Page 74 of Tooth and Nail

Chapter Twenty

They were exhausted when they got back into town several hours later. They’d sent Oberon and Titania pictures of what was left of Ariel and Umbriel by text message. He’d warned them what they’d see before sending them, but they’d behaved almost like they’d known what to expect. They very possibly had. The two space fairies had led them into what would’ve been a trap had they not suspected them of being duplicitous. Had Titania and Oberon’s tiny rival fairies been able to scatter before the sugar netting came down over them, keeping them contained, Eoghan and Ari would have been devoured. They’d ended up being coated with syrup from the sugar netting. Eoghan was going to let Wordy know about the weapon’s shortcomings to protect other marshals in the future.

Eoghan had no doubt Oberon and Titania suspected the fate of their offspring before they’d even contacted the I.S.R. to enlist their help. After learning the news, the fairies hadn’t expressed any emotion, speaking to them in that weird cadence they talked in. They promised their visit to Earth was done and they were heading home as soon as the mess left by the demise of their rivals had been cleaned up. It seemed the air around Visalia wouldn’t be choked with sparkly space fairie come any longer.

After speaking to the fairies, they’d talked to the chief on the drive back, giving her the gist of what had happened out there in the Sequoia Forest. She’d praised them both, calling it a job well done and asked them to report to the office firstthing in the morning for a complete debrief. The five-and-a-half-hour drive that followed checking out of their hotel, had been the cherry on top of a crappy assignment all around. Eoghan pulled into the driveway and parked the Charger they’d driven to Visalia beside Al Greenberg’s Cadillac at nine that night. It was a warm, early spring night and Al was out front watering the lawn when they got out.

“Hey there, boys!” Mr. Greenberg greeted, waving and turning to shut off the water.

“Hey, Mr. Greenberg,” Eoghan said, smiling at the older man as he walked up the path. He waved at Ted when he spotted him sitting on the porch, sipping a lemonade. The lemon tree in the back had the best lemons and there was something very special about the lemonade Al and Ted made. Ted chalked it up to the loving hands of the man who made it…his Al. Every time he said it, it brought a smile to Eoghan’s face. He looked over at Ari walking beside him and as he felt a pang of something deep inside his chest, realized he was the kind of man it would be nice to make a life with.

“I’m glad you’re home,” Mr. Greenberg said.

“Was Bear a problem?” Eoghan always worried about his cat when he was out of town, which happened every now and then. Their office covered the whole state of California, so when he was absent, his arrangement with Al to take care of his precious animal, was comforting. Nevertheless, he worried.

“Bear? Oh, he’s a gorgeous thing. No, he’s perfectly wonderful but I wanted to talk with your friend there about the unit beside yours.”

“What’s going on, sir?” Ari asked, stopping beside Eoghan.

Ted got up and walked down the porch steps, putting an arm around his partner who smiled up at him, before visiblyleaning his weight on him. The older couple was so much in love, it made his heart do a flip-flop.

“Mr. Lawless has given me notice. He’ll be moving out within a month. He’s decided to follow his daughter and her family to Montana after all…grandkids, you know.”

Eoghan turned to look at Ari who was nodding. He glanced back at Mr. Greenberg who was smiling at his partner. “That means, I’m going to be renting the place and if you’re still looking, it might turn out to be right for you. That is—” He turned and wiggled his eyebrows at Eoghan. “Unless you’re planning on staying with Eoghan.”

Eoghan turned to look at Ari who held his gaze for several seconds before looking back at the kind landlord.

“I’d be very interested, sir…if the rent is affordable.”

“We’ll work something out, son.” Both men grinned widely, and Mr. Greenberg stuck out his hand. Ari shook it and then his partner’s as well.

“I promise, this neighborhood is a hell of a lot better than your last one,” Eoghan said. The thought of having Ari right next door sounded better and better the longer he thought about it.

Ari nodded, wrinkling his nose distastefully. He had to be thinking of his past digs. “That reminds me. I’m going to need a car.” He looked over at his new landlord. “I should really get to bed. We’re due in the office early and I still have to work out something with my insurance company about the car, sir. Thank you again for thinking about me regarding the rent.” He looked around before glancing back in Eoghan’s direction.

“Thank you, Mr. Greenberg, Mr. Feld,” Eoghan said.

“How many times have I told you to use our first names?” Al Greenberg asked.

“Such a stubborn boy,” Ted added. “Well, we won’t keep you.” He nodded at the duffels they carried. “We know you twomust be tired. Come on, honey. The new season of Queer Eye just dropped on Netflix, and I know you love Jonathan.”

“Oh, yes,” Al said dreamily. “All that lovely long hair.” He reached up and ran a hand over his own bald pate. “Let’s go, Teddy bear. Good night.” With that, the two men walked up their porch steps arm in arm, closing their front door as Eoghan and Ari headed down the pathway to the back units.

“Are they too sugary sweet, or what?” Ari whispered as he followed Eoghan.

He grinned and ran his hand over the top of his head. They’d stopped at the first gas station they’d found and run a hose through their hair to remove as much sugar syrup as they could after putting on the extra clothes they’d packed. But he really needed a good, long, hot shower to get the rest out.

Bear must have heard his keys in the front door. As soon as Eoghan opened it and stepped over the threshold; he started meowing loudly as he ran down the hall, most likely coming from the back bedroom. In an instant, the cat was there, launching himself off the floor and into his arms. He clutched the affectionate animal to his chest, laughing when he began giving him aggressive kisses along his chin. Ari closed the door as he stepped into the house behind him, and his low chuckle sent shivers up Eoghan’s spine. He loved having the man here in his home and hopefully, tonight, in his bed as well.

After giving Bear a ton of kisses, he set him on the ground and picked up a pile of mail Mr. Greenberg had brought in for him while he was away. One was a small, discreetly marked envelope which he took several seconds to grin about before setting it back down and looking over to his partner. It felt naturally domestic to have Ari here with him in his house and as he watched him bend to scratch his cat under the chin, he realized he didn’t want him to leave. Having him here just feltright. As Ari straightened and met his eyes with a dancing glint in his own, a whole scenario for how he wanted the night to play out, took root in his brain. He walked over and stopped in front of him before reaching up and cupping the back of his head. When Ari’s gaze dropped to his lips, Eoghan brought his face down.

Their lips met in a soft kiss that almost immediately turned incendiary. Eoghan backed him up against the wall as he ran both hands under Ari’s shirt, lifting it. His nipples pebbled as soon as they met the cold air and Eoghan looked up at him as he bent to blow warm air across one. Sure enough, it had the desired effect as the man shivered. Ari slid his arms around Eoghan’s back, bringing their bodies together. He felt a throb of arousal the moment he felt the hard ridge in his khakis. In less than a minute, his own cock was a steel rod. There was just something about his partner that had him half hard whenever he thought about the way they’d become almost effortlessly intimate back in that hotel room.

Ari’s tongue battled with his for dominance which just happened to work for Eoghan. He loved an aggressive lover who took charge almost as much as he loved giving in and allowing him to do whatever he wanted. Though, used to being the one in charge in the bedroom, he was getting accustomed to the fact that normal top and bottom roles didn’t matter to him. Then again, he could play the power bottom better than anyone he knew. Besides, the moment he’d realized he was going to sleep with his new partner, figuring out who was doing who in the bedroom was the least important thing of all.

And, best of all, Ari was so good at doing all those things other lovers had overlooked with him in the bedroom. Kellen McGillis, had been selfish in bed, taking what he wanted first, and only then giving back. He deliberately shut down thoughtsof his ex-lover. He needed to stop thinking about him when he had the most beautifully kind and unselfish man in his arms.

“I need a shower before anything else,” Ari gasped as he tore his mouth from Eoghan’s. He stepped back, and Eoghan silently took his hand, leading him back to the bathroom. He turned on the shower as they stripped, testing the warmth to make sure it was perfect before stepping inside the remodeled tub/shower combo Al had put in last year, and pulling Ari in with him. When he noticed how Ari was looking at him, he stopped.

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