Текст книги "Double Time"

Автор книги: Olivia Cunning

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Текущая страница: 14 (всего у книги 23 страниц)

Chapter 20

Trey started awake when the front door of Reagan’s apartment closed. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. He’d been on the phone most of the morning, calling every contact in every city they’d visited in the past two weeks. He wasn’t a detective, but no one seemed to know anything about Reagan’s threatening messages. Not that he’d been stupid enough to ask them point-blank. He’d been more discrete than that. Trey sat up and rubbed his eyes, wishing he had better news for her. “So how did it go?” he asked her.

“How did what go?” Ethan asked.

Trey pried his eyes open and glanced at the man removing his boots by the door. Great. Just what he needed. To be alone with Reagan’s sexy alpha male of a roommate. Trey decided he should head for home. He could catch up with Reagan later. No telling how long her makeover would take, and this guy made him think all sorts of things that had nothing to do with Reagan and everything to do with being fucked. The last time Trey had seen Ethan, it had been days since he’d last had a male lover. Now he’d gone weeks without being penetrated and he wasn’t sure how strong his resolve was.

“I thought you were Reagan,” Trey said and climbed to his feet.

“She’s not here?”

“Nope. Exodus End’s manager took her shopping or something.” Trey glanced at the clock and his eyes widened. “Shit, I’ve been asleep for hours. I figured she’d be home by now.”

“Are you going somewhere?” Ethan asked and plopped down on the sofa. He extended his long, muscular legs and propped his feet on the coffee table, blocking Trey’s quickest escape route to the front door.

“I figured I’d better get out of your hair.”

“Reagan will think I chased you off. I don’t really need her to start harping on me the second she sees me.”

“You could tell her I was gone when you got here.”

“Sit,” Ethan said.

Trey sat.

“How’d she do? Be honest. She always sounded so enthusiastic on the phone, but sometimes she acts that way to cover up her problems.”

Trey tilted his head at Ethan. “She has problems?”

“Doesn’t everyone?”

“I don’t think she was covering up anything. We had a great time. She’s amazing. Going to take the world by storm.” Trey was just glad he got to be a part of it.

“Does she know about you?”

Trey’s smile faltered. “Know what?”

Ethan moved so fast Trey didn’t see him coming. He found himself trapped in the corner of the couch with Ethan’s hard body against his side and his arm in front of his chest. “You know what I’m talking about. Don’t play dumb.” Ethan’s breath stirred the fine hairs just behind Trey’s left ear. He shuddered with longing. “Do you have any idea how often I think about you? What I want to do to you?”

Trey was pretty sure he could guess exactly what Ethan wanted to do to him. And Trey was positive that he’d like it. He pressed a hand against Ethan’s rock hard chest and pretended his heart was thudding because Ethan had startled him, not because Ethan offered him exactly what he wanted. He didn’t need a man to be fulfilled. Reagan gave him everything he needed.

At least that’s what he wanted to believe.

“Back off, Ethan,” Trey said.

“Why, Trey? Does it make you uncomfortable when I get in your personal space?”

Trey met Ethan’s dark eyes. “Yes,” he said. It wasn’t a lie. His suddenly constrictive fly was very uncomfortable.

“Are you as hard for me as I am for you?”

“I said back off.”

Ethan shifted away, but his hand went straight for the evidence. Trey gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to think of something to subdue his desire, but all he could think of was being drilled by the hard, hot male beside him.

“It’s okay to want me,” Ethan said. “I want you too.”

Trey grabbed Ethan’s hand and shifted it from his crotch to his thigh. “I won’t deny wanting you. That doesn’t mean I have to act on it.”

Trey extricated himself from the couch and hurried to the bathroom, closing the door behind him and leaning back against its solid surface. That fucking jerk. What was his game? Trey rearranged his hard and throbbing cock. He hadn’t been this turned on in days. This was not a good sign. He hoped Reagan hurried home. She’d help him get his mind back where it belonged. On her.

Trey washed his face and cupped his hand to take a sip of water from the faucet. He caught his reflection in the mirror and gave himself a stern look.

“You’re not going to fuck up this thing with Reagan,” he said to his reflection. “So he’s hot. So what? You don’t need a man in your life.” He almost believed that. He absolutely believed that he didn’t want to hurt Reagan. He didn’t know if what they had together was permanent, but it was the most real relationship he’d ever had. Even his one-sided love of Brian had never been tangible. Not something he could hold on to. He wasn’t ready to let her go. Sex with Ethan wasn’t worth it. And he knew how she felt about her boyfriend having sex with men. She was very clear that she wasn’t accepting of that kind of behavior.

Feeling marginally recovered, Trey exited the bathroom and ran directly into a hard body. Trey backed into the doorsill to give himself an inch of breathing room, but Ethan closed the gap between them.

“What are you playing at?” Ethan asked, his obsidian gaze sending a thrill of excitement down Trey’s spine.

“I’m not playing at anything.”

“Why are you hiding what you are from her?”

“I’m not hiding anything.”

“Denial gets you nowhere with me. I know how much you want me. I see it in your eyes. I held it in my hand.”

“Maybe.”

The heat coming off Ethan’s hard body was feral in nature. Raw energy pulsated from every pore. There was an animal just beneath Ethan’s skin and Trey very much wanted to push him to see it unleashed. He couldn’t, though. He knew if he did there would be no turning back. This thing with Reagan was beautiful, tender, and loving. This thing with Ethan was hot, wild, and pure lust, but there was nothing of substance there. Fooling around with Ethan would be like all of Trey’s other sexual encounters. Wham, bam, thank you, um, sir.

“No maybe,” Ethan said.

Strong fingers slid into the hair at Trey’s nape and tugged his head back. Ethan shifted and pressed the hard length of his cock against Trey’s, which responded by leaping with excitement. “No maybe,” he repeated, staring into Trey’s eyes with undisguised hunger. He leaned closer, his mouth a hair’s breadth from Trey’s. “You want to be fucked as much as I want to fuck you.”

“Maybe,” Trey said. He couldn’t deny it. Not with his cock straining against Ethan’s. Not with his stance submissive. Not with his breaths coming in excited gasps and his heart thundering in his chest. Two weeks ago he would have shoved Ethan into the bathroom and fought him for sexual dominance, but things had changed. There were things more important to him than mindless fucking. “Unlike you, I put Reagan’s feelings first.”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”

“She told me why you two split. She caught you cheating on her. I won’t do that to her.”

“Yes you will, because you and I are alike. The soft, loving nature of a woman steals our hearts, but there is something about a hard body that gets our blood pumping. Fuck the consequences.”

Trey’s breath caught. “So you are bisexual. Reagan is convinced that you’re…”

“Gay? That’s Reagan’s way of protecting her feelings. She doesn’t want to think I still love her. She wants to think I’ve discovered my true nature as a gay man. She can live with that. Her realizing she’s not enough for me sexually was too hard on her ego. And it will be the same when she finds out about you.”

“You still love her?”

“Of course I still love her. You know how wonderful she is. I’ve never met another woman like her before or since.”

“So you’re trying to seduce me to come between us.”

Ethan chuckled and he touched the tip of his tongue to Trey’s upper lip. Trey wasn’t quick enough to stop his excited inrush of breath. He was so turned on by this little game of domination that he was already seeping precum. He could feel the slick moisture against his thigh.

“I’m trying to seduce you because looking at you makes my dick hard. I don’t have any trouble getting rid of Reagan’s boyfriends and I don’t do it by trying to fuck them. Honestly,” Ethan murmured, the timber of his voice going low, “not many men turn me on, but the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew I had to have you.”

Ethan tugged Trey’s head back and kissed him. Ethan’s lips were strong. They demanded surrender. For a brief instant Trey was so caught up in the moment that he didn’t fight, he just felt. It felt good to let go. To let someone take control. But he didn’t want this. Sure, now he wanted this, but in ten minutes he’d be overcome with guilt and regret. Not worth it.

Trey placed both hands on Ethan’s chest and shoved. Ethan stumbled back a step and their lips separated, but Ethan still had a solid grip on Trey’s hair, so Trey wasn’t exactly free. His attempts at resistance seemed to turn the guy on even more. An instant later, Trey found himself pinned between the wall and two hundred pounds of pure muscle.

“You’re still trying to deny the attraction between us?”

Trey shook his head. “I want you,” he admitted. “But I’m saying no.”

“No?” Ethan said the word as if it was part of some obscure language.

“No.”

Ethan took a step back and Trey clung to the doorsill to keep from sliding to the floor.

“Fine,” he said. “No means no.”

Trey almost wished Ethan hadn’t given up so easy. Wished he’d forced him so he didn’t have to feel guilty about wanting it. When Ethan released his iron grip on Trey’s hair, Trey didn’t feel relief. He felt remorse. Even though he knew he’d done the right thing, some part of him wanted Ethan to make him do the wrong thing.

“Let me know if you change your mind.”

Ethan entered the bathroom. Trey couldn’t take his eyes off him. Not when Ethan unfastened his pants. Not when he shoved them down his thighs. Not when Ethan’s massive cock emerged from his underwear. Trey’s ass ached with longing as he leaned against the doorframe and watched Ethan coat his cock with lotion. The man had a beautiful organ. Slick. Wet. Darker than the rest of his bronze skin and so hard veins were visible from a distance. The head was huge and Trey could only imagine how good it would feel sliding in and out of his body. The rim tugging on his ass as Ethan pulled free and then plunged inside again. Ethan stroked his thick length with both hands. Faster. Faster. The sounds of his hands pumping his slick flesh made Trey’s balls tighten. When Ethan grunted and started spurting his load, Trey’s knees buckled. Ethan placed one hand on the wall behind the toilet and stared at Trey while he came—his mouth open, eyes reduced to slits, muscles tense with release. Ethan bit his lip when the last spurt of cum landed somewhere around the toilet.

Trey pushed off the doorsill, pretending he wasn’t about to come down his leg, and dashed into Reagan’s bedroom. He closed the door and started searching for something, anything to fill that empty ache inside. Oh God. He couldn’t stand it.

He found a red dildo in her side table drawer and several tubes of lube. He coated the toy with a thick slathering of lube, fumbled with his fly, and jerked his pants down to his knees. He needed it. Needed it now. He bent over the bed and shoved the toy inside, thrusting it hard, as deep as it would go. It was a sad substitute for cock, but better than nothing. Trey crawled up on the bed, supporting his weight with his face so he could work the dildo with one hand and stroke his throbbing cock with the other. The entire time he tried to find relief, he was imagining being possessed, not by Brian, but by Ethan. The only man he’d ever fantasized about in the past had been Brian, but he would puzzle that out later. Trey was within seconds of coming when the door opened. He was ready for Ethan to fuck him now. Didn’t give a shit about anyone’s feelings. Just needed to be possessed and used. He turned his head, completely unprepared to see Reagan standing on the threshold with a stunned expression on her face.

Chapter 21

Reagan’s entire world tilted on its axis. Oh my God, I’ve done it again. I’ve turned the man I love gay. Trey’s body convulsed and he wrapped his hand around the head of his cock as if to hide the evidence of his release. His extended, vigorous, and—if the look on his face was any indication—intensely pleasurable orgasm.

“Wha-what are you doing?” she sputtered.

He squeezed his eyes shut and turned his flushed face into the mattress. “Sorry. I couldn’t stand it any longer.” His voice was muffled by the comforter. “I… we need to talk.”

She didn’t want to talk. She wanted to flee. So she did. She backed out of the room and closed the door. She turned and collided with Ethan’s broad chest.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Why did those two words always make her cry? Light-headed and dizzy, she lifted a trembling hand to her lips. “Trey is gay.”

“How do you know that?”

“I saw him… saw him in there.” She waved a hand toward the door behind her. “He was… getting off with…”

“Anal?”

She nodded.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s gay, Reagan.”

She looked up at Ethan for direction. He would know. “It doesn’t?”

“No, that doesn’t make him gay, but…” He lowered his eyes guiltily.

“Did he come on to you, Ethan?”

“No. I came on to him.”

“You bastard. How could you?” she bellowed at him. “I really like him.”

“I really like him too.”

Reagan shoved her fingers in both ears. “I don’t want to hear it.”

Strong hands landed on her shoulders from behind and she whirled around to face Trey. Even though she was thoroughly confused, her heart thudded with anticipation and that bubbly happy feeling she got every time he was near welled up in her throat. Trey took her hands and eased them away from her ears.

“I have some things I need to tell you. I thought I could ignore them, but…” He shook his head.

Her heart thudded faster and faster. She didn’t want to lose him. She’d rather not know if it meant she could keep him.

“Do you like my hair?” she said, touching the golden blond, face-framing strands. “They lightened it. I got a whole new wardrobe today. And wait until you see my new guitar,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if I’d like a floating bridge, I hear they’re really hard to keep in tune, but it sounds phenomenal. The third pickup—”

Trey covered her mouth with one hand and lifted his gaze to Ethan, who was standing directly behind her. “Can you give us a few minutes alone?”

“Yeah, of course,” Ethan said and stepped away.

“Trey,” she said against his hand.

“Hear me out, Reagan.”

She nodded and lowered her gaze. A dark cloud seemed to settle over her, making her skin cold and clammy.

He led her to the sofa and eased her down onto the soft cushions. When he sat on the coffee table in front of her and took her hands in his, she just wanted to wrap him in her arms and tell him it didn’t matter. She could pretend like she’d never seen that. Pretend that Ethan hadn’t verified her suspicions.

“I’ve been attracted to both men and women for as long as I can remember,” he said.

Well, that wasn’t what she’d expected him to say. She lifted her gaze to his. The sincerity in his eyes made her heart thud with a mixture of empathy and despair.

“Recently I decided that I didn’t want the complications that come with being attracted to men. I thought I could control those urges. Deny that they exist. I wanted to be faithful to you, Reagan. I have been faithful to you, but…”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Trey. I’m sorry I freaked out. If that’s what you need, maybe I can help, or maybe you can—”

“Keep denying what I am?” He shook his head. “I can’t. I’ve always been very open about my sexuality. This trying to be something I’m not… I can’t do it anymore, Reagan. I love you, but…”

All the air whooshed out of her lungs. Did he just say that he loved her?

“I’m saying good-bye. I can’t make you happy. I’m just not cut out for a committed relationship. We’ll just end up making each other miserable. Either I’ll be sexually frustrated or you’ll be hurt when I eventually stray. It’s better to end this now before we become too attached to each other.”

His face blurred behind the welling of tears in her eyes. She was already too attached to him. Hot trails of moisture streaked down both cheeks. Dripped from her jaw.

“Don’t cry,” he whispered and brushed his lips against her temple. “You’ll be okay.”

She took a deep strangled breath and reached for him, but he climbed to his feet and held her down on the sofa by her shoulder.

“Ethan,” he called. When Trey released her shoulder, she leapt to her feet, but the arms that went around her, the shirt that absorbed her tears, didn’t belong to Trey. They belonged to Ethan.

“Take good care of her,” Trey said. When the front door closed behind him, she broke into wracking sobs.

Chapter 22

Ethan’s arms tightened around Reagan’s trembling body. He drew her closer to his chest, rubbed her back with both hands, and stared at the door that Trey had just exited. Ethan had never respected a man more than he respected Trey at that moment. Ethan wished he would have had the balls to have that conversation with Reagan. Wished he’d have been man enough to let her go and spare her feelings before he strayed with a man and crushed her heart. Wished he could have put her happiness first instead of doing everything in his power to keep himself in her life. He knew he was a selfish bastard, but even knowing that, he still couldn’t let her go. He loved her too much. Even if he did have to pretend he thought of her as a friend and nothing more substantial.

Ethan lowered his lips to her hair. He didn’t know what to say to her. Didn’t know if anything he said would make one bit of difference. He felt responsible for this entire thing. If he hadn’t been so attracted to Trey and tried to make a move on his best friend’s boyfriend—God, I’m such an ass—Reagan wouldn’t be sobbing right now. She’d be laughing. Smiling. Staring at Trey with the sickening look of love that ate Ethan alive.

“Reagan,” he whispered. “Shh. Calm down, baby.”

“I have to go after him,” she said. “I can’t let him leave. He said he loves me and I think… I know I love him too.”

She tried to pull away, but Ethan held her tight. “Reagan, he’s right. You can’t be happy with him. He basically told you that he’d cheat on you. I know firsthand that you don’t take that well.”

She punched him in the ribs. Okay, he deserved that.

“If I give him permission, it won’t be cheating.”

All the air seemed to vacate the room. “Permission? You never gave me permission.”

“You didn’t ask, Ethan. You didn’t even talk to me about it. You just screwed someone in our apartment when you thought I wouldn’t be home.”

“How many times have I apologized for that, Reagan? I knew you wouldn’t understand my attraction to men. I scarcely understand it.”

“It isn’t your attraction to men that I wouldn’t be able to understand. It’s how you could bring yourself to hurt me like that when you claimed to love me.”

“I do love you, Reagan.”

“Did,” she corrected.

He cupped her lovely face and tilted her head back. Brushing the tears from her cheeks with both thumbs, he looked into her eyes and said, “Do.”

He didn’t know what he expected her to say to his confession, but it wasn’t, “Argh!” She shoved him away. “Don’t confuse things even more. You drive me crazy, Ethan.”

“I know. I don’t mean to.” He just couldn’t manage to regain her trust enough to direct their relationship in the way he wanted it to go. Which wasn’t just friends. It had never been that kind of relationship to him. He’d let her dictate his feelings because he needed her in his life in some capacity. Any capacity. He knew he’d fucked up. He owned that mistake. He didn’t know how to make it up to her though. Didn’t know if he could make it up to her. Maybe if he helped her keep Trey. Would that make her happy? “I could fuck Trey for you,” he blurted.

“What?” she sputtered.

“He’s attracted to me. I can fulfill his sexual desires and you could trust me not to take him away from you. I want you to be happy.”

“Did you seriously just volunteer to fuck my boyfriend?”

“Actually, Reagan, he’s not your boyfriend. He just dumped you.” Ethan jabbed a thumb toward the front door of the apartment.

“Shut up! He just needs a little time.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “But not too much time.” She groaned and scrubbed her face with both hands. “I don’t want to lose him, Ethan. Not because of this.”

“He told you what he needed to be happy.”

“Do you really think we could make him happy? Me and you. Together.”

“I’m more concerned about your feelings. Do you think you can handle sharing him? Even on a purely sexual level.”

“With you?” She took a deep breath. “Yeah, I’d rather know he was with you than some other guy, but…” She looked up at him. “Do you think he’ll go for this?”

“There’s only one way to find out.”