Chapter 34
CHAPTER 34
TANK
What in the world had I done to deserve this?
“I can’t believe you convinced me this was a good idea,” I told Chance as we exited the private plane at Bellport Regional Airport.
Today I was going to see my brother Kendall for the first time in person. We’d video chatted and spoken on calls plenty of times, but never in person. It was going to be odd to see what the man was like outside of a screen.
“You’re going to be fine. Besides, if you don’t complain too much, I’ll let you take control later. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
My cock ached at the promise. It HAD been a while.
Somewhere along the way, I’d become spoiled at the way Chance fucked me. It was never the same way twice in a row, and that type of variety called to me in a way I couldn’t resist. Other people would have thought it odd that I could so easily submit to him when I was practically a dictator in my chosen career path.
I personally saw it as me wanting to give a piece of myself to him that I couldn’t to others. Plus, the stress relief was out of this world for us both.
He got to actually control someone, and I got to let go. It made a lot of sense actually.
Not that anyone needed to know all those details. I’d just thought about it a helluva lot in the last few weeks.
“And you’re sure it’s fine that we’re here this close to the election? It’s only days away. Shouldn’t you be campaigning?” I asked again. It was something I’d mentioned on the plane too, though he’d redirected the conversation like the professional politician he was.
Chance ignored me as he dropped into the car waiting for us. I rolled my eyes at his avoidance. He couldn’t escape me for long.
Not when we’d have to be together in the car alone as we drove to Kendall’s apartment. Or what passed as an apartment since his place was supposedly ‘unique’ as he’d explained.
With Kendall, there was no telling what that really meant.
Once we were on the road, I turned to my boyfriend, intent on getting him to spill whatever he was hiding.
“What do you know?”
He shook his head, keeping his gaze out of the window. “Nothing.”
“That’s a lie, Chance. I know it is. Tell me what you know.”
“I don’t know anything. Just sit back and relax. We don’t have long until we get there.”
Not long turned out to be an understatement. There wound up being a wreck downtown that caused traffic to be delayed. In the midst of the chaos, an idea came to mind.
I rolled up the partition between us and the driver, then sat on the seat across from Chance. He gave me an incredulous look for a moment.
At least he did until I reached for my belt.
Then it shifted from doubt into desire.
“I promise to be good to you later if you tell me what you know. I don’t like there being any secrets between us, babe,” I teased as I slid my cock out and ran my fist down my length.
Having his eyes on me as I stroked myself left his defenses down. He couldn’t lie to me when his brain was focused on pleasure.
We were simple creatures after all.
“Babe?” I questioned as I lifted my hips, my body chasing after the pressure of my hand.
I was treating the hand job as if it were someone else giving it. As if I were being teased rather than being the one in control.
Sweat built on his brow as he ran his fingers over his upper lip and down his chin. The man was putting up a fight when he didn’t need to.
“You’re fighting dirty, baby. It’s not fair of you to bring out my favorite treat when I can’t have a taste.”
I raised a brow. “Who said you can’t have a taste? I’m all yours, aren’t I?”
Chance didn’t hesitate to sail across the space between us. My hand was batted away as his mouth instantly wrapped around my length.
He swallowed me down like I was the key to survival. His tongue swirled around my crown as he sucked and licked against my flesh.
It was so fucking erotic in all the best ways. I loved seeing him come undone for me.
When I could feel myself getting close, I pulled at his hair to tug him back. “If you want my cum, I’ll need an answer.”
He shook his head, some of the fog in his eyes clearing. “An answer?
I used the hand not in his hair to grab the base of my cock. Waving it under his mouth, I hummed.
“Yeah, Chance. I just want to know what you do about this trip. I hate being in the dark.”
If you’d have asked me in the moment if he’d break, I’d have said yes. I thought he was hooked, and I’d be getting my answer right away.
Except that wasn’t the case.
My boyfriend grinned at me, the look dark as he pushed himself up slowly. “Then I guess I’m done with my treat for now. I can’t go spilling secrets.”
He eased himself back into his seat. I watched as he adjusted his hard length before turning to look out the window again.
My jaw dropped as I let go of my cock. I was still hard, still so very close to coming.
Yet I wouldn’t be.
We both knew it. I wasn’t going to make a mess in the car right before seeing my brother the first time. Coming in Chance’s mouth was one thing, but without tissues, anything else was foolish.
Tucking myself away, I huffed and crossed my arms. I could pout with the best of them until I got to the bottom of this fucking puzzle.
A few minutes later, my resolve to stay silent faltered when we pulled up to our destination. Except, it wasn’t anything like I thought it would be. The house was large. Obscenely so given only Kendall lived here.
And it was a bit in disrepair. The boards outside needed to be replaced and painted. The steps looked one bad windstorm away from collapsing.
All in all, I wasn’t impressed.
“This was why you needed distracting,” Chance said as he reached for the door handle. “You need to keep your cool and trust your brother. He’s got this under control. I promise.”
I shook my head as I waited for him to exit the vehicle. While this wasn’t what I wanted for my brother, I could understand him being hesitant to tell me this was his living situation.
At heart, I was a fixer. I saw a problem and wanted to fix it until things were just how I envisioned them to be.
In this case, I pictured my brother living in a nice apartment complex with a few friends nearby. A house hadn’t even factored into it, much less one that needed a lot of work.
Pushing down my feelings about the situation, I stepped out of the car to stand by Chance. He looked me over, then grinned once he realized I’d put on my work face — the one that got shit done and could bury anything extra about a situation.
“Let’s go meet him,” he told me as he laced his fingers with mine.
As we approached the front door, it swung open. In the doorway stood a familiar face, though the real-life version of him was so different than the one on the screen.
I couldn’t see the details through the computer.
Like how small he truly was, or how much he reminded me of my mom. I couldn’t take in the way he vibrated with energy or how he seemed to practically glow with happiness. Sure, that sass I’d seen was still there too. It was just hidden beneath all the other stuff.
I wondered if it was a defense mechanism for him. Maybe I needed to prove I would put up with his bratty side before he showed me the softer, sweeter version.
Either way, I loved my brother immensely.
I had to guess it was a mutual feeling because in a split second, he was leaping from the porch and wrapping me in a hug. Arms and legs surrounded me as his face buried in my neck.
“BUBS! You’re here!”
I smiled at the nickname as I held him with one arm firmly around his waist. My other hand was still holding onto Chance like the lifeline he was. I needed the reassurance because my emotions were all over the place.
“Kendall,” I replied softly. “It’s so good to see you in person.”
He nodded against my shoulder. “You’re a giant!”
“And you’re a tiny little thing aren’t you?”
We all laughed at the exchange, then he tapped my shoulder as if to tell me to put him down. I eased him to the ground, then he was looking up at me and Chance with a smile so bright it could rival the sun.
“Welcome to Casa de Chaos, as we call it. Things might always be a bit out of control, but we love it here.” He waved his hands to the building behind him.
“We?”
At my question, he bit his lip. “Yeah. I, uh, well, I have roommates. Rent isn’t exactly cheap, and before you found me, I was struggling to make ends meet. These guys were in the same boat. We all joined together to grab this place when it went up for rent.”
I hummed as I followed him through the front door. Chance brought up the rear after telling the driver to sit tight for a while. We would be going to stay in a hotel later, though I had a suspicion that was a while off. I had to investigate this living situation more. It was going to take time.
Maybe I should text Memphis to get the details from the owner. I could totally buy the place up and then fix it all up. That wasn’t being too pushy, was it?
Lost in my own thoughts, I hadn’t realized we’d walked into a living room area full of strangers. It was Chance’s hand on my back that brought me back down to reality.
“Everyone, this is my brother Tank and his partner Chance. Tank and Chance, this is everyone.” The group waved at us, their expressions ranging from excited to suspicious.
“Hello everyone,” Chance greeted in his politician voice.
That made me snort. I shook my head at him, then turned to the group and crossed my arms.
“Names are better. I can’t address you all at once.”
There was a hush about the room, then they went around introducing themselves one by one. They even told a bit about how they knew Kendall, which helped alleviate my frustration at this whole thing.
Turned out, they all had sort of known one another before actually renting the place together. So not strangers, but also not close friends either.
Granted, they’d been in this setup for a while now. Kendall had just lied to me when we first connected since he didn’t want me to worry.
Smart kid.
After getting to know all five — yes, five! — guys, Kendall took us to his room to show his computer setup. He was very proud of everything he had, and it was nice to see him in his element in person.
I’d definitely underestimated him before.
I wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
Chance picked up on my nervous energy at one point and offered to leave. “I’ll go see what the guys are playing downstairs. It’s been ages since I’ve gotten to game. Surely they’ll be willing to teach me a thing or two.”
“Oh, definitely! Brax will be the most helpful since it’s literally his job. Tell him I said to be nice,” Kendall told him as he twirled in his desk chair.
I watched Chance leave, then I shut the door behind him. At the sound, my brother froze.
“Am I in trouble? Is this because I sent that Frost guy away? He was fine. It just sucked to be followed. My friends are around to keep me safe.”
“Not at all,” I answered honestly. Frost and I would have to have a talk about protocol later, but that wasn’t my focus now. “It’s actually just that I want your full attention, and I didn’t want anyone to walk in. Can we talk for a few minutes?”
He nodded slowly as he sat up straighter in his chair. I moved to the edge of his bed and motioned to it. When he gave me the ok, I dropped onto the stiff mattress. I mentally added it to the list of things I needed to take care of for him. He was getting a new one whether he wanted it or not.
How did a person sleep on something so hard? Ugh.
Granted, I’d had my fair share of uncomfortable nights. Kendall deserved better though. And I would provide it for him too. That’s what family did.
I’d do the same for one of the guys if they were struggling.
“What did you want to talk about?” he asked in a soft tone.
Running my hands up and down my thighs, I took a deep breath to give myself the courage I needed. It wasn’t that I was scared he’d turn me down. It was what came after that bothered me.
“I’d like you to help me with NightShade. Well, to help Memphis and Arick that is. What you did with hunting down Lune and Pratt was amazing. I need that level of skill on my team.”
He blinked wide eyes at me.
“You want me to work WITH you? I thought you said it was too dangerous.”
“It is,” I replied. “But you’re too good. I can’t know there’s someone out there better than my guys and not try to bring you on. Your safety is still important to me. Now that the Gilded Ones are handled, it’s less of a problem. I couldn’t risk it before.”
Kendall shot up from the chair. His hands went to his hips as he said, ‘You didn’t want me working with you even prior to those idiots showing up. Why now? You always knew I was smart!”
I raised my hands to show I didn’t want to argue with him. “Before, it was all too new. I felt like I’d only just found you. Bringing you into dangerous situations felt like too much. After all these years though, I know you can handle it. You’re my brother, after all. I think we’re built for this life.”
He snorted a laugh and shook his head. As he paced in front of me, he mumbled to himself. It was low enough I couldn’t make out any of the words, though I suspected I already knew what he’d be saying.
This decision would change a lot of things for him, including our relationship. What he didn’t know was that I treated all the guys like family anyway. He wouldn’t be subjected to anything less, especially given the fact we were blood related.
Add to it how much he reminded me of our mother, and I was bound to spoil him far more than anyone else.
“Look,” I said, drawing his attention back to me, “you don’t have to say yes right now. That’s not what I’m asking for. I simply want to make sure you know there is an offer on the table.”
He paused his steps. “Would I have to move up there?”
“Not at all. I’ve been thinking of expanding my business to have a few locations all over. I have some friends in Vegas who could help me. And with you here, I know Bellport would be in good hands.”
“Do you really mean that?”
“Absolutely! I trust you to take care of things. You could set it up with the tech stuff, and I can get someone else to manage. Or you could manage if that’s what you want to do.”
His head shook before I even finished speaking. “Nope. No. Not me. I don’t want to manage anything. I’d much rather work with my computers, please.”
“Then it’s a done deal,” I said as I clapped my hands together. Standing to my full height, I pulled him into a tight hug.
He sank into the hold, reminding me just how small he was. I needed to get down here to see him more. He deserved more than scraps of my attention.
“Ready to go back out there?” I asked after another minute or so of hugging.
“Yeah, I guess so. You’re just so snuggly. It’s hard to give it up. I’ll have to ask Brax for cuddles later.”
“Are you and Brax — ?” I raised my brows to insinuate what I didn’t want to vocalize.
He reared back. “Oh no! He’s my best friend. He also lives here, which is why cuddles are a thing. I’m not really his type.”
I left the question I wanted to ask in my mind. Brax wasn’t anyone for me to worry over. I definitely didn’t need to know anything about his preferences for partners. Especially not if Kendall wasn’t the person he was interested in.
We made our way back into the living room. I stopped short when I saw how enthusiastically Chance was playing video games with the others. There was shouting and name calling, all of which did not fit his normal image.
My brother bumped his hip against mine. “Looks like someone is fitting right in.”
I smiled. “He always does. It’s one of the many things I love about him.”
“Dibs on the flower guy position for your wedding. I will be the best rose thrower you’ve ever seen,” he declared.
A wedding wasn’t happening anytime soon, yet I could picture it so clearly. Chance and I surrounded by all our family and friends while someone helped us bind our lives together.
It sounded perfect.
“The position is yours.”
At my words, he did a little dance, which drew the attention of the room. Chance’s smile was bashful as he realized I’d seen him in his element. I shook my head as I grinned back at him.
Fuck, I loved him so much.