Chapter Fourteen

ARI

Ari was fried. The long flight, the meeting with Rana and Red Crow, and the realization that they may be nearing the conclusion of King John Townsend’s problem, overwhelmed him and made him tired. More than anything, all he wanted to do was to slip between the sheets with Eoghan for an afternoon of loving and let the rest of the world go away.

They rode the elevator up to their room, saying nothing to each other. As they walked down the hallway, he glanced over at Eoghan. Ari felt his pulse speed up just at the sight of him. They stopped at their room door, and on impulse, he inhaled, gratified when he was able to detect hints of Eoghan’s unique bodywash. Eoghan pulled out the key card, halting right before waving it over the keypad as he looked back over his shoulder.

“What is it? Do I stink or something?” he asked.

Ari smirked. “Why would you ask me that?”

“I thought I heard you sniff.”

Ari smiled. “I did. I like the way you smell.”

Eoghan smiled, shrugged, and unlocked the door, surging into the room with Ari right behind him. As soon as the door shut, Ari pushed him back against the wall and pressed his body close as he caged him in with both arms. Eoghan looked up at him with the beautiful blue eyes that always stopped him in his tracks. His expression was open and inviting, and the way he relaxed his body between the wall and his own bulk was intoxicating.

“Baby…” Ari whispered. He bent down and kissed the side of Eoghan’s neck, then took a deep inhale so close to his ear that he barely heard his lover’s silent gasp. “I’m in love with the way you smell, Eoghan.” He kissed the shell of his ear, inhaling more of the unique tea tree and almond scent which he’d come to associate with him. “I’m in love with all of you, Eoghan,” he whispered.

“Me too.” Eoghan slipped his arms around Ari’s and looked up, focusing his gaze on his lips. “Make me yours, honey.”

That was all the encouragement Ari needed. His lips were instantly upon Eoghan’s, kissing him passionately. He probed his mouth the moment he opened to him, running his tongue along the inside and dueling with Eoghan’s. His taste, the feel of his gorgeous, full lips under his onslaught, the intense way Eoghan returned his fervent kisses with a passion of his own…all of it was the most incredible out of body experience. He desperately loved and needed this man.

When Ari finally broke the kiss and stepped back, he grabbed the hem of Eoghan’s shirt, dragging it up over his belly, revealing the most sensuous, tempting sight he’d ever laid eyes on. He stared deeply into his eyes until he recognized the same need in them. He grasped both nipples, pinching them and startling a gasp out of Eoghan. It was unexpected and it made him smile.

He leaned down and kissed both nipples, reveling in the way his man’s breathing turned to husky panting. He slowly ran his tongue over his lightly furred abdomen, tickling his belly button and then—and only when he heard a gasp—licked his way down his sweet treasure trail.

Sliding to his knees, Ari undid his lover’s belt, then his jeans’ buttons with an urgency to get to the perfect prize underneath. Making love to Eoghan was like nothing he’d ever felt with anyone else. His heart was racing as he parted the fly of Eoghan’s jeans, revealing the black, stretch lace and the elastic waistband of the sexy underwear he wore more and more frequently. He looked up at him as he leaned in and kissed the bulging head of his leaking cock. The stretchiness of the lace encasing his sexy cock, barely contained the prize within.

The scent of precome filled his nostrils and his senses went into overdrive knowing Eoghan was just as excited by what he was doing. He smiled up at him, holding both hips in his hands and kissing his heaving abdomen. Eoghan shivered at the touch of his lips, and Ari felt the ripples of his excitement beneath his skin. He kissed his belly again and then focused in on a different prize, slowly swiping his tongue over the head of his lace-covered cock. It strained to escape, and Ari wanted nothing more than to help his lover achieve exactly that. He let go of Eoghan’s hips and yanked his tac pants to his knees, exposing the sexiest pair of black, lace boy shorts he’d ever seen.

“Fuck, Eoghan,” he gasped. “You’re just so damned pretty.”

Eoghan smiled, reaching down and caressing Ari’s cheek, running fingers through the hair of his beard. Ari closed his eyes and leaned into the masculine caress, loving this man and everything about the way he made him feel. He lifted his face and looked up at him.

“I’m going to suck you off now.”

Eoghan chuckled. “Do you think we can at least make it to the bed or do I have to stand just inside the door like a hooker.”

He held out his hand and Ari laughed, getting to his feet. He chuckled as he watched him waddle to the bed with his pants halfway down his legs. And deliberately stopped following several feet behind him, so he could watch the way his tight ass moved inside the lace as he shuffled the last few feet and flopped face first onto the bed.

He quickly seemed to remember where he was and rolled to his back, recovering his composure. No matter how clean these places claimed they were and how many times they swore they changed the bedding every single time a guest vacated the room, they only changed the actual bedspread or duvet when it was just short of downright dirty. He shivered at the thought as Eoghan stood, reaching down and ripping the foul thing off and exposing the freshly laundered sheets below.

Ari followed him, shedding his shirt as he went. He threw it onto the other bed and stopped in front of Eoghan as he bend to shuck his boots and pants, leaving him gloriously naked but for the lace underthings. Eoghan looked up at him, smiled and reached for him, but Ari grinned and backed up, not quite done undressing himself. He watched as Eoghan dropped onto the bed wearing only the gorgeous lacy manties which had curious red bows on each hip. He was still erect, and as Ari squatted to shed his own boots, he focused on the way Eoghan palmed himself through the delicate lace, looking decadent as he finally scooted to the middle of the bed. He spread his legs and laid himself out like a Thanksgiving feast for Ari’s pleasure alone.

When he was naked, Ari crawled onto the bed, his gaze fixed on Eoghan’s hand as he touched himself through the sexy manties. In seconds he was there, insinuating himself between Eoghan’s spread legs, staring up the length of his muscled torso. He batted his hand away from the precious package he considered his own. “I told you I was gonna suck you off and that’s exactly what I intend to do.”

He reached for Eoghan’s balls, giving them a good, tight squeeze, drawing a sexy gasp out of him.

“Hey, watch it. I’ve only got one set of those,” he said.

“No, baby,” Ari said, “you’ve got a whole other bunch of balls right here.” He patted his chest as Eoghan chuckled.

“Oh, God, please don’t make me laugh during sex. That’s so unattractive.”

Ari grinned at him, rolling his balls through the boy shorts. He shook his head and grasped the waistband of the lacy fabric, pulling it down over the head of his straining erection. He slid it all the way down, instantly missing the vision of his cock covered in sexy, stretch, black lace.

…and yet…he was a vision, uncovered, just like this too.

He smiled wolfishly at Eoghan, lowered his head, and engulfed the head of his cock, sucking it into his mouth and tonguing the lavish head. The flavor of his precome filled his senses and he sucked long and deep, deliberately lost in the delight he found in this most masculine of pursuits. In all human history, Ari imagined that the most delights in the bedroom had to be found in sucking cock—for the receiver—and giver, sucking their partner’s very essence into their own mouth. Fuuuck …Ari was a poet.

He grabbed his own rigid length, stroking himself in the same rhythm as he went down on Eoghan. He loved this and someday, he planned on having them kneel on the bed facing each other while they got themselves off. Watching his man come, seeing him shoot that first copious blast from the slit, followed by several others as he writhed in ecstasy, was the most satisfying thing in bed. As sexy as it was taking Eoghan from behind, watching him splayed out on his back and coming all over his chest while Ari fucked him, was the most exciting thing he’d ever done.

And he planned on doing it every day of his life or until he could no longer get it up.

He swallowed around the head of his cock again, drawing out an immense groan before opening wider and swallowing the man whole, rolling his balls in his hand and drawing out moan after moan. There was a power in this, Ari decided after watching the way his lover’s eyes literally rolled back in his head. He felt like a champion as he sucked and licked harder, jacking him firmly, twisting his hand, drizzling saliva along his thick shaft which only helped to soothe the way to ecstasy for them both.

Ari watched Eoghan’s thighs quivering, fighting against his own body so he wouldn’t topple over the edge too soon. He shook with the nearness of his climax and Ari was there for it, encouraging him by sucking and swallowing around the head relentlessly, jacking him hard, bringing Eoghan closer and closer until with a cry, he filled his mouth. The powerful jets shot onto his tongue and he did his best to swallow every drop his lover gave him, losing himself as his own control snapped, and he shot his copious load onto the bed, making an impressive puddle of his own.

“Baby,” Eoghan whispered, running a hand through his hair. “Are you okay?”

Ari squeezed his eyes closed for a few seconds, swallowing the last of Eoghan’s passion before letting his cock slip from his mouth as he looked up. A dribble of come slid down his chin as he smiled, reaching up, and wiping it slowly away with the back of his hand. He sat back on his heels and stared at the decadent sight of Eoghan’s sweat sheened body, the way his cock had only half softened and flopped sweetly to one side, a tiny pearl of come at the slit.

He reached for him, setting both palms on his hips and sliding them upward as he leaned over him. From his hips, he journeyed upward with his hands, over his narrower waist, up his sides to his pecs, settling there before he kissed him solidly on the mouth. At the touch of Eoghan’s lips, he was transported to another place and he sighed, ending the kiss after a long minute and then flopping on the bed beside him.

“Sleep now, my angel,” Eoghan said, rolling to his side as Ari gathered him close. He sounded just as wrecked as he was. “We have to call Priest, but it can wait until we sleep an hour.”

Ari wasn’t about to argue with that logic. Things were under control here and he suspected they’d either be heading out late tonight or early tomorrow for the return trip to Los Angeles. “Okay, love.” Ari kissed the top of Eoghan’s head as he threw a leg over his and snuggled in against him. “I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you,” were the last words Ari heard before drifting off into blissful oblivion of his own.

When he woke to the sound of Eoghan’s muted voice, he was disoriented. He sat up in the semi-dark room and glanced around, realizing he was in their hotel room. His gaze went to the clock and noted it was four o’clock. Then he remembered it was hopefully still afternoon and they had a previously scheduled dinner planned with everyone in two hours. He threw both legs over the side of the bed, sniffed the air, and remembered with a little smile that he’d sucked Eoghan into near unconsciousness only a few hours before. The nap had been welcomed, although sleeping during the day always seemed to make it difficult for him to feel anything other than tired for the rest of the night until his head hit the pillow once again.

There were no lights on in the room but he could see light coming from under the bathroom door. Eoghan was still talking quietly but Ari could clearly pick up the gist of his conversation. Apparently, he was talking to their boss, nearing the end of the telling because he was thanking her and saying they’d be flying back first thing. He spotted Eoghan’s work phone which meant he’d been on the burner filling her in on the conversation with Red Crow and Rana.

When he was sure he’d hung up, Ari switched on the lamp and began digging for clean clothes in his duffel. He was preparing for a long, hot shower to wash off Eoghan’s scent since once again they’d be sitting down with creatures who could smell a hundred times better than humans. They’d probably know with one sniff what they’d spent the afternoon doing. He was glad these shifters couldn’t communicate telepathically, assured by Severin and Invictus that they were most likely the only two shifters in the world other than their dragon enemies, who had that ability. It took centuries to learn how to acquire that skill, and the dragons had that in spades.

He was headed for the bathroom when the door opened, and Eoghan stopped suddenly, pulling up short to keep from bumping into him. Ari smiled at him and then noticed how clean and fresh he was. Behind him, condensation beaded on the mirror and the humidity of the room told Ari he’d lost his chance to wash the man down at his leisure.

“Oh, hey, I hope I didn’t wake you,” Eoghan said, sliding his arms around Ari’s neck, still holding his phone. A towel was wrapped around his waist. He turned his face up and Ari leaned down at the same time, pecking him softly on the lips.

Ari didn’t pull away immediately, instead dragging his nose over to Eoghan’s neck and nuzzling up to his ear, inhaling the unique scent of his lover beneath the scent of bodywash.

“Damn you smell good, but you stole my opportunity to shower with you,” he said, straightening and not caring that he probably sounded petulant.

Eoghan flashed him a shit eating grin. “You know there’s no time for that because after you’d fucked me, I’d have to stay in there another half hour scrubbing the scent of you out of my butthole.” He grinned widely as Ari laughed.

“You kill me, you know that? You kill me, and I love you.”

“Yes, yes, I know but now, you need to jump into the shower so you don’t smell like come when we meet with Rana and Andy. And I needed to get done with mine before you, so I’d have time to call the chief and update her.”

“Well, aren’t you just a little squirrel on speed this afternoon,” Ari said, shaking his head side to side with every word. “Are you strung out on coffee or what?”

Eoghan laughed. “I’m just crazy about you.”

Ari kissed him quickly. “I’m pretty crazy about you too.” He let go and walked to the shower to turn it on. “What did you tell her?”

“Who?” Eoghan asked.

“Who? Our boss. Isn’t that what I asked you?”

“Yes, but that was like ten minutes ago,” Eoghan said, chuckling.

Ari growled.

“Fine. I told her we were successful with Colorado and filled her in a little bit about Red Crow’s hesitations and that he’s probably just trying to look like his own man with the elders in his tribe. I also told her about how helpful Rana was in convincing him to support our plans. I think she was pleased.”

Ari nodded, stepping into the shower. “Keep talking. I’m listening.” He stuck his head under the spray and wet his head before grabbing shampoo and pouring some into his hand. He soaped up as Eoghan continued to talk loudly over the sound of the running water.

“She sounded really pleased, like I said.”

“Good. What else?” Ari asked, working the shampoo through his hair as he opened one eye a tiny bit to see his lover standing in front of the bathroom mirror, putting shaving cream on his chin. He was still in the towel which showed off a hint of his tight ass as he moved this way and that.

“She said she hasn’t heard from the dragons or whether they were successful with the clan in Wyoming but that doesn’t come as any great surprise. Those two aren’t the most forthcoming shifters out there, and if you remember, they’re not so great with the whole communication thing to start with.”

Ari ducked his head and rinsed off the shampoo, blowing bubbles before stepping out of the spray and swiping a hand over his face. “I remember.”

“Yeah. So, anyway, I guess that means you’re all caught up.”

“I guess so, yes,” he replied as he washed his pits and groin with the bodywash Eoghan had left in the shower. “Did she ever tell you who Severin and Invictus had gone to meet?”

“No, but then again, it’s not like we’re Facebook friends or pen pals,” Eoghan said.

“Ouch!” Ari hissed, as soap ran into his eye and he glared at Eoghan’s grinning face in the bathroom mirror. “Son-of-a-bitch!”

“What?” Eoghan said, sobering as Ari heard his voice move closer.

“Nothing…soap in my eye,” Ari explained, stepping under the spray again to wash bubbles and gel off the rest of his body as he rubbed at his eye.

“Anyway, yeah, I haven’t heard who they went to talk to,” Eoghan said, going silent as he shaved around his mouth, then brushed his teeth and left the bathroom while Ari finished up.

“Hey, it’s not even four-thirty. What do you say we get a drink at the bar downstairs before the shifters arrive for dinner?” Eoghan asked through the door. He was dressed in dark, skinny jeans and was pulling a forest green polo shirt over his head. The color made his blue eyes glow in the light from the bathroom. His black hair was brushed, and he looked so gorgeous, the sight of him simply took Ari’s breath away. He smiled back at him.

“I think that’s the best idea,” Ari said. “The chief wants us flying out tomorrow, yes?”

“Yes,” Eoghan replied. “Like I said, she still hasn’t heard from the dragons so we really aren’t on a critically tight timeline other than the fact that John Townsend has been waiting long enough.”

“Good.” Ari ducked back into the bathroom and finished up at the sink after brushing his teeth, plucking out several gray hairs, knowing it was a losing battle, and trimming his beard. When he stepped back into the room, Eoghan was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for him.

“Hello handsome.” He smiled.

“Hello handsome.” Ari got into his clothes while Eoghan waited and then grabbed his watch before scanning the room and cursing to himself. “Dammit.”

“What?”

Ari set his hands on his empty waistband. “I don’t like not having my firearm. I can’t believe we didn’t stop and grab one or ask Priest to have Rana or Red Crow bring one for us. Walking around unarmed feels wrong, just so wrong.”

Eoghan frowned. “Trust me, I know exactly how you feel. I hate being without my gun. I feel half naked.”

“Never mind,” Ari said, standing up from the bed where he’d been pulling on his socks and boots. “Let’s go get that drink.”

“You got it.”