Chapter Fourteen
In NOLA
Shopping
Early Evening
O h, it was clear that he was stalling, and Gene didn’t know why. A part of him wanted to get on that plane, and never come back, but a little piece of him was afraid to do just that and leave.
Why?
That was easy.
He was scared shitless of what Tommy would do, and leaving Elizabeth here by herself went against everything he knew to be a good choice.
The woman was a menace, and she was always in danger—especially now that there were some Russian spies trying to end her life.
Because she took out the trash here, again, Alexsandr Dominik’s last two hired assassins were somewhere, waiting to enact their revenge.
Yes, she was guarded by Marines, and she had the chutzpa to take care of herself, but he was doubting leaving.
So he stalled a bit.
Raphael seemed to be none the wiser, and he was humoring him.
What started as picking up beignets, turned into more shopping to waste more time.
Now, he had to get presents for everyone.
That was only right, especially since he now had a child that he and Ethan absolutely adored. Gene loved being a girl dad, so he was making sure to get her something she’d love.
Willa needed a big green and gold teddy bear. So, he bought that.
Then, he got each kid a present, starting with the two oldest boys. He found model cars they could put together some evening.
Then, he hit up the girls with pretty necklaces with different colored stones in them.
There was a pretty tea set for Bethe.
Gene was pretty sure it was her fifth tea set, but the kid really liked a tea party with her sisters.
For Charlie, luckily, Gene found a kids sized belt buckle, since she wanted to be her mother’s mini-me.
Daniel got a kaleidoscope, since he loved things like that, and Cat got a taxidermied bird.
It was weird, and he knew it would be taken apart at her earliest convenience as she ‘autopsied’ it, but the kid liked seeing inside things.
Plus, it kept the dogs off of her radar—because Elizabeth really loved her German Shepherds.
As he walked around a shop, Raphael hovering and drawing attention, he kept his voice low.
“My dude, I know you’re stalling. Want to tell me why?” he asked. “The jet landed an hour ago, and we’re really getting too much attention.”
Gene knew why.
He’d been on the news with Ethan more than a few times. They’d had a date night here and there, and they’d handled that case back in Philadelphia that reopened an old can of worms.
Since Ethan was synonymous with Elizabeth, the second they were in the media spotlight, he was now a target of the press.
They loved sensationalizing stories about him.
How he was cheating with Ethan behind Elizabeth’s back…
How he was breaking up the family…
How he was caught up in some kinky wild orgy at the taxpayer’s expense…
That wasn’t even close to the truth, and he knew it. The only person he was dick diving in was his hot half-Native man.
Since Raphael’s job was to keep him safe, he did the most logical thing.
He lied.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he admitted. “I’m just shopping.”
Raphael looked at his watch.
They really had to get moving.
New Orleans after dark was a whole other element, and while he didn’t fear it, he knew that the media liked to be douchebags, and creep.
“You’re risking yourself and me. I’d like to get you home so I can eventually see my husband.”
Gene stared at him.
“Guilt, Raph? Really?”
He paid for his last purchase, and walked with the man to the door.
“Absolutely. We have to hustle, Gene. I have to get back to help Elizabeth. You were a Hunter once. You know they move out at night. I can hear Ivan’s com.”
As he loaded the things up in the blacked-out ride, he pointed at Café Du Monde.
“I need to get Ethan beignets, and then, I’m ready.”
The last thing he wanted was to risk Elizabeth. It looked as if he was heading home after all.
Now, he hoped she’d be okay.
“Okay, Gene. Deal. Get them, and let’s go. I have a long night ahead of me.”
As they waited in line, people stared, but Gene was getting accustomed to that. What made it worse was that cops stared.
Oh, there were still some there that remembered him, and they likely knew what happened to him.
He was hooked up with the Blackhawks.
Buying Raphael a coffee, and a big bag of beignets for Ethan, he was finally ready to go.
“I think that’s it,” Gene admitted.
Raphael laughed.
“Anything else?” he asked. “Did you remember to get something for Elizabeth?” he joked.
Actually, he had.
So who was laughing now?
“I got her a ring with some protection spell carved into it in the witch shop.”
He was amused.
Why?
Oh, there was one simple reason.
“Do you know who her mother-in-law is?” he asked. “Janet would have done that for you. She’s been trying to drape her in protection things for a while now. Chris is horrified by it. You could have killed two birds with one stone by having Janet do it, and freaking Chris out simultaneously. That’s always fun to get him riled up.”
He shook his head.
“First, I sleep with them, so riling anyone up isn’t a good idea. Elizabeth gets angsty, especially since she’s been hovering over Chris. Let’s not stir her up. Second, Raph, like I don’t plan on having her reinforce that spell so she’s twice as safe too? Come on.”
That amused him.
The man had learned quickly, and there was no doubt he fit into the family just fine.
Raphael hopped into the car, and Gene rode shotgun. As they started off, he was sitting there, quietly staring out the window.
Ethan had asked Raphael to keep an eye on Gene, and if he was troubled, to help him out. Since Raphael wanted Ethan to be happy, he knew this man had to be part of the process.
“You’re pissed,” he stated.
Gene was more than pissed.
He was scared.
Glancing over, he was honest with Raphael.
“I wanted to kill him with my bare hands,” he admitted, sipping his coffee. “When he went at Elizabeth, trying to punch her, after he decked me, I wanted to end him for fucking with my family. With my people.”
Raphael got that.
They were all particularly protective of the Blackhawks.
Raphael said one thing.
“He shouldn’t have put his hands on you. Love doesn’t hurt people like that.”
No, he shouldn’t have, and now, he was facing down that everything he’d believed about Tommy before was nothing but a lie.
In the end, he’d been a master manipulator. He’d been controlling, and he’d not seen it until he got out from under it. Someone had been blind.
Or just desperate to be loved.
Now, he saw the truth. Tommy was nothing more than an abuser.
That he’d try to hit a woman…
That didn’t sit well with him at all. Tommy could do whatever he wanted to him, but to go at a woman, even if that woman was Elizabeth…
That.
Was.
Foul.
Raphael just said one thing.
“Talk it out. You’ll feel better.”
Would he?
Gene wasn’t so damn sure he would. Only, he was willing to try.
“I’m also angry that I thought he was a good person. I don’t like that he’s going to try to hurt Ethan. I don’t buy for one second that he wouldn’t kill him to hurt me for leaving him. I was in over my head, Raph. I didn’t see what he really was until now. I saw the rage in his eyes, the hate, and the ability to kill. I always believed Tommy was calm, patient, and kind. I think I was wrong.”
Raphael reassured him.
“We don’t always see what people are like until they are at their worst moment. Losing you broke him, but that’s not on you. If he laid down the law, and you didn’t want to be bossed around, you’re entitled to do what you want to do, Gene. It’s your life too. As for him hurting Ethan…he won’t get near my boo.”
That made him laugh.
How could it not?
It was said so ridiculously.
Honestly, he appreciated the man helping him through this. It wasn’t his job, but he was being a good person.
Still, he busted his ass.
“I’m telling your husband you just tried to abscond my man,” he said.
Raphael laughed.
“Sometimes, I forget that you don’t like to share,” he teased. “Like everyone else in this family.”
Gene was amused.
No, he didn’t like sharing, and the irony was that now, he was sharing. A lot had changed when he fell into this family.
Monogamy was still a very firm belief for him, but he knew that sharing was caring.
God knew that Elizabeth shared Ethan with him, and for that, he was forever grateful.
“I just want my family to be safe,” Gene admitted. “That’s all. I don’t like that Tommy is pissed. I saw the madness in his eyes, Raph. He was loco.”
That didn’t sit well with him.
Why?
He was a bodyguard.
“I’ll voice your concerns with Ivan when I see him,” he said. “For now, I suggest you get home, and hover over the family. They are in the new compound now, and they are safe.”
That was the only thing keeping him sane. He was going home to his family.
“You’ll keep her safe?” he asked.
Raphael patted his leg reassuringly.
“Mom will be fine. I promise. Just get home to your love muffin,” he stated.
“Honestly, that’s the best plan I’ve heard all day,” he admitted. “Get me to that jet. I want to go home.”
That worked for him.
As they drove, they talked about the kids, the family, and life. Honestly, Gene liked being around Raphael. The man was laid back and very easygoing.
The bottom line was that he was a good dude, and he loved Ethan.
Clearly.
Oh, and not the way he loved Saint, but in a way that Gene could appreciate. He had Ethan’s best interests at heart, and that mattered to him.
Ethan was precious to him.
As they drove, he was curious.
“Aren’t you and Saint celebrating an anniversary soon?” he asked. As of late, they’d been all tied up with work, and it just occurred to him that it was coming up.
He grinned.
“Yeah, we are. I can’t wait to get away with him. I just have to find someone to watch Emmy. Saint and I know Wyler will do it, but I feel bad asking him. Whenever anyone says ‘kid’ around him, his eye twitches. That might be the first sign of a mental breakdown.”
He laughed.
Oh, that was funny.
Why?
It was true.
Just the other day, he suggested that he and Ethan get some kid clothing for Willa that wasn’t PINK . He’d said kid, and Wyler actually dropped a spatula.
The man was triggered.
“Yeah, he is a bit twitchy. He made me a sandwich the other day, and in the mustard, he wrote, ‘no more kids’ . Like he’s subliminally trying to talk me out of more children with Ethan.”
He laughed.
“He’s slick. Are you two thinking about more?” he asked.
Gene wasn’t sure.
That was an interesting question.
Once he married into the family, all of the kids were technically his. They shared their children across the marriages so the kids would always have enough love.
Oh, and they did.
“Honestly, I’m so smitten with Willa that I don’t feel like I need more. She’s my baby girl, and I love her to pieces. If another child comes along, I’m not saying no, but we’re not looking either.”
He understood that.
They were in the same boat.
He and Saint were good with just Emmy. She was more than enough for the two of them. Why have more when you already had perfection?
The kid was just what they needed to calm both men down, and truth be told, Raphael loved being a dad and husband. Pancake Sundays were amazing. So was cuddling on the couch and watching some silly movie.
Last week was about rainbow-colored ponies.
A dad had to do what a dad had to do.
As they pulled up to the private air strip, Raphael helped unload the presents for the family, and gave them to the flight staff to stow them. The head flight attendant efficiently packed them away, and Gene gave the man a hug.
“Thank you for letting me talk and share,” he admitted. “Now, get your ass back there and take care of Elizabeth so she gets home alive.”
Oh, he would.
This was a rough one, and Raphael knew it. Von Donore was a piece of shit who deserved to be put down. If he got the chance, he was definitely helping with that.
At that very moment, since he could hear Ivan over the com, he was hovering over Elizabeth and on her like tan on Native.
The bottom line was that he was twitchy in NOLA.
Twitchy.
As.
Fuck.
Oh, and that was for a good reason too.
“Have a safe trip,” Raphael said to Gene. “Oh, and Elizabeth left you something in the sleeping quarters on the bed. She said to tell you that she loves you and thank you for coming with her.”
Gene was confused.
He lifted a brow.
“She got me a present?” he asked. “What’s it for?”
He shrugged.
“Like I said, she loves you. Enjoy.”
That was odd.
Now, he was glad he picked up a ring for her in that one shop.
Truth be told, he couldn't imagine what the gift possibly was, and now, he was curious. So, he climbed the stairs, and entered the jet.
Inside, the flight crew greeted him.
“Mr. Cantrell, we hope your time in New Orleans was enjoyable,” she said.
Oh, well, he wouldn’t call it that.
“Thanks, Millie. It was something,” he admitted, leaving much of the details out.
She smiled.
“We’re taking off immediately,” the woman admitted. “We spoke to Director Blackhawk, and you’re to be secured back in DC until she can get back to the family. Apparently, you’ve raised some hell.”
He laughed.
“ ME ? I raised some hell? She’s funny,” Gene said. “And slightly delusional.”
The woman was amused.
“Aren’t we all?” Millie asked, as she pointed to the seat to get him into it for takeoff. “Buckle up. You can move around when we’ve leveled out in air. Oh, and there’s a present in the back of the plane for you.”
So he kept hearing.
Only, now, he was curious.
“Will you be coming back for Elizabeth?” he asked, hoping they would, and that she wasn’t going to be here in NOLA long.
This city made him edgy.
She shook her head.
“No, Mr. James is on his way back from California where he had some press junkets, so he’s heading here to get her. She’s flying Jackson James air,” she joked.
That was good.
At least she wouldn’t be alone.
That was the bottom line.
“Thanks, Millie.”
As he buckled in, Gene felt the jet taxiing to the strip, and then, start to roll quickly toward the end. This was a private jet that the family used mostly for work for Elizabeth. The FBI had a jet, but security was a nightmare to clear it every time they used it.
So Axelle got that one.
With Elizabeth, they weren’t taking chances. After all, the men had watched Salem, die in a limo explosion, and Elizabeth nearly got her brain scrambled.
As the jet took off, they were up and flying into the clouds when Millie opened the door between where the crew hung out, and the private part for the family.
“You can move around. We’re good,” she said.
He did just that.
“Terrific. I’m going to go see what Elizabeth left for me, and take a nap.”
She smiled.
“Good plan, Mr. Cantrell. If you need anything, just knock on the door,” she stated, and then closed the door again for privacy.
Oh, he would.
As he headed back to the bedroom, he stopped in the galley first, and inside the refrigerator, he found some cold beer.
God.
He needed this.
It had been a day. Since it was late afternoon, he wouldn’t feel bad for having one. It was past five o’clock somewhere.
Cracking it open, he leaned there, and chugged his beer. That helped calm him down, a bit.
Well, it was time to see what she got him, and chill out for the few hours it would take to get to DC.
Putting his hand on the keypad, it read his print, and unlocked.
“Welcome aboard, Gene Cantrell. We hope you have a good flight home. We will be landing in less than three hours. Please make yourself comfortable,” the computer system offered.
This jet had been tricked out for Elizabeth.
MATE was riding shotgun, apparently.
“Thanks, Zen. I appreciate it. Wake me an hour before we land,” he said. “I want to shower before I head home.”
Yeah, he wanted to get the stink of his ex off of him before he saw Ethan.
“It would be my pleasure, Gene.”
“Thank you,” he said, as the door slid open, and there he saw his surprise.
Sitting on the bed was none other than his sexy man.
“EJ?” he asked, caught off-guard. “You’re supposed to be at home.”
Ethan stood.
“And did you really think that I’m not going to ditch security, fly here, and be waiting for you? I planned to be here to steal you back from Tommy if you didn’t intend on coming home,” he admitted.
Gene blinked.
“Uh, he can’t steal me away. I’m yours,” he said, opening his arms.
As the door closed behind him, Ethan was against his body, and clinging to him.
After what happened in Philadelphia , his man had been shaken up pretty badly. He tended to need to be near him, or Elizabeth.
Let’s just say old demons were back, and they were not making Ethan’s life easy.
“I have you,” he admitted. “You don’t have to worry. I’m always coming home for you.”
Ethan found his mouth, and he sank into that kiss, sharing what he was feeling.
He.
Was.
Scared.
Gene held on, and when Ethan set his mouth free, he stared into his eyes.
“I couldn’t stay home any longer,” he admitted. “I needed to be near you.”
Well, he was never saying no to that.
“Rough day?” he asked Ethan.
He simply nodded.
Gene stared into his midnight blue eyes and saw all of the fear and trepidation.
“I’m sorry I had to leave without you this morning,” Gene admitted. “It was for the best that you weren’t here for this.”
He was curious.
Elizabeth wouldn’t tell him about what happened, and that told him all he needed to know.
“Was it rough?” Ethan asked, still clinging to him.
Gene sighed.
“He’s insane, EJ. I saw the madness. I saw the hate. He’s going to try to hurt you. He’s going to try to take my family from me. I could see it in the rage.”
Ethan let him talk.
“I need you to go NOWHERE without security. In fact, where is your security?”
He laughed.
“I made Demeter hide in the bathroom. He’d like it a little too much to be in here with you and me.”
He snorted.
“He’s a nut.”
Slipping his hand into Ethan’s black silk hair, he made him stare into his eyes.
“Again, promise me, that you will go NOWHERE without security, EJ. Please.”
He didn’t even fight it.
His body was pressed to Gene, and he was feeling very accommodating.
“I mean, you could convince me.”
Gene lifted a brow.
“Is that so?”
Ethan ran his elegant fingers down Gene’s scruffy cheek, and he reveled in the feel.
“That’s so,” he stated.
Well, there was no way in hell he wasn’t taking the man up on that offer. There was nothing sexier than spending some time with the man he loved.
So, he found his mouth with his.
Oh, and the kiss was nuclear.
It rocked them both to their cores.
There was always such an amazing rush when he came home to Ethan after being away.
The mating of mouths was wild.
It was out of control, and it told them both what was about to go down. They’d be getting naked at any moment.
When Gene broke the kiss, he was breathless. He was also desperate to have Ethan in bed.
“Make me forget,” Ethan whispered to Gene, knowing he’d understand what chased him.
David Neives.
Normally, it would piss a guy off to have his hot man thinking about someone else, but this was a different kind of thinking.
It was a haunting.
Of sorts.
Well, if his man wanted this, he’d make him forget.
“Brutally fast, and now,” Gene ordered, grabbing Ethan roughly, and pulling him even harder against his body.
Ethan moaned as his mouth was taken wickedly in one hell of a mind-melting kiss.
What he needed was Gene to make him forget, and he was doing just that.
His mouth devoured, and he ripped Ethan’s control to shreds. He was only thinking about him, when he shoved him back far enough to roughly pull his shirt from his body.
Blackhawk moaned.
“Please,” he whispered.
Oh, Gene wasn’t close to being done. Ethan didn’t have to worry about that.
Whenever they came together, there was so much heat and desire.
What he felt for this man…
He’d only ever felt for Ethan. The man was his other half.
“Come here,” Gene said, brusquely, diving back into a kiss where he brutalized his mouth all over again as he battled back Ethan’s demons for him.
He showed him unconditional love, and how he would always do battle for him.
No.
Matter.
What.
The whole time, Ethan held on.
His whole world had been scattered lately, and he was barely holding on. He was accustomed to bumps in the road, but going back to Philadelphia had nearly killed him.
All over again.
Now, he was still recovering from what had gone down there.
The kiss was searing hot, and as Gene forced him to forget anything but him, he was undoing his belt. They had time to do this a few times, but for now, he needed to fill his empty mate with the reassurance that they would survive anything.
They.
Were.
One.
When he was finally free of his belt, Gene held it in his hands as he kept the kiss going.
Ethan came alive against him, and that fear ebbed away. Instead of being broken, he was whole whenever his loves touched him. If it were up to him, they’d touch him every second of the day.
The old him would have been damaged more by that neediness, but now, it was just natural. Ethan had learned he was allowed to need affection, love, and his family.
His world was at a pivotal point as he fought to get over Philadelphia .
It had been the city that made and broke him.
Repeatedly.
Because he was ready to do anything Ethan needed from him, Gene broke the kiss, and stared into his eyes.
“Tell me what you need from me. Tell me how to make you feel safe.”
There was only one thing.
“Make me forget. Fill me. I’m empty.”
Then, that was exactly what he would do. Roughly, he shoved Ethan backward, and he tumbled onto the bed.
Gene was there, tugging his man’s clothes from his body. When he had him out of his pants, he grabbed the front of his boxer briefs, and ripped them from his body.
Ethan moaned, needing this kind of attention to help him find his balance.
Then, Gene dropped his fly, and pulled his own dick out of his pants but stayed dressed.
Later, he would get naked. For now, Gene was going to take the edge off for Ethan, and fill him, like he wanted.
Fill him with love.
Fill him with his dick.
Fill him with all he had.
The man on the bed watched him, lust overwhelming Ethan as goosebumps crisscrossed his body.
Gene yanked open the bedside drawer, and found the lube that they kept in there when they traveled. He dumped it on his rock-hard erection.
It was clear that Ethan needed to be brought back to the safety of his world. When he had too much time to think, it damaged him, so now, it was about doing—not thinking.
Gene had told him brutally fast, and that was what he’d get. Later, he’d be gentle and soothing when he needed that too.
What wouldn’t he give to Ethan?
He’d give him his heart from his chest.
Grabbing his hips, his own erection bobbed. Gene wanted to be in him in the worst way.
With Ethan’s legs over his thighs, he grabbed his hands, and wound his belt around his wrists and the headboard.
Ethan whimpered as he was pinned down and he became the buffet that this man planned on feasting from to get them both off.
“How hard do you want it?” he asked.
He stared up into his eyes.
“Hard,” he begged. “Make me forget.”
Gene knew exactly what he wanted and needed.
Safety.
In that chaotic storm, there would be peace for Ethan.
Getting into position, there was no foreplay. There were no sweet words, and there was no teasing. Ethan needed this, and this was what he was getting.
A fucking.
It would clear his mind, and help him push back the demons so he could think again. It grounded him, and gave him his control back when he felt lost.
That was the least he could do for a man who gave him his heart.
Gene nudged him, and then roughly slid into his ass, claiming him with a fast, hard thrust of his hips.
God.
It felt so fucking good too.
Below him on the bed, Ethan bucked and screamed his name as that pleasure overwhelmed him.
He couldn’t even catch his breath because Gene began fucking him.
HARD.
He drove into him, claiming his ass, and reminding him that he was safe. In that moment, he was safely with Gene and forever would be.
Oh, and they were likely quite the sight.
His pants were on, his shirt was on, and his dick was buried in the man’s body.
“Fuck!” Ethan whispered, as Gene did just that. He fucked him like he deserved.
Like he wanted.
He was above him, and Ethan’s eyes were blurry with pleasure. His ass gripped him, begging for him to cum there.
Oh, and he would.
What he’d learned was this was how Ethan processed his pain, his anger, and his rage.
Through fucking.
That wildness gave him the strength to push back the fear and fall into the pleasure.
And Gene was a willing participant.
ABSOLUTELY.
As his fingers clenched, bound to the headboard, Ethan stared up at the man he loved.
There was calm in Gene’s eyes.
And Ethan used that to find his way back. He was the roadmap back into control.
His compass.
There were only two people who had ever been able to tame that voice in his head, denying him happiness and joy.
Gene.
And.
Elizabeth.
Now, above him, Gene was driving himself in and out of Ethan’s ass, taking him in sweaty abandon.
It riled the man up to the point he was begging.
“Please,” Ethan whispered.
In that moment, Gene gave him everything he had. He knew that after the storm, they’d calm down. That Ethan would breathe again, and find his footing.
He always did.
“Come on, Baby,” Gene whispered. “I want to fill your ass with my cum. Take me over the edge and milk my dick!” he ordered.
Ethan whimpered.
Gene was rubbing against his erection with his abs, and making him want to explode.
“Fuck me,” Ethan whispered. “Fuck me!” he said again.
Moving positions, he hit that one spot, and it drove Ethan over the edge, making him cum on his own chest.
As he exploded, Gene couldn’t hold on.
He came too.
HARD.
He roared in release, emptying his balls into Ethan’s ass. The whole time, the man moaned as the colors overwhelmed him and pulled them both under.
Ethan let that calm come.
It washed over him, and it pushed back the fear, making that terrorizing and nagging voice slowly drift away.
He was safe again.
He was in control again.
This was his Gene and he hadn’t lost him again.
“Shhhhh,” Gene whispered, as he laid next to Ethan, and had every intent to ride out the afterglow. Later, he’d take his time, but now, Ethan had needs.
And he’d always take care of him.
Gently, he set his hands free, and Ethan cuddled against him, getting them both messy. Gene’s clothes were a wreck, and so was he.
Oh, well.
Holding him, he let him come down from the orgasm, and just laid there to give him even more reassurance.
He was never leaving him again.
When Ethan opened his eyes, Gene was ready for whatever was to come.
With Ethan, you never knew.
“Did you want to stay at all?” Ethan finally asked, needing the truth.
He didn’t hesitate.
“Not for a second. I wanted to get home to you and our child. Tommy has no power over me, Ethan. He always fought to take my control. Never once in our relationship did you give me an ultimatum, or make me feel forced.”
He paused.
As he did, Ethan waited.
“Well, you did just force me to fuck you. My life is so horrible,” he said, grinning. “I can’t believe I’m forced to fuck a hot man daily.”
Ethan laughed.
“I’m sorry that I’m a mess. I just haven’t recovered from Philadelphia , and then this. I was afraid you’d come back, and want to stay. That he would talk you into leaving me behind.”
He kissed him.
When he broke it, Ethan was breathless.
“That will never happen again. I made that mistake once, and a part of me is glad I did.”
Ethan watched him, his eyes full of emotion.
“Had I not left, you wouldn’t have found Elizabeth, and reconnected with Callen. Then, Chris wouldn’t have had this life either. I love them so much, and you, that I’m grateful we were apart so we could make our world even better together. It was meant to be, just like we are meant to be.”
That helped him greatly.
They had a pretty terrific life.
“When you need me, as your partner, it’s my job to be there for you. Whether it’s a cup of coffee and a conversation, or an ass fucking. I’ll always be there. I’ll never walk away again.”
Ethan looked relieved.
“Thank you for that.”
He nuzzled him.
“I know what will make you feel better,” he admitted.
He lifted a brow.
“What?”
Gene got up, and zipped up his pants. Then, he headed out of the room, leaving Ethan alone on the bed.
He was worried until he came back in, holding the telltale brown bag that he’d managed to wrangle away from Demeter.
His eyes lit up.
“Beignets?” he asked.
That was the most normal Ethan response. Someone was predictable.
“I know what my man likes. Want to have a snack in bed? Maybe shower away the cum and powdered sugar, and then, get messy all over again?”
Well, hell.
That sounded good to him.
Ethan patted the bed.
Handing him the bag, Gene got out of his clothing, locked the door—since Demeter was lurking, and climbed onto the bed.
When he did, Ethan went to sit between his wide-open legs. Like he enjoyed when his back was against Gene’s chest.
It reminded him of them taking a bubble bath, and it was comforting.
Opening the bag, Gene fed Ethan one of the pillowy squares of fried dough.
He sighed.
“That’s good,” he admitted. “That’s possibly the only thing I like in NOLA other than Hotel Monteleone with Elizabeth.”
He understood that.
Gene took a bite, and just sat there, holding him. His head was resting on his shoulder. His scent of bodywash and cologne made him feel so comforted too.
This was his man.
After eating a beignet, Ethan went there.
“I’m sorry that I’m a mess,” he admitted.
Because part of that was his fault, not telling Ethan about what David Neives did to him all of those years ago, and not being able to protect him from the knowledge years later, he soothed him.
“We’re in this together. You have nothing to be sorry about, my love. Tell me. Did you have a session with Callie?” he asked, licking powdered sugar from his finger.
He nodded.
“She’s putting me back together again. I have to see her once a week until we work through what he did to me. Just be patient with me.”
Gene would be patient with him forever.
“I will never leave or not be patient with you. If you need me to go with you to talk to Callie, I will,” he admitted. “Trust me. I won’t leave you ever. Well, unless I die from incredibly hot sex. Then, well, know I went out how I wanted to go and know that you finally took me out with that ass of yours.”
He laughed.
His man was amusing.
“Thank you for fighting for me,” Ethan admitted, licking some powdered sugar from Gene’s finger, and then kissing him.
He felt his man go hard again against his lower back at that one simple action, and he did too.
“Baby, I’d fight to the death for you. This is nothing. We’ll be good. I promise. I can’t wait to get home, and not think about NOLA again.”
Yeah, about that.
“Babe?” Ethan asked.
He glanced down.
“Yeah?”
Ethan came clean.
“I did something.”
Gene stopped chewing his beignet, and got that feeling in his belly.
Uh-oh.
Why did that sound ominous?
“What did you do?” he asked, hoping he wasn’t about to get his ass handed to him in the feelings department. Coming back from the mess in Philadelphia had been rough.
“Know how we were going to go on a honeymoon after we were married?”
Oh, shit.
Truth be told, Gene was looking forward to that trip. He really, really, really hoped that Ethan didn’t cancel it.
“Yes. To Puerto Rico for a week after the wedding, why?” he asked.
Ethan glanced over at him.
“We’re not going home. I am absconding you. I need a pre-wedding honeymoon. Alone. With you.”
When he said that, the worries were gone.
In fact, Gene smiled.
“Mr. Blackhawk, are you telling me that I’m your sexual prisoner on this jet, as we head to my favorite island in the whole world?”
He nodded.
“I told the flight crew to lie to you. Elizabeth knew I was doing it. Security warned her, and she cleared it. Callie thinks that I need some time away to regroup, so I got us time off for hopefully bad behavior. I hope you don’t mind that I’m holding you hostage.”
That was all he had to hear.
Gene turned his head and found Ethan’s powder sugar-y mouth with his for a kiss.
It was deep, it was long, and it was perfect.
When he broke it, he was smiling.
“Newsflash, EJ. I’m never saying no to a trip to Puerto Rico. You planned it all out?”
He shrugged.
“I mean, Chris helped. His company does business there. Leonard Industries has a mansion with a private beach that he and Elizabeth have used a few times when they were younger.”
Well, sign him up.
That was all he had to say.
“I did something else.”
He wasn’t sure what he was planning.
“I also didn’t pack you swim trunks. I kinda would like to lie naked on the private beach with you.”
He laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
“I hope you don’t mind.”
Gene dropped the bag of beignets onto the nightstand, and rolled with Ethan against him. When he got him to his back on the mattress, Gene began giggling like an idiot.
“Mind?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows lecherously. “Ethan Blackhawk, my soon-to-be-husband, I don’t mind. In fact, there’s one thing I have to say to it.”
Ethan lifted a brow.
He felt better now, and both of them deserved this break.
“What?” he asked.
“Kidnap me. I insist.”
Thank god he’d done just that.