Chapter Nine

Colson set the delivery bag on the kitchen island, all the while studying a suddenly nervous Harper. Something had happened while they'd been discussing Evan. Harper had said he had no exes—unsurprising to Colson, as he presumed from Harper's behavior he was a lone wolf. And yet Colson sensed he was hiding something.

Did Harper think he was looking for something permanent between them? They needed to set that straight, especially after that mind-blowing kiss.

"I feel like I should say something because I think you're mistaken about me."

Harper took another swallow of his beer, set the bottle on the island, and crossed his arms. "How so?"

"I think you believe I'm looking for another relationship, while the exact opposite is true."

"Is it?" Harper cocked his head. "You lived with your ex for how long—almost three years?"

Colson so didn't want to talk about Evan. He walked away. "Yeah, so? Everyone's entitled to make a mistake."

Harper followed him. "Are you sure that's what it was?"

He whirled around. "Why are you so interested in my ex? It's over and done with. He's gone, and I'm fine with it. I've moved on."

Harper searched his face. "Just making sure. Because the first time we met and your hands were all banged up, you said it was because you found out he was with someone else." A surprisingly tender smile rested on Harper's lips. "I'm nobody's boyfriend, but I sure as hell don't want to be a stand-in for who you really want to be with."

Irritated, Colson attempted to explain. "You're not a stand-in for anything or anyone. Yeah, I was upset. Wouldn't you be if someone you loved and thought loved you, up and left one day? And then a few months later, he's happier than he's ever been." Colson's lips thinned. "His words, not mine. I wouldn't write something so cheesy. And you don't have to convince me. I know you're not boyfriend material."

Harper's eyes glittered. "And you came to this conclusion how?" He took a step forward. "Because we were talking about your ex and I said I had no exes?" A predatory smirk tipped his lips up. "Or was it because of what happened last time?"

Colson glared. "You kissed me first. And also, it takes two sets of lips to tango."

"I'm not into dancing," Harper murmured, his arms encircling Colson's waist.

Like the first time Harper had touched him, Colson lost sense of everything else except the point of contact where Harper's skin touched his. Their mouths were a mere inch apart, yet it was already enough to trip his heart into overdrive, and his breath stuttered.

"What are you into?" Colson asked, taking Harper's full lower lip between his teeth and tugging.

Harper covered his mouth, and Colson slid his arms around Harper's neck, anchoring him in place, while he pushed his tongue between Harper's lips. Harper pressed him against the island, hands kneading his ass.

Colson released him for a moment, his fingers pulling at the waistband of Harper's track pants, tugging the clothes past his hips. His cock hit Colson's belly, and he grasped it.

"I'd like to be in your mouth. That's what." Harper nipped his lobe, then stuck his tongue inside the shell of his ear, and Colson lit up.

"I think that could be arranged." He sank to his knees and licked the glistening crown of Harper's dick. It was exactly as he'd imagined—its solid heft, the sweetness of the precome trickling from the slit, and the incredible heat rising from Harper's skin, twisting his mind so nothing existed but the sheer hungry need to take him in his mouth.

"Oh, yeah." Harper threw his head back and hissed. Colson gazed up at him, lost in the sight of Harper unraveling. Openmouthed and panting, his chest heaving as if he'd run a mile. Colson liked seeing the normally sardonic and put-together detective lose control.

He swirled his tongue while sucking and added his hand to the action. Soon Harper was clutching Colson's hair, thrusting his hips, and Colson, who loved sucking cock, took it all.

" Mmm ," he hummed, tickling the slit and cupping Harper's balls. They were tight, and Colson knew it wouldn't be long before he'd be tasting Harper Rose's come in his mouth. "So good. Sweet." Again, he sucked deep while slipping a finger into the cleft of Harper's ass, and that was enough.

"Oh fuck, Jesus." Harper gasped and came, shooting hot and heavy down Colson's throat. He sagged onto the barstool, and Colson licked him clean. Hazy-eyed and smiling, Harper pulled him up, then teased his long fingers against the bulge of Colson's thin shorts. "Time for me to make you feel good."

Harper reached inside, and his large, warm hand gripped Colson tight. Colson wriggled the shorts and briefs down, eyes riveted on his dick sliding in and out of Harper's fist.

"Come here." Harper leaned forward, crushing their lips together. He moaned into Harper's mouth, and Harper sucked his tongue while jerking his dick harder…faster. Harper bit at his lips, one hand working Colson's throbbing dick while the other teased at his hole. A desperate, hungry need shot through him. Like an animal in heat, he was ready to roll over and take Harper's dick right there in his kitchen.

"God, oh God." His hips bucked, and stars burst behind his eyes. He came, and Harper held his gaze while he licked his fingers.

Harper patted Colson's softened dick, giving it a final stroke before tucking him into his briefs and shorts. He put an arm around Colson, who rested in his arms.

"I have a confession to make." Harper nuzzled his hair.

Basking in the afterglow, Colson rubbed his eyes, his immediate reaction one of suspicion. "What is it?" He tried to shift away from Harper, but to his annoyance, Harper held him firm.

Harper's lips touched his ear. "I don't really like sushi."

A whoosh of relief left him, and he laughed. "You could've said something."

"I didn't care. I'd eaten dinner earlier. I came to give you the picture."

"And?" Colson prodded.

Harper's grin turned wolfish. "And this was something I hoped for but wasn't going to push. Especially after what happened the other night."

Colson winced. It was the elephant in the room and needed to be dealt with. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

"I think you did."

Damn . From the little he knew of Harper Rose, the man wasn't a bullshitter and liked to cut to the chase. He eased out of Harper's arms. "Okay. I meant it, but it came out the wrong way."

Harper sat on a barstool. "How about you explain it to me? The right way this time."

Knowing they needed to clear the air, Colson took a stool next to him. "Look, I was completely wrong to accuse you of using your position to take advantage of people. And I apologize."

"It was. I've never stepped out of line performing my job. An accusation like that could damage my career." Harper grew more agitated by the moment. "I could lose my job."

"Whoa, Harper, wait a second. Slow down." Colson scrambled away from him and put the span of the island between them. "How did one little, stupid remark become this mess?" He gentled his voice. "I'm sorry. It was mean and nasty, and I apologize. I don't believe you're like that. And what I said was in the privacy of my home, with only the two of us around. How could anyone possibly find out?"

Harper ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe you'd talk about it with your friends. I don't know. You have a habit of saying things in public that shock people. Did you forget those ladies in the coffee house?"

"Oh, Christ." He groaned. "Come on, Harper. That was once , and specifically for their benefit. I knew they were being nosy, and I wanted to have some fun with them. I was playing a game."

Obviously, he and Harper had a different idea of fun, because Harper wasn't smiling.

"I can't afford to take my job lightly. I shouldn't have kissed you. It just happened."

There was something Harper wasn't saying, but he didn't elaborate, remaining tight-lipped.

"I understand you're very dedicated. I'd never tell anyone what happened while the case was being investigated." Colson didn't want this—whatever "this" was that he and Harper had growing between them—to end before it had a chance to be explored further. "But the case is over." He waited.

The darkness in Harper's face lightened. "So it is. And the night is young."

Colson grinned. "And I'm hungry. So you may not like sushi, but I'm going to have some of this."

"Not to worry. I can watch television while you eat your raw fish." He wrinkled his nose, and Colson laughed.

"What do you have against sushi?"

Harper shuddered. "I don't like eating raw things. Food is meant to be cooked."

"What about veggies?" Colson popped a salmon-avocado roll into his mouth.

Harper rolled his eyes. "That's not food. That's grazing. Totally different." He turned on the set and found an old black-and-white romantic comedy, which to Colson's surprise, he settled in to watch.

"You like classic movies?"

Harper's smile was wistful. "Yeah. My mom used to watch them."

Colson slowed his chewing. This was the first time Harper had mentioned his family or anything personal. He swallowed.

"My grandparents did too. Bette Davis was their favorite."

Harper's eyes glowed. "She was the greatest. Dark Victory , The Little Foxes , Jezebel . People would say my mother looked like her when she was young." He shrugged, as if suddenly aware how much he'd revealed. "Anyway, yeah. I'll just sit here while you eat."

Dammit . Every time he thought he was getting a bit closer to the enigma that was Harper Rose, the man threw the walls up.

Colson finished a roll, and though he was still hungry, he decided not to waste time eating sushi when he could have Harper Rose in his mouth.

"Are you sure you don't want to try?"

He plopped himself next to Harper on the large sectional sofa.

"I told you— mmph ."

His mouth hit Harper's. "Taste me." Harper sucked his tongue, and Colson wondered if he could come from a simple kiss. He was beginning to realize, though, that nothing about Harper Rose was simple.

"That wasn't so bad." Harper licked his lips. "A little salty and a little sweet."

"Like you." Colson nudged Harper's cheek with his nose and trailed kisses along his jaw. "But this is ginger and soy sauce. They play well together."

"Like us. How about we take this off," Harper whispered in a husky voice that sent a thrill up his spine. He tugged at the hem of Colson's shirt. "I'd rather play with you."

"Yeah?" Colson peeled the polo off and flung it aside. In the shadow of the light from the television, Harper's eyes gleamed as he ran his hands over Colson's shoulders, dipping past his abs to tease at the line of hair disappearing beneath the waistband of his shorts. Colson wet his trembling lips. "Like what you see?"

More ink covered his chest—birds and butterflies in flowers, and sunrays over one pectoral muscle. Harper's heartbeat accelerated, and Colson felt him grow hard. His fingers plucked at the points of Colson's nipples, and he moaned.

"Not fair," he gasped, pulling Harper's T-shirt over his head, his mouth watering at the dips and planes of his lightly hairy chest. He buried his face in Harper's neck and sucked hard, nipping at the fluttering pulse. That earned a grunt, and Harper cupped his ass.

"This feels damn fucking fair to me. More than that. Perfect." He slipped his hands inside Colson's shorts.

Maybe it was moving fast, but Colson didn't care. Life was fucking short, and he was going to take what he was given. "It would be even more perfect upstairs, where we have more room." Colson met Harper's eyes and rolled off him. Harper followed him up the steps, and into his bedroom, Colson pulled off his shorts and Harper stepped out of his track pants.

They lay next to each other, and Colson took their hard shafts in his hand. With Harper thrusting hard, Colson listened to the sounds they made—bare skin slapping against bare skin, breathless cries rising in the air, and his hand slick with precome rubbing their aching cocks.

"Fuck," Colson groaned. "Oh God, fuck me."

"Yeah, that'll be happening," Harper stiffened and came, his dick pulsing out hot sticky streams across their bellies. Colson followed a minute later, and they lay plastered together with sweat and come. Colson kissed Harper's naked shoulder, wondering if he'd now make an excuse to grab his clothes and leave.

"That was incredible, Harper."

Harper held him close, another surprise as Colson didn't take him as a cuddler. " Mmm . It was. A nice surprise. You're not only into blood and guts, are you? The murder and the macabre?"

"No, I'm really not." Deep down, he was a romantic, looking for someone to care about him. He might not talk about it, and he certainly wasn't about to share it with Harper, whose picture was next to the word "cynic" in the dictionary.

"Just gonna rest a moment." Harper's lids fluttered shut, and Colson held on, rubbing his shoulder, wondering if Harper would stay the night.