Heart's Duo (Ugly Eternity #4) (16 page)

“I wanted to talk to you.”

Joss tore his gaze away from Maddox and gave Finn his full attention. “That sounds ominous.”

Finn brought the drink to his lips, swallowing down half its contents. As far as stall tactics went, it was a good one. Joss didn’t want to notice how the man’s gorgeous lips looked capable, but he suddenly wanted a beer pretty damn badly. Maybe Finn should go into advertising. Just watching him drink made Joss thirsty. He also thought he’d develop a permanent eye twitch before Finn finally spoke again.

“Considering our last conversation and seeing as you’re here now, I feel as if I should run something by you.”

“All right.” The warning bells were back, clanging louder than before, especially when Finn shot a glance in Maddox’s direction as if ensuring the man stayed out of earshot. His next words confirmed Joss’ fears.

“So Maddox has been coming to Plethora every Wednesday for a long time.” That was news to Joss. Unfortunately, his ignorance didn’t stop Finn. “I don’t want to step on any toes, but I’m going to ask him out. Seems like the two of you aren’t going anywhere and I like him. A lot,” Finn added as if it made things any better. Joss had zilch. His first reaction was to punch Finn in the center of his sexy face before a heavy weight settled in his chest.

“Why are telling me?” Even to Joss his voice sounded dead.

Finn shrugged. “Like I said, you seemed pretty hardcore into him last we spoke.”

“You don’t need my permission.” Holy fuck. The words tore at Joss’ throat like glass before shredding his heart, but the truth was staring him in the face. This was where he’d gone wrong with Hawke. The time had come for him to undo his mistakes. Finn seemed like an okay guy.

“I’m not asking for it.”

Somehow Joss dredged up a smile he didn’t feel. The way it pulled unnaturally at the corners of his mouth made him wonder if it appeared as strained as it felt. “You’d better hurry if you want to catch him before he’s due back on stage. Enjoy your drink.” Only God understood what the words cost him. Somehow Joss’ knees held him as he walked away. He couldn’t watch it happen and there was nothing left to say. As long as Maddox was happy, he’d find a way to accept it. It wasn’t as if he’d ever had a real hope anyway.

*

Something was up with Joss. Maddox swore the temperature dropped ten degrees in the bar. He searched for Joss in his panic. Even he couldn’t explain why he felt an immediate need to find him. Something was wrong. He could feel it in his chest and in the way the air thinned until he could barely breathe. Maddox focused on the spot where Joss had been standing only moments earlier. Joss was gone. He snagged Cade.

“Have Dylan turn up the music for a few. I need to do something.”

Concern filled Cade’s eyes, but he nodded. “No problem.”

With a pat on the man’s shoulder, Maddox started to push his way through the crush only find Finn blocking his path. Several months earlier Maddox had found himself visiting Plethora, the club where Finn played, more and more often. The man possessed a brilliant mind. Maddox liked him. Finn didn’t know all of Maddox’s bullshit. For one night a week, Maddox got to be someone else—someone without a black past. At any other time, he’d be thrilled to see Finn. Right now, he needed to find Joss.

“Hey,” Maddox said, hoping to cover the way his gaze still searched for Joss. “I didn’t know you were coming tonight. I would’ve left word at the door so you wouldn’t have to pay to get in. Have you seen Joss?”

An odd expression crossed Finn’s features before settling into a wry smile. “You’re always showing up to support me. I thought I’d return the favor, and yeah. I ran into Joss already.” Maddox tried shrugging off the itch between his shoulder blades. The one that made him want to shove his way through the throng and find Joss now. Finn had shown up for him. The least he could do was stand still for five minutes. Finn’s eyes flashed as if he knew Maddox’s thoughts. “Joss was headed for the back door when I saw him a few seconds ago. If you hurry, you can catch him.” A mixture of relief and panic overcame Maddox. Finn was giving him permission to abandon him, but Maddox wasn’t entirely sure he wasn’t too late.

“Thanks, man. Hang out for a bit. I’ll be right back.” He didn’t wait for Finn to cut him loose twice. He was pushing his way toward the back before anyone could stop him. The instant the metal door swung wide, Maddox looked for Joss’ truck first. It was still parked two spaces over from Maddox’s car. He sucked in a relieved breath, attempting to calm his racing heart.

“Is it time to get started again already?” Joss’ voice floated from the shadows beside the building. Maddox turned in his direction, keeping his movements slow and attempting to hide his roaring emotions. A cloud of cigarette smoke rolled past Maddox’s head.

“I haven’t seen you smoke in years.” Joss didn’t respond. Maddox moved into the shadows with Joss. The man’s closed expression didn’t reassure Maddox in any way. He reached for the cigarette and Joss gave it up. After taking a drag, Maddox dropped it on the ground and crushed it beneath his heel. “Don’t make a habit of it. I value your life too much,” he said as he crowded Joss’ space. Joss let it happen. Some of the tension seeped from Maddox’s shoulders. Whatever was going through the man’s head, he wasn’t pushing Maddox away. “You and I don’t talk much about our feelings, do we?” Joss appeared almost ready to bolt at Maddox’s question. A chuckle rose in Maddox’s throat. Brick bit into his palms as he caged Joss in.

“Finn’s looking for you.”

Maddox dismissed Joss’ attempt at dodging him. “I saw him.” He dropped his voice, hoping to tempt Joss into doing bad things. “Do you know what else I see? Too many things going unspoken,” Maddox said before Joss could attempt to guess. Joss’ gaze dropped to Maddox’s mouth. He licked his lips. Maddox’s cock lengthened in anticipation. A low rumble of laughter escaped Maddox at Joss’ continued silence. “This is where you ask what sort of things.”

“What sort of things?”

Maddox touched his lips to Joss’, enjoying the lingering taste of tobacco there and rewarding him for cooperating. “Good boy. We don’t talk about a lot of things. You know, such as the way I can feel the phantom weight of your hands on my skin even when you’re not around.” Joss’ eyes were dilated. It was sexy. The man made him drunk with power. “This is where you touch me,” Maddox reminded him. Joss’ hands rose to Maddox’s waist, immediately pushing his shirt up, and going for bare skin. “The things you do to me,” Maddox said, closing the final inches between them and ensuring Joss couldn’t miss his erection. “The way you fuck me and the scent of you on my skin, those are things we should discuss more often.” One of Maddox’s hands moved from the wall to Joss’ face. A day’s worth of growth from Joss’ jaw scraped Maddox’s palm as he slid his hand down to Joss’ neck before swiping through his hair and tightening his grip. “We should talk about it now.” Joss’ fingers flexed, digging into Maddox’s back, but he found his voice.

“I’m listening.”

“
We’re
talking,” Maddox reminded him. “It goes both ways.”

Joss nodded. “Okay.” The bulge in Joss’ jeans tested Maddox’s restraint, but this was long overdue.

“You twist me up and bring me to my knees, you know?” The way Joss rubbed against him spoke volumes about his lust but nothing else. “It’s your turn,” Maddox reminded him while trying to keep the humor from his voice.

“Okay.” Joss said nothing else. Maddox sighed.

“You’re a real mess. You know that right?”

“Wow. Thanks.”

Maddox was certain Joss meant to be sarcastic, but it came out breathless instead. “I love it. All our late nights and the way seeing you punches me in the chest, I love it all. I love you.” Joss stopped breathing. Maddox felt it happen. He hoped Joss started back soon because Maddox wasn’t through and he didn’t need him passing out. There was a ton of shit neither of them had said over the years. It was time to cut all that out. “The day I met you, my stomach growled even though it was so full of want I couldn’t take a single bite of the sandwich I split with you. I was a confused mess. You were always talking about the girls you liked. I just wanted you to shut up and let me taste your lips. The first time I kissed you, I truly expected you to hit me, but then I felt the breath catch at the back of your throat. I wanted to make you make that sound again. It became an obsession. But you didn’t show much interest in me afterward. I learned to keep you at arm’s length. By the time I coaxed you into bed, I had accepted I’d always only be a friend with benefits to you. Since your friendship is worth a billion times more to me than—”

“I love you,” Joss said, cutting him off. “I’ve always been in love with you, but your friendship means more to me than my happiness. That’s why you should tell Finn yes.”

Okay. This conversation had taken an odd turn. “What does Finn have to do with anything?”

“He asked you out.” Except he hadn’t, and he wouldn’t. Finn had a man, which was something Maddox thought Joss already knew, but Maddox didn’t want to interrupt Joss now that he was finally speaking up. “I want you to be happy even if it’s not with me. However, I do need to say this—I want it to be with me. If I’d said that all those years ago, maybe we would’ve found our way.”

“You’re forgetting something,” Maddox reminded him. “You want a normal life where no one judges you for being different. I don’t want to be anyone’s secret.”

Joss pushed his hands down the back of Maddox’s jeans, kneading his ass and grinding against him. Maddox saw stars. “You are my normal. I’m proud of you. I’d give anything to walk back into this club, holding your hand. When we’re on break, I want to hide in the corner with you and make out until we have to go back on stage, sporting hard-ons and smiling like idiots. I want to help raise Addison until she’s too big for us. On nights the house is empty, I want to see you on your knees sucking me off and I want to fuck your ass until you can’t sit comfortably for days. That’s the normal life I can’t stop craving.” Maddox was stunned and more than a little turned on. The leaky dick knocking at the zipper of his jeans couldn’t be denied. It loved every one of Joss’ ideas for the future. He’d hoped Joss would finally talk to him, but this was more than he could’ve hoped for. “Your voice drives me insane. I want to hear you chant my name. I want to tie your wrists and eat your ass.” Every one of Maddox’s muscles were tensed. He could already feel Joss’ tongue slipping between his cheeks and toying with his hole. The leaking situation got worse.

“Let’s do it,” Maddox said, ready to go right then.

A sad smile passed over Joss’ features. “We still have half a night’s performance left.”

Maddox shrugged. “I don’t give a shit. Fuck them. I want you.”

Joss chewed on his bottom lip. “What about Cade?”

Maddox smiled. “He can follow Dylan around, driving him crazy until he agrees to go home too. They can thank us for all the rough sex later.” Joss was tempted. Maddox could see it. All that was needed was one final push. “Be bad with me Joss. Let’s leave everything behind and just go. You can drive while I suck your dick. We’ll text Cade from the car and have him grab our equipment. Maybe we’ll come back one day and maybe we won’t.”

An unexpected smile exploded across Joss’ face and Maddox knew he had him. “I’m in.”

The agreement barely passed Joss’ lips before Maddox was dragging Joss toward the truck. Maddox had Joss’ dick down his throat the second they were on the road. Tomorrow, he’d start on giving Joss the normal life together he’d described. It would only be a matter of time before everyone claimed they should’ve been together all along. Together, they’d named Ugly Eternity. Perhaps, they’d been on to something at the time. It seemed everything had looked bleaker than Maddox had realized back then. Maybe they’d taken the longest road in history to happily ever after, but they were happy and meant to be.

The End.

Keep an eye out for Finn’s story, Heart’s Chord. If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Charity Parkerson is an award winning and multi-published author with Ellora's Cave Publishing, Indie Publishing House LLC, and Punk & Sissy Publications. Born with no filter from her brain to her mouth, she decided to take this odd quirk and insert it in her characters.
 
*Winner of 2, 2014 Readers' Favorite Awards
*2015 Golden Flogger BDSM Award Finalist
 
*2013 Readers' Favorite Award Winner
*2013 Reviewers' Choice Award Winner
*2012 ARRA Finalist for Favorite Paranormal Romance
*Five-time winner of The Mistress of the Darkpath