Page 42 of Part & Parcel

Kelly grabbed for him, digging his fingers into Nick’s hard triceps to stop him. “I’ll get it. Baby. Nick. It’s okay. It happened, you fought it off, and I’m okay. Please stay with me. Don’t run.”

“I wasn’t—”

“Yes,” Kelly hissed. He closed his eyes in a bid for calm. “You were.”

His stomach tumbled as they both remained where they were, wrapped together, still breathless and sweaty, cum still slick between them. He scooted a little closer, placing his palm on Nick’s cheek. He kissed him on the very tip of his nose, earning a little snort of amusement from his stoic boyfriend.

“What was that all about?” Kelly finally whispered, moving his lips against Nick’s.

Nick’s eyes fluttered closed, and a flush began to spread high on his cheeks. His fingers dug into Kelly’s rib cage. “I was . . . lost.”

Kelly nodded. “I understand.”

“But then it was you under me,” Nick continued in a rush. “And I had to hurry in casethatwas really the dream, and I’d wake up in the sand before I could have you.”

Kelly realized he was holding his breath, his mouth ajar and his eyes squeezed tightly shut. When Nick shifted in his arms and pressed their lips together, Kelly slid his arm under Nick’s head so he could hold him better. He wrapped him up in a hug, kissing him gently over and over as Nick gripped his thigh and wrapped Kelly’s leg over his hip. He held on to Kelly like he might still be dreaming, afraid to let him go.

“Nicko,” Kelly finally whispered. Nick squeezed him tighter, shoving his face against Kelly’s chest. Kelly spoke against his unruly auburn hair. “You were right, babe. Eli’s talking to us. To you.”

Nick’s breath was hot against Kelly’s skin.

“I think . . . I think you need to listen to him.”

Nick pulled back to meet his eyes, his breath stuttering.

“You were right,” Kelly whispered, running his hand through Nick’s hair. “You need to do it.”

“This is Grady,” Ty Grady answered on the third ring. Even though he was supposed to be retired from the FBI and doing cupcake jobs for the CIA, Ty still hadn’t shaken the habit of answering the phone as if someone was calling to tell him about a murder.

“Hey, Tyler,” Nick said with a smile, trying to cover his nerves by closing his eyes as he spoke. “How’s it going?”

“Irish? You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Everything’s fine. Don’t panic.”

“Don’t panic is what people say when they’re panicking!”

“I’m not panicking!” Nick insisted. “No one’s panicking.”

“Well I am now!”

Nick had to laugh, and Ty huffed. Nick was silent for a few seconds, just listening to the soft breaths of his best friend on the phone. It spoke to the last couple years of their lives that a phone call from a friend immediately caused concern. That was something they’d both agreed to work on when Ty had been visiting Boston last month.

“I need to call more often, huh?” Nick asked, still smiling.

“Or how about getting your ass on a plane and coming to see me again, huh? I have a surprise.”

“Yeah, Zane sent me a text message about your kittens, dude.”

“That asshole! I told him not to tell you until you came back here!”

“He asked me to come steal them and make it look like a ransom job.”

“Wow. Dude. Wow.” Ty muttered and thumped around for a few seconds as Nick listened with a gentle smile.

“Send me pictures, then,” Nick finally groaned.

“I’ll have to find them first; I’m teaching them evasion techniques and . . . they’re really good at it.”

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