Chapter Eleven #2
“This is different,” Gunnar finished for him. “This matters more.”
“Yeah,” Bryn agreed. “It does.”
When Gunnar kissed him, it was gentle, questioning, giving him every opportunity to pull away. Instead, Bryn pulled Gunnar closer and kissed him harder.
“Okay?” Gunnar asked when they broke apart, his forehead resting against Bryn’s.
“Very okay,” Bryn confirmed. “Though I reserve the right to panic later.”
That earned him a smile, the kind that transformed Gunnar’s serious face. “Noted.”
They moved toward the bed by unspoken agreement, shedding layers of clothing along the way. Bryn fumbled with the buttons of his shirt, his coordination gone.
“Here,” Gunnar said, moving Bryn’s hands aside. “Let me.”
There was something intense about being undressed, about Gunnar’s careful attention as he revealed each inch of skin. Bryn fought the urge to make a joke to deflect from his own vulnerability.
“You’re thinking too much,” Gunnar observed, pressing a kiss to Bryn’s collarbone.
“Occupational hazard,” Bryn replied, his breath catching as Gunnar’s lips moved lower. “I can’t seem to turn my brain off.”
“Let me help,” Gunnar murmured, and proceeded to do exactly that with a series of mind-blowing kisses.
There was an ease between them, as if their bodies had been learning each other’s rhythms long before this moment. Gunnar was patient, attentive, reading every reaction with the same focus he brought to a case.
He lowered Bryn to the bed before pulling off his shorts, leaving him naked and panting.
“Is this good with you?” Gunnar asked.
“More than,” Bryn assured him. “It would be better if you were naked too.”
“That I can manage. Don’t go anywhere.” Gunnar tore off his remaining clothes then got onto the bed next to Bryn.
My god, he’s gorgeous. Bryn hoped he wasn’t drooling. But that is never going to fit. He eyed Gunnar’s sizeable, erect dick.
Gunnar chuckled, apparently reading his mind. “That can wait, sweetheart. I have other plans for you tonight.” He ducked his head, taking Bryn’s eager cock into his mouth.
“Fuck!” Bryn lost all sense of time, space and reality as Gunnar sucked and licked, lightly at first but getting harder. Faster.
There was nothing Bryn could do to hold off his orgasm, which thundered through him like a freight train. He might have yelled. Screamed, even. Whatever he did, he was sure it wasn’t cool. He shuddered.
“I’m dead, aren’t I? Am I in hell?”
“I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen you lose control,” Gunnar said, grinning. “I like it. Gonna put that expression on your face whenever I can.”
“I…that was…way too fast. I’m sorry.”
“Why? Shows I was doing something right.”
Bryn rolled onto his side. He reached for Gunnar’s cock, encircling it with his fist. “Your skin is so hot.”
“Bryn. Quit talking.”
Bryn jacked Gunnar’s cock until beads of liquid formed at the tip. He lapped them up. “You taste good.”
“You’re killing me…”
The stretch in Bryn’s jaw muscles as he opened for Gunnar’s cock was significant. He couldn’t take it all so focused on the head while he squeezed the base. It was quite different from practicing with a cucumber. The random thought made him giggle and splutter.
“You okay down there?” Gunnar gave his hair a tug.
“Sorry…cucumber. And you can pull my hair a bit harder…”
“I… Nope. Got nothing.”
Bryn got back to work and Gunnar was reduced to making incoherent sounds. When he came, Bryn swallowed, relishing the taste. Afterward, he flopped onto his back but Gunnar drew him close, tucking him against his side.
“Spectacular.”
“Yeah.”
Later, as they lay tangled together in the wreckage of the bedding, Bryn traced the line of an old scar that curved along Gunnar’s ribs.
“I had no idea it would be like that,” he admitted.
“Like what?” Gunnar asked, his fingers combing through Bryn’s disheveled hair.
“Like…” Bryn searched for words. “Like it meant something.”
Gunnar’s arms tightened around him. “That happens with the right person.”
“Is that what we are?” Bryn asked, looking up to meet Gunnar’s eyes. “The right people for each other?”
“Who else would have you?” Gunnar asked.
“Nice. But…yeah, you have a point.”
They fell into a comfortable silence, the sounds of the city a distant hum.
Bryn found himself cataloging sensations—the steady rise and fall of Gunnar’s chest beneath his cheek, the warmth of skin against skin, the strange feeling of being completely at ease with another person.
If he concentrated he would see what Gunnar intended but with him, Bryn seemed to be able to exert some control, though it wasn’t a conscious act.
“What happens tomorrow?” he asked.
“We go back to work,” Gunnar answered. “We find Mercer and Frost. We do our jobs.”
“And this?” Bryn gestured between them.
“This continues,” Gunnar said. “If that’s what you want.”
“It is,” Bryn said. “Though I should warn you, I’m gonna mess up. The whole…caring about someone this much thing. It’s new territory for me.”
“We’ll figure it out together,” Gunnar promised. “One day at a time.”
“Very smart, oh wise wolf,” Bryn quipped.
“There he is,” Gunnar murmured, sounding pleased. “I was wondering when the real Bryn would resurface.”
“Sorry to disappoint with all the earnest confessions,” Bryn said, though he didn’t feel sorry at all.
“When the snark disappears, I worry.”
“Sap,” Bryn accused, but there was no heat in it.
“Only with you,” Gunnar replied, and somehow that felt like the most significant confession of the night.
“What do you think Emmett will say?” Bryn asked, changing the subject before he got too emotional.
“He’ll be happy for us,” Gunnar said without hesitation. “Probably confused about why it took so long.”
“Warden will figure it out immediately.”
“Yeah,” Gunnar conceded. “He saw this.”
“What do you mean?”
“Full disclosure. Him putting us together wasn’t an accident. He dreamed it.”
“He what now?”
“He has foretelling dreams.”
“He’s an augur? Is this another secret that was kept from me?”
“No and no. He’s…different, but not on your level and not an augur. He doesn’t control it and it’s sporadic. I didn’t think it was my place to tell you but now…after this…”
“I’m gonna smack him so hard,” Bryn said.
“Yeah. That would be fun, but career limiting.”
“Like he’s gonna fire my ass.”
“True. There are worse things, though…”
Bryn decided not to think about that to protect his mental wellbeing. “You think he’s seen himself with Emmett?”
“Maybe. Who knows?”
“I won’t say anything. He’d tell us if he saw anything related to a job.”
“He would.”
“I guess he must have been one of the first to be affected.”
“Yeah, and none of the protocols were in place back then. Must have been scary, if he even realized what was happening.”
“Don’t make me feel sorry for him. He’s mean to me.”
“He keeps your ass in line, that’s not the same as being mean.”
Bryn grunted. “Maybe. I should shower.” He made no move to leave the warmth of Gunnar’s embrace. “Unless there’s anything else you want to tell me?”
“There isn’t and you should,” Gunnar agreed, equally immobile.
Bryn knew it was the truth. “In a minute,” he said, already drifting.
“In a minute,” Gunnar echoed.