Antidote (Don't) (3 page)

Giving a smile, Gray tugged me close and demanded access to my mouth. I let him in, chasing his tongue, and didn’t catch on to why until Jack cried out.

“Uh-uh.
Fucking cheat
.” Jack curled up into me, biting at my hip. Seeing us kiss, there was that switch and Jack seemed to lose all control. He came, and his cry made me lose mine, our come now mingling on his stomach.

“Seriously, Jack?” said Gray, sounding really pleased; breathless, but pleased. “Just a few weeks of edging. You’re too fucking easy lately.” Giving a smile as I sat back on my heels out of the way, Gray came down onto Jack, his pace not slowing. Jack eased back onto the bed as Gray bit at his throat, as he marked and claimed the spoils.

“Christ,” cried Jack, stretching beneath Gray as though he’d come again when Gray cried his release, fingers digging hard into Gray’s toned ass, encouraging every last inch up him. And knowing Jack, maybe he had come again.

Heavy breathing hit the air, all of ours, then Jack rolled to his side and pulled a pillow over his head. “I’m fucked as a Master sub,” he groaned. “The Circle’s gonna kick my sorry ass out for this shit. Mike will be sticking photos of Jan up all over the MC base and will be pissing himself behind the cameras watching the
too-fucking-quick
fallout.” He waved a defeated hand. “Carry on, I’m fucked. Useless and peachy fucking fucked,” he said, sounding half asleep already.

Both Gray and I shared a look, a few deep breaths, then chuckled. “Well,” said Gray. “At least we shut him up.”

“Cured his headache too.”

Gray patted Jack’s thigh. “Bless the delicate petal.”

“I can still fucking
hear
you,” mumbled Jack. “You tag me as any part of a flower again, you can both fuck off and find a new place to live.”

“This
is
my place, Jack.”

“Yeah. My place,” mumbled Jack, and something softened in Gray’s eyes.

“You’d live here?”

Jack chuckled. “So long as I can bring my things.” I yelped as Jack smacked my thigh. “Right, things? Just need to buy him the collar to prove it.”

“Hey,” I mumbled, rubbing at my ass, although the thought of being Jack’s
thing
had me grinning. Moving in was something else entirely, though, and so too was the collaring. That wasn’t my thing. I clamped my lips shut maybe a little too quickly. Even Gray had lost his smile.

Jack had gone so still too, all tensed; his grip on the pillow a little tight. At first I thought he’d caught on to my lack of committal, lay there a little stung at the rejection, but I saw how rigid his body was, the deliberate control of breathing, that slow inhale... exhale... and how that cover was pulled a little too tightly against his stomach, fingers rigid and pale at the knuckles.

Gray had already gotten off the bed, ditched his condom in the basket next to the bin, and was heading in the direction of the en suite. He came back a moment later carrying a damp cloth and towel.

“Here,” he said to Jack, tugging at Jack’s hip to get him to turn around slightly and get his head from underneath the pillow. Looking down, Jack took the cloth, and with a concentration that defied logic, he started wiping his abs clean with long, slow strokes.

Gray knew the signs to Jack’s OCD a lot better than I did. And despite Jack being back on his meds, and Gray, in Jack’s words, “Dragging his ass to bastard, psycho nut-case sessions,” for his
Don’t... torture me
Conduct Disorder, there were these more obvious signs of how much Jack wouldn’t ever really escape both conditions. At best he had coping strategies, at worst... Gray and I were there to catch the fallout. I could understand Gray’s agreement to Jack’s time off from Dom training, even though Gray seriously ribbed him for it. Despite how Jack’s voice and look said he needed that intensity, his head needed time to adjust, to pace. As Gray had said, slow and easy. In every way possible.

After a moment, I took the cloth off Jack and made sure he was clean. He offered this shy smile, and I leaned down and kissed where I’d spilled my come on him. He loved sex to the extreme and beyond; he just seemed to have difficulty in the comedown from sex. It had eased over the last month, but there were still moments like this that threw him back a touch. Glancing at Gray, he just offered me a frown.

Giving a sigh, I kissed Jack again, loving his murmur as I feathered more nips just below his navel, gently nibbling at the toned skin above his pubic hairline. Jack stroked through my hair, back arching slightly, and gave such a soft murmur of my name. Christ, he reacted so effortlessly to every touch and it made talking nigh on impossible. I worshipped every inch of him and his complications for it.

“Jan,” said Gray.

“Hmmm?” I gave him a look, not happy that my hard and fast run of vampire bites along Jack’s navel had been interrupted, also not liking how Jack’s soft chuckles had stopped as well now. “Mobile,” he added, shifting his head, indicating to the bedside unit. I hadn’t even heard it go off, and with a grumble, I reached over and grabbed it. Thumbing the messages, I glanced down at Jack, seeing the text.

Work...

...Mr. Hammond’s report due by Friday.

“Anything important?” mumbled Jack, arm over his face as he tried to hide his smile.

“The office.”

“You’re on holiday. Tell them to fuck off.” Jack peeked up at me, and I was going to toss the phone aside and steal a kiss when I caught a missed message from earlier.

“Jan?” All frown and worry, Jack was now raised up onto his elbows. “You okay?”

Flicking a look at him, then more so at Gray, I put the phone back and eased down, making sure Jack got the message to move with me so I could cuddle.

“Just work,” I mumbled, hiding in Jack’s throat. A stroke came at my back, and as Jack never let me out of the cuddle when I tried to start some more sex, he maybe knew there was a lie in there somewhere.

“You okay?” he whispered.

It was still close, the concentration on his face as he’d wiped at his abs. “Yeah.” I held him a little tighter.

Jack Harrison

With the bathroom tiles cool under foot, I jerked as arms snaked around my waist, making me nearly cut myself shaving. Bare chest and PJ’s shaped me from behind and—fuck me, the bloody bastards ’round here knew how to sneak up on a guy. I huffed, but did a lousy job of sounding pissed as I wiped off the excess shaving foam with a towel. “Not forgiven you for ganging up on me last night, Richards.”

Jan laughed softly and feathered kisses along the back of my neck. I glanced at him in the mirror, loving seeing him there. “Yeah, laugh it up. But just remember what fucks around....” I tried to think of some grouchy comment to add to that, but it was touching five in the morning and my nuts were too busy playing Hide and go Shrink. Jan was brushing a touch along some bite marks on my throat, and that was the first time I really noticed I’d been marked. Gray usually kept his touch professional and discreet, yet I couldn’t remember Jan going dark and vampire on my throat last night.

“Hmmm,” said Jan as the towel went in the wash basket. “Remember what fucks around... what?”

“Just doesn’t get fucked by me, okay,” I snapped, but fuck knows how I got there. I twisted slightly and managed to tongue him deeply and get high on his sleepy taste. “That was a real cheap shot.”

“Yeah?” said Jan, and he rutted against me from behind. “You lost me at ‘Jack’s just had a shower and he’s all naked and drip drying in the bathroom.’”

“Y’know I never said that, right?” I shivered as he drew his hand across the wetness on my abs, all to run down the outside of my thigh. I was still naked; he wasn’t.

“Said what?”

“You even in the same universe as me this morning, Breakdown?” I said, chuckling, but Jan only sighed.

“How about you skip work today, pull a sickie, and we get all X-rated in the bed again?”

I leaned back, my head now on his shoulder. “And have Gray take the piss over me pulling a sickie outside of the Master Circle too?” I grumbled. “Sure, like I’m gonna hand him that piss-take on a platter.” Giving a sigh, I looked down at the bathroom unit. The photo of Gray sat at perfect angles to the sink and I controlled my breathing. Jan seemed to stop his kisses and I caught him looking over my shoulder. Reaching past me, he went to pick the photo up, but I jerked into life, stopping his hand, hating how hard my heart pounded with having him nearly disturb it. Giving a kiss to my shoulder, instead he took my hand and eased it down so I could pick it up.

“Gonna have to get one of you and Gray together,” I mumbled, bringing it closer and seeing Gray, dark sunglasses and suit, getting out of his MC’s signature car, a black Merc. “Well, if I could fucking tie his ass down long enough to keep him from dodging camera shots.” Bloody MI5 Ops.

Jan kissed my neck and then gave a gentle lick with his tongue, almost soaking up the moisture there. “How long did it stay all casual before you had to straighten it?” he whispered in my ear, and I offered a smile.

“Six days. Longest yet.”

He sighed and ran a touch up my arm, angling the photo so it hovered above the unit. “Seven this time,” he said, and I let the photo fall, go all casual next to the sink, with lines out of angle. Scary. I couldn’t remember when I’d straightened it, before, maybe after I’d gotten out of the shower. Coping strategies: leave something for as long as possible, leave it out of sync with life while ignoring the need to put it right... I let out a snort and felt Jan tighten his hold briefly. OCD bullshit in front of the boyfriend, real fucking peachy.

“Seven days this time,” murmured Jan, and the weight on my shoulders seemed to instantly ease. Yeah, more than.

“Anyway.” I turned and pulled him into a cuddle. “Morning, gorgeous.”

“Mmmmm.” His hands had wandered down to my ass. “Morning, things.” He gave a yawn, then stretched all of his body to the full, still making no apology for the state of his pyjama-covered hard-on. Lips briefly met mine. “Everything okay?” he said, sounding so fucking tired.

“Hmmm?” I licked my lips, not wanting him to move too far from them. “What?”

Jan was quiet and it forced me to focus on him a little more.

“Nothing you need to talk about?” He’d peered around me to the photo, and his stroke at my abs was as distracted as his look. I pulled him back, fully intending to tongue our way through this discussion, but ended up looking at him, his sleepy, messed-up hair, soft eyes...

Feeling my heart slip, I pulled him into a hard hold and closed my eyes. Life was good, damn good, nothing out of place, all lines, moods, and bodies in perfect sync. Perfect. An OCDers dream, or nightmare, one of the two. My head just couldn’t quite decide which one. Fuck. I pushed it away. Giving Jan a kiss, I breathed him in deep, a mixture of cologne, deodorant, pillow and duvet; a gorgeous scent. “The talking I need to do will make me late for work.” I made a point of rubbing my semi against his thigh and the slap to my ass made me wince.

“In that case, don’t work too hard, Jack.”

I gave him a frown; he sounded distant again with that. “That other text last night? What pissed you off? They riding your ass in the world of finance? Because I know people who know people that maybe know a few more people who can make them
all
go away.”

Jan was lost for a moment, his gaze back towards the bedroom. “Yeah, scary world at times, Harrison.”

Bad time to make a joke. “Not always,” I mumbled, seeing that same look he’d had back at the dojo a few months back after Gray had killed Mark Shaw and his prats. He shook ghosts off after a minute, mostly because he came in for another kiss.

“Work,” he mumbled, giving a smile.

“Bollocks,” I said, scowling. Jan gave a chuckle, then went back to the bedroom. A shave, cologne, fresh jeans, T-shirt, and pull on of coveralls later, I was back in there with them. Halfway between zipping my coveralls up and seeing Jan had drifted off next to Gray, the look of them together kept me still. I’d caught the alarm before Gray had gone katana on the thing and diced it to toast-sized offerings for waking him. It was rare he did time off from work “officially”, although considering he kept his mobile close wherever he went, sat on the bedside unit now, I guessed his ass was still on-call. And, note to dick, what a fine fucking ass that was. He (Gray, not his ass) had a long trip coming up in America in a week or so that was tied to MC business. I’d had to cry out of it due to sorting my garages, which had pissed Gray off as we were meant to be spot-checking some rogue Dom club in the States, and it had earned more piss-taking off Gray. Maybe this was Gray relaxing before that. He guarded one side of the bed, sheet pulled down to his waist, revealing more than his kick-ass body, with its hard lines and tanned suppleness against a pure white backdrop. He was ten years older, but you wouldn’t have called that unless you had his birth certificate in hand. Then you’d have to learn to run very quickly if he knew you’d touched his goods.

Jan was the other side, just as tanned, his body not as hard and defined as Gray’s, just this soft tone that matched everything else about Jan so fucking gorgeously with his tousled brown hair, light brown eyes...

“Work,” I mumbled down to my dick. “And not the sort you’re all fired up for, again.” Grumbling under my breath and flicking an envious glare at the space between them both, I headed on downstairs.

In the main reception area, Ed had already ordered the mail, and I pinched mine from off the letter table. Letters were divided between two addresses, here and home, and the usual shit cluttered my hands. Gray’s looked a hell of a lot more interesting, all stacked and ordered and looking twice as big as mine—with a couple of packages thrown in to boot too.

Sweet.
One flat brown package looked very teasingly suspicious.

Giving a grin, I picked it up, felt along the edges, then gave it a rattle close to my ear hearing the distinct sound of a disc hitting a DVD case.

“Mail-order porn.” I tutted a few times in disgust. “At your time of life? With your connections? Oh the fucking shame of it, my old mukka.”