Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

brONX

Bronx had had a lot of interesting, wild, and searing-hot sex in his life, but nothing was better than hearing Monty's long string of incoherent French as his dick was being swallowed. Bronx had never particularly enjoyed the taste—especially first thing in the morning. There were still bits of dried come on his shaft, which were unpleasant, but they faded behind Monty's bright, needy passion.

His body moved with every single one of Bronx's touches, almost like he was being controlled with silent commands. He moaned loudly, giving himself to every suck, every lick, every graze of teeth.

Bronx had no idea what had inspired him to wake Monty up this way, but he had no regrets. Through the dim light of the drawn shades, he watched as Monty's back arched, feeling his limbs tremble and his cock thicken with his impending orgasm.

He pulled back and gripped him, letting the foreskin do most of the work as Monty fucked, spit-slick and ready to come, in the circle of Bronx's fingers .

"Fuck yes. Look at you, sparky. Jesus," Bronx murmured. He was hard, rocking against the sheets as he drew Monty toward the edge. He moaned, definitely on the edge of coming.

Bronx released his hand, and Monty cried out, sitting halfway up. His hair was a mess, and his eyes were red-rimmed and desperate. Bronx smiled at him as he pressed a firm hand to the inside of Monty's thigh.

"Good morning, sparky."

Monty shuddered, and Bronx felt his own cock thicken a little more at the way Monty reacted to such a silly little pet name. "Why did you stop?"

"Because I think you like it when I do." Bronx felt no need to lie. He had no idea how long he'd be allowed to have this. He wanted to draw it out. And a small part of him wanted to make sure that Monty would never settle for someone like the mediocre men he'd been with in the past.

Monty swallowed heavily. He stared at where Bronx's hand was still holding him, still and gripping tightly. His body was flushed with his ruined orgasm. "I…"

Bronx lifted his brows. "Yes?"

His chin trembled, and he fucked his hips, almost like a test to see what Bronx would do. He loosened his grip a little, and Monty gasped. He did it again, and Bronx's fingers loosened even more. It was barely a touch now.

Monty groaned in frustration and flopped back. "Please."

"Please what?" He shifted higher up, kissing along Monty's torso. He stopped by his right nipple and grazed his teeth over it, making Monty's back arch. "Tell me what you need, sparky. I'll give you anything you want."

"Anything?" The look in his eyes told Bronx there was a hidden, bratty side, and Christ, but he liked the thought. He hoped he had time to tease it out of him before this was over.

Bronx bit down on the tendon in Monty's neck, then released him just before it became a lasting mark. "Yes, gorgeous. Anything."

Licking his lips, Monty shifted his body slightly toward Bronx. "Together."

Together? Bronx frowned, but only for a moment. It hit him after a beat, and then he swung his leg over Monty's and settled his own hard cock against his lover's. "Like this?"

Monty's breath shuddered out of his chest, and he nodded. "Mm. Please."

"I think you need to convince me a little better than that, sparky." Bronx's fingers found their way into his messy hair, gripping it tightly before he tugged.

A gasp rushed from his chest, and Monty's lower half stuttered upward. "Oh."

Bronx grinned. "Maybe a little better than that. Show me it'll be worth my while. I know you can. You're so fucking good for me. Show me how it'll be."

Monty fell back against the pillows, but this time, he took Bronx with him. He curled his fingers against the back of his neck, guiding him into a kiss as his other hand snaked between their bodies. He brushed Bronx's hand to the side, then gripped them both together and began to stroke. His fingers couldn't fit around them both, so he used the thrust of his hips to make up for it.

Fuck, there were few things better in life than the feeling of Monty's hot, impossibly hard dick rubbing against his own. Bronx's hips picked up speed as his own desperate orgasm toyed with him.

He wanted to come. He wanted to let go. He wanted to watch himself paint Monty's cock with white-hot streaks as they both made a mess.

Bronx kissed him one last time before sitting up and pinning Monty's legs with his ass. He kept his gaze locked as he grabbed himself, Monty's dick flopping back down against his stomach, and then he began to stroke.

"No. Eyes on me," Bronx ordered when Monty's eyelids began to close again. He was observing carefully, making sure that Monty wasn't going unconscious, but that wasn't it. Not now. Monty was overwhelmed, and Bronx was going to make sure he stayed present. "Watch how good you make me feel. How much I want you."

Monty's lips parted on a sigh as his gaze moved down. His cheeks flushed bright pink, and Bronx lost himself to the pleasure of it. His head tipped back as he came, the feeling rushing through his limbs—a white-hot heat. He spilled in streaks over Monty's cock, and before he was even back in his own body, his hand had reached down and was stroking Monty with it.

"Oh," Monty groaned. "Oh." He babbled something else Bronx couldn't understand, and then he caught Bronx's gaze. "Faster. Please, please."

As though Bronx could deny him anything. He picked up speed, his arm burning. The room was full of a gentle fap fap fap , skin hard on skin, punctuated by the soft groans punching straight out of Monty's chest.

He trembled, sitting halfway up, and then he was coming. Bronx felt it against his palm, the rough pulse, and he slowed his hand, forcing Monty to draw it out, to chase the last tendrils of that pleasure.

Bronx was a complete mess and deliciously exhausted as he collapsed forward and took Monty's mouth in another rough, morning-sour kiss .

"I don't think I've ever woken up this way," Monty confessed.

"Was it okay?" Bronx was suddenly unsure. He'd woken Monty with gentle kisses before wordlessly asking to suck him off. But he was nervous now. He wasn't sure he knew him well enough for that.

Monty just smiled and nestled closer. "It was perfect."

Bronx closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of him. "We definitely need a shower."

Laughing, Monty buried his face against Bronx's thick chest hair and rubbed his nose back and forth. "We do. I have one that can fit two people if you'd like."

"Mm. Just don't expect too much from me. I don't have the stamina of a younger man anymore."

Monty snorted and pulled back. "Neither do I. But it'll be nice to have someone in there if I go limp. At least I can trust you to catch me."

"You absolutely can, darlin'." In more ways than one . That was a dangerous road to go down, even in his own head. But fuck his life because Bronx couldn't help it. No matter how hard he tried.

"And where the hell were you, young man?"

Bronx froze with his foot halfway through the front door before he realized it was his son talking, not his brother. Lucas and Dallas sounded incredibly alike, which was something he hadn't noticed until a year ago as Lucas moved through the last vestiges of his puberty shift.

He shut the door behind him, and without the glow of the morning sun, he could only just make out Lucas on the couch, holding a sleeping Audra on his shoulder. "Is your uncle here?"

"No. He asked me if I could babysit while he goes to an IEP meeting at the school," Lucas told him.

Bronx walked over and plopped down next to his son. "Did your uncle ask where I was?"

Lucas snorted. "Yeah, he did. And I lied and said you were at the store, so you totally owe me."

"Sure. Add it to my tab."

"Bruh."

Bronx elbowed him gently, his own personal version of a glare that he could use on his son. Lucas laughed quietly, obviously not trying to wake the baby. "How long has she been asleep?"

"About an hour. I need a piss though. Help me out?"

Bronx carefully lifted the infant into his arms. She was heavy with dead weight and didn't do more than stretch a bit before settling in his arms. "Take your time," Bronx said. "I need some baby cuddles today."

"That bad?" Lucas grinned in his direction before hurrying off toward the bathroom. He clipped his hip on the edge of a curio cabinet near the hallway entrance, and Bronx made a note to have it moved somewhere else.

Lucas was still learning the layout of the house, but they'd been there long enough now that he could start helping prevent bruises.

Bronx settled back and looked down at Audra's face. He hadn't gotten to see her much at all when she was first born. The first trip he'd attempted was canceled because Katie refused to let Dallas have her overnight. The second, he'd gotten a few hours before Katie showed up and claimed she had a doctor's appointment, refusing to let Dallas go along with .

In between that, Bronx was dealing with his marriage ending, so it hadn't been a priority. He felt like shit about it now. Especially knowing Dallas had turned to a group of would-be strangers, and suddenly, they'd become more like family than him.

It was his own fault for checking out, and he had only himself to blame. But it felt like things were being fixed, and it didn't seem like Dallas resented him for it. Though, that could easily change, especially if he found out Bronx had slept with his new best friend and had no intention of actually getting serious with him.

His plan hadn't been to show up and shake up the friendship dynamics in Dallas's life. He'd just wanted to carve out a little space for himself. Have something that was only his. He and Monty hadn't exactly talked about what was next—if there was anything next.

But it wasn't off the table either.

Their shower hadn't led to anything other than kissing, and then Monty fixed him coffee and some toast. They ate in comfortable silence, and then Monty walked him to the door and kissed him again, soft and pliant and so long Bronx left with his heart pounding and his toes curled.

He liked him.

He wanted him.

And that was about all he was willing to ask for at the moment. But he knew they'd need to have a conversation about it soon because if his brother found out, he'd form expectations, and Bronx wasn't ready for that. He didn't have the strength to convince Dallas that he'd probably missed the window for his happily ever after, and he didn't have the courage to admit aloud that even if he was ready, Monty had made it pretty clear he wasn't interested in more than this .

That part stung the worst, but it was easy to ignore.

"Still here?"

Bronx looked up at his son. "Haven't moved."

Lucas touched the edge of the table, then walked back to the sofa and sat. "She still asleep?"

"Yeah. She's definitely a better baby than you ever were," Bronx murmured.

"Cool. So, I found this retirement home in this creepy, abandoned building with a nurse that I'm pretty sure has iron spikes for teeth. I thought I'd get you signed up now and save me the trouble when you're old."

Bronx chuckled and leaned in to his son, resting his temple against Lucas's shoulder. "It's not my fault you had so much shit to say before you acquired language."

That was true. Lucas had also been a late talker, but his doctors had warned him that blind babies tended to do things late since they were missing visual cues. Bronx used to hold him close and press his tiny fingers against his lips so he could feel them moving whenever he talked to him. But he was still nearly two before he was forming three-word sentences. Once he got started though, he hadn't stopped.

"Does she look like Dallas?"

Bronx studied her a bit more. "Yeah, but I can see her mom in her too."

"Do you think he hates that?"

"Nope." Bronx knew what Lucas was getting at. "And yes, bud, you look like your dad too. And no, I don't hate it."

Lucas stiffened and turned his face away. "He's not my dad."

Bronx sighed, then used his foot to hook the travel cot closer and set Audra down on her back. She stretched again but stayed out, and when he was satisfied, he turned back to his son. Reaching out carefully, he brushed the backs of his knuckles against Lucas's elbow, then took his hand in his and squeezed.

"He's a dipshit, but he's still your dad."

"He's not even a sperm donor," Lucas said tightly. "Technically, he's my shitty-ass, never-there uncle."

Bronx bowed his head. He'd known this was coming. He'd known that Lucas's anger was simmering under the surface of his attempt to pretend like everything was okay. Like it didn't hurt. Like years of resentment hadn't been building up because Jules had never been present.

"Did you know that Frey's ex left him because Rex was Deaf?" Lucas said before Bronx could say anything.

Bronx did know. He and Frey had lamented over how fucking shallow and shitty their exes were. "He told me."

"Is that, like, a thing ? I mean, why even have kids if you're not going to love them no matter how they come out. I mean, what if everything was fine, then you got into an accident and went blind. Would he have left you?"

"Statistics say most likely," Bronx told him honestly. "And my experience with him says definitely. He probably wouldn't have waited more than a few weeks to escape the marriage."

Lucas looked pissed. "So you knew all this, but you still chose to marry this guy?"

"I didn't know until after you were born. And I was…I don't know, I was a jackass who thought maybe he'd get over himself once he realized you were an amazing kid."

"So you made me live with some guy who hated me for something I couldn't help just in case he decided to pull his head out of his ass?" Lucas stood up. "I need a fucking walk."

"Don't—" Before Bronx could finish, Audra was up and screaming. Lucas deflated, but Bronx knew he needed to let his kid get out. "Just go. Give Gage a call, yeah? See if he's around. I'm sorry I fucked up."

"Whatever." Lucas marched toward the front door, grabbed his cane from the hook, and slammed it on his way out.

Audra screamed harder, so Bronx grabbed her close and began to pace the floor. "I'm sorry. Your uncle really sucks right now, and he hurt your cousin's feelings. I totally deserve the screaming."

She looked at him with her big eyes—eyes that looked like Dallas's. "Dada…dadadada."

"Hopefully soon," Bronx said. And he meant it. He'd already fucked up with one kid. He didn't want to screw up with another.