Chapter Twenty-Four #2
It looked as if they were on lockdown.
“Well, then, I need to do what the boss lady said,” he admitted. “She is in charge,” he added.
When he put down the phone, he moved closer, and lifted Alex’s chin. Then, he found his mouth with his, and kissed him.
Well, not for Elizabeth.
This was purely for him.
Why?
Because he liked it.
Corbin also wanted to start working on them. He knew what Alex needed, simply because he’d been in his shoes once before, and Will had gotten him through it.
With gentleness.
With tenderness.
With love.
As he deepened the kiss, Alex held onto him, caught off guard by it. He truly didn’t think any of this was real. It seemed too magical to be legit.
Could someone actually feel something for him?
Was it this easy?
When Corbin broke the kiss, Alex had to know.
“Why?” he asked.
Corbin was honest.
“Because when I’m with you, you silence the demons, Alex. That’s how I know it’s love, and that it’s only going to grow with time. I’ve loved before, so I know this feeling. Hey, want to get married?” he asked, amused that he was back at square one like he had been once upon a time.
At his words, Alex stared at him and blinked.
“Uh, that was fast.”
He laughed because that was how he moved, but he knew Alex would take time.
“Just checking. When you’re ready, let me know. I’m ready to marry you.”
Alex just sat there.
“I don’t know how to respond to that.”
Corbin smiled.
“When you know, you know. You’ll catch up.
Now, we have a few choices. We can eat, or you can let me make up for last night.
I’d prefer the latter, but I’m easy. You’re the one struggling right now, so I’ll let you decide.
We can’t leave the room, so, we need to find something entertaining to do, and I can be very entertaining, Alex. ”
He needed to know.
“So you still want me, even though I remind you of your husband, and that has to hurt?”
That was the best part.
He reminded him of the best parts of Will, and he reminded him that love could heal anything.
“I said goodbye to Will today. You don’t remind me of him now.
You remind me of Alex, and how you suck at pool, can’t hold your liquor, and how you make me forget that life is a shitshow more times than not.
You’re Alex—not Will. I like to think he led me to you, so I could have a good life.
That’s what I’m bringing to the table, Alex.
I’m bringing hope. All I’m asking you to bring is the same thing.
Together, we’ll figure it out. If you trust in me, you’ll get a best friend who will never leave your side. ”
Tears filled Alex’s eyes.
That’s what he wanted.
Stability.
“Thank you for that. I needed it.”
Corbin linked his fingers with Alex’s, and made a vow to always protect the man.
If he let him.
“So, food?”
Alex took a chance, knowing that he desperately needed to feel something other than empty.
“No. I think I’d like to make up with you. That intrigues me. I’ve never had makeup sex before.”
Corbin grinned.
Oh, well, he had.
Now, he’d make sure he gave Alex the best of him, and not that mess he’d brought to the party last night.
He got off of the bed, and moved the food onto the table. He then held up one finger to have Alex give him a moment to finish working. He sent Elizabeth the information on the dead woman’s grave, and finally closed his laptop.
That was put next to the food.
Heading to the door, he picked up the ‘do not disturb’ sign, and hung it on the outside of the door before locking it so they were safe. Then, and only then, he headed back toward Alex.
At the side of the bed, he held out his hand, and stared into his eyes.
“Trust me. I’ll never let you fall.”
In that, there was a miracle in itself.
Alex found someone to help him heal. He didn’t know if it would end well, or badly, but he wanted the journey in the worst way. Reaching for him, he hoped the man meant what he had said. He needed someone to love him.
With his hand in his, he pulled him up to his feet, and against his body.
Corbin knew he had a lot of ground to make up for from last night, and this would be a different kind of togetherness. He was going to give Alex all of him.
Now that his heart was set free, he needed someone to fill that emptiness in him, too. His instinct told him that Alex would be faithful, loyal, and never leave his side.
Because he had wounds too.
Finding his mouth, he sank them both into that pleasure, with just his mouth alone. He was a little taller than Alex, so he had the advantage. His hand was around his body, and his other one was on the back of his head.
He devoured him.
Corbin left nothing to the imagination, as he used that single kiss to set the pace for what would be between them.
Would it always be easy?
Probably not, but he was willing to do the work to make it worthy of his whole heart.
Because now he had it back.
As he slowly broke the kiss, Alex blinked, caught completely off guard by that mating of mouths. In all of his life, he’d never felt anything quite like that.
It pulled him down, wrapped pleasure around him, and set his body ablaze with so many sensations.
“Jesus,” he whispered.
Corbin smiled.
“I mean, if that’s your kink, you can call me that.”
It made Alex laugh.
“I think I’d prefer Corbin,” he admitted. “It’s clear he’s special, and magical.”
That made the other man’s heart skip.
That he saw him like that said it all.
This was right.
“Well, let me show you real magic,” he said, his fingers going to the buttons on Alex’s shirt. It took him seconds to get them open. When he was finished, he pulled his own shirt off, so they were body to body, and topless.
Without a word, he went back to kissing him, and as his mouth moved over his, Alex moved closer into his body, and held onto him.
That woke Corbin up. His whole body came to life, as the man pressed to him was responding to his mouth.
He broke the kiss, and left a trail of open-mouthed kisses, on his neck, and by his ear.
When Alex shook, it gave Corbin more incentive. They’d find their way through this.
One kiss at a time, if that was what it took.
Because deep down, he believed that Alex was worth the effort.
When the man moaned from the pleasure, Corbin lifted his head.
“How many times can you cum?” he asked, wanting to make sure he gave all he had. Last night was not indicative of how he made love to a partner.
That was fucking.
This was everything.
Alex actually laughed.
“A lot. It depends on the person I’m with,” he admitted.
Well, that made Corbin grin.
That was a challenge if he ever heard one before, and he was going to blow someone’s mind.
Amongst other things.
“Well, then, Alex, let me show you exactly how I make love to my partner.”
Before he could say anything else, Corbin crowded him, and they fell backward onto the bed. As soon as they did, the bigger man began taking control.
“Are you good being the bottom?” he asked, knowing he’d understand.
Alex just nodded.
“Because I’ll switch for you, if that’s what you need.”
And then, it all came back to Corbin—so much so that he actually began laughing.
Alex stared up at him in confusion.
“Uh…”
Corbin explained.
“Once upon a time, when I was a baby detective, I was shoved together with two Feds. Gene and Ethan became my mentors, and they taught me survival and how to be a good cop. I told them once that I was a top, and only a top.”
Alex listened, not sure where this was going.
“And Gene said to me, he was normally only a bottom, but when you found the right person, you’d do both because you wanted to be with them that much that the role was less important than just experiencing everything with them.”
He waited.
Like he was expecting to get hurt.
Corbin was honest.
“I was never a bottom with Will. I couldn’t do it with him, but I could do it with you. You’re the one. You’ve always been the one, Alex. You couldn’t find your person because I was off trying to find me. Now, I’m here. I would be a bottom with you. I’d be anything you asked me to be.”
Tears filled Alex’s eyes.
“Really?”
He was honest.
“I love you.”
And there it was. Corbin already knew, and he wasn’t holding back like he did before. He would absolutely let Alex fuck him, and no one had touched his ass since that assault. He instinctually trusted this man so much, that he’d share that intimacy with him.
“Corbin,” Alex whispered.
The man smiled.
“You’ll catch up, Baby. I know you will,” he said, finding his mouth again.
The kiss was nuclear, and they rolled around on the bed, getting tangled together in the best possible way.
Pants came off, and then underwear followed. When they were both naked, Alex stared up at him.
“Show me how to love. I need to learn.”
Corbin grinned wickedly.
“Buckle up,” he said, before starting to kiss his way down Alex’s body. He lingered at his nipples, and teased them to rile the man up. Corbin could feel the wetness against his abs, and knew someone was already dripping precum.
Taking Alex’s hands in his, he kept them trapped by his side as he continued down, teasing, tormenting, and offering up all he had.
Because he found what was missing.
Thank you, Will, for setting me free. I’ll never forget you, and I’ll love you forever, but it’s time for me to love again and to find my way back onto the path. I want to live, and I need to love. I’ll never forget our seven years. They made me who I am today, and for that, I’m blessed.
He sent that last thought off to the universe and bid his deceased husband goodbye.
Corbin didn’t want to live in the past anymore. He wanted to live in the moment.
As he traced a path around Alex’s belly button, the man whimpered and reacted. It was when Corbin wrapped his fingers around his erection that Alex’s body bowed.
“Please,” he begged, needing more. He’d never felt anything quite like this in his whole life, and it felt so goddamn good that it was threatening to take him under.
And he never wanted to come up again.