Chapter Four

Eoghan parked the Charger in front of the stairs leading up to the second floor of their motel. This one was one of the older motels, most likely waiting renovation after being bought by Hilton, so it still had a U-shape where the rooms looked out onto a courtyard parking lot. All Ari cared about were clean sheets and a hot shower after his planned run in the morning. As he tromped up the stairs after Eoghan, he reluctantly admitted to himself that he probably shouldn't have had that pie. It had been wonderful, though. The crunchy, cinnamon sugar topping over warm pie with melting vanilla ice cream was the best way to end a meal.

It was a good thing that they didn't eat this way all the time. Eoghan was right about one thing. Living on the road all the time, meant if he wasn't careful, he'd have a paunchy belly in no time…especially as he got older. He was nearly thirty-five. He'd noticed the physique of several marshals in the office who didn't take the time to work out the way he and Eoghan did and it didn't paint a healthy future for them. He stopped him at the door to their room.

"I forgot to bring my water bottle from the car." Ari held out his hand. "Give me your keys."

"I don't think we have any in the car. I finished mine," Eoghan said. He held out the keys and dropped them in Ari's palm. "Ask at the front desk." He leaned in and pecked Ari on the mouth before pulling back with a blush on his face. It was such an unexpected and sweet gesture; Ari just stood there watching him for a second as warmth surrounded him. Once again the L-word hovered on his lips. He sighed before stepping back.

"See you in just a minute." He walked down the corridor, listening to Eoghan use the keycard to open their door. Sure enough, the only water bottle in the car was empty so he asked for water at the front desk.

"Unfortunately, our machine is broken but there is a machine at the auto body shop next door. They're closed at this hour, but they keep it stocked," the blotchy, young night clerk at the reception desk told him.

"Thanks," Ari said, knocking his fist on the counter and startling the kid. He smiled as he turned to walk away. Feeling parched, he headed next door and found the machine against the building's brick wall. It was weakly lit under a single, buzzing light bulb. As he bent to look at the selections of pop, hoping against all hope that there'd be a bottle of water, something scampered over his foot. Ari jumped back, alarmed as the small creature scurried around the back of the machine.

"Hello?" He stood back from the rickety, old machine, staring at it, wondering if he'd imagined the whole thing. "Who's there?" Only empty silence and the creeping dread that resulted answered him back. It was probably a rat. This job was bad for his imagination.

Still, he reached for his Glock, pulling the weapon as silently as he could, yet still hearing the whisper of the gun leaving his holster. He didn't know what he was facing or if his weapon would even have an effect on it—should it be necessary to shoot—but having the weight of it in his hand made him feel a lot better. He held the gun out as he peered around the side of the machine, trying to get a glimpse of whatever he'd seen. Knowing what he knew now, he probably wouldn't be surprised at anything. Still…that didn't mean whatever it was, wasn't dangerous.

It was quiet this late at night up here in the mountains except for the incessant humming sound—which Ari originally thought was the buzz of the light bulb. In fact, it wasn't that at all. The low frequency hum was coming from the narrow gap between the machine and the wall. Chills ran up and down his spine as he was reminded of the chanting he and Eoghan had heard all those weeks ago.

What followed…stumbling upon the remains of Oberon and Titania's offspring, hanging from stakes in the Sequoia Forest clearing, still made him shiver. The sight of the half-devoured, rotted corpses had been horrific but what had made it even worse was the otherworldly thrumming sound. A snap on the asphalt behind him, made Ari jump and reflexively spin around, gun straight out in front of him as he pointed into the darkness.

"Hey! It's me, Ari! Jesus, put down the gun," his lover said as he stepped into the low gleam of a streetlight, casting a weak shadow on the cracked blacktop.

"Fuck, Eoghan," Ari said, blowing out a long breath as his heart thundered in his chest. "I could have sworn…oh, Christ," he said, feeling lightheaded with relief at the sight of his partner.

"Hey, what's got you so jumpy?"

"I don't know." Ari frowned, turning back to look at the soda pop machine. "I could've sworn something ran over the top of my foot and behind that machine. Shit, maybe I'm just seeing things."

Eoghan walked over to the machine and approached it cautiously, looking where Ari was pointing. The thrum was still in the air and by the way Eoghan cocked his head to the side, he'd probably picked up on the sound as well.

"You hear that?" Ari asked.

"The hum, yeah…it's familiar." Eoghan stood with his hands on his hips, Ari by his side, still holding his weapon straight out, ready to shoot. "Oh, fuck. I know what this is," Eoghan said. He glanced over at Ari and pushed down on his gun hands. "You can lower the weapon. They're harmless."

"They?" Ari asked, looking at him skeptically. "What are they?"

Eoghan offered him an encouraging smirk before turning back to the gap and then squatting. "Elroy! Stop chanting and come on out. No reason to call on the gods. It's Eoghan Sapphire. This is my partner at the I.S.R. He's not going to hurt you or your people."

"It hasss a gunnn," something hissed in a low, almost reptilian growl.

"What the fuck?" Ari asked, alarmed as he stepped back, raising the weapon again.

"It's fine, Ari," Eoghan encouraged, looking at the weapon. "Put your gun away. The Powmays mean us no harm."

Something took a slurpy inhale as if swallowing spit and then spoke. "The Powmaaaaysss mean Sssapphiiire no harm," the hissy voice said again. "No gunnnsss."

Eoghan turned back to Ari, nodding at the gun. "Seriously, holster your weapon. The Powmays are one of the gentler alien races."

"Um…all right," he said, reluctantly holstering the gun.

Eoghan nodded and then turned back to the gap. "He put away the gun, Elroy. Come on out."

After another slurpy sound followed by, "Okaaayyy, Sssapphiiire," a small body appeared.

At first glance, Ari thought it resembled a salamander with a longish, scaly, bright green body, propelled by six squat legs. It couldn't have been more than six inches long and three inches tall. He noticed that the front half of the creature was bent upward, resembling the shape of a minotaur with two more legs—well, arms really—complete with tiny hands that wiggled with three multi-jointed fingers.

The creature had a series of glowing yellow eyes all over its bulbous head with two floppy things hanging all the way to the ground from the crown, looking very much like long bunny ears. They dragged along the asphalt on either side of the slithery body and for the first time, Ari noticed a slender tail almost half the length of its smoothly scaled body. It whipped around behind the creature and then lifted like a periscope in a deliberate fashion as if testing something in the air around them. When it turned toward him, it began to shiver. Only then did Ari notice the neon yellow eye at the very tip which opened and shut behind a vertical eyelid.

"Ooohhh…ssstraaangeeer," the lizard thing hissed.

Eoghan laughed and squatted down in front of the creature. "No, not a stranger, Elroy. Like I said, this is my new partner. His name is Aristotle but you can call him Ari."

"Aaarrreee," Elroy repeated.

"That's right. Ari is my new partner."

"Bufffeee's an asss," Elroy said.

"No," Ari said, poking his chest with his thumb. "Ari, not Buffy."

Eoghan started laughing as he met Ari's confused gaze. "No, Elroy's talking about Frank Buffy, one of the marshals Chief Deputy Priest tried to have me work with after Glad died. Elroy wasn't a fan of Frank."

"Bufffeee trieeed to step ooon Elroooy," the little green guy said. His smooth, scaled skin momentarily lit up with a thousand neon purple spots before returning to green.

Ari chuckled. "Well, I promise, Elroy. I'm not an ass and I'd never step on you." He glanced behind him as he spotted more glowing, yellow eyes peeking around the back of the machine. "Oh, are there others with you?"

Elroy's head bobbed and then turned to look back at the crack between the pop machine and wall. He said something in a strange, hissing language, and Ari watched as two more creatures which looked much like Elroy cautiously came out. They joined Elroy, standing on either side of him and stared up at Eoghan. His partner held out a hand and the three reached out and tapped his fingers with their tiny hands. It was like watching him get a high-five from three tiny lizards. Ari watched the entire display as he felt humor fill his whole being with warmth.

This job is so fucking cool.

"What are you doing here?" Eoghan asked. "When Frank and I saw you last, you were on your way to Reno."

"Reno?" Ari asked, snorting.

Eoghan glanced up at him. "It's not that far from here and Powmays are shameless gamblers."

"Gamblers?" Ari asked, dumbfounded. "How the hell—?"

"Underground alien gambling joints," Eoghan said. "There's a shitload of them in Reno but if you think that's crazy, you should see how many there are in Vegas."

"Vegaaasss…" All three Powmays started clapping their little hands and stomping their tiny feet.

"Are we talking Tatooine here…or is it more like the vampire bar at the beginning of Blade?" Ari asked.

Eoghan screwed up his features, clearly trying not to laugh, and then huffed a breath, not answering before turning back to Elroy and holding out the palm of his hand. The creature crawled into it before Eoghan straightened to his full height.

Ari watched Elroy cock his tiny multi-eyeballed head to the side as he examined him. His tail eyeball stretched over his back almost to where his shoulder would have been if he'd had one. Ari assumed it was so he could get a better view of him. The eye watched him closely, blinking several times with that odd vertical eyelid.

"The underground bars in Vegas are more like Tatooine than the vampire bar in Blade," Eoghan said. "Let me put it this way…you're not going to get drowned by blood coming from sprinklers, though, you may see a lot of creatures who resemble those Tatooine aliens from Star Wars." He shrugged as if what he'd just said was the most normal thing in the world. "I'm sure you'll get to experience an underground alien gambling joint at some point. Usually, the Vegas I.S.R. takes care of any incidents which arise with them, but every once in a while, they call us for backup."

Ari couldn't do anything but shake his head and laugh. This whole conversation was ridiculous. He glanced at Elroy once he'd regained his composure. "What are the Powmays doing here?" he asked.

Elroy turned to look at Eoghan and then glanced back at Ari. He made one of those strange slurpy inhales before speaking. "It's tiiime for hybernaaashunnn," Elroy said. "We mussst get foood." He glanced down at where the others had been standing and said something in a garbled language. A moment later, Ari watched as there was movement behind the pop machine. Sure enough, the two Powmay went back and then reappeared, dragging something out from the gap. When Ari saw that it was what appeared to be an ancient, forgotten Twix bar, in a dusty, plastic wrapper, he chuckled.

"Twix? That's the food you hibernate with?"

"Twixxx!" all three Powmays hissed at the same time, stomping their feet.

"Good-food, Aaarrreee," Elroy said.

Eoghan smiled at the little guy and looked back at Ari just in time to catch him yawning. He glanced back at Elroy. "Well, it was great seeing you, Elroy," he said. "You be careful and don't lose too many Kron to the Dorbals."

"Eee…Dorbalsss!" Elroy lifted two feet on the right side of his body and stomped them on the palm of Eoghan's hand, looking exactly like a salamander would if he were stomping his feet.

Ari was beginning to understand that the stomping was probably something Powmay did when they needed to show strong emotion. He couldn't do anything but grin. "It was really nice meeting you, Elroy. High-five." He held up his hand to the creature, and Elroy turned his many eyes to look at him. Ever so cautiously he held out his tiny three-fingered hand and high-fived him. It was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen.

Eoghan wished him well and then squatted again, lowering his hand so that the small Powmay could jump onto the asphalt and join his brethren in dragging the ancient Twix bar back behind to its hiding place. It was the strangest thing he'd ever seen in his life. When Eoghan straightened, he couldn't help but sling an arm around him and pull him close. He kissed him on the mouth and then embarrassed himself by yawning.

"Oh, my God, I need to put you to bed," Eoghan said, leaning into his side.

Ari tenderly gazed down at him and then lowered his face to kiss him on the lips. When Eoghan wrapped his arms around him and kissed back, it felt just perfect. They separated and turned to go back to the room when Ari stopped, chuckling. "I forgot what I came for." He turned and perused the pop selection, relieved when he spotted a lone water bottle inside. After purchasing it, he walked back to Eoghan and put his arm over his shoulder, before sauntering back across the parking lot toward the motel with his man.

He jumped into the shower and washed while Eoghan brushed his teeth and then switched places, only climbing into bed when they were both smelling a hell of a lot better than they had all day. He stretched out in the queen bed, and Eoghan rolled into his side, laying his head on his shoulder, a position they were both well acquainted with since it was how they slept most nights. He yawned widely and then looked over at Eoghan who watched him with an amused expression, something he could see in the darkness thanks to the moonlight which streamed into their room through cracks in the miniblinds.

"Why're you smiling?"

"Why? Because you're just as tired as I am, Ari." He punctuated his sentence with a yawn of his own before curling against his side and letting out a big sigh.

Ari tightened his arm around him and then leaned down and kissed his forehead. He'd had every intention of doing wonderful things to his body before suddenly needing to find water, but he could hardly keep his eyes open. Maybe it had been the hella long drive, the very heavy meal, or the prospect of getting up early to meet with the tribal police to start what might possibly be a kidnapping case, but he was beat. He felt bad that he was about to renege upon his promise to give his lover a good fucking but just as he opened his mouth to say so, he heard a soft snore coming from the sweet man cuddled against him. He smiled in the dark, leaning down to kiss the top of Eoghan's dark head, noting the way his soft hair still felt damp. He pulled him closer, closing his eyes, and drifting off to a peaceful sleep with the special man in his arms.

Ari gradually came awake, first aware that he felt good, then as his mind began to clear and shake off the dream he'd been having, horny as hell. "Mmm," he said, groaning as he realized the slow, wet suction on his cock was the reason he was feeling so good. It took a moment for him to remember where he was as he opened his eyes and glanced around the dark room. The Embassy Suites wallpaper and room service menu on the small motel table snapped him back to reality, but it was the unbelievably slow way Eoghan was sucking him that made Ari fully aware of his surroundings. He slid his hand beneath the sheet, seeking out the head bobbing at his groin, finding Eoghan's soft, black hair, and cupping the back of his head.

Eoghan hummed and tightened his lips around his dick, speeding up, clearly encouraged by the fact that he'd woken him. Ari threw back the covers and gazed down at Eoghan in the predawn light to get a nice view of his cock disappearing into his gorgeous mouth, over and over again. Tingles rushed up his spine as he watched the top of Eoghan's head, encouraging his ministrations with a light pulling of soft hair. When he moaned around his cock, it sent shivers racing over his skin.

Ari was becoming used to having Eoghan in his life, never before having been afforded the opportunity to indulge himself in a whole lot of sex. Then again, living in the Bible Belt wasn't really conducive to the kind of sex Ari enjoyed. And even though his mother and father had been surprisingly resigned and even accepting of the fact that he was a gay man, it didn't mean everyone was. His own brother, although mostly okay with his sexual orientation now, hadn't been a fan of it when Ari first came out to him. He'd been convinced being gay was a weakness of character, but had eventually come around when his own best buddy in the Army had also come out to him.

At the moment, though, it was all Ari could do to concentrate on not ending this amazing feeling when it had barely started. He tried not to think of how quickly his climax was approaching and instead thought of how desperately he wanted to taste Eoghan before that happened. He tugged on his hair until he paused what he was doing, glancing up with his lips still stretched around the cock in his mouth. With wispy, black strands of his hair tumbling over his forehead, he looked like a goddamned porn star.

"Come on up here, baby. I don't wanna come yet and I'm way too close. If you don't stop, I won't be able to, and if that happens before I get to taste you, it'd be a crying shame."

Eoghan smiled around his dick and gave it one last suck before slowly pulling off. He kissed the bulbous head and shifted on the bed. He sat back on his heels, taking hold of his own rampant erection as the sheets slid down his back to the bed. Ari held out both arms, and Eoghan crawled over him, laying on top of him and meeting his lips as their bodies fitted together perfectly. The moment their lips met; Ari felt like he had the very first time Eoghan had ever kissed him in his house. The way he'd surprised him in the living room and practically attacked his mouth to keep him from leaving in a fit of bad temper.

Of course, Ari's reaction to the kiss had been to grab Eoghan, turn, and slam him up against the front door where he proceeded to maul his mouth until they were both breathless, panting, and grinding against each other. It had been a heady and overwhelming experience, just like it was right now. Every time they came together hard and naked like this, Ari felt like it was that very first time.

Christ, that first time…it felt like yesterday.

The way he'd almost lost his mind when he'd seen Eoghan's naughty, lace underwear the first time. The way his gorgeous, erect cock had been outlined by straining lace. His sweet smelling precome had literally been leaking right through the holes which seemed to have been designed just for that. Jesus…the way it had tasted on his tongue through the lace. The memory made him groan out loud and in response, Eoghan lifted his head, looking down at him.

"Am I too heavy?" He tried to move off, but Ari tightened his arms around him and chuckled, gaze fixed on Eoghan's bright eyes.

"No, baby, but I do want to suck you off. Would you let me?" He reached down, sliding his hand between them as Eoghan moved to give access. He slid his long fingers around the thick shaft and once again, found wetness there. Eoghan leaked so sweetly when he was turned on, and Ari hadn't found a way to get past how fucking hot that was. He fisted Eoghan's tight erection and pumped him up and down between them. "Please…let me suck you," he begged when Eoghan hadn't answered.

"Whatever you want," Eoghan singsonged happily before rolling to his back.

Ari grinned at him in the dusky light and waited to trade places with him on the bed. He moved between Eoghan's legs, taking both knees into his hands and pushing them back as he gazed down at his lover's swollen dick. Eoghan Sapphire was a beautiful man. From head the toe the man was delicious to look at. His mouth jetted with saliva as he caught a whiff of the tea tree and almond scent coming from his body. It was a smell Ari had come to associate with Eoghan…as familiar as the gentle curve of his ear or the crystal blue of his eyes. He adored it and as he stared down at his leaking cock, his mouth watered.

He lowered his head and licked a path all the way from his lightly furred scrotum, up his cock and down again, stopping to nuzzle into the soft sac with his nose before licking a path downward over his taint. He smiled to himself when Eoghan grasped his knees and pulled them higher and wider apart, baring his sweet, pink hole to him as if begging for him to continue downward. Far be it for Ari to balk at such an unspoken request. After all, he was an accommodating guy. He scooted lower in the bed and then dropped a kiss onto his hole, making it pucker reflexively before licking around the rim and then poking his pointed tongue right through.

Eoghan's taste was like nothing he'd ever tasted before…then again, before meeting Eoghan, he'd never rimmed a guy before. It had been done to him and he'd loved it but before becoming intimate with this man, he'd never had a desire to. Then again, he'd never had a relationship with a man as long as he'd been with Eoghan which though scarcely two months, hadn't happened. He'd certainly never felt intimate enough with another guy to want to taste him here. There was something so much more personal about this than a blow job, though, he wasn't sure why.

The musky taste of him combined with the almond and tea tree oil, and all of a sudden, Ari felt utterly on fire for this wonderful man. Possessiveness raced through him, warming him in ways he hadn't known he needed, making him feel so much more vulnerable than he ever had before. If this was what it felt like to feel truly intimate with someone, he wondered why he'd hesitated to do it before. Then again, the answer to that question was simple and it was right in front of him. None of his previous lovers had been Eoghan Sapphire.

He continued to tongue and suck Eoghan, drawing out gasps of pleasure as the man literally vibrated beneath him. The more he wiggled and bucked, shaking as Ari laved and kissed and sucked, the more he felt like a million dollars. No wonder men liked doing this to their partners. Aside from the utter decadence and deliciousness of the act, the very fact that there was something forbidden about it, made him painfully hard and almost desperate to come.

"Ari, please—" Eoghan suddenly cried. "I'm gonna come!"

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Ari's brain screamed at him as he reached up and wrapped his cock with his hand, pumping it in his fist as he laved him one last time before moving back up to take one of his balls in his mouth.

"I mean it! I can't!" Eoghan nearly shouted. "I'm going to come if you don't stop." He clawed at his scalp, unable to grasp any of the hair on his head. It was curly but he kept it very short, barely a half inch long, impossible to grab onto.

He repositioned himself in bed so that he could take the head of Eoghan's cock into his mouth even as he grabbed his own. Eoghan had been steadily leaking, leaving a small puddle on his belly which filled Ari's nostrils with the tangy scent of it. He shut his eyes as he jacked his own cock, feeling his climax approaching in the small of his back as he swallowed around his cock. Using his throat muscles seemed to be the last straw for Eoghan because his lover let out a strangled scream followed by a burst of precome landing on his tongue as precursor to his own orgasm. The taste, the scent, the sounds, and the way he moved beneath him, thrusting hard into his mouth, hitting the back of his throat signaled his imminent release.

Sure enough, Eoghan's cock throbbed between his lips and a second later his come jetted up the shaft as he emptied his hot load into his mouth, nearly drowning him; he tried his best to swallow it all so he wouldn't choke. His own answering cry as he shot his wad onto the bedsheets made his entire body shake and shudder until his knees were so weak he had to pull off Eoghan's cock and drop to the bed. He lay there panting, eyes closed, hand firmly grasping onto Eoghan's thigh to keep him close until he finally drifted back to sleep.

After what felt like only seconds later, he shot off the bed in alarm, reflexively grabbing his weapon from the nightstand as the smoke alarm somewhere outside in the corridor went off. He glanced around frantically for just a second, hearing a loud thud, then searched the bed for where Eoghan had been curled around him. He was gone.

"Eoghan!" he called out in the darkness.

"Over here," came the disgusted voice from the other side of the bed.

Ari rushed around the foot of the bed until he could see Eoghan sitting naked on his ass as the fire alarm blared outside in the hallway. The look on his face couldn't have been more outraged.

"False alarm," sounded from the hallway.

"Put your Glock away," he growled before reaching up and scrubbing a hand over his face.

When Ari started laughing, it took him way too long to stop.