Discovering Dalton (Manchester Menage Collection #2) (39 page)

Liam’s hand was clamped on Troy’s hips, launching him backward as he tilted his powerful hips, clashing against each other.

“Liam, Liam. Yes, Liam. More.”

“Look at you, so fucking hungry for it. You need this cock.”

“I fucking love it.” Troy eyes glazed over, a wetness filling them as he bent his head, hiding in Dalton’s chest as his body seemed to overload on the passion it was experiencing.

“I’ve wanted to fuck you for so long.” Liam buried his cock into Troy three more times, and then he stopped, body taut and rigid, his shouts stopping, breath pausing as he came, loud and rough, like an animal.

Dalton held Troy’s shuddering body as Liam slipped from him, lying beside them both, all three breathing hard, the bed still shifting with their heavy breathing and nothing else in the room except the smell of sex and them struggling to come down from their high.

Dalton was sure he should have stayed awake and basked in the afterglow, or at least mentioned something romantic, something to mark the moment, but as they lay in each other’s arms, slowly calming down, all three just let the event pass with no more than a second’s thought before they found their bodies giving up to the pull of sleep.

Dalton’s last thought before he drifted off was at least he wasn’t the only one who failed to stay awake and talk. All of them were comfortable with how things were, holding each other as sleep took them and they slipped into a peaceful oblivion.

Chapter
44

L
iam knew the day would come when their little bubble would burst and real life would come crashing down on them, but he’d hoped the five long days being alone would never end. Of course, it couldn’t.

There was Aspire to deal with and Living Ink now had a backlog of people waiting for Troy to perform his magic on their skin and transform them into living pieces of art. Dalton had an appointment with Milo and the counsellor about returning to work the following week, and Liam would feel better knowing Dalton was keeping busy while they were out and not hanging around his dad’s house like he planned to.

It was Monday morning, and they were all sitting around in their shorts, bare chested at the breakfast bar while they ate. Troy was running late for his early appointment and was gulping down the last of his tea and trying to comb his hair at the same time. Liam smiled when Troy gave up and put the cup down, glancing at his reflection in the mirror hanging in the hall as he made his way to their room to get dressed.

“You going to be okay today while we’re gone?” Liam glanced at Dalton, getting a shake of the head and a smile back.

“I'm going to be fine. I'm looking forward to ticking a few things off my mental checklist. Getting back to work is the big one, getting my parents’ stuff packed up and finished off is next.” Dalton rubbed the back of his neck, a small sign he was feeling the pressure and Liam moved to him, taking over with his strong hands and massaging him firmly. “You should take this up as a sideline for the gym. With those magic hands, you could make a ton more money and retire at half the age.”

“Ah, but then my hands would be all over other people and not just for you and Troy, and I don’t know how I feel about that.”

“Hmm, there is that to consider.”

Liam leaned down, sucking on an earlobe and getting a little chuckle. “You know you'd hate it.”

“I would, not as much as Troy, but still.” Dalton bent his head, letting Liam continue to work out his stress until Troy rushed back into the kitchen.

“Hey, I gotta run.” He bounced into them, hugging them both and planting quick kisses on both their lips. “Call me around elevenish so we can meet up for lunch. Oh, and find somewhere to eat, Liam.”

“I’ll sort something out and call you both up.” Liam grabbed hold of Troy’s waist, pulling him in for another hug before he left, his scent and soft skin making it harder to let him walk out of the door. “I love you.”

“I want to stay, but you know I can't.” Troy turned, kissing him quickly.

Liam sighed, tilting Troy’s head back and looking into his expressive green eyes. Troy couldn't say those words anymore, not since they’d had sex. Before, the words I love you would be said, even if they didn’t mean what Liam did when he said it now. Troy had become confused emotionally and it was taking time for him to make the shift from what they
used
to have, to what they
could
have. “Have a good day. You need me, you know where I am.”

“I do.” Troy grinned, stepping out of his arms and moving to Dalton again. They shared a long kiss, Dalton obviously not wanting to let him slip out of his arms either. “I’ll miss you both, but you’ve gotta let me go.” Troy chuckled as Dalton frowned playfully. “Aww, don’t pull those big blue puppy dog eyes on me. I have to. It’s going to be a few hours and then we’re back together for lunch.”

Troy was trying to be the one to keep cool and levelheaded while Dalton and Liam were hurtling forwards. Liam guessed Dalton would be the one to keep the pace slow, not Troy, but then Dalton didn’t have the queue of bad boyfriends behind him and Liam as an ex… brother. Liam grinned, hiding it from Troy as he pulled on his jacket.

The label of being brothers wasn’t going to make the transition any easier for Troy, and Liam had made doubly sure not to slip up, not that he thought he would do, but he didn’t want Troy to confuse how Liam felt for him. It wasn’t brotherly. It was very, very different.

Troy waved before he slammed the door shut and Liam folded his arms across his chest and huffed loudly.

“Everything’s going to be fine, Liam.” Dalton finished off his cereal and stood. “I need to take a shower and get dressed so I'm not late for the office. You're banned from joining me.”

Liam couldn’t help the dirty smile reaching his lips, the challenge a welcome one, but Dalton stood his ground, shaking his head and pointing his finger into Liam’s chest.

“No way.”

“Dee, you know showers are our thing.”

“Yeah, and do you know how long we’ve spent in them since this thing started?”

“Don’t say too long, because that’s never going to be the case.”

“I wouldn’t say too long.” Dalton paused, smiling widely. “You're going to be late if you don’t get dressed. I have to be out in half an hour. We need to make this work alongside our jobs, Liam. We’re not millionaires who can swan around and take time off when we feel like it. We all have people who depend on us in different ways.”

“It’s just gone by so fast.”

“It will fly by and we’ll be home tonight, having dinner together.” Dalton stepped closer, sensing Liam’s agitation and concern. “We’re all coming back. I'm coming back. This isn't the end, it's just the beginning.”

Liam did fear this was it. Now they all had their outside lives returning full force, things wouldn’t be as easy, and he really didn’t need things to be any more difficult than they were.

“Together we’re good, but when we go our own ways, it gets confusing. Troy’s going to spend the next few hours overthinking everything and pestering himself with shit he shouldn't be.”

“We can make sure he’s back on our wavelength when we get back.” Dalton kissed him quickly, then headed off for the bedroom. “Once we get today out of the way, it will feel easier tomorrow. You'll see.”

Liam sat back down at the bar, not believing for one moment being apart from them both was going to make the day go faster. It could only slow everything down. All he would do was think about them both at work. But, Dalton was right, they had to see this work in the real world. Keeping indoors and only seeing each other wouldn’t work in the long run.

They couldn’t spend their entire lives in a self-imposed quarantine. Life was bigger than the three of them and the apartment. No matter how it pissed off Liam, that wasn’t going to change and the sooner he got used to going to work and coming home to them both, the sooner it would feel real.

Liam wasn’t one for letting things build up and up in his mind and that’s why this whole thing was easier for him. He didn’t worry about Dalton coming out, it was how it was and people should accept it or fuck off, and if they didn’t fuck off, Liam would make sure as shit he took them out of Dalton’s life.

Troy had always been his. Everyone thought they should be together, and now they were, so no big deal. People would just shrug and be happy. If Liam and Troy found their happiness through Dalton, then who’s business was it but theirs?

He should worry more, but with Troy worrying too much, it felt right to be the one who was laid back and just shrugged off the concern, easing the tension from the three of them. Dalton was more level-headed—he liked to plan. Troy and Liam had no plans, and if they did, it would come from Troy.

Unfortunately, they never really went the way he thought they would do, but maybe with all three of them, they would make it work. They all had advantages and disadvantages, but all three worked in harmony together and life flowed more naturally and easier than ever.

~ ~ ~

Kathy bumped her hip against Liam’s, smirk on her lips. “Come on! Tell me what’s going on in the cavernous, usually vacant head of yours.”

Liam turned slowly, casting a long look her way while she snorted over her mug. They’d not had a big discussion about what to say to people, but Dalton was at the station right now talking about them, so he didn’t feel the need to hide from his friends at work. “I'm just pissed off I'm back here and not where I want to be.”

“And that is?” Kathy grinned at him, leaning over the reception desk and tapping her fingernails on the glass top. “Is it about, Dee?”

“Yeah.” Liam felt the grin spread over his face before he could stop it, then laughed when Kathy jumped around the place.

“I knew it. You two were so good together, it had to happen. So, is that where you’ve been? With him all loved up and alone?”

“I've been with him, and yeah, we’ve been all loved up.” Liam smirked.

“And how’s T taking it?”

Liam almost choked on his water. The words, ‘oh Troy takes it real good’ stilled on his lips and he wiped his mouth. “Troy’s good. But then that’s the other thing, we’re together now, so…”

“What?” Kathy stopped jumping around, hands on hips, vacant look on her face while she tried to work that out. “You and Troy… you’re
together
, together?” Liam nodded. “And you’re seeing Dalton at the same time? Is it.. you know, open?”

“Nope.” Liam stood up, a streak of green running through him. “It’s most definitely not open. We’re all together. Just us three, no one else. Not going to happen.”

“Oh…” Kathy leaned back on the desk and looked at him silently for a few moments. “A ménage then?”

“Yup.”

“Right.” Kathy bit her lip, and then nodded. “Well, you and Dalton are great together, and to be honest, you and Troy are joined at the hip. It’s just I thought… Well, aren’t you brothers?”

“Foster brothers.”

“Oh, thank God. I thought… I mean, I was confused, because… Yay. Okay, happy now.” She wiped her brow dramaticaly, Liam chuckling as he began to walk off. “Congrats on the new relationship.”

“Thanks.”

“So glad you’re not really brothers and all.”

“Yeah, you have no idea how happy I am about that as well.” Liam snorted at her fits of giggles coming behind him.

He wondered as he set up the weights for his next client if many other people thought they were blood brothers. If they did, it would seem a bit strange them suddenly openly kissing and touching, but Liam just put that thought to the side, labeled with: ‘I’ll deal with it if it happens.’

Working out took his mind off how slowly time was passing, but he was thankful when the hour came to an end and he could call up Dalton and see how his meeting went. Dalton answered on the second ring, sounding happy which pleased Liam to no end. “Hey, I guess things went okay?”

“Yeah. I'm back at work on light duties next week. I have some catching up to do in the office, new policies and other little things which I need to make sure I'm up to date with before I get back out on patrol.”

Liam almost broke out into a cold sweat when he imagined Dalton back on the streets. Being a police officer was dangerous, and not too long ago he’d read about one being stabbed in the city.

Dalton sighed. “Liam… I know you’re going to worry, but I’ve been doing this for a long time and I enjoy it. This is a good thing, and we have time to get used to me being back out there before it happens.”

“Yeah, I know, and I'm not saying I want you to stop. I do, but I'm not saying that.” Both of them chuckled. “Look, I'm happy for you, I am. I'm just concerned and on edge, but I guess a lot of people who date police officers are.”

“Yeah…” Dalton paused. “Kelly and I, we had problems. I don’t want those to continue with us, and I'm going to make sure my home life is the priority, not the job. She felt like she married me and I married the uniform. I'm not going to risk us slipping to the side for the job, Liam. I'm giving you permission to give me shit about it if I start doing overtime and staying late when I should be at home with you two.”

“Oh, don’t worry, if I'm missing you and you’re not home on time—hell, I’ll be hunting you down and carrying you caveman style over my shoulder back home.”

Dalton laughed loudly. “Christ, Liam, you can do that any time you want.”

“Hmm, you like the idea of being pushed around by me, huh? Well, I can do that all day, Baby, and not get bored.”

“All day I'm not sure about. All night… Yeah, that’s manageable.”

“Is it, then watch out, because tonight I'm going all out to be bossy and domineering.”

“How long is it till you get off again?”

Liam huffed. “Too. Fucking. Long.”

Dalton was laughing again, the sound making Liam join in. He had an infectious little laugh which seemed to make everyone around him smile. “Did you find somewhere to have lunch?”

“I thought we’d try out a new place one of the members told me about. Sounds good. Tapas bar, so something for everyone.”

“Great. Shall I run by in the car and pick you up, or is it walking distance?”

“Bring the car, we can spend more time together if you do. I’ll ask Troy to meet us here at twelve.”

“Okay, I’ll let you get off. I’ve got some work to do filling in forms for HR, and then I’m popping over to my parents’ place. I have that charity coming round to pick up the furniture.”

“Oh, yeah, well, don’t spend too long there. I don’t want you alone in that house when we can all go round and help.”

“I know, and I appreciate the offer. I guess you being with me it might feel like an introduction. One I won’t have the opportunity to do once it’s sold.”