Page 24 of Angel's Share

“I’m sure they’ll be by the office tomorrow.”

“Do you think they’ll place her back with Deidra?”

“They better never place another kid with that person. She was harboring a felon who’d violated parole, and the condition of that place...” He shook his head, dislodging the visions. “We took pictures. Plenty of documentation.”

“You brought them both in?”

He nodded. “Matt took White to holding. Berat took the sister to County.”

“Good,” Jamie said as he lazily brushed their joined hands over his torso, lulling Aidan back into the jelly-limbed place. “Izzy has a flight tomorrow. She’s trying to get out of it, but they’re short-staffed and the pay is double.”

“The kids can stay here.” There was a delay between the words that had come out of his mouth and the presumptions that belatedly registered in his brain. Once they did, Aidan rotated half around in Jamie’s arms, hand over the tattoo on his chest, the place it automatically went to after years together. “If that’s okay with you? We have the place for the week, right?”

“We do,” he said, covering Aidan’s hand and giving it a squeeze. And if that wasn’t reassurance enough, the soft kiss he laid on Aidan’s lips quieted his spike of overstepping anxiety. “I was hoping you’d say that, though I think it would be good for both of them to get back to school tomorrow, assuming Rooster agrees. Under guard, of course.”

“Agreed.” Aidan settled his weight on Jamie’s chest and smiled against his lips. “Is this what it would be like?”

“Soon, I hope,” Jamie said with a grin, clearly following his train of thought. “Though if our future involves spending more time with Izzy and Angel, we gotta get ’em back to the Bay Area. I can’t with the Lakers and Dodgers fans here.”

“Not to mention the true-blue UCLA of it all.”

Jamie lunged, splashing water. “Shut your filthy mouth.” He proceeded to do just that, swallowing Aidan’s laughter as their lips met again, then his moans as their kisses grew more heated. Ratcheted hotter when Jamie reached beneath the water and palmed Aidan’s sac, stiffening his half-hard cock the rest of the way to erect. “Maybe we should practice that whole having to be quiet thing.”

“We should,” Aidan said. “Because after seven years, we both know you’re pretty fucking terrible at it.”

“Me?” Jamie squawked, proving his point, and Aidan shifted again, the one to silence him this time. He captured Jamie’s lips and aligned their cocks, taking them both in hand and stroking. Jamie groaned against his lips. “Fuck, Irish.” He rolled his hips, all of that big, gorgeous body grinding up against Aidan’s. Hungry, same as Aidan was for him, for the comfort and peace only Jamie could give him.

“I know, baby, I know,” he whispered as he pumped them faster, the water sloshing, waves that mimicked the heat rushing in Aidan’s veins. He braced himself with his free hand against the side of the tub behind Jamie’s head, getting more leverage and a good look at his whole world straining with pleasure beneath him. Head thrown back, Jamie panted and bit back his moans, his chest heaving, his nails digging into Aidan’s sides to urge him faster. Harder. Could Aidan ask for more than this perfection? He wanted to. “Can we do this, Whiskey? Can we have it all?”

Jamie locked his lust-darkened gaze on his. “We can do anything, Irish. Together.”

Which was how they came, erupting over Aidan’s fist and swallowing each other’s moans.

Quiet.

Proof they could do this much.

And with Jamie by his side, Aidan was hopeful about the rest too. Was starting to believe that yes, maybe they could have it all.

SIXTEEN

Aidan beat Jamie out of the bedroom the next morning, determined to take care of him—or at least his coffee—as a thank-you for looking after him the past few days. He wasn’t surprised to find Bev and Angel still in the living room, the former asleep on the oversize couch, the latter passed out on his folded arms at the nearby table. Jamie’s tablet had been pushed to the side, no doubt so Angel could keep Bev in his sights as he’d fallen asleep. He was a good kid, a protector like his dad had been, and for the first time in six long years, thoughts of Tom didn’t come with anger, only wisps of sadness that his former friend wasn’t here to see the man his son was growing up to be.

Approaching the table, Aidan whisper-shouted a “Hey, Angel.” When that didn’t wake him, he gently shook his godson’s shoulder.

Angel reacted instantly, surging out of his chair and swinging like a bat out of hell, acting on pure instinct. Aidan had those too, Bureau honed, plus several inches and a lot more weight on Angel too. Catching one of Angel’s wrists on the way to spinning behind him, he stretched Angel’s arm across his front. Confused, Angel flailed with his other arm, which Aidan also caught and crossed over the other, effectively pinning his arms to his chest and his back to Aidan’s front. A gentle but firm hold. “Angel, it’s me, it’s Aidan,” he said, speaking with his full accent, aiming to startle Angel’s waking brain back to reality. “You’re safe. I’m not a threat.”

After another few seconds of struggling, something must have clicked, Angel stilling in his arms. “Aidan?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

Tension rushed out of his lanky frame. “Fuck, man, I’m sorry.”

Aidan released his wrists and circled around to Angel’s front, keeping a steadying hand on his shoulder. “Where’d you learn to do that?”

He sank back into his seat. “The Internet.”

“Of course.”

---