10. Darius
Chapter ten
Darius
Darius’ feet pounded out a steady eight mph rhythm on the treadmill in the complex’s gym. He’d already run five miles on the thing in addition to punching the shit out of the heavy bag in the corner for about half an hour. So much sweat poured off him that the towel he’d brought to the gym was soaked, and he still couldn’t clear his mind of the expression on the corporate lawyers’ faces as they told him he was suspended pending an investigation.
The lawyers had been condescending and cold, as if they’d already decided he was guilty, which didn’t make any sense to Darius. He answered their questions, went through the incident on the plane moment by moment from start to finish, and answered more questions as they watched several passenger videos of the incident on a massive screen in the law firm’s conference room. None of the videos had a great angle, and all but one of them had been taken facing the back of the plane, so Darius was fully visible, while Jason and the woman were only shown from the back. The one video that had been taken from behind Darius ended just before he and Jason closed in on the woman because the phone’s battery died, so the most crucial part of the incident hadn’t been recorded. Rachel and Michael had given statements as well, but Darius knew their view had been obstructed by him, and no one—passenger or attendant—had had a clear enough view of what happened after he’d gotten the woman into the seat at the rear of the plane.
Only after all of this did the lawyers tell Darius that the woman was alleging he’d touched her breasts and was asking for criminal charges filed. While Darius wanted to scream at them that not only wasn’t he the kind of asshole who could take advantage of a situation like that—because who did that kind of thing?—he was also gay, so the allegation made no sense.
“Is it possible my hand made contact with her breast?” Darius asked rhetorically, choosing to keep himself under control. “Sure. It’s possible. I was focused on getting this woman, who was threatening me and other passengers with a weapon, secured in a seat. My attention was on what her hands were doing. At no time did I intentionally touch her in a way that was inappropriate.” He’d shaken his head. “She was intoxicated—perhaps she doesn’t remember things clearly.”
One of the lawyers leaned forward. “How do you know she was intoxicated? My understanding was this occurred an hour into the flight, and beverage service hadn’t been started because of the turbulence. Even if she’d been drinking before the flight, there would have been almost two hours for her to sober up before this incident.”
Darius hadn’t had an answer for them, but as his feet pounded out another mile, it occurred to him that the woman might have smuggled alcohol on the plane the same way she’d brought the knife. If she’d ordered drinks at one of the airport bars and tipped the drinks into a water bottle, it would have been possible for her to keep drinking the entire time, and Darius knew he’d smelled alcohol on her breath.
At ten miles, Darius slowed the treadmill to a cooldown pace. Anger still simmered under the surface, but he was calm enough to think more clearly. Luis had been right—he needed his own lawyer before he sat down with the police. As soon as he took a shower, he was going to call Micah and see if Jake had come up with names for him to contact.
He shook his head as he refilled his water bottle. This was not how he’d envisioned spending the day after Luis got home, and it irked him that this situation was stealing all the joy he’d felt at finally being able to call Luis his, at being able to think about a future in which they might get married, have a family, at finally saying “I love you” to Luis and meaning it in the fullest sense of the word.
Though, Darius thought as he wiped down the treadmill and nodded to the two other guys in the gym, had any of that changed how he felt about Luis? Hadn’t they basically been a couple since college? Now that they’d declared their feelings, was his love any deeper, any more “real” than it had been before Luis’ blurted out the confession of having those same feelings? He knew it was too early to make a definitive statement about it, but he wondered how much had actually changed and why it seemed like something should have as he walked through the pool area to get back to his apartment.
The day had turned sunny and warm, and every lounge chair in the pool area was occupied by at least one tanned and fit guy. Darius wasn’t looking at any of them, though, not even when a couple of guys he knew called out to him wondering what—or who—he’d been doing to work up such a sweat.
With a wave and a laugh, Darius passed through the gate and headed for the stairs to the second floor. He’d almost made it when a familiar figure coming down made him pause and then shrink into the shadows. Andrés descended and headed for the parking lot. How the man seemed to know when Luis was home by himself, Darius had no clue, but this was the first time he’d seen Andrés at the condo, and even now, the visit had happened while he was in the gym.
In the year that the man had been in jail, Darius had almost forgotten the sense of dread and worry he felt knowing Andrés had been near Luis without anyone else around. He was torn between needing to rush up the stairs and reassure himself that Luis was all right and the desire to follow Andrés into the parking lot and tell him to stay away. As usual, the former won out. His concern for Luis would always take precedence over anything else.
The condo was quiet as Darius stepped through the front door. He closed it softly, listening for Luis as he took off his running shoes and left them in the shoe keeper underneath the table in the entranceway. Walking softly, alert for any sound of Luis in distress, Darius made his way through the living room, checked the kitchen, then started down the hallway to the bedrooms. The bathroom door was open at the end of the hall, but the one to their bedroom was shut. Darius paused with his hand on the knob, listening again, but heard nothing from inside the room. He knocked lightly, then turned the handle and pushed open the door. The shades were drawn, and the room was grayed with shadow.
Luis lay sprawled on the bed, one arm thrown over his eyes.
“Chico?” Darius whispered.
Without moving his arm, Luis nodded. “I’m fine. Too many margaritas, not enough food.”
Darius lay down next to Luis, their bodies touching from shoulder to thigh, the tension in Luis’ body easily transmitting itself to Darius.
“We need to do laundry today,” Luis said, his voice flat and monotone.
“Chico, I saw Andrés leaving.” Darius kept his voice soft, trying not to betray how worried he was. “How much did he want this time?”
“Two hundred.” Luis shrugged. “He said he wanted to buy a ring for Gabriella.”
“You don’t actually believe that, do you?”
Another shrug. “It doesn’t matter. I transferred the money to him, and he went away.”
“He’ll only be back for more.”
“You think I don’t know that, Dar?”
“Then why don’t you stand up to him? Tell him no more? Or tell your parents what he’s doing?”
Luis shuddered and curled over so his back was to Darius, which immediately made Darius roll onto his side so he could gather Luis into his arms and spoon him. Darius pressed his lips to the back of Luis’ neck. “What aren’t you telling me, chico?”
With a shake of his head, Luis pressed back against Darius, worrying at his fingers until Darius put his hands over Luis’ and made him stop. “I’m drunk, Dar. I was worried about you, so I made margaritas, and I drank too many of them, and now the room won’t stop spinning.”
“Not one of your better decisions.” Darius kissed his way up Luis’ neck and nuzzled behind his ear.
“No shit.” Luis sighed. “I’m so tired of being a fuckup.”
The words were said in a whisper, but Luis could have screamed them at the top of his lungs from the way they made Darius go cold.
“You’re the furthest thing from a fuck-up. Why would you think that?”
Luis shook his head and burrowed into his pillow, mumbling something Darius couldn’t make out.
“You have to know I think you’re amazing,” Darius said. “You’re perfect, chico. I’ve always thought so. You’re smart, you’re funny, you’re also fucking sexy and have incredible taste in clothes and best friends.” That got a little huff of air from Luis, which made Darius smile. He leaned closer and whispered into Luis’ ear, “I also have firsthand knowledge of how amazing you are in bed.” The full-blown laugh made Darius’ heart soar. “All of that is why I love you. Except maybe the thing about being great in bed because if the sex wasn’t off the charts last night, I was gonna dump you for someone better.”
That statement got Luis rolling over and straddling Darius, who entwined their hands and placed them over his heart.
Luis leaned in close. “I don’t believe you.”
“Good,” Darius said. “Because I am never going to find someone better than you.” He lifted his head and kissed Luis. “I am yours for the rest of your life, if you want me.”
“Of course I want you, cari?o, for as long as you’ll have me. I love you.”
They lay like this for several minutes, trading kisses, both of them gradually growing hard but in no hurry to do anything about it. At one point, Darius reached around Luis’ waist and flipped them. Luis immediately widened his legs so Darius could rest between them. He ran his fingers through Luis’ coal-black hair, loving the feel of those silky strands as he brushed them away from Luis’ face and stared into his dark eyes.
If Darius hadn’t known Luis so well, he probably would have missed the tension that lingered in the corners of his mouth and around those gorgeous eyes. He knew there was more going on than Luis was admitting but didn’t know how far he should push to get answers. He’d never questioned what they had as friends, but this new thing between them? They were still building it, still discovering what it meant for them. At the moment, it felt fragile, something he needed to treat with care and consideration, to nurture so it could grow.
“You know there isn’t anything you can’t tell me. Right, chico?”
Luis bit his lower lip, but he nodded. “Of course. And the same goes for you, too.” He rocked his hips, the length of his cock rubbing alongside Darius’ as he moved.
“Oh, chico, that feels so good.” Darius groaned as Luis repeated the motion, then raised his legs and wrapped them around his waist. “But I don’t—” He gasped as Luis tightened his grip, drawing them closer together, then thrust up. “Fuck.”
Darius hadn’t intended for them to have sex when he’d climbed onto the bed to comfort Luis. He was trying to be good, trying to make sure Luis was all right, but Luis was making it more difficult to concentrate on anything but the way Luis felt or how Darius’ body was responding.
A part of his brain was confused, conflicted by how quickly he got hard, how insistent his need to get inside Luis became. It was no longer a fantasy, and all those years of being able to lie next to this man in the bed they shared without becoming overwhelmed by desire had been unleashed by those three little words: I love you .
He couldn’t stop himself from using his bigger body to push Luis to the bed, stripping off both Luis’ and his own clothing and reaching for the lube they’d left on the nightstand. Luis reached for his own cock, using the precum leaking from his slit to ease his way as he stroked himself, hungry eyes watching as Darius poured lube onto his fingers.
“You sure, chico?” Darius asked.
“Why do you even need to ask?”
“Because I don’t want to do anything that would hurt you or make you regret…anything.”
“Oh, God, Dar.” Luis bumped his hips up, his cock leaking. “I want you in me again. Please?”
The fire in those eyes, the need; Darius couldn’t look away from them, even as he pressed first one finger into Luis, then followed it with a second. Luis groaned, bearing down on Darius, who shivered at how hot and tight he felt as he fought against the urge to drive his cock inside Luis’ willing body.
Almost as if he’d heard Darius’ thoughts—or maybe because he knew Darius so well—Luis’ thrusts became bigger, harder, like he was trying to get Darius as deep as he could. The steady stream of precum dripping from his slit left a shiny trail on his belly, and Darius’ mouth watered with the need to take a taste.
“I will never get enough of this,” he said as he lowered his head and took Luis’ cock into his mouth. The salty, slightly sweet taste exploded on his tongue, and he hummed as he teased at the veins and ridges, the folds of Luis’ foreskin, and the silken head that emerged. He flicked his tongue in and out of Luis’ slit in time with the thrust of his fingers into Luis’ hole.
When he finally let go, slid his fingers from Luis’ body, and braced himself on his arms to look down at his best friend, his lover, his partner, Darius had to blink his eyes a few times to clear the tears that had gathered in the corners. He lowered his head again and kissed Luis, sharing his own taste back to him as Darius probed Luis’ mouth with his tongue.
Luis’ thrusts became more desperate, his whine of need vibrating in Darius’ mouth, ramping up Darius’ desire until he couldn’t take it anymore. He pulled back, poured more lube into his hand, and smoothed it over his cock, then made sure Luis was nice and slick. Situating himself at the entrance to Luis’ body, he paused and leaned in for another kiss.
“I can’t believe I get to do this,” he said, as he pressed against the tight knot of muscle.
“I can’t believe I made us wait so long to do this,” Luis panted.
“Relax, chico. It wasn’t just you, but it doesn’t matter anymore because here we are.”
At Darius’ words, Luis’ body loosened, and Darius found his way inside.
“So fucking good, chico,” he praised.
Luis hummed in agreement, then groaned as Darius began to thrust in earnest. His whispers urged Darius on, begging him to go harder and faster as Luis’ hand stroked his own cock. It didn’t take long for them both to be on the edge, then toppling over it in a chaotic moment of moans, shouts, and desperate attempts to connect their mouths.
As the surging tide in Darius’ body receded, he finally found Luis’ mouth with his own. Luis opened for him immediately, drawing him down despite the chilling mess between them, and Darius went willingly. In less than twenty-four hours, lying on top of Luis, being able to feel the full length of his larger body pressed against Luis’ smaller one had become one of his favorite things. With his arms and legs caging Luis in place, Darius felt like he could protect him from harm and keep his boogie men at bay.
It was a thought that revived the concern and worry in Darius’ gut and reminded him of seeing Andrés coming down the stairs from the condo. There was a conversation he and Luis needed to have, but not right now, not in this moment of respite from the storm he could feel gathering around them.
Darius’ cock softened and slid from Luis’ body.
“I wish you could stay inside me forever,” Luis said.
“Me, too, chico.” Darius kissed him, then rolled onto his back, bringing Luis with him so their positions were now reversed. “I want to explore every inch of you.”
“You already know every inch of me,” Luis giggled.
“You know what I mean.” Darius pulled him down so they could kiss again. “I know you, but I don’t know you. Not in the way I’ve dreamed about. I want to hold you and touch you and taste you. I want to hear you beg for my cock and watch you take it. I want to know what you smell like when you’re covered in my cum and what I smell like when my skin is covered in yours.”
By the time Darius was finished talking, both of them were panting, and Luis was starting to hump against him, both their cocks stirring to attention. Darius was completely enthralled by the small noises of pleasure Luis made. He’d never heard them before, and they delighted him, made him want to do everything he could to hear more of them.
“I can’t believe you’re really mine,” he said.
“I am yours. Body, heart, and soul. I always have been.”
As he spoke, Luis scooted down Darius’ body, caressing with his hands, lips, and tongue every inch of skin he could. Darius propped himself up on his elbows to watch Luis and couldn’t help the way his hips rose from the bed as Luis reached his cock.
“Fuck, chico, taste me.”
Luis hummed in answer, then opened his mouth and slid his lips over the crown of Darius’ dick. The slide and swirl of his tongue was absolute heaven, and Darius groaned as a jolt of electricity rose through the center of his body.
“You turn me on so much,” Darius said as his hips thrust into Luis’ mouth of their own volition.
They lost a bit of rhythm as Luis smiled and Darius’ cock popped out of his mouth, but then Luis found him again and took him all the way to the back of his throat.
“Oh…fuck…” Darius moaned and let himself fall back to the bed. Luis’ mouth was unreal, and Darius was on the edge of coming despite this being their second go-around in less than half an hour. No other experience, no other man, came close to making Darius feel this way, and he felt his heart glow with love. Then Luis teased at his hole with a fingertip, and Darius lost control, coming inside Luis’ hot mouth so quickly he didn’t have time to call out a warning.
Luis continued to suck at him until there was nothing left, then gently lapped at his glans before returning to Darius’ waiting arms. With a contented sigh, he settled against Darius’ chest.
“I’m good,” Luis said when Darius moved to take Luis’ cock in his hands. “I just want to lie here with you.” He raised his head, and Darius leaned down to kiss him.
“I taste sooooo good on your lips, chico,” Darius whispered. A ten-mile run followed by two orgasms had him feeling boneless and languid, any thought of the clusterfuck that had started the day fading into the background.