Til Darkness Falls, page 28
He watched as the other man turned his head to sniff at the bed. “Smells like you. I like it.”
“You’re such a perv.” Brian’s grousing was cut short by the tongue that seemed intent on reaching the back of his throat. It was cool in the apartment because he’d left the heat off while he was gone, but he instantly broke out in a sweat. Alrick was like the sun, burning him with a touch. The German had always been unbearably sexy to him, but somehow this felt different, like he could explode just from the large hands caressing his sides and the lips devouring his own. Everything felt more intense having the blond there in his own space. “Alrick,” he whimpered, panting into the other man’s mouth as he clung to his broad shoulders.
“Shhh, I’ve got you.”
Brian tried to calm himself down, to regain some control before he embarrassed himself. With a low growl, he pushed Alrick over on his back. Bracing himself on his elbows, he tried out a wicked grin just to see if he could pull it off. “You do, do you?”
Alrick just smiled and casually folded his hands behind his head.
Apparently not. Brian rolled his eyes, annoyed with the other man for seeing through his attempt to play the vamp and at himself for being so vanilla. Deciding just to go with the direct approach, he leaned down and took the other man’s nipple between his teeth. Better, he thought as he was rewarded with a soft hiss. Brian looked up, capturing the darkened blue eyes that were intently following his every move. He held Alrick’s gaze as he licked his way down the blond’s awesome stomach. “You have got to tell me how to get abs like this.”
Alrick’s chuckle turned into a groan when Brian’s tongue delved into his navel. The pillow beneath his head dented as his fingers dug into it. “Hmmm, I don’t know. I rather like you a bit soft. Ow!” Alrick laughed when Brian bit at his hip bone in retaliation for his teasing. The small pain was quickly forgotten in the next moment when his hard cock disappeared deep into unbelievably wet heat.
Brian felt tears sting his eyes as he took Alrick in as far as he could, but the taste of the other man was just too amazing to worry about a little thing like breathing. The broad head tickled against the back of his throat, and Brian moaned as he felt his own cock leak in reaction.
“Ja, sauge mich! Suck me!”
Long fingers tangled themselves in his curls, tugging at them fretfully as he slid slowly up the impressive length, carefully scraping his teeth along the pulsing flesh. Brian looked up the span of Alrick’s body, his heart skipping a beat at the incredible sight. The blond’s head was flung back, exposing cords of sinew and muscle that stood out from his neck in sharp relief. His massive chest heaved as he panted, struggling not to give in to Brian’s seduction.
Brian licked at the weeping tip of Alrick’s thick cock, the steady dribble matching the fluid dripping from his own aching length. The flavor was as intoxicating as the musk that rose from the other man’s body in an unmistakable signal of his excitement. But as much as he wanted to swallow everything that the blond was willing to give him, there was another part of him that was even hungrier. One hand scrambling for the bottle of oil, Brian licked up Alrick’s torso in one long swipe, not stopping until his tongue breached the curve of the other man’s strong chin.
Blue eyes, shadowed with lust, stared up at him. Brian stared down at Alrick in wonder as he slathered the fragrant oil into the palm of his hand. His body clenched in reaction when the other man’s gaze darkened even further as he worked the thick shaft pressing against his stomach with long, firm strokes.
Alrick lifted his head from the pillow and nipped at Brian’s chin. “Tell me what you want,” he growled.
The thickly accented purr poured over Brian’s ears like hot, sweet chocolate. “Fuck,” he hissed as his cock throbbed impatiently.
“Hmmm?”
Brian moaned as the blond swirled his tongue inside the shell of his ear. And to think he’d always hated that before. He didn’t bother trying to answer, realizing there was no way he’d be able to form a coherent sentence. Instead, he let his body speak for him. Sitting up, he positioned himself over the column of flesh rising up from the blond nest covering Alrick’s groin. Locking his gaze with piercing blue, he slowly eased downward, impaling himself inch by glorious, excruciating inch.
“Scheisse! Condom?”
“Unghh! Don’t want it.” Brian shook his head, sweat flinging from his soaked hair. He knew he was being unforgivably careless, but hell, if he was willing to trust Alrick enough to let him into his bed, then he figured he was willing to risk a disease or two. Besides, if the blond wasn’t the healthiest specimen of manhood he’d ever laid eyes on, he didn’t know what was!
“I swear to you. I’m safe.”
“Sure, whatever. Just keep talking.” Brian lifted himself slowly, the friction against his tender entrance burning like delicious fire. “Ahhh, yeah!” His head fell back helplessly as he let himself fall back down. Alrick’s fingers dug bruisingly into his hips, not trying to direct his movements but needing to maintain another point of connection between them. Brian spread his hands wide against the other man’s chest, feeling the heavy thud of a heart beating beneath his palms.
“You like my voice?”
Brian’s head jerked as he nodded. “Hell yeah.” He could feel Alrick’s groaning laugh beneath his hands, between his thighs, and in the thick, hot flesh that we was riding. He sped up, needing more of that perfect friction.
“Warum, hmmm?” Alrick growled as he squeezed the soft flesh of Brian’s ass. “Why do you like it?”
“Shit, I don’t know!” Brian whimpered. “I just do.” He curled his fingers, kneading fretfully at the blond’s smooth, toned pecs. The other man’s hips surged upward to meet his downward momentum, and Brian pressed hard into the tempting firmness to keep his balance. Large hands traced up the front of his torso, making him moan as clever fingers plucked at his nipples like they were the strings of an instrument.
“Then shall I tell you how beautiful you are?”
Brian couldn’t believe how embarrassed the question made him. If he hadn’t already been flushed from being fucked so brilliantly, he knew that he would have done so then. Still, he found himself nodding in response.
“And shall I tell you how wonderful I think you are?”
“Idiot.” Unable to withstand the other man’s scrutiny another second, Brian slumped forward, pressing his chest against Alrick’s as he buried his burning face in the crook of the blond’s neck. Alrick bent his knees, bracing his feet against the bed to better maintain the intimate connection. The change in angle caused his next thrust to hit a spot that made Brian’s eyes cross. “Nnng, close,” he breathed.
The fingers that slid through his hair to massage his scalp didn’t help one damn bit. Trapped between their stomachs, his cock twitched eagerly as the resulting friction milked even more fluid from the swollen tip. He bit into the bold design of Alrick’s tattoo as he started to lose it.
“And shall I tell you how much I love you?”
The whisper was so soft as to be barely audible, but the words seemed to echo endlessly in his head, tipping him over the edge into a maelstrom of blinding white. Brian shouted Alrick’s name as he released his passion, an answering surge of delicious heat filling him as Alrick groaned deeply beneath him. Long minutes passed before the light faded away, leaving only the weak glow of the shaded lamp next to the bed and the harsh rasp of their breathing. The cooling sweat on his skin tickled, and he was stuck to the man below him by perspiration and the tackiness of his drying come. The softening flesh filling his ass slipped out along with an unpleasant seep of wetness.
Brian felt like he’d been put through the spin cycle, but his heart felt impossibly light. He was thoroughly convinced that, if he never moved from that spot, he would die a happy man. Eyes closed, he enjoyed the lingering tingles that flitted over his skin even as his brain slowly succumbed to exhaustion. He smiled as strong arms wrapped around him and tried to pull him even closer. “You could be the prince,” Brian mumbled. Warm lips pressed gently against his forehead.
“Hmmm?”
“Just this weird dream I keep having. Two guys who like to screw like bunnies in my head almost every night.”
Alrick’s chest vibrated with a low chuckle. “Sounds kinky.”
Brian smiled. “You’d think, but that’s just it. After they finish, they always end up cuddling. Kinda pathetic for a wet dream, huh?”
“You said one of them is a prince?”
Forcing his eyes open, Brian looked up at Alrick’s thoughtful tone. “Yeah, at least I get points for creativity.” He licked and kissed the red mark his teeth had left in the other man’s shoulder. “What about it?”
“I’ve had a similar dream.”
Brian stared at him in surprise. “What, about a prince? No shit. So, tell me about it.”
“It is set a long time ago. In ancient—”
“Egypt?”
They stared at each other in silence, the only sound coming from the cars passing down the street outside of the bedroom window. Brian shivered like someone had just walked over his grave. Then, a second later, he felt really stupid. The corner of his mouth lifted in a wry grin. “Right. Like we’ve been having the same dream.” He pressed his lips hard against Alrick’s. “I think too much sex has addled our brains. Maybe we should try celibacy for a while? What do you think?” Brian yelped as he found himself on his back with six-foot-two of incredulous German looming over him.
“I think that is a terrible idea. The worst idea I have ever heard.”
They kissed with tired enthusiasm for a few minutes before giving up the ghost. Brian snickered as the other man’s blond head dropped heavily against his chest. “Sleep now. Sex later.”
“Ja. Now that is a good idea.”
Brian toyed absently with Alrick’s damp hair. “So are you going to tell me what Liebling means?”
The other man’s lips curved against his skin. He looked up as Alrick lifted his head so he could gaze into Brian’s eyes. Brian shivered as vibrant blue answered wordlessly. Even if it didn’t precisely mean “love,” the sentiment was crystal clear.
“You’re such a sap.”
Alrick grinned. “So it would seem.”
“I love you too,” Brian whispered, filling the silence that had come over them as they gazed into each other’s eyes. He was surprised how easy it had been after all his worrying. Large hands gently framed his face, and a surge of warmth spread out from his chest as firm lips pressed a light kiss against his forehead.
“Pa’sheri, do not be afraid.”
“But Mery, she will take you from me.”
The man pulled the smaller form to his chest, wrapping him in an unbreakable embrace. “It matters not what trials the gods give us. We will always be together.”
“Until the ending of the world.”
Chapter 12
BRIAN held up a manila file, waving it at his partner as she made her way to her desk. “Morning. I hope you enjoyed your day off. This came in shortly before I clocked out last night.”
“What is it?” Angela hung up her coat and stored her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk.
“Three bodies were found at an old abandoned warehouse in the industrial district.”
“Since we’re involved, I’m guessing it wasn’t some crack party gone horribly wrong.”
“Tony Conti and two of his associates.”
Angela’s jaw dropped as she blinked at him in shock. “Holy shit. The Cosmino money man?”
“One and the same.”
“So it was another hit?”
“Yep. They found our sniper’s signature at the scene. Three bullets, one for each victim. Cause of death was a single head wound. Ballistics is checking the bullets to see if they can match them to the other hits, but it’s a safe bet that they were all fired from that Arctic Warfare rifle.”
“Speaking of which,” Angela said, “I had some luck with my research while you were gone. I thought it could wait until today. No reason to ruin your date.”
“Many thanks,” Brian chuckled.
Angela unlocked her file drawer and took out a folder. She pulled out a couple of sheets of paper and held them out to Brian. “The Arctic Warfare is pretty popular with both military and militia outfits, legit and otherwise, and it’s the particular favorite of sharpshooters in the German army.”
Brian looked up from the Internet printouts she had given him. “The German army? If what Alrick said about military service being compulsory is true, then, what? We also have to look at the entire adult male population of Germany? Christ.”
“At least the ones who are really good shots, and that’s if it wasn’t someone from one of those other groups that use it. Really, it could be anyone.”
Brian sighed heavily. “So, then, this doesn’t help us a whole heck of a lot, does it?”
Angela got up from her desk and patted him on the shoulder as she walked past him. “I’m going to grab a bagel and some coffee. Want anything?”
He held up his half empty mug. “I’m good.” After taking a sip, he wished that he’d taken her up on her offer. Puckering at the bitter, lukewarm liquid, Brian skimmed over the printouts.
It was fortunate for his computer keyboard that he’d been holding his mug only a few inches above his desk, because when it slipped from his suddenly nerveless hand, only a little coffee splashed out. The shallowness of his breath seemed amplified in his head even over the sudden ringing in his ears as everything seemed to go out of focus except for one thing.
The printout featured a colored image of a silver, braided lanyard with a medal hanging from one end, the type of decoration that might be worn on the blazer of a full dress military uniform. He’d never seen it on a medallion like that, but the symbol cast onto the bronzed surface was hauntingly familiar. Brian stared at it until the image seemed to burn itself into his brain. He grew dizzy, as though all the blood had drained away from his body. Running a hand over his face, he could feel the beads of sweat that had formed on his suddenly clammy skin.
He was afraid to look at the description that was written next to the picture in neat, featureless typeface, but he knew he had to. It was his job to catch the bad guys. To find out everything he could until the case was solved. It wasn’t like he could just hide from the truth, no matter how much his stomach roiled in protest.
Schützenschnur: decoration for weapons proficiency for enlisted soldiers.
“Oh, my God.”
“Brian? What the heck is wrong with you, sweetie? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Angela’s expression was full of concern as she took in his sweaty appearance.
“I think I ate something I shouldn’t have this morning.” His chair clattered back as he surged to his feet.
“Brian!”
He ignored her and everyone else as he rushed to the men’s room. The door was opening as he reached it, and he slammed into the smaller figure that was coming out.
“Hey, watch it, Macon!” Matt Roddy’s cross face screwed up unpleasantly as Brian almost knocked him to the ground. “Asshole,” he mumbled when the larger man didn’t even pause to mumble an apology.
Brian made it to an empty stall just seconds before his breakfast forced its way out. He heaved uncontrollably, the stench making his eyes water and triggering his gag reflex in a vicious cycle. Even after nothing was left, he dry-heaved until he thought his stomach would turn inside out. When it finally stopped, he hit the flush button and sank weakly to the tiled floor as his legs gave out. A knock rattled the stall door, and he shoved a hand against it to keep it closed.
“Hey, man, you okay?”
“Yeah. Thanks, Brad,” he said to the other detective. “I just ate something that didn’t agree with me.”
Brad chuckled. “Gotta watch those food carts, man. Convenient don’t necessarily mean smart.”
Once he was safely alone, Brian held his head in his hands, rocking back and forth slowly on the floor as he tried to reason away what he had seen. Surely there were other German sharpshooters who’d served in the army, and there was no way to be certain that one of them hadn’t been hired to come to the city and kill mobsters.
Brian groaned, shaking his head at his pathetic attempt at denial. It fit too damn well, how he’d just seemed to appear soon after the murders began, how he was always out of touch at times that matched the ETDs of the bodies. It couldn’t just be some crazy coincidence.
But how could it be true? It didn’t make any sense! The memory of his touch still lingered—the tender affection in his gaze, the soft press of his full lips. It clung to Brian’s skin, comforting only a few minutes ago, but now mocking him like some cruel joke. Only he wasn’t laughing. He wanted to tear his skin off if doing so would destroy the millions of fleeting recollections that were whirling around in his head like some demented carnival ride.
The printout lying innocently on his desk screamed at him from several rooms away. The image of the symbol on the medal blazed clearly behind his closed lids even through the tears that seeped out from beneath his lashes. The proud profile of the eagle, wings outstretched as it hovered over a wreath of leaves.
It was a perfect match for Alrick’s tattoo.
“TIYE, give me the dagger.” Rahotep flinched as Tiye’s vacant eyes stared past him. “Tiye, please—”
“He was my only brother, and he was no traitor.”
“FEELING any better?”
“Yeah. Whatever it was, I think I got it out of my system.”
If only that were true. After dragging himself off of the bathroom floor, Brian had forcibly pulled himself together. Water splashed onto his face washed away the sweat, although one look in the mirror told him it hadn’t done a thing for his pallor. Trying to put on a brave face, he’d returned to his desk to reassure Angela. Of course, she hadn’t been fooled one little bit.
