“ONE, TWO, three, weeee!” Brock lifted Josie up by her underarms and swung her into the air. Her giggles rang out and he laughed.
They were all ice-creamed out, shopped out, too, and it was time to go home before Josie crashed, which Eric assured him was most definitely coming. The car was still on the street near the children’s store, which luckily wasn’t too far, and Brock kept Josie entertained as they went.
“Eric?” Eric’s twin sister came out of a drugstore. “I thought that was you. How are you?”
“Go away, El.” Eric kept them moving toward the car.
Following his lover’s lead, Brock stopped playing with Josie and walked as quickly as she could go.
“Eric, please. The police keep coming over and talking to Mom and….”
“Get her in the car, Brock.”
“Yeah, I’ve got her. Come on, honey. Let’s get you buckled into your special chair.” He got the back door open and she climbed in for him, her eyes big. He gave her a reassuring smile and did up the buckles.
“Daddy okay?”
“He’s just fine, sweetie. We’re going to head home and have a bath because you have half that sandbox and most of your ice cream all over your face. And then maybe we can watch a movie together—all three of us, would that be fun?”
He kept an eye and ear open for what El and Eric were up to.
“Mermaid movie, Daddy Bee?”
Eric had El backed up against a mailbox, snarling, one hand on her shoulder. Damn it, Eric needed to be careful he didn’t aggravate anything.
“Sure thing, honey.” Brock shut the door and then climbed into the driver’s seat. He started the car up and honked.
El reached for Eric and Eric slapped her hand away.
He rolled down the window. “Baby, we need to go.” He couldn’t get out of the car and leave Josie on her own, but he couldn’t let Eric keep dealing with El on his own, either.
Eric nodded and moved quickly to the car. “You two stay the fuck away from me, do you hear me?”
“Bad word, Daddy!”
“Yeah, baby, that was a bad word.” He gave Eric a sympathetic look.
“Sorry, Jo.” Eric slammed the door shut. “Drive.”
Brock checked his blind spot and pulled out into traffic. “You okay?” he asked, once they were a few blocks away.
“No. Let’s go home.”
“Okay. It’s going to be okay.” He reached over and put his hand on Eric’s thigh.
Eric’s leg tensed, then his lover’s hand covered his. He shot a smile at Eric before turning his attention back to the road.
“Daddy? Daddy, are you ’kay?”
“I’m good, Jo. Just mad at your aunt El. We’ll be fine. Did you have a good morning?”
“I bet you did, eh, honey?”
“I did! Daddy Bee says bath and movie for all of us!”
Eric laughed. “Let me guess. The mermaid movie?”
“Your daddy is very smart—he only needed one guess!” He smiled back at her. Just trying to be cheerful for her released a lot of his tension.
She nodded. “Daddy is a teacher. Daddy Bee is… is a…”
Brock chuckled. “Businessman.”
“Are they smart?”
“The ones who make lots of money are.”
Josie nodded, face so serious in the rearview mirror. “Do you make lots of money?”
“I do, actually.” He smiled at her. “Enough to take care of you and Daddy.”
“So, my daddies are smart.” That seemed to satisfy her. “Can I go work with you?”
“Maybe one day.”
“’Kay. Can we have bubbles in the bath?”
Eric chuckled.
Man, he loved that ability to bounce back from stuff, to focus in on exactly what was important to her.
“I don’t know. What do you think, Daddy? Bubbles or no bubbles?”
“Oh, I think someone has been a very good girl today.” Eric winked. “Strawberry bubbles are good.”
Josie squealed.
Brock laughed, her joy absolutely infectious.
Eric smiled, then leaned close. “You’ve been pretty good yourself, sir.”
“My reward doesn’t need to include strawberry bubbles.” Strawberry lube, on the other hand….
“I’ll make a note of that.”
“You do that.” He gazed at Eric’s mouth for a moment.
“Watch the road.”
He grinned, eyes on the road. “Yes, Daddy.”
“Good Bee.”
He chuckled, turning the car into the garage. All told, it had been a good day.
BROCK POURED the last of the wine into his and Eric’s glasses and lay back on the couch.
It was amazing how much work one little girl could be. And that was when she was being good! Chuckling to himself, he took a sip and waited for Eric to be finished getting Josie to bed. He could hear Eric singing to her, his low voice rich and warm. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed the moment, the love and joy that filled his apartment.
He heard Josie’s bedroom door close, then the sofa sank beside him. He smiled without opening his eyes, his hands reaching out to slide along Eric’s thigh.
“Hey, love. Thank you.” He heard Eric sip, smelled the wine.
Lazily turning his head, he finally opened his eyes. Oh, Eric looked good. Tired, but good. He offered over a smile. Eric smiled at him, fingers reaching up to trace his face.
“Mmm.” He nuzzled into the touch.
“I love you, huh?”
Brock knew.
“I know. It goes both ways.” He knew Eric knew, too.
“I know.” Eric grinned.
He chuckled and touched the side of Eric’s mouth. “You want to talk about it?”
“She wanted to know why I was being so hard on Mother.”
“Seriously?” That was insane. “She is aware your mother tried to sue you for custody more than once, right? Let alone that she’s responsible for this whole kidnapping mess?”
“I assume so. Fuck, I don’t know, Brock.”
“She has to be in denial, or she couldn’t possibly be siding with your mother. I mean, she’s a flake, she always has been, but she’s always been on your side in her own way.” She’d been a bitch to him on numerous occasions, but always because she thought she was protecting Eric.
“No. And she’s never been evil. She loves Josie.”
“What did you tell her?”
“To leave us alone. Both of them. Permanently.”
“I take it that’s what all the yelling was about?”
Eric actually grinned. “Yeah.”
“Good for you, standing up for you and Josie. I’m not sure that it’s going to work as far as your mother is concerned. We might have to try and get a restraining order on her. I guess it depends on what happens with the case.”
“I…. How can I do that to my mom?”
“How can she sue you for custody of your daughter? How can she arrange for this kidnapping? Does she really deserve your worry and care?” He was ready to write her off. Actually, he was ready to see her thrown in jail for a good long time.
“I don’t know.” Eric pulled away, dropped his head in his hands.
Brock put down his wineglass and shifted so he could rub Eric’s shoulders. “Do you think you just telling them to stay away will work?”
“No. No, you know it won’t.”
“Then if you’re serious about it, you’re going to have to consider bringing lawyers into it.” He kept rubbing Eric’s shoulders. He didn’t want to stress his lover, but he knew this wasn’t going to go away.
Eric took a sobbing breath. “I did everything right, I thought.”
“This isn’t your fault, baby. This is on them.” It made Brock want to growl and snap. Damn it, how dare she make Eric feel this way?
“I know that in my head, huh?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I hear you.” He kept massaging, kept touching; it let Eric know he was here, that he cared.
“Your hands are good.”
“I like touching you. Fucking love it.” He chuckled and leaned in to whisper, “Bad word.”
Eric’s laughter joined his, low and husky.
He nuzzled Eric’s ear, tongue coming out to lick the lobe.
“Mmm. Would it be incredibly selfish to ask to just spend the evening in the bedroom, being grown-ups?”
“It would be if you wanted to spend it in there on your own.”
“Not a chance, Brock. I want to be with you.”
“Then I don’t think that would be selfish at all.” He nipped at Eric’s ear, kissed the hurt away.
Eric hummed, reaching for him. He slid his arms around his lover and kissed him slowly. Eric settled closer, leaned into Brock.
“This isn’t getting us into the bedroom,” he noted. Still, he kept touching, holding. Kissing.
“You noticed that.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I’m sharp like that.”
“Josie’s daddy Bee is smart.”
“And in love and horny.”
“Oh. Me, too.” Eric crawled over onto his lap.
Brock groaned. This was not conducive to getting up and going into the bedroom. His hands found Eric’s ass, squeezed.
“Mmm. Again.”
Kissing Eric, he squeezed again, feeling up his lover’s ass. Eric’s cheeks clenched, jerked under his hands.
“You feel good, baby. I want you.” He wanted Eric to ride him. He wanted to fuck his lover into the mattress. Too bad they couldn’t do that just yet.
“Yes. Bed. Just in case.”
He nodded. “Hold on.” With that he stood up, bringing Eric with him.
Eric laughed, legs around his waist. “Love that.”
“What?” He headed for the bedroom.
“How strong you are.”
He beamed at Eric and kept moving.
“I used to have these fantasies about you, when we were apart,” Eric noted.
“Oh yeah? Like what?” He got them into the bedroom and pushed the door shut with his foot.
“You have to swear you won’t laugh at me.”
“I won’t laugh.”
Eric hugged him. “When Jo was a baby and we were adjusting, I would fantasize about you sneaking into my bedroom, pouncing on me because you just couldn’t bear being without me anymore.”
“Oh, baby.” He kissed Eric hard.
Eric opened up to him, tongue pushing into his mouth. He sucked on it as he sat slowly on the bed. Eric’s legs stayed wrapped around his waist.
He kept on kissing his lover, hands skimming up under Eric’s shirt to pull it off.
“Are you seducing me, love?” Eric asked.
“I’m doing my best to. Is it working?”
“It is.”
Brock loved Eric’s smile. He traced it with his tongue, his hands drawing patterns on Eric’s bare back.
“I still want to take you out on a date. Maybe go dancing, when I’m better.”
“I’d like that.” He traced the line of Eric’s spine, fingers lingering on the warm skin.
“Me, too. I haven’t been dancing since the last time you took me.”
“No? You were made for being taken out, shown off. I’d love to take you dancing, out for dinner.”
“Cool.” Eric leaned in, tongue tracing the curve of his ear.
“For now we can do our own private dancing.” He rolled his hips up, rubbing their crotches together.
“Mmm. I like how you think….”
“It’s not the way I think that you like,” he teased, bucking harder this time. He was still careful, though, not to jerk Eric around. It would be bad enough to have to bring Eric back to the hospital for surgery, but if it was because he’d caused it by being overenthusiastic in bed….
“I like it all.” Eric bit his earlobe.
He jerked at the bite and laughed, feeling breathless and horny and good.
“Oh, that was fun.” Eric did it again.
He smacked Eric’s ass. “That isn’t edible!”
“Are you sure? Let me see….” Little tease.
He couldn’t even tickle Eric in retaliation in case he hurt his lover. Eric bit again, tugging a little bit. He groaned, his hips jerking at the sharp touch. “Baby….”
“Uh-huh.” Eric’s cock was hard against his belly.
“Want you. So much.” It was an addiction. It always had been.
“Let me ride you? I won’t tell the doctors….”
“Baby, we can’t risk it.” It wasn’t a matter of not telling the doctor, it was a matter of making sure Eric was safe, healthy.
“No?” Eric shifted closer.
“You’re playing dirty,” he pointed out.
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“You’re making me need.” Although, to be fair, Eric could do that just by sitting in his lap and breathing.
“That’s good, isn’t it?” Eric licked at his lips.
“Yeah, but we need to be careful. You were shot. You were in surgery.”
“Uh-huh.” Eric reached for his cock. “No exertion.”
He sucked his belly in so Eric could undo his zipper, the button above it. “No exertion, so no riding, but that—” He gasped as Eric’s hand circled his cock. “That works.”
“Yeah?” That hand moved up and down, stroking him off.
“Uh-huh.” He nodded, hands opening and closing on Eric’s ass. “You, too, baby.”
“Huh?” Eric’s hand never stopped moving.
“Your cock. With mine.” He squeezed Eric’s ass again. His hands were busy.
“Oh. Right.” Eric blushed, grinned at him. “I was distracted.”
“I’d do it myself, but I really don’t want to let go just now.” He squeezed Eric’s ass again, almost rolling his lover forward.
Eric moaned, opening his slacks, that long cock pushing out.
He groaned at the smell of them both. It smelled like sex and love. “Together now.”
“Fuck. Fuck, yeah.”
He shuddered as Eric’s hand wrapped around both their pricks. It felt amazing to have that hot, silky skin against his cock. The rougher skin of Eric’s hand was a fine counterpoint.
“Missed you. Missed this. Need it.” Eric babbled for him, words pushing into his lips.
“Yes. Baby.” He slid his tongue into Eric’s mouth, putting a stop to their words with long, sucking kisses.
The motions of Eric’s hand smoothed as their cocks both leaked, dripped. The heat and friction were incredible. They made him moan as the pleasure settled in his balls. Eric started moving faster, jacking them hard. He kept holding Eric’s ass, little grunts and happy whimpers pushing into Eric’s mouth.
Eric was close; he could feel it in every shudder and jerk.
“Come on, baby. I love the way you smell.”
“Oh, fuck. Yeah.” Eric’s eyes rolled, and he watched Eric moan and buck against him, heat suddenly pouring over his prick.
God, that smell was amazing. Groaning, he licked his lips and grabbed Eric’s hand with his, kept it working. Eric’s mouth pressed against him, the kiss wild, heady. As Eric’s tongue pushed into him, he cried out and came. More heat spread between them.
Fuck, this was good.
Right.
He let himself flop back down, bringing Eric carefully with him.
“Damn.” Eric moaned the word.
“Uh-huh. You’ve still got it, baby.”
“You think so?” Eric kissed him, slow and sweet.
“Uh-huh. You do.”
“Yeah. It’s still good between us.”
He grinned, hands still on Eric’s ass. “It’ll be even better when I can pound you through the mattress.”
“You think?” Eric beamed at him. “We could start now.”
He pressed their mouths together, giving Eric a hard kiss. “You know I want to, baby. And you know why we can’t.”
“I know. My stomach’s not up to it. Hell, it’s tired just from the day. The tension, you know?”
He rolled them, putting Eric on his side and reaching up to rub his lover’s shoulders. “No more run-ins with people who are going to make you tense.” Especially family.
“That’s a plan.” Eric didn’t sound like he believed it.
Brock decided distraction was in order and he began sliding little kisses over Eric’s face. Eric hummed, face following his lips. His lover always had been a sensual bastard. Brock added his tongue to some of the kisses, dancing it wetly over Eric’s skin.
“Mmm. Let’s get cleaned up, continue this under the covers?”
“Sounds like a plan, baby.”
It sounded like a very good plan.