Chapter Sixteen
Ronan
After Dominic took Blake upstairs to—what sounded like—torture her, Zayden went to check on his kids, accompanied by Skyla and Liam while Asher sorted out dinner with Wesley.
Me? I went straight to the computer and began pulling up everything I could on the man in the back of our car and the accomplices in the SUV.
Facial recognition has pulled up nothing so far, but I’m hoping the fancy biometric scanner that Asher acquired recently may point us in some kind of direction.
The door opens and closes, my best friend swaggering in like it’s any other day before he tosses something at my chest.
I catch it easily, looking down at the object. “What’s this?”
“Dead guy’s finger,” he says as he takes a seat and kicks his feet up on the desk.
“Wes, what the fuck?” I bark, tossing the severed finger onto the desk before looking for the scanner.
“What did you find on the car?” Wesley asks.
“Nothing,” I grunt as I dig around the boxes at my feet.
I swear to fuck no one ever cleans up after themselves around here, and I’m fucking sick of it.
“Let me take a look into it,” he says.
“I’ve looked. They’re fake plates. It’s a dead end.”
Leaning forward and resting his elbows against the desk, he smirks. “Well, maybe I’m better than you.”
I look over at him, shaking my head in irritation as I go back to my search for this fucking scanner. “You’re cute,” I snark.
I can practically hear his frown in his words as he speaks.
“Are you… mad at me?”
I huff out a breath but don’t respond. Goddamnit. I swear I just saw it over—
“Got it,” I say to myself as I plug the scanner in and hook it up to the computer.
I pull up the FBI database that Wesley “let himself into” a few months ago and sync the scanner to it as he speaks again.
“Ro.”
I ignore him once more, grabbing the finger and pressing it to the scanner as it whirrs to life. Matches begin appearing on the computer screen, and I keep my eyes focused on it until a hand grips my jaw, forcing my gaze away from it.
“Ronan,” Wesley says, a deep frown marring his otherwise happy-go-lucky features. “What’s wrong?”
“Besides the fact that our wife could have been kidnapped today?” I say with a laugh that holds no humor.
“Yeah, besides that. You’re upset with me. I just can’t figure out why.”
I try to look anywhere except at him, but his hold on me is too strong and unyielding. His pale blue eyes practically drill into me, and before I can stop myself, I’m speaking.
“You took off. You had no idea what kind of potential danger you were in; you had no regard for your safety. No backup. You were just… gone.”
Wesley tilts his head to the side like he still doesn’t see the problem. He doesn’t fucking get it.
“Forget it,” I huff, shaking my head and pushing him away.
He lets me go as I look to see the screen is still sorting through possible matches before he forces himself in front of me once more.
“Look at me,” he says.
Still, I refuse him. I don’t want to look at him. I don’t know what I’ll do, what I’ll say. I prefer to keep things bottled up where they belong, especially when I don’t know what to do with them. Especially when they’re all like… this.
His hand moves to the back of my hair, tugging on the short strands the best he can as he snaps, “Look. At. Me.”
My eyes move to his before I can stop myself, and once they do, I know it’s all over.
“I was scared earlier. I still am. The fear hasn’t left, and I’m… I’m dealing,” I admit.
Wesley’s grip on my hair loosens slightly but not all the way. He tilts his head slightly. “I know, but you kept Skyla safe. You kept them both safe. They’re okay.”
I let out an irritated laugh as I shake my head. “I wasn’t scared for Sky; I was scared for you, you fucking moron. I was scared of what would happen to you! That I would lose you. That I would never be able to—”
My words die on my tongue as I force my jaw shut.
Wesley’s eyes widen in surprise before they soften. “Ro, I…”
“Are you going to make me fucking say it?” I snap.
He stays quiet for a moment, his eyes flicking back and forth between each of mine before he shakes his head, lowering his tone.
“We’ve been best friends for two decades—you don’t have to say anything.”
I swallow roughly as he closes the distance between us.
Wesley and I have kissed plenty of times, fucked even more.
It’s always been a sort of… release. A primal thing.
There have never been… feelings. At least I haven’t wanted there to be any.
But the instant his lips touch mine, everything changes.
My stomach dips the way it does when I kiss Skyla.
Euphoria washes over me when he crawls into my lap, just the way it does when I hold her.
These feelings that I’ve been fighting for so goddamn long are banging at the door, and now I’m fucking terrified they won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
Wesley’s grip on me tightens as he pulls us closer together, our tongues battling for dominance. He’s kissing me like it could be our last time, like I’m ready to run. Fuck me, I don’t want to run. Not from him. Not ever.
“Ro,” he pants into my mouth, forcing my cock to jolt against him.
“I can’t lose you,” I admit as he moves his lips against my cheek, then peppers my neck with kisses, sucking on that sensitive part that has my toes curling.
“You never will,” he promises against my skin.
“I could have. I need you, Wes. I…”
He freezes, pulling back slightly to look at me. I do my best to regain my composure, but I’m the first to admit I’m fucking terrible at it right now. Swallowing roughly, I bring one of my hands to his neck, holding him in place as I speak.
“Bend over for me. Now,” I strain.
Wesley practically jumps out of my lap, and I’m standing behind him in an instant. He moves to undo his jeans, but I stop him, plastering my cock against his ass and gently grinding against him. Fuck. He feels so good against me.
I push his hands out of the way and undo his belt with one hand, freeing the button of his jeans before I reach inside and take what I want.
His cock throbs in my hand as I grip him tightly, dragging my hand up and down the length several times before he rests his head against my shoulder and sighs.
“You like that?” I mutter into his ear.
His eyes lazily come to mine, so many words swirling within them. “I love it.”
My heart practically leaps out of my chest as I release his cock, quickly undoing my own pants before pulling his all the way down. My hand comes to his back, and I bend him over the desk before spitting on his asshole.
“Hold on—this is gonna hurt,” I warn as I push inside him.
He tenses beneath me, a murmured grunt barely escaping him as I fully seat myself inside him.
I pull out slowly, spitting on my cock this time before pushing in easier.
Normally we have lube at the ready. In every inch of all of our houses it feels like.
Since kids, though, we’ve all had to be a little less adventurous in where we have sex.
The only reason I feel safe in here with the door unlocked is because there are half a dozen adults out there keeping an eye on the kids.
So that means right now, this moment, it’s just us. Only us.
I push my cock in and out of Wesley as he reaches down and begins fisting his dick. He moans and bucks his ass against me, begging for more.
“You feel so good,” he moans.
“So do you,” I say through clenched teeth.
My hands are wrapped around his hips so that I can control the pace, but I quickly move one so that I can stroke his cock. Wes lets me, moving his hands to grip the desk as I begin quickly stroking him.
“You feel like mine,” I admit before I can stop myself.
Wesley turns his head to look at me as I continue pounding away inside him. His eyes are filled with heat and want as he speaks.
“All yours, Ronan.”
My cock twitches, and a rush of pleasure runs through me as I pick up my pace.
“Fuck! I love this. I love us. I love you, Wesley. I think I’ve loved you for so long. I’ve tried to fight it. Tried to bury it,” I ramble as my orgasm begins to creep up on me.
I jerk Wesley faster, desperate to have him come with me.
His words are stuttered and shaky as he nods and moans.
“Me too. I love you. So much. So, so much. I want you, Ro, just like this, forever.”
His words are my total undoing. My balls draw up before I release inside him, fucking him harder as I milk every bit of my orgasm that I can.
Wesley lets out a louder shout before his cum covers the desk.
His hips buck against me, forcing me to lengthen my strokes on him as he continues to moan and wiggle against me.
When we’re both more than spent, we collapse. He slumps against the desk as I cover his back with my chest. We lie there for a countless amount of time, just breathing.
Eventually, we slowly peel ourselves away from one another before he turns to face me.
The air is heavy, thick with tension as he watches me carefully.
I swallow, expecting… I don’t really know.
I don’t even know what just happened. One minute I was sitting here, and the next I was…
confessing things I swore I never would.
Feelings I insisted I never had. Skyla has reassured me countless times over the years that she would be more than comfortable with Wesley and I having more of a…
romantic partnership, much like Asher and Liam.
I always brushed her off, though. I always brushed everyone off.
What started as a release while Skyla was with her other husbands turned into…
more. I found myself craving Wesley. Craving his time, his laugh, his body.
I’ve been craving him for years now, and in this moment, I’m struggling to remember why I’ve denied myself such pleasure. Why I’ve been denying us both.
He doesn’t speak; doesn’t ask questions or demand answers. Instead, Wesley takes two steps until our chests brush together before he cups my face in his hands.
“There’s no running out on me now, Ronan. I love you, and now you’re stuck with me forever.”
How do I tell him that running out on him has never crossed my mind?
That it never will? How do I tell him that now that I’ve been cracked open, raw and bare like this, that nothing will ever stop me from having him, just like nothing could ever stop me from having Skyla.
I now have a fuller clarity on how she can love so many of us equally.
I love him just as much as I do her, like two halves of my heart are finally clicking into place.
“Forever,” I agree.