Shadows Fall (32 page)

He sucked in a breath and then gasped out a few curses. “Oh,
fuck
.”

“Jesus, Charlie, you gotta take it slow. Don’t want to hurt you.”

“No it’s…good…just took me by surprise. Please don’t stop.”

All of it was said between gasps, and he’d gone back to rutting against the sheets so I figured he was telling the truth. And,
fuck
, if he wasn’t the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. All broad-shouldered, trim-waisted and sinewy, with thighs like goddamn tree trunks, he was certainly the most beautiful man that had ever been in my bed. The best part was that he trusted me, and right in that moment, I fucking
owned
him.

Just to prove it, I picked up speed and put a little power into the thrusts. Charlie began babbling incoherently and gripping the sheets until his knuckles turned white. I thought he actually might be close to coming, so I slowed down again and leaned across his back to whisper in his ear.

“Do you want to come like this?” I asked, nipping at his earlobe and smiling when he shivered. “Or do you want me to fuck you?” I was pretty sure I knew what the answer would be, but it never hurt to ask.

“This,” he said quickly. “Just this, for now.” He gasped when I gave him another slow, deep thrust. “But may the other…someday.” He ended the words on a long moan, and I knew he wouldn’t last much longer.

Sitting back up, I started a steady rhythm of fucking him with the toy and with my free hand, I reached down to tug on his balls.

Charlie huffed, as if all the air in his chest had suddenly left him. “Please. Touch me,” he choked.

My own cock pulsed at the ragged command, and I knew what he needed. I squirmed a hand beneath him, gripping his shaft, and he raised his hips some more to accommodate me. It was an awkward angle, but I could handle it for the short time it would take him to come.

I stroked as much of him as I could reach with a heavy, rough touch, and I tried to time it with the thrusts of the synthetic dick. Charlie shivered and writhed, rocking back and forth between grinding against my hand and pushing back into the toy. I watched the tension in his back and shoulders build and build until he finally fell apart. With a broken moan, he lost his rhythm, jerking his hips in a wild cadence until liquid heat covered my hand.

I’d been biting the inside of my cheek to keep from coming myself, until I tasted blood. I let go of him and gently removed the dildo, and Charlie stretched out until his body seemed liquid, melting into the sheets. He sighed and looked over at me from where his face was pressed against the bed.

I was worried that he’d freak out and realize he’d just basically been fucked, albeit not by a real dick, but he just gave me a crooked, satisfied grin. “That was…oh my God,” he said, his eyes closing briefly as if just the memory of it was enough to turn him on all over again.

I smiled back at him, more than a little proud of myself. “Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah.” He bit his lip and his gaze swept down my body and lingered on my straining erection. “What about you? What do you need?”

I chuckled. “You don’t look like you’re in any condition to move, much less get me off. Just lay there—if you don’t mind me using you as my sex puppet.”

His brows drew together because he obviously didn’t know what I meant, but his smile remained. A hairsbreadth away from coming from just the slightest touch to my dick, I slithered along his back until I was draped atop him. I kissed the back of his neck and slid my hands down his arms until our fingers linked together.

My cock had nestled itself in his crease like it belonged there and I gave an experimental push, just rubbing my shaft up and down that furrow of skin. It was almost too good. “Just this…Okay? I just want to feel you.”

“Okay,” he breathed. “Perfect.”

As I rolled my hips to get that flawless pressure, I kissed, bit, and licked his neck, shoulders, and any other patch of skin I could reach. The whole time we held hands—it should have been absurdly sappy but, like Charlie said, it was perfect. Picking up my pace, I rode his ass like I was really fucking him. I thrust hard, once, twice, and again, until I spilled my pleasure between us.

“Christ.”

“Yeah,” Charlie agreed heartily.

I heaved my liquefied body off of him and flopped onto my back with my head on the pillows. Charlie grunted as he pushed himself off the mattress and crawled over, staying upright only long enough to get to me before he collapsed—on top of me.

My breath left me with an “
oof!
” but I loved the feel of his weight holding me down.

“Sorry,” he said, starting to move.

I wrapped my arms around his heavy torso and squeezed until he stopped. “Nope.”

He laughed against my ear, making me squirm. “As you wish,” he said, nuzzling my neck and shoving a hairy thigh between my legs. The hair tickled my over-sensitive groin, but I didn’t want to move.

“Okay, Farm Boy,” I joked, slapping his ass. I got cum on my hand, but I didn’t care.

“Huh?”

“You know,
The Princess Bride
. As you wish?”

“Um…”

“Okay, we are so watching that movie the next time you stay over.”

“All right….as you wish.”

I giggled and swatted his side. And then I snuggled into his big warm body and promptly lost consciousness.

Chapter Twenty-three

An incessant snapping noise pulled Charlie out of a deep, fucked out sleep. He was pretty sure the sound was coming from some kind of termite boring its way into his eardrum, and even that wasn’t enough to get him to open his eyes or move even slightly.

He was still in the exact same position in which he’d passed out, flopped on top of Titus with his face buried in the crook of his neck and shoulder. Charlie inhaled deeply and smiled, content not just because memories of what Titus had done to him were still buzzing around inside him, but because he was simply happy to be there in bed with the man. If only that damned infernal noise would stop.

Charlie nuzzled Titus’s neck, and he sighed, his arms locking around Charlie’s ribcage. For one brief, blissful moment, he thought Titus might be ready for round two—whatever that might entail—until he felt the body underneath him tense. Reluctantly, he raised his head and opened his eyes. Titus wasn’t looking at him, he was looking over Charlie’s shoulder.

Turning his head to follow that gaze, Charlie saw Riot leaning against Titus’s desk happily munching on a very ripe apple. Loudly munching—that explained the fucking sounds he’d been hearing.

“For the love of Christ,” Charlie snapped. “What is it with this house? I swear, Titus, next time we’re going back to my place.”

Riot seemed unconcerned with Charlie’s anger. He continued gnawing on that apple. When he spoke, it was through a partially full mouth. “Look, T, last night I helped you and Frosty Buns here with your little murder-by-numbers code. Now it’s your turn. We need to figure out where the fuck Chelsea is. I know I was being all dramatic before, but I’m really starting to worry.”

Charlie couldn’t even take in most of what Riot was saying because his brain got stuck on one part. “Frosty Buns?” he wondered aloud.

Riot smirked at him, then tipped his head toward Charlie and glanced pointedly at his ass. Raising himself up on his elbows, still suspended over Titus, foolishly trying to protect the guy’s modesty, Charlie twisted farther so he could see.

And there it was, his bare ass, caked in a layer of dried cum.
Frosty Buns indeed
, Charlie thought. What he said was “You’re an asshole.” Then he reached for the duvet and pulled it over both of them. Only then did he flop onto his back.

Riot obviously didn’t think too highly of Charlie’s opinion, because he simply shrugged and took another huge bite of apple. Titus was staring at Riot intently and that line had formed between his brows that said he was trying to puzzle something out. “It’s not like Chelsea’s never flaked on us before,” he said.

“I know that. Usually, when she does, it’s because she’s back with Jay. Something doesn’t feel right about this time…”

Titus sat up, the sheets and duvet pooling around his hips. Though the topic of conversation was serious, they were still naked in bed and Charlie couldn’t help but admire that smooth expanse of copper skin. When he felt himself start to get hard, he knew he needed to refocus his attention.

He looked at Riot instead, watching the man’s eyes shift around, never making eye contact with either of them. The apple sat forgotten on the desk, while Riot chewed on his lower lip. Charlie’s instincts were firing like crazy; he knew that there was something Riot was leaving out about why he was worried. “What aren’t you telling us?”

Titus’s eyes snapped to Charlie, and his mouth dropped open. He wasn’t sure if Titus had known that Riot was holding back or not, but Riot was definitely surprised that Charlie had. Unexpectedly, Riot met Charlie’s stare with a direct one of his own. “You’re a cop, man.”

He’d said it matter-of-factly, like it was some kind of explanation. Charlie understood, though—it wasn’t like he’d never run into that kind of problem before. Riot was obviously afraid of incriminating someone by telling them what else he knew about Chelsea. Charlie sighed, because it was too damn early and he was too damn naked to deal with shit like that.

“Off the record, I promise.”

Charlie watched the play of expressions that crossed Riot’s face—Jesus Christ, the man should never play poker—as he weighed his options. Finally he shrugged again. “Look, neither of you can repeat this to anyone or my buddy could really be in some shit, and not just from the police.”

He waited until both Charlie and Titus nodded before continuing. “One of the colorists that works on my
Vex
series, Rico Pérez, is involved with the Kings.”

“Shit,” Charlie muttered. The Latin Kings had been the bane of the Gang Enforcement Unit’s existence since 2005, when the North Carolina chapter of the Kings was formed. The criminals responsible for that were currently serving to back-to-back eighteen-year prison sentences, but that didn’t seem to be diminishing the gang’s presence in the city.

“Yeah,” Riot agreed. “Anyway, Rico says he knows Jay, because Jay is a member of the Kings. He’s not just a member, either—he’s a Warlord. I don’t exactly know how they all stack up, but I think that’s like some kind of lieutenant.

“I knew that guy was dangerous, not that Chelsea would ever listen to me about it,” Titus added.

“So
that…
” Riot began, slapping his palms on the edge of the desk and leaning forward, “…is why I’m fucking worried about Chelsea.”

Finally, Charlie sat up too. “If this Rico is correct, then you’re probably not wrong to worry. I’ve got to head in to work to follow up on this new lead. If you want, I can run this through missing persons when I get to the station.”

Riot’s eyes snapped to Charlie’s face. “They said she’d have to have been missing for forty-eight hours to file a report.”

“If it comes from me, they’ll file it. I’ll also hint to them that there’s a possibility it’s gang-related, and they’ll green-light it.” Charlie held up a hand before Riot could get out the words that were obviously forming in his head. “I won’t mention Rico or the Kings specifically.”

“You’d do that?” Riot asked, sounding astonished for whatever reason.

“You’re Titus’s friend, so that means you’re mine…and so is Chelsea,” Charlie said, realizing it was just that simple. What on earth did that say about what he felt for Titus? He wasn’t ready to dwell on that yet. “If you’ll just let me clean up and put some fucking pants on, I will
absolutely
do that.”

For the first time since Charlie had woken up to his apple-crunching, Riot appeared embarrassed, blushing to the roots of his rumpled brown hair. “Oh, yeah, sorry. I just…I do that. I get in my head about something, and I don’t think about normal, everyday things like social graces and politeness. I’ll just get out of your hair.”

Charlie’s irritation melted away at the sight of the sheepish, almost teenage-looking guy that took the place of Titus’s cocky friend. Titus really cared about this kid, so Charlie could forgive him a few awkward moments. “Hey, no problem. You’re worried about your friend, I get it.” He clapped Riot on the back as the guy slid past him and left the room.

Charlie was finally able to stand up and stretch his aching muscles. He grinned when he caught Titus’s glazed-over stare from where he still sat on the bed. “Enjoying the view?”

“Hell yes,” Titus answered, nodding emphatically. He licked his lips, aqua-blue eyes shining, and reached for Charlie.

Dancing just out of his reach, Charlie laughed and headed to the bathroom. “If I let you catch me, I’ll never make it to work.”

Titus pouted adorably, sticking out his plump bottom lip, and Charlie wanted to run back over there and bite it for him. Instead, he backed into the bathroom slowly, giving Titus an eyeful.

“Ugh, fucking criminals,” Titus griped, punching the pillows.

That gave Charlie a full on belly laugh. He was still chuckling to himself while he managed to clean the mess off of himself with a wet towel. No time for a shower, not that he’d mind going through the day smelling like Titus and remembering what they’d done together.