Chapter Nineteen
Madden
Madden grabbed Adryan’s hand and pulled him out of the building, through the back door. He didn’t want anybody to intercept them with speeches of gratitude or suggestions, or anything else. He had busted his ass working to get this deal, and now he was going to reap some of the rewards.
‘Why now?’ his financial director had asked, when he had explained his proposal to the board. ‘That report is months old.’
Madden had expected the question.
‘It is, but the suggestion was not feasible at the time. While manufacturing our own packaging certainly streamlines our infrastructure, it was counterproductive to build a factory from scratch. With GRP closing some of their factories, it’s the perfect time for us to buy one of their paper mills.
The infrastructure is there, together with mostly trained employees.
It’ll need modernizing and adapted for sustainability, but it will be financially efficient within five years. ’
Of course, there had been questions. Why Troham?
Well, he never hid there was a personal component.
As far as he was concerned, Troham could be swallowed by the Earth and disappear forever.
It meant nothing to him and while he had better memories associated with it now, he couldn’t shake the old ones.
But there was Adryan and his family. And Susan and the kids.
Michael, so far, had kept his promise and was visibly working toward getting sober.
Well, their relationship might never mend completely, but he would help him anyway.
His kids and wife deserved a better family life than Madden had. So he’d save Troham, to save them.
Madden stopped at the end of the street, and turned to Adryan.
‘I just realized I don’t have a room in town anymore.’
Adryan laughed. How he loved that sound.
‘I happen to have an apartment nearby.’
‘Oh, is that right?’
‘Hmmm, it is. It’s la crème de la crème of Troham, if you must know. Right in the center of town, with amazing views over McKinley’s fields, from the bathroom window.’
Madden laughed.
‘Let’s go then.’
One of the few advantages of Troham was that it was small enough to be a ten minute walk from anywhere, but Adryan still insisted on driving him.
‘How did you end up in a cast again?’ Adryan said, signaling left.
‘Beat the shit out of Michael.’ There was no nice way to put it and it had felt damn good too. At least while he was doing it. He did feel mildly guilty after, but he didn’t want to dwell on that.
‘So that’s what happened to his face…’ he replied casually.
‘Is that all?’ Where was the lecture he was expecting?
‘Well, Michael has been chasing that beating for a long time. Wish you hadn’t broken your arm again in the process. You’re lucky Dr. Wilson didn’t have to treat you again.’
Madden smirked.
Adryan’s home was a one-bedroom apartment on the third floor, in Fairfield Street. It wasn’t big, but it was modern and Adryan kept it quite tidy. Madden looked around, curious about everything that had to do with his boyfriend.
God, that sounded weird.
‘It’s nice—’ he started, but he was interrupted by Adryan pulling him around harshly.
‘I don’t care,’ he mumbled, before pushing himself up to slam his mouth against Madden’s.
Kissing Adryan after so many weeks felt like entering a warm room after crossing a blizzard. His lips were soft and his tongue hot when it swept over his mouth. Madden allowed him entry and their tongues tasted each other, slick and hungry.
Adryan’s hands were busy removing his jacket, and tangled with the buttons of his shirt. When his hands pressed against Madden, Adryan’s hands ran over his torso. A shiver ran along Madden’s back and he gasped for more.
‘Fuck, I’ve missed you so much,’ Adryan said, clamping his fingers around Madden’s nipple. He pulled at it, and pleasure spread, hot like lava, across his chest.
‘Take your clothes off,’ Madden moaned, pulling at Adryan’s T-shirt with his only good arm.
Adryan smiled, and took a step back. The beautiful blush on his cheeks made his blue eyes pop brighter. He threw his hands behind his head and pulled his shirt over his head.
Madden wrapped his arm around Adryan’s waist and pulled him tight into his body. Their bare skin touching, he breathed out a sigh of relief.
‘You’re beautiful,’ he said, leaning down to kiss Adryan.
Madden ran his lips down his jaw and grazed Adryan’s neck with his teeth, his hand pressing against Adryan’s hips.
Madden’s suit trousers allowed for far more touch than Adryan’s jeans and he wished he could rip them off.
Once his arm was healed, he might just do that, and rip all of Adryan’s clothes off his body, one by one.
Madden closed his mouth over Adryan’s chest.
‘You’re killing me,’ Adryan said, reaching for his hand.
Adryan led him out of the living room and through a door to the right. He swung him around until they faced each other and then gently pushed him onto the bed.
Just like the first time, Adryan took his clothes off and ended up gloriously naked, and hard, in front of Madden, but unlike the first time, Madden had already worked through all his shit and now, all he wanted was to drown Adryan in pleasure.
Before Adryan could try anything else, Madden pulled him closer by wrapping his good arm around his hips and ran his tongue from the base of Adryan’s cock to the tip.
He then wrapped his lips around the head, and swept his tongue along the ridges of Adryan’s soft skin.
Saltiness spread over his tongue as Madden took more and more of him in his mouth.
Adryan whined, hands tangling into Madden’s hair as he took in the pleasure.
‘Maddy…’ he whined. To hear his name from Adryan’s lips, sung with such pleasure, sent a thrill through Madden, and he sucked him harder. ‘Fuck… Stop,’ Adryan said, pulling him off.
Adryan leaned over him and kissed him deep, slow, as if he wanted to take the time to taste all of him.
‘I want to fuck your brains out,’ he said, breathing shallow, ‘but since your arm is still the way it is, I shall fuck you slow and long until you’re so desperate you beg me to make you come.
’ Adryan’s blue eyes shone close to his, his breath caressing his lips.
‘You’re Madden Price, you can beg, right? ’
Madden swallowed. He’d seen this side of Adryan before, but it was so much hotter right now. He nodded, pulling his shoes off with his feet. Adryan had to help him out of his trousers.
Finally naked and lying in bed, Adryan crawled over him, their skin grazing each other, hot and sensitive.
Adryan ran a hand over Madden’s thighs, his abdomen, his chest, and lay on top of him to kiss him.
All hands and tongues and lips, they enjoyed each other’s bodies until it was wet and sticky between them.
‘I’m going to go crazy if you don’t fuck me soon,’ Madden said.
Adryan smiled and reached over to his bedside table. He pulled condoms and a bottle of lube from a drawer.
‘You’re very impatient.’
‘I’ve been wanting you for weeks now.’
‘I was right here.’
Madden didn’t answer. He watched Adryan put a condom on and pour lube on his fingers. His body was crying for them to be inside him.
‘I wanted to do this… I wanted to get this sorted. I didn’t think I could face you empty-handed. I messed up that night, and—’
‘You didn’t do anything wrong.’ Adryan’s eyes wandered for a moment.
‘I freaked out. I looked around and saw how different our lives were and how far apart we really were, and after the tension of those last few days… I don’t know, it all sort of exploded in my hands and I didn’t know how to deal with it at the time. I’m sorry—’
‘Don’t,’ Madden said. ‘We both didn’t deal with it too well.’
Adryan smiled.
‘Now, if you want to really make it up to me, fuck me already,’ Madden lifted himself up and kissed Adryan, who smiled against his lips. As their tongues met again, Adryan slipped his hands under Madden.
‘Lie back.’
Madden was only too keen to comply. Adryan might have foreseen his desperation, but he hadn’t expected it to come so quickly.
Adryan’s finger pressed gently against his opening, running over it, around it, the pressure increasing until it made it in. Madden let out a hum of appreciation.
Adryan kept his finger in for a moment, leaning down over Madden, kissing his neck, his chest, licking at his nipples.
He took his sweet time before he started moving it, and even more time before he pushed another digit in.
Madden’s skin was on fire, and every touch made him more sensitive.
His body was crying for the other man and it was only getting worse.
‘You’re so wet,’ Adryan hummed, running his tongue along his shaft.
‘Adryan,’ Madden moaned his name as Adryan pushed another finger in.
He moved inside him, every touch strange and arousing. His cock twitched in Adryan’s hand, leaking with every pass of his tongue.
‘Adryan, just…’
‘Hmmm?’
But Madden didn’t answer. Pulling himself up, he shifted his weight against Adryan until he was on top.
After applying more lube, he reached between them and positioned Adryan’s cock, lowering himself onto it.
He watched Adryan’s eyes widen and his head tilt back as Madden took his length inside him.
It stretched him and rubbed him so well inside.
‘Fuck, you’re tight,’ Adryan said, holding onto his hips. ‘Are you okay?’
Madden nodded, his breathing shallow, getting used to Adryan’s length and girth. His face was on fire, every bit of his skin crying to be touched.
Adryan, as if reading his mind, sat up and lapped at his chest, digging his teeth into his flesh and soothing with his tongue straight after. Madden moaned, his head tilting back, his cock twitching between them.
‘Move for me,’ Adryan mumbled against his chest.
Madden didn’t need to be asked twice. As soon as he got used to the sensation, he began to move. Slowly, up and down, fucking himself on Adryan’s cock, desperately waiting for the blissful sensations of being filled to take over.
Adryan guided his hips, helping him keep a slow, measured pace that was driving him crazy.
‘Let me go faster,’ he moaned, moving over him.
Adryan shook his head, holding him to that pace.
Madden considered ignoring him. He could overpower Adryan easily, fuck himself hard and fast on his cock. It wasn’t like Adryan wasn’t dying to come too.
But Adryan telling him what to do was so hot, he didn’t want to break the spell.
‘Tell me how much you want to come?’ Adryan asked, his voice unsteady.
‘Ah, fuck, I’m dying…’ Madden said. He brought his hand to his cock, wanting to stroke himself raw, but Adryan pulled his hand away.
Adryan pushed his fingers in his own mouth, his tongue licking and sucking at Madden’s fingers.
‘I want you more, I want you deeper,’ he said, his voice embarrassingly weak.
But he felt no embarrassment when it was Adryan. Adryan saw him. Adryan loved him, a fact he wasn’t quite used to, and yet he saw it in the man’s eyes as their gazes met.
Long, slow strokes of Adryan inside him pushed him, flesh dragging against flesh, their mouths taking each other as they moved, until the pressure was blinding and spread through him like wildfire. The orgasm built slow, deep, tightening all his muscles.
‘Just there,’ he moaned, ‘just—’
Pleasure slammed against him like a wave, hard, taking his breath away, rippling through his body, making every last one of his cells feel like dying.
He heard his voice echo in the room as if it was someone else, partially deaf, partially blind, only vaguely aware of the swelling of Adryan’s cock inside him and Adryan’s fingers digging into his flesh.
Madden held on tighter to the other man as they both rode the orgasm.
Exhausted, they fell on top of each other, panting and sweaty. Drowning in the fog of their climax, they remained tangled in a heap, listening to each other’s hearts slam into their chests.
After, they kissed for long, deep moments.
Adryan helped Madden get clean first, and then showered.
Madden walked out into the living room and pulled his trousers back on.
Outside, the sun was slowly diving toward the horizon.
The balcony door slid open easily and he stepped out onto the small balcony, barefoot.
The evening air was cool and the town was mostly quiet.
Nothing like the noise of San Francisco.
Moments later, Adryan joined him, wrapping a hand around his waist. They watched the sunset quietly.
It was almost dark, the lights flickering on, down in the street, when Adryan spoke again.
‘I can’t believe you’re moving back to Troham.’
‘I’ll have to be here for extended periods of time until the factory is fully functional. There is no point in going back and forth every day,’ he shrugged.
‘What about after that?’
Madden could feel Adryan tense next to him. Turning to face him, he wrapped Adryan, his boyfriend, into his arms and kissed him.
‘After that, Adryan Hayes, we shall make our lives together. I don’t think you want to move to San Francisco, but I don’t want to move back to Troham, not to the town anyway. But there are more options.’
‘Such as?’ Adryan frowned.
‘Well, there is a ranch for sale, not far from here. I always wanted to live on a ranch, when I was little.’
Adryan’s expression didn’t relax.
‘Or we could build our own house. I’ll build you your dream house. What do you think?’
Adryan couldn’t help but smile.
‘Or we could live in a trailer, Adryan. Truth is, I care about very few, select things in life. My career, of course. I worked my ass off to get where I am. But now I care about you… You’ve no idea how much.
When we didn’t talk, when we were apart…
I don’t think I could go through that again.
So let’s be together, yes? No matter what, we’ll find a way. ’
Adryan watched him, head tilted up, considering him. He looked down and pressed his hands against Madden’s chest.
‘Well, Madden Price,’ he said, wrapping his arms around Madden’s neck, ‘there is nothing we can’t do together.’
They kissed, the sunset in the background, like a silly rom-com ending, except that it wasn’t an ending. It was a perfect start to the rest of their lives.