Chapter Fifteen #3
“You’re the sexiest man I’ve ever seen in my whole life,” he admitted.
And it caught Ethan off guard because no one had ever looked at him like that, or felt that way.
EVER.
“Oh.”
It befuddled Gene how his partner never realized how valuable and hot he was. The man could melt paint off of a wall just looking at it with that sultry gaze of his.
It made Gene want to do ridiculous things to get Ethan to stare at him that way.
Because he wasn’t done, not even close, Gene reached down and pulled him up.
“Take off your pants,” he said, bossily, and Ethan did it because he wasn’t an idiot. His heart was thumping over what Gene just said, and those emotions overtook him when he least expected it.
That was the beauty of Gene.
He didn’t hold back his love.
“I’ve seen sexier,” he offered back. “He’s in the shower with me,” he stated, as he dropped his soaking wet pants and boxers into the bottom of the shower.
That’s when Gene scooped him up and carried him out of the shower and into the bedroom part of their room.
That also made Ethan’s heart flutter. The sheer strength it took to sweep him up, and carry him, a grown-ass man, was astounding.
It definitely made him giddy. When he had to be hyper-masculine at work, when he was alone with Gene, he could just…feel.
And that was one hell of a gift.
Because he wanted his man naked in bed, Gene pulled the comforter down as Ethan held onto him, and then, he placed him in the center of the bed.
“It’s breaktime,” Gene stated. “I’m going to forget about this whole case for the next thirty minutes.”
Ethan grinned.
“I mean, I’m free.”
Oh, well, thank God for that. If Gene had his way, he’d be tied to their bed and definitely not ‘free’.
Covering his body, Gene worked his way down his mate, biting and teasing all the same places he’d hit on his body. Turnabout was definitely fair play.
Oh, and he enjoyed the journey.
BIG.
TIME.
When he wrapped his fingers around Ethan’s erection, the heat in the room went up.
“Oh, yesssss,” he hissed as Gene stroked him. “Please,” he whispered. “I need you.”
Oh, well, Gene needed him too. Today had been harrowing, and while they were behind the eight ball with their case, he had nearly died.
It was time to regroup as a couple, so they had the endurance to keep moving forward.
Keeping him trapped to the bed, he enjoyed how his man shook from the pleasure.
So, he took more.
Moving down his body, he took a pillow with him and shoved it under Ethan’s ass.
Now, he had the perfect angle.
He began blowing him, working his dick over, making sure he drove him wild.
What wouldn’t Gene give to have some fun little toys to torment his man with, but he’d not thought to bring any.
Well, when he got home, he’d break them out.
After all, Ethan had run, and there was punishment to be had. Tala was going to have a rough week back in Philly.
As Ethan whimpered, Gene slipped his erection from his mouth and explored. When he rimmed Ethan, the man let out a feral moan.
“God! Yes!” he shouted, as his lover drove him wild with just that one wicked touch.
Never let it be said that Gene didn’t know how to get his man off.
“Please,” he begged. “Fuck me!”
Oh, well, that was the plan. When he used his mouth to drive him wild, Gene knew the moment Ethan was about to cum. He found his dick in just enough time, so he could catch every single drop.
As the eruption happened, Ethan’s body bucked in so much pleasure.
Before he even floated back to the surface, Gene moved over him and slid home.
He filled his ass and enjoyed how Ethan’s perfect body bowed from that intimate intrusion.
“Fuck!” he shouted, as Gene began moving, dropping Ethan’s ankles over his shoulders so he could get deep in his ass from his position on his knees.
“I love this view,” Gene admitted, slowing it down to drive his man insane.
Ethan was breathing heavily, and there was a wildness in his eyes at the pleasure overload.
“Who owns this ass?” he asked, making Ethan shake.
Oh, he was well aware of the answer.
Ethan couldn’t imagine anyone else touching him like this. Now that he had experienced Gene, he never wanted to go back. It would take one hell of a heartbreak to make him swing back to women.
Bet.
On.
That.
“Only you!” he promised.
Yeah, Gene couldn’t help but be giddy that his man was his, and he was going to marry him one day.
The years wouldn’t go by fast enough until that moment happened. Gene couldn’t count the times he fantasized about that moment.
That was going to be the best day of his life, and he knew it. There would not be a better one to be had.
Bet.
On.
It.
“Cum in me,” Ethan begged. “I want to feel you fill me,” he added.
Gene moaned.
“EJ, killing me,” he muttered, as that shower orgasm didn’t take the edge off.
As his ass tried milking him, he pulled free and flipped his lover over until he was on his knees.
He put his hands on the headboard, and Gene slipped back into his ass.
Oh, and it was one hell of a view.
Someone was sleek, streamlined, and crisscrossed with tattoos all over his perfect body.
And his ass.
Jesus.
H.
Christ.
It made him want to write poetry, but mostly dirty limericks.
Yeah, it was that perfect.
As he watched his thick erection slipping in and out of his lover’s ass, there wasn’t a place he’d rather be than in some hotel with Ethan.
He was his home.
And he’d always be that.
“I’m close,” Gene muttered. “I can’t hold on for much longer.”
Well, he knew that feeling.
Ethan was fighting to catch up, but when he shoved back, taking Gene so deep, he felt the man explode.
That wet warm heat filled him, and he loved every second of it. He knew what he wanted now.
To make Gene feel that too.
As the world tilted, Gene fell onto the bed, and Ethan rolled him over. He got into position, and drove home.
Gene moaned.
“Oh, fuck, I really love my life and my man. He gives and receives,” he muttered, as Ethan returned the favor.
They were pressed together, as Gene’s thighs were over his. The whole time, they stayed chest-to-chest as they stared into each other’s eyes.
“Forever,” Ethan whispered. “I promise.”
Gene felt the same.
“My one and only,” he promised. “Until I die.”
They kissed, and as they did, Ethan exploded, taking Gene back over the edge with him from their bodies rubbing together.
Together, they came as one.
And they’d be one.
Eventually.
As everything spun around them, Gene kept Ethan over his body, and he wrapped his arms around him.
Together, they stayed that way. Ethan’s lips were by Gene’s ear, and he left kisses on his neck.
It was so comforting.
Gene pulled the comforter over them, and they stayed curled together under it.
When Ethan sighed, Gene was curious.
“Was that a good sigh or a bad one. I can’t read sighs,” he admitted.
“It was a ‘I wish we could stay in bed like this all day and cuddle together until we wake up from a nap’ sigh.”
Gene was feeling that.
To.
His.
Bones.
“I mean, I offered to go skiing in a lodge where we could cuddle by a fire. If I remember correctly, you turned that down,” he joked.
That’s when it hit him.
He had turned it down. Ethan had been in his feels, and not good ones, and he’d actually declined a moment where he and Gene could take time for themselves.
What the hell had he been thinking?
It also occurred to him that turning that down likely hurt Gene in some way.
Yeah, he did that a lot.
So, he did a one-eighty and made it right.
He wanted to live in the moment, not hide from the joy like he’d always done.
“Okay. Let’s do it. Fuck it. You, me, cuddling on a bear rug. You’re the bear rug. I’m the cuddler.”
He snorted.
“Sold. I’ll be your bearskin rug any day. What kind of lunatic doesn’t want you lying on them?”
Yeah, someone knew the right thing to say at the best times. That was for damn sure.
Ethan ran his hand through Gene’s chest hair, enjoying the way it felt against his fingers.
Now, Gene had to ask.
“You better?” he inquired.
Ethan actually nodded.
“Yeah, I feel much better. You nearly getting shot, and everything else helped me refocus. I feel human again. Thank you for helping me through it.”
That was Gene’s pleasure.
“I’m your partner, and now that you’ve given me your heart, it’s mine to protect. I will always help you refocus.”
Ethan was honest.
“I want to be that person for you. How do I learn to be a better partner?” he asked.
Gene knew he was being serious, and he knew that he needed to be careful.
They were in tender-heart territory.
As he lay there, playing with some of Ethan’s hair, he shared the best way.
“Just be yourself. We’re not going to be the same person, EJ. Why do you assume I want to be in a relationship with myself?” he asked.
Ethan didn’t answer.
“Maybe, we’re like the way we are because we needed that to be whole. You look at me and say I’m better than you, but I look at you and see the qualities that I would kill to have.”
He laughed.
“Neurosis? Anxiety? Crippling depression?” he joked.
Gene lifted his chin.
“Gentleness. Realness. Compassion. Sensitivity. I can be obtuse and blunt, but you look at people differently. You study them and see them in a unique way. I wish I could look at a person and see what you see. I am cynical, and you see beyond that. Don’t be me, EJ.
Be you. I don’t want to be in a relationship with myself.
I love you as you, and you’re the best mate for me. ”
He stared into Gene’s eyes.
“Thank you for that.”
The big man nuzzled him with tenderness and protection.
“Huggy-bear doesn’t need thank yous. He just needs you,” he admitted.
Ethan got quiet, and for a few seconds, Gene believed that he was still upset.
“Ask,” Gene said. “I can feel you hesitating, and I can’t help you if you don’t share what is going on in your head.”
He trusted him.
So, he shared.
“It’s not about what we just discussed.”
Oh, well, then, he didn’t know what it would be about.
Ethan went there.
“Before we head out, can you go check on Callen?” he asked. “Can you make sure he’s okay. I don’t have it in me. I said all I needed to, and I have to detach, or I won’t be able to.”
That was nothing.
Gene would absolutely do that for him. It was the least he could do to help Ethan if he was struggling.
Gene kissed him on the temple.
“Can do, my love.”
Ethan was grateful.
“Tell him Granddad is aware, and to get his ass there. I need to not deal right now. I saved Callen this time, but I’m not strong enough to be responsible for his actions. I struggle more often than not.”
He held him.
“Okay, but can I ask a question?”
Blackhawk braced for it.
“What?”
Gene changed the subject for a good reason.
“Are we really going skiing when this case is over?” he asked.
Ethan hadn’t expected that.
Not.
At.
All.
“Yes. You invited me to go skiing and cuddle in a lodge. So, you’d better deliver. You don’t ask a guy on a date and take it back.”
He laughed.
“SO bossy.”
Yes, yes, he was, and Ethan was realizing that it might be okay to be his true self—especially around Gene.
Gene made a mental note to take care of the details for his man. He’d handled Puerto Rico, so he’d handle the ski trip. It wouldn’t be a long one, but it would be a good one.
“We should get ready to work,” Gene said, reluctantly.
Yeah, Ethan was aware.
“I need to get some clothing. The ones I had on were the last of them before the shower incident. You didn’t exactly pack enough,” he joked.
Gene laughed.
“Oh, well, the runaway boyfriend distracted me,” he said back.
Then, he shared.
“I was serious. The detective is out shopping for us. I told him all black for you, and profiler-esque, and sweaters for me. Bears get cold, too.”
Ethan sighed again.
But before he could ask, he told him.
“It’s nice to be loved by a competent person who knows what I need and can figure out how to make me incredibly happy,” he admitted.
Funny.
Gene felt the same.
Because whether Ethan believed it or not, he was just as good of a partner.
Hopefully, one day, he realized it too.