Tarot's Touch (2 page)

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“I’m going to flush that fucking pager down the toilet.” Conor Trethuan grabbed one of his pillows and hid beneath it. An insistent, high-pitched beep was disturbing the peace.

“That would be destruction of police property and I would have to arrest you. Of course that does have some advantages…” Alex Courtney reached up and flicked the handcuffs hanging from the cast iron headboard behind him. He chuckled at the pitiful moan that issued from beneath the pillow next to him, then reached over to turn on the lamp. A golden glow lit the room. His pager was doing a merry, vibrating dance across the bedside table. Alex deactivated the alarm then shuffled into a more upright position. He pummeled a pillow into a comfortable shape then leaned back with a grunt. “It should be illegal to be awake at this time of the day.”

Conor emerged from his hiding place, dark hair falling across sleepy eyes, to throw an arm across Alex’s broad chest.

“Please tell me you don’t have to go out.”

“Don’t know yet, but you can carry on pleading, I like it.” Alex grabbed the pager and squinted at the display.

“I think you should be the one begging for a change.” Conor slid his hand down across Alex’s stomach.

Alex hissed and his abs tensed beneath Conor’s teasing touch. His lover leered at him before disappearing beneath the covers. Alex gasped as Conor laid a soft trail of kisses toward his groin. His dick gave up any hope of more sleep and decided to get perky. When Conor took a firm grip and rubbed his thumb over the head, it tried for the Guinness World Record for ‘quickest erection achieved’. Alex made a brave attempt to focus on the pager he held in a now shaky hand.

“It’s the… Fuck, Conor! Station.”

A dismissive grunt came from beneath the covers.

Alex dropped the pager and squeezed his eyes shut as Conor cupped his balls and squeezed gently.

“I have to call in. Pass me the phone… Oh God!” His voice went from tenor to soprano as Conor stroked the sensitive spot behind his balls.

“Busy!” Conor’s muffled voice sounded gleefully mischievous.

Alex tried to coordinate his muscles and reached across the duvet-covered lump of his boyfriend for the handset, which sat on the bedside table on Conor’s side of the bed. Just as he got his fingers around the receiver, Conor licked his balls. The phone crashed to the floor in a tangle of plastic and wires. Alex abandoned it to its fate and grabbed the headboard rails instead. He swore as Conor applied his lips to the end of his cock and compressed the sensitive tip. Alex couldn’t see what Conor was doing, but he could feel every lick, every careful scrape of teeth. The visuals that came into his head were inspiring. He held onto the rails as if his life depended on a tight grip, muscles tensed. Slow suction had him gasping in pleasure. He resisted the urge to seek Conor’s head and grab his hair. Alex liked nothing more than to hold Conor in place while he filled his mouth, but not being able to see what his lover was up to added an interesting dimension to the sensations Conor was creating. He coped with the lack of control for all of two minutes before throwing back the covers.

“I have to ring in… Christ!” Alex watched as Conor tormented his dick. He could have cried when Conor stopped what he was doing. His green eyes sparkled as he looked up from beneath thick, dark lashes.

“You already said that.” Conor licked his swollen lips slowly. “You could always order me to stop…Sir.”

Conor knew exactly what to say in order to press Alex’s buttons and calling him ‘Sir’ worked one hundred percent of the time. Alex glared, “Brat! You’re asking for a spanking.”

Conor nibbled at his lower lip and looked adorably innocent, even though Alex knew Conor was fully aware of the impression he was creating.

They both knew there was no way Conor would be allowed to stop. Alex didn’t have to say anything because Conor just gave a knowing smile and ducked his head. Alex let go of the rails and grabbed some hair. He trembled as the full length of his rigid cock disappeared into Conor’s mouth.

Conor took him deep into his throat and swallowed. Alex forgot all about pagers and phones and being on call. He pushed back into his pillows and let Conor work his magic. Something incoherent spilled from his mouth. He gripped Conor’s hair tighter and anchored him in place, not forcing him but exerting enough pressure that Conor would know he was being held. Alex arched his back, thrusting deep into Conor’s willing mouth. Conor stilled, submitting to Alex’s dominance without protest.

“That’s right, sweetheart. You’re mine—your mouth, your arse, your cock. All mine. Alex punctuated his words with thrusts. Tingling heat signaled his imminent release and he came hard, shouting Conor’s name.

Conor swallowed with a satisfied smile then licked him clean. He planted a soft kiss on the end of Alex’s cock as if rewarding it for a job well done. Alex grinned, feeling warm and contented inside and out.

“Thank you love, that was…stimulating.”

Conor flopped onto his stomach, shoved his pillows against the headboard then rolled into a sitting position. He pulled the rumpled quilt up so that they were both covered to the waist and leaned against Alex’s shoulder. “You’re very welcome. Now, you’d better call work or they’ll be sending a panda car full of uniforms down here to dig you out.” He groped down the side of the bed, rescued the abandoned phone then handed it over to Alex.

“Butter fingers. This might not even work. Look at the state of it!”

Alex snapped the back of the phone into place and gave it a shake. “It’s fine.”

Conor chuckled. “Shaking it around is really going to help.”

Alex took in Conor’s tousled hair and perfect features. He wondered how Conor could look so bloody good at three-thirty in the morning. He raised one eyebrow a fraction, making a mental note to address his boyfriend’s cheek at some point, and dialed the station.

“Dispatch, this is Courtney. You paged me?” Alex realized he sounded curt but decided that his tone was entirely forgivable considering the hour. He listened to the dispatcher’s brief summary of the situation and held back a sigh. The half-formed plan in his mind to give Conor a thorough spanking then fuck him senseless was foiled. In his mind, he ran through a list of people he might be able to bribe or cajole into taking the case so that he could stay in bed but had to admit defeat. His job was too important to neglect just because he had a gorgeous boyfriend in need of a paddling.

“Fine. Yes, I know where that is. I’m on my way. Allocate to me—I’ll be there in about twenty-five minutes.”

As soon as he’d disconnected, the sigh escaped.

Alex looked down at Conor, who was burrowing his way back under the duvet with some determination.

“I’ll have to deal with you later. For now, I have a much less appealing body to take a look at. A local beat officer has found a corpse just off the High Street. Could be a vagrant, could be something else.” He swung his legs out of bed, stood up and stretched.

“Want me to come?” Conor asked.

Alex snorted. “Like I said…I’ll deal with you later. No coming before then.” He gave what he hoped was an evil smile.

“Alex…” Conor’s tone was plaintive.

“I mean it. No coming. It’s an appropriate punishment for your behavior this morning. You can stay in bed though. I’m just going to assess the scene of crime. This could just be a natural death or an accident. If it’s murder—and I really hope it isn’t—there will be plenty of opportunity for both of us to have sleepless nights in the coming weeks. You’re still on the arson case anyway. Sarge would not be impressed if I stole you from that.”

“I think I’d rather be out in the rain with you than abandoned here with a raging hard-on,” Conor complained.

Alex chuckled. “Don’t think of it as abandonment, love, think of it as character building. An opportunity to demonstrate obedience.”

Conor was chewing on his lower lip again, looking delectable. Alex wanted nothing more than to jump back into bed and do all kinds of wicked things to his beautiful lover.

“My character doesn’t need building and my dick is not in the mood to be good.”

Alex laughed. “I could help you out and lock you in a cock cage for the day. I’d like that—watching you work, knowing that your pretty dick is safely restrained beneath your clothes.”

Conor blushed. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“No”—Alex smirked—“it wouldn’t. I’ll give the idea some consideration while I have a shower. Behave yourself while I’m in there.”

Alex strolled to the en suite, feeling Conor’s stare burning into his naked arse. He added a little extra wiggle and was rewarded with a pained groan from behind him.

In ten minutes he managed a quick shower, even quicker shave and brushed his teeth. Naked, he walked back into the bedroom and enjoyed the way Conor’s gaze tracked downward to fix on his dick. The duvet was arranged in artful folds to disguise whatever was going on in Conor’s lap, but Alex wasn’t fooled.

“Hands where I can see them, sunshine.”

Conor scowled but withdrew his hands from beneath the covers and crossed them demurely in front of him.

“You make it sound like I have a concealed weapon under here.”

Alex chuckled. “You do.”

He pulled on some clothes, putting a warm sweater on over his shirt. Nobody at the crime scene would care what he was wearing and he knew from experience that it was better to be warm and comfortable. Clear thinking was a challenge when his teeth were chattering.

He sent a pointed look at Conor’s lap. “No touching. That’s mine.”

Conor pouted. “Alex, please…you can’t make me wait until tonight.”

“Who does your cock belong to, Conor?”

“You, Sir,” Conor whispered.

“So who gets to decide what happens to it?”

“Well…you do…but…”

“You wouldn’t be arguing with me, would you, love?”

Conor ducked his head and looked coy. “Maybe.”

Alex narrowed his eyes and glared. It took all his willpower not to smile.

“Puppy eyes? Really?”

“All right! I’m not arguing.” Conor slid down into the bed and pulled the duvet up to his chin. “I hope it’s raining really, really hard.”

Alex leaned down and kissed him. “Get some more rest. You’ll need all your energy tonight. I’m feeling in a generous mood, so no cage today, but you can spend some time considering what punishment you deserve. I’ll see you at the station later.”

He turned off the light then pulled the bedroom door closed as he left.

Alex didn’t stop to eat. He grabbed a warm scarf and his waxed jacket from the hall closet then headed straight out to the car. He drove with purpose through rain-soaked, deserted streets. Lamplight and the occasional neon sign reflected from shiny tarmac, casting unnatural glimmers of color into dark corners. There was nothing in his head but thoughts of Conor and he wondered, as he did every day, how he had managed to get so lucky. They’d been together for almost a year and their relationship still felt as fresh and exciting as it had in the first few weeks. He had never expected to fall so deeply and completely in love and the knot in his stomach when he pictured his lover always surprised him.

Alex smiled to himself as he thought back to how terrified Conor had been to be near him, how reserved and unsure. He had changed, grown so much in a year. He was much more self-confident in work and at home, though he remained painfully shy around strangers. He was still gratifyingly submissive in the bedroom but could be stubborn and sarcastic when he wanted to be. Alex might be in control on the surface but he knew damn well that Conor didn’t do anything he didn’t want to. It was corny, but Alex felt they were two halves of a better whole. Of course, it was a plus that Conor was the most beautiful man Alex had ever set eyes on. He’d been blessed with a face that could have been on billboards around the world, and a body to match. Alex had learned to control his constant urge to punch anyone that cast lascivious glances at his boyfriend, accepting that knuckles with permanent bruises would not be very comfortable but fuck, it was hard not to get jealous.

Conor did nothing to attract attention to himself but it came anyway. He hated the assumptions that people made about him because of the way he looked. Alex grinned stupidly as he drove—Conor was in
his
bed and those beautiful lips had been wrapped around his cock not that long ago—no one else’s. Though he occasionally had a pang of doubt that Conor would stay with him, it was always brushed away by soft kisses and annoyed reassurance from the man in question. Alex wished there had been time to express his appreciation for that amazing blow job, either by returning the favor or by fucking Conor’s gorgeous arse. Still, there would be time for thank yous later. Preferably lots of thank yous.

With some reluctance, Alex switched his thoughts away from Conor and back to being a detective—and a bloody good one at that. He slowed the car as he approached the High Street and knew he was in the right place when regular flashes of blue illuminated the gloom. He peered through the windscreen and took in the area. It was the rundown end of the town’s main shopping street. Frontages with peeling paint and the ubiquitous pound shops mingled with a tattoo parlor, spit and sawdust pubs and a dingy café. It was less than a quarter of a mile away from glossy chain stores and upmarket restaurants, but felt quite different. The beat officers got more calls to attend disturbances in this area than any other part of town. Assault, concealed weapons, vandalism and burglary were all common. The menacing atmosphere wasn’t helped by the scattered police cars and uniformed men that cluttered the road. A small crowd of gaping bystanders had gathered to watch the action, no doubt engaging in lurid speculation about what had happened. Alex doubted that there would be a single useful witness among them.

He parked the car a short distance away from the rubber-neckers and walked toward a fluttering barrier of blue and white striped crime scene tape. The coroner’s van provided an effective block to anyone being able to see anything interesting, however much they might contort themselves to catch a glimpse of something gruesome.