Page 5 of Angel's Share

“That’s it, baby,” Aidan panted.

Jamie pressed against Aidan’s rim, easing one, then two fingers inside him, pumping and spreading, while Aidan kept the pace of his strokes relentless, building the pleasure for both of them. Pushing himself, it seemed, to the edge of control too. Sweat prickled his hairline, a bright red blush spread up his neck, and when Jamie stroked the soft spot inside him, his back bowed off the couch. “Fuck, Jamie. Fuck! Right there! Fuck, I love you.”

Jamie gave in to the urge to lean forward, kissing away Aidan’s mewl at losing his fingers. “Not long, baby, I promise. But I needed to kiss you. Needed you to taste how much I love you too.” He claimed his mouth, their tongues and teeth clashing, wanting all of the man beneath him, none of it ever enough, even after all these years. “Always,” he whispered against Aidan’s lips, as he moved fully between his legs and pushed inside him.

“Always,” Aidan echoed.

Repeated it again as Jamie took his cock in hand and stroked.

And again each time their speed picked up, racing toward their climax.

Until their rhythm faltered and Jamie erupted in the tight, warm heat of his husband’s ass, Aidan following him over the edge with a shout.

Jamie collapsed on top of his smiling husband, blissed out and not the least bit worried about the come-covered sweatshirt between them. He’d happily replace a thousand of them for all the moments like these with his husband.

FOUR

Aidan woke to the same soft sensations he’d fallen asleep to, Jamie’s fingers carding through his hair, his chest rising and falling gently beneath the arm Aidan had thrown over it. The room was also still dark, Aidan’s eyes taking longer to adjust in the near pitch-black, only the faint glow of the bedside clock casting any light in the room.

Five thirty, according to said clock.

Aidan snuggled closer to the warm body beside his. “I didn’t wear you out enough to sleep to the alarm?”

Jamie’s chuckle rumbled beneath his ear. “Watched too much tape. So many plays running through my head.”

“You were great out there yesterday. Not just the plays we practiced but with the team too.” He absently traced the interlocking N and C inked on Jamie’s chest, debating whether to disturb the peace and quiet with the last thought he’d fallen asleep to. And the one that had woken him. But if there was one person in the world who he was completely safe with, who would listen and not judge, it was the man beside him. “Marsh noticed too,” he said. “That you’re good with the kids.”

“I’m good at teaching them basketball. Otherwise, all the credit goes to my mom and sister, my niblings, and you.”

“Me?” Aidan glanced up and met baby blue eyes smiling down at him.

“Yes, you.” Jamie ducked his chin and dropped a kiss on his forehead. “Seeing how you are with Katie and the next-gen Talleys.”

“Katie took to you right away.”

“Katie also took to Nic. What does that tell you?”

Aidan laughed, remembering how his now ten-year-old niece had once been a tiny tyke who’d been his gruff best friend’s “date” at his and Jamie’s wedding. She’d been attached to “Uncle Nic” ever since, spending way more time at his brewery than was strictly legal for someone underage. Good thing said uncle was also the US Attorney for Northern California.

Jamie’s hand drifted out of his hair to Aidan’s arm over his chest, squeezing gently. “Talk to me, Irish.”

Just as Jamie was the one person who he was completely safe with, he was also the one person Aidan could never hide from. He scooted closer, tightening his hold on Jamie’s middle, unable to shake the sense his world was about to be upended. He’d had it all once before, then he’d lost it when Gabe had been killed. All these years later, reaching for more still felt like standing on the edge of a cliff. Like one wrong step, and he’d lose it all again. But in Jamie’s arms—arms that had held him close for seven years, even when Aidan had pushed him away—maybe he could take that step. Maybe he could finally be brave enough to reach for more.

He swallowed. And stepped forward. “Marsh also asked if we’d thought about having any.”

Jamie’s breath caught and stiffness rippled through his frame. “Any?”

Aidan held tighter. “Kids,” he said before he could chicken out. “Of our own.”

“I think about it every time we step on a court together.”

Aidan whipped his gaze back to his husband, Jamie’s words the last thing he expected. “You do?”

“Of course,” he said, as simply as he had last night about watching tape. “I wonder what it would be like to coach our own kids, to laugh and play and learn together.” The tension ebbed from his frame, a smile touching the corners of his lips, reflecting the same one Aidan could feel turning up his own. “Assuming they like basketball. Or sports at all. And if not, we’ll get one of our other friends to teach them to play chess. And we’ll learn with them.”

The image was so clear in Aidan’s mind that he couldn’t help but smile wider, but the next instant, his smile dimmed as he wondered how long Jamie had kept this to himself. “You should have?—”

Jamie silenced him with a quick, soft kiss. “We have talked about it, and let me be clear, I don’t need to have kids to feel whole. That burning need some folks talk about isn’t there for me. Probably because we’re surrounded by so many kids already. But it is something I think we’d be good at together. That I’d want to do with you, if you want that too.”

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