Micah strode down the hospital hallway, each step jolting into his heart and nailing his hope. He glanced back at Ash and Rig, who’d insisted on coming with him. He had no clue if their presence would help or hurt Grady. No clue about anything, except he needed to get to Grady.
“Do you think he’s here?” Rig asked.
After meeting up at the club, they’d been through every scenario on where Grady could be. Dane had immediately called his old Marine friend Rig after hearing Micah’s story. He owed Dane so much.
Now two hours and a few wrong guesses later, they were at yet another stop in their hunt for Grady.
“I hope so,” Micah answered. He was out of ideas and almost crazy with worry.
He turned the corner into Finn’s room, two steps in before he froze. Thank fuck.
“Grady,” he whispered, heart hitching. He started to step forward, but stopped again, unsure of how to proceed.
Grady jerked around in his seat by the window. His lips parted, chest lifting with his inhale. Rumpled and messed hair sticking up, dark circles layered beneath red-rimmed eyes, he’d never been more gorgeous to Micah. It was a sight he wanted to see every damn day.
Grady’s chest rose with a deep inhalation that matched his own. Relief and hope bled together to wipe away a big chunk of the worry that’d gripped him since Grady had bolted from his house.
“What are you doing here?” Grady lowered his brows, his confusion matching his voice.
“Looking for you.”
His gaze drifted over Micah’s shoulder, brows drawing closer. “You guys too?”
Micah stepped to the side to allow Ash and Rig into the room, the small space suddenly full.
“I told you, we watch out for our own,” Rig quietly answered.
Grady smiled, a light coming into his dull expression. “You considered me a part of Kick?”
“We told you we did.”
“You really need to listen better,” Ash added with a half smile.
“Huh.” Grady sat back, slowly nodding. “You’re right. I do.” He frowned. “To some things.”
“The right things.”
“Truth.” He grinned then, an honest one that held just an edge of snark.
Micah almost cheered out loud, but he managed to keep his fist pump and subsequent outburst contained.
“So,” Rig started. He glanced at Micah. “In case you missed the obvious, no one at Kick will ever treat you as anything but an equal. We honestly don’t give a shit about anything you do outside of work unless it impacts the company. Your personal life is private and we respect that.”
“I sure as shit don’t advertise that I’m a sadist.” Ash pulled out a slightly evil grin, brows wiggling. “And there’s no reason for anyone to know about your proclivities unless you want them to.”
Grady’s eyes went wide before his head tipped back, a bark of laugher bursting free. “Fuck. Leave it to you to pull out the ten-point word.”
Ash shrugged. “One of us has to be the brains of the operation.”
Rig flipped him off, eyes rolling as he shook his head. “You should also know that any Dom worth a shit would never look at a submissive and think weak. Hell, some of the strongest, bravest men I know are also submissives.”
“I sure as hell would never call any man who can not only take”—Ash paused—“but want what I dole out, weak.”
Grady slowly stood, focus bouncing over each of them. “Is this like an intervention or something?” He cracked a smile. “Because you’re about one hour and a good meltdown too late. Finn already confirmed I’d fucked up. He also told me to get my head on straight and stop being a dick.”
Rig and Ash gaped at Grady, then Finn, heads swiveling between the two.
“You’re messing with them now,” Micah said, the tightness in his chest loosening another notch. He was pretty damn certain Finn hadn’t magically woken up and started carrying on full conversations in a day.
Grady winked, his grin spreading. “I’ve gotten pretty good at interpreting him.” He shrugged. “And listening to myself talk.”
They all stared at Finn, his still form laid out on the bed between them and Grady. Finn’s physical condition had deteriorated even more. A large majority of his muscle mass was gone, his body resembling a teenage boy instead of the rugged man he’d been. Yet he still had the power to connect them together even from the depths of his immobile hell. Micah really hoped Finn was taking this all in and heard how well placed his trust had been—in all these guys.
“Shit.” Rig rubbed his eyes. “You got me on that one.”
“Sorry.” Grady cringed. “I didn’t think.”
“It’s fine.”
“So,” Ash said, stepping back. “We good?” He raised his brows. “No more stressing over us bad-ass Kick guys, right?”
“Bad-ass Kick guys?” Grady snorted. “Sure thing.”
“Cool.” Rig nodded. “And for Christ sake, just talk to one of us next time.”
“Will we see you at work tomorrow?” Ash asked.
Micah held his breath, hoping yet uncertain about Grady’s answer. His dramatic change from earlier had Micah’s head spinning. He just hoped the difference was as positive as it appeared.
Grady slicked his tongue over his lips, head slowly dipping. “Yes. I’ll be at work tomorrow.”
Rig nodded again, smiling, and Micah’s grin spread so big his cheeks hurt.
“I’ll see you then.” Ash left the room, and Rig turned to follow.
He stopped halfway out the door, frowning at Micah. “Do you need a ride back to Dane’s?”
Micah started to shake his head when Grady spoke. “I’ll take him.” Another wave of relief sunk through his chest to uncurl the knot in his stomach.
Rig left, the silence swooping in to circle around Micah. He stared across the room at Grady, the window light shining around him. He appeared strong now, shoulders back, gaze steady. Confident and so damn self-assured.
Where had this change come from?
Doubts returned within Micah. What did he have to offer? Him, a mentally disabled bartender who rarely traveled outside of a three-mile radius of his home. A guy who got lost constantly and would always be limited in what he could do, no matter how controlled he tried to be. Would Grady still want him?
Grady squared his shoulders and moved toward him, chin lifted, steps sure.
Micah’s heart attempted to pound its way out of his chest and the rest of the world faded away the closer Grady came.
He moved around the bed, never once taking his eyes from Micah’s, stopping directly before him. There was an ease about him now, that persistent agitation quiet. His dark eyes expressive and direct, displaying an openness he’d only ever seen when Grady was flying on the haze of endorphins. Unguarded, honest, exposed.
Energy still seemed to flow from him, quieter now, but drawing Micah in like it always did. His skin felt stretched, every nerve ending tingling.
Grady sucked in a deep breath, a gentle smile lifting his lips. “I’m sorry.” His voice clear if low. It lifted the last weight that’d pressed on Micah’s heart, releasing his dreams.
“I acted like a complete shit. I…” Grady inhaled. “I was scared. And I’m sorry.”
All the hope and love Micah had done a poor job of containing broke free to chase away his own fears. He reached out, but Grady jerked back, head shaking.
“Let me finish.”
Micah lowered his arm, curling his fingers in to keep his hands at his sides. He ached to hold him again. To reassure himself that Grady was really there and staying—he hoped.
Grady took another deep breath, the silence around them seeming to magnify the shallow sound into a gust. “I trust you.” He stared directly at Micah, a world of meaning in his solemn gaze. “I like submitting to you. It”—he clamped his lips tight, blinked—“soothes me. I can let go then, forget and simply be. That’s freedom to me and I can only have it because I know you’re there, watching out for me. Keeping me safe.”
Micah swore if his heart got any fuller it would burst. He’d hoped for this. Dreamed and wished but had never really believed he’d get it.
A smile cracked over Grady’s lips, a light coming into his eyes that opened to his heart. “You were right. Labels are meaningless if you don’t let them define you.” He inhaled. “I want you, Micah. I want everything you offered and was too afraid to take. I want to give you my power and make you take it. I want to wake up in your arms and hold you when you’re lost. I want…all of it. But I have no fucking clue why you’d ever want me.”
A grin spread over Micah’s face, a big, happy relieved joy he worked to contain for just a moment longer.
He kept his focus firmly on Grady, still afraid if he looked away, Grady would bolt. With deliberate slowness, he slid his hand over the rough stubble on his cheek, the contact flowing through him to provide the equilibrium he’d been seeking for so damn long. He eased closer until there was no choice but to look directly into his eyes.
“That makes us equal then.” He swallowed, so damn nervous and afraid he’d mess this up. But he had to voice his fear before he could really believe they would work. “Because I don’t know why you’d ever want me.”
His brows lowered. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“My baggage will always be here.” Barring some miracle. “My brain blips place huge restrictions on my life and anyone who’s in it.” How could a guy who’s traveled the world stay with one who rarely left the city?
“Not really.” Grady’s slow smile spread over his face and into his eyes. “You just need someone who’ll be there to show you the way when you get lost.”
Grady had taken on Micah’s challenges as if they didn’t exist. Instead showing Micah he could go outside his comfort zone and still be safe. That…was everything to him.
“This right here,” he said, a roughness stroking over every word to belie his emotions, “is us. What we give each other is between us, period. And Grady?”
“Yes?”
“We will always be equals.”
“No saving?”
“Only helping.”
A peace settled over Grady and he finally, finally really breathed. A long deep breath that reached his lungs and surrounded his heart. This was what he’d been so afraid to believe in.
He claimed Micah’s lips without fear of repercussions or reproach. He started gently, a lingering touch that scorched his soul and tipped his stomach. Then he cinched his arms around Micah’s waist and pushed in, taking more, needing more of Micah’s taste and heat and just him.
Everything him.
Micah tilted Grady’s head, guiding him to the exact angle that allowed the best access to lick and suck and get lost in the subtle shift and play of give-and-take. His head spun and he wanted more of this, them, whatever came next.
He didn’t care what anyone else thought. The only thing that mattered was what Micah believed and Grady knew. What they had was good. Still shifting and evolving, but worth every risk.
Breaking the kiss was hard, but he leaned back and Micah loosened his hold until their lips parted. He didn’t go far though, just enough to search his gray-blue eyes, the ones he knew by heart and could read so clearly now. In them he found all the things he’d refused to see before. Confidence tempered by the tenderness. The vulnerability backed by strength. Kindness countered by fear. And the bright spark of hope.
“Thank you.” Grady shoved every bit of emotion he could into those two words.
“For what?”
The corner of his mouth quirked up. “The list is so long by now, I don’t know where to start.”
“Truth.” Micah kept a straight face for half a second before he chuckled, hauling Grady in for a fierce hug. “But my list is just as long.”
Grady’s laugh came out in a quick huff and he tightened his hold instead of letting go. “So maybe you owe me now.”
A smack landed on his ass before he’d registered that Micah had moved his hand. He jerked back, eyes wide until the stinging heat spread over his ass cheek to nuzzle right up to his tender balls.
He lowered his eyelids, lips parting to hide his smirk. “I’m still not a masochist.”
“And I’m not a sadist.” Micah squeezed his ass, another spark of delicious pain filling his cock to half-mast where it was lodged firmly next to Micah’s. “But we can explore whatever we both want in private.”
“When?”
“As soon as we get home.”
And that was the best thing he’d heard. He shifted forward until his lips were next to Micah’s ear, his perfect scent calling him home. “It would be so easy to fall in love with you.”
A quick inhalation, then Micah’s slow exhale ghosted over Grady’s ear. “That makes us even.”
Grady’s heart did a quick stutter step and he laid his lips on that soft, sensitive spot right below Micah’s ear. It was past time he stopped judging himself, trusted, and took a chance at happiness. And most important, he was finally ready to see where it took him.