Whatever the Cost (52 page)

“I can tell him to take a drive for a while.”

Knowing Jacen is giving him every chance to manage his own comfort, Liam shakes his head tightly, once.

A small smile curls one side of Jacen’s mouth, twisting up his lips. “You look beautiful, Leah.”

The gentle, pure affection in the words steals Liam’s breath away. Aching with gratitude for Jacen and his tender, loving care, Liam yields readily to Jacen’s kiss. Their lips touch too briefly. Then Jacen slinks down his lover’s body, guiding Liam’s legs apart and kneeling between them.

“What do you want? Hmm?” Jacen’s voice is confident, roughened with arousal and readiness to please. “If you have a preference, tell me now.”

It’s not even a question. “Fingers,” Liam blurts. “Take that fucking thing out of me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jacen says. He grips the plug by the flared base and starts to work it out of Liam’s ass, twisting it sharply as he does, so that it rubs in a wide circle around his inner walls. Liam hisses and tilts his hips, Jacen guides the thickest part past his rim, letting him feel the stretch before pulling at his opening, prying him open with the tip before taking it all the way out.

“Thank Christ,” Liam moans. Jacen swiftly stuffs two generously lubed fingers up his hole and Liam moans even louder. The fingers wriggle and twist. They stroke and feel and search. When Jacen begins to pump them in and out, Liam pushes his bottom down onto them on the in-stroke, greedy for more. “Deeper. Come on.”

Jacen buries his hand to the hilt and asks, “Better?”

“Yeah,” Liam sighs. “Add another.”

Rocking his hips counter to Jacen’s movements, Liam relaxes into the pillows and lets his eyes close. Jacen’s hair tickles the inside of Liam’s thighs as he lowers his mouth, opens it and suckles at the dripping-wet tip of Liam’s cock.

“Oh
fuck
yes,” Liam groans, trying to buck and bury himself in Jacen’s mouth, but Jacen doesn’t let him. He plants his free hand on Liam’s pelvis, using the junction of his thumb and forefinger to steady his erection as he seals his lips around the jewelry of Liam’s piercing and plays at it with his tongue, alternately flicking it and sucking forcefully on it. Liam hisses and writhes on the bed, surrendering to the pleasure being given to him, glad Jacen’s not in a hurry to get on with it. It’s so much better this way.

Jacen pulls off with a slurp, letting Liam fall wet to his belly, the piercing gleaming brightly with the added lubricant of saliva.

Sitting up, Jacen withdraws his fingers slowly. He rubs gently over Liam’s opening, the engorged, reddened flesh. He pivots his wrist and taps it lightly before pressing four fingers back inside. The ring of muscle parts easily enough, hugging around the fingers.

Liam makes a needy grunt low in his throat, his whole body tingling from overstimulation. As Jacen bends down to lick a wet stripe up the underside of Liam’s dick, Liam shudders, trying to rock and thrust against Jacen’s tongue. Jacen licks over the piercing fed through the slit of Liam’s cockhead, cleaning away fresh pre-come in the process, then tugs at the jewelry with his teeth. Jacen’s hand pumps and strokes all the while.

For a while Jacen keeps playing at Liam like that, suckling at only the tip of his erection, not giving nearly enough to get him off, just to keep him going. Liam’s attempts to fuck himself against Jacen’s hand increase in desperation. When Liam begins to spill tears and choke on his breaths, as if sobs are quite close, Jacen growls in surrender.

Freeing his busy hand, planting both hands instead by Liam’s head, Jacen looms over him and watches. Liam writhes, chasing up after Jacen, but knowing he’s still too far away. His lower lip pouts unconsciously as Liam pleads almost too quietly to hear, “
Please.
”

Jacen nuzzles against Liam’s neck, nipping and sucking a bruise there. Reaching down between their bodies with his left hand, he uses just the tips of his fingers to play and rub over and around the head of Liam’s cock, ignoring the shaft completely. Liam hisses and Jacen moves to kiss his mouth. Thrusting deeply with his tongue, sucking and tasting him, Jacen moans. Trying to thrust against Jacen’s hand, Liam whimpers into Jacen’s mouth, needing more, unable to achieve orgasm with the fingering alone. But Jacen knows it’ll be even better if Liam gets there like this, fighting for it, teased into it instead of pushed. Liam twists his face away, gasping, then he twists his body too, and violently, trying to somehow get closer to Jacen, begging, shamelessly, “Please.”

Jacen drags his thumb in a broad, firm swipe under the ridge of Liam’s crown, then again up through the divot. He holds Liam’s eyes and caresses his cheek. Then, Liam shudders. His eyes roll, showing whites and Jacen grasps him in a tight fist, squeezing as hard as he dares in a long tug from root to tip. Liam bucks and holds like that, back arched off the bed and thick ropes of semen jet from Jacen’s hand. Orgasming so hard, for a moment Jacen is truly concerned; Liam stops breathing, making no sound at all. Jacen jacks him through it and Liam twitches, slamming his hips into Jacen’s hand repeatedly. Jacen kisses under Liam’s ear and hears him whimper.

Once it’s past, Jacen doesn’t know if Liam is conscious or not, but he’s wearing a peaceful expression and breathing evenly, so he takes his time untying the knots holding his wrists. Rubbing the places the ties held fast, Jacen soothes the skin and muscle.

After leaving to retrieve a wet washcloth, Jacen uses it to wipe Liam’s face and neck. The cool touch rouses him. His green eyes flash, the dark lashes fluttering open and then shut.

“Take a nap, okay? That’s an order.”

“Is it?” Liam says with defiance.

“Yeah. It is, actually,” Jacen says levelly, already holding the huge purple dildo he’d threatened Liam with earlier. He picks up the lube on the nightstand and swiftly slicks some on.

“And what are you gonna do if I decide I’d rather take a bath instead?”

“What am I gonna
do
?” Jacen mimics. He takes Liam’s left knee in hand, pressing it up against his chest, and aligns the end of the dildo with Liam’s well-fucked opening. Applying steady pressure, he breaches him as Liam’s eyes pop open and Jacen keeps on pressing. The wet toy slides in quick and deep, all the way to the hilt. Flinching against the sudden fullness and moaning against the violation, Liam frowns. His lips part softly. Jacen pulls the thick dildo halfway out and reinserts it.

“Dammit!” Liam cries.

“You gonna take a nap?”

“Yes,” he says, giving up the fight.

“Good,” Jacen smiles. Carefully, he twists the toy all the way out. Liam’s mouth falls open around another moan.

“Evil fucker.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise. No bath.”

Jacen drags a hand through the milky white drops splattered up the length of Liam’s body, then sucks the salty taste from his thumb as he gets off the bed.

Liam smiles, drunk on pleasure and joy. He turns onto his side, curling up and getting comfortable.

Jacen stands there a moment, taking in the sight of Liam with a post-coital glow and a carefree, untroubled expression. Jacen gives Liam a small, honest grin that’s so full of love that it would have knocked him over had he not already been laying down. “I’ll be right outside if you need anything, okay?”

“Mm,” Liam hums, already dozing off.

It’s an hour and a half later when Liam reappears. Yasha and Jacen are seated in the shade of an umbrella around a table by the pool, with a few empty bottles of beer between them. They’d been talking about Yasha’s current mission—a search for a modest home in the area, as he and Valery have decided to abandon L.A. for good and move to a less dramatic area. With the nasty business with The Company nearly resolved at last, they both itch to get away much as Liam and Jacen had.

Jacen asks, “Oh, did the guys at the gate give you any trouble this time?”

“Nah. I showed them the entry card thing you gave me and they only gave me the third degree for five minutes this time instead of twenty-five.”

“Cool.”

“Hey, at least they’re doing their job.”

“Mm,” Jacen hums in agreement.

Both men look up from their half-finished beers, held in hand, their conversation halting abruptly as Liam emerges from the guesthouse. He’s showered and wearing a tiny scrap of a bathing suit—white shorts that are so low they barely cover the crack of his ass, and cut so high that his butt cheeks pop out the bottom of the suit, his package stuffed and close to bursting from the front. The fabric is stretched so tightly that not only are his pierced nipples on full display but, for those looking, his Prince Albert can be seen rather clearly through the suit as well.

With a wicked grin and a low, “How’s it goin?” he jogs past them and dives smoothly into the pool.

“God damn,” Yasha says with awe. “Does he always go swimming in that?”

Jacen rolls his eyes, sipping deeply from his beer. He grunts, then says, “Of course he does. I have blue balls so bad, and so often, I have to get a little payback now and then. Rough, kinky sex only seems to encourage him though. Go figure.”

“It’s... obscene,” Yasha says, tilting his head to get a better look as Liam vaults out of the pool and sits neatly on the edge.

“Tell me about it,” Jacen groans.

“Yeah, poor Jacen,” Liam calls. “Boo hoo! He only gets to fuck his husband whenever the hell he likes to! What a hard life!”

Jacen hides his beaming, blissful smile behind his drink, but it shows in his eyes anyway. “It is! And you should know better, with an innocent young girl like Lily visiting so often. You’re a bad influence!”

“Yeah, I can tell she really hates it when I go nude sunbathing. That must be why she tries to get someone to take over her shift on afternoons, so she can come over to Dad’s and peep out the windows.”

Jacen tries to look offended at this, but can’t manage it as he bursts into laughter.

“Hey, you tell him yet?” Liam calls to Yasha.

His easy laughter gone is abruptly; Jacen feels his smile dying as well as he sits up and looks between the other two. “What? Tell me what?”

Yasha gives Liam a sharp look over his shoulder and sighs, averting his gaze from Jacen, who’s suddenly on the edge of his seat. “No, actually. I hadn’t.”

“What... what’s going on?” Jacen blurts. “What do you have to tell me?”

Liam smiles knowingly and dives back into the water.

“Yasha, what’s going on?”

“I guess I deserved that, after checking out the free show and all,” Yasha mutters, talking to himself.

Liam surfaces and folds his arms over the edge of the pool, watching them and listening.

“Yasha,” Jacen says sharply.

“It’s nothing,” he sighs, wilting slightly. “I mean, it’s not
nothing
, it’s just not... you know... something that you need to be concerned about and, um... Val’s pregnant.”

“What?!” Jacen is out of his chair. It almost topples over as he springs to his feet. Liam laughs.

“It does happen, you know,” Yasha frowns. “And that’s why we’re in a rush to move. We want to be up here and find something before she gets too far along.”

“
I’m going to be an uncle?!”

“Jesus Christ,” Yasha groans, covering his face with both hands.

“I’m going to be an uncle!” Jacen nearly bounces with joy, it fills him so entirely, pouring from him and filling the air. “This is awesome news! Oh my god! Yasha! You’re a daddy!”

“See, this is why I didn’t want to tell him. He’s going to be impossible now,” Yasha grumbles to Liam, sipping his beer.

“Wait,” Jacen says suddenly, his face clouding over. He holds out his hands like he isn’t the only one on his feet and bursting with fevered excitement. “Wait a minute.” He turns to his husband. “You KNEW?!”

“He knew before
I
knew,” Yasha complains, pointing at Liam’s satisfied, grinning face.

“How long have you known?!”

“Mm, ’bout a month and a half,” Liam says.

“How long have
you
known,” he asks next, turning to Yasha.

“A couple of weeks.”

Jacen gasps, shocked. “You both suck!”

Yasha shrugs and drinks his beer. Liam pushes back off the wall and paddles water, but as Jacen slowly strips off his shirt and kicks off his sandals, Liam curses under his breath, “Oh fuck.”