Sandpipers' Secrets (14 page)

“Soliciting,” Brody said, his voice small but infinitely brave as he looked between them, meeting their eyes steadily—first Zak’s then Lark’s. “It wasn’t the first time, but it was the last. When I turned eighteen, I got out and was probably about to end up doing more of the same, but then I found out about Wolf. I never turned a trick or stole or… I turned it all around. Ended up doing odd jobs whenever I could and…yeah.”

Zak watched Brody straighten his shoulders.

“Wolf was the best thing that ever happened to me. Before him, I really…I just…once I knew, I just had to look after him, and I knew I had to get it together. I didn’t want him to have to go through what I went through. The best thing our mom ever did for either of us was to make me Wolf’s legal guardian when I turned twenty-one.”

Brody fiddled with a loose thread on the afghan, then chuckled without any real humour colouring his voice. “Hell of a twenty-first birthday present, huh? But I was so happy. She was dead six months later.

It could have—” Brody shivered.

“How’d she die?” Lark asked softly.

“Drug overdose.”

“I’m sorry,” Zak said, not sure what else either of them could say in the face of such a terrible tale.

“Thanks, but…well…it was bound to happen. I’m just glad Wolf’s too young to really understand too
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much about it all. Before she went, I did my best to protect him from it.”

“So you’ve been looking after Wolf all his life?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t easy being around Mom and her addictions. She used Wolf to get what she wanted from me a lot, but at least she agreed to make me his guardian.”

Lark reached up and turned Brody’s face towards him. He leaned in for a long, sweet kiss.

“You’re a good man, Brody McAllister,” Lark whispered against Brody’s lips, and Zak watched a deep blush tint the skin of Brody’s cheeks a delicious hot pink.

Zak gently shifted Brody’s face towards him, very aware the tale wasn’t anywhere near finished yet. He softened his next question with a small kiss.

“What happened tonight?” Zak asked gently.

Brody looked away, the blush on his cheeks deepening to an almost impossible brick red. “When we moved here, I took a place over on fifth. Down by the dock.”

Zak knew where Brody was talking about. While it wasn’t the worst area, it had certainly seen better days.

“It was cheap and clean. Best of all, after we moved in we met Mrs. Tolimay. She’s just the sweetest, most…” Brody cleared his throat again. “She agreed to babysit for me while I found work. It seemed like the most perfect, amazing stroke of luck. And it was. But last Monday—the night I had to cancel coming over—she had a funny turn. We took her to the hospital, but they weren’t very helpful and by the time we got seen, she was fine again. I didn’t…I mean she’s getting on and all, but she really did seem fine, I swear she was. I would never have left Wolf with her if she hadn’t been okay. Well…I mean she’s a bit forgetful, but…I didn’t think…she wouldn’t hurt Wolf and I thought…”

Zak could see Brody beginning to edge towards panic. It seemed the whole thing had suddenly caught up with him with the realisation that Wolf might have been in danger. Zak wrapped his arms around Brody’s trembling shoulders and pulled him in for a tight hug. He saw Lark snuggling closer and offering his comfort as well.

“Ssh. It’s okay. Don’t—”

“Oh, God! No it’s not! This afternoon…I was just so tired. I only meant to rest my eyes, because Mrs.

Tolimay had been acting a little more forgetful and spaced out than normal, and I was getting worried, but…somehow she started a fire. I got us out okay, but… What if that had happened when I wasn’t there? They might have both…Wolf could have—”

“Brody—”

“When we first started living with her I swear she was fine. In fact, she was great. But, I don’t know, the last few days she just got really bad. I thought she was just forgetting to take her medication, so I made sure she got all her tablets on time and…she seemed okay again. I thought she was going to be fine.

Then—”

“Wolf’s fine, Brody. He’s going to be just fine,” Zak’s firm, even voice didn’t seem to be working to
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reassure him this time.

“I need to see him. I just…I need to see him breathing.” Brody leapt up and ran out of the room.

* * * *

It wasn’t surprising. Zak knew he’d feel exactly the same way if Lark ever came that close to—

Zak caressed the arm Lark had draped loosely across him and refused to even think about it. He let the peace and quiet soothe him and allowed his mind to drift. Refusing to focus on anything in case his mind started to dwell on something he couldn’t even handle in his imagination.“

“Got room for one more?”

“Brody!” Zak struggled with Lark as they both rushed to sit up at the same time.

“Don’t get up. I’d rather come to you.” Brody quickly positioned himself back where he had been before he had hurried away to check on Wolf—right in between Lark and Zak, pressed up as closely as possible to both of them.

“I didn’t expect to see you again tonight.” Zak watched Brody closely as he pulled the afghan back over them. He looked calmer. More relaxed and composed now.

Brody shrugged. “I couldn’t settle.”

Lark reached across and cupped Brody’s cheek. “That’s pretty understandable.”

It was an innocent gesture—a gentle caress of comfort and support. But something changed in Brody’s expression the moment Lark touched him. Passion and longing and desperate need flared to life in his eyes.

Brody lurched forward and took Lark’s mouth in a hot, demanding kiss that was startling in its intensity.

It went on and on until finally the two had to pull apart to catch their breaths in shallow, panting gasps.

Before Zak could work out what to do, Lark pushed the afghan off their laps and straddled Brody’s thighs.

“Lark…” Zak wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but Lark ignored him anyway, so it didn’t matter.

Taking Brody’s face in his hands to hold him still, Lark leaned in and took possession of his lips.

Working steadily, he pushed the kiss deeper and worked his tongue in until soon they were moving and stroking across one another passionately. Moans of pleasure filled the room as Brody seemed to lose himself in Lark’s mouth.

Perhaps this was just what Brody needed.

Reaching between his lovers, Zak carefully undid their buttons and zippers to free both their hard, leaking cocks while they continued to kiss and groan. Twisting to kneel on the coach, Zak reached in and wrapped his hands around both cocks. Sliding and working them together, he merged the pre-cum that wept freely from their slits, massaging it down their combined shafts in a slick, even coating.

When both Lark and Brody began to thrust towards each other and into Zak’s hands, the trickle of pre-cum began to flow thicker and faster. Zak wriggled his way in between.

It was awkward as hell and only possible because both men where lean and flexible, but eventually Zak was able to lick the tips of the cocks in his hands. He bathed them repeatedly, relishing the sweet-salty taste that flowed over his tongue and the increasingly desperate sounds of the men above him.

Determined to get every last drop of the precious seed from them, Zak opened his mouth wide and did his best to take in the heads of both hard shafts at once. Stroking his tongue over and around their tips, Zak closed his eyes as the first hot spatters of cum washed over his tongue and hit the back of his throat.

He swallowed around the cocks in his mouth awkwardly, lapping with his tongue to try to catch every drop. He wasn’t sure who shot first, but soon they were both producing so much cum, no matter how hard he tried, some spilt out of his mouth and dribbled down his chin.

When the very last of the convulsive thrusts and jerks subsided, Zak pulled away to sit up. He closed his eyes as he savoured the moment. Suddenly, the couch shifted a little and he felt a tongue begin to lick at his chin and lips, cleaning off the last of the spilled cum.

When Zak felt someone begin to tug on his waistband and lower his sweatpants over his aching hard shaft, he lifted his hips to help and opened his eyes to pay attention.

Brody stared back at him. All his pain, self-recrimination, and fear were gone. Instead, there was hunger, and a passionate look Zak could see every day of his life and never get bored of. After one last lick of Zak’s chin and a tiny smile, Brody lowered himself down beside Lark, who was already beginning to tease at Zak’s foreskin—pushing and rimming it and tonguing the sensitive fold. Zak thrust forward to give them plenty of room to work, and Brody’s tongue joined in the delicate, wonderful play.

Hot, wet mouths moved over him, joined to kiss, then pulled back to lick. Sharing Zak’s cock between them, Lark and Brody worked at the long, thick shaft until Zak knew he couldn’t last much longer. He gently ran his hands over both his beautiful lover’s heads, feeling the silky smooth blond strands, so different, yet the same precious weight and feel, slip through his fingers.

“Ahhhh! Oh! Gonna—” Zak tried to warn, but it was too late.

Ribbons of cum splashed out over their faces. Both of them diligently used their tongues to lick and catch the spray, or to clean each other until every last drop was caught and enjoyed.

Collapsing back against the arm of the couch, Zak spread his arms wide and invited Lark and Brody into his embrace. He gave a deep, contented sigh as they climbed up to rest against him.

“Thank you,” Brody finally croaked.

Craning his neck with some difficulty, Zak managed to place a kiss on Brody’s head, then turn and do the same to Lark.

Words that were too much to say right now, thoughts and feelings that were too fresh and raw to be spoken, bubbled up and tingled across Zak’s lips. He wanted to say the words so badly he almost relented, but in the end he knew it wasn’t time. Soon perhaps, once things were settled between them, but not right now. For now, Zak simply lay back and enjoyed the feeling of holding the two gorgeous men in his arms.

My gorgeous men, he reminded himself. All he had to do was convince Brody.

Barefoot, an apron protecting his best jeans and the pale blue T-shirt that emphasised his eyes, Lark whisked the pancake batter briskly and watched the creamy mixture swirl and coat the sides of the bowl with a smooth, even layer.Perfect . He swayed his hips from side to side in a little happy dance—congratulating himself on a job well done. Everything was just right.

He’d heard Brody and Wolf starting to move around about half an hour ago and set to work on making them a special breakfast straight away. By the time Brody had the little boy cleaned up and they emerged, everything would be ready to make them fresh, piping hot stacks of fluffy goodness.

Lark grinned. While he didn’t know much about kids, Lark figured Wolf was likely to be starving after last night’s adventure. And he really wanted them to feel welcome. Actually, he wanted them to feel like they had come home.

Lark had to admit he was a little nervous. He wasn’t fooling himself. There was a lot riding on this morning. It could go either way right now, but he was determined to rig the dice with whatever means he had available, and they said the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. Personally, he thought maybe it was a little further south than that, but who was he to argue with conventional wisdom? And feeding the man’s kid brother seemed like a pretty good idea, too.

Brody had needed to spend the night watching over Wolf. He had still been too stressed to do anything else, and Lark could understand that. But once Brody disappeared into the spare room, Lark and Zak had stayed up, talking and trying to work out their next move.

One thing was certain. Today, they all needed to have a good long talk about what came next. Lark felt like jogging on the spot and shaking out his limbs the way he’d seen professional runners do before a big race.

This was it. Time to put their cards on the table and see what happened.

Just as the butterflies started doing a little fandango in his stomach again, Lark glanced up to see Brody stepping into the kitchen, Wolf perched on his hip. The small, still slightly damp tow-haired boy turned wide, pale blue eyes on him, and Lark instantly saw the family resemblance. Brody and Wolf had the exact same, beautiful, intelligent eyes.

Lark watched as Wolf looked him over carefully, before focusing all his attention on the bowl where he continued to lazily stir the pancake mixture.

“Hi,” Brody said, hefting the little boy a little higher on his hip.

“Good morning. How do you boys feel about pancakes and fruit for breakfast?” Lark asked, trying not to notice how uncertain Brody looked.

So many things needed to be sorted out. The tension sizzled and rode over Lark’s skin. He just wanted to make it stop. Seeing Brody looking tense and unsettled in their home felt…wrong.

Why did everything have to be so complicated, anyway? In Lark’s opinion, they didn’t. Brody and Wolf needed a home; he and Zak had one. And that was it. But as usual, no one seemed to see how easy it could all be. Not the way he could.

“Umm…okay,” Brody hedged.

Suddenly the little boy’s eyes drifted across the counter and came to rest on the bowls of fruit Lark had prepared.

“Brody,” the little boy whispered in awe, “they got strawberries and the blue ones.”

Lark chuckled. “You like blueberries and strawberries, huh?”

Wolf nodded enthusiastically, his eyes never leaving the glistening fruit.

“Want to help me get them ready?”

Wolf didn’t seem to need any further invitation. He began to squirm and wiggle on Brody’s hip, wanting to be put down.