City Knight 04 - Knights Out (CMS) (MM) (3 page)

“Yeah?”

“My name is Ben, to you.”

He heard the surprised laughter before he cut the connection. Wick would deliver, he knew. He had a heart, and the way to it was through his ribcage most days. But give him a case with a kid in danger, and the man would stop the moon in its orbit to make sure he was safe.

Now, it was late. He was tired. And Marcus owed him.

Smiling, he headed back to his car, whistling a Lionel Ritchie tune all the way. Damn Marcus and his classic pop shit anyway.

Marcus heard the door to the condo open, and couldn’t bring himself to look up. He knew it was Benjamin, but his mind was a million miles away and it wasn’t until he felt strong hands on his shoulders, massaging out the knots of tension that he began to relax. Without a word, he dropped his head back, and soft lips trailed kisses from his neck up to his ears. “You’re mine now. Stop thinking about whatever it is that’s got you so tied up, and let me take care of you. Trust me?”

Marcus smiled gently and closed his eyes. “With everything I have.”

“Excellent.” Those wonderful, strong hands moved from his neck down his arms, and Marcus found himself wrapped in a hug. He sighed, and it seemed like all the tension rolled out of his body with the breath. “Come with me.”

Standing, Marcus was led down the hall into the master bedroom. He stood, a little bemused and a lot amused, while Ben
jamin moved around the room lighting a couple of candles and a cone of incense. He was stripped of his clothes and pushed gently back on the bed. Enjoying the feeling of being cared for, Marcus watched as Benjamin climbed on top of him. The feel of his naked skin rubbing against Benjamin’s jeans and shirt was…naughty. Decadent. He closed his eyes again, ceding control to his lover.

Barely noticing, Marcus felt
his arms raised and his wrists held in one of Benjamin’s strong hands. He took a deep breath, fighting against his natural instinct to resist. The smooth rasp of what he knew had to be one of his silk ties—the same ones he’d been using on Benjamin, the thought of their tentative play bringing a moan to his lips—slid around his wrists as he was methodically tied to the big wooden slats of his headboard. He opened his mouth to say something, but his lover took his mouth with his own, swallowing his questions.

Marcus’s mind went fuzzy and Benjamin invaded him with his tongue, slowly at first, then with building passion. Sure, capable hands moved across his chest, fingers circling and
pinching his nipples. He tried to reach for his man, to pull him closer but he was bound. The moans he heard—could those be coming from him? He drifted, tilting his head sideways when that demanding mouth released his lips and began licking long, slow stripes down his throat.

The sudden lifting of weight from his chest made him open his eyes, trying to figure out what was wrong. What he saw was Benjamin on his haunches, stripping his shirt over his head. His mouth went dry when he saw the man who owned his heart unzipping his jeans, then rising and sliding them down. He was commando, and it always excited him to see that smooth skin come into view. Marcus opened his mouth to say something, anything, when Benjamin shushed him. When he was nude, Benjamin went back to his haunches, sitting back on his heels and looking down at Marcus. He shook his head, grinning, then launched himself
forward, grabbing Marcus’s shaft and swallowing him down to his thick bush.

Could anything be this good? Would he ever breathe again?

The pleasure shot through his body, and he bucked, trying to force more of his length into that hot, wet throat. Benjamin grabbed his hips and held him down, dragging his mouth up and exposing Marcus’s cock to the cool air. “Please,” he begged. “Benjamin, God, I can’t…”

“I know, love. Just lay there”
—he paused to lick a bead of pre-come from the head of Marcus’s cock—“and relax. I have you. I’ll take care of you. Always. I promise, Marcus, I’ll always catch you. Just let go.”

With a breath that sounded like a sob, even to
himself, Marcus nodded. “Love…I love you. Please, touch me.”

With a smile that made Marcus’s heart loosen and his worries melt away, Benjamin laid himself on top of Marcus, reaching between them to line up their cocks. Stroking them with the lightest of touches, he rolled his hips gently and nuzzled his mouth against Marcus’s neck. Scraping his teeth against his carotid artery, he bit down and sucked up a mark on Marcus’s neck. Then he moved
lower, continuing to leave a string of marks against the rough skin of Marcus’s neck.

Panting, Marcus spread his legs, wrapping them around Benjamin’s hips and drawing
him closer. The friction was sublime, but it was not what he wanted. The haze was still there—pleasure, lust, care—but this was his Benjamin, and he wanted. He wanted to be loved. Surrounded. Filled.

He wanted to surrender.

“Benjamin…I need you.”

“I need you too, love.
So very much.” He kissed his way down Marcus’s chest and licked a broad swath across his chest, stopping to suckle on a nipple. The light suction, combined with ever-so-gentle bites, made Marcus’s eyes roll back in his head.

He felt his breathing go shallow and fast. “No,” he whispered. “I…please,
fuck me. Benjamin, love, please, fuck me.”

Laying one more kiss on the scar where Marcus had been shot, Benjamin look up into his eyes. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. And Benjamin?”

“Yes, love?” Benjamin shifted to the right, sliding a hand under his pillow and grabbing the bottle of lube they kept under it. Marcus watched him pop the top open and squeeze out a line across his palm before closing the lid and reaching down to stroke
himself.

Marcus closed his eyes
, and the color rose in his cheeks. “Take me hard. Make me feel it.”

He felt Benjamin move between his legs and grab his thighs
, pushing them up to Marcus’s chest. He gently gripped his calves and pulled Marcus’s ankles over his shoulders. There was a pressure against his opening, and he waited.

“Marcus, open your eyes, baby.”

After a long moment, he did. The love he saw there…he couldn’t refuse this man anything. “I love you.”

Benjamin smiled back,
then thrust forward, taking Marcus in one sure, long stroke.

Marcus groaned and fought against the tie holding him in place.
Benjamin held him here, his face mere inches from Marcus’s, their eyes never leaving each other. “I promise, Marcus, I have you.” His voice was tight with tension, and Marcus was vaguely aware Benjamin was holding back.

He pushed his hips up as much as he could. “Do it, Benjamin,
fuck
me.”

That seemed to snap something in him, Marcus saw, and he felt the hard snap and thrust of Benjamin’s hips, filling him.
God, it’s been so long…how did I live without this so long?

Marcus lost himself in the feelings, the pure ecstasy of being filled, taken. The air was hot and full with the smell of sex and musk, the sound of flesh slapping against flesh and moans. The low buzz of potential release began in Marcus, that slight itch in his stomac
h and at the base of his spine. It moved fast, catching fire along his groin and into his balls, and he found himself fighting the blaze. The feeling was so good, but he wanted to live in this moment forever.

“Come for me, Marcus. Let go, I’ll catch you.”

And that was all it took. He closed his eyes, surrendered, and came. The heat, the wetness, he could feel it all the way up his chest, pooling between them. He felt, rather than heard, Benjamin yell and then the scalding wash of spend inside, and everything went black.

“Come on, babe. It’s time to wake up now. Marcus.”

Ben reached up and worked the tie loose, pulling Marcus’s hands down and kissing his palms. He smiled as the big man slowly opened his eyes and looked up at him. Once he was sure Marcus was back in the land of the living, Ben worked himself under his arm and snuggled in. Marcus instinctively pulled
him close and hummed in contentment.

“So.”

Raising one eyebrow lazily, Marcus glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “So?”

Ben huffed and looked up at Marcus over his chest. “Well, now that I fucked your brains out, care to tell me what had you so tense?”

Looking around, Marcus finally turned a blank face to Ben. “I don’t see brains anywhere. Perhaps you were mistaken.” Ben made a quick move, and Marcus yelped at the bite, rubbing his nipple. “Damn, Ben. Give a man a break here.”

“One more
snark like that about my fucking ability to fuck, and I’ll bite it off and wear it as a necklace. Clear?”

Marcus glared,
then let a smile break over his face. “God, I love you.”

“That’s better,” Ben said, snuggling back into his place beside Marcus. “Now, spill. And don’t give me any shit here, Marcus. I
will
tie your ass back down and keep you here until you tell me what’s wrong.”

Ben could sense the hesitation, the sudden withdrawing in Marcus, and hated it. His man was so loving and open, and anything that hurt him was wrong. Ben would take any burden and pain on himself rather than let this man suffer one more second. Stretching, he reached over Marcus and turned off the bedside lamp.

Something about the darkness…although Ben still had his moments of terror from his attack brought on by total blackness, he knew it felt like a safe place for Marcus. And he was right, because he felt Marcus relax, then the words started. “Remember, I told you I wanted to find my brother, Frankie?” Ben nodded against Marcus’s shoulder and rubbed his chest lightly. “While you were out, I decided to man up and finally start the search.”

The darkness
wasn’t as heavy, but Ben knew this would be hard for Marcus. Something had happened, and he needed to get it out so they could deal with it. Together. “I’m proud of you, love. That couldn’t have been easy. Now, why don’t you tell me about it? Anything you found out we can manage.” It struck him suddenly—“Marc, he’s…he’s still alive, isn’t he?”

Marcus’s arm slid tighter around him, as if to offer consolation
. Ben had to smile in spite of his fears—it was so like Marcus to try to take care of him, even when he was in pain himself. “No, he’s not dead.” He sighed and rolled on his side, facing Ben in the dark. “You know, when we were little kids, Frankie followed me everywhere. I was his hero, and for a teenager, it was heady. Anything I did, he had to do too, and better. It was flattering as hell. Then things changed.”

Ben leaned in
to him and touched lips with him tenderly. He laid a hand gently against Marcus’s cheek and waited. Marcus rubbed slightly against him and sighed. “When I went off to college, I’d been dating my old high school sweetheart. Things were good, I was happy. Or, happy enough. Vanessa was comfortable, and she stayed home and worked instead of going to Georgia with me, so we only saw each other once in a while. One night I went to a party with my roommate, and there was drinking and pot, and then I was back in my dorm room making out with Craig. And really, really liking it.”

Not sure what to say, afraid he’d break the mood, Ben had to giggle. “I think I saw this movie. Frat Cocksuckers #10, right?”

Marcus reached over and slapped the back of his head, laughing. “Shut up. I know I’m a cliché, but they’re that for a reason. Anyway, asshole, it scared the bejesus out of me. We didn’t do anything but kiss and grope each other a little, and wake up with a headache the next day and freaked out. We made a pact to never talk about it again. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I had to talk about it with somebody, so when I went home the next weekend, I told Vanessa. She was so understanding about it, and thought it was a little hot and we ended up…well, you know.”

“You do like your sex, as my poor ass can testify.”

Marcus put a hand over Ben’s mouth. “Jesus, sometimes I don’t know what to do with you, kiss you or push you out of the fucking bed.” He jerked his hand away and yelped when Ben bit his fingers.

Ben pushed him over on his back and crawled on top, splaying himself across Marcus’s chest. “Okay, big man, I’ll behave. Now, tell me. I promise, no
more smart ass.”

“You can’t control it, so don’t even try.” Marcus put a hand behind Ben’s head and pulled him
down and into a kiss. Ben opened his mouth, hoping to deepen it into something more, but Marcus kept it light, gentle, in control. Surrendering, he pressed against Marcus’s lips then snuggled against his neck.

“There was no way I could do anything more. I knew my family would never accept it. They expected me to marry Vanessa, have grandkids for them
, and be a good little son. So, I caved. Vanessa and I talked, and I proposed to her. The parents were happy. It worked for a little while. I finished school, and then we got married. I asked Frankie to be my best man and the kid, I swear Benjamin, his feet never touched the ground. He was almost eighteen and such a handsome young man. Then it all went to hell.”

Ben just lay there, planting small kisses along Marcus’s collarbone and occasionally running his hand down his side, but not talking. This was painful enough, he knew. He wouldn’t make it worse.

He felt Marcus draw in a deep breath. “I joined the academy. My parents were against it, Vanessa was worried I’d get shot, but Frankie… Ben, he supported me. He was the only one, but he knew how much I wanted to…God, it sounds so silly, but I wanted to make a difference. And so did Frankie. That’s why he joined the Marines. Right after I went into the academy, he enlisted and ended up deployed with Desert Storm. And of course, I…”

Large hands reached down Ben’s back and settled on his ass. They held him in place, not in a sexual way, Ben knew, but in an unconscious cry for closeness. Marcus’s body was begging for touch and comfort and assurance. Ben slid his arms under Marcus
and hugged him close.

“That’s when I met Chance and Wick and…well, we had another friend at the academy but he’s not important, not now. Anyway, we all ended up as buddies and—fuck, you’ve seen them. I was already…curious. I…I never cheated on Vanessa, but I knew what I wanted to do, and that I wanted it to be with a man. So I told my parents, and I told them why. And they went crazy. Said I couldn’t ever talk to Frankie again, since he was in Iraq, and I was never to contact them again. Vanessa understood, I mean, she knew I liked men at least a little, but it still hurt her when I told her I wanted to be with one
. She offered to let me…do it…but I couldn’t cheat.”

Of course you couldn’
t. You’d be alone the rest of your life before you’d do that to someone, you…you big fucker.

“I got a letter from him
, wanting to know what was happening, that my parents had told him Vanessa and I were going to get a divorce and what the hell was I doing. And I was afraid, Benjamin. I was so afraid. I didn’t want my little brother to hate me.” Ben had to squeeze him extra tight here. He could feel the slight trembling against his chest. “So I sent him one letter. I told him“—his voice broke—“that I wasn’t worth it and to forget about me.”

“Oh, Marcus.”
Ben relaxed his grip from the tight hug and pulled himself up face-to-face, snaking one hand behind Marcus’s head and grabbing a handful of the hair he’d allowed to grow out. “Never.
Never.
You can’t believe that.”

The tears dripped down the corners of Marcus’s eyes, but Ben wouldn’t say anything about them. “He needed to focus on himself. Not worry about his brother.
His fag brother with the failed marriage who was the shame of the family.”

Ben couldn’t let that pass. He tightened his grip on Marcus’s hair and slammed his mouth against his in a brutal kiss. Their teeth clashed as Ben forced Marcus to open to him. He could taste the bitter tang of blood, but didn’t let it stop him. Fi
nally, he pulled away, gasping. Words failed him.

But he
needn’t have worried. Marcus never ceased to surprise him. “It broke my heart. But, Ben…every heart needs breaking sometimes. It just means you’ve let it get too hard.”

God, I love this man
.

“He’s living here in Atlanta, Ben.” Marcus’s voice was small, pained.
So unlike him. “He married my ex-wife, had two kids, joined the DeKalb County PD. He’s been living his life—my life—within fifteen miles of me for ten years and I didn’t know it. Now he’s divorced, and, Ben? He and the kids live ten minutes from here now.”

Holy.
Fuck
.