Chapter Nineteen
Nineteen
Reece
“Fuck,” I groaned, throaty and low. Staying quiet was difficult when Cyrus was deep-throating me within an inch of my life.
Harder, he said, the word a warm purr at the base of my skull.
He didn’t have to ask me twice.
I tightened my grip on his head, really thrusting my hips and pressing Cyrus’s hot mouth to my pelvis. This was my reward for a job well done during training this morning, and I was going to take advantage of it.
That’s it, he purred in my head. Use me. Show me how well you fuck.
“Shit,” I grunted.
My balls were so tight, and I could feel the tingling sensation of my orgasm building at the base of my spine. He was just so fucking good. Good at taking my cock in his throat and good at talking dirty.
“Cy—I’m gonna come.”
He adjusted his hands, grabbing my ass and increasing the pace. One of his tentacles wrapped around my balls, applying gentle pressure that tipped me over the edge.
I came hard, thighs quaking and body jolting. Cy sucked me through it, dragging his tongues over my shaft until I was completely spent.
When he pulled off my cock, I was already reaching for him, grabbing his arms to bring him chest to chest with me.
I wrapped one hand around the back of his head before crushing his lips to mine, licking and sucking and tasting myself on his tongues.
My other hand ran up his chest and glided over his soft skin and defined muscles.
“Fuck, I can’t get enough of you,” I murmured against his lips.
“You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that.”
He pulled away from me, chest heaving as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to get you off?” I asked, feeling like an asshole because I was the only one who got to come.
Cyrus shook his head, his lips tipping up with a satisfied smirk. “It’s all right, darling. Your pleasure is my pleasure.”
“All right…” I trailed off. Part of me felt guilty for being a pillow princess, but he really did enjoy getting me off.
He passed me my jammers, then stuck his head around the corner, making sure the coast was clear before we headed out to the main locker area. As usual, it was empty.
I turned away from him to grab my bag from my locker when he said, “You have such a lovely ass.”
“Is it?” I asked, glancing behind me to look at my sculpted glutes.
“Yes. I want to fuck it with my tongues soon.”
“Cyrus,” I hissed. “You stop that right now.”
He crossed his arms. “You’re the one who said you can’t get enough of me.”
I pulled on my boxer briefs and started to put on my uniform. It was a typical Parks Department uniform: khaki, stiff, and ugly as hell. Cyrus stared at me while I buttoned my shirt and tucked it into my pants.
“What?” I asked with a laugh. He was really fawning over me this morning. I wasn’t mad about it.
“You just look sexy in your uniform, that’s all.” He told me that every time he saw me in it, but I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of hearing it.
“Oh yeah?”
“Mm-hmm. You and Javier should do a Parks Department calendar.”
“Like a sexy one?”
He nodded.
“Are you telling me you want to see Javier with his shirt off?” I mean, I used to enjoy that, too, but the thought of Cyrus admiring Javier like that sort of pissed me off.
Was this what jealousy felt like?
“Not particularly. I just thought that would be less awkward than having you model for a calendar just for me.”
“Why do you need a calendar when you can have the real thing? I’ll send you pictures anytime you want.”
“You’re going to regret that.”
“Never.” I ran my hand through my damp hair, pushing it back. “Look okay?”
“Handsome as always. Are we still on for coffee?” he asked.
“Yep. I told Jimenez I was going to be in late today.”
“You’re skiving out on work to spend time with me?”
I shrugged, trying to seem indifferent, but I really wanted to savor every second with him that I could.
He gave me a knowing grin, bringing a hand to his chest. “I’m touched.”
“Shut up. You ready?” I asked.
He shifted on his tentacles, his blue eyes darting to the ground, then back up to stare at me. “I was thinking, maybe we could invite Atlas to get coffee with us.”
“You want to invite Atlas to hang out with us?” I asked skeptically. With the whole secret relationship thing Cyrus and I had going on, it wasn’t like we got to spend a lot of time together. Especially not in the open. And he wanted to let Atlas intrude on that time?
“Well, he’s my friend and your sister’s mate-slash-fiancé. I figured it would be a comfortable atmosphere for you to get to know him better.” He quickly added, “I’m sure he’ll tell Tegan about it, too.”
I bit my lip, mulling it over. Atlas was a nice guy, and he was Cyrus’s best friend. It would certainly look less suspicious if we invited him rather than just the two of us having coffee all the time. Extra brownie points with my sister would be nice, too.
“Yeah, all right.”
Cyrus’s face lit up, and damn, if I knew it was going to make him that happy, I would have agreed to it right away.
When I was finished getting ready, Cyrus led me down a back hallway toward Atlas’s office. The door was open, and Atlas was sitting at his desk curled over his keyboard with his yellow eyes fixed on his computer.
I looked at Cyrus and he nudged me, tipping his head toward Atlas. Go on, his voice chimed in my head.
“Uh, morning, Atlas.” The words came out all weird and strained.
Atlas’s gaze snapped to the doorway, a smile wrinkling his muzzle when he saw that it was Cyrus and me. “Hey! Did you two have a good training session?”
“We did,” I said.
Atlas leaned back in his computer chair. “That’s great! You’re gonna be in good shape for the triathlon.”
“That’s the plan,” Cyrus said.
I was waiting for Cyrus to ask Atlas to join us when he discreetly nudged my foot with one of his tentacles. Looked like I was the one who would be asking.
“We’re going to grab coffee at the Busy Bean. Did you want to come with us?” I asked.
His ears perked up, and I could hear the muffled thump thump of his tail. “I’d love to. I’ve been staring at spreadsheets all morning and I need a break.”
“Cool.”
We waited for Atlas to grab his things, then the three of us walked down Main Street to the Busy Bean.
It was living up to its name today.
Every parking spot in front of the shop was taken, and I could see there was a line at the register.
Luckily, there were a few empty tables outside.
With a whole day of working in the heat ahead of me, I would have preferred to sit in the air-conditioning, but I’d suck it up for more time with Cyrus.
We stepped inside the Busy Bean, and Cyrus shuffled along behind me.
Brian, the owner, was behind the cash register. He gave us a wave and a friendly smile when he noticed us.
“Hey, Reece, Cyrus,” Brian said when it was our turn to order. “How are you this morning?”
His sunny disposition faded when Atlas stepped up beside us. Interesting.
I’d never seen someone react toward Atlas that way—other than me, that is. Judging by the clientele at the gym who chatted with him and the turnout for the engagement party, he was well liked.
“Atlas,” Brian said flatly.
“Morning, Brian,” Atlas said, smiling so big it made his eyes squint.
Yeah, there was definitely some bad blood there.
Brian seemed to shake it off, remembering that we were paying customers. “The usual for everyone?” he asked.
“Yep,” Cyrus and Atlas said in unison.
“The usual drink for me, but…” I bent down, taking a peek inside the pastry case. Everything looked delicious, but there was one thing in particular that caught my eye. “Can I get a chocolate croissant, too, please?”
Eating a baked good from someone other than my mom or sister felt like a sin, but they didn’t make croissants. At least, not like this.
“Sure thing,” Brian said. “Is everyone together? Separate checks?”
“Together,” I said.
Brian flipped the tablet around to face me, and before Cyrus could nudge me out of the way so he could pay, I was already tapping my card against the screen.
“Thanks, Reece,” Atlas said as we stood at the end of the counter waiting for our drinks.
“It’s my pleasure.” I pinned Cyrus with a look and he grinned. Heat rushed to my cheeks and I forced myself to look away, the secret between us too much for me to handle with Atlas in our presence.
In a way, I liked sneaking around like this. As much as I didn’t want to get caught, it was thrilling, sharing something between the two of us.
We grabbed our drinks and sat at one of the little café tables in front of the coffee shop. I was starving from swim practice, so I dug into my croissant right away. It was heaven, flaky and buttery with rich chocolate wrapped inside.
Atlas watched me eat and cocked a furry brow. “Never would have taken you for a sweets guy.”
“Oh, he loves them,” Cyrus chimed in.
It made me pause mid-bite, because was that the sort of thing you’d know about an acquaintance?
Or did Cyrus and I seem more like friends?
I mean, I knew that sort of thing about Jimenez.
I was probably overthinking it, but just in case, I decided to shift the conversation away from my eating preferences.
“So, what was that whole thing with Brian?” I asked Atlas.
“Did you know that before I asked your sister out, Brian asked her if I was her boyfriend? When she said no, he asked her out,” Atlas said.
“Brian asked my sister out?” I said, spraying a few crumbs of croissant. That little shit. I told him when we were teenagers that I’d kill him if he ever made a pass at her.
Atlas nodded. “Yep. She said no, obviously. Ever since we became a thing, he’s been a little cold to me.”
Cyrus blinked at Atlas. “He’s cold because you rubbed it in his face.”
I looked at Atlas, my brows drawing back. For the Atlas I knew, that sounded a little out of character.
He shrugged. “I might have messed with him a little bit when your sister and I got coffee one morning.”