Guardian (13 page)

He held out a few more seconds, then shifted his grip to hold both Alex’s arms in one hand. Ty jerked free of Alex’s mouth and gazed down at him as he gave a few quick tugs of his cock while Alex’s tongue danced along his slit.

And then the dam burst. He shot his load across Alex’s lips, his cheek, his hair. Jet after jet of it spilled out of him, and took his breath with it until he was left helpless, curled over Alex, leaning his forehead weakly against the headboard.

Alex murmured in satisfaction and lightly kissed Ty’s shaft. “Was that good?” he whispered.

Ty mumbled in response until he could gather his thoughts enough to answer.

“You,” he eventually said, “are gonna have to teach me how to do that to you.”

“Deal.” Alex chuckled. “Maybe not tonight though.”

“Yeah. Ty finally managed to roll aside and grinned. “Shit, you look good with me on you.”

Alex laughed. “You taste good with me on you.”

“Perfect fit,” Ty sighed happily.

A
lex woke in an unfamiliar bed
, and with a furnace wrapped around him. It took a moment for him to put all the clues together so that when he opened his eyes he wasn’t surprised to find Ty grinning at him.

“Hey, sleepyhead.”

Alex took a sharp breath. “Oh, God. What time is it?”

“Saturday.” Ty laughed.

Alex’s mind finally caught up, and he heaved a sigh of relief. “Saturday,” he echoed. “Right.” He gazed up at the Adonis who held him in his arms, and a smile broke out.

They’d finally made it into the shower last night, and then collapsed into bed. Alex all but passed out right away.

But he was here now, in this Spartan bedroom, with Ty.

None of it was a dream. It was all real.

He sat up enough to kiss Ty. He’d meant for it to be brief, a
good morning
kiss, but Ty’s overnight stubble rasped against him, and he couldn’t pull away. He’d gotten so used to Ty being clean-shaven that he’d not experienced this roughness from him, so he decided to indulge in it. He raised a hand and caressed Ty’s jaw in his palm.

“Oh you’re gonna get me started again,” Ty rumbled.

“Is there a problem with that?”

Ty chuckled. “Val and Phoebe want their breakfasts.”

Alex sat up and rubbed his face. He could hear Val’s nose snuffling at the bottom of the door.

“Oh, she’s not used to being outside,” he admitted. “My poor baby. Daddy’s here!” He hurried out of bed and went for the door.

“Hey!”

He turned just in time to catch the boxers Ty threw at him.

“No flashing!”

Alex felt the blush course through his cheeks. “God, I’m so used to having the place to myself! I’m so sorry.” He fumbled the boxers on then opened the door.

Val barreled in like a bat out of hell. Her tongue lolled and she bounced around the room as though she were mounted on springs.

Alex gripped the boxers when they started to slip down, and only then did he figure out they weren’t his own, so he shut the door and fumbled about for his overnight bag.

He dressed quickly while Val licked every part of him she could apply her tongue to. “Sorry. Once she’s fed we can—”

Ty rose from the bed and began to gather fresh clothes for himself. “It’s Saturday. Busy day.”

Alex paused. “Oh. Do you work?”

“Nah. But Phoebe and I go for a walk, then we make sure all her schoolwork’s done, then she has Tae Kwon Do, then we play board games in the evening…”

Alex tugged his socks on as he gazed at Ty. He felt like an idiot.

Weekends didn’t mean the same to Ty. They weren’t time off, they weren’t for lounging around watching Netflix in his underwear. He had a little girl to raise, and he took it damn seriously.

It was one of the qualities which had drawn Alex to him in the first place.

“Can Val and I join you on your walk?” He gestured to his bag. “I totally blanked on bringing my jogging gear, so all I’ve got is jeans.”

“Can you?” Ty laughed warmly. “I’d love you to.”

“Great!”

C
orona Park was huge
. For a guy who’d lived in Queens all his life, Alex only remembered coming here as a child, back when it all seemed way less impressive to the ennui of kids on a school trip to the museum. As an adult, though, he had a new appreciation for how vast the place was.

Val didn’t mind being on her extending leash, either. She was fascinated by the new location, and explored every inch with her nose, pausing to wee on everything from an interesting stick to some litter.

“Will she run out of pee?” Phoebe asked.

Alex chuckled. “Eventually,” he admitted. “She’s good for around an hour, though.”

“Wow. I can’t pee for an hour.”

Ty rolled his eyes. “Are we really comparing our pee to the dog’s?”

Phoebe giggled. “Alex, are you going to live with us now?”

“Oh!” Alex blinked and glanced up at Ty. “It’s, er. It’s a bit soon to make those sorts of decisions, don’t you think?”

“Maybe,” Ty answered, his expression and tone neutral.

Thanks for the rescue there!

Alex bit his lip and shook his head.

“How long does it take?” Phoebe looked up at them both.

“Well. There are a lot of things to consider.” Alex looked to her, since Ty was apparently going to let him field this one.

“What like?”

Ah, she was a quizzer. Alex couldn’t say he was all that surprised. She was a smart cookie, and hardly shy with it.

Well, he knew how to deal with quizzers. He’d seen more than a few in his office over the years. The best way forward was truth.

“Well.” He puffed out his cheeks. “First of all, your uncle and I need to spend more time together, to be really sure we like each other.”

“You do like each other.” She jutted out her lip.

“Did you make friends at school you don’t hang out with anymore?” he asked her.

She squinted ahead while she thought about it. “Yes,” she concluded.

“And that’s okay isn’t it? You guys just stopped liking each other, right?”

She shrugged. “I guess.”

“Well, adults can do that too. So it makes sense for us to be really sure before we move in together, doesn’t it? ’Cause if we go too soon and it turns out we stop liking each other, one of us has to go find a new place to live, and that’s really hard.”

“Why?”

He wasn’t about to spend the next three hours in an economics lesson or the availability of affordable rent versus the number of people clamoring for apartments, so instead he chose to go with: “Because then Val will come with me, and you will stay with Ty, and it’d be hard to say goodbye, wouldn’t it?”

Phoebe reached out to pet Val’s head briefly. “I get it,” she mused. “How long before you know?”

“I think we’re almost there,” Ty cut in, casting Alex a fond look. “We’ll figure it out, Boo.”

Alex basked in the warmth that look brought.

“Can we move in with you?” Phoebe asked.

“Hm.” Alex looked down to her. “We’d have to talk about that. I don’t live in Flushing, so I’m nowhere near your school, and it isn’t fair to uproot you. Plus your uncle’s workshop is here, isn’t it? It would make more sense for me to move to Flushing rather than for you guys to move in with me.”

“Though Alex does have a way nicer apartment,” Ty added.

“Well can you stay all weekend, then?” Phoebe’s face brightened. “Oh! You can learn Tae Kwon Do!”

Alex blinked. “I’m not much of a fighter…”

“Uncle Ty says it’s important to be able to protect people if something bad happens.” She nodded, and her pigtails swished back and forth.

“But I do protect people.” He chuckled. “I’m an attorney.”

Ty’s hand slipped into his own, warm and callused and so strong. “Alex protects people a different way. The way he protected us.”

Phoebe’s features creased into a frown. “From bad people like my dad,” she finished.

“Right.” Ty nodded to her. “Sometimes the world needs people like me. And sometimes it needs people like Alex.”

She scrutinized them both, then raised her head. “When I grow up, I wanna do both. I’m gonna kick ass
and
do law.”

Alex grinned at that. “Princess, if that’s what you want, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure it happens.”

Ty squeezed his hand and leaned in to kiss his cheek. “Damn right,” he rumbled. “And don’t ever let anyone tell you can’t be who you want to be.”

Alex leaned in and slid his arm around Ty’s waist. “Not even yourself,” he teased.

“Especially not yourself,” Ty grunted.

T
hey sat together
in the waiting room while Phoebe was in her TKD class. Alex noticed how the other parents or guardians present shied away from Ty. Some would cluster together and chat, others tinkered with their cellphones.

Very few of them seemed to pay any attention to the screens which showed their children in class.

“Wow.” Alex leaned in against Ty’s side. “Is it always like this?”

Ty ran his hand lightly along Alex’s shoulder. His bicep was rock solid across Alex’s back.

The guy really had no hesitation at all with showing his affection in public. Not for the first time, Alex envied him that.

“You mean the people blessed with their own kids acting like they’re a burden?” Ty snorted. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“And ignoring you,” Alex frowned.

“Oh, yeah. That too.” Ty shrugged and kissed his forehead. “Maybe they’re scared they’ll catch the gay.”

Alex snorted at him. “Or at least the bi.”

Ty shrugged. “Maybe if they caught it they’d lighten up a bit. Smile once in a while.” He chuckled and cupped Alex’s jaw, then kissed him softly on the lips.

Alex melted slowly against him, and the tension in his shoulders unwound.

“So. You wanna move in?”

Alex blinked up at him. “You want me to?”

“Have you in my bed every night?” Ty smirked. “You bet I do. But I should warn you. We’re up at six-thirty every morning.”

“That’s fine. I have to walk Val.”

“No cussing when Phoebe’s around.”

“I don’t when there are children present.” Alex’s pulse began to race.

“We split the chores three ways.”

“Better than doing them all myself.” Alex placed his hand on Ty’s thigh.

“What’s the lease on your apartment?”

“Three more months.”

Ty gave a curt nod. “Great. Then we’ll swing past your place later and grab enough of your things for you to be comfortable a couple of weeks, and if it doesn’t work out you’ve still got somewhere to fall back on.”

Alex felt giddy, and he laughed as he gazed up at Ty. “You don’t waste time, do you?”

“Nope.” Ty’s smirk was lopsided. “Alex, I’ve been watching you for months. Ever since you rolled up with that shitty Corolla of yours…” He paused, then lifted an eyebrow. “Actually, I always meant to ask. What’s a great attorney like you doing with a beat-up old thing like that?”

Alex shrugged. “It works. I don’t need something flashy to get to the office and back. It’s just a waste of money.”

Ty’s smirk softened. “See. I figured it’d be something like that. Well, the older it gets, the more you’re gonna need a mechanic on hand to take care of it. And if you pick the right one, that’s not the only thing he’ll take care of.”

Alex flushed. “Well, when you put it like that, I think I’ve got someone in mind.”

Ty chuckled and held him close, and Alex felt surer than he had in his whole life that he’d beaten the odds.

He’d found The One.

F
or a while there
, Ty was sure he’d gone crazy. He wasn’t a man used to dithering over decisions, but was this the kind of thing he should split-second on? This was his life, his home, and asking Alex to move in was one hell of a bold move.

Still, it felt like the
right
move. All the logic he’d run through in his head led him to this choice. Alex was fine with leaving his lease running while they tested this whole cohabiting thing, and if it didn’t work out it saved Alex a world of hassle if he had to leave. But if it
did
work out, Ty knew he’d kick himself for every day spent apart.

He wanted Alex in his life. The way the man looked at him, smiled his way, the things he could do with his hands and his mouth… Ty never wanted any of that to go away. Even waiting for him to come home after work in the evening felt like some cruel and unusual punishment for a crime he hadn’t committed.

They’d adapted pretty quickly to Alex’s diet. Ty just cooked any meat separately then added it to his own meals—and Phoebe’s, on the days she decided she wasn’t a vegetarian any more.

Life with Val was pretty crazy, but her constant happiness made up for the volume of fur she shed and the way she’d nudge his leg if she wanted his attention. She still snuffled under the bedroom door most mornings, though he suspected Phoebe had begun to let the dog into her room at night and sneak her out again before his alarm went off.

All things considered, it had been well worth buying a new suit for.

He was putting that suit on again now. Alex had some work shindig to go to, and he’d asked if Ty would be willing to go with him. Some kind of annual bubbly and canapés thing where the senior partners patted everyone on the back, then some of the junior legal secretaries got drunk and tried to photocopy their asses. Mrs. Rosenberg had agreed to take Phoebe until nine, and Alex had laughed that it gave them a great excuse to leave before anyone got too feisty.

Rather than Alex drive home, Ty had dropped him off this morning and was driving down to the office to collect him and head to the bar, so he didn’t want to run late. He checked himself over one last time, then grabbed his keys.

“You got everything ready, Boo?” He reached for Phoebe’s backpack when he got out into the living room.

“Yeah.” She hopped to her feet. “Mrs. Rosenberg’s gonna take us for waffles.”

Ty grimaced. “Well. Don’t go crazy, huh? Don’t want you bouncing off the walls all night.”

Phoebe nodded. “I promise.” She offered him her pinkie.

“Oh, a pinkie swear, huh?” He hooked his with hers and grinned. “Okay then. Let’s get this show on the road!”

A
lex fidgeted more
than usual in the passenger seat as Ty drove to the bar, and he could see the man’s fingers fussing with his cuffs or glasses out of the corner of his eye.

“Everything okay?”

Alex huffed softly. “Should be. I don’t know.”

Ty frowned at him. “Tricky case?”

“No. No, it’s this evening.” Alex laughed nervously. “God, Caroline better be right.”

Ty thought a moment, then remembered where he knew the name from. The little old lady at Alex’s firm. “About what?”

He listened as Alex explained his worry over the senior partners finding out he was gay. That surprised him, he had to admit; it hadn’t even occurred to him that Alex might still be in the closet at work. This was the twenty-first century, after all.

Still, DADT only got repealed in 2011, and even then he didn’t imagine life for gay guys in the Army had magically become a bed of roses overnight. Back when he’d been in Basic it wasn’t unusual for drill sergeants to yell words like
queer
or
faggot
at anyone not performing to their expectations. He doubted a bit of sensitivity training had fully put an end to that kind of thing. And if the Army was only just getting over all this homophobia, was it fair of him to expect more of civilians?

It sounded like Alex had an ally in Caroline though. And now in Ty, too.

“We’re not going into this alone,” he assured Alex as he pulled into a space by the curb. The bar was only half a block from here. “And any time you want to leave, we’ll go, okay?”

Alex gulped down air, then nodded. “Right. I’m ready.”

“You are,” Ty agreed. “And you’re the best damn attorney they’ve got, okay?” He leaned over to kiss Alex slowly, tenderly. “Knock ’em dead.”

H
e followed
Alex into the bar and smiled. The place was busy, but judging by the amount of suits in here it was almost all Alex’s colleagues and their partners. A quick sweep of the joint revealed the cause of Alex’s concern.

Every couple was straight.

There were a good mix of ages and ethnicities, but wherever there were two people arm in arm, there were two genders. Months ago Ty wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but now he was acutely aware of how uncomfortable it could make Alex feel.

He slid his palm to the base of Alex’s spine for a moment, and Alex gave him a grateful nod.

“Alex! Mr. Edwards! Glad you could come!” Caroline split from the crowd and came over to hug Alex, then offer Ty her hand.

“Good to see you again.” Ty shook her hand lightly.

“You look amazing. And it’s nice to see he makes you smile just as much as you make him do it.” She laughed. “He spends all day at the office with this big grin on his face.”

Alex’s ears turned pink. “Caroline!”

She just laughed and gestured to the bar. “Go on. I’ll let you get your drinks in.”

Ty chuckled. “Well that was easy. What can I get you?”

“Just a soda.”

Ty nodded and made his way to the bar for a couple of Cokes, and looked back at Alex as he passed cash over to pay.

Alex had put on his game face and was schmoozing like a pro. Every pair of eyes looked across at Ty after Alex gestured his way, and Ty met them with a polite nod. Some held confusion. Some were curious. A few tried hostility, but then melted into embarrassment when they saw Ty was twice their size. He made a note to let Alex know which colleagues had been less than pleasant with their looks, and carried their drinks back to his lover.

“Thanks.” Alex took his and sipped, then he paled slightly.

Ty followed his gaze and found an older man, thin as a rake, in a perfectly tailored suit and with the air of authority that marked him out as someone in charge. The obvious conclusion was that the man was a senior partner. “Which one is he?”

“Tim Reynolds.”

“You wanna go say hi?”

“No.”

Ty smiled and nodded. “Whatever you want, baby.”

Alex gazed up at him and Ty could see his eyes flit as they read his face. Then he gave a slight nod and drew himself upright. “Okay.” And he threaded his arm through Ty’s before leading him over to Reynolds.

“Alexander.” Reynolds sounded welcoming enough, and he looked up to Ty. “I’m sorry. I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Titus Edwards.” Ty shook Reynolds’ hand.

Reynolds nodded to himself, then his gaze fell to their intertwined arms, and his eyebrows lifted in understanding. “Ah! You’re the cause of Alexander’s jubilation lately, yes?”

Alex blinked like an owl, but at least he managed to stop his mouth from falling open.

“I’d like to think so, sir.” Ty gave an easy smile.

“Ex-military?” Reynolds chuckled. “Well, they sure lost out when you left, didn’t they?”

“That’s kind of you to say so, sir.”

“Well, it’s a real pleasure to meet you, Titus. Hopefully we’ll see more of you.” Reynolds nodded to Alex. “You’d have to be a fool to let this one go, Alexander. Have you got a place together yet?”

Alex raised his chin. “I’ve moved in with Ty. If we need a bigger place we’ll work it out.”

“Excellent.” Reynolds chuckled. “Ah, my wife is here at last. Would you excuse me?”

Alex watched Reynolds as he walked away, and Ty watched Alex. His lover looked dumbfounded, and the arm coiled around his own had begun to loosen.

“Looks like he’s on board,” Ty said softly. “Where’s the other one?”

Alex’s jaw worked, then he looked around slowly. “Not here yet. Might be working late.”

“Okay. Then let’s mingle a while, make small talk, and I’ll tell you which ones gave me a dirty look when you pointed them out.”

They plunged into the crowd and, little by little, Alex began to look less like a frightened animal and more like the man Ty had come to know.

T
hey got home
that evening and collected Phoebe. It was Ty’s turn to read to her, and by now Val had figured out how to jump up onto Phoebe’s bed, and she seemed to listen every bit as attentively as Phoebe did.

When Ty wished her goodnight and backed out of her room, he left Val there with her. The little dog seemed to have become both fiercely protective of, and a partner in crime with Phoebe, and there was no use trying to keep the two separate at night any more. He retreated to the living room and lowered himself onto the couch by Alex’s side.

“I thought that went well?” He wrapped an arm around Alex’s shoulders and kissed his soft hair.

“Pretty good,” Alex agreed as he eased his hand across Ty’s thigh. “Taylor never showed, though.”

“Is the guy a tool?”

Alex chuckled and shrugged his slim shoulders. “I don’t really know the guy. The only time we get to socialize with the senior partners is at events and gatherings like tonight’s, and mostly they hang out with each other rather than mingle with the little people.”

“Okay. Then I guess if he’s going to throw a tantrum he’ll do it sometime next week, right?”

“Probably.”

“All right then. Nothing we can do until then will change the outcome, so there’s no point worrying.” He ran his thumb along Alex’s neck and murmured, “But if you want, I could help you get to sleep tonight.”

Alex blinked, then bit his lip briefly. “And how would you do that?”

“Funny story. There’s this guy I know, and he taught me some things. I bet they’d be real useful right about now.”

Alex squirmed in that adorable way he did whenever he was aroused. “What kind of things?”

“Oh, you know.” Ty dragged Alex over into his lap, then held the attorney against his chest as he surged to his feet. “Things. Probably better if I show you instead of try to explain.”

Alex laughed and flung his arms around Ty’s neck as Ty carried him through to the bedroom.

He kicked the door shut behind them.

Time to find out whether Alex had been a good teacher.