Chapter 18

eighteen

ADELE

“Yeah, fuck .” Adele’s palm pressed hard against Kash’s mouth, keeping his sounds firmly tucked away. He could only just make out his soft grunts over the running shower, and he could see his nostrils flaring more than he could hear the way his breath was coming in heavy pants.

His hips were aching, but he couldn’t stop thrusting. He had Kash against the bathroom sink, both of them facing the mirror, and he hadn’t been able to look away from Kash’s reflection. His cheeks were splotchy, his ears red, eyes dazed. His legs were strong, rooted to the floor as he thrust his hips back.

The bathroom was filled with the sound of skin slapping against skin—louder than Kash might have been if Adele had let his mouth go, but it was obvious Kash liked it. And fuck, so did Adele.

“That’s right,” Adele said, leaning in to speak against the back of Kash’s ear. “Look at you. Look at your face as you take my dick. Look at how close you are.”

Kash whimpered, his eyes fluttering closed. Adele bit him on the shoulder hard until they flew back open.

“Don’t look away. I want you to see you the way I do. The most gorgeous man on this planet. Understand?”

Kash groaned and nodded, drool pooling against Adele’s palm, but he didn’t care.

“That’s my good boy.”

Kash’s breath rushed from his lungs, and his ass tightened around Adele’s cock.

Adele grinned wolfishly. He almost didn’t recognize himself like this, but fuck, he was into it. “You like that, don’t you? Like holding off for me. Like being good for me.” Kash moaned and fucked his hips back harder. “Like being made to wait. Like it when I control your sounds.”

Kash’s knees began to tremble, and he spoke against Adele’s palm. The words were a jumbled mess, but Adele knew what they were.

He was begging.

Adele hadn’t wanted to make him beg at first. He’d wanted to give Kash everything the second he wanted it, but he realized that he’d been going about this all wrong. Kash didn’t want to be treated like he was broken because he wasn’t fucking broken, and Adele had screwed all of that up.

But he could fix it now.

“Yeah. Yeah, baby. Come on, beg me. Beg me to make you come. Beg me to stroke your dick.” His hips sped up, rabbit-fast, thrusting hard at the perfect angle that was nailing his prostate.

Kash looked like he would have been screaming if he could have. The sounds got louder, sloppier, his arms now shaking as they took all his body weight. His hips were moving like he could force Adele’s dick to make him come, but his own cock hung there wet, fat, leaking a steady stream, and desperate to be touched .

And Adele would touch him. Soon. Just not yet.

“So perfect for me. Everything about you is goddamn perfect.”

Kash started to shake his head, so Adele pressed harder on his mouth, forcing Kash back against his body so tightly he couldn’t move his neck.

“I don’t fucking think so. You’re mine, and you don’t get to argue with me or insult what belongs to me. Got it?”

Kash’s gaze met his in the mirror, and Adele was almost overwhelmed with the gratitude in his eyes. He nodded as best he could.

And that was when Adele knew it was time. He let Kash’s mouth go, only to twist his head as far as his neck would allow, and then he kissed him as his free hand grabbed his cock and began to jerk him hard and fast.

Kash didn’t quite kiss him back. The angle was weird, and he was too far gone to do more than let his mouth hang open while Adele shoved his tongue inside. His lips were wet, warm, and pliant as Adele took what he wanted. The thrust of his tongue matched the thrust of his hips, and the rhythm of his hand sliding up and down Kash’s shaft was enough.

Hell, maybe it was too much.

Kash collapsed backward in a heap as he came, crying into Adele’s mouth until he had no air left in his lungs. Come shot out, hitting the sink as Adele finally lost his strength, and the pair of them toppled back into the laundry hamper, then hit the ground.

It hurt, but Adele barely felt it as he unloaded inside Kash, his dick throbbing with each fast beat of his heart. He came and came, and for a brief moment—blind and unable to breathe—he thought he might never stop.

He came to a moment later with his arms wrapped around Kash and his softening dick out, resting between Kash’s thighs. They were on their sides a little too close to the base of the toilet, where his first thought was, I think that needs an extra scrub .

He nearly laughed, but then Kash groaned, and Adele quickly forced himself to sit up so he could get his lover off the ground. Kash’s arms were limp, and so were his legs, which Adele was taking as a good sign.

“Alive?” he finally asked.

Kash let out a weak laugh and turned his head, mouthing at Adele’s neck. “Mm.”

“Good enough for me.” He propped himself up against the wall beside the hamper and yanked and tugged until Kash was better settled on his lap. He was far too big to cradle, but he still managed to make himself seem small, which Adele loved, especially because he knew the situation could be reversed.

And he had a feeling it would be someday. He knew that anytime he was feeling low or scared or sad, he could curl up into Kash like this and allow himself to be cocooned by the only other person he loved this fucking much.

“That was,” Kash eventually said, his voice still hoarse. “I don’t…uh…”

“Yeah,” Adele said, chuckling under his breath. “Me either.” He glanced over at the shower and realized the bathroom was full of steam. The last thing he wanted to do was exert the effort to shower, but they were both filthy with come and whatever funk was on the bathroom floor. “Come on. We need to get clean.”

“I hate you.”

Adele looked down at him. “No, you don’t.”

Kash sighed and relented. “Hate, love, fine line, all that. ”

Adele burst into laughter as he shoved Kash over and stood, then offered two hands to help him to his feet. Kash still moved stiffly and cautiously, but his physical therapy, medication, and stress relief were making a huge difference. His spells were shorter and hadn’t been coming as often. It had been three weeks since submitting his request to the insurance company, and Adele had filed a request with his workman’s comp to cover anything the insurance didn’t take care of.

He knew that once this was over—not that it would ever really be over—Kash would have to officially retire. He’d get a pension, and it was a decent pension, which would allow him the time he needed to figure out what came next.

He had a feeling Kash hadn’t thought about any of that, but Adele also didn’t blame him for it. Kash’s head was a mess with fear and then his struggle to figure out what his new normal was going to be like. Panic had set in and his fear of being a drain on Adele or anyone else.

They’d get through this next part as soon as Adele got an answer.

For now, he was going forward with the calendar because even if his wheelchair was covered—and he was damn sure it would be—they still needed to make adjustments in the house. All of his guys had immediately jumped on the idea.

Hector, Antonio, and Brielle went on an internet deep dive to see all the accommodations Adele could and should have installed in his place. Ramps were a must and grip bars for the toilet and the shower. Brielle also found a kitchen reno company that could install counters that had a button to raise and lower them as needed, but she also pointed out that the cost was definitely more than they’d ever earn for the calendar—even with two going out that year.

They had a good start though, and Adele felt better about it.

He needed to discuss it with Kash, but right now, he wanted to bask in this. Things were shifting, changing, moving toward a security in the relationship Adele wasn’t sure he was ever going to have. Kash still didn’t participate in dad nights with his friends much, but he was around for Gage, and he sat at the table with them for dinner almost every night.

He slept in Adele’s bed more than he didn’t and woke him up with breakfast and coffee when he had an early morning shift. And it was clear Kash was doing it because he wanted to now, not because he was afraid he wasn’t being useful.

That was the difference.

That’s what mattered.

“Coming in?” Kash asked.

Adele realized he’d been lingering in the shower doorway for too long. He glanced down at the lip and knew that would need to be redone too. He could probably afford that with the thirsty people in town buying up their naked bodies.

He glanced at Kash and grinned. He hated being on display, but for him, it was worth it.

“Why do you need me for this?” Frey asked, staring around the room at all the mostly shirtless firefighters.

“Moral support,” Adele said. “I can’t ask my brother to come see me naked, but I don’t want to do this by myself. ”

Frey turned and looked at him, his brow furrowed. “You’re really bothered by this, aren’t you?”

Adele shrugged. He didn’t think about it much, but yeah, he was. He didn’t like being mostly naked in front of anyone who wasn’t Kash. He didn’t like being the center of any kind of attention, and being stripped down for a photographer sounded like hell on earth.

“It’s not my most favorite thing.”

“So why are you doing this?” Frey asked him, sliding his chair closer. Their knees touched, and Adele felt warm comfort rough through him. “You have enough guys that you can say no.”

Adele bowed his head. “For Kash.” He’d told the guys at their last get-together about all the changes. That the station funding was fine, but that he wanted Kash to stay with him for good, and in order to make that happen, he had to make the place as close to perfect as he could.

They all volunteered to chip in, but Adele wasn’t about to put the burden on his family.

“It feels weird to make all of them do it when it’s not for some big charity,” he finished.

“Hey, we love Kash, and we’re happy to do this,” Hector said, walking beside Ridge. Hector was busy trying to attach pumpkin pasties to his nipples, and Ridge was using eyelash glue to attach flowers to spots on his torso and stomach.

“That’s going to rip all your hair out,” Frey warned him.

Ridge shrugged. “No worse than having my daughter rip out my navel ring.”

Everyone winced, and then Frey leaned in close and poked him in the stomach. “I see the scar. You had a navel ring? Why is that so hot? ”

Ridge laughed. “Because it was hot. I got a lot of numbers when I wore crop tops.”

“And now look at you,” Hector said, slapping him on the shoulder. “Your life is all…well, I don’t know what the fuck kids watch these days. Are The Wiggles still a thing?”

Ridge rolled his eyes. “Yeah, they’re a thing. Anyway,” he said, turning the conversation away from Ina, “it was a trade I was more than happy to make.”

“Is it true she was found in the baby box?” Hector asked.

Ridge stiffened all over. Everyone knew about that now. Someone had overheard Ridge saying it to Adele, and it had spread. But they didn’t know the details. Not even Adele knew everything. He knew that somehow, Ridge had been present for Ina’s birth, and he knew that three months later she was dropped off at his station with a note.

But that was it.

“So, do y’all take classes on how to be insensitive dicks before you apply for this job?” Frey asked sharply.

Hector threw up his hands in surrender. “Hey, man. I’m sorry.”

Ridge shook his head as he adjusted his last flower, then managed a smile as he looked up. “It’s cool. It’s…complicated, and I don’t like talking about it.”

“Never hesitate to tell me to fuck off when I’m crossing lines,” Hector said solemnly.

“Or,” Frey said, not one to pull punches, “work on not crossing lines, and stop putting the burden on other people.”

Hector’s eyes widened, and he backed away at a comically slow pace. After a beat, both Ridge and Adele burst into laughter, and Adele turned to his friend.

“I love you. Also, he’s a good guy. He’s just young. ”

“And I know people are fucking thirsty for my tragic backstory,” Ridge admitted.

“No one is owed that, no matter who they are,” Frey said stiffly. Adele understood why. He had his own, and he knew Frey felt a kinship with Ridge, being that they both had Deaf kids. “Send them my way if it ever gets to be too much. If my snark won’t shut them up, Renato’s glare will.”

Ridge laughed again. “Thanks.” He turned to Adele and took a breath, flopping his arms to the sides. “Well?”

“Very…floral?” Adele tried.

Ridge flicked his nipples to make them hard. “Sexy?”

“Very,” Frey said. “Go get oiled up.”

After Ridge was out of earshot, Adele leaned in. “You don’t need to protect me.”

“Isn’t that why you brought me?” Frey challenged. “And besides, work’s sucked the last few days. We have this woman in who is leaning in deep with her homophobia. She calls me her little f-word.”

“Oh, Christ,” Adele groaned.

Frey grimaced. “Mm. It’s super fun. Yesterday, she put her chocolate mouse in her bed and pretended like she shit on her sheets and demanded that her little f-word clean it up. I almost quit.”

“You could totally be a stay-at-home dad,” Adele said. “Renato makes enough to put all our kids through college.”

“You know why I won’t do that,” Frey said with a shrug. “And anyway, it’s normally not so bad. They let me take a couple days off, which means I get to be here with you and stare at hot chesticles all afternoon.”

“Lovely,” Adele said. He slapped his thighs and stood upright as the doors opened and a nervous-looking young man walked in. He had very tight, short curls in an undercut with light brown skin and dark eyes surrounded by thick, black-framed glasses. He was wearing a plaid, short-sleeve button-up and jeans, almost like he’d tumbled out of a hot D&D nerd magazine. He had a camera strap around his neck and a bag on his shoulder that made him walk lopsided with the weight.

“I should go see about that,” Adele said. “Wanna see if any of the guys need help?”

Frey huffed. “I promised Renato I would look, not touch. Except you. He’s not threatened by you.”

“Flattering,” Adele said with a grin. He left Frey to his eye candy as he crossed the room and waved at the man, who was hovering awkwardly near the refreshment table. “Hi. You must be…”

“Fallon,” he said. Adele frowned. The name sounded so familiar. Fallon attempted to stick out his hand and almost toppled sideways. “Whoops!” He had a thready yet smokey voice, like a lounge singer. “Sorry. I normally have an assistant, but he was busy today.”

Adele grabbed the bag off his shoulder and set it down carefully so nothing would break. “No worries. Anyone here will be willing to help out if you need someone.”

Fallon gulped as he seemed to realize he was surrounded by shirtless firefighters. “Right. Yes. Right. Okay.” He pushed his glasses up his nose. “Is there a place you want me to get set up? I have a lot to do.”

Matter-of-fact. Adele liked that in a person. “Over here,” he said, directing him along. “And the guys all love this, so feel free to get as creative as you want.”

“Don’t tell me that,” Fallon said quickly. “I’ll believe you, and then the photos will be terrible.”

Adele stopped and frowned. “Will they?”

“I’m kind of into abstract art. Real macro shots, you know? ”

He didn’t know what the fuck that meant.

“Up close. And I like a lot of movement and motion. It…whatever, it doesn’t need to make sense to you. Just tell me how you want the shots to look, and I’ll do that. I’m good at following directions.”

Adele almost laughed, but he was kinder than that. “That’s doable. Just don’t let these guys walk all over you.”

“Can’t be worse than my day job,” Fallon muttered. He touched his shoulder, then looked panicked. “My bag!”

“I’ll get it,” Adele said. He didn’t know why he liked this guy, but he did. “Nothing will be a disaster today, I promise.”

He had a feeling he shouldn’t be making that vow. Something in his gut was unsettled. But he was willing to take the risk if it meant this poor man was able to relax his shoulders, take a breath, and let this whole thing be over with soon.