  “Okay,” Avery agreed, though he didn’t sound thrilled by it.

  The three adults laughed, and Marcy left for the pie.

  Marcy grilled them for more than half an hour about their date. She ooohed and ahhhed over the restaurant and laughed about the golf. They kept plenty back by unspoken agreement, including their conversations and such, but she seemed happy enough with what they did tell her.

  She made them promise she could come over the next day for their first cooking lesson. Then they managed to extricate themselves by making veiled—if pointed—comments about getting home. It took her a moment, but then she seemed to understand they wanted to be alone, and finally, with another big hug and kiss for Avery, let them go.

  They tag-teamed Avery to get him into bed. Chance wrestled him into pajamas, and Patrick got his teeth brushed while Chance found a book to read and dug up “Froggy.” Once he was lying down, the two of them read to him, and before they were halfway through, he was starting to drift. They ended up having to finish the book, but he was really close to sleep by the time it was done.

  Finally they snuck out of the room, pausing at the door to check once more. When he didn’t seem to so much as twitch, they pulled the door shut. “So, uh,” Patrick whispered, “coffee? Or a beer?” Chance could hear the nervousness in Patrick’s voice and nodded as they headed out to the kitchen. When they got out there, Patrick paused. “Um… which one?”

  “Oh, whatever you want,” he said, watching as Patrick turned toward the coffeemaker, and Chance suspected it was to buy a little bit of time in an attempt to calm some nerves. “Hey, I’ve gotta go to the bathroom. Uh, coffee, you know. I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay,” Patrick said and threw a smile at him.

  Chance paused, wanting to give Patrick a kiss, but Patrick seemed so nervous, he thought it might just be better to give the man a moment. He went down the short hall into the bathroom and took care of his business. When he was washing his hands, he glanced down—though he didn’t know what prompted him to do so—and saw something in the garbage can that gave him pause. He bent down to make sure he wasn’t imagining things, but sure enough, there was a disposable enema bottle crumpled up on the bottom of the can. Chance blinked for a moment, trying to wrap his head around what it meant. But then it hit: Patrick was not only expecting sex, he was expecting to bottom.

  Chance’s mind made the unavoidable jump to imagining that very scene. The picture flashed into his head of himself buried balls-deep in Patrick’s ass. The bolt of lust from the vision hit him so hard he had to brace himself on the sink for a moment to get control. He needed to adjust himself before he could leave the bathroom.

  When he got back to the kitchen, it was to see Patrick in the same place, having not even moved. He glanced up, gave another nervous smile, then pulled down coffee mugs, filled an already half-full water tank, and fought with the K-Cup to get it into the machine. With his new understanding, Chance thought he had a better idea than coffee.

  He stepped up behind Patrick, bracing his hands on the counter on either side but not touching—yet. He was gratified when Patrick didn’t to try to move. He leaned in and gave himself a few seconds to inhale the scent. There was cologne, something very male, and under it a scent, Chance was sure, was all Patrick. “God, you smell good.” He hadn’t meant to say it, but Patrick seemed to relax by a tiny degree, so Chance couldn’t regret
it.

  “Thank you,” Patrick whispered.

  “It’s true.” Chance tilted his head and kissed the side of Patrick’s face near one ear. He felt a shudder run through Patrick that could have been a shaky breath, and he let his arms close in, hands meeting Patrick’s, which moved so their fingers could thread together. He moved in enough to just barely feel Patrick against his front and was thrilled when Patrick leaned against him, their bodies flush. Chance closed his eyes, nuzzling the ear softly. “You are the most gorgeous, sexiest man….” He let go of Patrick’s hand long enough to move some of the long black hair aside. As soon as it was gone, he kissed his way down Patrick’s neck, savoring the moan Patrick let out.

  “I…. I don’t agree,” Patrick whispered.

  “Oh?” Chance asked before kissing his way back up.

  Patrick nodded and turned his head. “Yeah.” But before he could say more, Chance caught his lips in a kiss. The awkward position wouldn’t allow for a deep one, but it still went through Chance, and he leaned a little harder into Patrick’s body.

  But then Patrick let go of Chance’s hands and turned around, arms coming up and pulling Chance in. Their lips met again, and there was no hesitation. Their mouths opened, and Chance slid his tongue along Patrick’s, the taste of the man filling him once more. He cupped Patrick’s face in his palms. Patrick’s hands ran over his back and finally landed on his ass, making Chance moan.

  He nipped at Patrick’s lips, then deepened the kiss again. Another moan escaped, and Chance rocked into Patrick, his own sounds coming up when he felt Patrick’s hard cock against his. They ground into each other for a long time, lips locked, hands moving over each other’s bodies, and Chance just could not get enough.

  When he pulled back, struggling for breath, Patrick’s eyes met his, and the heat, want, and need in them stole whatever air he’d managed to get. And if Chance didn’t know better, he could have sworn he saw… love in there too. But he couldn’t quite believe it, despite the rest of what he was feeling from Patrick. If he was wrong—if it wasn’t there—he didn’t know how he’d handle it.

  He dove back in, trying to show through the physical just how he was feeling without saying it. He didn’t think he could take it if he said the words and Patrick replied with anything other than the same thing back. So he tried to show it, deepening the kiss, pouring everything he could into it, instead.

  Patrick’s arms tightened around him, returning the kiss, and Chance thought maybe, just maybe, he felt some of the same emotion in the kiss that he put into it. They broke apart, and though he knew it was a little cowardly, he moved to kiss Patrick’s neck, because he was sure the emotions he wasn’t ready to show Patrick were on his face. He nipped at an earlobe, then nibbled his way over skin to the top of Patrick’s collar.

  “Chance,” Patrick moaned, and Chance pulled back. “Need… want you,” he whispered.

  Chance couldn’t deny Patrick that. He leaned back, and Patrick’s hands went for Chance’s buttons, fumbling with them in an attempt to get them open. He managed a few; then Chance’s skin was under attack, bites and kisses on his neck and collarbone. “Love your smell,” he murmured between kisses. “Love your taste.”

  He couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing, but the touch and the things Patrick was doing as he said those things only confirmed them. They shifted, and Patrick turned them, pushing Chance up against the counter and finally succeeding in opening the last of Chance’s buttons. Chance pulled him in for a deep kiss, because he needed to show Patrick what the words meant and he was completely robbed of speech.

  As the kiss continued, Chance worked on Patrick’s buttons. His hands were a little shaky, and he had to try more than once on a couple of them. But finally Patrick’s shirt was open. He pulled back to stare, running his fingers over the muscles and smooth skin. “God, you’re gorgeous,” he whispered.

  “You are,” Patrick countered, and Chance looked up. Patrick nodded. “You are. The most gorgeous man I know.”

  Chance felt his cheeks heat, and he shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he said, reaching up to cup Patrick’s face.

  Patrick gave a slightly crooked smile. “Are we having our first argument?”

  Chance chuckled. “I guess so. We’ll have to agree to disagree.”

  “That we will.” Patrick stepped back, taking Chance’s hand, and Chance raised an eyebrow. “Let’s get out of the kitchen, hmm?”

  With a nod Chance followed Patrick into the living room. “Wait, just a second,” Patrick said, hurrying around the end of the couch and yanking on the drawer to the end table.

  Chance’s eyebrows shot up when Patrick pulled out a box of condoms and a bottle of lube. “The living room?” he blurted, then wished he hadn’t said anything.

  Patrick looked up, the nervousness seeping back onto his face. “Uh, w-well,” he said, then cleared his throat. “Yeah, I… I didn’t want him in my bedroom.”

  Chance blinked, walked around the table, and pulled Patrick into his arms. “Why?” He knew his confusion was only making things worse, but he couldn’t quite work it out, and the need to understand would have eaten at him.

  “I… I… I just didn’t want him there.” Patrick refused to look at him, focused instead on the box of condoms Chance realized was still sealed. “I was hoping… well, I didn’t want him in that bed,” he whispered. “I thought….” He took a deep breath. “I hoped… if you agreed to go out with me… that we’d… and I just… wanted to keep it for you.”

  Chance was floored. Not only did they not actually fuck, but Patrick had kept Rhys out of the bedroom for Chance. He’d wanted to keep that only for them. “I…. You… I don’t know what to say,” Chance murmured, shaking his head.

  Patrick, cheeks bright red, looked up at Chance through his eyelashes. “You don’t have to say anything. I know it’s ridiculous….”

  Chance pulled himself together a bit. “No, it’s not,” he said firmly. He tilted Patrick’s face up to him and left a soft kiss on Patrick’s lips. He knew it shouldn’t matter what Patrick did before him. But it did, especially the stuff surrounding Rhys, and this felt really good. “It means a lot to me.”

  “Really?” Patrick asked.

  Chance nodded and smiled. “Yes.” He brushed his thumb over Patrick’s cheek. “Thank you.”

  “I’m glad. You’re welcome,” Patrick whispered, and then their lips were locked in another thorough kiss that completely scrambled Chance’s brains.

  He barely registered the trip into the bedroom. They spent it still kissing, breaking only briefly for a gasp of air before they went right back to it. He only realized where they were because Patrick stopped to throw the condoms and lube onto the bed. When he did, Chance took the moment to kick off his shoes and waited—a little impatiently—for Patrick to do the same.

  Then he had Patrick back in his arms and his mouth fastened back on the tanned skin. Patrick wove fingers through Chance’s hair, groans coming out as Chance bit at a shoulder, then neck. He didn’t want to let go of Patrick yet, even to get the shirt off, but he wanted the feel of skin to skin and moved just enough to push the fabric over shoulders. He nearly growled when his own was worked off, but then they were against each other again, hard muscles and soft skin touching.

  “God, you feel so good,” Patrick murmured, then started doing biting of his own.

  The sharp nip went straight to Chance’s cock, and he turned them and walked Patrick backward to the bed. “Lay back.” Chance guided Patrick onto the bed, and he stretched out, eyes glued to Chance’s every move. Chance took a few seconds to soak in the vision in front of him: Patrick half naked, hair spread out on the pillow, dark eyes full of heat and need for him. Chance felt his already-hard cock fill even more, straining against his jeans.

  He wanted to etch every detail onto his brain, remember every little bit of this. He wanted to take his time. So he moved over Patrick and leaned in to give another long, full kiss before he kissed his
way very slowly over Patrick’s chest. He paused to trace bits of Patrick’s tattoo with his lips. Chance knew the swirls, points, and geometric shapes that covered Patrick’s shoulder and upper arm had something to do with his profession—Patrick had talked about it once. Right now, though, Chance couldn’t think too much about what it meant. All he could think was it was a perfect spot to taste Patrick’s skin.

  He followed one particular point that led him back to the main part of Patrick’s chest and right to a nipple, which he did his best to torment thoroughly until Patrick nearly begged him to move on. Chance loved this, loved having Patrick under him like this, loved hearing the moans, whines, and pleas, all over the things he was doing.

  Patrick couldn’t seem to keep still either. His hands kept running over Chance—back, arms, hair—anywhere and everywhere, and Chance thrilled in the reactions he was getting. When he found a particularly sensitive spot near Patrick’s navel, he tormented it until Patrick bucked hard and groaned a very loud, “Fuck, Chance!”

  Chance looked up to see Patrick’s dark eyes fixed on him and Patrick panting hard. He turned back and brushed his lips over the very tempting treasure trail that led to the button on Patrick’s jeans. He popped it, pulled slowly at the zipper, and tugged the corners away as if he was unwrapping a gift.

  And that was, indeed, what it felt like. Because below the denim, he was treated to black silk that barely contained Patrick’s cock. The tip peeked just over the top, and Chance couldn’t miss the small wet spot that showed just how turned on Patrick was.

  He leaned in and ran his lips over the thick lump, thrilling in the sharp intake of breath it earned him. Patrick shifted, lifting his hips enough for Chance to tug the jeans down. He followed them with his lips, intending to taste every part of Patrick he could.

  When the jeans were down, he took the opportunity to remove socks, including his own, and tossed them off the end of the bed. He moved back up, teasing the other leg and pausing above Patrick’s straining length. He leaned in and nuzzled it, inhaling the musky scent, then reached up to pull the black briefs down.