Loving Vincente

A Total-E-Bound Publication

www.total-e-bound.com Loving Vicente ISBN # 978-0-85715-708-9 ©Copyright Serena Yates 2011 Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright September 2011 Edited by Stacey Birkel Total-E-Bound Publishing This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing. Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution. The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork. Published in 2011 by Total-E-Bound Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL, United Kingdom. Warning: This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a heat rating of Total-e-burning and a sexometer of 2.

Men of Riverside

LOVING VICENTE Serena Yates

Dedication For those who never give up hope that luck, determination and love may bring separated lovers back together for the happy ending we all crave.

Trademarks Acknowledgement The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction: BMW: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG Sherpa: Festino Corporation Bud: Anheuser-Bush InBev Malibu: General Motors Verstal: Sketchers USA, Ltd Jetta: Volkswagen AG

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Chapter One

Riverside, Texas Saturday, June 3, 2006 “Shit!” Vicente Vasquez hated golf with a vengeance. Trying to mutter the curses under his breath so his father wouldn’t hear, he followed the damn ball into the small wooded area to the right of the seventh hole. He’d never understand why the hell they made golf courses so huge and the stupid balls so tiny. Why grown men wasted their weekends playing the game, calling it a good business networking opportunity, also eluded him. And the worst thing? The fact they’d been here this morning for a seven-thirty tee-off. Sleeping in hadn’t even been an option. “You got it?” His father sounded impatient as he threw anxious glances at the two older business contacts he was trying to impress. “Yes, Papá.” Vicente bit his tongue to stop the anger from spilling over. “About time. You’re holding everyone up.” His father glared at him, trying to look imposing. At five-feet-eight, that wasn’t an easy job. But old habits, based on years of verbal abuse, died hard. Even though Vicente had been a good two inches taller than his father ever since he turned seventeen two years ago, his first instinct was still to give in. So he ducked his head and walked back to the group. He’d already been three over par when the stupid ball went wide, so he was just going to take the quadruple bogey and deal with it. He almost felt sorry for his father for having to play the game with him as a partner, but, then again, this nonsense was his father’s choice of how to spend a Saturday morning, not his. He’d never been good enough for his father, and probably never would be. Even going to college to study business, rather than becoming a car mechanic like he’d wanted, hadn’t helped. His father still thought he was useless, telling him at every conceivable occasion how much better he could do if he really applied himself, and what a great example his elder

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brother, Felipe, was. Vicente snorted. If his dad knew how Felipe came by his money, he’d have a heart attack. “Sorry about that.” His father shook his head and refocused on picking the perfect club for his next turn. The embarrassed apology to the two idiots playing with them increased Vicente’s anger further. It made him feel as if his father was sorry for Vicente’s entire existence. He wasn’t even sure the two men cared about the status of their game that much. They were deep into discussing some new commercial venture involving some real estate deals in the area just south of the Riverside inner city. When the game was finally over almost three hours later, Vicente heaved a sigh of relief. Without asking or waiting for his father’s approval, he made his excuses and left. He’d pay for it later, he was sure, but staying for an exceedingly boring lunch wouldn’t make a difference. His father would just find some other excuse for dressing him down. Getting into his car and making it to his friend’s house so they could go fishing this afternoon was the only thing on his mind. It was the one time this week he’d have to himself, and he wanted to share it with Steve Jacobi. He’d been his best friend all the way through high school, and even though Steve had decided to be a window washer rather than attempting college after graduation, they’d managed to stay in touch. Friday nights were usually theirs to go and have a beer, but last night hadn’t worked out because Vicente’s mother had required him to attend his uncle’s birthday party. Steve’s apartment was west of downtown in an area just this side of acceptable. His friend had only moved here last month, after finally saving enough money to be able to afford a place of his own. Vicente parked his pretentious car, the BMW 328i his father had insisted he drive, hoping it would still be there when he returned. He rang the bell and waited for Steve’s tinny voice to ask who was there. The loudspeaker system was in urgent need of an overhaul, but Vicente wasn’t going to hold his breath. He sighed, making his way up to the third floor via the stairs. No way was he getting into an elevator looking as ancient and rickety as that one. According to Steve, it spent more time out of service than working. Apartment three-oh-seven was towards the end of the long, dilapidated hallway. The door was pulled open before he had a chance to knock.

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“Hey, you trying to starve me?” Steve grinned, making sure it sounded like ribbing, not an accusation. His friend was as tall and broad-shouldered as Vicente was slim. His dark curly hair always looked slightly chaotic and today was no exception. “Hello to you too. Sorry about the delay, but apparently my game was even worse than usual and I held everyone up.” Vicente rolled his eyes. “My father didn’t even notice one of his so-called buddies was just as bad.” “No problem, I know what it’s like.” Steve waved him inside then closed the door behind them. “Have a seat for a moment while I get my stuff. I was hoping we could hit some drive-through on our way out of town so we don’t lose any valuable fishing time.” “Sure, I’m pretty hungry as well.” Vicente walked through the tiny hallway, past the kitchen to his left and the bedroom to his right, straight into the living room. The only thing in there was an old TV sitting on a crate. Steve was saving up for a bed next, then might get around to buying a couch. So far, he was making do with two chairs bought at a garage sale just before he’d moved in. Vicente shook his head. He would have been happy to loan Steve some money, but his friend was stubborn and wouldn’t hear of it. He was determined to make his own way. Minutes later, Steve was back with their fishing rods. He’d also changed into a pair of jeans and a green T-shirt that set off his brown skin. Vicente had deposited his gear here a few days ago so he wouldn’t have it in his trunk for his father to discover. He never knew how the man might react when Vicente developed a new hobby. He was quiet during most of the drive. The fast food was quickly eaten, but he still didn’t know how to bring up the one thing he’d been thinking about for weeks. By the time they were at their destination and had set up everything the way they wanted in their usual well-hidden fishing spot on the lake’s shore, he was ready to forget about it. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong with you or would you prefer to mope for the rest of the afternoon?” Steve cast his line and settled into his Sherpa chair. “I’m not moping.” Well, not much. Steve just raised an eyebrow. They knew each other well enough to go without words on occasions like this. “Okay, maybe I was a little quiet.” “Ha!” Steve shook his head. “Just spit it out.”

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“Do you remember the guy who helped me with my math and science work in high school?” Vicente didn’t think Steve would. God, he’d had such a crush on the cute nerd, it was ridiculous. The worst thing was that he still hadn’t forgotten him three years later. “Oh, you mean William—what was his last name?—something with an F?” “Yeah, him, William Fortin.” Vicente cleared his throat, trying to bring his voice back to a more normal timbre. “Can’t believe you still remember him.” “Well, he was the biggest nerd in all of Riverside High.” Steve tilted his head. “All three years he was there, I believe. Shit, he was so clever, it only took him three years to graduate and then he went off to Harvard or somewhere, right?” “Yeah, that was him.” Except he’d also been well built and muscular, a champion-level rower and popular with the girls even though he never dated. How many nerds were able to put that on their CV? “What about him?” Steve lowered his fishing rod and stared at Vicente. “Don’t tell me you’ve followed what he’s been up to?” “Um…yes?” “No!” Steve’s eyes widened. “Isn’t that like being a stalker?” “Well, maybe. But I wanted to see how he was doing and I found out he’s graduating next week.” And he so wanted to go! “But it’s only been three years since he left.” Steve laughed. “Well, of course he’d breeze through a four-year programme in only three.” “The thing is, I want to go to his graduation.” He’d been thinking about it for a few months, ever since he’d found out about William’s progress. “What?” Steve’s eyebrows shot upwards. “Why?” “I don’t know.” Well, he did. He missed William something awful. They hadn’t just talked about math and science during their mentoring sessions—they’d pretty much talked about everything. He’d thought they’d become pretty good friends, but once William had left for college, Vicente hadn’t heard from him again. Not once in three years. It still hurt, but he wasn’t going to admit that, not even to his best friend. “You don’t know.” Steve dropped all pretence of trying to get some fishing done. “I have a hard time believing that.” “He did help me pass my science class.”

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“That can’t possibly be the only reason, can it?” Steve shook his head. “Just think about the long cross country trip. It would take you days to get from here all the way to Boston.” “I know. I checked.” Vicente sighed. It would have all been worth it. “But you don’t have to worry, it’s not going to happen.” “Why not? When is this event taking place anyway?” Steve shifted in his chair. “The ceremony is next Thursday, in the middle of the week. I’d have to figure out a way to explain my absence to my dad, but that’s not the only problem.” He’d face pretty much anything to be able to go. “The real problem is that, according to their special website, you need tickets to attend. And those are severely limited. I’m sure William’s family has taken up his quota.” “I’m sure they have.” Steve scratched his head. “But I still don’t see why it would even matter. It’s not like William is a friend or like he’s even that important to you. Is he?” “You’re right.” Vicente meant the ticket situation, not that William wasn’t a friend. To him, William was a lot more important than he could ever explain, without causing some very obvious questions. Questions he couldn’t afford to answer—to his parents or anyone else. After all, being interested in another man would mean he was gay. And even though he’d known for a while—in fact ever since William—that he was anything but straight, his family would never accept it. Not being able to be who he was sucked. But what options did he have?

**** Riverside, Texas Monday, October 6, 2008 Vicente couldn’t wait to see Steve. Ever since his friend had bought a car two months ago, he’d started spending a lot of time with the salesman—interestingly William’s younger brother, Jason, of all people. Since then, Steve had only managed to turn up for their Friday night round of drinks once. It was the one luxury Vicente still allowed himself since his life had changed so drastically, and he’d missed it.

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He went into the Front Porch and looked for a table. Being at the bar on a Monday night instead of their usual Fridays was a little strange, but he’d take any time Steve was willing to spend with him. Spotting free seats in their favourite booth was lucky, and he went over to claim it. He’d wait before ordering a drink until Steve arrived. It wasn’t as if he had money to throw around, after all. Not anymore. Sitting there with nothing to do but wait gave him time to think—something he usually tried to avoid at all costs. He’d thought not being able to go to William’s first graduation was bad, but that was before Vicente’s parents had been in their horrible car accident a few months later. It had taken his mother’s life and had put his father in a wheelchair. The guilty driver had died on impact, hadn’t been insured, and all the medical bills had grown to unmanageable amounts much faster than he could have made money with a part-time job. He’d had to leave college, and he’d worked as a courier ever since. He sighed, wishing he’d ordered a drink after all. Sometimes it was all too much. A year ago his father had suffered a stroke and he’d needed more money, so he’d become a bartender at night. The money was pretty good, but it was exhausting. And no matter how hard he worked, he didn’t seem to be able to make so much as a dent in the massive debt they’d amassed. Finally, Steve walked in. Vicente had to look twice to make sure it was him. He’d only spoken to his friend on the phone a couple of times since their last meeting in early September, so he was shocked when he saw Steve limp a little. The bruises on his face may have almost healed gone, but they were still pretty obvious. “What the hell happened?” Shit, he’d spoken before switching on his brain. Steve flinched and sat down opposite him. “Sorry, that wasn’t what I meant.” “Yeah it was.” Steve grinned, and suddenly his old friend was back. “They still look pretty bad, huh?” “They’re kinda obvious, if that’s what you mean.” He tried not to stare, but it wasn’t easy. There were healing bruises all over Steve’s face. “Who did this to you?” “Long story. Let’s order some drinks first.” Steve waived at the waiter. Drinks orders dealt with, Vicente leant back and waited for Steve to figure out where to start. By the time the whole sordid tale about Steve’s co-workers beating him up because they

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suspected him to be gay was done, Vicente’s jaw had dropped. Once Steve had added the story about him and Jason getting back together just this last weekend, he was ready to cheer for his friend. “Good for you!” He lifted his glass and had a sip. “Yeah?” Steve tilted his head. “Sure. You deserve to be in a relationship and I sort of suspected you wanted Jason to be more than just friends, when you suddenly started spending so much time with him.” “True. That did sort of give things away.” Steve chuckled. “So you’re not upset that I’m with a guy?” “Why should I be?” Briefly, he debated the wisdom of admitting his own leanings. But this was Steve, his best friend, who had just come out to him. There was no reason to hide anything from him. “I’ve wanted to be with a guy for a long time.” “You have?” Steve’s eyebrows rose. Vicente nodded, definitely embarrassed now. “Oh, wait.” Steve frowned. “There was that guy whose graduation you wanted to go to…let me think…” Vicente sat still, waiting for the penny to drop the rest of the way. He half-hoped Steve wouldn’t figure it out so his crush could remain hidden. On the other hand, he was dying to find out what William was planning now that he must have got the Master’s degree he’d started right after Harvard. And who better to find out the details from than the man who was apparently in a relationship with William’s younger brother? “William!” Steve’s eyes widened. “It was Jason’s brother William you were interested in, wasn’t it?” Vicente nodded, relieved Steve had figured it out himself. “And you’re still interested two years later?” Steve grinned, showing off his brilliant white teeth. “Well, six years after you last saw him.” “Ridiculous, isn’t it?” “Naw, I think it’s kinda cute.” Steve winked. “Cute?” He was horrified. Who the hell wanted to be called cute? He looked around, trying to see if anyone had overheard, but nobody seemed to pay them any attention. “I’ll give you cute.”

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“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Steve reached over the table and briefly squeezed his hand. “It’s not a problem. I think it’s amazing you’re this loyal. Must be some crush if it’s lasted this long. I won’t tell anyone, okay? Well, not unless you tell me to.” “No way!” Vicente would dig a whole and vanish into it if William ever found out. “Okay, so what are you going to do about it?” “Do about it?” “Yeah, as in—are you going to try and see if the feelings are mutual, or could at least become mutual?” Steve finished his drink and waved at their waitress as the young girl tried to rush past them. “We’re ready for another round, Miss.” “Two more Buds?” She looked harried. No wonder—it was pretty busy for a Monday. “Please.” Steve nodded and sent her on her way, returning his attention to Vicente as soon as she was gone. “I don’t even know where he’s at or what he’s up to.” And wasn’t that a depressing thought? Working two jobs to try to keep up with the bills didn’t leave a lot of time, or energy, to do research into William’s whereabouts. Never mind that the intelligent and successful older man wouldn’t even look at a loser like Vicente. “That doesn’t matter because that’s what you’ve got me for now.” Steve’s smile was mischievous. “It is?” He couldn’t resist the grin spreading his lips. “Yep.” Steve leant back to let the waitress put their new beers onto the table then collect the old before she hurried towards the next groups clamouring for her attention. “So, what do you want to know?” “You’re enjoying this just a little too much.” But he didn’t really mind. Steve was his friend and he was desperate to find out what William was up to. They’d hopefully work something out. “Maybe.” Steve stopped grinning. “I don’t want to make this difficult for you, but I have no idea if William is even gay.” “I know.” The thought had tormented him forever. “I guess I’m sort of hoping it runs in the family.” Steve laughed. “You have a point. With Zeke finally admitting he’s in love with his friend, Ben, and now Jason and me…”

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Vicente suppressed his sigh. It was wishful thinking to hope the third brother was gay as well. Did that even happen? Probably not. “Nothing wrong with trying, though. He might be bisexual, like Zeke. In which case, at least you stand a chance.” Steve took a big swig of his second beer, wiped his mouth in an exaggerated way and leant back against the booth seat’s backrest. “So, where do we start?” “Start? We?” Vicente was sure he looked like a deer caught in the headlights. He hadn’t expected Steve to take such an active interest. “Sure, we. You don’t think I’ll leave you to do this on your own?” Steve’s eyebrows rose. “Well, um, I hadn’t thought about it, but I didn’t think you’d want to be involved.” He wasn’t even sure he wanted his friend’s help. “Of course I do. You’re my friend, and we’re talking about my boyfriend’s brother, so it’s a family thing as well.” Steve briefly leant forwards to pat Vicente’s hand. “Now, what I do know is that William graduated from Boston University, getting his Master’s of Forensic Science in June. According to Jason he’s been travelling and has just returned to Riverside to start a job at the Harris County Center of Forensic Science as a medical examiner.” “His dream came true then.” Vicente had no idea what was so fascinating about being a forensic scientist, but William had wanted to be one ever since they’d talked about what they wanted to be when they grew up, all those years ago in high school. “Both dreams, apparently.” Steve smiled. “He’s got the job he wanted and he’ll be able to work right here in Riverside. Jason says he’s never seen his ‘serious brother’ so happy.” Vicente just nodded. It would make trying to find a way to see his old crush even more tempting. “The really good news is that the family has planned a welcome back party all day this Friday, to which Jason and I are invited. I assume you’d like to come as well?” Steve winked. Would I ever! He nodded before he’d switched on his brain. He couldn’t even speak, he was so excited. Seeing William again after such a long time would be amazing. Suddenly, he sobered. It was also scary as hell. What if William didn’t like him? Didn’t remember him? Worse, what if he did? Shit, this was a lot tougher than he’d imagined in his daydreams. “Relax, it’s just a party.” Steve must have seen the panic in his face.

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“Yes, but it’s also a Friday night. Shit!” His boss at the gay bar he’d just started working at as a bartender wasn’t going to like him not turning up. His normal drink dates with Steve were early enough not to interfere, but he wanted to have the whole evening available for William’s party. He’d also miss the additional income from the tips, but that couldn’t be helped. He was so far into debt that he’d never be able to pay it all off anyway, so an extra few hundred dollars wouldn’t matter. “You got something better planned?” “No, but I have to work.” Unless he could find a replacement. “That’s right, you started working at George’s Corner, didn’t you?” Steve’s eyes lit up. “That is one hot club, by the way. Jason mentioned how much he wants to go there now that we’re out.” “It is pretty hot.” Temptation personified, in fact, with all those young gay men coming in to show off their best assets on the dance floor…or wherever they felt like it, really. He’d only worked there a few evenings so far, but it had been fun. “They must be big enough to have a few more bartenders? Surely one of them wouldn’t mind the tips an extra Friday night would get them?” Steve looked pretty determined to make this work for Vicente. “My thoughts exactly. I’ll just ask Nina. She works there as well and always seems keen on any extra money she can make. The best part is that she’s my homophobic brother Felipe’s girlfriend.” “He’s homophobic and knows she works in a gay bar?” Steve’s eyebrows rose to his hairline. “That’s either pretty big of him or he has no clue.” “Oh, he has a clue, all right.” Vicente laughed when he remembered how Felipe had grudgingly agreed for Nina to work there. “He’s not just homophobic but pretty possessive as well. His logic is that she’d have to face constant advances at a straight bar, but a gay bar, on the other hand, is a pretty safe place for her to be.” Steve’s facial expression said it all. Yep, that was Vicente’s brother Felipe. A pretty warped mind, and that was just knowing his attitude towards women and gays. “You think you can get her to cover for you on a Friday night?” Steve looked doubtful.

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“I’m pretty sure. She’s always after some additional money—and believe me, I don’t want to know what she uses it for. Felipe is usually with his biker friends anyway on Fridays, so I’m sure he won’t miss her too much.” Well, he could hope. He needed to be at that party—to see William again—no matter what!

**** Riverside, Texas Friday, October 10, 2008 William surveyed his garden, which had been turned from a peaceful oasis with a view of the grain fields northeast of Riverside into a bustling centre of pre-party excitement. The seven people brought in by the catering company his mother had insisted they hire were running around like demented chickens. They distributed all kinds of equipment from three vans now parked in his driveway, into the garden, well equipped kitchen and living room. Despite the apparent chaos, they’d actually been amazingly efficient at getting everything set up in under an hour. Thank God they were staying for the clean-up as well. They’d assured him everything was going to look as if no party had taken place at all by the time they were done, which was exactly what he’d wanted to hear. He liked his solitary existence. It was one of the reasons he’d bought a house at the very edge of the city, in an area that was very sparsely populated. While he could still see his closest neighbours, they were far enough away for him not to feel closed in. The ranch style house was ideal for partying, or so the real estate agent had said. The open plan living-dining room and the large kitchen were made to accommodate guests, as was the extra-large garden with a built-in barbecue area, enough lawn space to pitch a few large tents, and a covered all-round porch that would serve him well in rainy weather. Or, more likely, in the summer when there was more sunshine than he was used to after spending six years in Boston. “Are you sure this is such a good idea?” William was only half serious. His family really wanted to give him this welcome-back party, and they’d all worked very hard to make

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the house he’d recently bought look festive and welcoming. He just wasn’t very good with people, never felt really comfortable around them, and when they came in big groups all he wanted to do was run and hide. Preferably in the closest laboratory he could find. They’d just finished putting up the decorations and now sat in the living room to enjoy the brief half hour of quiet before the storm of the first guests arriving. His eldest brother, Zeke, just raised an eyebrow. His now-boyfriend, Ben, who’d been his best friend ever since William could remember, grinned and shook his head. They’d both come over early to help set everything up, saying you could never completely trust catering companies. Jason and Steve were here as well, and he was sure his parents would come as soon as their busy lives as owners of a major real estate company would allow. “Yes, I’m sure.” His mother had walked in unnoticed and he got up to greet her. “There are a lot of people who are very happy that you’re back. Lots of nice young ladies for you to meet as well.” “Mom!” He rolled his eyes at her in an exaggerated way that made her laugh. The thought of him having to meet young ladies, nice or not, was more than enough reason to cancel the party as far as he was concerned. He wasn’t sure how to tell his parents, but there was no way he was going to get married to a woman. He’d seen the misery his eldest brother, Zeke, had put himself through by getting engaged to that harpy, Claudia, just to make it look as if he was straight. William had no intention of repeating that mistake. One per family was enough. An hour later all of that was forgotten, and the party was in full swing. Friends of his parents and distant relatives he hardly remembered had greeted him with as much enthusiasm as some of his old buddies. Most of them he hardly remembered since he hadn’t seen them in six years…and hadn’t stayed in touch, either. It wasn’t as if he’d been very popular in high school, so there weren’t too many people he even remembered. The man who walked in just after seven o’clock—glancing around him shyly and a little lost, as if he didn’t really know what he was doing here—was a different matter. William stood stock-still and stared at the apparition of the best looking guy he’d ever seen. Vicente was hot—it was as simple as that. The six additional years he now carried looked good on him. He’d gained a little height but was still about four inches shorter than William’s own six-one. Vicente’s shoulders were broader and his body was slim but well-

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toned. His milk chocolate skin and Latino looks were emphasised by the white shirt he wore open at the neck. His tight jeans encased legs that looked long for his height, and a butt that William wanted to get his hands on as soon as possible, if not before. He didn’t even think about what he did next. All the usual shyness was forgotten in the face of the man he’d had a crush on for so long, the man he’d missed so much while he’d been away. He just walked up to him, ignoring the glances he got as he crossed the living room along the line that was the shortest connection between where he’d been standing and the front door. He looked straight into the smouldering black eyes which had him as fascinated as ever. “Hi, Vicente.” William’s voice sounded husky and he cleared his throat. “William.” Vicente’s smile revealed pearly white teeth and a pink tongue. What the hell was he going to say next? All he wanted to do was take Vicente into his arms and kiss him until they both forgot their names. Unfortunately, with all these people here, that wasn’t an option. Not being good at small talk—or any talk at all, for that matter— wasn’t going to help him convince Vicente that spending time with him was a good idea. “I like your house.” Vicente flinched as if he’d said something inappropriate. “Thank you.” He was just glad to have something to respond to. His brain wasn’t working at full capacity right now. “I hope it’s okay for me to be here?” Vicente looked around the room again, resting his gaze on Steve for a moment. Aha, that was how he found out about the party. He’d have to remember to thank Steve for being considerate enough to invite his best friend. “More than okay. I’m really happy you made it.” William wasn’t sure how much more he could say without giving himself completely away. The intensity of his feelings surprised him, but he was pretty sure mentioning such deep emotions would be inappropriate conversation material for a reunion after such a long time. “Good.” Vicente looked at the floor. “Would you like a drink?” William wanted those big black eyes looking at him again. Their beauty was wasted anywhere else. “Please?” Vicente looked up and a shy smile parted his lips.

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It made William want to kiss him right then and there. He suppressed his need to take him by the hand and drag him into his bedroom for a private session, and instead pointed towards the open French doors leading onto the porch. “The bar’s outside. I’ll come with you since I need a refill.” He let Vicente precede him so he could surreptitiously sneak a glance at the man’s jeans-clad butt. It was absolutely stunning. Just like the rest of him. Once they both had drinks, he steered them towards a relatively quiet corner and two unoccupied canvas chairs under his cherry tree. They’d have a view of the other guests, but enough privacy to talk without being overheard. He wasn’t sure what they’d discuss, but he was hoping it would require privacy. At the very least, being out of earshot of his other guests would allow him to focus better. Right now, all he could think about was the gorgeous man sitting down next to him, carefully balancing the fruit juice he’d asked for. All he wanted to do was pounce on him to find out what it would be like to kiss him.

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Chapter Two

Riverside, Texas Saturday, October 11, 2008 Unfortunately, the next morning William still didn’t know what it was like to kiss Vicente. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he sat up and stared at the empty half of the king-size bed he’d bought, just in case. While he hadn’t had Vicente in mind at the time of purchase, at least not consciously, he couldn’t help but hope for more after last night’s very successful and animated talk with the younger man. With light from the just-risen sun streaming in through the open window, there was no way he was going to be able to go back to sleep. He looked at the alarm clock. Jason was going to be at the door in about fifteen minutes to go running together followed by some breakfast. When he’d mentioned that Steve had to work today, William had asked him over on a whim. Spending time with his brothers was one of the advantages of returning to Riverside and he intended to make full use of every opportunity. He liked their boyfriends as well, but he wouldn’t be as comfortable around them until he got to know them a little better. William jumped out of bed, and managed to get his teeth brushed and jogging clothes on by the time Jason rang the bell at eight o’clock. “Hey, you ready for this?” Jason looked way too awake for this early on a Saturday morning. “Sure.” William couldn’t quite suppress a yawn as he grabbed his keys and pulled the door closed behind him. “I thought we’d take the path along the fields, maybe make it to the forest? It all depends on how far you want to take it.” “Oh, I’m ready for this.” Jason started his warm-up stretches. “I haven’t done much open-air running, but I do have a gym membership.” “I can see you’re as competitive as ever.” William laughed and did his own pre-running stretching. “Am not.” It was barely a murmur but the flush painting Jason’s cheeks a light pink spoke volumes.

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“It’s okay. I know that old habits die hard.” William slapped his brother on the shoulder and started running in place until the younger man was done. “And just for the record? I wouldn’t have it any other way. Brotherly rivalry, in moderation, can be great fun.” “Whatever you say.” Jason chuckled. “Now, come on, old man. Lead the way.” “I’ll show you ‘old man’.” William grinned and headed off towards the fields. An hour later, he wasn’t so sure Jason hadn’t been right. He hadn’t thought he was out of shape, but maybe he needed to reconsider that idea. At the very least he was winded, possibly borderline exhausted. Nothing a hot shower and a decent breakfast wouldn’t fix, though, so he pointed his brother towards the guest bathroom then used the one adjoining his bedroom. Half an hour later, he was dressed in comfortable jeans and a T-shirt and about to start making pancakes when Jason joined him to help. The coffee was already percolating in the industrial-size coffeemaker he’d bought when he moved in. Between them they got everything ready, adding some of the leftovers from last night for variety. “So, are you ready to tell me what’s going on with you and Vicente?” Jason was sitting opposite him at the small table in the kitchen’s breakfast nook. “What?” William almost choked on his coffee. “How do you even know anything is going on?” “It’s not like you were particularly subtle.” Jason snagged himself another pancake, drowning it in a liberal amount of maple syrup before starting to devour it. “I just spent some time with an old friend.” William sat back so he could focus on the discussion. Eating could wait. “Hah!” Jason grinned. “The way you were looking at each other, there was a lot more than friendship on your minds.” “You’re right.” There was no point denying it. He wanted Jason’s advice. “I don’t know why I even asked. I should be happy you noticed.” “So you don’t have to explain?” Jason stopped chewing for a moment. “Look, I’ll back off if you want me to, but I thought it might help to talk about it. God knows I would have wanted that when Steve and I first got together. I was so confused about a lot of things and would have loved to have someone to talk to.”

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“Did you always know you’re gay?” William blushed furiously. He hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that, but hiding what was on his mind had never been one of his strengths. Not without him making a huge effort to think things through, which he just didn’t automatically do with his family. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer that if you think it’s too personal.” “Don’t worry about it. I always knew, but it just never seemed worth talking about it, you know? There wasn’t anyone I was really interested in until Steve.” Jason took a sip of his coffee. “What about you?” “I don’t know.” William shook his head. “That’s not quite true. I was never really interested in girls, but there weren’t any boys or men I wanted, either. I was always too busy studying anyway, and for a long time I just thought I was a late bloomer.” “Yeah, like really late. You’re almost twenty-five, man.” Jason laughed before turning serious again. “So what’s different with Vicente?” “I think it’s because I’ve always liked him.” William finished his pancake and pushed his empty plate away. Jason just raised an eyebrow in a very Zeke-like way, the silent prompt more than clear. “You may not remember this, but he was one of the guys I helped tutor when I was in high school. I liked him a lot, even back then, but he was two years younger, and I was too insecure to start anything.” In a way, he still regretted that, even though he knew nothing much could have come of it. “I don’t remember him at all. But then, I’m four years younger than you, and that was like living on another planet back then. Not anymore, though.” Jason leant forwards. “So, you’ve carried a torch for him all along?” “Not consciously, but seeing him again yesterday made me realise it’s still very close to the surface, ready to break through at the slightest provocation.” And then some! “So, what are you going to do about it? I assume you got his phone number last night?” William shook his head. He’d been too embarrassed to ask. “You agreed to meet him somewhere? Like a date maybe?” Jason’s eyebrows rose again. “No.” He’d been too shocked about Vicente’s changed circumstances to know what to do. “We just talked. He’s had a really tough time of it, with his mother dying and his dad in a

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wheelchair now. It’s changed him as well. He isn’t the happy guy he used to be anymore. All his energy goes towards working two jobs so he can pay the bills, medical and otherwise, for his father. I could feel his sadness and wasn’t sure what to do.” “Cheer him up? Give him something else to focus on?” Jason threw up his hands. “You think he’d want that?” William was so confused. “Wouldn’t you?” Jason shook his head. “Well, maybe you wouldn’t, you’ve always been too serious and focused for your own good. But I bet you Vicente is ready to have a break from his life right about now.” “I’m an idiot, aren’t I?” He leant back in his chair and rubbed his face. “How am I going to get out of this one?” “Simple.” Jason grinned. “You surprise him into agreeing to go on a date with you, or to give you his phone number, whichever is easier.” “And how do I do that?” He didn’t even know where Vicente worked. “You ask me!” Jason looked triumphant. “I do?” William frowned until it dawned on him. “Well, I suppose your boyfriend would know where to find his best friend?” “Yep.” “That’s a lot like stalking.” Not that he was complaining. The longer he thought about it, the more certain he was that he needed to go after Vicente this time, see whether the feelings he had were mutual. “Not exactly like it, though.” Jason smirked. “No, I guess it’s just using the available sources of information for research.” That he could do. “Only you could have put it like that.” Jason laughed. “But it’s true.” William grinned. If he looked at this like a project and planned accordingly, he might yet succeed.

**** Vicente hated working at George’s Corner on a Saturday. The tips had been great so far, but the actual stress of getting so many drinks served at the speed the patrons expected

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without making any mistakes was nerve-wracking. He really wished he could do without this second job. And now that William was back in town, he had another reason to wish he could be somewhere else on a Saturday night. He sighed, serving the requested beers to the group of college students he’d had his eye on all evening. They just looked like trouble with their provocative clothing and matching glances. Satisfied they were happy for now, he returned to his thoughts as he cleaned glasses. William hadn’t made any sort of move to give Vicente hope that his feelings might be returned. Their conversation had been animated and he’d thought there was more than passing interest in William’s eyes. But at the end of the evening, the other man hadn’t as much as asked for his phone number. Vicente frowned as he took another order with only half his attention on his job. He hadn’t made any moves either, now had he? He had a good reason, though—not wanting to force his problems on William, not even by association, had kept him from making the first move. It looked as though that had been a mistake. William was apparently still as shy as ever, or he just wasn’t interested. But if that was true, why had the man spent most of the evening talking to him? Vicente rolled his eyes. The whole situation was enough to drive him crazy. Moments later all of that vanished into the background as he saw none other than William walk into the bar. He looked absolutely stunning in black leather pants moulded to his legs and a considerable package, a white shirt open to the middle of his well-toned chest, and sleeves rolled up to the elbows, showing off his slightly furry and very muscular lower arms. A leather jacket was slung over one shoulder and he was the picture of a male on the hunt for a companion to have some fun. Wow! His shy scientist cleaned up damned well. But what the hell was he doing here? When William’s gaze landed on him, he forgot all his questions. The intensity and heat in William’s eyes made his knees buckle. Had he not been able to grip the counter at the last second, he would have slithered onto the floor into a very undignified heap. As it was, he barely remained upright as William approached the bar, his gaze not letting up for a second. “Hi, William.” He was amazed his voice was as steady as it sounded.

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“Vicente.” William’s voice was deeper than ever before. “I’m glad I found you.” “You are?” Not the most intelligent response, but at least he’d spoken. “I didn’t know you’ve been looking.” “My mistake.” William grinned and sat down on one of the barstools. The distraction factor of having him so close, yet being unable to touch or even talk for the rest of the evening, was phenomenal. Not that he could have done any of the things he wanted to do with William while others could see. The risk of word getting back to his brother, even though Nina wasn’t working tonight, was too high. Felipe already had more than enough blackmail material knowing he worked here—something their father could never find out or, weak as he was physically, he’d never let Vicente take care of him again. Knowing that Vicente was actually gay, and not just working here, might also anger Felipe enough to do something stupid. Vicente shook his head and forced himself to return to reality. “What can I get you?” At least his voice had recovered enough to sound almost normal. “A Mojito should do it. For now.” William winked. Vicente nodded, not trusting his voice right then. He made the drink with shaking hands, finally giving it to William who took a sip. “Good.” William smiled approvingly then set down the highball glass. “Is there anything else I can get you?” He glanced over at the other customers, knowing he couldn’t make them wait for much longer without risking a riot. “Not for now, but I’d love to talk to you when you have a break?” William looked hesitant all of a sudden, as if he was afraid he’d be rejected. “Sure.” His knees buckled at the thought of what else might happen during a break, away from the curious glances of other people. “I have one coming up in about half an hour. Will that be okay?” William nodded and smiled, making Vicente grin back. The man’s good mood was definitely infectious. It turned out to be the longest half-hour of his life. As he’d suspected, having William there but not being able to do anything but look at him occasionally, was not only a distraction but damn frustrating. He’d never made so many mistakes with drinks, but he’d never been so distracted, either. It was a good thing his boss wasn’t in right now—he was

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likely to take the damage done to the bar’s income out of Vicente’s pay. That had never happened to him before, but Nina had lost more than a few dollars that way. The half-hour was finally over, and the second guy had come in and started his shift on time, so Vicente nodded at William to follow him. He couldn’t take him into the staff room or out back, not via the normal exit, but the parking lot was sure to offer a quiet corner somewhere. All he wanted to know was what William wanted. As soon as the cool evening air hit, his sanity started to return. Shit, even just being seen with another man in the parking lot was dangerous. People would draw their own conclusions, and who knew what rumours and half-truths would reach Felipe’s ears. All his brother needed was a tiny bit of pseudo-information and he’d become suspicious. Before he knew what was happening, William grabbed his hand and pulled him along the outside wall into the alley. It was conveniently located between the bar and the jewellery store next door, and Vicente had seen too many patrons come out of the alley with mussed hair or clothing slightly askew not to know what must go on in there. Now he was headed straight for the place himself. That was about all the thinking time he was afforded. As soon as they rounded the corner and had taken maybe five steps into the dubious protection of the shadows, William took over even more completely than he had so far. A fleeting thought went to speculating about what the hell had got into the normally shy scientist, then the world vanished in a haze of flaring lust. Pressed up against the rough bricks that chafed his back through the thin T-shirt he wore, Vicente’s front was moulded against William’s hard body. His blue eyes blazing with lust, William bent his head and touched their lips together much too briefly. “Tell me you want this.” William’s hot breath caressed his facial skin and made him shiver. “Please.” Vicente nodded for good measure just to make absolutely sure there were no misunderstandings. God, did he want this. William closed the minimal distance between their faces and brought their lips together slowly enough for Vicente to feel every millimetre of movement. He enjoyed the softness of the first touch as much as the slowly increasing pressure between them. William’s lips on his,

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felt better than any woman’s ever had. The soft stubble on William’s upper lip as he moved his mouth back and forth was an added sensation that drove him wild. Vicente stuck out his tongue to capture the slight roughness and was rewarded with a moan. William slid his arms around Vicente’s middle, grabbed his ass cheeks and started grinding their hard erections together as he plunged his tongue into Vicente’s mouth full force. He opened up and let William explore, not holding himself back. Sliding his tongue into William’s hot mouth at every opportunity, he found the other man tasting of Mojito and coffee. While he let his tongue roam to find the best spots to drive William crazy, he let his hands wander over the other man’s hard back. Sliding them gradually lower until he cupped the magnificent globes through the leather, made William grind into him more quickly. He was seriously aroused and needed to either stop or come within the next few minutes. William sneaking a hand between them to cup his erection through his pants, making him even harder, didn’t help matters. “Please.” He pulled back his head and rested it against the brick wall behind him. It took everything he had not to buck into that grip and get some relief. “Don’t make me come in my pants. It’ll be messy with another few hours of work ahead of me.” “I don’t want you to come.” William rested his forehead against Vicente’s and breathed heavily. “I want to make love to you somewhere we can take our time.” “Oh shit.” The thought of William in a bed, doing more than rubbing off, was such a temptation. Too bad it wasn’t likely to happen. “I would like that, more than you’ll ever know, but we can’t.” “Why not?” William lifted his head, a big frown creasing his forehead. “I can’t be gay.” “What?” William’s frown deepened. “That’s not only an impossible statement, it isn’t a choice you can still make. Not from where I’m standing.” William ground his hips and made Vicente groan when his cock leapt. “You’re right.” Of course the super-intelligent scientist was right. “What I meant was that I cannot be seen to be gay. Nobody can so much as suspect the truth or I’ll be in huge trouble. We’d have to hide our relationship and I don’t think you’d be willing to do that, so I’ve decided—”

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“Whoa!” William’s eyes had widened and he gripped Vicente’s ass more tightly to get his attention. “Don’t you think you’re making an awful lot of assumptions there? Maybe we should talk about some of that before you run off and leave me behind in the dust.” “What assumptions?” He bit his lip, hoping the pain would distract him from the everincreasing pressure in his balls. God, he wanted to get back to the kissing and coming part— never mind reality. “Well, I heard three. One was about being gay getting you in trouble. The second one was about us needing to hide our relationship—which is connected to the first, I would guess. And then you assumed I wouldn’t be willing to do this in a way that you can live with.” William took a deep breath. “That about it?” Vicente nodded, dumbfounded but relieved the other man had understood the key points. “Oh yes, and let’s not forget the part about you making decisions on my behalf.” William shook his head. “Don’t ever do that again please.” “No?” Shit, what was he getting himself into? It didn’t sound as if William was going to back off at all. “No.” William squeezed his ass cheeks hard enough to make him squeal in a most undignified way. “I might have to punish you.” Vicente just stared at the other man. Where had that come from? He almost wished he didn’t have to break this up. It would be damned interesting to find out what sort of punishments William would come up with. If that squeeze and his reaction to it were any indication, he might be interested in a bit of experimentation along those lines. His cock was definitely way more enthusiastic than was good for him. “But let’s get back to this ‘I can’t be gay’ idea. Can you explain to me what that means?” William tilted his head. “The problem is my family.” Wasn’t that always the case. “They’re very traditional, expect me to behave in a certain way and just wouldn’t understand.” “You’re letting your family tell you whom to love?” William took a step back. It relieved the immediate pressure on his cock and balls but made his heart ache. He didn’t want William to step away like that. Fuck!

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“No.” That wasn’t completely right and William’s rising eyebrow told him the other man had caught the mistake as well. “Well, yes, but only because my father is so ill. He couldn’t take a major shock like that, and he could take his brothers’ and sisters’ reactions even less.” “Oh.” William’s shoulders slumped. “I guess that makes the discussion about hiding our relationship superfluous. While I wouldn’t be enthusiastic about it, I’d do it if it was the only way to get to know you better.” Vicente shrugged, not knowing what else to do. He wanted to get to know William better—a lot better, in fact. But not at the price of his father’s health. He’d already lost his mother, and he was going to do everything possible to keep his father alive and as healthy as possible. “Sorry.” It was only a pale reflection of what he truly felt, but he didn’t know what else to say. He’d finally managed to get William interested in him only to realise it wasn’t going to work. The pain made his heart contract. “So am I.” William stepped away from him, separating their bodies. Without another word, the man turned around and walked out of the dark alley. He was gone within seconds and Vicente wished he could stop breathing. Anything to make this agony stop.

**** Riverside, Texas Thursday, October 16, 2008 “Shit!” William hit the lab bench with his fist. He was way too distracted to do a good job on the DNA analysis he was supposed to finish by the end of the day. He needed to pull himself together. This pining after a man who was too deep in the closet to even know there was a door that led outside, had to stop. And why was he still feeling the acute pain of walking away from Vicente last Saturday almost a week later? It was totally ridiculous. He didn’t even know him that well. He sure wished he did, though.

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Promising to give himself some time to think about his predicament as soon as he finished his task, he focused back on his work with the single-minded determination that had allowed him to graduate early, twice. Two hours later he was done, had filed his report and sent it to the required recipients at the prosecutor’s office. Relieved he was finally finished, he switched off the computers, cleaned the equipment and made his way to the employee parking lot. The drive-through would have to do for dinner. He had some thinking to do and cooking would only be a distraction. Once he was done eating, he sank into his comfortable recliner with a view of the darkening garden, closed his eyes and gave his thoughts free rein for the first time in almost a week. This letting go of Vicente wasn’t working. The need to go and see the other man, to talk to him and touch him again, was constantly gnawing at his consciousness. It hadn’t left him all week and had got worse instead of better. The time to ignore it had now passed. He was going to do something about it. Vicente may have been hesitant, and William understood the need to be careful because of his father’s ailing health, but enough was enough. He’d made some enquiries, checked with Steve and the accident hadn’t even been Vicente’s fault. He had no idea why Vicente seemed to feel responsible, but he was going to find out. Vicente deserved a life, and even if it was one in hiding, it was better than nothing. William wasn’t one to hide who he was, but then, he had a very understanding family. He was also financially independent, and not just because he had a well-paid job. Like his brothers, he had a huge trust fund coming to him from his maternal grandfather as soon as he turned twenty-five next January. It wasn’t information he’d shared with anyone outside the family—not only because he hadn’t had a partner so far, but also because of what had happened to Zeke. His brother’s money-grabbing fiancée had almost ruined him. That wasn’t going to happen to William. Equally, if that money would help pay for the medical bills that Vicente was trying to keep ahead of, he would be happy to spend it to that end. And Vicente didn’t need to know it came from a trust fund, after all. He could claim it was his salary or savings. Once the debt that had Vicente in such a death-grip was paid off, he hoped that Vicente would be more open to a relationship. For one thing, the man could stop working two jobs and spend some time getting to know William.

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But how was he going to get there? He did have Vicente’s contact details, courtesy of Steve. But just calling him was too risky. He might hang up on him. Going past his apartment would be too obvious since someone might see him. The one thing he’d be unable to refuse was a delivery job. William opened his eyes and grinned as he sat up, ready to put the first part of his plan into action. His employer may not have used Vicente’s courier company previously, but there was no requirement to use only approved companies for non-urgent or less important deliveries. The phone call was quickly completed, and he made sure the company knew which driver he expected to handle the ‘delicate’ pickup of medical equipment he’d ordered the day before, just as he made it perfectly clear he needed the delivery to arrive just before lunch. After all, how else was he going to be able to spend more than five minutes with Vicente? Having arranged everything to his satisfaction, he slept better than he had in days and made it to the office bright and early for once. The morning passed a lot more slowly than usual, but when it was finally time and the receptionist called to let him know there was a delivery, he was ready. “Send him to my office, Shirley. He knows how to handle the equipment, so I’d like him to bring it here.” The anticipation was killing him, but he wanted the encounter to take place in a room with a door that could be closed if needed. “Sure thing, Mr. F—” The receptionist had almost given everything away, but she’d caught herself just in time. Thank God she liked those special chocolates so much. He’d promised her an extra big box if she managed not to say his name in front of the delivery man. Explaining that it was a surprise had been enough reason for her. “Thanks.” William replaced the receiver, got up and stood with his back to the door. He wanted to make sure Vicente was well inside the room before he recognised William. Maybe it would be enough to stop him from running away before they had a chance to talk. “I’ve got a delivery here for a DNA Analytics Department?” Vicente’s voice was low and hesitant, much more businesslike than he remembered. It still hit William right in the gut. It took everything he had not to turn around and throw himself at the other man. Now that Vicente was in the same room, he’d have to make

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sure he stayed there for a while. Pouncing on him might not be the best way of ensuring that. But, God, it was hard to stay away. He forced himself to turn around slowly. Vicente’s eyes widened and he gripped the handle of the cart with the boxes full of equipment tightly enough for his knuckles to go white. But even though his jaw dropped, he stood his ground. The silence was absolute. Had there been any mice, they could have heard them breathe. William didn’t dare move. “What…” Vicente closed his eyes and cleared his throat. “What’s going on?” “I needed to talk to you.” William wanted to close the distance between them and take the other man into his arms. He looked pale, exhausted and in need of comfort. “You needed…” Vicente shook his head and a small smile parted his lips. “What’s wrong with using the phone?” “It’s too risky?” William started breathing again since Vicente hadn’t run yet. The smile gave him real hope. “I was afraid you’d ignore me or hang up once you realised it was me. But you said you didn’t want to risk being discovered by your father and didn’t want to see me.” “I may have…overreacted.” Vicente sighed, relaxing his grip on the cart handle but not letting go. “Look, I was frightened, okay? I’d never even thought about a relationship with a man, and knowing what my family’s values are, I just panicked and pushed you away. You have no idea how sorry I was the moment I saw you walk away. And it’s only gotten worse over the last week.” “It hasn’t been easy for me, either. I hated not being able to talk you, even though it was apparently mostly in my head.” But where to take it from here? Was Vicente really open to revising his decision? Making assumptions hadn’t worked so well for him, so he’d just have to ask. “So, now that we are talking, what do you want to do about it?” “I’m not sure. I still can’t risk my family finding out, but I can’t seem to stay away from you, either. Not that working two jobs leaves much time to meet and get to know you.” Vicente finally let go of the damned cart. “I’m glad to hear that you’re open about trying to see where we can take this.” More like bone-deep relieved. “And about those jobs of yours…”

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“What about them?” Vicente narrowed his eyes. “I can’t quit either one, just so we’re clear. I need the money to pay for the medical expenses.” “I know that.” Shit, the man was clearly proud and determined to make it on his own. Maybe his plan wasn’t such a good one after all? But it was all he had and he couldn’t come up with another one in the next few seconds, so he’d have to go with it and see what happened. “But there is another way for you to pay those bills.” “There is?” Vicente raised his eyebrows. “Yes.” He swallowed. “I want to help you, so I’m ready to help pay off the bills. Then you can—” “Oh, hell no!” Vicente turned red and his eyes blazed with anger. “No way am I going to take money from you. How can you even suggest that?” “I just want to help.” “Well, I don’t want your help. I fought too long and too hard to be independent. I’m not going to give that up now. Not for you, and not for anybody else.” Vicente wiped at his eyes and turned around, walking towards the door. What the fuck?

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Chapter Three

“Hold on one minute.” William had no idea why his offer was apparently so offensive. All he’d wanted to do was help. The least Vicente owed him was an explanation of his reaction. And this walking out shit between them had to stop. He’d made that mistake, and look what had happened. He wasn’t going to let Vicente repeat it. “What?” Vicente stopped but didn’t turn around. “Please don’t walk out on me.” And if that sounded needy, so be it. He didn’t care. All he cared about was not losing Vicente. “Shit.” Vicente’s shoulders heaved in a monumental sigh. “Not the response I was hoping for, but I’ll take it.” Anything that stopped the other man from walking was good. “You really mean it, don’t you?” Vicente rubbed his face and turned around. Thank God! Vicente’s eyes looked suspiciously red and slightly puffy, and it made William feel even worse about whatever it was he’d done. The urge to take the other man into his arms grew into almost unmanageable proportions. But he knew that he had to hold back for now. They needed to clarify a few things first. “Hell yes, I mean it.” He nodded and focused on not moving. “We need to talk about this, not keep walking away from each other every time it gets a little difficult.” “A little difficult?” Vicente laughed but seemed to relax further. “I can see why you walked away from me last Saturday. And from where I’m standing, my independence, financial or otherwise, is pretty fundamental. So I wouldn’t say that our reactions were totally out of proportion.” “I just don’t think walking away is appropriate at all. We’ve just established that we both want to get to know each other more closely, so I don’t think that it’s right to give up so quickly, no matter how stupid or offensive my suggestion was.” He pointed at the visitor chair, hoping that Vicente would take a seat. “I’m really sorry if I insulted you, but please believe me when I say that I meant well.”

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“I don’t doubt you meant well. But that almost makes it worse.” Vicente took a hesitant step towards the chair then took a deep breath and sat down. Yes! One for sticking it out. He sat down on the other chair, making sure the desk wasn’t between them. They had enough obstacles to overcome as it was. “How does meaning well make it worse?” He would have thought that made it better. Didn’t good intentions count at all? “It doesn’t really make it worse, you’re right. It’s just that I don’t want your pity. The thought of accepting your help feels an awful lot like charity, even if you didn’t mean it that way.” Vicente stared at him as if his will power alone would make sure William understood. “I see what you mean now. Believe me, there was no pity or charity involved. I just thought it made more sense for you not to have to pay interest to the banks. But I can see where you’re coming from and apologise.” He leant forwards. “The very last thing I want to do is insult you or take away your independence.” “I believe you.” Vicente’s smile was hesitant but lit up his face and William’s heart in equal measure. “It’s just that…my experience with people controlling the finances isn’t very good. They’ve always ended up telling me what to do.” “What?” He had no idea what that would be like, never having been in that situation. “Who did that to you?” “It was mostly my parents. Good behaviour was always rewarded financially. I thought it was normal for the longest time. Especially since the rest of our large and close-knit family was exactly the same. What they wanted was always the most important thing in any decision my parents made.” Vicente looked at him from under his eyelashes as if checking his reaction. William nodded, not wanting to interrupt. “When my brother started rebelling and they cut him off, he had to leave school and got involved in some very shady situations.” Vicente looked down at the floor then back up as he shook his head. “The details aren’t important, but he ended up totally cut off from the entire family because he wouldn’t ‘behave’ the way he should have.” “What about you?” He was hoping this would get them somewhere. Maybe Vicente would let him help after all, once he recognised how short-sighted his rejection was.

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“I never had it in me to rebel, I guess.” Vicente shrugged. “I never had any major differences of opinion until I discovered I was probably gay.” “When did that happen?” “In high school.” Vicente smiled shyly. “A certain senior science mentor caught my attention and that was it.” “He did, huh?” William’s heart beat faster when his memories of those days started surfacing. “Yeah, well, you made him realise a few things as well.” Vicente grinned. “But we were talking about you realising you wanted things that were not on your parents’ agenda.” He really wanted to know. “It didn’t make a difference. I didn’t have a hope in hell of attracting that senior’s attention in the way I wanted, and anyway, he left for college soon after. I chose the path of least resistance and continued to do as my parents asked. I even dated a few girls.” Vicente shuddered. “And when my mother died the whole point became moot, because all I had time to worry about was how to earn enough money to pay the bills. My brother pays half, which is okay since my father doesn’t know where the money comes from. I pay the other half, and that’s still bad enough.” “So, can we try something here?” He wasn’t going to give up this easily. It was more than apparent that Vicente needed help. He looked tired and exhausted all the time, and the lack of free time must be getting to him after two years of nothing but work and worry. “You’re not giving up, are you?” Vicente looked more resigned than angry. “Not now that I know what the problem is.” He leant forwards. “I still want to help you, but with your explanations I can see that we’re going to have to be more careful. I promise not to use the money to make you feel dependent. In fact, I think we could set it up as a totally legal contract—like a business deal, if that would make you feel better.” “You would do that?” Vicente’s eyes widened. “Let me pay interest and everything?” “Sure.” It wasn’t exactly what he’d wanted, but if it would get the man to accept his help and release him from the exorbitant interest rates the banks and loan companies must be charging, it was still a step in the right direction. He’d work on the rest. Once they knew each other better, who knew what might be possible? “Wow.” Vicente exhaled and sank back in his chair, his gaze not leaving William.

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“So, what do you think? Want me to make an appointment?” He was sure Ben’s younger brother, Rick—who was a lawyer—would help them. “How can you afford to pay off so much debt, though?” Vicente frowned. “I know your salary must be good, but still.” “Let’s just say I’ll help with the monthly bills for now.” Shit, he was going to have to reveal at least some form of truth about the trust fund to make this believable. “I have some family money coming in a few months from now and that’s what I’ll use to pay off the bulk of the debt. Then we can set that up as a loan, you determine the monthly payments you can afford and we’ll take it from there.” “This sounds too good to be true.” Vicente blinked then sat up straight. “I still feel a little uncomfortable about it, but I want to give it a go. The way things have been going I would have been bankrupt soon, anyway. Thank you for offering.” “You’re very welcome.” The relief made him light-headed. “That’s enough of that for now. I’ll set it all up and until then, we’ll just forget about it, okay?” “Absolutely.” Vicente nodded enthusiastically. “Can I please hug you now?” Had he said that out loud? “Please?” Vicente looked about as needy as he felt. He got up and walked to the door, closing and locking it quietly. When he turned around, Vicente’s eyes were riveted to where William’s ass had been seconds earlier and his gaze now caressed his groin. William’s cock jumped with the sudden attention. Vicente’s eyes widened and he quickly looked up, trying to cover his embarrassment by rising from the chair and opening his arms. William winked at him and stepped right into the other man’s embrace, closing his arms around him and smelling his scent—an enticing mixture of sweat and vague hints of soap that he’d missed during the last few days. He didn’t know how that was possible after only having reconnected briefly after so long apart, but at that moment, he couldn’t have cared less. He slid one arm around Vicente’s shoulder, the other around his middle. Leaning their foreheads together, he closed his eyes and rested for a moment. Just being here and knowing they’d buried their differences, for now, was enough for a while.

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When the urge to kiss Vicente became overpowering, he opened his eyes and pulled back enough so he could kiss his forehead, then his temples, the top of each cheek, his nose and finally his mouth. Vicente turned up his head and offered his lips for a much more satisfying kiss. His eyes were huge and dark with desire. How could he resist? Why would he try? Vicente’s lips were soft and pliant at first, the hot cavity of his mouth welcoming. William slid his tongue along his upper lip then gave the lower lip the same treatment before sucking lightly on it. Vicente moaned and pressed his body closer against him. William responded by slanting their lips together for a full-on kiss that made his toes curl and his balls tingle. He was more aroused after a few seconds of this than after pretty much anything he could get up to by himself. And that was all he’d done so far. A few kisses on a woman’s cheek after a date, just to be polite, didn’t count. A quiet knock on the office door startled him back into reality. “Damn.” His first concern was the man in his arms. “You’ll need to get that.” Vicente nodded and leaned into him for a few more seconds before pulling back. “Only if they insist.” He chuckled, raked a hand through his hair and stepped away from the man he wanted to be his lover. “Just give me a second to get rid of them.” Vicente’s eyes widened but he didn’t speak as William went to the door to unlock and open it. He hoped the interruption would be short. “Just checking if you want to go to lunch with us.” Darlene was a serious woman in her mid-thirties, always impeccably dressed, who had taken it upon herself to integrate him into the work team, as she’d put it. Unfortunately, her definition seemed to include their free time, not just work hours. An invitation to lunch he could deal with, but her hints at spending evenings and even weekends with colleagues had made his hair stand on end. He wasn’t a social animal, and no amount of cajoling would convince him it was to his advantage to change his attitude. Since he was afraid that giving in to her for lunch dates would lead to more requests during other times that were less convenient, he’d decided a strategy of avoidance was probably wise.

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“Sorry, Darlene, but I’m busy.” He tried to make his smile apologetic but wasn’t sure he’d succeeded. “Doing what?” She tried to look around him to find out who was in his office but he made sure he blocked her view the entire time. “Sorry?” Looking irritated wasn’t a problem at this point. “I don’t think I owe you an explanation.” “Well.” She threw her head back and looked down her nose at him. “No need to be nasty about it. If we’re not good enough for you, just say so. Sorry to bother you.” She walked away in a complete huff. God, she was good at that. He suspected she was wasting her time as a forensic scientist. Her real talent must surely be acting. He shook his head and closed the door. Back to what was really important. “Are you sure it was wise to snub her like that?” Vicente’s lips twitched. “If she’s insulted by my not being available for lunch, I can’t help her.” He shook his head. “I have no intention of spending time with people like her who think that professional advancement should be based on people’s status as a ‘team player’, as defined by her. I’ve spent one lunch with her and some of her friends and don’t intend to ever repeat that mistake. God, it was boring.” “I hope that you’re going to enjoy your status as a loner.” Vicente grinned. “Not that you wanted to be friends with her, but damn, behaviour like that isn’t going to let you make friends with anyone else, either.” “I have absolutely no need to be friends with people at work.” Why were they even discussing this? “Well, in that case, I can assure you that you are in no danger of making them.” Vicente stepped closer. “Now, I, on the other hand, would love to be friends with you.” “That desire is totally mutual.” William wanted to take the other man back into his arms. The problem was that they were still in his office and he had an afternoon of hard work in front of him. “My only question is how we’re going to go about it. I’d love to take you out on a few dates, but I’m not sure how that’s going to work since you’ve made it pretty clear you’d want to keep our relationship a secret.” “Thanks for taking my concerns seriously.” Vicente pulled a card from his pants pocket and wrote a number on its back. “This is my personal cell phone number. I’m not sure what

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my hours will be over the weekend, but we should be able to work something out for Sunday during the daytime. If that’s okay with you?” “I’ll take any time I can get with you.” William took the card and placed it on to his desk where he could easily pick it up later. He reached for one of his own then passed it to Vicente. “Just in case you need to get hold of me. But I’ll give you a call for sure. I’d love to take you out on Sunday for however long works for you.” Vicente nodded, kissed him on the cheek and had left his office before he knew what had happened. At least this time he had Vicente’s contact details.

**** Cleveland, Texas Friday, October 31, 2008 Vicente hadn’t felt so happy or relaxed in a very long time. The last two weeks had changed his life. William had kept his promise in terms of helping out with the bill payments and setting up a legal contract for the full loan to take effect as soon as his money became available in January. More importantly, there hadn’t been even a hint of controlling or dominant behaviour since then. Vicente was still afraid of letting go of all the barriers, so he’d continue to be careful, but now there was hope. He hadn’t told anyone about the loan and intended to keep it that way. His father was going through a bad patch, and Vicente hadn’t seen Felipe in weeks. It was like a minivacation. Having William around during his sparse free time had done him a world of good. And now they were going to spend the Halloween weekend away from home, in a small hideaway hotel in the middle of nowhere. He still couldn’t believe he’d agreed. His boss at George’s Corner hadn’t been happy about him taking time off over the busy weekend, but William had been so excited about organising it all that Vicente hadn’t had it in him to say no. Besides, he was ready for a break. The Good Value Inn on the northern outskirts of Cleveland was a typical Western style hotel. Only about four floors high, the stone building still managed to look massive with its columns framing the front entrance and balconies for every room. Vicente sat up and

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stretched his muscles after a little over two hours in the car. It was getting dark fast, so the exploration of the nearby Sam Houston National Forest would have to wait, but he was looking forward to spending some time hiking in the fresh fall air. “You all right?” William parked his impressively modern Malibu and shut off the engine before turning around to smile at him. “I can’t believe I fell asleep.” He rubbed his eyes. “Sorry I’m such bad company.” “Don’t worry about it, you needed it.” William put a warm hand on his thigh. “At least you’ll be rested for the evening’s activities.” “Ac-activities?” Whether it was William’s hand in such close proximity to his groin or the images the man’s words made appear in his head he didn’t know, but his cock was definitely interested. “Yeah, it is Halloween, after all.” William winked, gave his thigh a squeeze, then withdrew his hand. “I’ll show you Halloween.” Vicente mock-scowled, trying to keep his excitement under control. They hadn’t done more than kissing and a few hand-jobs and he was really looking forward to exploring William’s body a lot more thoroughly this weekend. “Oooh, does that mean you’re going to play the adult version of trick or treat with me?” William tilted his head, attempting to make big puppy eyes. It made his heart melt to see the normally serious scientist so playful, so he nodded. With almost forty-eight hours of secluded bliss ahead of them, if that was what they wanted, there was no telling what they might get up to. Getting the bags from the trunk and checking in was quickly dealt with. They deposited their luggage on the big bed in the sparely furnished room then managed to make it into the restaurant just before the kitchen closed. The decorations were predictably Halloween themed, orange and black the dominant colours, with an occasional green skeleton or white ghost to liven things up. Their table was near a window and decorated with a few pieces of scary candy. There was a gummi earthworm, some gummi spiders and a set of candy vampire teeth. “For the kids.” The hostess grinned as she seated them. “No problem.” He liked how they’d got into the spirit of things here.

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The restaurant itself was nothing special, with simple wooden tables and a few booths against one wall, but the tablecloths were a crisp white and the modern art on the walls very colourful. Adding the seasonal decorations made for a very cosy atmosphere. William ordered chicken pasta and Vicente decided on a vegetable stir fry over noodles—one of the cheaper options since he didn’t want to take advantage of William’s generous offer of making the weekend his treat. He did notice the food as he ate since it was pretty good, however most of his attention was focused on William. Heated glances, the occasional touch of socked feet against his legs and whispered promises made the meal pale in comparison to the urgency of his ever increasing arousal. By the time the waitress asked if they wanted the dessert, he was almost breathless with anticipation and shook his head. “Are you sure?” William’s teasing voice was an octave lower than normal. “Very sure.” He punctuated that with a quick nod and smile at their waitress before returning his full attention to watching William’s brighter than normal eyes and flushed cheeks. “We’ll have the check then.” William didn’t even look at the poor waitress, who left the table with an audible sigh. “I think you’ll need to leave her a generous tip.” He took a deep breath, trying to get his arousal under control. Walking across the restaurant to the elevator then all the way to their room wasn’t going to be easy. He wasn’t sure his cock had ever been this hard, and they hadn’t even taken any clothes off yet. “Why?” William licked his lips provocatively, as if there was any need for making Vicente any hotter for him than he already was. “To appease her. I don’t think she’s used to being ignored.” “But we’re not here to pay attention to her, are we?” William looked adorably confused. “No, but still.” Vicente chuckled. “Can’t hurt to make her happy. You know what they say about wait staff doing things to people’s food when they don’t like how they’ve been treated.” “She wouldn’t.” William blinked, his mouth falling open as his eyes widened. “No way.”

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“It’s what they say.” Vicente saw her approach from the corner of his eye. “Here she comes. Be nice now.” William narrowed his eyes briefly, but turned his full attention to the waitress. He gave her a very nice tip and she was smiling broadly by the time she left. William’s attention was right back on him the second she’d turned her head. “How was that?” “Very nice.” He nodded. “Can we go upstairs now?” William moved back his chair in anticipation. Vicente nodded and followed him to the elevator. They were alone and no sooner had the doors closed behind them than he found himself with an armful of excited male. He opened his mouth for William’s kiss and tasted the last remnants of the white wine they’d had for dinner. William’s darker flavour soon took over and Vicente sank into the kiss, licking and sucking the soft lips and tongue for all he was worth. He was utterly shocked when the ding of the elevator announced their arrival on their floor. William took his hand, and the feeling of his warm skin against his fingers as they walked towards their room was more intimate somehow than many of the things they’d done with far fewer clothes on. It was an exhilarating feeling to show what he was beginning to feel for this man for all to see. Almost like a confession and declaration all in one. Even though the corridor was deserted, they were out in the open and there was a possibility of someone coming out of their room and seeing them. It made him wonder what it would be like to hold hands when they were on a busy street. They made it into their room in record time. “Shower?” William toed off his shoes and dumped his jacket on one of the chairs next to their small table. “I feel kind of grimy after the long drive.” “No need to explain.” He followed suit and started piling his clothes onto the second chair. “Any excuse to get naked and in the shower with you.” “Shit, the things you say.” William was already ahead of him in the getting naked department and slowly pulled down his briefs, revealing a raging erection. “Now look what you’ve done.” “Yum.” He stared some more before looking into his soon to be lover’s smirking face. “And I’m supposed to be sorry about that? Why?”

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“You’re impossible.” William walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Vicente could have sworn there was an extra wiggle in the man’s step. It made him hurry even more. By the time he made it into the bathroom, it was already nice and steamy. The view of William through the shower’s glass door was breathtaking. He stood under the hot spray of water, head bent back and eyes closed as he let the water stream across his face and down his slightly furry chest. Vicente followed the rivulets farther down, across the sculpted abs and into the nest of dark blond pubic hair. William’s cock was still as stiff as before, a good eight inches, thick and perfectly formed with a dark red head that was further proof of William’s excited state. William must have heard him approach since he chose that moment to open his eyes and look at him. With an almost impish grin he took his hard erection into his hand and started stroking himself. His gaze never left Vicente’s as he started thrusting into his fist. Vicente’s knees buckled as his cock got even harder, but that picture got him moving again. He needed to be in the shower, touching all that naked skin as soon as humanly possible. As sexy as it was to watch William pleasure himself, he’d have much rather it be his hand on the soft skin, bringing the other man pleasure. He entered the heated enclosure and closed the glass door behind him, then stepped behind the other man and lost no time soaping up his hands and sliding them all over William’s hot body. Starting at his neck, he massaged his way down the well-muscled back, all the way to the toned ass cheeks. Resisting that temptation for the moment, he focused on cleaning William’s legs and feet before returning to the tempting globes. Kneading them in his hands made William moan, and when he slid a soapy finger into the crack, the other man stuttered in his movements, put a hand on the wall in front of him and bent forwards, canting his hips upwards. It was a clear request for more of the same and Vicente gladly complied. He slid his finger along the crack several times, making William moan each time he passed the wrinkled skin of William’s opening. The other man’s reactions made him hotter than he’d ever been. Adding more soap, he used his other hand to spread the tempting ass cheeks then focused on the hole itself. Circling it at first then pressing carefully inwards, he pushed his index finger in to the first knuckle.

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“Fuck.” William started trembling and pushed back, trying to get more of the finger inside him. “You can say that again.” He had to bite his lip to stop himself from coming. He’d never been this turned on and he hadn’t even touched himself yet. But the tight heat around his finger did an excellent job at arousing him to the point where he needed relief very soon. “We need lube. I want more of you inside me.” William was panting for breath as he fucked himself on Vicente’s finger. “Fuck, yes.” He could so go with that plan. “Let’s get out of the shower, there’s stuff in my bag.” Next time he’d have to remember to bring waterproof lube. Playing in the shower like this was a lot more fun in reality than watching others do it on the internet. “Now.” William groaned as he pulled away. Being clean suddenly didn’t seem half as important as drying off and making it to the king size bed before he exploded with lust. They’d probably need another shower later anyway, and he could always do a proper cleaning job then. Now all that mattered was getting inside William’s body as fast as possible without hurting him. This was his first time, after all, so he needed to be careful. “You sure are motivated.” He walked into the bedroom, finding William on his stomach, ass in the air and legs spread wide. The man’s hard cock was pointing towards his stomach, the heavy balls dangling enticingly between his thighs. “Need you.” William wiggled his ass. As if he didn’t know what to do next! He dug the lube out of his bag, plus some condoms—deciding he’d best put one on while his hands were still non-slippery. He dropped a wet facecloth and a small towel next to the bed while he was at it. When he moved onto the bed and between William’s legs, the other man moaned. Vicente slicked up his fingers and pushed one back inside William as slowly as possible. “Finally.” William moved with him, tightening his muscles every time Vicente’s finger tried to leave the hot opening. Soon he had two, then three fingers pumping into William. He added more lube to make sure there’d be as little pain as possible when he pushed his cock inside.

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“I’m ready for more.” William’s voice was rough and his legs trembled. “Please, I want you inside me now.” “Turn around for me. I want to see you.” Vicente pulled his fingers out and moved back to give the other man some space to position himself. He pushed a pillow under William’s hips before moving between his lover’s legs. William’s eyes were huge as he moved closer. He stroked his inner thighs, feeling them tremble as William pulled them up and out, presenting his well-lubed hole in an unmistakeable invitation. “Fuck me.” William’s eyes were hooded with lust. “I can’t wait to feel your cock inside me, finally making me come. God, I can’t believe how hot I am for you.” “It’s totally mutual.” He moved forwards and placed the tip of his sheathed cock at the pulsing opening. “Ready?” William nodded. Vicente pushed inside, and William flinched. Vicente stopped, scared he’d already hurt him. “Slow. Just go slow.” William panted and griped his hand. “Just give me time to adapt. You’re a lot bigger than your fingers.” He nodded and waited for William to start relaxing, then moved in shallow thrusts without going farther in. At least he was moving, which was what his body wanted to do. “Good. That’s better.” William took a deep breath and the tight grip around Vicente’s cock loosened a little. When he was finally all the way inside, William pulled him down for a kiss. “Move. Please.” William smiled then returned to the kissing. Vicente started rocking his hips, the tightness and heat around his cock driving him closer to the edge a lot faster than he’d anticipated. Shit, but he wanted William to come first. The irregular breaths and enthusiastic meeting of each of his thrusts gave him hope he might make it. Sliding a hand between their bodies, he enclosed William’s cock in his fist and started jacking him off. “Vicente!” William threw his head back and bucked his hips, tightening his ass muscles as he came. Semen splashed between their heated bodies in long streaks, making everything sticky. His nose tingled with the scent of it. Man, that was sexy.

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Vicente fucked him right through his orgasm, milking the other man of all he had to give. Then he let go of the still-hard cock, used his second hand to support his weight and let go. Three or four almost violent thrusts later, he felt the tell-tale tingling along his spine and came, jerking as he filled the condom. His orgasm was strong enough that he almost blacked out, and he collapsed onto his lover in an embarrassing heap of exhaustion when he was done. God, but he wanted to do that again. William’s arms came around him and the other man nuzzled his ear as he burrowed his face into the slightly sweaty space between William’s neck and shoulder. “Hm, that was definitely worth the wait.” William pulled back. “Oh, yes. Even if we need another shower now.” He grinned and cupped his lover’s face. “Thank you, that was amazing.” “Yeah, I agree. Definitely worth a repeat performance.” William kissed him and pulled him even closer. “After a nap.” “As long as I can stay with you, I don’t mind what we do.” And as he’d already discovered, that was true for a lot more than the sex.

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Chapter Four

Riverside, Texas Sunday November 2, 2008 Vicente was still on cloud nine an hour after William had dropped him off at the crummy first floor apartment he shared with his father. It had been late, but his father was still up, screaming at him for running off and being irresponsible. But not even that had stopped the deep feeling of happiness that he buried inside him so nobody could get at it. He had his memories and they would help him through reality for a while. The smile on his face, however, seemed to be permanent. He couldn’t have stopped it if he’d tried. After the best weekend of his life with a man he was quickly falling for, nothing much could upset him. William was not just incredibly thoughtful and generous, helping him with his debt problem, he’d also been a great companion during two long hikes, had made sure they ate better food than Vicente had had in months, and had turned out to be an amazing lover. The memories of what they’d done together still made him blush and kept his cock half hard. He couldn’t wait for the next opportunity to get naked with his lover. The doorbell ringing as if someone was leaning against it shocked him back into reality. What the hell? It was ten-thirty in the evening, who could that possibly be? Checking the peephole first, he almost took a step backwards when he saw Felipe’s irate face glowering at him as if his brother knew he was standing there. He hadn’t seen him in weeks, and since there was no love lost between them, this couldn’t be good. But he couldn’t very well ignore the guy, not with the way he kept ringing the doorbell. So, with a sigh, he opened the front door. “Took you long enough.” Felipe stormed inside, turned on his heels and pointed a finger at Vicente’s chest. “Fucking close the door, idiot. I need to talk to you. And I don’t want anyone else to hear this shit.” “Hello to you, too.” Vicente shook his head. Some things never changed. He closed the front door then followed his brother into the living room.

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Taking a moment to look at Felipe he wondered, yet again, how they’d turned out so different. Though they’d looked a lot alike when they were younger, they’d developed in different ways over the last few years. Felipe was now a good five inches taller than him, broader in the shoulders and dressed like the biker he was. Black leather from his boots to his jacket made him look dangerous. The menacing facial expression he wore didn’t help, nor did the knowledge that he had a whole gang of semi-criminal men behind him who would back up anything he decided. Whatever Felipe wanted couldn’t be good, and whatever Felipe demanded usually got done. “What the fuck were you thinking?” Felipe stood on the threadbare rug covering the nasty brown carpet in the middle of the small living room, fists balled at his sides. “About what?” He didn’t have a clue what Felipe could be talking about. “Don’t play innocent with me. You may be able to pull the wool over Papá’s eyes, but you can’t fool me.” Felipe’s voice rose in volume as his face reddened. “Or didn’t you think Nina would tell me?” “Tell you what?” Shit, was his brother this upset about Nina working an extra Friday the other week? But that had been such a long time ago. Wouldn’t Felipe have come to see him before now? “Are you going to deny that you’re working at that damn faggot bar?” Felipe took a step in his direction, one arm raised. Vicente shook his head and took a step back, more from shock than due to the actual threat. Felipe wouldn’t hit him, would he? “What the hell were you thinking?” Felipe stared at him, arm falling back to his side. “I needed a job after the Black Onion closed down, you know that. George’s Corner was hiring, and Nina said it was a good place to work.” He’d been very lucky to be hired by them so quickly. “But you’re not a woman!” “Um, no?” What the hell was Felipe’s point? “Then how can you even walk into that perverted place without feeling violated?” Felipe shuddered. “I hear they can be quite aggressive in forcing their sexual deviations on others, especially the unwilling.”

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“What?” He took another step back and bumped into the table. Holding on to its edge, he tried to comprehend how many incorrect assumptions and rumours his brother had fallen for if he really believed what had just come out of his mouth. He’d known the man was homophobic, which is why he’d never told him he was gay, but this level of stupidity, ignorance and downright bigotry was embarrassing. “You’re obviously too stupid to notice what must be going on around you.” Felipe rolled his eyes. “So, to make things easier, I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen. You will quit that job immediately. I will not have you exposed to abominable behaviour like that. Can’t you see it threatens your manhood? People will start thinking you’re one of them if you don’t stop associating with them.” Vicente’s mouth fell open. He tried to speak but nothing would come out. There was no way he was going to quit. He needed the money. And anyway, why did his brother think he could order him around like that? Vicente hadn’t listened to him in years—since he’d joined the gang, in fact. It seemed as if his brother hadn’t got that message yet. “Well? Don’t just stand there looking like the moron you are. Go pick up the phone and tell them you won’t be back.” Felipe pointed at the outdated landline phone on the coffee table as if Vicente didn’t know where it was…in his own home. “No.” He didn’t know a better way of getting through to his brother. “No?” Felipe stepped closer again. Vicente shook his head and grabbed the edge of the table more tightly. He needed to stand up to his brother or he’d never have a day’s peace ever again. “You’re not going to quit like a sensible person?” Felipe narrowed his eyes. “Other than utter stupidity making you behave this way, why would you stay?” “I’m not going to quit a good job just because you say so. It has nothing to do with being a sensible person. And you know why.” He stood up straight, trying to project a level of confidence he wasn’t quite feeling at the moment. “I need the money to pay my part of Papá’s bills.” “I could be paying all of them. I have more than enough money.” Felipe shook his head. “I’ve told you before, but you’re too stubborn or stupid to accept. Probably both.” “It has nothing to do with being stubborn or stupid. It wouldn’t be right for you to pay all of it. We are both his sons and we should both do our part.” He had his pride, damn it.

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“And anyway, if he knew how you ‘obtain’ your money, he’d probably have a heart attack. He’d never accept it.” “No way. Money is money, no matter where it comes from.” But Felipe looked more hurt than anything. Maybe there was a tiny shred of conscience left in his drug and alcohol addled brain? “Doesn’t matter, since he’s not going to find out, is he?” He waited for Felipe to nod. “So, are we clear?” “No, we’re not.” Felipe drew himself up to his full height. “You working there is totally unacceptable. If you refuse to see sense, I’m sure I can find a way to convince you.” “Is that a threat?” He was holding on to his courage by a thread. “No, you can consider that a promise.” Felipe threw him one last glare, marched out of the living room, tore open the front door then closed it behind him with a bang that was loud enough to wake the entire neighbourhood. Well, shit!

**** Riverside, Texas Monday, November 3, 2008 “You’ve been coming here a lot lately. Found someone you can’t stay away from?” The tall bouncer with the long dark hair in a ponytail winked at William. “Um, something like that.” William blushed and ducked his head. Not that he was ashamed of his attraction to Vicente or the fact he’d spent the whole weekend with him and still didn’t seem to be able to stay away. No, he wasn’t used to the kind of attention he was getting every time he visited George’s Corner. From the bouncers— and there were at least four he could remember giving him interested glances—to the other bartenders who helped out when it was really busy, and the patrons…most of the men here stared at him with various degrees of open interest. Vicente said it was because he was gorgeous. These other men seemed to agree. He still thought he was nothing special and didn’t get why anyone would look at him.

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Speaking of looking—he’d barely entered the main room and was making his way to the bar when Vicente looked up as if he’d sensed him walk in. His eyes lit up and a wide smile made his face look relaxed and a lot younger than his actual age. God, the man turned him on with his dark, smouldering glances. A few seconds later it was as if someone had wiped the happiness from Vicente’s face. The smile was still there, but it was less open, as if a shadow was blocking out the sun. What was up with that? He needed to find out so he could make whatever had his lover so serious all of a sudden go away. “Hey, handsome.” Vicente came as close to him as he could with the counter between them. “What can I get you?” “One of your amazing fruit cocktails, please. I’m driving.” He sat down on one of the stools, trying to ignore the leather daddy to his right. “What about an Acapulco Gold for a change?” Vicente tilted his head, probably trying to guess if he’d like it. “What is it?” He’d rather know if there was anything he didn’t like, such as banana juice in it, before it was too late. “It’s pineapple juice, grapefruit juice, coconut cream, some fresh cream and ice.” Vicente grinned. “Not a banana in sight.” “You have me all figured out, don’t you?” He laughed. It felt good to be understood like this. “Wasn’t difficult.” Vicente chuckled and started pulling ingredients from the fridge. “It’s what a good bartender does, anyway.” “You’re way more than a bartender to me.” William smiled. “I wouldn’t be here all the time if it was just about the drinks.” “Oh?” Vicente raised an eyebrow. “Something wrong with my drinks?” “No, that’s not what I meant.” He sighed. “Sorry, I’m not very good at communicating what I mean.” Vicente leaned across the counter to squeeze his hand. “It’s me who should be sorry.” His lover smiled ruefully. “I was just joking.” “Oh.” Colour him stupid. So much for his interpersonal skills.

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“No problem at all. We’ll get there.” Vicente finished making the drink and put the heavy glass on a coaster. “I hope you like it.” “Hey, can I get some service too?” The leather daddy to his right sounded very unhappy. Probably attention deficit since there were no admiring twinks around. “Sure, just give me a moment please, sir.” Vicente smiled at the man then turned back to William. “Actually, I’m glad you walked in tonight. I wouldn’t have dared to call you after my shift is over since that’ll be after midnight. But we need to talk.” “Okay.” In his experience those words were never followed by much good news. Not that his experience was vast, but it was sufficient for him to know he was probably not going to like it. “Can you stay another hour or so? I’ll have my break then.” Vicente was already turning towards the impatient customer. “Sure.” He managed to find a smile then proceeded to drown his worry in the excellent cocktail. It was very refreshing and definitely going on the ‘keepers’ list. By the time Vicente was ready for his break, William had imagined a lot of different scenarios of what was going to happen. None of them were good. While there was no basis in fact for him to be worried, his imagination proved very good at supplying one potential catastrophe after another. He’d never thought a relationship could be thought of as potentially catastrophic. None of his previous ones had been important enough for him to take them that seriously. What Vincent thought about him and how they related to each other was different, though. What could possibly be wrong? He kept coming back to their perfect weekend. Surely that had meant something? He’d never had more fun. He’d also never been one to spend much time in bed. With Vicente there to try all kind of interesting stuff, that had totally changed. He sighed and followed his man outside. This time, they were headed for the parking lot, not the alley. While he half regretted that, it made more sense if they actually needed to talk. Leaning against his car, he turned his full attention to Vicente. His lover had his hands behind his back and started pacing. It made William even more nervous. “What’s going on?” Shit, his voice was a lot louder than he’d intended. Vicente flinched and stopped in his tracks.

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“Sorry, I didn’t mean to shout.” He sighed and forced himself to relax. “But your hints earlier and this pacing have got me extremely worried. Please just tell me what’s going on.” “I’m scared, okay?” Vicente rubbed his face then looked back at him. “Look, whatever it is, we’ll get through it together.” He had to restrain himself from taking the trembling Vicente into his arms to give him comfort. It didn’t look like his lover would be very receptive right now. Something clearly had him rattled big time. “But you don’t even know what it is yet.” Vicente’s eyes were huge as he stepped a little closer. “Doesn’t matter.” He took a deep breath. “I know it doesn’t sound very logical because we haven’t known each other very long, but I really think there’s potential for a lot more between us. And I mean not just great friends but real partners who can support and help each other out. Remember what we said about not running away from each other? I meant that. At the very least give us a chance. Please?” “Okay.” Vicente stepped even closer. “Okay, I can give it a try.” He nodded, suddenly too choked up to speak. “I told you about my traditional family and how they can’t find out I’m gay, especially my father.” Vicente waited for him to nod, then went on. “I just found out there’s one person who’s even more homophobic than him. My brother Felipe was never very tolerant, but I didn’t know how much he hates gays until last night.” “He came to see you? After I dropped you off?” He was careful to keep his voice down, not wanting to startle Vicente again. “Yes. It was so late I almost didn’t open the door. But when I saw it was him, I knew I had to. We don’t exactly see eye to eye on many things, including the way he runs his life and I run mine. I suspect that the only reason we’re still talking is because we both take care of my father, at least where the bills are concerned. I hadn’t seen Felipe in weeks so I knew something must be very wrong or serious for him to come by like that.” Vicente leaned against the car parked next to his and looked at the ground. “I was right.” “What did he want?” “Apparently Nina had told him about my new job at George’s Corner. I didn’t think he cared where I work, but I guess I was wrong. He told me in no uncertain terms that he didn’t approve of me working there and wanted me to quit on the spot. When I told him I wouldn’t

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because I need the money, he offered to pay for the rest of our father’s bills as well.” Vicente looked up. “I can’t let him do that.” “So he has enough money to pay for everything?” He frowned. “What does he do for a living?” “He doesn’t.” Vicente looked away again. “What?” This was getting them nowhere. “He got involved in this biker gang a few years ago. I have no idea about the details, but I think there’s burglary, drug dealing and God knows what else involved. Nothing legal and no honest work, that’s for sure.” Vicente glanced at him then looked away again. “I can’t accept his money. My father doesn’t know any of this is going on, and if he ever found out and didn’t die of a heart attack from the shock, I suspect he’d put him over his knee and give him a good thrashing.” “But you’re letting Felipe pay half the bills anyway…” He scratched his head, not sure where the difference was. “And that’s bad enough. Believe me, if I had a choice, I wouldn’t let him. But he’s made it quite clear that it’s his duty as a son to do his part.” Vicente shrugged. “I can’t see a way to stop him, not with his biker buddies backing him up.” “Shit, they’re not just backing him up regarding the money, are they?” The sudden visions of men in leather making Vicente’s life hell made him angry. “I’m not actually sure they’re backing him up regarding the money. Somehow I don’t think it’s something they talk about. But the threat of him calling for their support if he wants or needs it is real.” Vicente shoved his hands into his pockets. “Did he threaten you?” He wasn’t a violent person, but someone threatening his lover would make him reconsider his options. “Not in so many words, but he did promise to find a way to make me stop working at George’s Corner when I refused to quit.” “I’m glad you didn’t give in. As much as I’d like you to stop working so hard, it shouldn’t be because someone blackmails you.” “Glad you agree.” Vicente grinned then turned serious again. “This situation is already bad, and I’ll have to see what possible threats he comes up with to make me quit after all. But there’s another consequence of his hatred of gays which we’ll have to deal with.”

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“Our relationship, right?” He groaned. “Yeah. We’ll definitely have to hide it better. Nobody at the bar can find out because they might tell Nina. And we know how quick she’ll be about passing everything on to Felipe.” Vicente shook his head. “So you don’t want me to come around anymore.” That hurt. It was the only place he could get to see his lover during the week, and even some of the weekend. “It’s not that I don’t want you to come here, I just think it’ll be too dangerous.” Vicente hesitated, pulling his hands out of his pockets then shoving them back in. “Okay, we’re going to have to find a different solution then.” He wasn’t willing to forego seeing Vicente. He wanted to spend more time with his new lover, not less. “We are?” Vicente suddenly looked hopeful. “Definitely.” At least it looked like they both wanted the same thing. “If we can’t meet in public—and I do see why you feel we can’t—we’re going to have to find a way to meet in private. I can’t imagine staying away from you.” “You would do that?” Vicente’s eyes widened. “Of course! I said we were in this together, and I meant it. I want to get to know you a whole lot better, and I can’t do that if we don’t spend time together. I don’t mind where we do that, as long as we see each other on a regular basis.” Rubbing his temples to chase the sudden tension headache away, he looked at Vicente. It was probably now or never. “I would like you to come and spend at least a few nights every week at my house.” “But it’s very late by the time I’m done at the bar.” “Doesn’t matter. Even a half hour before bed and having breakfast the next morning will be better than nothing.” So far, he hadn’t heard a no. “If you’re sure.” A hesitant smile lit up Vicente’s face. “My father won’t like me staying out, but that’s his problem. He doesn’t need that much help and is fine on his own, so I’m sure he’ll learn to deal with it. He only ever yells at me, anyway.” That wasn’t what he’d wanted to hear, but now wasn’t the time to deal with an apparently verbally abusive father. They had more than enough other stuff to deal with.

****

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Riverside, Texas Saturday, November 8, 2008 William woke to the wonderful feeling of a very hot body in his bed. Vicente was half sprawled across him, with a leg between his thighs and an arm across his chest. Hard morning wood poked his thigh and Vicente’s soft exhales tickled William’s sparse chest hair. He grinned and didn’t move, not wanting to wake his lover yet. Yesterday had been another late night after an exhausting week, and right now Vicente needed his sleep a lot more than he needed some loving. They would get to that a little later, he was sure. The last few days had been an amazing experience. Having someone to wait up for, almost as if he was living with him, had made William realise how lonely he’d been. His quickly developing feelings had only deepened, even though their encounters had become a lot more domestic than was probably normal for this stage of a new relationship. But then, what did he know about any of that? Since there wasn’t a manual or any guidelines to follow, he’d just done what felt right. So far, it had all gone well. He was even considering asking Vicente to move in with him. It would make a lot of things easier…except maybe the minor detail about Felipe finding out what they were up to. He sighed. That was the one negative aspect about his new status as a man with a lover. It didn’t mean he was sorry about getting closer to Vicente, but it did make him angry that the man’s family was against what obviously made Vicente very happy. Shouldn’t they be supporting him? William knew he wouldn’t solve the problem, so he’d have to learn to accept it. Vicente apparently had. He turned his head towards his softly snoring lover, burying his nose between his neck and shoulder to breathe in his scent. There was nothing like it, and his cock responded immediately. “Hmmm.” Vicente’s voice was muffled by the blanket he was hiding under. “Sorry.” “What ‘bout?” Vicente looked up and blinked at him until he could keep his eyes open—sort of. They remained pretty small. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

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“It’s okay.” Vicente grinned and kissed his chin, then along his jaw line until he reached his ear. “I’d much rather get busy with you than sleep longer.” “You would, huh?” He grinned back and slid his arms around his slim lover. “We can always take a nap later.” “Absolutely. I’m sure naps are vastly underrated.” Vicente snuggled into him, making sure all the right body parts were touching. “I love having you here like this.” He rubbed back, careful not to let things heat up too quickly. He wanted to enjoy this, take his time like they had last weekend in the hotel. “That’s good, because I like being here.” Vicente smiled. That was it. He bent forwards, kissed his lover on his lips and Vicente opened his mouth on a moan. He caressed Vicente’s tongue, stroking it in the same rhythm as his hips were pushing against his lover’s lower body. There was something about touching cocks with Vicente that just drove his arousal up into the stratosphere every single time. It was so different from touching him with his hand, more direct somehow. The hard flesh covered in silky soft skin, their movements lubricated by pre cum, put just enough pressure on his own cock for him to want even more. It was a delicious tease. The passion between them rose quickly, and it was soon too hot under the blankets. He threw them off and pulled back for a moment so he could gain some control and admire Vicente’s naked body. From the top of his head with the thoroughly mussed black hair to the tips of his elegant toes, he presented a temptation that was beyond William’s ability to resist. Not that he’d ever even want to try. He lifted his hand and put it on Vicente’s chest, feeling the strong heartbeat against his palm. Slowly moving his touch towards one nipple, he watched Vicente’s eyes darken with lust. His breathing deepened along with his lover’s when he touched the small, dark brown nipple. He circled it with a finger until it stiffened, then bent down to lick it. “William!” Vicente arched his back and pressed his chest against his mouth. He continued to lick and nibble until Vicente was moaning, then gave the same treatment to the other nipple. The slightly salty taste from Vicente’s skin was just as much of a turn on as the feeling of the stiffened nubs on his tongue and the sound of Vicente’s low moans as he writhed on the bed.

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When he turned his attention to Vicente’s abdomen and licked a path from his chest to his navel, Vicente grabbed the back of his head and pushed him towards the dark cock. “Please, suck me.” Vicente’s voice was husky and his hand trembled slightly. “With pleasure.” He licked along the stiff cock first, moving around as he did, until he knelt between Vicente’s spread legs. The visual feast before him took his breath away. He put a hand on Vicente’s inner thighs and stroked slowly upwards, listening for Vicente’s ragged breaths when his thumbs bumped the heavy ball sac. Keeping his hands where they were, he bent forwards and licked the slightly fuzzy skin until Vicente bucked his hips. Slowly licking and nibbling his way upwards along the straining shaft, he finally reached the leaking head. The taste of pre cum exploded on his tongue and he moaned as he licked all the way around the head. Taking the stiff organ into his hand, he pulled it back from the heaving stomach so he could lick every last drop of the heavenly substance from the small slit. Vicente whimpered when he finally closed his lips around the cock head and slowly sucked on just the tip. “Gaaahhh.” Vicente tried to buck upwards. He wasn’t ready to let him, so he moved his hands to his lover’s hips to hold them in place as he sucked. Vicente’s grip on the back of his head tightened but the other man didn’t try to push him down. That was worth a reward, so he slowly lowered his head to take more inside his mouth. He stopped short of managing all seven inches, but he’d get there eventually, he was sure. The feeling of giving his lover so much pleasure, as well as his own enjoyment of this sensitive part of Vicente’s body in his mouth, were powerful motivators. He started bobbing his head, making sure he kept up the suction. Licking up as much of the delicious pre cum as possible while slurping to get the rigid cock as wet as possible made him want to take this to the next level. Without interrupting his rhythm, he managed to get hold of the lube he’d put under his pillow for just the emergency he was feeling now. Keeping an eye on Vicente’s movements and moving one hand to his stomach to keep him immobile, he opened the bottle onehanded, moved it to his crack then squirted the cool liquid straight onto his hole. Following

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up with his fingers, he quickly stretched himself, moaning at the feeling of fullness in his ass that now matched that of his mouth. Finally it was too much. He was ready to come just from the prep. From the sounds Vicente made, so was his lover. “Fuck me, please.” Vicente lifted his head, a pleading look in his eyes. “Not this time.” William pulled off the now very wet cock and crawled over Vicente’s prone body, straddling his hips and positioning his lover’s stiff cock at his wet opening. “Oh, fuck!” Vicente’s eyes were big as saucers and his hips bucked. The brief touch of his lover’s naked cock head to his more than ready opening made him groan with lust. That was what he’d been wanting for at least an eternity. They’d talked about it and since they were both clean and intended to stay faithful, condoms were no longer necessary. This was the first time they’d act on that decision and he couldn’t wait to feel what it was like skin-to-skin with his lover. “Please.” He lowered himself as slowly as he could bear it, the stretch a delicious ache that only made him want more. Feeling Vicente’s skin stroke his insides was so hot, he had to squeeze his cock to stop his orgasm. It was a very close call. When he bottomed out they both groaned. He lifted up slowly and pushed back down, teasing them both with extra slow movements until sweat was running down his back. He bent forwards, put his hands next to Vicente’s head and stared his lover in the eyes. “Now, baby. Fuck me.” Vicente didn’t even breathe before he started pushing upwards every time William came down. Every nerve ending in his ass was tingling with the force of the fucking they gave each other. The thrusting inside his clenching channel pushed him towards the edge within minutes and Vicente’s ragged breathing and lustful glare did the rest. With a scream that could have awakened the dead, he started coming, his semen spurting across Vicente’s heaving chest and abdomen, painting everything a pearly white as Vicente gripped his hips to hold him in place for the final pummelling of his spasming ass muscles.

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Vicente arched his back when he started coming, and the heat stroking William’s channel almost made him come again. His cock pushed out a few extra dribbles of cum, but that was all he had to give. He pulled off Vicente’s softening cock and let himself fall sideways, pulling his lover into his arms. Snuggling close so he was touching as much skin as possible, he closed his eyes and focused on catching his breath. “Wow.” Vicente grinned and licked his ear, making him chuckle. “We are so doing that again.” “Give me a minute, will you?” He opened his eyes and took in the view of a blissfully well-fucked and sated Vicente. “I didn’t mean right now, doofus.” Vicente’s laughter was music to his ears. “You definitely put me out of commission for a while.” “Good.” He pulled the blankets over their cooling bodies. “Another excellent reason to have a well-deserved nap.” But Vicente was already snoring. Even better. He’d ask him to move in when they were both more awake.

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Chapter Five

Riverside, Texas Monday, November 10, 2008 Vicente was so ready for his lunch break it wasn’t funny. Being a courier, almost constantly on the go, was exhausting. Not having any real down time because he was working at the bar almost every night was gruelling. And as wonderful as moving in with William had been, spending most of Sunday packing his stuff and hauling it over to his lover’s house hadn’t exactly helped. The bubble bath William had drawn for him when they were done dealing with his stuff, most of which had gone into one of the spare rooms for now, had been exactly what he needed. Not just physically, but emotionally. It showed how much William really cared. Not good with people like he kept saying? Hah! That may have been true for others, but Vicente hadn’t noticed any deficits beyond the occasional slight misunderstanding. But, in his experience, that was normal in any situation with new people. He grinned as he got into the elevator of the Harris County Center of Forensic Science. What a mouthful that name was. But when it had appeared on his list of upcoming jobs midmorning, he’d whooped with joy. William had apparently decided not to wait until tonight to see him again. Even though it was work—after all, he still had yet more medical supplies to deliver—it certainly didn’t feel like it. Ten minutes ‘talking’ to his man behind closed doors was sure to revive him more than an hour-long lunch. “Delivery for Mr. Fortin.” He stepped up to the receptionist’s desk on William’s floor, almost feeling at home already. “Again?” The blonde woman in the dark suit looked at him as if it was his fault Mr. Fortin had ordered more supplies. He shrugged. What was he supposed to say to that? “All right, I’m sure you’ve got nothing to do with it.” She glanced at the big box under his arm. “You want to leave that here? I can sign for it, if needed.”

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“No, ma’am, I’m sorry. My instructions say personal delivery, meaning I need to get Mr. Fortin’s signature.” And why was she so interested in the exact way the package was going to get delivered? Didn’t she have anything else to do? Oh, wait, she probably didn’t. Sitting at reception all day couldn’t be the most interesting job in the world, even though she was off her feet. That part, he could so get into. “Humph.” She picked up the phone and dialled a number while keeping her bright blue eyes on him the whole time. Did she think he was going to steal her pens? “Yes, it’s Sybil from the front desk here, Mr. Fortin.” She smiled and turned away from him, as if trying to create some privacy. “I’ve got a delivery for you from Talford Medical Supplies, and the courier insists he needs your signature. I told him I can sign for it—” She sat up straight, her back stiffening as she moved some stray hair back behind her free ear. A quiet huff was next. She must not have liked what William told her. “Yes, Mr. Fortin. Certainly.” She hung up and turned her full attention on him. Her smile was decidedly forced. “Mr. Fortin wants the supplies in his office. It’s down the corridor, room number twenty-three, on your right.” She turned back to her desk before he could even open his mouth to thank her. How rude! “Thank you.” He wasn’t going to sink to her level. She flinched slightly at his words but didn’t react any other way. He had a horrible suspicion she may have wanted to deliver the package herself. The little snake! He better not catch her going after William. Not that it would do her much good. William had been pretty clear not only about being completely gay, not bisexual, but also about wanting them to be monogamous. Vicente smiled as he walked towards William’s office. He’d been so lucky to finally get to know this man. He entered the office after a short knock on the open door. While it remained unanswered, he was pretty sure William wouldn’t mind. He was, after all, expecting him. He walked right up to the desk after depositing the box with the delivery on the top of one of the low filing cabinets near the door. He was almost in touching distance when William finally looked up from his desk with the slightly absent-professor-look he got when he was really focused. It was sexy as hell and

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Vicente’s cock started filling, clearly hopeful for some action. His lover’s eyes widened then a wide smile took over his face. “Hey.” He took the last step needed to put him firmly into William’s personal space. “Hey yourself.” William spread his legs, put his hands on Vicente’s ass cheeks and pulled him close. “Forgot I was coming to your office?” He had a hard time focusing on the conversation with William’s face right next to his now definitely very excited cock. The tent in his pants would have been embarrassing in any other context, so he was lucky to be where he was. “Never.” William grinned and pushed his face against Vicente’s hard erection, rubbing softly and moaning in a most gratifying way. “God.” He pushed right back, happy except that too much fabric was still in the way. Standing here like this brought back memories of how William had sucked him off over the weekend—more than once, much to their mutual satisfaction. “Just William will suffice.” William pulled back and winked at him. He laughed, a bit breathless from the sudden attention to his now fully hard cock—not to mention the sexy look William gave him. When William cupped him, giving his tingling balls a light squeeze, he whimpered. “You want more, baby?” His lover grinned and licked his lips. “Ungh…” His hips bucked, the sudden increase in arousal as he imagined William’s lips around his cock, right here in his office, was too much. William laughed and glanced at the door. Vicente moaned. He really should have closed it on his way in. About to turn around to address his oversight, the sudden widening of William’s eyes in shock startled him. “Shit!” William dropped his hand from Vicente’s groin and scooted back on his rolling chair fast enough to make the castors squeal in protest. “What?” He turned around so he could see what had alarmed William. His blood froze in his veins. None other than his damn brother, Felipe, stood in the doorway, a disgusted look on his face as he sneered at them. He’d been clever enough to dress somewhat sensibly in dark slacks, black Verstal boots that looked half-way decent and a white polo shirt. The only giveaway to his real alliances was the black leather jacket he never seemed to leave home without.

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“I knew it. You’re gay!” Venom dripped from Felipe’s voice. “That’s just…disgusting. I demand you stop this insanity immediately. It’s is not acceptable behaviour, certainly not for a member of the Vasquez family. Have you got no decency at all? You’re making Mamá turn in her grave. ” “You must be Vicente’s brother.” William had gone pale but was clearly not out for the count. “You look a lot more like him than I expected.” “I’m nothing like that little idiot.” Felipe’s face was red as he stepped inside, closing the door firmly behind him. “And you, whoever you are, will stay out of this discussion. This is a family matter.” “We’re in my office, in case you hadn’t noticed. That’s not exactly flaunting anything. And I most certainly will not stay out of this discussion.” William’s hands were holding on to the chair’s arms in a death grip. “I think you will, if you know what’s good for you. I’ll deal with you later.” Felipe turned away from William, whose jaw dropped at the audacity of this virtual stranger dismissing him in his own office. “What are you doing here?” Vicente was still trying to catch up with his brother’s presence. “And how did you even get in?” “I’m here because I’m concerned about your welfare. When Nina told me about the numerous visits you’d been getting from your ‘admirer’, I got suspicious. So I asked a couple of the bouncers who’d seen his ID and tracked him down. Finding you here as well is a bit of a shock, but now that I think about it, I can’t say I’m really surprised. You really have no idea what’s good for you.” Felipe shook his head. “Getting in here was easy. I mentioned that I had business with Mr. Fortin, and the nice lady at reception sent me right through.” “That’s totally against procedure but I’ll deal with her later.” William reached for the phone, resting his hand on the receiver. “As for you barging in here, that’s what’s truly unacceptable, not anyone’s behaviour. Please leave right now, or I’ll have to call security.” “I wasn’t talking to you.” Felipe’s head snapped around and he glared at William. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll let me talk to my brother so we can resolve this situation. I think you need to hear him say that he won’t be seeing you anymore. Maybe then you’ll give up your foolish ideas of corrupting him with your filth.”

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“Will you stop it?” Vicente had had enough. “I can’t believe the way you’ve walked in here, thrown accusations at us and generally behaved like a caveman. You’re the embarrassment to our family, if anyone.” “You will not talk to me like that.” Felipe took another step towards him as his hands fisted. “I’m your older brother and you will listen to me. You’ll stop seeing this man, you’ll quit your job at that fag bar and you’ll stop playing at life. It’s time you became a real man. I think I’ll take you under my wing from now on, introduce you to a few people and make sure you earn some real money for a change. Gotta get you to stop playing at being a good citizen. That shit isn’t going to get you anywhere.” “Excuse me?” He couldn’t believe the high-handed way his brother was talking to him. “You don’t own me and certainly have no right to tell me what to do. You’ve ignored me for all these years, ever since you left home to join that gang of yours, and now you suddenly want to run my life? I don’t think so.” “It’s not your decision to make.” Felipe was redder in the face than Vicente had ever seen him. “You know our traditions and you should know better than to even think about defying me like this. Papá is no longer fit to run this family so I’m taking over. Not doing it two years ago when he ended up in that wheelchair was a big mistake, I see that now. But it’s not too late to fix you, so I’ll be giving that my full attention from now on.” “You’re not listening to me!” Not that he ever had. “I do not consider you the head of our family. Even if I did, I wouldn’t blindly obey you. This is my life, and I will live it the way I see fit. You have no right to tell me what to do, traditions be damned.” “Vicente!” Felipe took a step back before he caught himself. “How dare you talk to me like that! I’ve only got your best interests at heart. Just look what a mess you’ve made of your life without my supervision. That, more than anything, should be proof enough!” “My life is not a mess. It’s tough, yes, but that’s because I’ve decided to earn the money we owe for Papá’s medical bills the honest way. Unfortunately, you’ve made a different choice, but that doesn’t mean I go and tell you to do things differently.” He rubbed his temples. This argument was so wrong on so many levels, it was beginning to give him a headache.

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“I’m not listening to your nonsense. You’re quite obviously deluded.” Felipe shook his head. “All the more reason for me to take over. Now, will you come with me voluntarily or do I have to drag you out of here?” “I am not coming with you.” He stood to his full height, which wasn’t very much when compared to Felipe’s much bigger frame, but he was determined. That should make up for some of his physical shortcomings. “You will regret this.” Felipe frowned at him. “I can’t even understand you anymore. Not that it matters, I’ll get you to see reason soon enough.” “You will do nothing of the sort. If you don’t leave within the next five seconds, I will call security.” William’s voice wasn’t loud, but his word oozed resolve. “And if you don’t leave him—and me—alone outside this office from now on, I will call the police. We don’t have to accept your kind of interference and bullying.” “You wouldn’t.” Felipe looked at William, the picture of incredulity. He probably wasn’t used to resistance to his ideas. “I will.” William smiled. “Five…four…three…” “Okay, you win for now.” Felipe threw up his arms and turned around to open the door. He stumbled back at the last moment, throwing a venomous glance at Vicente. “You will be sorry for this! Just wait till I get you alone.” “Two…one…” William lifted the receiver. “Fuck you!” Felipe slammed the door shut behind him. “Shit.” William pulled back his hand and opened his arms. “Come here.” Without even thinking about it, Vicente took the few necessary steps and slid onto William’s lap, putting his arms around his lover’s shoulders as William encircled his middle. He rested his head on William’s shoulder and took a few breaths of his manly scent. It centred him like nothing else ever could. His hands were suddenly shaking and he was glad he’d sat down. His knees felt like noodles. “Man, I am so sorry.” He could barely hold back his tears. “You have nothing to feel sorry about.” William raised his hand to Vicente’s nape and pulled him up until he looked at him. “That was your brother being nasty. None of what he said is your fault.”

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“But if I wasn’t here, he wouldn’t have threatened you.” He wanted to look away, not being able to bear the guilt. William didn’t deserve having to deal with his crazy brother. “Listen to me.” William put their foreheads together for a moment and took a deep breath before pulling back. “I wouldn’t miss having you in my life for anything. Do you hear me? Even if I had to deal with ten crazy brothers like that, it wouldn’t stop me.” “Are you serious?” Nobody had ever wanted him that much. And to have William, a man he adored and was quickly falling for, say something like that made it even better. “Totally serious.” William kissed him as he tightened his embrace. The hot lips on his made him melt and he opened on a sigh. He tightened his hold on William’s shoulder as their tongues stroked and caressed each other, making him hard again, desperate for more. But there was no time. His lunch break was surely already over, and they both had a job to do. Regretfully, he pulled back. “Thank you for being so understanding.” He snuggled closer, wanting to stay for as long as he could. “No problem.” William leant back in his chair, pulling him with him. “Now, as for this brother of yours, I think we need to be careful from now on.” ”You think so?” Shit, what if Felipe is going to make his threats a reality? “I don’t know. You know him better than I do, but I got the impression that he can be quite dangerous. If he’s in a gang, like you say, I’m sure he knows how to handle a knife or a gun. I suspect the only reason he didn’t bring one in here was the security check downstairs. If he had something on him, they would have asked him to remove it before coming upstairs.” William frowned. “He also didn’t strike me as someone who likes to lose face. He didn’t like having to leave the office like that one bit.” “You’re right. He can be dangerous and he didn’t like the fact he lost the argument.” Vicente swallowed. “No, but you stood up to him, and that’ll make him think…I hope.” William shrugged. “There isn’t much we can do right now except be careful.” “Yeah, okay, I can do that.” He kissed William on the cheek. “And now I need to go back to my job or I’ll get fired. I’ll see you tonight?”

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“Most definitely. I want to pick up where we left off when we were so rudely interrupted.” William squeezed him tightly then let him go. “I’ll see you at home, baby.” He left the office and made his way back to the courier van. But he couldn’t stop thinking about the incident. His brother was yet another problem to deal with. As if his life wasn’t complicated enough. But this time, he was going to do something about it. Empty threats wouldn’t interest the police—he was pretty sure they’d chalk it up to a family fight and leave it at that. They’d only get involved if something actually happened. Only he had no desire to let it get that far. It was a good thing that William’s older brother, Ben, was a police lieutenant. He’d only met Ben socially, but he was a nice guy and would probably take his problems seriously, especially since his own brother was involved. Just thinking about going to see the, hopefully, friendly lieutenant after work made him feel better already.

**** William had the oddest feeling he was being watched as he made his way to the meeting with the district attorney’s office later that afternoon. He looked over his shoulder and into the rear view mirror several times but couldn’t discover anyone. He finally shook it off as paranoia induced by the weird visit Felipe had paid his office earlier. That was one nasty man. To have him as a brother would be tough for anyone, but Vicente, being as honest and sensitive as he was, would have a particularly hard time dealing with someone like that. In a way it was probably good that Felipe had apparently left home a long time ago. It had left Vicente to develop at his own speed and given him the selfconfidence he needed to stand up to his brother now. And he had done that so well. William couldn’t help but feel proud of his lover. It couldn’t have been easy for him to reject his brother like that, especially since MexicanAmerican families placed a much higher value on family cohesion than most other ethnicities. He could only hope the rest of them wouldn’t get involved and come down on Vicente as well.

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That wasn’t his immediate concern, though. The threats Felipe had made plus his background of being a gang member were much more serious and immediate. Shit, maybe he should talk to the police about this? He didn’t want anything bad to happen to Vicente just because his brother didn’t agree with the choices he’d made. But he had this meeting first and since it involved some sensitive evidence for a major case, he had to go himself. He laughed as he parked his car near the court building. Not that he had an assistant to send anyway. He’d have to work hard for a few years before having a chance at a promotion and any assistants that might bring with it. Right now, neither was even on the horizon. And if he didn’t get his ass in gear, he’d be late for his meeting and make any sort of advancement even less likely. The meeting dragged on a lot longer than he’d expected or hoped for. He was shattered by the time he left the court building, dragged himself to his car and decided to go straight home rather than back to the office. He didn’t want to miss even a minute of Vicente’s one free evening a week. He had plans for his man. Driving back through traffic that got bad during rush hour even in Riverside, he didn’t notice anything off. He chuckled. That earlier feeling of being followed must have been his fear of what Felipe might do. Of course, in the real world, the scenarios he’d had in his head didn’t happen. That was the territory of novels and movies. He drove his car directly into the garage, using the very handy remote to close the door securely once he’d switched off the engine. He left his briefcase and samples locked in the trunk of the car, having no intention of doing any work whatsoever before his return to the office tomorrow morning. He walked into the house through the connecting door, the utility room and the kitchen, switching on lights as he went. Checking his watch to see how much time there was to prepare dinner he noticed it was already after six, so it would have to be either microwaved food from the freezer or takeout. Vicente said he’d be home no later than seven, so there was time for a quick drink as he put up his feet and watched the news. Rather that, than spend time in the kitchen, as far as William was concerned. Chuckling at his decidedly non-domestic attitude towards food preparation, he filled a tumbler glass with ice cubes from the freezer then walked towards the living room to get the

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whisky from his liquor cabinet. He switched on the light and something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He turned his head and froze in his tracks. Fuck! His worst nightmare sat on his couch, legs spread wide, leaning back with his hands clasped behind his head. He was dressed exactly the same as during his office visit, with the exception of a large knife in a leather sheath that was attached to his belt. “Hello, William.” Felipe grinned like a predator about to pounce on his prey. “What are you doing here? How did you get in?” He stepped to the side so he could put his glass on the table. “What I’m doing here should be obvious, but we’ll discuss it some more, if you want. You seemed a little slow on the uptake this afternoon, so I’m not surprised you still haven’t got it through your thick skull. I want you to leave my little brother the fuck alone.” Felipe unclasped his hands and let them slide down to his sides. Not good. His right hand was now much closer to the damned knife. It was huge, at least fifteen inches in all, with a thick black handle and a blade that looked longer than anything William had ever seen in reality. “As for how I got in here?” Felipe tilted his head. “That was pathetically easy. Your security is worth shit, with those French doors leading out onto the porch and the garden. My glass cutter really enjoyed making some holes that helped me open them. You don’t even have an alarm system. Disappointing, really.” “I will get that fixed, believe me.” He also needed a plan to get out of this—preferably unscathed and before Vicente made it home. He didn’t want his lover to be pulled into this as well. It could only make a bad situation worse. The couch was to his right, the phone on the other side of Felipe. There was no way he could get to it. Why had he left his cell in the car with his work stuff? He might have to try to make a run for the kitchen phone, but he wasn’t sure there would be enough time. Felipe was probably pretty fast. “Don’t even think about escaping or calling the police.” Felipe leant forwards. “I cut your landline anyway and by the time you pull out your cell, I’ll have my knife at your throat. Trust me, you won’t get very far.”

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Shit! There went his plan for calling for help. “Now, why don’t you pour me a drink and we can sit down and discuss this situation like adults.” Felipe took up his former position of arrogant superiority again, staring at him to see what he would do. Moving as if he was in a dream, a nightmare to be precise, he went to the cabinet, pulled out two shot glasses and filled them with Scotch. Handing one to a still grinning Felipe, he then swallowed his down in one go. The burn was horrible, but it brought him back to reality. No more drinking for him, he needed a clear head for this. Felipe seemed to have no such qualms. He held out his empty glass for seconds then for thirds. Finally he seemed to have had enough, slammed the empty glass onto the low coffee table and leant back again. “Have a seat.” The man pointed at an easy chair across from the couch. The nerve! William sat down anyway. He saw no point in standing around and he needed to be off his feet. Maybe he’d succeed in coming up with a way to escape this madman. “You asked me earlier why I was here and I told you I would explain it to you again since you don’t seem to have gotten the point the first time.” Felipe shook his head but otherwise remained in his annoying position of blatantly assumed dominance. “Before I do that, however, I have a question for you, it should help clarify what I mean.” “Okay.” “How important is your family to you?” “What?” Was the madman going to involve his parents and brothers in this mess? As if the threat against Vicente wasn’t enough! “You heard me. I want to know how important your family is to you. Would you want to protect them against harmful influences? Against threats to their lives? What? How far would you go?” Felipe narrowed his eyes in concentration. “They’re important to me—of course they are.” “What about protecting them?” “I think they can protect themselves, even though I don’t see what could possibly threaten them unless someone came along with some sort of grudge or agenda.” There, that should give the idiot something to think about.

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“Well, that was pretty much as I expected. You gringos just don’t hold the same values we do. You see, in my family we stick together. We look out for each other and we make sure we all know what’s right and wrong. We help the ones who lose their way and bring them back into the fold” Felipe lowered his arms and rubbed his face, not losing sight of William for a second. “That is the one mistake I made with Vicente. I left him to his own devices for too long, thinking my parents had him under control. Now that it turns out they didn’t, I need to correct it.” William stared at him. What was he supposed to say to that? His idea of what was right for Vicente—hell, Vicente’s idea of what he wanted—was so far removed from what Felipe apparently wanted that he saw no way for a reconciliation. “That means he will stop seeing you, stop working at that damned bar, and get a job where he can earn some decent money.” Felipe leant forwards. “Is that clear?” “I hear what you say, but I don’t agree.” “I don’t care whether you agree or not.” Felipe’s nostrils flared as he started breathing more deeply. “You will stay out of his life from now on or there will be consequences.” “Unless Vicente tells me to stay away and can convince me that nobody blackmailed him into saying that, I will do nothing of the kind.” William shook his head. “He’s far too important to me.” “Oh, please, don’t give me that sentimental nonsense.” Felipe snorted. “It’s well known that gay men can’t be faithful. Hell, most of them don’t even want a relationship. It’s not in their nature. So I’m pretty sure you’ll give him up sooner or later anyway. I’m just telling you it needs to be sooner, so that the corruption of his mind can stop.” “It’s not sentimental nonsense. And you have no idea what gay men want or don’t want. How could you, unless you’re gay yourself or have a lot of gay friends.” William grinned at Felipe’s horrified expression. “Somehow, I don’t believe either is the case.” “I’m not even going to respond to that, it’s so far off the mark.” Felipe shuddered. “I’m just going to ask you one last time—are you going to stay away from my brother?” It was time to own up. Even if he said yes now, it would only delay the inevitable. Since he had no intention of staying away from Vicente, he needed to tell Felipe that. “No, I will not stay away from Vicente. Not unless he tells me to.” He sat back and waited for Felipe to explode, trying to look relaxed while every muscle in his body was tense

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with readiness to start running. He might not be able to get to a working phone, but he could lock himself in the kitchen then make his way back to the car to find his cell and call the police. “You’ll be sorry.” Felipe slowly reached for his knife, looking pretty sure of his case. “I didn’t want to do this, but it looks like I’m going to have to become a bit more creative in my methods to convince you.” Fuck, what was the bastard going to do with that knife? Horrible visions of torture appeared before his inner eye before he shook the panic off. That wasn’t going to happen because Vicente was going to be back any minute now. But Felipe didn’t know that. Maybe he could use the element of surprise to overpower him? Getting that knife away from him was definitely his first priority. It was now or never. He jumped up and started running for the kitchen, intending to use the door as a barrier between them long enough so he could get into the garage, lock that door, and pull out his phone. “Shit.” Felipe’s voice had lost all semblance of calm. He refused to look around to find out what Felipe was doing. He needed to focus on getting away. Heavy boots stomped the floor as Felipe gave chase. He was only halfway to the kitchen when a grabbing hand grazed his shirt. Putting an extra boost of energy into his running, he made it another three steps before Felipe caught up with him again. This time, the other man grabbed his arm while at the same time throwing his full weight against his back. He went down with a very unmanly scream of surprise. They both crashed into the floor, Felipe’s heavier body pinning him down. Well, shit. He struggled to buck the man off, but he wouldn’t budge. He tried turning around so he could push him off his body, but Felipe held on. Seconds later one of the man’s hands was gone and William was about to throw him off when something cold and sharp touched his throat. Fuck. Felipe had managed to pull the knife on him after all.

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“Don’t move.” Felipe’s voice was more like a growl than actual words. “Don’t you fucking move or I’ll cut your throat without even hesitating.” Oh God, what was he going to do now?

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Chapter Six

Vicente narrowed his eyes. He stared at William’s house as they drove up just before seven, taking in the trees and bushes in the front yard, the deserted porch, and the brightly lit windows on the ground floor. Something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t quite identify what it was. “What’s up?” Ben’s deep voice rumbled from the driver’s seat of the lieutenant’s new Jetta as he parked it across the road then switched the lights and engine off. Ben had agreed to see Vicente at the station after a wait of less than five minutes. Family was always a priority he’d joked, but Vicente had sensed a deep underlying conviction behind the words. Ben had listened to Vicente’s story with only a few interruptions to ask some clarifying questions. Then he’d insisted on accompanying Vicente to get William’s perspective on the whole situation. He’d never so much as hesitated to believe that Felipe was a potential danger to them both. “I don’t know.” Vicente scanned the front garden again. No, that wasn’t it. “Something is off, but I can’t figure out what it is.” “Okay, let’s give it a few moments. These hunches can be really useful if you know how to listen to them.” Ben leant back in his seat, his large body just barely fitting into the seat. “Don’t focus too much on thinking and figuring it out, just let your eyes roam and let your gut do the rest of the work.” “Really?” He looked at the taller man’s grinning face, discovering only honesty and some slight amusement. “Is that how you solve your cases?” “Some of them.” Ben shrugged. “Doesn’t always work, but a strong hunch like you seem to be having is usually the subconscious picking up on something that your thinking brain doesn’t yet know how to deal with. So, my advice is to go with it. See if your conscious mind can figure it out.” “If you say so…” He leant back, trying to relax as instructed, and let his eyes roam the entire area.

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The house still looked fine, except for the fact that there was no upstairs light on. While that was unusual, it was possible that William had made it home a lot earlier than planned and was already done taking his usual after-work shower. There was no car in the driveway, which was as it should be since William always put the car in the garage. He insisted it was not only safer, but better for the car’s paintwork and chassis as well. The garage door seemed to be locked. There was nothing on the porch and the plants seemed undisturbed. He let his gaze roam a bit farther out, to encompass the trees planted along the road. “Wait…” He looked back to the item that had caught his attention. “Bingo!” “What?” Ben sat up straight and bumped his head on the car’s roof. “Ouch!” “And shit.” Vicente was too focused on the sudden bad feeling in the pit of his stomach to laugh at the tall man’s antics. “Will you tell me what’s wrong already?” Ben stared at him, obviously expecting him to be coherent. “I just…man, this is bad.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a moment before looking back at Ben. “Do you see the motorcycle that’s half-hidden behind the third tree to the right of the garage?” Ben turned his head, looked in the right direction and nodded. “I think it’s Felipe’s.” He swallowed. “He bought and restored it just before he left home ten years ago. I haven’t seen him on it recently, but I think it would be too much of a coincidence not to be his.” “I agree.” Ben turned back to Vicente. “Based on what you’ve told me and the fact Felipe seems to have tried to hide his bike, I think we’ll need to be extra careful. We have no idea what sort of a situation we’ll be facing, so I think I’ll do some recon first. Look in the windows to see if I can find out where Felipe is and what he’s doing, okay?” “Sure. What do you want me to do?” He was impatient to go inside and help his lover, being sure he was in some sort of danger was an awful feeling. “I want you to stay in the car for now. You’ll be safe here. As soon as I have a handle on things, I’ll be back and we can talk about what we do next.” Ben pushed his jacket back and opened his holster. That reassured and scared him in equal measure. What if Ben had to use the gun?

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“I don’t think I can do that.” He needed to see if William was okay right now. “I’m not giving you a choice.” Ben’s lips were pressed together and he made what could only be called a ‘stern cop’ face. “You called me in to help. I think you were right to do that. Looking at the situation from where we are now, you need to step back and let me do my job. Depending on what I find, I may not go in myself anyway, but call backup. This may take a while.” Fuck! He wanted to be inside already. “Have I got your word that you’ll stay here?” Ben apparently wasn’t going to let this go. “Okay.” He would say and promise anything if Ben would just get going already. Ben raised an eyebrow, shook his head and left the car. Vicente followed the man’s careful progress across the street. He remained hidden in the shadows at all times and approached the house under cover of the bushes that grew along the base of the porch. Then he sneaked up the porch and pressed himself against the wall as he approached the first window, hand on his holster. Peeking into the living room didn’t cause any reactions. This got weirder and weirder. William was not one to spend much time in the kitchen. But if he wasn’t upstairs, and not in the living room, that was pretty much the only place left for Ben to check. When Ben peeked into the kitchen window, careful to stay out of the light as much as possible, he stiffened and pulled back immediately. Seconds later he was off the porch, had pulled his cell from his pants pocket and was making a call. Vicente jumped out of the car and ran towards Ben, following the same careful route via the garage the other man had taken minutes earlier. There was no way he was going to stay in the car with Ben clearly worried enough to call for backup. Ben finished his call and pocketed his cell then turned to Vicente. “I told you to stay in the car.” He was whispering his words as he pulled both of them farther away from the house. “As feared, we have a situation here and I want you to stay the hell out of the way. I don’t want to go in without backup, so you’re going to have to hold on until they get here.” “What the hell is going on in there? Is William okay? What is Felipe doing to him?” He had so many questions but the need to storm into the house and see for himself was

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becoming almost overwhelming. Only Ben’s firm grip on his upper arm stopped him from charging in to see for himself. “You can’t go in there. It’s too dangerous.” “And you think that’ll stop me? Shit, if I let something happen to William because my stupid brother is missing some brain cells, I’ll never forgive myself.” He was pulling as hard as he could, but Ben wouldn’t let go. The man was a lot stronger than him, so he gave up the senseless fight after a while, sinking into himself and feeling totally useless. “This is not about you ‘letting something happen’ to William. This is about making sure Felipe doesn’t do more damage than absolutely unavoidable.” Ben frowned. “The situation isn’t your fault, do you understand me? You did the right thing when you came to see me. And it looks like we got here just in time, so relax and hold on until we have the backup we need to make this safe for everyone concerned.” “You keep saying things like ‘the situation is dangerous’ and ‘we got here just in time’—what the fuck is going on in there?” He was about to start kicking Ben to see if that would make the man let him go. “At the risk of you wanting to get in there even more quickly, I’ll tell you. But I’m not letting you go, got that?” The stern cop face was back and Ben didn’t speak again until Vicente had nodded his agreement. “They’re in the kitchen. When I looked inside, they were both on the floor, looking as if they were fighting. William was just getting up, and he looked okay, but Felipe has a knife—” “A knife?” Vicente’s heart stopped. He gasped for breath and when he finally got some air back into his lungs he was close to hyperventilating within seconds. “That is why we can’t go in there without backup. William was holding his own, not fighting back, and that is the best thing he can do for now. When the officers get here, we’ll be able to go in from multiple angles, which will hopefully surprise and confuse Felipe enough for one of us to overpower him before he can take William as a hostage.” “Won’t work.” He was finding it hard to speak through his fear. “Felipe isn’t rational when he gets like this. If they were fighting before, he’ll want revenge for William doing something he didn’t like. Shit, we have to go in there. He’s going to hurt William out of spite if for no other reason!” “You really think so?”

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“Yes!” What the fuck did he have to do to make this man understand? Police procedure was all good and well, but not when his William’s safety was being threatened and every second counted. Ben had his cell out of his pocket and open so fast, it made Vicente blink. Ben hit some speed dial number then held the phone to his ear while glancing at the house, hopefully planning some sort of approach within the next few seconds. If not, kicking him to get away and going to William’s rescue himself was looking increasingly attractive. “ETA?” The question was barked into the phone in lieu of a greeting. Finally, some urgency! “Change of plan. I’m going in now. Use your judgement when you get here, but I’d advise going in through the back door.” Ben listened for a moment and frowned. “So noted. Now, get here as fast as you can.” Ben pocketed the phone and turned to Vicente. “I’m going against the rules here because I trust your judgement. I need you to think about this next question and give me an honest answer.” Ben waited for him to nod. “Do you think Felipe has a gun?” “I—I don’t think so.” He really had no idea. “Okay, if that is all we have, we’ll go in. Needless to say, I want you to stay out of danger. That means I want you to walk in the front door as if you got home on a normal evening. Hopefully that will distract Felipe enough to be focused on dealing with you. I’ll be making my way in via the back to make sure you’re safe and to overpower him. Any questions?” “No.” Anything to finally get going. “Give me exactly one minute, so I can make it around the house and figure out how to get inside, okay?” Ben was about to leave when he stopped him. “Here, take the key.” He fumbled his key ring from his pocket, pulled off the one for the front door and handed the rest to Ben. “Back door is the silver one, the other two are for the garage and the utility room. If they’re in the kitchen, it might be better to come from there.” “Good idea.” Ben grinned, slapped him on the shoulder and was gone within seconds. Vicente walked a few paces back and positioned himself on the sidewalk as if he’d come from the normal bus stop. He counted to thirty then started moving to the front door.

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His hands were shaking so badly he almost dropped the key. When he finally got the door open, he walked inside, listening for anything that would tell him where William and Felipe were and what was going on. There were voices in the kitchen, so they must still be there. “Sweetheart, I’m home.” He’d never yelled that in his life, but he figured it would tell William that something was up. He turned towards the kitchen since he knew that was where Ben had last seen them. “Sweetheart? Where are you?” “I’m in the kitchen.” William’s voice sounded slightly strained. The lack of an endearment was a clear signal. Vicente’s ‘message’ had been received. He stepped into the kitchen and his eyes widened. William was standing near the sink, bleeding from a head wound of some sort. Felipe stood behind him, one arm around his middle, the other raised to hold a dangerous-looking hunting knife to William’s neck. “Glad you finally made it.” Felipe sneered. “We were just talking about your future and William seems to have a difficult time accepting my version of it.” “Which is?” As if he didn’t know. But he needed to keep Felipe talking to give Ben time to make it through the garage and to the door of the utility room. It was just behind Felipe, but he stopped himself from glancing over there. It was too early. “As if you didn’t know.” Felipe tightened his grip on William, making him wince. “I want you fucking out of his life and back to normal. Why can’t you get that through your thick skull?” Thank God Ben chose that moment to quietly open the door to the utility room. Vicente pretended to look at Felipe so he could catch what Ben was doing without giving the man’s presence away. The lieutenant took a quick glance around the room, orienting himself, drew his gun and nodded at Vicente. He widened his eyes and openly looked at Ben at the same time as the lieutenant released the safety and stepped forwards. Felipe turned his head, the split moment of not watching William enabling the man to wrench out of his hold. William dashed straight into Vicente’s open arms and leaned against him with a sigh. Nobody had ever felt better in his arms. He didn’t care what happened next, as long as he had his William close. Ben was close enough to Felipe by then to grab his wrist, pressing hard enough to make him drop the weapon. After kicking it into a corner, he pulled Felipe away from William, keeping his gun trained on him.

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“You’re under arrest, Felipe Vasquez, for threatening William Fortin with a knife. I’m sure other charges will be brought against you as well, but this is what we’ll start with.” Ben had barely finished the sentence when Felipe started to struggle. “Let go of me! I didn’t do anything wrong. I just tried to convince this fag that his lifestyle is not right for my brother and to leave him alone.” Felipe didn’t get anywhere. Ben’s hold wasn’t allowing him to move very much at all. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?” Ben had spoken with the assurance of someone who had worked as a cop for a long time. The reinforcements chose that moment to enter through the front door which Vicente had left open for them. Felipe visibly deflated. “Do you understand these rights?” Ben still hadn’t moved a muscle. “Yes.” Felipe’s response hardly made it beyond his clenched teeth. “Good.” Ben turned towards the two uniformed officers. “Thank you for coming to our rescue. Would one of you please handcuff Mr. Vasquez here? I seem to be a bit tied up making sure he doesn’t run.” “Sure.” One of the two officers stepped forwards, pulling a set of handcuffs from his belt. He looked young enough to be in high school, but handled them like a pro. Felipe was removed within moments. Vicente hugged William more tightly, wanting to bury himself in the man and never come out. “I was so worried about you.” He wanted to say more, but now was not the time. “I’m okay now.” William grabbed a towel and dabbed his head wound. “Thanks for coming to my rescue and bringing such qualified support.” “Why, thank you. I don’t think I’ve ever been called qualified support, but I could get used to it.” Ben grinned at them. “Now, first things first—do you need medical attention for that head wound?” “No, I’ll be fine. I just bumped my head when Felipe tackled me. It looks much worse than it feels. I’ll put a bandage on it later.”

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“Later? Querido, you need to clean that wound straight away.” He wasn’t going to let William neglect his health. “I agree with Vicente. I’ll need to take your statement about what happened and that may take a while.” Ben pulled out a notebook and took a seat at the small kitchen table. “You take care of that wound, and I’ll be here when you’re done. I promise to make it as quick as possible. I know you’ll want some time alone to start dealing with all this.” The only thing Vicente wanted was some one-on-one time with William to let him know how he felt about him and to make sure he was all right…all over. William was ready to drop into bed and sleep for a week. He’d held his own with Felipe, but the tension and the fear he’d do something horrible to Vicente once his lover had turned up had been much worse than the wound the other man was currently so worried about. It was sort of cute, though, having him hover and want to take care of him like this. He’d never say so out loud. There was probably a bit of macho in Vicente as well. He grinned when he realised he wasn’t about to share that thought, either. But even that didn’t compare to the urgency of his need to hold Vicente in his arms and make love to him. That was the one thing he knew beyond the shadow of a doubt. Somehow he’d fallen in love with the gorgeous man who had so much more than surface good looks going for him. Oh sure. Those were what had attracted him when they’d both been in high school and had even kept the flame going to some extent while they’d been separated. Ever since their reunion, however, what had attracted him far more than Vicente’s looks was his determination to make an honest living despite difficult circumstances, his dedication and loyalty, even his stubborn pride in taking care of his father. And just look at how he’d come to his rescue! The whole package turned him on beyond anything he’d ever experienced. And the fact that he fucked like a dream was an added the bonus he planned to capitalise on as soon as Ben was done taking their statements and had left the house. As soon as they were upstairs out of Ben’s sight, he turned around, pulled a very willing Vicente into his arms and mashed their lips together. Vicente opened to him with a soft whimper and kissed him back as if their lives depended on it. Desperate to be as close as

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possible to Vicente while still wearing clothes, he slid his hand down his lover’s back to cup his ass and pull their groins together. Yes. That was what he’d been looking for. Touching from head to toe, their passion rose so quickly that he thought he’d come on the spot. He pulled back, resting their foreheads together while trying to catch his breath. Vicente shook in his arms and kept pressing closer. But they had to get to the bathroom to deal with his wound, so he started marching them along the hallway and into the master bathroom, making Vicente giggle. With the other man pressed up against the sink, they were close enough to the medical supplies to take a brief break. He just couldn’t keep his hands or mouth off Vicente. “Need you so much.” He peppered Vicente’s face with kisses. “I was so scared I’d lose you.” “Never going to happen.” Vicente looked into his eyes. “I love you, William. You’re not going to lose me unless you send me away.” “I love you too, Vicente.” God, so much. “And I don’t think I could ever send you away. I don’t know why I didn’t realise how much I missed you until we met up again just over a month ago, but I’ll do everything I can to make sure we’re never going to be separated again.” “You missed me?” Vicente had suspiciously wet-looking eyes. “Yeah, baby, I think I did.” He swallowed. “I felt really close to you in high school, but I had no idea what to do with those feelings back then. I think we were both too young to realise what was going on. But when I saw you again at that party, it was like a revelation.” “Yeah, me too.” Vicente moved a little farther back and wiped his eyes. “I’m so glad I’m not the only one. I thought I had a stupid crush on you, but you were so sexy when you explained all that science stuff to me, it was hard to resist. And I never fell for anyone like I did for you.” “I’m glad.” He smiled and cupped his lover’s cheek. “That way we can share all our firsts together.” “Is there something specific you’re thinking of?” Vicente grinned. “Because there’s one thing we haven’t done yet.” “Only one?” He loved it that Vicente got just a little bit embarrassed when they were talking about sex.

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“Well, one major one. But I want to change that.” Vicente ducked his head. “Yeah?” He put a finger under Vicente’s chin and pulled his head up until he could see his eyes. “And what might that be?” “I want you to make love to me. Make me yours all the way,” Vicente blushed. It was too cute. He lost all control, crushed the man to him and kissed him senseless. With them both as excited as they already were, the kiss quickly became all-consuming. Tongues duelling, hands roaming and groins rubbing, he went for broke. Moments later his balls tightened and he came like a teenager, helplessly jerking against Vicente’s body as his orgasm tore through him so hard he saw stars. “Shit!” Vicente’s scream was muffled because he bit into William’s shoulder, his whole body shaking as he followed him into bliss. “Man, that was intense.” He was still trying to catch his breath when he looked up to see his face in the bathroom mirror behind Vicente’s back. He sure looked well-sated now. “Any time today would be good.” Ben’s voice from downstairs sounded rather amused. It still shocked him how he could have so totally forgotten about anything but Vicente in his arms. He chuckled. Yeah, being reunited with the man he loved would do that and there was nothing wrong with it that he could see. “Oh my God, how embarrassing.” Vicente hid his face against William’s chest and held on. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look him in the face again.” “Don’t worry about it. He’ll have no clue what we did.” Yeah, right—their moaning might have given some of that away. “Ha!” Vicente looked up. “And if you believe that, I have a bridge I want to sell you.” “Don’t be a dork. Ben’s a grown man who’s in a relationship himself. He knows what’s what and isn’t going to blame us.” He could hope, right? “Okay, let’s get that wound of yours disinfected and bandaged, then we’ll get us cleaned up so we can face the police lieutenant so patiently waiting for us downstairs.” Vicente stepped away and started pulling supplies from the medicine cabinet on the wall to the left of the sink. “Because, my love, what I really want to get to is the celebration part of the evening.” “Oh, yeah, bring it on baby.” He couldn’t wait. Soft squishing sounds from Vicente’s pants brought his lover to a dead stop.

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“God, but this is embarrassing.” Vicente opened his pants and pulled them off, grabbing a washcloth, wetting it and quickly removing the dried spunk. “I don’t think waiting with this clean-up was a good idea at all.” “You half-naked like that, on the other hand, looks like a brilliant plan.” He opened his pants and followed Vicente’s example once he’d rinsed the washcloth. Once they were semi-clean, redressed and his wound had been lovingly and thoroughly dealt with, they made their way downstairs to face Ben. The man was trying to keep a straight face, but his twitching lips betrayed how hard that was for him. A round of drinks later, they sat down to deal with the dirty details of their recent runins with Felipe and William’s most recent ordeal. Ben was quick and efficient, his obvious experience a definite plus. Barely an hour later, Ben closed his paper notebook then leant back in his chair. “Thanks so much for your patience, guys. That should give me enough to draw up your official statements. You’ll have to come to the station sometime tomorrow to sign them, but other than that we’re all set.” He rose and shook their hands. “Thanks for not making us come to the station with you.” He knew that was normal procedure. “We really appreciate it.” “No problem. I wanted to make sure you can get back to celebrating Felipe’s arrest as quickly as possible.” He winked. William hadn’t blushed since he was a teenager, but he came damn close now. Ben grinned and turned around, closing the front door behind him. Finally alone. Vicente was in his arms before he could take his next breath. “Upstairs, querido, right now.” “I love it when you get demanding.” He followed Vicente upstairs, back to the master bedroom. Clothes were disposed of with admirable speed and efficiency. He grabbed the lube while Vicente pulled back the sheets. Thank God his lover was following the same script. As if on cue, Vicente was on his back, legs spread invitingly, by the time William had managed to fumble the lube out of the nightstand drawer.

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“You look good enough to eat, baby.” He moved between Vicente’s legs. “I just want to lick you all over, but I’m afraid that has to wait. You’ve got me so hot, I need you right now.” “Good.” Vicente grinned and stroked his already half-hard cock to full erection with a look in his eyes that was positively challenging. “I’ve wanted you inside me for a long time. I’m glad it’s finally going to happen.” “Why didn’t you say anything?” He sat back on his heels, worried about having overlooked such a basic need. “Wasn’t necessary until now.” Vicente shrugged and sped up his stroking to a level that had William drooling to get in on the action. “I loved fucking you and you certainly seemed to have no complaints.” “None whatsoever. But it’s time to try something new—add to our repertoire, so to speak.” He stroked Vicente’s inner thigh before he opened the lube and squirted some on his fingers. “Please.” Vicente stopped stroking himself and stared at William’s hand as it approached his ass. “Just do me?” “Baby, this is your first time, so we’re not going to rush this.” He wasn’t going to hurt Vicente for anything. “I’ll stretch you, nice and slow, and when you’re ready, I’ll make you mine. Promise.” If he could hold on that long. Just looking at Vicente spread out for him brought him so close to the edge he could feel his balls tingling. Maybe he should get one of those cock rings he’d read about. Anything to prolong this sort of intense arousal. “Okay.” Vicente spread his legs farther apart. William focused on applying lube all around the small opening, marvelling at how he was going to fit. He wasn’t huge, but his cock seemed a lot wider than Vicente could comfortably accommodate. His first finger, however, was not an issue. He stroked in and out slowly, making sure Vicente enjoyed it. A second finger followed suit and Vicente moaned with pleasure. His ass seemed to open up of its own accord, and soon William was able to add a third finger. Watching more of his hand disappear inside Vicente’s body was such a turn on that he had to squeeze the base of his cock to stop his orgasm. Man, Vicente was hot like this.

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“Yes!” Vicente arched his back, trying to get him to push in more of his digits. “Now we’re getting somewhere.” Was Vicente a size queen? He would have never guessed. Grinning as he imagined exploring that further, he sawed his three fingers in and out of the clenching hole, driving Vicente higher and higher. “Fuck me!” Vicente was shaking with need. “Please, I want to come with you inside me. And I can’t hold on much longer.” “Shit.” He was going to explode the second he got inside that hot little hole. Taking care not to remove his fingers too quickly, he pulled out. The sight of the stretched hole begging for him to plunge inside was almost too much. He positioned himself above Vicente, put his lover’s legs on his shoulders and pushed inside. “God!” The tight heat around his cock was unbelievable. Vicente pushed up and he bottomed out before he had a chance to stop himself. He pulled back, making Vicente moan. When he thrust forwards, both of them voiced their joy at the connection. “Yes.” Vicente slid his legs around William’s middle and pulled him down for a kiss. “Now fuck me like you mean it.” So he did. Looking into Vicente’s eyes the whole time, he started thrusting slowly, wanting to make it last. But he didn’t stand a chance. Vicente was too far gone and clenched his ass muscles in rhythm with their movements so perfectly that William’s orgasm was upon him before he was ready. In a last desperate move, he slid a hand between their bodies and enclosed Vicente’s cock in his grip, hoping to stroke him to completion before he lost it. Vicente didn’t make him wait and came at the first touch of his hand. Long streams of semen flew across his stomach and painted it white. His stiffening body put enough pressure on William’s cock to make him lose it as well. Screaming his release, he came. His whole body shuddered with the force of his orgasm as he emptied his balls into Vicente’s still-clenching channel. When he was done, he collapsed on top of Vicente, still shaking. A long time passed while they both tried to catch their breaths. Finally he’d softened enough for the connection to break, so he pulled away to grab some tissues from the night

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stand to do at least a rudimentary clean up. There’d be time for a shower later, when they’d recovered a little more. “That was amazing.” Vicente moved straight into his arms when he was done. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” He pulled Vicente as close as possible. “Worth waiting for.” Vicente kissed him softly, all the passion now changed into tenderness. “Yeah.” It had been…for their first time. “But no more waiting from now on.” “I agree. None whatsoever.” Vicente grinned then rested his cheek on William’s chest before closing his eyes. William smiled. Somehow, he didn’t think that would be a problem.

About the Author I’m a night owl who starts writing when everyone else in my time zone is asleep. I’ve loved reading all my life and spent most of my childhood with my nose buried in a book. Although I always wanted to be a writer, financial independence came first. Twenty-some years and a successful business career later I took some online writing classes and never looked back. Living and working in seven countries has taught me that there's more than one way to get things done. It has instilled tremendous respect for the many different cultures, beliefs, attitudes and preferences that exist on our planet. I like exploring those differences in my stories, most of which happen to be romances. My characters have a tendency to want to do their own thing, so I often have to rein them back in. The one thing we all agree on is the desire for a happy ending. I currently live in the United Kingdom, sharing my house with a vast collection of books. I like reading, travelling, spending time with my nieces and listening to classical music. I have a passion for science and learning new languages. Email: [email protected]. Serena loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at http://www.total-e-bound.com.

Also by Serena Yates Elemental Superpowers: The Cake Elemental Superpowers: The Blancmange Scrolls of Vengeance: The Magic Thieves Men of Riverside: Finding Elliot Men of Riverside: Rediscovering Adrian Men of Riverside: Understanding Mark Men of Riverside: Saving Zeke Men of Riverside: Forgiving Jason New Horizons: Rescuing the Librarian New Horizons: Discovering the Actor New Horizons: Encouraging the Writer New Horizons: Supporting the Director New Horizons: Saving the Bodyguard New Horizons: Noticing the Finance Manager Sins of Summer: Summer Escape Stealing My Heart: The Magic Thieves Mi Amore Collection: Max’s Italian Romance

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