The Lonely Heart (18 page)

Grady hissed at the cold swipe of gel as Isaiah lubed him up. Isaiah apologised absently, intent on what he was doing.

“I’ll warm you up in a minute,” he assured Grady.

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THE LONELY HEART K.M. Mahoney 114

Grady didn’t reply—too busy drowning in the sensation of Isaiah’s fingers probing his ass. Grady felt one thick finger work its way deep and even that made him feel damn full.

When Isaiah added a second finger, the pressure built.

And damn, did it ever feel good.

“More,” Grady urged.

“You’re too tight,” Isaiah countered. “Just be patient.”

“Patience be damned.” Time to play dirty. Grady bore down on Isaiah’s fingers, by turns sucking him in deeper and wrapping him in tighter. Isaiah cursed. That cursing grew louder and more vicious when Grady grabbed Isaiah’s cock without preamble, stroking from base to tip. He couldn’t resist gathering a bit of pre-cum off the top, swiping with swirling motions around the head. Then he
really
couldn’t resist taking a taste. Grady brought his fingers to his lips, licking the wetness off, humming happily at the salty flavour.

“Oh, fuck.”

Grady looked up to find Isaiah staring at him with wide eyes. His pupils were blown with arousal, swallowing nearly all traces of brown.

A third finger slammed into Grady’s ass forcefully and he yelped—hips arching—not sure whether he wanted to get away from the touch or get closer.

“Don’t you dare apologise again,” he ordered Isaiah. “Just stop playing around.”

Grady could have cried in relief when he heard the distinct, familiar sound of a wrapper being ripped open. He felt the removal of Isaiah’s fingers with a deep sense of loss but an instant later, the blunt head of Isaiah’s cock bumped against his hole.

“Now, please.” Grady tugged on Isaiah’s hair, dotting his chin with kisses.

“Then lay back down,” Isaiah ordered.

Grady didn’t even remember jacking upward to reach his lover’s face, but he obeyed the order with alacrity. He let his legs fall open, splaying himself wide like some damn virgin sacrifice.

With slow, steady motions, Isaiah began to push in. Forward, back, rocking deeper with each shove.

“Stop teasing,” Grady demanded.

“Not teasing,” came the ragged reply. “Don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.”

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With that assurance, Isaiah’s control broke. He surged forward in one jerky movement.

Grady yelped, the burn of pain enough to make his cock soften a bit.
Damn.

But the blast of pain was quickly driven away by pleasure as Isaiah rocked deep inside Grady, brushing against his prostate with every motion. Grady’s moans of pleasure soon rose to cries of delight. That long, thin cock reached deeper inside than anything Grady could remember.

“Isaiah.”

Isaiah took that as his sign, pulling almost completely out before slamming back in with enough force to inch Grady up the mattress. Grady wrapped his legs around Isaiah’s lower back, throwing his head back, closing his eyes and enjoying the ride. Isaiah dropped his weight, bracing himself on his elbows. Grady’s cock rubbed along Isaiah’s stomach with every stroke, the abrasion of Isaiah’s chest hair rough. It sent him higher, little spots dancing in front of his eyes.

“Soon,” Isaiah panted. Sweat dampened his blond hair, making it darker, his lips tight.

Then Grady gave a loud shout, muscles tensing as his lover shoved deeply inside, so deeply that Grady thought it was entirely possible that he would feel the man there for the rest of his life.

Isaiah stilled, back arching, as he rode out his climax. Grady watched in awe, transfixed by the tight features, the painful bliss plain on Isaiah’s face.

Isaiah slumped and Grady moaned.

“Almost there,” he pleaded.

Isaiah grunted, hand moving between them. He stroked Grady’s cock once, twice, and Grady lost control. With a shout of his own, his climax ripped through him. His vision greyed out with the force of his body’s release.

When it was over, they both slumped in a sweaty, exhausted pile.

“I think I’m ready for that shower now,” Isaiah mumbled into Grady’s shoulder.

“In about two days,” Grady mumbled back. “When I can move again.”

A low chuckle shook the bed. Isaiah used one hand to flop himself off Grady.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Grady was sticky and sweaty and filthy but he didn’t care. Even the small specks of dried blood still on his arms didn’t bother him in the slightest. Instead, he let Isaiah tuck him close and fell quickly into the most relaxed sleep he could remember having in ages.

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This was where he was supposed to be. Where he needed to be. Right here, tucked up against the man who had made his life worth living again.

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Isaiah hummed softly and rolled over. He was warm and comfy and…
cuddling
?

Oh. Oh, yeah
. Without opening his eyes, Isaiah snuggled closer to the hot, hard body pressed up against him. Grady. Dillon. And sex and…yeah.
I could stay here, like this, for the
next week or so. Would be good.

Would be better if someone stopped pounding on the door.

He reluctantly untangled his limbs from Grady’s, getting a sleepy, grunting protest as their hips bumped. Isaiah grinned, looking over the prone figure. How had he never known how damn cute Grady was when asleep? Well, he knew now, and it was a sight he definitely wanted to see again. Over and over and over.

Isaiah slid out from under the rumpled, skewed covers, trying not to waken his sleeping lover. Grady made another protesting noise and turned, clutching a pillow to his chest. Isaiah’s grin felt like it was trying to crack his face, it was so wide. He shook his head, padding across the floor towards the door.

Oh, shit. Clothes. Yeah.

Isaiah backtracked and dug up a pair of jeans—they were a bit big, and he thought they might be Grady’s, but they would do. He didn’t intend to be up for long.

Decently covered, Isaiah swung open the door. A pair of curious green eyes blinked up at him.

Isaiah froze, everything in him tightening, mind blanking out. Shit. Josh. What to tell Josh?

“Umm—”

Josh grinned cheekily and gave him a thumbs-up.

“Little imp,” Isaiah replied.

Josh shrugged and tried to peer around Isaiah. Isaiah ushered the boy back out into the hall, following so he could close the door behind them.

“Did you need something in particular?” Isaiah asked.

Josh raised one eyebrow and gave Isaiah one of his special ‘Are you kidding me?’ looks.

The kid should patent those. Isaiah had never seen one better.

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Josh pretended to look at a watch, giving Isaiah another look. One hand went to his mouth.

Feed me.
Oh, shit.
He should know better than to nap during the evening.

Isaiah groaned. “Sorry, kiddo. Hotdogs and mac and cheese okay? Grady’s asleep and I don’t want to wake him.”

Josh wrinkled his nose, but then nodded his acceptance of the offer.

Isaiah tramped down the stairs behind the tyke, resisting the urge to smack himself on the forehead. What kind of lousy parent figure was he? Because truthfully, he’d completely forgotten about Josh. Completely. Grady had stolen his focus and attention, absorbed him like a frickin’ amoeba.

Now that Isaiah thought about it, though, he was pretty hungry, too. Sex would do that.

In the kitchen he grabbed a package of hotdogs out of the fridge and pulled a familiar blue box from the cabinet. Then he shrugged and pulled down another. What the heck, the stuff went down easy.

When Isaiah put the pan of water on the stove, he caught a glimpse of the time on the display. He winced.

“Sorry,” he apologised again. “I didn’t mean to get so distracted.”

God, he was a horrible parent. What made him think he could do this again? Oh, yeah.

All it took was one look at that pixie face staring back at him with false innocence and Isaiah remembered. Damn. Why couldn’t he have worked things out with Grady sooner? Like, years sooner? Trying to juggle the intricacies of parenthood and start up a new relationship all at the same time was really too much to ask of any one guy. Case in point, dinner at eight-thirty at night. A decidedly unhealthy dinner.

Josh enjoyed it, though. He scarfed down the food like he hadn’t eaten in days. Since Isaiah had caught the kid raiding the fridge twice this afternoon, he knew differently. He chuckled.

“Slow down before you choke,” Isaiah advised. “I don’t know CPR. You’d be in trouble.”

Josh made a face and shoved another forkful of yellow pasta into his mouth. One hand came up, finger poking, and twirling. It took Isaiah a minute to figure out the question, posed in a weird mix of ASL and Josh’s own signals.

“You going to sleep with Grady now?”

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“I hope so,” Isaiah replied. “We haven’t really talked about it. Rules haven’t changed, though. You need me, you knock and I’ll answer. You’re still my first priority. Grady’s, too, I’d bet. He’s as attached to you as I am.”

Isaiah almost missed the flash of relief that skittered across Josh’s eyes. For a kid, he was far too skilled at disguising his emotions. If Isaiah hadn’t seen the expression, he wouldn’t have even known Josh had been worried.

Isaiah put down his fork and leant forward on his elbows. “Listen, Josh, I wish I could change your past, I really do.” The uncertainty Josh would have lived with, the erratic schedule—hell, just dealing with his airhead mother, was really not a good situation for a kid, particularly one like Josh. Isaiah had talked to a few people when Josh had first moved in permanently. He’d even scheduled a few appointments with a psychologist over in Barton, just to ease some of the pressure and get some reassurance that he was doing the right thing by his little brother. Everyone had said the same thing—Josh needed continuity, a schedule, a sense of security. They probably wouldn’t approve of Isaiah starting up a relationship, but in Isaiah’s mind, it was another step in the right direction. One more link to tie Josh into their little family unit.

“Josh.” Josh was staring into his bowl, trying to hide from Isaiah. Isaiah sighed and reached over, grabbed one small hand. “We love you, both of us. Nothing changes, except hopefully we’re a stronger family. But I’ll need your help. Maybe together, we can get Grady to stop hanging back.”

Josh’s eyes reflected such longing and hope that it made Isaiah’s chest tighten. Grady had looked at him like that, too. Between the two of them, they were going to turn Isaiah into a big pile of mush. His reputation was going to be squashed.

Somehow, he didn’t really care. If these two needed him to be mushy and talk about his feelings, that was what he would do. Now that he had them both, he wasn’t going to give them up. Not without one hell of a fight.

Soft sounds made him look over to see a sleepy-eyed Grady hovering in the doorway.

“Any food left?” Grady asked with a quiet, almost shy, smile.

“I don’t think so,” Isaiah admitted. “The human garbage disposal pretty much decimated what I made.”

“’S’okay,” Grady replied around a yawn. “Not sure I’m all that hungry, anyway.”

“There might be a hotdog left,” Isaiah offered.

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Josh took his bowl over to the sink, dumping it in and bouncing on his toes a bit. He stopped and gave Grady a tight hug before exiting the room with all the speed a ten-year-old could muster.

“Half hour,” Isaiah called out after Josh. “Then to bed.”

Grady watched him go with surprise. “What was that about?” he asked.

“I think that was his way of saying he’s okay with us. You know, being together.”

The plate Grady was holding hit the counter with a loud clatter, Isaiah winced, but it didn’t break. “You told him?”

Isaiah raised one eyebrow. “We weren’t exactly quiet. Besides, he found me in your room. Josh is far too smart not to connect the dots.”

Grady groaned. “God, that’s embarrassing.”

“Nah,” Isaiah said, standing and pulling Grady close. He wrapped his arms around Grady’s waist and nuzzled at the sensitive skin at the base of his neck. “I think it’s kinda cool.”

“Not now.” Grady’s words didn’t hold any conviction, though, and he didn’t step away.

“Josh is busy,” Isaiah countered. “And you smell really good.”

Grady must have jumped in the shower. He smelt like soap, clean and fresh, and his thick hair was damp and curling at the ends. Isaiah nuzzled again, adding a little nip that he soothed with his tongue. Grady shuddered, his whole body swaying with the caress. Damn, but Grady was sensitive. It was such a turn-on—Isaiah couldn’t remember ever having such a responsive lover. Grady seemed starved for it, soaking up each touch, each bit of affection, like it was something new and vital.

“Half-hour,” Isaiah promised. He made himself step away before he took things too far.

He was already aching and wanted nothing more than to throw Grady down on the table and munch on him like a buffet. But they had a kid in the other room and for what Isaiah wanted, he needed privacy and time. Lots and lots of time. Like all night.

Isaiah brushed Grady’s cheek with another quick kiss. “Get something to eat,” he encouraged. “You’ll need your strength for later.”

Grady groaned, a flush working up his tanned cheeks.