Chapter 12
Chapter
Twelve
O ver the next few months, Leo settled into a routine with Torres and Gabe. He really enjoyed having the kid around and being able to see Torres become the father he always had been, but he had to admit he was struggling. There had been a few more threats received in the mail, all the same as before, with no clues on who could be doing it and they were no closer to finding out anything about the person than they were at the beginning. He could see it was putting a strain on Torres as well, not being able to find the person was making the foundation they had built unsteady. Leo groaned and fisted his hair, he was sitting at what was dubbed his office desk in one of Torres’ guest bedrooms as he tried to get the words to come to him; he was so far behind on his deadline that he was starting to panic. He hadn’t been able to write in weeks and it was slowly breaking him. Writing had always been his escape from the real world. He’d been writing since he could hold a pencil. Suddenly not being able to find the words broke him in ways he had trouble processing. He’d never had a problem being able to imagine something and put it down on paper, but it was like his brain didn’t want to cooperate and all he could see was the screen in front of him. The tears came nasty and hot. He had no idea what to do.
“Hey Leo, baby, do you want to go to your parents for dinner or would you wanna eat here?” Torres called out when he walked in the front door, dropping his heavy Kevlar vest and bag by the door as he breathed a deep sigh of relief at being home and nodded to Doc who was camped out on his couch, having watched over Leo while he helped Kade with a situation. He hugged Doc on his way out of the door. “Thanks, man.” He wanted to spend some time with Leo. Lately, they hadn’t been able to and instead of just a few rushed hand jobs in the shower he hadn’t been able to love on him either, and that was grating on him not the loss of the sex but the loss of the intimacy, not having the energy or the time to love on Leo or get loved on in return didn’t bode well for a new relationship and he wanted to fix that as soon as possible. Gabe was with his mother tonight, now that she had gotten her apartment, and he was free to enjoy his man. He rubbed his hands in glee, he just had to find him. He headed to the office. When he didn’t get an answer Leo could really get swept away when he was writing. “Hey did you hear me?” He knocked gently before poking his head around the door. Leo gave no indication that he knew he was there, just stared blankly at the screen as tears coasted down his cheeks. “Baby.” Torres rushed forward and looked at the screen to make sure he didn’t get another video, then pulled Leo into his arms. “Leo baby, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Leo melted into Torres as he sobbed. “I can’t find it.” His fingers curled into Torre’s shirt as he held on tight.
Torres was so confused…and a little panicked, if he was being honest. “Find what, baby?” Leo didn’t just lose things and to have this kind of reaction was a little nerve-wracking, and he dealt with Kade when he ran out of coffee and this scared him more.
Leo sniffled, clutching tight to Torres’ shirt, crumpling it in his grasp as he tugged on it, pulling him closer. “I haven’t been able to write in weeks. I can’t find my muse. I’m so behind on this deadline but now I can’t even picture it anymore.” He knew his voice sounded panicked, and it was hard to explain to someone who didn’t write. It was his escape. It was his way to make the world a better place. He could do anything or go anywhere in his books and not being able to write was like he’d lost his best friend.
Torres sat on the floor and pulled Leo into his lap and just rocked him. He knew he couldn’t fathom what Leo was going through and instead of making things worse, he just offered comfort. “Is there anything I can do to help you?”
Leo scoffed. “No, not really. I appreciate the offer though.” He pressed his face into Torres’ neck, taking in his scent, pine and the musk of sweat, and his mouth started to water. Jesus, the man could turn him on like nothing.
“Why don’t we just relax tonight, order in and just take time to be with each other?” Torres asked hopefully. While hell hath frozen over since he was offering to stay home and not go pig out on Sanem’s food, he really wanted Leo for himself tonight.
Leo nodded, curling closer. “I would like that.” He mumbled.
“Good, why don’t you get up and take a shower. I’ll order some dinner and we can take it from there?” Torres asked, kissing Leo’s soft blonde curls as he rubbed his back soothingly.
“Ok.” Leo let Torres help him to his feet and gently kissed Torres’ soft lips as he passed him to grab his clothes and head to the bathroom.
Torres sighed as he walked back into the kitchen looking for the take-out menus because god help anyone who wanted him to cook. They’d die from food poisoning, he grimaced, gave him a gun and he was good. Ask him to cook and he panicked. He shrugged. He had his strengths and his weaknesses and he’s owned up to them. He’d noticed Leo had been down these past several weeks and while he’d just assumed it was due to the circumstances, he wanted to smack himself for not thinking it could have been something else. He hadn’t wanted to pry with Leo’s work. He knew some artists were weird about people, asking so he wanted to wait until Leo came to him. He loved the man’s mind and didn’t want to push and make Leo not want to share any of it with him. He’d never seen someone so distraught and he’s seen many wars, and Kade, when the coffee machine broke, talk about a man being distraught. He rolled his eyes at himself. “Way to go, idiot.” He hissed. He placed an order at his favorite pizza place and pulled all the blankets and pillows from the bedrooms and placed them on the couch. He wanted tonight to be amazing. Whether it ended in sex or not, he wanted to pamper his man. He froze. If his men could see him now, he’d never live it down. He grinned. He loved the fuckers, and he made a mental note to give them a call the next day.
“What are you doing?” Leo asked when he came back into the living room, his hair damp and curling tighter, but he looked comfortable in his sweats and one of Torres’ old T-shirts, his voice calmer and the little smirk on his face made Torres’ heart jump.
Torres raised a brow. “Movie night, I ordered pizza.” He gestured to the coziness on the couch leaving off the Ta da he really wanted to say.
Leo laughed and wrapped his arms around Torres’ neck, then kissed him. “Just what the doctor ordered.” He felt giddy when he saw Torres’ shy grin and kissed him again. He danced his tongue over those soft lips and surged in when Torres opened with a little gasp. “You better not have gotten any mushrooms.” He said roughly and nipped at Torres’ bottom lip.
Torres grunted against the sharp sting and grinned. “Guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” His man hated mushrooms. He said it was the consistency of them, being all slimy but Torres loved to tease him about it. He knew that Leo knew it was all in good fun and that he’d never intentionally give the man something he hated.
Leo rolled his eyes. “If there are mushrooms on my pizza Vince, I will take it out of your ass.” He ended that threat by grabbing a handful of Torres’ ass and pulling him closer. Their erections brushed together, making both of them moan into another kiss.
Torres barked out a laugh as he pulled back to breathe. “I’ll remember that.” He sat on the couch and pulled Leo close. “What do you wanna watch first?”
“How about we watch Sleepy Hollow first?” Leo said excitedly. He couldn’t believe Torres was ok with simply lying around and watching a movie, just enjoying each other’s company. He could also see the exhaustion in Torres’ eyes so he was happy to just sit and cuddle his man.
Torres raised a brow in question. “Which one?” He waited for the answer, not sure how he would react. There was only one sleepy hollow movie that he would acknowledge existed.
Leo gasped in horror. “The only one that I believe exists, the one with Johnny Depp and Christopher Walken.” He looked at Torres in horror. “Are you saying there’s another one?”
Torres chuckled. “God no, I love that one. Next, we can watch The Mummy.” He said as he grabbed the remote to find the movie.
“You just want to see Brendan Fraser.” Leo snickered, throwing a pillow at him, as he settled back into the cushions and let the anxiety and stress of the past few weeks drain away.
Torres sniffed, almost insulted. “Actually I prefer Ardeth Bay. Brendan is gorgeous and good but I love me some dark protective men, who basically think of the others as children he has to protect.” Torres said, laughing.
Leo’s jaw dropped in shock. Was this man for real? “Really?”
Torres shrugged. “I usually go for darker men like myself. You’re the only white boy I’ve been with.” He waggled his eyebrows at Leo.
Leo sputtered out a laugh. “Are you serious?” He laughed. “That is hilarious.”
Torres nodded. “Yeah, you really are the only white man I’ve been in a relationship with. Saint is the only one that I’ve had a sex thing with.”
Leo shook his head in disbelief. “I find that hard to believe.” He would have really thought a man like Torres would have had more experience in the way of being with others. His not being as experienced was becoming clear to Leo.
“Why?” Torres cocked his head as he studied Leo. “I’ve never really been attracted to men like me, which is all I was around in the military. I prefer men smaller than me, not necessarily shorter, but just smaller.”
Leo shrugged. “I have no idea. I just wasn’t expecting that.”
Torres ran his fingers over the buttons on the remote as he stared down at his socks. “I’ve never actually been in a committed, monogamous relationship before you. Most were intimidated by my family or didn’t like what I did for work, and the others were just down for some fun.” He shrugged. He could imagine Leo expected him to be some kind of man whore like his brother. It was common to hear that people always thought that if you served in the military you were a cheater or just a whore, and granted a lot of times they were right, but he wasn’t built that way and never had been.
That statement hurt Leo in a way he couldn’t describe. Torres was an amazing partner, caring, loving, and gentle. He looked scary, his big stature and muscles, but once he smiled, he was a giant teddy bear, including the fur. Leo smiled. He’d never been one for body hair on a man he could take it or leave it, but on Torres it made his mouth water. The man only had hair on his chest, none on his back, which surprised him, but the warm curly hair on his chest was enough for him. “I’m sorry they couldn’t see what kind of man you are, baby.” He kissed Torres’ on the cheek. “I’m so glad you’re hard headed and decided I was worth your time.”
Torres snorted, pulling him closer. “I feel so loved.” He said sarcastically.