Joe remembered. It was the day Joe had fallen for Blake, believing everything Blake did for him that day had been because he cared. The limo that picked Joe up, the fancy hotel room filled with red roses and champagne. Blake turned down several invitations to extravagant parties to spend the night with Joe. They watched movies, laughed, and made love. Joe had never been happier, or more delusional.
“I remember,” Joe said quietly. “But that doesn’t make up for what happened after.”
Blake sighed. “You had to know it wouldn’t work out between us. I have a legacy to uphold. As the only heir, I was always going to have a wife, and have her children. You know my family, Joe. No one breaks with tradition. Does that mean I shouldn’t get what I need? You should be thanking me, really. If I had asked you to stay, you would have. And instead of this,” Blake motioned around him, “you would have had a penthouse and spending account. You wouldn’t have been happy.”
Joe couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Tears sprang in his eyes, and he quickly blinked them away. He wouldn’t give the bastard the satisfaction.
“So how much will it take?” Blake removed his wallet and took out a wad of cash, then put it in Joe’s hand. “Come on, Joe. You can use the money. Get some furniture for this place from this century.”
Joe threw the money in Blake’s face. “Get out of my shop, you son of a bitch.”
“Now listen here, you pathetic little nobody. I—”
Blake was cut off by Tom punching him square across the jaw. He reeled back, falling into the doorframe. Joe stood stunned, the murderous glare coming from Tom giving him pause. Blake scrambled to his feet and took a step forward. He came to a halt when something in Tom’s gaze and stance told him he better consider his next move very carefully. Tom’s silver eyes were hard as steel, his jaw clenched tight, and his hands curled into fists at his sides. He looked lethal, and certainly not a man to be trifled with. Joe had never seen this side of Tom. Was this a hint of the man who lay underneath?
“He said get the hell out.” Tom’s voice was low and grave, his warning less than subtle.
Blake straightened out his suit and glared at them. “This isn’t over. You’ll be hearing from my firm.”
Tom took a step toward Blake who took a step back. “I’ll be waiting.”
Blake quickly gathered up his discarded bills and stomped out of the shop. Tom locked up behind him. His expression softened the moment he turned to Joe.
“Are you okay?”
Joe opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out. He shook his head, trying his hardest to keep his emotions in check. After all these years, why the hell did the guy have to come back? He’d been doing so well, and now…. Oh God, what if it happened all over again?
“Excuse me.” Joe was finding it hard to breathe. He needed air. The garden. That always helped. Joe hurried out the side door into the garden and the cool night air. It couldn’t happen again. He couldn’t go through that a second time. Everything had been going so well. For the first time in a long time, it seemed like he was moving on with his life. Things were good. He was happy. Why now? Wasn’t once enough? Joe sat on the stone bench, unable to keep the tears at bay any longer.
TOM
stood in the middle of the café wondering what to do next. Should he go after Joe? He wanted to, but he didn’t want to impose on Joe’s privacy. If he could, he’d go after that bastard and teach him a thing or two about manners. Whoever he was—aside from being a complete and utter asshole—he’d really upset Joe. He heard them arguing, but only walked in to see Joe throw the guy’s money back at him and tell him to leave. Tom had never seen Joe so angry. He’d seen Joe frustrated or annoyed, but he had an amazing way of picking himself up, of looking at the bright side of things.
“You should go to him,” Bea said quietly. The pain in her kind eyes squeezed at Tom’s heart.
“Who was that guy?”
“It’s not my place to say. Only Joe can tell you that.” She patted his arm and headed for the kitchen. “We’ll clean up and close the shop. He needs you, Tom, more than he’s willing to admit.”
Tom took Bea’s advice and walked out into the garden, finding Joe sitting on the stone bench, his face turned up to the sky and his eyes glassy. When Joe spotted him, he quickly wiped at his eyes. Tom sat beside him and took Joe’s hand in his, stroking Joe’s skin with his thumb.
“Talk to me, Joe. Who was that?”
“That was my ex.”
Tom’s eyebrows shot up toward his hairline. Ex? Never in a million years would he have imagined Joe with a jerk like that. The guy clearly had a lot of money, but Tom didn’t think for a moment that Joe had been with the man because of that. If Joe had been with him, it meant he cared about the guy at some point.
“We were together years ago. He was still in college, and I’d finally saved up enough to buy my first shop. It was a great little place down in the Village, a couple of blocks away from my apartment. Blake wasn’t out. He couldn’t be. His family’s extremely wealthy. When we met, he was such a nice guy, or at least that’s what I thought. It was tough having to hide, but I understood. I didn’t have anyone, but he had a family, and his father was a court judge, high up the food chain.” Joe let out a shuddered sigh, and it nearly broke Tom’s heart.
“Blake invited me to spend the night. His father was down at the Hamptons and wouldn’t be back until the end of the weekend. One night, we were together in bed and his father walked in on us.”
Tom kept himself from cursing. He had the sneaking suspicion it didn’t go well.
“Blake panicked. His father would cut him off without a penny and throw him out into the streets if he thought Blake was gay, so Blake did what he does best. He protected himself and threw me under the bus. He told his father he invited me over to study, that I drugged him and tried to force him to have sex. He made me sound like… like some kind of monster.”
Tom clenched his jaw to keep himself from saying anything, namely cursing the bastards to high heaven, especially Blake the weasel.
“I left as quickly as I could. The next night I was walking home from the shop and I got jumped by a group of men. They beat the hell out of me. That’s how I met Bea. It was in front of her house. She heard the commotion and called the cops. Lucky for me, an officer was on patrol nearby, and he rushed to my aid. If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be here now. I was in an induced coma for days.”
Tom was having trouble believing what he just heard. “Jesus, Joe.” He wanted to go back out there and find that son of a bitch Blake and see how well he liked getting the life beat out of him. His anger rose, a familiar sickness unsettling his stomach when he thought about Joe bloodied and broken on the street. If there was a monster in this story, it wasn’t Joe. Sweet, kind Joe, who always had a smile and a kind word for everyone. Tom took several deep breaths to calm himself.
“When I woke up, the nurses told me the name of the officer who saved me, and how he came to visit me every day after his shift. He found out I didn’t have anybody, so he stayed with me every night. He’d talk to me and play soft music. He was gone by the time I was conscious enough to remember more than someone placing ice chips to my lips. I tried to find him, to thank him, but he transferred out of state,” Joe said with a sigh.
“Wherever he is, I’m sure he knows how much you appreciate what he did.” Tom was happy to hear Joe hadn’t been alone. He brought Joe’s hand to his lips for a kiss. If only he’d known Joe at the time. He would have been there at his side. Maybe it was for the best he hadn’t been around, or he might have hunted Blake down and done something stupid.
“It’s probably for the best. I don’t know how I would have faced him, knowing how I’d ended up there. The guy probably thought I was an idiot. I sure as hell felt like one. I thought Blake loved me. I was so stupid. If getting beat up wasn’t enough, whatever didn’t get eaten by the hospital bills was lost in the lawsuit. Blake’s assault charges never stuck because of the lack of evidence, but it was enough to drag my name through the mud. I lost my shop, my apartment, everything. I was on the street, and funny enough ended up in front of Bea’s house again. She took me in and looked after me until I could get back on my feet. When her husband died, she needed to keep herself busy. By then I’d opened Apple’n, Pies, so I offered her a job.” Joe pulled away, fear in his blue-green eyes. “What if Blake goes through with his threat? I can’t lose it all again, Tom, I can’t….”
“Listen to me, Joe. You weren’t stupid. You put your trust in someone you cared about, someone you thought cared about you. What happened wasn’t your fault. You’re a wonderful, gentle man who deserved so much better.” Tom held him close and kissed the top of his head. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. I don’t care how much money Blake and his family has. I won’t let him hurt you again.”
Joe clung to Tom, digging his fingers into Tom’s back, and burying his face against Tom’s neck, a whispered “Thank you” slipping from Joe’s lips. They sat there for what seemed like ages, holding on to each other. The night grew chilly, and Joe took Tom’s hand. He stood and pulled Tom along with him, leading him upstairs to his apartment. Tom allowed Joe to take the lead, standing to one side as Joe locked the door, then cupped Tom’s face, drawing him in for a heated kiss.
Joe’s kiss was filled with need and desire, one that stoked the fire inside Tom. A shiver went through him as Joe slipped his hands under Tom’s T-shirt, caressing and exploring, his boldness growing by the moment. Their breaths mingled, and Joe pressed himself against Tom, the feel of their erections rubbing causing Tom to let out a low groan. He’d never wanted anything so badly in all his life. How he knew that was beyond him, but he could feel it down to the depths of his soul.
“Tom,” Joe pleaded, pulling back enough to meet Tom’s gaze, the heat in his eyes setting Tom ablaze. “I need you.”
“Are you sure?”
“There’s not a lot I’ve been sure of in my life, but this—” Joe pressed his lips to Tom’s for another fiery kiss before pulling back. “This I’m sure of.”
Tom didn’t need to hear more. They scrambled to undress each other, dropping items of clothing on the way to the bedroom. Tom kissed Joe as if he were trying to consume him. When he had Joe naked, he gently pushed him back onto the bed. “Please tell me you have supplies.”
“Nightstand,” Joe breathed, moving to the middle of the bed. Tom was on his heels. He turned on the small lamp on the nightstand and rummaged through the drawer, grabbing what he needed, then dropped them beside him on the bed. Tom paused long enough to admire Joe and his gorgeous body.
“Joe, you’re amazing.”
Joe’s bashfulness was endearing. “How do you see things no one else does?”
“You’re the one who doesn’t see it, Joe, but I’m going to show you.” How could Joe not know how beautiful he was? Tom ran his hands from Joe’s shoulders to his chest, down his torso. His soft skin was flushed from his cheeks to the tips of his ears down to his shoulders. Tom could get lost in those blue-green eyes. He bent over and kissed Joe, loving the sweet taste of his mouth. The rest of Joe was just as sweet.
Tom trailed kisses down Joe’s neck to his chest, taking a moment to lavish some affection on Joe’s pink nipples, relishing in the little noises Joe made as Tom licked the pebbled nubs. Joe arched his back, and Tom continued his journey of exploration. He nipped at Joe’s skin and gently scraped his fingernails until Joe writhed beneath him.
“Please, Tom.”
Tom placed a pillow under Joe’s hips before taking hold of the lube. He smiled when he saw it was cherry scented. Joe’s blush intensified and Tom couldn’t wait anymore. He kept his eyes on Joe as he rolled the condom onto his shaft, then pressed his lubed fingers to Joe’s entrance. Joe’s gasp was music to Tom’s ears, and he had to force himself to take it slow. As soon as Joe was ready, Tom leaned in to kiss Joe and replaced his fingers with his rock-hard erection. Gingerly he pushed himself inside Joe, inch by excruciating inch. Joe moaned and arched his back. He wrapped his legs around Tom and pulled him down against him. They brought their lips together in another heated kiss as Tom began to move. His muscles strained as he pulled out slowly nearly to the tip and leisurely pushed himself back in down to the root.
“Tom,” Joe pleaded.
Tom did his best to drive Joe crazy. He rained kisses on his neck and up his jaw before taking Joe’s earlobe between his teeth. He picked up his pace a little, taking hold of Joe’s hand and lacing their fingers together while he took hold of Joe’s cock with his free hand, pumping his fist slowly to match his thrusts. Their skin was warm and beaded with sweat as they lay pressed together. Joe let his head fall back, exposing his neck, and Tom took advantage. His nipped, kissed, and licked at Joe’s delicious skin.
“Please, Tom.”
Tom snapped his hips, smiling when Joe let out a surprised gasp. He writhed underneath Tom, his whimpers and murmurs for Tom to give him more sending a shiver through him. Tom obliged, giving Joe exactly what he wanted. He moved Joe’s hand to his cock so he could take over the task while Tom sat back and took hold of Joe’s legs, pushing them up against his chest. Tom never took his eyes off Joe as he pushed himself deeper and harder with each thrust, his pace quickening, fueled by Joe’s sweet moans and gasps of pleasure.
Their breathing grew ragged, and Tom buried himself deep in Joe, thrilled by the tightness around him and the ecstasy on Joe’s face as he threw out a hand to grab a fistful of the bedsheets. His stomach muscles tightened, and Tom knew Joe was close.
“Come for me, Joe.”
Joe pumped his fist, losing his rhythm just as Tom did. He was so damned gorgeous, his lips wet and parted as he came. The sight was enough to send Tom hurtling toward his own release, and he smacked his hips against Joe’s ass, his teeth clenched as his orgasm burst free as he pumped into Joe. He bent over and kissed Joe as they rode out their orgasms until they were both too sensitive. Tom carefully pulled out of Joe. He kissed Joe slow and deep before removing the condom and tying it off. He threw it away in the small wastebasket by the rolltop desk on the side of the room.