Saying Goodbye (2 page)

~

Preoccupied, Mark made sure the lights were off, the thermostat was lowered, and he had his medications and phone
in his pockets
. He was about to set the alarm when someone leapt on him, nearly knocking him to the floor. Josh Elliot, legs wrapped around Mark’s hips,
held Mark around the neck and began kissing him.

“Joshua. Calm down.” Mark tried to avoid the kisses.

“I want you there. You will come.”

“Yes. Yes, love. I was just shutting things off.” Mark felt Josh’s cock
poking
hi
m
. “Joshua, behave.” He tried to nudge the wild
,
young man off.

“I can’t help it. I am in love with you.” Josh licked Mark’s neck.
“God, you smell good.”

Knowing Josh always got carried away, and his lover Tanner, tolerated it graciously, Mark disengaged himself as gently as possible and set Josh on his feet. “Let me set the alarm and we shall be on our way. All right?”

Josh, appearing dazed, ran his
palm
up and down his cock through his jeans. “Do we get to see you naked? Huh? Jerk off on you?”

Mark put the code into the alarm pad and nudged Josh out. He
double-
locked the door and jiggled the handle to make sure it was secure.

A hard cock rubbed side to side across his ass.

“Joshua, go. I’m in
no mood, love. I’m sorry. L
eave me be at the moment. All right?” Mark turned, cupped the pretty young man’s face and smiled to try and soften his words.

“Anything for you.” Josh pecked his lips and walked to the limousine where a driver was waiting near an open back door.

Mark looked in the direction of Billy and Alex’s home, which was a few blocks away
,
and sighed heavily.

This was no good. Leaving Billy on his own. No good at all.

Mark glanced back at his ho
us
e, and every bone in his body rebelled against going. Going to that horrid estate. Leaving…
leaving…

Leaving
Billy.

Before he climbed into the back of the black stretch limo, he chewed a valium
quickly
, pocketing the pill vial and peeked in.

Josh reached out and nearly pulled Mark by the hair to get him inside the car.

Tanner whacked Josh
to stop him
. “Leave the guy alone! Christ, Josh!”

Josh pouted and rubbed his shoulder
from the smack
. “I never get to see him.”

Mark held up his hand. “It’s all right, love.” He noticed Steve’s snarl and a
n open gap
on the seat beside him. Mark made for it, nearly having to crawl in the small
space
filled with men. “Hello, gents.”

They greeted him, and those that could reach, kissed Mark’s cheek. Mark noticed Steve drinkin
g, a permanent frown on his lips
. Mark pointed to the bottle. “I’ll have whatever that is.”

Colt poured Mark a glass.

“A little early for booze?” Blake asked, one eyebrow raised.

Hunter elbowed him. “Hey, it’s sort of our
late
Christmas
-New Year
’s
celebration.”

Mark drank the strong whiskey and looked out of the tinted window as they drew nearer to Billy and Alex’s home before they made for the highway. The urge he had to scream for the driver to stop, to run out and beg Billy to come was
powerful
. But instead, he downed the alcohol and held out his glass for Colt to pour another.

Colt said to
Ashton
, “Time to bring Mark to your meetings?”

It wasn’t a secret Ash
ton
was a recovering drug
addict
and alcoholic.

“Oh, do shut up.” Mark narrowed his eyes at Colt, who just laughed at Mark and tried to fill the glass as the car shook
while they drove
.

“Seems weird without Alex.” Hunter held Blake’s hand on his lap.

“How’s the movie shoot going?” Tanner asked.

“I’ve no clue.” Mark downed the second shot,
winced
at the
strong
taste and
fiery
burn and closed his eyes. As he tried to feel the effects of the pill and booze, his eyes
filled
with tears. Should he hate Adam for this? F
or dragging him back to the estate
he despised? One where he was abused by his father, beaten
and
tormented for being gay,
yet ironically
leered at like a sexual object
by the beast
? Treated with disdain by his mother
and
pawned off on nannies?

Who
m
should he hate?

Mark sobbed
but
bit it back.
Only myself
.

An arm snaked behind his shoulder. Mark lay his head on Steve and rested. It wasn’t a long ride to LAX, and a short flight to Sacramento, but it would blow the whole day. All for what? To fulfill an obligation Adam Lewis had to his friend.

For Adam. I shall do this for Adam
.

~

Jack sat in a private
airport
lounge eating appetizers as his group waited for Mark’s to arrive. They had cleared
security and the pilots had arrived along with the
ir
private flight attendant. Jack picked up his phone and scrolled through numbers, then put the phone to his ear.

“What?”

“Where the fuck are you
, Richfield
?”

“Shut up, He-man. We’re
at
the x-ray machines. Traffic was horrid.”

Jack looked at the other men, laughing
and
drinking, as if this were a fun weekend with the boys.
Although they
had one before
, t
his was not the same.

Jack checked to see where Adam was
located
at the moment. He was laughing and drinking a cocktail w
ith Donny Rothschild, one of two identical
twins, and Pete Harrison, Donny’s boyfriend and Jack’s law associate.

Jack
said into the phone, “I don’t want to fucking go.”

As if he were stifling a scream, Mark replied, “You think I do? Huh? Back to that bloody estate! I’m about to explode.”

Jack again looked around. “I want to defect.”

“It will kill Adam. Look, Jackie, I can’t. I can’t
discuss
this now. Let me get through this bloody security bollocks. I have to take off my bleedin’ clothing!”

Jack hung up. He pocketed his phone and caught Adam staring at him. Adam excused himself from the conversation he was in and approached.

“Stop giving me looks that could kill.” Adam sipped his drink. “Where the fuck is Mark
?
” He took out his phone.

“He’s getting through airport
security. They hit traffic.” Jack gave Adam a sneer. “You know what this is doing to him?”

Adam finished his
drink
to the ice and set the empty
glass
down on a table. “I know. Fuck!” He clenched his fist. “I was hoping we could have a good time, you know
; l
ike we did last time. We had a great weekend.”

“Mark
is
fall
ing
apart
.
” Jack clenched his teeth so he didn’t scream. “He shouldn’t be going to that fucking place
.
So?” Jack tried not to cause a scene
,
but some of their friends were beginning to take notice. “You placed Ewan-fucking-Gallagher and the asshole who seduced you
,
his lover
,
Dr Jason Philips, before Mark?”

“He didn’t seduce me. I seduced him. And fuck, Jack, that was years ago
.
” Adam could see Keith and Carl tilt their heads in confusion at what he and Jack could be arguing about.

Soon a loud commotion was heard and Jack spotted the rest of the men coming into the lounge. He looked for Mark.

Mark appeared slightly off. Jack knew the look. Booze and pills.

He pushed Adam aside and headed towards Mark.

Jack embraced him, kissing his long hair. “Baby.”

Mark made a hiccup sound as if he were about to cry. He hid his face in Jack’s shirt.

Jack kissed his cheek
and
neck. “Don’t go. No one says you have to go.”

Adam stood near, caressing Mark’s back. “Babe?”

“Adam, love.” Mark braved a smile and kissed him.

“I’m sorry. Don’t come. It’s okay.”

Jack looked for Steve. He had gone to the bar for a drink and to greet the other men.

Standing t
all
, Mark faked his fashion model smile. “For you, Mr Lewis, anything.”

Jack could see right through it. Mark was a mess.

“Are you sure?” Adam cupped Mark’s jaw. “I can send you back home with the driver
.
”

“Nonsense.” Mark brushed him off.

Jack grabbed Mark’s arm as it appeared he was unsteady on his feet. “When was the last time you ate?”

“Don’t start on me, Jackie. I’m in no mood.” Mark’s demeanor changed drastically and he broke out of Jack’s grip to greet his friends. Keith and Carl reached out for a warm hug to welcome him.

Jack glared at Adam. “He’s doped up. Payback’s a bitch, Lewis.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Adam glared at Jack.

Jack walked away, out of the lounge, and stood by the huge glass windows looking at the private jet they were taking to Sacramento.
Jac
k knew what he had always fantasized doing
.
M
aybe life was too short
a
nd he should just do it.

Officer
Jeff Chandler sat in his patrol car beside his partner, husband,
and voracious
lover, Mickey Stanton.

It was a quiet Friday afternoon
…
so far. Jeff was behind the wheel of the patrol car, and Mickey had his hand between Jeff’s legs, caressing his stiff dick under his uniform pants. It took a long time for Mickey to be allowed back on duty after a bank
robbery
shooting
had
gone bad. Mickey had been shot in the shoulder
,
placed on leave, then
on
light duty,
and
now, after months
of recuperating and paperwork
, was back at Jeff’s side. Jeff went out of his mind during their time apart. Where was he without his Mick? Lost.
Holding onto calls for hours, hiding in out of the way places so he didn’t have to work. He had used all his vacation and sick time, anything
he had available
, to not come to work alone.

They had backed
the patrol car
into a
n empty
church parking lot
.
T
he winter light waning, and the
dispatcher’s
radio divinely silent. Jeff thought about that day, the day he was asked to perform as a sergeant, ‘acting sergeant’
,
and that was the day he almost lost his husband in a shooting. Never again would he let Mickey down like that.

He looked at his twenty-
eight-year-
old lover. They were only one year apart
;
Jeff the older of the two.
T
hey acted like juvenile delinquents
, which Jeff loved
. Seeing Mickey’s gorgeous profile
,
his big brawny body in that dark uniform, Kevlar vest, badge and gun, Jeff’s cock throbbed under Mickey’s fingers.

Jeff put his arm behind Mickey’s head and drew him to his lips. Mickey shifted in the tight confines of the front seat and they kissed. Jeff straddled wider, opening his mouth for Mickey’s tongue to explore inside.

Mickey growled. “Wanna fuck you.”

Jeff chuckled against his lips. Oh yes. They had. On duty. In uniform. Indeed.

It’s what made this job tolerable
; M
ickey Stanton, his husband.

As their kissing heated up, Mickey opened Jeff’s uniform pants, under Jeff’s gun belt, and rooted out Jeff’s cock. Once Jeff felt it exposed from his zipper and briefs, he parted from the kiss and urged Mickey’s head to his lap.

His cock was engulfed into a hot mouth and sucked deep and hard. “I love you, Stanton. Oh, holy shit. I love you.”

Mickey purred and his head bobbed on Jeff’s lap. Jeff relaxed. They had done this so
many times, he was able to enjoy it
and come quickly. Mickey knew just how to
make him come
.
Years of practice.

And the sex? At home? They were animals. Didn’t matter who topped who, they fucked like crazed wolves.

“Yeah. Yeah…” Jeff raised his hips off the seat, feeling Mickey trying to get at his balls and ass. “You dirty cop. You dirty fucking pig,” Jeff
said, growling and close to a
climax.

Mickey sucked faster, harder, and
placed his hand on Jeff’s jaw
roughly
,
trapping Jeff against the headrest. Jeff opened his lips and sucked Mickey’s fingers,
and
then the climax began.

His mouth went slack and Jeff felt his entire groin swirl in pleasure. “Mick…” He felt Mickey pushing his fingers into Jeff’s mouth as if it were his asshole and Jeff came,
rais
ing his body off the seat and moaning in
ecstasy
.

Once Jeff
had come, Mickey sat up, panting, opening his pants and exposing his cock. He didn’t wait for Jeff to offer, but grabbed Jeff by his hair and forced him to his lap.

Jeff
engulf
ed Mickey’s cock to the base and gripped Mickey’s balls through his dark uniform pants, sucking hard and fast.

“Christ! Oh, Christ!” Mickey humped Jeff’s mouth and gripped Jeff’s head, fucking him orally.

Jeff’s mouth filled with hot cum and he swallowed again and again, until Mickey’s cock stopped throbbing.

Jeff heard Mick say, “Sit up.”

Jeff was shoved to the driver’s side as Mickey fastened his pants and J
eff made sure his were
,
too
.

A patrol car was coming their way
, a
newer model, with a low light bar,
and
gleaming from a wash and wax.

Jeff wiped his chin and ran his hand over his hair.

As the patrol car drew closer, Mick muttered, “Sharpe.”

“Fuck.” Jeff rolled his window down and tried to act friendly and casual.

Billy pulled his patrol car so close to Jeff’s side, the mirrors nearly touched. Billy and Jeff’s windows were now open side by side.

In his crisp
-
pressed uniform with his captain bars on his collar, Captain Sharpe
’s aura of pure power and strength felt like boiling heat against Jeff’s skin.

Mick leaned over Jeff and waved. “Hey, Captain.”

Jeff knew Billy had seen him sit up. He and Mickey were breaking so many fucking rules by being partners while married, he knew their time
together
was limited. They had kept everything secret, using Mickey’s sister Aura’s address as Mickey’s, never told a soul about the wedding, never wore rings
…
but.

Captain Sharpe, by the book in every way, knew
it all
.

They had been warned
by Billy himself
.

Billy did not look pleased.

Jeff knew Alexander was in Rome, shoo
ting his first big feature film
with a hot co-star named Randy Dawson. It wasn’t a secret between the friends that Billy was homicidal at the thought of his husband
,
Alex
, a man twenty years his junior, away from his side and doing who-the-hell-knew-what, with the pretty Italian studs.

“What the fuck were you doing, Chandler?” Billy asked.

“Huh?” Jeff actually trembled from the intimidation. “Doing? It’s quiet. We were taking a break.” He picked up an empty latte cup they had drank earlier in the shift. “W
e were
having coffee,
and
then we were
going to
head out to patrol the neighborhoods.”

Mickey leaned over Jeff and asked, “Why?”

Billy gave them both a look as if they may have thought he was an idiot.

Jeff whacked Mickey to shut up.

“So,” Jeff asked, “You hear from Alex? Adam called us and said everyone was going up to the estate this weekend. Why didn’t you go?”

Billy pointed a finger at them. “I fucking warned you.”

Mickey threw up his hands. “What?” he yelled in exasperation. “We’re taking a five minute break
.
Come on, Billy
.
We get the job done.”

Jeff watched Mickey tap keys on the car’s computer. Then Mickey said, “Nothing’s holding. Everyone in our district is clear.”

Billy
shifted
the patrol car into reverse, squealing his tires. He spun the car so sharply to make a U-turn, it smoked as the rubber burned, then he used the heavy-block engine to show off its power and tore out of the lot.

Blue s
moke, the reek of burning rubber, and gasoline were left
heavy in the air
.

Jeff was stunned. “Oh fuck.”

“What did he see?” Mickey sat perfectly still.

“Me leaning over your lap.”

“He wouldn’t
pull us apart
.” Mickey shook his head.

“Mark’s gone.
Alex is away.
What do you think?”

Mickey dug out his phone and his hands trembled.

Jeff asked, “What are you doing?”

“Calling Mark
.
”

Jeff put the car in drive and left the church lot, so upset he couldn’t think straight. If he didn’t have Mickey in the car with him on patrol, he’d quit.