Page 50 of Tooth and Nail

“You want to rehash this again?” Ari asked. He sounded dismayed as he frowned at Eoghan. “I explained that. I saw Wick being attacked and I acted on instinct, running to help him. I didn’t stop to think, ‘gee what will Eoghan think if I left his side?’ I thought one thing only. And that was getting to Wick before that BMA killed him. That’s what I told you earlier, but you seem to want to belabor this point over and over.” He threw up his hands. “I told the chief the same thing. You were there when I explained myself.”

He stood and paced away from the couch, running his hand over the top of his hair as he walked away. Eoghan watched his muscled butt moving beneath the sweatpants material as he paced. The sight left him with a bad case of dry mouth. He wasn’t prepared for the anger on Ari’s face when he suddenly turned to face him. The minute he’d fully spun around, he seemed to deflate. He glanced down at his body before looking back up. He took several steps forward, coming to stand on the other side of the coffee table. “What? Don’t you trust me, Eoghan? I know you don’t know me but after the way I behaved around Derwin and King Townsend, I would have at least thought that I’d somewhat earned your trust by proving myself to you in both those situations.”

“I-I—”

“Have you even thought about putting yourself in my shoes for just a second? I was literally on the job for an hour before I was being told that paranormals and aliens exist. I was put in a situation where I came face to face with a six-foot-long honeybee a few hours into my workday, and I think I handled myself pretty well considering. Anyone else wouldhave freaked the fuck out in that cave. Instead, I went to the assistance of a fellow marshal who could have died if I hadn’t shot that creature.”

Eoghan didn’t know how to respond. He stared into Ari’s eyes which had darkened considerably. He looked so hurt that he wanted to kick himself. The fact was, he hadn’t trusted Ari. He continued to stare, saying nothing, breathing hard as he looked into his partner’s expressive eyes.

“You know what? This was a mistake,” Ari finally said, stepping back when Eoghan said nothing. He glanced around the room, spotting his suitcase. He gestured toward it. “I’m just gonna go get a hotel room and in the morning, I’m going to tell Chief Deputy Priest that I either need to leave the I.S.R. or that she should assign you a new partner. If you don’t trust me, I don’t know what I can say to change that.” He held Eoghan’s gaze for only a few seconds before finally nodding and turning around.

The moment he started walking away, Eoghan snapped out of his daze.

“Wait,” he said, jumping up, and coming around the coffee table. “It’s not a mistake,” he hurried to say. Ari had gone as far as the front door where he’d left his suitcase. He was forced to stop walking as he turned to face Eoghan as he rushed over. They stood close, close enough for Eoghan to stop him if his new partner put up a fight. That’s not what he wanted at all. Fighting was the last thing on his mind.

“What, Eoghan? Suddenly, you see my point?” Ari asked. He sounded utterly exasperated. “I gotta tell you. I’m really confused by all of this.” They stood close enough that Ari was forced to look down at him.

Eoghan could feel his blood pounding in his head as he stared at him. Breath sawed in and out of his chest as their gazes locked. This close, he could smell the sweetnessof the citrus and sandalwood scent that clung to his clothes. He could make out tiny freckles on his dark skin which he’d never seen before. He could count every whisker, every curly hair in his salt and pepper beard. And pick up the smell of basil on his breath from the leaf he’d popped into his mouth as he’d chopped. Eoghan dropped his gaze to Ari’s full lips, noting how pillowy soft they looked. He felt his cock grow and throb against the zipper of his pants…and he gave up thinking altogether.

Eoghan took two steps forward, bringing their chests together. He cupped the sides of his jaw as he stared into his eyes, before tugging his face down. Their mouths crashed together. The moment their lips touched; Ari’s arms flew around Eoghan. He yanked him against his body, pivoting them both and slamming him up against the front door. His back hit the hard surface with a thud, startling a gasp out of him, before Ari deepened the kiss. Eoghan immediately parted his lips allowing Ari’s tongue entrance. He let out a breathy moan as Ari took charge, eating at his mouth, sucking on his tongue, pressing them together even harder as he trapped him between two hard surfaces, his front door and the much harder length of Ari’s muscled frame.

Eoghan’s mind swam as he clung to Ari’s broad shoulders, loving the way he took charge and at the same time, desperately lost in the desire to dominate the exchange. He wanted Ari, had ever since he’d laid eyes on him. He’d been fighting the urge to kiss him, and now that the moment had arrived, he was drowning in it. Eoghan groaned as Ari molded his big, hard body into him, and started a slow grind. He could feel the rock-hard evidence of Ari’s arousal as he slowly thrust against him, churning his hips.

Eoghan wrapped his arms around him, slowly sliding his palms downward until he could grab hold of his flexingbackside. He had the most perfect bubble butt of any man he’d ever seen and judging by the way he was moving; he certainly knew what he was doing.

Eoghan concentrated on his mouth, tasting the aromatic basil and the underlying flavor of the man himself. Sexy and confident as he used his tongue to seek out all the corners of his mouth before easing up and gliding it against Eoghan’s. His lips were a whole other delight, pillowy soft, and the way he moved them against Eoghan’s, simply stole his breath. Eoghan felt as though he was being consumed but the sensation was so beautiful, he had no desire to end it. His heart hammered in his chest, his pulse pounded in his veins, and he could barely catch his breath between kisses before Ari’s mouth was back on his, moving in at a different angle. His knees went weak and he was for once grateful that his freedom was completely dependent upon his taller, more muscular partner. He felt out of control but all he wanted to do was surrender.

When the pasta timer suddenly dinged in the kitchen, he groaned as Ari raised his head, breaking their kiss for the first time in several minutes. He instantly lamented the loss of those beautiful lips as Ari stood panting, staring down at him. His darkened hazel eyes had filled with lust, and his chest rose and fell as he panted, clearly as aroused as he was. As Eoghan let his gaze slide down the length of his beautiful body, spotting the impressive tent in the sweats he wore, he knew for a fact he wasn’t the only one affected by the encounter against his front door.

Ari took a step back. “You’d better check the pasta. No one likes soggy farfalle.”

Eoghan felt himself chuckle, nodding and stepping past him with great regret, heading for the kitchen. He drained the pasta in the colander and stirred the delicious smellingsauce, adding a little more heavy cream, cracked pepper, and salt. As he tossed it with the pasta, he noticed the way Ari smoothed a hand over the top of his head and returned to the couch, picking up his wineglass and petting Bear who’d somehow managed to sleep through the most intense moment in Eoghan’s life.

Chapter Thirteen

The next morning, half asleep still, Eoghan rolled over in bed, realizing all too late what a massive erection he had. He opened his eyes and blinked, glancing at the digital clock on his bedside table. The alarm wasn’t due to go off for another hour. He sighed in the dark and rolled to his back, picturing the way he’d nearly attacked his partner’s lips the night before.

And almost before he knew what he was doing, his hand was sliding down over the light fur of his belly and finding its way under the stretchy waistband of his sleeping pants. There, among the short thatch, he located his target, moaning as he circled the engorged shaft.

Eoghan groaned as he took himself in hand, giving his dick a few experimental tugs before sliding a callused thumb over the slit in his cock. He groaned as the digit picked up a few precious drops of precome. He rubbed the moisture back into the wide, sensitive head, immediately closing his fist tighter around the shaft as he pictured Ari’s half-lidded eyes staring back at him when they’d broken the kiss the night before. The way his breathing had hitched…his rod firm inside the sweatpants he’d been wearing. He remembered the way Ari’s breath had sawed in and out of his chest when he’d finally broken the kiss. The man had been just as aroused by the way their lips entwined as he was.

He slid his other hand under the covers and worked his sleeping pants down farther, freeing his cock as he took his sac in hand. He squeezed the firm balls inside as he continued to pump his dick, opening his mouth and imagining the softnessof Ari’s lips when they’d been kissing. He briefly wondered how they’d feel sliding down over the head of his cock. His thumb slid over the slit again, this time, coming back wet with a copious amount of precome as he continued to massage his balls. They grew tighter, and when he let his pinky slide downward over the taint, he reveled in the slight bulge there, something always present when he was full and ready to empty his load.

He pumped harder, pulling faster on his cock as he thought of Ari’s mouth taking him in, pretty hazel eyes gazing up at him as his full lips stretched wide over the cut cock Eoghan was feeding him. In the fantasy, Ari sucked and Eoghan groaned. He jacked himself harder with the sudden awareness of his breath whooshing in and out, his heart hammering as he got closer. Letting go of his balls, he pushed the sheet down to see the engorged head and watch the show—stroking himself harder as his climax approached. He panted, picturing Ari lift his head, and wipe the back of his hand over sinful lips. Then straddling him and batting Eoghan’s hand away from his cock to take the job in hand himself.

“That’s right, baby. Come for me, Eoghan,” the fantasy Ari whispered to him.

Picturing Ari’s lips moving and turning up at the corners in a wicked smile, he looked down as the fantasy pumped him harder, faster.

“That’s right, love. Come for Ari…come for me, baby,” the fantasy whispered. “I want to see you lose control. Lose yourself in me, Eoghan. You’re mine.”

That was all it took, and his climax rushed over him as his back arched, and he bucked off the bed. He looked down just in time to witness a thick blast of come shoot from the slit of his engorged dick, arcing up and over his body, landing with a hot splat between his pecs. The orgasm wrenched his bodyinto a spasm as his balls gave up their load, spilling onto his belly in a second burst, sending shivers coursing through his body as he was utterly consumed by the burning fire of the fantasy who’d taken him there.

As the explosive climax finally tapered off, Eoghan blew out a long, slow breath, reveling in the final judders of his orgasm dying away. He ran his hand through his hair as he looked down at several cooling, creamy puddles before reaching over to grab tissues from the box on the bedside table. He couldn’t remember when he’d come that hard or in such a copious amount. He wiped himself down as he noted the time, stretching languidly. There was just under an hour to go before he needed to get up, so he snuggled back down under the covers, feeling sated, warm, and happy.

Eoghan groaned when his alarm finally did go off. As he opened his eyes and looked up at the bedroom ceiling in the dark, he groaned out loud, remembering everything that had happened the night before. He’d chewed out his partner for something he’d already taken him to task for in front of the chief. Then he’d initiated the hottest kiss he’d ever experienced just to stop him from walking out of his house…and walking out of their partnership.

When the kiss had ended, he’d gone back into the kitchen and finished preparing their meal in silence, dishing it up, and serving it at his small table without so much as a “please pass the salt” and a “would you like any parmesan?” He’d gone off to the hallway to pull blankets and sheets off the shelf and made up the couch while Ari cleaned up their dinner dishes. Then, like the coward he was, he’d wished him a good night, carrying Bear back to the bedroom where he’d shut himself in and fallen into a fitful sleep while the cat had an annoying case of the zoomies all over his bed.

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