Missing Linc (19 page)

From Mitch”s conversation, though, that clearly was not the case.

“He”s already gone, isn”t he?” she asked when Mitch disconnected the call. When he

nodded, she said, “What about his cell phone? Maybe he hasn”t left the city yet.” She waited

while he dialed that number as well.

Mitch sighed. “His voice mail is full. I can”t leave him a message.” He looked as

disappointed as she felt.

“Fuck.” He shook his head. “He came all the way here to see us, and we missed him.”

He looked at Tomi, his eyes filled with guilt. “I should have recharged my phone like you

told me to do. Now he probably thinks that we don”t want to be with him because we didn”t

respond.”

“Hey.” She touched his face. “It”s not your fault. We had no idea that we would ever

hear from Linc again, much less have him travel here to talk to us.”

Tomi laid her head against Mitch”s chest. “Now what?” Mitch remained silent.

Obviously, he didn”t have an answer for that one, either.

“It”s not supposed to end this way.” Tomi hadn”t meant to say that out loud, but it

didn”t make it any less true.

Mitch kissed the top of her head. “I know,” he whispered.

Tomi remained quiet as one thought kept flashing through her mind, growing stronger,

more persistent, until it suddenly seemed like a real possibility instead of a mere fantasy.

“I can teach anywhere,” she blurted out, putting a voice to her thoughts. “When I

visited the University of Puerto Rico, they had positions available for instructors with

credentials like mine.” She looked at Mitch, watching him closely, trying to gauge his reaction to her words.

After a moment, he slowly nodded.

“I can move my personal training business anywhere as well. People still need to work

out no matter where they live. I”m sure I could always work at one of the health clubs or the

hotels until I get some new clients lined up.”

She stared at him. “Are we seriously considering this? Are we really willing to

completely change our lives around and give up everything that we have here?” Tomi could

not believe they were even having this conversation. Just this morning, she”d thought she”d

never see Linc again, and now they were sitting here, talking about moving to another part

of the world in order to be with him. It should have seemed crazy, yet the only thing Tomi

felt was the excitement and anticipation of being with Linc again.

Mitch returned her stare. The look on his face was determined, his eyes certain. “For

the chance to have Linc in our life permanently, yeah, I”m positive.”

“Good.” She grinned. “So am I.” She leaned up, and Mitch met her halfway; his mouth

covered hers, his kiss was hot and slow. “I love you, Mr. Elliott.”

“I love you right back, Mrs. Elliott.” He nipped her bottom lip, her chin. His tongue slid

along the inside of her ear. “Come on,” he whispered before he stood up, took her hand, and

pulled her up from the couch.

“Where are we going?” She followed behind him as he led her to the bedroom.

Mitch glanced back at her with a smile on his face. “We”re going to see if there are any

flights leaving this morning to Puerto Rico that we can catch.”

*

Linc sat in his office chair with his eyes closed. He”d been home for several hours, and

he hadn”t managed to get any further than his favorite place of solace, feeling so physically

and emotionally drained that all he could do was sit there and lick his wounds. The truth of the matter was that he”d completely blown his chance to be with Mitch

and Tomi. There was no use in pretending otherwise, and it hurt like a son of a bitch to

admit.

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his desk and his head in his hands. He had

no one to blame but himself. After acting like a pussy for the past month, he”d finally grown

a pair of balls and decided to tell them the truth about how he really felt, and then he was

hurt when they didn”t feel the same way.

What did he expect them to do? He”d accused Mitch of being naive, yet he was the one

being unrealistic. Did he really think they would just welcome him back into their lives after

he treated them like shit and practically kicked them out of his house just a few weeks ago?

Linc snorted in disgust. He shouldn”t be surprised that they didn”t want to have anything to

do with him. If he were Mitch and Tomi, he wouldn”t, either. God, he was so fucking stupid.

“Christ.”

“No, it”s just me.” Linc glanced up at the sound of Pedro”s voice. He stood just inside the

doorway looking at Linc.

“How did you get in?”

“Rosa.” Of course. Linc should have known she”d call Pedro to tell him that Linc was

home. She worried over him as much as his family did.

“So, I take it things didn”t go too well.” Pedro leaned against his desk.

“What was your first clue?” Linc asked dryly.

Pedro laughed. “Well, I see you haven”t lost your sense of humor. That”s a good sign.”

He sobered. “What happened, Linc?”

Linc rubbed his hands over his face. “It”s over. They don”t want to be with me.” He

stood up from his desk and stared out the window, unable to stand seeing the pity he was

certain would be on his cousin”s face.

“Did you see them? Is that what they told you?” Linc sighed. “No, I didn”t see them, and no, they didn”t tell me that. Their silence spoke

loud and clear for them.”

“Well, I wouldn”t be too sure about that if I were you.”

Frowning, Linc turned around. “What the hell are you talk —” Anything he”d planned

to say died in throat.

“Look who I found outside.” Mitch and Tomi stood mere feet from him.

“I”ll just leave the three of you alone.” Pedro walked toward the door. “It”s good seeing

you both again.” To Tomi, he said, “I”ll let Tracee know that you”re here. I know she”ll want

to stop by and see you.” He paused and smiled. “I”ll make certain that she visits later, like

tomorrow, or maybe the day after that. I”m sure you all have a lot of…catching up to do.”

Pedro left without waiting for their response, not that anyone in the room seemed very

interested in giving him one. Their focus remained on each other instead. One moment, they

were standing still and the next, they were moving toward each other as though they were

thinking the exact same thing. They reached out for him, pulled him into an embrace, and

Linc held on tight, refusing to let go.

He leaned down, kissing Tomi with all the love he had inside him, before doing the

same thing to Mitch, pouring his apology, his regret into the kiss, before their lips separated.

“Please tell me I”m not dreaming. Tell me my jet lag hasn”t made me so exhausted that

I”m starting to hallucinate.”

“It”s no hallucination.” Mitch”s lips found his again. “We”re real, we”re here, and we

love you.” Those blue eyes held his with such intensity, it made his heart ache.

Linc”s eyes closed, and he groaned as he pulled them close. “You don”t know how badly

I”ve wanted to hear you say that.” He swallowed past the lump in his throat as he blinked

back tears. “God, I love you too, both of you…so much.” He held Tomi around the waist, lifting her just enough so that she could join in their

kiss. Their tongues stroked inside each other”s mouths, their moans rang out as they

whispered words of love and forgiveness to each other.

They made their way to the couch and sat down, with Tomi between them on their

laps, kissing and touching each other as eagerly and urgently as if they were doing it for the

first time.

“There”s so much I want to say to you.”

“Shh.” Mitch silenced him with another hungry kiss. “Later…need you.”

“Yeah.” Mitch was right. Whatever he had to say could wait. Right now, he needed

both of them in the worst way. Impatient hands pulled, snatched, and even tore clothes off,

throwing them in various places throughout the room. Desire made everyone far too anxious

to go slow and be careful.

Once their clothes disappeared, Linc shifted on the couch, pulling Tomi on top of him,

spreading her legs as wide as possible and pushing his hard dick inside her. Linc moaned

when their bare skin touched, their bodies connected together. He lost count of how many

times he”d dreamed of having this with them again, so afraid that it would never become a

reality.

He felt Mitch”s weight, solid and welcome, when he covered Tomi”s back, as he

carefully entered her from behind. Linc felt Mitch”s cock slowly sliding into her anus,

rubbing against his shaft as he went deeper. He watched Tomi”s face the entire time as it

changed from a slight discomfort to a look of pure bliss in a matter of seconds.

There was nothing slow or gentle about their lovemaking. This was about urgency and

possession, the need to lay claim and take ownership. When Linc finished with them, there

would be no doubt in either of their minds that they belonged to him, just as much as he

belonged to them. He fucked Tomi hard, thrusting deep until she was screaming his name, telling him

that she loved him as she came, her wet pussy clenching around his cock.

Linc pulled his still-hard dick out of her, desperate to be inside Mitch as badly as he”d

needed Tomi. Mitch seemed to understand as well, and he followed Linc”s lead, easing out of

Tomi and lying back on the couch, offering himself to Linc.

Linc didn”t waste time, pressing into Mitch”s hole, fucking him wildly, angling his

thrusts so that he hit Mitch”s prostate every time. It didn”t take long before they were both

yelling, and Linc”s seed spilled deep inside as Mitch”s cum sprayed over his stomach.

They collapsed together in a wet, sticky heap. Linc felt Tomi behind him, moving up

his body, placing warm, soft kisses along his spine until her warm body rested on his back.

Linc lost track of how long they lay that way, seeming perfectly content to let the sound of

their breathing be the only noise in the room. It didn”t bother Linc one bit. As far as he was

concerned, they could stay that way forever, and he”d never complain.

“We didn”t know that you came to see us.” Tomi”s soft voice broke the silence. “We

didn”t get your message until after you were gone.”

“It”s okay.” Linc reached behind him and caressed one rounded globe of her ass.

“You”re here now, and that”s all that matters.”

Mitch looked up at him and smiled. “I can”t believe you came all the way to New York

for us.”

“It”s no big deal.” He shrugged and looked away, attempting to downplay Mitch”s

words. “Besides, you did the same thing for me.”

“No.” Mitch shook his head. “It”s not the same thing.” He disagreed. Mitch”s hand

cupped his face, practically forcing Linc to meet his eyes. “We don”t feel the same way about

Puerto Rico that you do about New York. Yet in spite of how you felt, you came anyway,

and that makes it a very big deal to us.” Linc nodded, unwilling to trust his voice to speak without breaking. He traced Mitch”s

lips with his finger. “I”d do anything for the two of you,” he managed to whisper before

kissing Mitch softly. He felt Tomi move and then her lips joined theirs. Jesus, this felt so

perfect, so right. He couldn”t lose this, lose them, not now, not ever again.

“I don”t want you to go.”

“Don”t worry.” Mitch kissed him hard, his tongue pushing deep into his mouth, his

hand reaching between them to stroke Linc”s semierection. “We”re not going anywhere.”

Linc paused. “No, I mean, I don”t want you to go back…to New York. I want you to

stay here in Puerto Rico with me.” He shifted until he sat on the couch between them.

He looked from Tomi to Mitch. “I know it”s a lot to expect, and I probably have no

right to ask it of you, but I…I just love you both. I need you so fucking much, and I don”t

think I could stand living without you.”

“Well, that”s good to know.” Tomi had tears in her eyes. “We”re not willing to live

without you, either.”

Linc pulled her close, so overwhelmed by her words that he couldn”t speak. “Thank

you.” He kissed her. “Love you.”

“Like I said, we”re not going anywhere.” Mitch gripped him by the neck, pulling Linc”s

face toward his for a kiss, his hand stroking Linc”s now fully erect shaft. “Although” — he

smiled suddenly — “you might get tired of having two unemployed lovers living off of you, at

least until we can find jobs.”

“Take your time.” Linc moaned. “You can live off me as long as you need to.

Everything that I have is yours.”

Tomi kissed up the column of his neck. “Everything?” she whispered in his ear. “What

about this?” Her hand joined Mitch”s on his cock.

“Oh, yeah.” Linc”s eyes rolled back.

One of Mitch”s thick fingers traced the crease of his ass. “This too?” He started to pant. “Uh-huh.”

“And this?” Tomi”s hand covered his heart. “Is this all ours too?”

Linc opened his eyes and looked into their faces. He picked up Mitch”s hand and placed

it on top of Tomi”s. “Especially that.” He looked from one to the other. “Every beat, every

breath, will always belong to you for as long as you”ll have me.”

“How does forever sound?” Mitch asked. “Because that”s how long we need you in our

lives.” Their mouths met in the middle for a slow, breathtaking kiss.

Tomi pulled back first. “Want you.” Her voice was soft, needy.

“You still hungry?” Linc”s teeth pulled at her bottom lip.

“For the two of you?” Tomi looked from him to Mitch, those warm brown eyes