Desires' Guardian (10 page)

A gentle hand touching his startled Chase out of his irritated and irrational thoughts. “What is it?”

“Nothing. I’m sorry, Adrian.”

“No, something about that couple over there bothers you. Do you know them?” The softly spoken question startled Chase. He hadn’t realized he had been so noticeable in his distraction.

“I—Yes, but it doesn’t matter.”

Adrian continued to stare at him, as if waiting for something.

“Really, it doesn’t matter. The big one over there,” he explained, gesturing with one hand. “His name is Rhys. We were an almost, once upon a time.” It was more complicated than that, of course, but he didn’t really think Adrian needed or wanted the full history.

Adrian nodded. “Would you like to go for a little walk?”

Chase thought it over for a moment but agreed. Once he paid for their meal—he insisted even though Adrian attempted to swipe the bill—Adrian led him outside.

Chase slipped his coat on, then held Adrian’s out for him, smoothing the lapels down before stepping back. Adrian took his hand and tugged him down the sidewalk. It was cold out, but he was happy to walk with Adrian. Well, until he started talking again.

“You are not truly over him, are you?” The way Adrian looked at Chase made him want to squirm, and not in a good way. His father gave him the same look when he knew Chase was going to lie.

“I—”

“It’s okay, Chase. I’ve seen that look before. Hell, I’ve worn it myself.” Adrian reached out and gently slid his fingers down Chase’s cheek. “You were nervous and jittery before they arrived. Since then, it has gotten worse.”

“Maybe, but I asked you out because I like you for who you are, not for who you’re not, if that makes sense.”

Adrian nodded. “I trust you, Chase.”

Adrian moved slowly closer to him, tilted his head ever so slightly, and gently pressed his lips against Chase’s. He froze for a moment, and then pushed into the kiss. Adrian kept it light, and after a few moments, Chase realized he felt nothing about the kiss. When Adrian pulled away, he was disappointed, but only with himself.

A small sigh escaped Adrian’s lips and a sad smile spread across his face. “But I think you need a friend right now, more than a boyfriend.”

Chase gaped at him. “Seriously?” He could feel his face heat, hating himself for being so easy to read.

“Very.” Adrian’s face suddenly split into a broad grin. “Do I still get that ride on your bike?”

Chase started laughing. “Come on! Friends get bike rides too,” he signed and said. He took Adrian’s hand again and tugged him back to his parked Sabre.

B
Y
THE
time Chase returned to his empty apartment, he was cold and couldn’t seem to shake the feeling Adrian might be right about waiting longer before trying to date, or perhaps even trying to ask Rhys out, not that he thought the latter would help.

Chase dumped his bag, jacket, and helmet on the couch and headed to his bedroom, deciding a shower to thaw his freezing bones might be a good idea. Stripping quickly, he stepped into the bathroom and turned on the water to warm it up.

After stepping into the hot shower, Chase braced himself against the wall with his hands and let the water pound on his back, warming him as it loosened his tense muscles. His mind drifted to how Rhys had looked earlier that evening. How his powerful body had stretched the fine material of his chocolate button-down, his rich auburn hair tied back in the little ponytail Chase’s fingers always itched to pull free. And,
God
, how he moved set Chase off. He almost prowled, with such power and grace he was certain there were large cats jealous of his sensuous movements and innate power.

He grabbed the body wash and lathered up his chest and abs, trying to ignore the fact his cock had taken an interest in his musings. As he continued to wash, his mind again focused on Rhys, but this time on their one night together. To how delicious Rhys’s skin had tasted and felt beneath his teeth and tongue. The sounds the man had made as he filled him again and again.

Before he realized what he was doing, he’d wrapped his right hand tightly around his erection. Giving up on doing otherwise, Chase poured a little conditioner into his hand and took long strokes from base to crown, giving a slight squeeze and twist to the head. Continuing to pleasure himself, Chase let his desires free.

Picking up speed with each stroke, Chase leaned against the wall, widening his stance. He tweaked one nipple, then the other, pinching and rolling, dragging more groans out of himself. Eventually he cupped his sac, tugging and squeezing the way he liked, both adding to the pleasure and keeping him on the edge of bliss.

Pulling harder and faster, Chase pictured Rhys’s lips wrapped around his throbbing cock—the heat and wetness of the shower became the inside of Rhys’s mouth. At the last moment, Chase dropped his hand to massage and tease his opening, pressing in just as his orgasm hit, the pleasure overwhelming him as wave after wave of thick cream spurted into the running water. Chase didn’t stop stroking himself until every drop was out and his skin felt too sensitive to continue.

Not wanting reality to invade his perfect high, Chase quickly rinsed and dried off with his eyes closed, attempting to keep the image of Rhys, blissed out and covered in his own come, clear in his mind. Chase climbed into bed, wrapped himself around one of the large pillows, and settled on the thought of how warm and content Rhys had looked as he drifted off to sleep.

T
HE
NEXT
morning, Chase got up early, knowing James, Dale, and Vaughn would arrive soon for breakfast. He was both glad and disappointed Simon wouldn’t be there, but he figured he would not have to listen to any “told you sos” about picking his own date from the others. But then, his choice of dates had bombed too, but for a very different reason than Si’s choices always did.

His mind flashed back to the night before, when Adrian had kissed him. The man had soft, gentle lips. Lips that under normal conditions he would have loved to nibble and kiss until they were swollen and red, but the only lips his mind seemed to conjure when he thought of passion and heat were Rhys’s. Of course, that brought to mind his shower from the night before.

Annoyed at the warmth spreading throughout his body, Chase willed his rapidly hardening cock to lie down and behave. When that didn’t work too well, he reminded himself of the guy on Rhys’s arm at the restaurant, hoping to squash the longing he still felt.

Trying, again, to push such thoughts away, Chase started pulling out the ingredients for his cinnamon vanilla french toast, as per the text requests he’d awakened to find that morning. He was just pulling out the bacon and juice when he heard the first set of rat-a-tat-tats on his front door. He realized he was wearing only a pair of threadbare jeans as he opened his door.

“Oh, man candy and breakfast? My fave,” Vaughn teased. “Still think you need to get one of these pierced,” he continued with a smirk and reached out to quickly pinch one of Chase’s nipples before ducking past him and fleeing into the apartment.

Chase hissed at the touch—they were both still a little sensitive from how rough he’d been on them the night before. “Hey, those are not for you to play with,” Chase growled back, playfully chasing Vaughn through the apartment.

“Now, now, boys. Play nice.” Dale followed them inside and looked around, then quirked a brow at Chase. “Where’s James? We are
never
here first.”

“Seems you are today. Jamie texted me earlier, so I know he will be here soon. Now, why don’t one of you go set the table while I get the bacon cooking and finish the toast,” Chase instructed. He said the same thing every time they came over to eat.

After a moment, Chase heard the stereo go on in the living room. Before long, the sounds of “Madness” by Muse surrounded him, and he found he was dancing while cooking.

By the time he was plating their food, James arrived. They all sat down and started eating immediately.

“So, how was the date last night?” Dale asked.

Chase frowned, not sure he wanted to discuss his problem with them, even if they were his best friends.

“Oh no, that bad?” Vaughn leaned over, giving him a half hug. “Was the guy not nice to you or something?”

“No, nothing like that. Adrian is really very sweet. He’s smart, funny, and patient. He didn’t even tease when I messed up some of my signs,” Chase added with a tiny smile. “He’s great, but… not for me?”

James set his fork down before speaking. “What went wrong, then, Chase? You were so excited about this one. It’s not still Rhys, is it?”

He winced at the sound of Rhys’s name. Chase could tell they all caught it too. “The damn man had the audacity to show up at Louie’s with anoth—with some boy.”

The three other men looked at each other, and if he didn’t know better, he would swear Dale smirked.

“Thought you said you were over what happened and he hadn’t hurt you. You want to add anything to your story?” Jamie added, picking his fork back up and taking another bite of french toast.

Chase’s gaze snapped up to meet James’s. “I told you before he didn’t hurt me, but even now that I know he lied about what he thinks of me and my appearance, it wouldn’t work. And don’t any of you,” he added quickly, pointedly staring at each man in turn, “think you know better than me on this one.”

“We would never presume such a thing,” Dale said, his tone so serious Chase knew he was being mocked. Dale was never that serious, ever!

“Humph! I’m not playing these games with you three. Now, eat up. We need to get to the shop for our final fitting,” Chase crooned, grinning at James.

“Yeah,” James sighed, looking off into the distance with the same dopey, love-struck look Chase had seen for months whenever his wedding was mentioned.

After they’d eaten and cleaned up, they headed out as a group to the tux shop. Even though Chase and James had tuxedos, they were getting all new clothes so everyone coordinated perfectly.

C
HASE
PULLED
up as close as possible to the front of the Onyx Rose B&B, the site where the rehearsal dinner and wedding reception were being held, barely taking in the beautiful setting. He had been here before, of course, seeing as it was the first in a chain of GLBTQ hotels Carrington Enterprises—Seth Burns specifically—designed and owned. If it weren’t for the building before him, James and Seth would never have met, and there would be no pending nuptials.

A young man darted over, offering assistance. Chase smiled, thankful for the full service offered, even though it was set up as a B&B and not a traditional, stuffy hotel. “Can you grab me one of those big dolly things? I have a lot to transport inside and need to do so quickly.”

In a matter of minutes, Chase—with Chad the valet’s help—had the tuxes and other apparel for the wedding party, the programs, and a few early wedding presents loaded. Chase tossed the man his keys and headed inside to start delivering items.

Even though he lived in the area, as did much of the wedding party, they were all staying at the Onyx Rose. That evening, they would hold the rehearsal dinner, and tomorrow evening, the wedding itself—well, the public wedding. The legal one would be in Iowa in the morning.

An hour later, Chase stopped in front of Rhys and Dal’s room to drop off their things, and froze. Why he couldn’t just forget about the damn man, he did not know. However, showing up at Rhys’s hotel door was not on Chase’s list of happy things to do. Nope, Rhys was definitely not on his bucket list. Taking a deep breath, Chase raised his fist and gave a light knock, hoping no one would be there… or maybe just Dal. Dal he could handle just fine, but he so didn’t want to see—

Before he could continue that thought, the door opened. The sight before him nearly brought Chase to his knees. Rhys was in a pair of jeans that hung low on his tapered hips. They highlighted his thick, muscular thighs. Chase wasn’t entirely sure how they even stayed up with how low they sat. That was also the only thing he wore—well, other than the towel he was using to dry his hair.

“Yeah?” Rhys asked. He stopped, and his eyes widened as he stared at Chase.

It took Chase a moment to form words that weren’t likely to get him in trouble. “Uh, um, Rhys? I, I have yours and Dal’s stuff. I’m just, um—”

“Calm down, Chase. You know it doesn’t bother me to have you here, so take a deep breath, please.”

Chase went from flustered to irritated in a half second flat. How dare the man tease him like that? “I don’t need you to help me breathe, thank you very much. I was trying to say I have your tuxedos and… things. Would you mind?” he snapped, pointing to the dolly where both men’s items hung.

Rhys’s gaze followed Chase’s slender hand as he gestured but then snapped back to Chase’s face again. “No, I don’t mind. Here, let me help you,” Rhys continued, his voice low and husky. He stepped into Chase’s space, brushing his massive, naked chest against Chase’s outstretched arm as he reached around to grab the two garment bags.