‘Lee’
I didn’t see him when I got up this morning so I went to the office to get some paperwork done before I headed out for some alone time. Unfortunately, Serenity was waiting and she managed to get what happened the previous night out of me. The gleam in her eye as I left alerted me to the fact that Seth is in for it when he eventually comes down. Part of me is glad that she’s got my back like she does, but I don’t want her to say or do anything that will cause him to slip back.
As I run my much-needed and put-off errands, thoughts of Seth continue to bombard my mind. Every good memory has him as a central focus. Even some of my worst memories are better because he was part of them. I’m so damned confused only who the hell do I talk to? He’s my best friend so it’s not like I can discuss it with him.
Once I’m done at the grocery store, I hit the bank then decide to head back home. I don’t have any patients coming in for a few days, so maybe I need to get away from everything. Just take Gladiator and go on a road trip. It bears thinking about, that’s for damn sure. I lug all of the filled to the brim bags upstairs, grateful that they’re not too heavy and get inside to see Seth sprawled out on the couch, covered in ice packs from the tip of his toes to the back of his neck.
“What the hell happened to you?” I screech as I drop the bags and run to his side, all my earlier anger with him gone.
“Little Orphan Annie decided to school me,” he reluctantly admits. I see the bruises on his face, chest and arms, and grimace when I notice that he’s clutching his hand against his side.
“About?” I cautiously ask.
“You. Me. Us,” he hesitantly replies through a clenched toothed hiss of pain as he shifts his body.
“Us? There’s an us?” I question with a raise of my eyebrows.
“There’s always been an ‘us’, Lee,” he quickly responds with no hesitation in his words with the declaration. “The thing is, we’ve both been pussyfooting around to make it more than what we are. Bottom line, I’m attracted to you as more than a friend. I lie awake at night wanting you next to me, wishing you were so I could feel your breath against my skin as you sleep. I jerk off in the shower to visions of you, wondering what sounds you make when you come.”
My breath is coming out in pants by now thinking about him touching his dick to thoughts of me. “What if we fuck up our friendship?” I whisper as hope blossoms in my chest.
“What if we take it to another level? Something like what our folks have?” he retorts. “They’re best friends and partners, why can’t we have the same?”
“There’s no reason why we can’t other than stupid, irrational fear,” I reply through a snort, I can’t believe he waits until I was ready to disappear for a while to bring this up. “I guess I’ve seen the worst in people and I was thinking it would be better to deny what I wanted in order to prevent losing what we have built. But, Seth? I want it all. Every feeling, every thought, every dream.”
“So do I, Lee,” he replies with a satisfied and happy smile inhabiting his face. His arm that is laying by his side comes up and cups my cheek. “I’m not exactly in the position to do anything, but I’d like nothing better than to get into the jacuzzi with you right now, then spend the rest of the day acting like two teenagers.”
“Eating junk food and binge-watching shitty television?” I inquire with a chuckle stuck in my throat.
“Making out. You know, a little tongue action,” he says wiggling his eyebrows dramatically up and down in succession.
“Do you need me to help you get up?” I query, looking up and down, squinting in sympathy at the bruises covering his tanned skin.
He glances down his torso, causing me to mimic him, then a smirk breaks loose at me when we both notice his tightly stretched, tented shorts. “Thinking you already accomplished that feat, Lee. But you can assist me from the couch to the heated tub.” I help him up and into his room, then head into the bathroom to get the tub ready. Thankfully, he has some Epsom salts under the counter; I add that to the water then slip back out. “Where are you going?” he asks, stopping me.
“I’m going to put my suit on, Seth. I’m not quite ready to embrace the nakedness, hippie movement so to speak.” When he starts laughing, I flip him off then head over to my room to change. Savior and Gladiator, both tired of following me back and forth, jump up on the couch and settle in for a nap. “Silly dogs,” I chuckle at their need for a nap. I find my one-piece suit, as well as something more comfortable to change into then quickly put the groceries away to give him a few minutes to soak his sore muscles.
With everything neatly tucked back in its place, groceries now placed in their appropriate spots, I take a deep breath and head into his room. “Are you decent?”
“I put a pair of shorts on to spare your sensitive self,” he teasingly remarks.
“Ass,” I mutter, laying my clean clothes down and climbing into the tub. Serenity was right about one thing; the tubs in this apartment are freaking phenomenal. Even as built as Seth is, there’s still plenty of room for at least two more people. I sigh as I settle in, the warmth seeping into my bones. Yesterday’s debacle was so upsetting, I actually contemplated pulling up stakes and leaving.
“Come closer,” he whispers, beckoning me with a crook of his finger.
“Can I trust you?” I probe with a teasing mannerism.
“As far as you can throw me.” I start giggling because he outweighs me and God knows, I’m not a female bodybuilder. I can barely pick up forty pounds so he would be flat out of luck if I had to pick his ass up and toss him like a jarhead would a boulder.
“So, you’re advising me that I’m safe.” What can I say? Joking around with Seth is, and always has been, one of my favorite pastimes.
“Today, yes, thanks to your bestie.” He frowns, pulling me into the pocket of his side. “A week from now may be a completely different story.”
“A week?” I’m appalled and worried about his well-being that he believes it’ll take him that long to fully recover. What the hell did Serenity do to him to cause him that much discomfort? She’s a ballbuster for sure, but she knows what he means to me and wouldn’t do anything to hurt him for a long period of time.
“She got my ribs a few times. Nothing’s broken, but it hurts like hell.” A horrified gasp leaves my lips at his words.
“She tends to be a tad-bit overprotective of me and the ones she loves.” I try to explain and excuse her behavior even though I plan to have extensive words with her on how she deals with trouble. Not everything needs to be settled with a physical encounter… she needs to learn how to use her big girl words and hold her fist back.
“I’ve definitely been enlightened to that fact, trust me on that one.” His voice turns serious as he tilts my chin so we’re looking at one another. “Never would I ever want to cause you any intentional pain, Lee,” he lowly whispers.
“Same here, Seth,” I steadily reply, my eyes lasered in and glued to nothing but his lips. As he pulls me closer until our foreheads touch, I realize that it’s finally going to happen. My hands raise up on their own volition and I find my fingers itching to run themselves through his short, military grade cropped hair.
The initial touch of his lips on mine has my body buzzing and sizzling. It’s a soft, sensuous touch, almost like testing the waters. When he meets no resistance from me, he slants his head slightly and deepens the kiss, his tongue swiping my lower lip in a bid for entrance which I gladly open to provide him entrance. Time becomes meaningless as we explore each other’s mouth, our tongues dueling in a dance that’s older than time. Despite the water, I feel my body reacting to his nearness and realize that slow might be a bit… challenging.
‘Cruz’
Having Lee in my arms is every single fantasy I’ve ever had come to life all at once. Despite the aches and pains I’m currently suffering, I want nothing more than to be able to take her to my bed and make her mine. I itch to alleviate the ache in my balls to show her what she means to me. I want to own and possess her, touch her, love her and embed myself deeply in her. I want to show her the way a man is meant to claim his woman. Sadly, I couldn’t fight my way out of a paper bag right now, so I’ll content myself with what we’re doing for the time being. Breathlessly, I finally pull back slightly, placing a kiss on her nose. Her eyes are at half-mast and I want to kick myself for the fact that we’ve wasted so many years.
“It wasn’t our time before,” she tells me, reading my mind, something she’s always been good at doing. “Now is our time, Seth.”
Nodding, I claim her lips again. Being enveloped in her essence has my dick so hard I’m pretty sure I could chisel a statue with it right now. However, I’m a patient man, so I focus on what I can do, not what I can’t. Over and over, we kiss, learning each other, until the water grows cold. “Time to get out, Lee,” I state when I see her whole body begin to shiver. “I can’t have you catching a cold.” She nods then stands, grabbing a towel to dry herself off. I see her face flush deeper when I stand and she notices my shorts molded to my dick. “Better get used to it,” I declare with a smirk.
“I’m going to get changed,” she shyly gushes out, rushing out of the bathroom. I chuckle at her haste since I’m in no position or condition to chase her down. Drying off, I shuck my wet shorts, then walk naked into the room to grab a pair of sweats. I figure if I’m going to be perpetually hard for the near future, I might as well be comfortable while doing so.
Once I’m as dressed as I plan on getting, I gingerly crawl onto the bed, my back propped up against the headboard with pillows positioned all around me, cushioning my head. I grab the remote and find a movie channel, happy to see a show that I enjoy watching is about to come on. Not that I plan to intently watch much of it. Nope, I plan to do as much as I can with Lee short of diving into what I’m positive is the perfect pussy. When Savior jumps up, I absently scratch between his ears while we wait for the two women in our lives to appear. “You brought snacks,” I joyfully say when she walks back into the room with her arms loaded down.
“Yeah,” she abashedly replies, her voice coming out shy. She hands me a soda and the bowl of popcorn while she goes to the other side of the bed and climbs in next to me, once she’s set her own drink down. “It’s a good thing you’ve got a bigger bed than me,” she says as the two dogs settle, forging themselves a nest at the bottom. I opted to get a king-size bed instead of the queen that the room had in it because Savior tends to sprawl out and I like my space. Right now, I’m thinking I should’ve gone for a California king.
“We can always kick them off,” I inform her.
“They’re fine where they’re at for now.” For now, I internally agree, but if things get a little heated later on, they’re finding a spot on the ground to call home. I don’t want four sets of eyeballs watching us, that’s just creepy as fuck.
“What are you in the mood to watch?” I ask, even though I found something I’d enjoy, I want her to have an opinion. As I question her on this, I place the bowl of popcorn between us.
“What are my choices?” I pop the guide option up and grin while she mumbles the titles of the movies coming on, her nose scrunching up at a few of them. “How about Hocus Pocus?” she finally settles on.
I nod; I can get behind that one since we’ve seen it multiple times which means that my plan of necking like teenagers can come to fruition. I subtly pull the bowl closer to me which has her moving until we’re pretty much on the same side of the bed. Shoulder to shoulder. The dogs, seeing her move, stretch out further with Gladiator at her side and Savior at her feet. I mentally cheer at how they’re boxing her in while tossing my arm across her shoulder, pulling her tightly to me. “It’s probably our millionth time watching this by now, don’t you think?” I teasingly question.
She shrugs while glancing up at me. “Who knows? It’s one of my favorite shows of all time, regardless of the season.”
“I remember.” We settle in to watch the movie, me rubbing her arm softly. When she giggles over one of the characters, I lean down and kiss her forehead. As her gaze meets mine, I honestly tell her, “Every good memory I have, you’re in it. Even the shitty ones, you’ve been there. I can’t wait to see where we go from here, Lee.”
“I feel the same way, Seth. Whenever things would get to be too much on a job, I’d think of something we did when we were together and it would make it easier to continue.”
“You’ve heard a lot over the years, I’m sure,” I contemplatively state.
“I have and what makes it so special even when it’s heartbreaking to hear is that usually, once my client has shared their worst memory, they seem to begin to heal.” I ponder her words for a bit; I haven’t been able to expose myself to that extent when it comes to the mission that injured me and Savior. As if she can read my mind, her hand reaches up to cup my jaw and she says, “You’ll tell me or someone else when you’re ready, Seth. Please don’t rush the process.”
Nodding, I pull her closer to me and kiss her forehead. “I don’t know how you can tell what I’m thinking,” I quietly whisper.
“Lots of years spent together,” she reminds me. “Oh, this is my favorite part!” She giggles watching the witches as they find much has changed since they were hanged three-hundred years prior.