Epilogue - Part I

"This house is amazin'," Tav whispered to me as we strolled away from the party room toward where I thought the wine storage was located, somewhere near the small odeum in the back of the house.

"Jon's grandparents left it to him when he was still in high school. Isn't that nuts? And his parents insisted he move in, so he's been here a while. They wanted someone in here, so it wasn't sitting around empty." I stopped to spin a circle in the atrium at the center of the house. The vaulted ceiling had Tav mumbling under his breath because there were stained glass windows on each side that sprayed it with brilliant rainbows. I finally remembered where I needed to go, and Tav followed me toward the kitchen, and then down a hallway to the right. When I opened the door, he gasped. I stood to the side and held the door for him, then closed it and hit the lock on the doorknob.

"Christ," he said.

I hummed. "Yes, Jon said he thought we needed a bottle of red Zin for our toast."

Tav shook his head and wandered over to the closest wall, gaze scanning the racks. The unfinished brick motif made everything feel like a high-end basement even though the room was aboveground. There was a glass table in the center, with clear glass chairs surrounding it, and in the middle was a decanter and stemless wineglasses waiting for anyone who decided they needed to test an expensive bottle. It was over the top, and I had to admit a slight amount of envy.

"Found one," Tav said, picking up a bottle and bringing it over to the table. He plopped it down.

"That's an eight-hundred-dollar bottle of wine," I said, nodding at Tav's selection.

"Shite, we can't." He shook his head.

"Yeah, he's going to want the really expensive stuff for this toast," I said with a laugh, and Tav let out a small strangled sound. He was still getting used to living life around my friends and coworkers, and I didn't exactly blame him. My mom had raised me slightly more frugal than other people I knew, and occasionally, I was taken by surprise as well. I retrieved a bottle and settled it next to Tav's.

"How much is that one?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in my direction.

"I'm not telling you."

"Why?" He frowned and crossed his arms over his delicious chest. He'd let me buy him a suit for the party, mainly because I hadn't taken no for an answer, and he looked fucking edible with the gray fabric stretched tightly across his pecs. I licked my lips.

"Because then you won't drink it." I winked.

He chuckled. "Fair enough."

My gaze kept straying to his pecs, and I swore I could see his nipples through the shirt, even though I doubted that was actually true. With a smirk, I took a few steps closer to him. "This is my party celebrating a good first week at my new company."

"And what does that have to do with anythin'?" he asked, voice rougher than it had been a few seconds ago.

"I should get everything I want," I said, brushing his arms away from his chest. I toyed with the top button on his shirt. Thankfully, he hadn't worn a tie, and I was able to slip the button free.

"Oh, do you think that's how that goes, then, Mr. Company President?" He shook his head, but his face was pinking up, and I loved the way his breath hitched when I kept popping open buttons.

"We're alone in here."

He backed away from me, and I followed until he landed against the wall in between two racks of wine.

"You better hurry up," Tav muttered, cupping my face.

Groaning, I dove forward and kissed along his throat down between the fabric that I peeled apart. Tav hadn't worn an undershirt, and I nipped the top of his right pec.

"Hussy."

He snorted. "I know what I want. And what I want is your mouth on me."

Moaning, I opened his shirt down to his belly button, and then I stopped and shoved the cloth aside until I could latch on to his right pec. I had never really figured out what I loved about this so much, but his light gasp and the way he slid his fingers into the hair on the back of my head were definitely part of it. I lightly tugged on his nipple with my teeth, and it made me think about something else I wanted to wrap my mouth around.

"Jude," he said, a warning note in his voice. "Please don't mess around like this. You know what this does to me." He knocked his head back against the wall, and excitement careened through me. At some point he'd started liking this just as much as me.

Whimpering, I tugged my cock out of my pants and began to jerk off furiously. The whole thing—doing this somewhere we weren't supposed to while there was a party going on not far away, Tav's beautiful body, the sounds he made, the heat of his skin—had me on edge in no time.

Pleasure blasted through me and ripped a moan from deep in my throat as I cupped my hand under the tip of my dick and pumped cum onto my own palm.

"Christ, Judah, did you just?—"

I brought my hand up and smeared the cum over Tav's left pec, then slid over to start licking it off.

"Fuck," he hissed as I latched on to that nipple, then started playing with the other one. The taste of me on his skin had me feeling a little dizzy. I loved it. I smeared my cum all around and chased after it with my tongue, outlining his solid chest muscle, then flitting back to tease the bud of his nipple. By the time I'd cleaned up the mess as well as I could with my mouth, Tav was panting, and his cock was struggling for all its worth against the zipper of his suit pants.

"I'll always take care of you, Puffin," I growled, then dropped to my knees.

He stared at me with wide eyes as I lowered his zipper and wasted no time pulling him out.

In less than a heartbeat, I slid him between my lips and sucked him down as far as I could without gagging.

He slapped a hand over his mouth that didn't quite catch the cry he let out and gasped, rocking his hips against my face.

I didn't make him work for it, instead bobbing on him, because I wanted to take care of him and make him feel good. Today was one of the best days of my life. I truly felt free now that I had a company my parents weren't involved in, and I was going to make it the best thing around New Gothenburg—maybe the whole world.

And Tav was going to be beside me every step of the way. There was nothing better than that. I would do anything I could to make him see that he'd made the best choice when he'd come back and trusted me to be his man.

"Judah." My name came out like a curse when I bobbed up his length and tongued around his cockhead. I toyed with his foreskin and rested my hands on his thighs. The firm muscles shivered underneath my touch. My cock was taking a new interest in what was going on, and I started jerking off frantically again, chasing my own pleasure while trying to make sure Tav got everything he could possibly want. I flushed white hot when I heard the hitch in his breath, anticipation crashing through me. When his cum splashed on my tongue, I groaned and swallowed everything he blasted into my mouth, and his hands fell to my shoulders, convulsing.

Frantic pleasure erupted in my groin, and I came again, this time not being careful where it went. When Tav was finished filling me with his cum, I leaned my head against his abs while I panted and tried to catch my runaway breath. When I stood and slapped my hand to the other side of his chest, he laughed and rolled his eyes, but he let me rub my cum into his skin and toy with his nipple again, then settle in to suck on him for another minute.

Finally, the high was evening out.

When I let go of his nipple to chase his lips, he gave me a soft, sweet kiss, and we helped each other fix our clothing.

"What the hell was that?" he asked with a laugh.

I nipped his earlobe. "I want to fuck you anywhere. Everywhere. I have twenty years to make up for, and I'm not going to miss a single opportunity."

He hugged me close and nuzzled his nose against mine before we both turned and gazed at the bottle of wine we were supposed to be taking back to the party room.

"Welp, I suppose we better do this, or we'll raise suspicion," I said, waggling my eyebrows as I swung around to grab the bottle.

He snickered. "Oh, they already know we were up to no good."

"Nah." I winked at him. "Jon might suspect, but he doesn't know."

Tav's laugh was that deep booming one that I adored, and he followed me to the door. I grabbed the knob and twisted, but it didn't budge. Frowning, I tried to release the lock, but it didn't pop out. I rattled the knob again.

"Would you believe we're stuck in here?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder.

Tav snorted and elbowed me out of the way. "No, that's not right. Lemme see it."

We spent the next ten minutes sharing long looks that broke down into chuckles as we took turns knocking on the door, and finally, it opened. Jon was on the other side. He eyed up the bottle of wine in my hand, then glanced between us and laughed.

"You went for the most expensive stuff. The locks automatically engage unless my phone is in range when you take something from those shelves. They're pressure sensitive. My brother used to come here and sneak off with my best stuff, and trust me, it was a beautiful day when he got stuck in here. I forgot to tell you." He rolled his eyes. "Sorry."

"No worries. We were trapped in here doing nothing out of the ordinary," Tav said, sliding past us into the hallway.

Jon gave me a once-over. "Your fly's down."

Cursing, I spun around and zipped up, and he grinned the whole way back to the party. I suffered through several rounds of toasts before it was my turn to give one.

"I don't have much to say," I said to the room of gathered employees. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Dad, and he lifted a glass toward me. My chest warmed. When had he arrived? I couldn't wait to talk to him, but his presence didn't give me a lot of hope for his marriage. Most of the people were old faces, but there were a few new ones. "You're all the lifeblood of this company, and together we're going to make it work. I'll support you in any way possible. My door is always open."

There was a round of applause, and Jon wandered off with a hopeful glance toward a huddled group of people who were responsible for advertising. I thought maybe he was interested in one of them, but I wasn't really sure who. I gave him a thumbs-up, and he nodded before taking a deep breath and smoothing down his suit jacket. I laughed as he broke into their circle, and they welcomed him warmly.

"Looks like a success," Tav said, taking my hand.

"It does. Thanks to you." I kissed his lips sweetly.

He rolled his eyes. "I didn't do much."

"Except support me every step of the way."

He grumbled as Hilton came up to me with an envelope and a shy smile. "I owe you a lot. You've been letting me stay with you and stuff." He rubbed the back of his neck and flushed. When he showed me his wrist, I gasped. There was an elaborate burst of intricate flowers where my name used to be.

"That's beautiful. Thank you." I gave him a light hug.

He shoved the envelope at me, and I opened it. I was confused. It was a card for the tattoo parlor where Hilton had gotten his work done, stating that it was good for two tattoos. I glanced up at him.

He shrugged. "You can get whatever you want, and when you decide what that will be, I'll pay. Literally anything. I thought maybe you two might want to get each other's names." He glanced away and rubbed his pink cheek with one hand.

"Oh, you're something else," Tav said, and he had that emotional tone in his voice again that we just couldn't shake lately. We'd both had lives that were bleak in their own ways, and now they felt so full. He gave Hilton a bone creaking hug and set him back on his feet.

"What do you think? Should I get property of Judah Dailey tattooed across my chest?" Tav asked with a chuckle.

My gut tightened and I stared at him, feeling like I might pass out from all my blood rushing south.

Hilton giggled.

"Oh, shite," Tav said.

Finally, the tension broke, and I chuckled. "If you let me do that, I'll get property of Tavish Greer wherever you want."

"You don't want to put the tattoo where I want it," he murmured.

This time Hilton doubled over with his laughter, nearly collapsing to the floor. We were drawing attention, but I didn't care.

"Deal," I said brightly.

Tav groaned and covered his eyes with one hand, and I snuck in to give him a kiss. Then another. And one more for good luck. I never wanted to be apart from this man again.