Chapter Four
With his back against headboard, Zeus drank his juice and watched Tracker sleep.
His eyes wouldn’t budge from the sight of him nude, stretched out, and his arm thrown over his eyes.
Logically, Zeus understood what Tracker saw when he looked into the mirror.
He saw all the abuse he had endured until they achieved their version of perfection.
After all, Tracker didn’t need his looks to be the world’s greatest hacker.
But when Zeus looked at Tracker, he saw a flawless beauty.
Tracker’s mind was untainted in a way Zeus had never encountered.
Zeus looked on the inside the way Tracker saw himself on the outside.
They were a perfect match. Zeus was all the way in love with him. He had been for a long time.
Making love to Tracker had confirmed a few suspicions Zeus had obsessed about.
Tracker was one-hundred-percent genuine, and he had handed Zeus a hell of a lot of power.
Tracker had never been with anyone else.
Zeus knew that in his heart and from years of professional experience.
If Zeus had his way, Tracker would never be with anyone else.
Zeus's watch started beeping, reminding him he still hadn’t drunk his juice.
“Your alarm is going off, babe. Drink your juice.”
A huge grin exploded across Zeus' face. He silenced his watch and chugged the juice. Even in his sleep, Tracker worried about him. He set his empty glass aside and touched the lamp to kill the soft light. When he settled back down to sleep, Tracker rolled, cuddling against him. Zeus couldn’t stop the fast descent into monomaniacal.
Tracker’s behavior each time they slept in the same bed told the real story of their relationship.
He always let Zeus hold him. Zeus couldn’t count the nights of absolute torment because he couldn’t take things further.
Tracker had let him cross the line. Now he had to find a way to make sure Tracker didn’t try to push him back to the other side of that line.
Zeus smoothed his hand down Tracker’s side, lightly stroking him.
Chill bumps rose beneath his touch. Zeus felt Tracker’s erection growing against him.
Hunger filled his soul. Zeus gently rolled Tracker onto his back again.
He kissed Tracker’s neck until he felt Tracker startle awake.
Tracker’s soft moan filled the air. He buried his hand in Zeus’ hair.
“Do I have your permission to touch you?” Zeus whispered the question in case Tracker still wasn’t truly awake.
“Yes.” The softly spoken answer nearly sent his sanity over the edge. Control meant more to him than anyone knew. The surrender in Tracker’s tone had Zeus ready to fuck.
Zeus straddled Tracker while worshipping his neck and chest. His nipples ended up with Zeus' full attention. He rocked, using the friction between their bodies to make Tracker moan. Zeus moved slowly.
Tracker tugged his hair, urging Zeus to kiss him.
He settled in for the long haul. Their kisses kept swinging between heated and sweet.
By the time Tracker shook and jerked beneath him, painting the space between them with cum, Zeus wanted to sigh in relief.
He couldn’t hold back any longer. His orgasm only served to highlight everything else going on inside his head.
Tracker seemed half dead and more asleep than awake.
Zeus rolled from the bed and ran a clean washcloth under warm water before returning to Tracker’s side. He gently cleaned away the mess. After tossing the soiled cloth into the dirty-clothes basket, he settled back down to hold Tracker.
He kissed Tracker’s forehead. “I love you.” Zeus half expected Tracker wouldn’t even hear the words. He was likely fully asleep already.
“I love you too.” The groggy-sounding words were slurred and barely audible. Zeus’ throat swelled. Tracker didn’t mean them the way Zeus did. He didn’t know how much longer he could take that.
Tracker sat at his security station, lost in thought.
He chewed the side of his thumbnail as he obsessed his way through every second of the night, over and over again.
Zeus had books to look over and bank runs to make.
Shit like that to do. Tracker had to hold down the security fort at home.
Zeus had kissed him before they went their separate ways.
Tracker gave himself all the speeches. Zeus didn’t do more than one night with anyone.
Tracker already knew he wasn’t special. He swore to himself he wouldn’t regret what they had done.
But he already missed the intimacy and the way Zeus made him feel sexy.
Tracker understood Zeus had meant to teach him a lesson: he could have a normal life with someone who loved him enough to see past his scars.
Tracker very much feared that wasn’t the lesson he had learned.
The door opened, yanking Tracker from his thoughts. He hadn’t noticed Shadow coming. It was a good thing they had perimeter alarms because Tracker hadn’t seen a thing but Zeus inside his head for hours.
“Hey.”
Tracker smiled at Shadow’s overenthusiastic greeting. “Hey.”
Shadow dramatically ran in place for a second. “Look at that smile.” He grabbed a rolling chair and pulled it close. “Tell me everything. Don’t leave out a single detail. I take it you were cool with his job after seeing him in action.”
Tracker wished he could play dumb. He honestly would have thought he would be embarrassed. Instead, Tracker dove right in. He needed to talk this out. “He didn’t do anything work-related. When I got there, he was sitting, leaned back against the bar, relaxing.”
“Did he have his shirt on?”
Tracker nodded.
Shadow made a dismissive gesture. “That’s his signal not to approach him. No one wants to get punished by him for disobeying. Don’t get me wrong, they desperately want his punishment but not in the way he doles it out by breaking his personal rules.”
Tracker nodded along even though he was confused as hell. He didn’t want to look ignorant by asking for more details, so he carried on. “He obviously spotted me first because this guy found me and brought me to Zeus.”
“Wait. He let you sit with him with his shirt on?”
Shadow’s interruption seemed odd. He had just said that’s what happened. “Yeah. Anyhow, we talked for a minute. He was all smiles, and it was catching. I guess I kind of got lost in the moment because I let him pull me onto the dance floor.”
“Fast songs or slow?”
Tracker searched his mind to remember what had been playing when Zeus had dragged him to dance. “It was a fast song, but he waved toward the DJ, and the songs stayed slow the whole time we were on the floor. I don’t really know how many songs passed because he kissed me and—”
“Whoa. Hold up a sec. I just want to make sure I have all the details right. He danced a slow dance with you and kissed you. In front of everyone,” Shadow tacked on, as if that mattered.
“That’s what I said.” Tracker honestly had no idea why Shadow kept repeating him. “Anyhow. He let me into his apartment to hang out while he finished up for the night.”
“What time did he finally join you? You left here pretty early last night.”
“Um.” Tracker had to really think about that one. Zeus had blown his mind with that kiss. “Let’s see. I got there at like ten, and he let me into his apartment around ten thirty. It had to have been no later than midnight since I wasn’t alone for long.”
Shadow nodded. “Okay. I’m just building a timeline. The club doesn’t close until three.”
“Really?” That one surprised Tracker. “I didn’t realize they stayed open that late. Every time he stays the night, he doesn’t usually get here any later than two.”
Shadow openly studied him. His smile was gone. He didn’t look angry. His expression looked more like he was intrigued. “Go on.”
Tracker blushed.
Shadow slapped his arm. “Ha! Good for you. Did he do that thing when he was inside you, where—”
Tracker cut him off. “Wait. There’s a trick? He wasn’t inside me. I was inside him. Maybe I should’ve done some research or something. I didn’t know there was a trick. Fuck. I hope he wasn’t disappointed.”
Shadow’s expression snapped closed.
Tracker was undeterred. He was fully invested in the conversation. “When he woke me up in the middle of the night, he just sort of moved against me until I blew. Was I supposed to know a trick then too? I feel so out of my depth.”
“He woke you up in the middle of the night for more?”
Defeat weighed heavily on Tracker. He had known he was inept in the sex department. In his defense, in theory, sex didn’t sound that complicated. He should have known Zeus’ skill level meant learning a few things. Damn. He had really missed an opportunity.
The door opened again, reminding Tracker he still ignored the monitors. Not that he had to do any actual surveillance. The system ran itself, but everyone kept getting a drop on his quarters. Tracker’s mind blanked, and all stress vanished as Zeus came through the door.
Zeus’s beautiful gaze flickered Shadow’s way.
“Hey, there. I haven’t seen you in a while.
” If Shadow intended to respond, they would never know.
Zeus focused on Tracker. He was all gorgeous smiles and golden retriever energy.
“Hey.” He bent and kissed Tracker. Tracker got the feeling he only meant to peck Tracker on the lips.
But as soon as their lips met, Zeus lingered and then the kiss deepened.
It wasn’t a long kiss, but it was still breathtaking.
Zeus pulled away, still all smiles. “Look at what I found.”
Shadow stood, stealing their focus. His entire demeanor screamed something was off. “I need to get back to the house.”
Tracker couldn’t stop smiling now that Zeus was there. “Thank you for hanging out with me.”
A soft smile touched Shadow’s lips. “Don’t thank me for spending time with my friend. Being married has turned me into a hermit. I’ll try to do better.”
Tracker shook his head. It seemed like he should argue in some way, but Shadow was gone before he found anything to say. His attention snapped right back to Zeus the moment they were alone. “What did you find?”
Zeus sat in Shadow’s vacated seat. He flashed a box Tracker hadn’t even noticed. It was a gaming system they had both been scouring the internet to find. “Holy shit! You found it.”
Somehow, Zeus’ smile got even brighter. “Yep.” He set the box on the desk. “What do you say? Unbox it?”
Tracker scooted as closely as could. “Absolutely.”
Zeus went to work. “I thought we could buy a carrying case for it and just take it from your place to mine, depending on where we’re at for the night.”
“Sounds great. Just tell me how much my half is.”
Zeus paused and kissed him again. “Don’t do that. If roles were reversed, you would’ve paid for it and refused my money.”
Tracker chuckled. “True.”
Zeus’ gaze moved over his face. He turned serious. “I really missed you today.”
“Same.” No amount of seriousness could steal his smile. This was the happiest he had ever been in his life. While he had no idea what tomorrow would bring, today, it felt like he owned the world. He couldn’t worry about tomorrow.