Chapter Twenty-Eight

Vargas cleared their dinner plates and carried them to the sink, the entire time keeping an eye on Seth. For several minutes now, Seth hadn’t spoken or moved from where he sat at the kitchen table. He didn’t seem angry or despondent like he’d been in the club the day before. It was more a quiet contemplation.

Something was on his mind.

Vargas was doing his best to give Seth the time and space he needed to process what had happened the day before in the basement next door. The dishes offered a brief distraction. As quietly as Vargas could manage, he rinsed the plates in the sink and loaded them into the dishwasher. When he finished with the glasses and silverware, he grabbed a towel from the drawer and leaned back against the counter facing the table. He’d waited as long as he could stand.

He dried his hands and asked, “You okay?”

“I am.” With complete calm Seth added, “I’ve just been thinking about something.”

“Yeah?” Vargas tossed the towel on the counter and returned to sit across from him. “About what?”

“How to tell you something.”

“Okay.” He reached across the table and laid his hand on Seth’s. “Just tell me.”

Seth flipped his hand over and held on to him in return. He stayed like that for several breaths, then squeezed Vargas’s hand and sat back. “Miyata lied to you. But not about what you think. He’s not hiding anything from you about the finances. I found nothing to even hint at that in the records, so I went down to his office to see if I could find any proof in there, or maybe find out what else he could be hiding.”

“You walked through the club?”

“When it was closed, and Carter went with me.”

Vargas grinned at him. “So you were snooping?”

Seth ducked his head. “It was driving me nuts not knowing. I knew there had to be a reason for how you were feeling. I thought maybe he had a second set of books he was hiding.”

“What’d you find out?”

“Nothing at first. I didn’t see anything that proved he was lying. But when I was in there looking around, he showed up. He wasn’t very happy to find me going through the office until I explained what I was doing there. He admitted to me what he’s been keeping from you.”

Vargas sat back and folded his arms across his chest. “Which is?”

“He’s been dating a member of the club. The guy is over twenty years younger than him, and he figured you’d think he’s some kind of perv, so they’ve been sneaking around for months.”

Vargas shook his head and laughed. Considering the age difference between him and Seth, Miyata’s concerns were downright comical.

“Yeah,” Seth said as if reading his mind. “I hope you don’t mind, but I told him about us.”

“I don’t mind at all. But even before us, I never would’ve judged him for something like that.”

“I told him that too.”

“Why would he care what I thought anyway?”

“You’re his friend. He admires you a lot.”

Vargas scoffed. Some friend he’d been thinking Miyata was cheating him out of money. He owed the man an apology. And one to Seth. “I’m sorry you spent all that time going through the records for nothing.”

“I’m not. It wasn’t for nothing. I learned a lot.” He eyed Vargas. There was more he had to say, and Vargas could tell this was the difficult part for Seth. “I don’t want you to lose the club.”

“I haven’t decided to sell. I’m thinking it over, like I promised.”

“But you’re going to lose it anyway no matter what you decide. Unless you change some things.”

Vargas knew what Seth was talking about, and he’d do just about anything to avoid this discussion.

“I reviewed your membership data. People are canceling all the time. It’s because of the added security, isn’t it?”

“That’s a common complaint.”

“Plus it’s been two years since you accepted any new members. Something has to change. You need new people to offset natural attrition alone. And your regular members are bound to start getting pissed that they aren’t seeing any new faces.”

He was right. That was one of the other biggest complaints.

Vargas had always gone with his instincts when it came to letting men into the club. Now, he second guessed his every decision. He hated that. He just couldn’t trust himself to make the right call when it came to who to let in and who to keep the hell out.

Seth continued. “With that, and all the security expenses, I don’t see how you can keep this place going for much longer. Maybe if you had some extra cash to cover the security costs and the losses, but that’s not a possibility, is it?” He stopped and waited, but when Vargas didn’t say anything, Seth added, “You spent too much surveilling Prescott’s attorney and his parents.”

“Tucker gave me a good deal on that.”

“A deal? Vargas, you’ve spent all your personal savings. You’ve cashed out your retirement account and all your other investments.” He paused like it was even harder to say the next part. “It was a huge amount of money. Because it’s not just the losses with the club and paying to have the attorney followed. There’s—”

“Everything will be fine.”

“There’s that other—”

“I’m not retiring tomorrow.”

“Vargas, the other—”

“I’ll have plenty of time to build up my investments again.”

With patience and not an ounce of malice in his movements, Seth sat forward, propping his forearms on the table. “Please let me talk.”

“I’m sorry. Go ahead.”

“I checked into that other security company you hired. They don’t handle security for businesses. They deal strictly in personal bodyguards and surveillance. I’m guessing Tucker suggested them for you because you needed more than what his staff could handle.”

Vargas sighed and tipped his head back. As much as he hated having to admit that he’d kept this from Seth, it pained him even more that Seth might be hurt or angry with him. He forced out, “Yeah.”

Silence descended between them.

Then Seth asked, “They watch us all the time?”

“Yes.”

“All six of us? Even Blake and Ollie and Foster?”

Vargas nodded.

“Ever since…”

“Yes.”

“For two years?”

“Yes.”

“When we’re in our homes? They watch us then too?”

“They have surveillance set up in a van outside or in a nearby building. At your place, it’s a van because of the renovations across the street. They rotate between different vehicles to be less conspicuous.”

Seth got up from his seat. He maneuvered around the table and leaned against the edge in front of Vargas. When Vargas didn’t look directly at him, Seth placed a hand under his chin and tilted his head up. “I never thought you’d lie to me.”

“I’m sorry.” He had more of a reply on the tip of his tongue, but Seth spoke first.

“I understand why you needed to do it. I really do, but you need to cancel it, all of it.”

“No.” Vargas shook his head. He couldn’t do that. Wouldn’t. “Nothing is ever going to happen to you again. If I have to hire ten bodyguards to follow you around and make certain of that, I will.”

Seth dropped his hand. “Something like this isn’t your decision. If I’d seen someone following me, watching me, do you know how freaked out I would’ve been? It would’ve scared the shit out of me and probably made everything worse for me.”

“That didn’t happen, and now you know.”

“The others don’t.”

“All right. I’ll tell them. It was never my intention to frighten anyone.”

“I know. But…” Seth spoke with more resolve. “Vargas, you have to—”

“You said it yourself. You’re still afraid most of the time.”

“It’s getting better. A lot of things are going to happen to me in my life. Some good. Some bad. I want to stop hiding, stop being afraid. I want to move on. And you need to also.” He waited a beat. “By hiring that security for us, you were controlling a part of our lives that we had no say in, and you were violating our privacy. I know you meant well. I know it was only to keep us safe, but we deserved a say. You need to at least ask everyone if they’d like the protection.”

“I didn’t think anyone would say yes. Prescott had already been arrested. I thought everyone would see the surveillance as overkill.”

Seth nodded. “Then you have to figure out a way to accept that some people don’t need—or want—your help.”

“No.” Vargas shoved his chair back and stood. He went to the sink and glared into the empty basin, wishing he’d left the dishes there earlier so he had something to do with his hands. He didn’t want to think about what Seth was saying.

But he needed to. Because he had crossed a line. Although it was only because he thought keeping everyone safe meant more than the truth.

As he heard those words in his head, he realized how far from his beliefs and identity he’d managed to travel. He’d lied to people he said he cared for, and he violated their trust, after they’d already been through so much. They hadn’t deserved that.

Seth approached behind him. A hand settled at the middle of his back. “It’s time for you to let it go.”

“I know. I just don’t know how to do that.”

“I’ll help you.”

“I can’t ask that.”

“I want to. That’s what it means to be in love with someone.”

Vargas turned to Seth and stared at him in awe. “You’re pretty amazing, you know that?”

Seth grinned up at him. “Uh-huh.” He took Vargas’s hand in his and led him back to the table, then sat and said, “Why don’t we start with what we can do to save the club? I have some ideas.”

Vargas sat across from him. “Ideas?”

“On cutting costs and bringing in more money.”

For the next half hour Seth laid out plans that included reducing the number of guards on duty, renegotiating rates with some of the club’s suppliers and vendors, and hosting private parties and gay weddings during the club’s off-hours or when it was feasible to close for a night. Seth had even made some initial inquiries to a sampling of wedding vendors and some of the club’s suppliers to see how feasible his ideas were.

Vargas was impressed. It was better than any pitch he’d ever given to a potential investor or business associate. “The private parties and weddings are a great idea.”

“I know, right? You already have the dining room and the bar and a dance floor. Out-of-town guests could stay in the rooms upstairs like a regular hotel.”

“Yeah, I like it.”

“And…” Seth glanced down as if he had a sheet of paper and had to read the next item, only the table was bare before him. “You need to start interviewing and accepting new members.” He looked up. “It’s time.”

“It is.”

“If you don’t feel comfortable doing the interviews yourself, ask Carter or Walter or Tucker for help. They all have good instincts about people.”

“They do.” Vargas paused to make sure he was really okay with all this. “All right.”

“All right what?”

“I’ll put everything you suggested in motion. The parties, cutting back on the guards, taking on new members, all of it.”

That seemed to please Seth to no end. Then he turned thoughtful again. “And the bodyguards who’ve been following us?”

“You were right about that. I never should’ve hidden it from you guys. That was incredibly insensitive of me.” It was nearly impossible to say the next words, but he had to. “I’ll call off the surveillance, and I’ll tell everyone the truth.”

“They’ll understand.” Seth stood and came to him again. This time he straddled his lap and sat, resting his forearms on Vargas’s shoulders. “I’m proud of you.”

Vargas laughed as he laid his hands on Seth’s thighs. “For what?”

“Not giving in to your fears anymore.”

He laughed again. “It’s not easy.”

“Because you always think you need to control everything.”

“I do, huh?”

“Yeah.” The teasing smile on Seth’s lips proved the characteristic didn’t bother him in the least. He cupped the back of Vargas’s neck with both hands and kissed him. “I wish…” Another kiss. “You would…” Another. That time he parted his lips and brushed his tongue across Vargas’s lower lip. “Take charge in other areas.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s okay for you to make a move sometimes. I can feel how much you want me.”

“You have no idea.”

“I do.” Seth rocked against him in a seductive move. “But you also hold back a part of yourself.”

“We need to take this slow, make certain what we’re doing works for you.”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean you have to be so careful all the time.” Seth leaned in and kissed a path down the front of Vargas’s throat as he opened the top button on his dress shirt. Then the next button and the next. He spread the fabric and slid his lips along Vargas’s skin, nibbling where neck and shoulder met in that arousing way that drove Vargas crazy.

Seth sat up. “I promise I’ll be honest.” He kissed him on the mouth again, all the while grinding his body against Vargas’s lap. “Always.”

That was all Vargas needed to hear. He gripped Seth’s hips and tugged him closer, opening his mouth wider and deepening the kiss, letting the passion and desire he felt pour into the connection between them, one erotic kiss melding into the next. It wasn’t long and Vargas was hard and aching for Seth, for his mouth, his hand, anything Seth wanted to give him. Uncontrollably he thrust up against him, desperately wanting to bury himself inside Seth.

With a grin, Seth pulled back. “That’s it. Let go.” He slid a hand between them, opened the button on Vargas’s pants, and slipped his hand inside, cupping and rubbing Vargas’s aching cock through his underwear, those magic fingers caressing and teasing and stoking the fire inside him. Then Seth worked his hand inside the underwear, and the contact was even more amazing. He never let up. He kept stroking as he advanced and whispered in Vargas’s ear. “Will you fuck me tonight?”

Vargas stilled. He couldn’t form words.

Seth didn’t relent. He jerked him faster, really giving the head of his cock a firm massage. “I want to feel you inside me.”

Vargas ran his hands up Seth’s back. “You’re sure?”

Seth swept his tongue along the outside of Vargas’s ear. At the same time, he dragged his palm over the full length of his shaft. “Yes.”

Without another word, Seth got off him and slid to the floor. He opened the pants the rest of the way, fully freeing Vargas’s heavy erection. In one swift move, Seth dropped his mouth down over the head and swirled his tongue around it, all the while keeping his eyes glued to Vargas’s.

As if adding to his answer of reassurance, Seth nodded. The movement had the head of Vargas’s cock drumming against Seth’s warm lips.

That sent a tremble throughout Vargas’s body. He wasn’t going to last long. Not with that stunning mouth on him. Definitely not once he got inside Seth. He grasped Seth by the upper arms. “Get up here. You’re gonna hurt your knee on that hard floor.” He hauled him onto his lap again. “Hold on to me.”

Seth wound his arms around Vargas’s neck and wrapped his legs around his hips. At the same time, Vargas stood, cupping Seth’s ass in both hands.

Seth let out a slight moan as he buried his face in Vargas’s neck. “God, I love how strong you are.”

Fuck if that reaction alone didn’t make Vargas feel like a king. He headed down the hall toward his bedroom, moving with care so as not to let his opened pants slide down his legs and take them out with a single trip. As he shuffled along, he felt Seth’s tongue on the skin of his neck, felt the squeeze of his thighs.

Seth sucked on his earlobe next. “You have no idea how much I want this.”

Without letting go of him, Vargas bent for the nightstand drawer and retrieved a condom and lube. He dropped both items to the bed. Then he lowered Seth onto the mattress and went down with him. He brushed his knuckles along Seth’s cheek. “You’re sure?”

“Very.”

Holding on to him, Vargas rolled them so Seth was on top.

Seth didn’t hesitate. He locked lips with him, unbuttoning Vargas’s shirt the rest of the way. Once the shirt was parted, he ducked his head and kissed his way south to Vargas’s right nipple. He teased it with his tongue as he massaged Vargas’s dick through his underwear again.

It was all driving Vargas mad.

Then Seth grazed his lips up along his flesh, traveling back to Vargas’s ear. Whispering, as if it was hard for him to admit, he said, “I’ve never done this with someone I loved.”

That hit Vargas right in the chest. He laid a hand over Seth’s heart. “Me either.”

They held the stare for a breath. Seth clasped his hand around Vargas’s, and then they were kissing again, slowly at first, then passionately, wildly. Both diving in with hunger over and over. Shirts were tugged off, socks, pants, underwear. Once they were naked and Seth was on top again, he stroked Vargas, lightly, playfully at first, teasing the slit at the tip with the pad of his thumb, watching Vargas’s every reaction.

Vargas dropped his head back to the mattress and groaned. “Fuck. I can’t get enough of you.” He groped around on the bed beside him for the condom and lube but couldn’t find the damn things. Thank God for Seth’s eagerness. He scrambled sideways, retrieved both items, and tore open the condom package. He moved back into position just as quickly.

“Your knee and back okay like this?”

“Yeah.” With swift deftness, he slid the condom on Vargas’s shaft. The touch almost had Vargas going off. Seth squeezed out some lube and slathered it over the rubber, all the while staring into Vargas’s eyes with the most intense look of anticipation burning in his gaze. That told Vargas all he needed to know.

Seth wanted this. He was more than ready.

As if to further demonstrate that, Seth climbed up him, moving to straddle him in the perfect position. He reached behind himself and grasped Vargas’s shaft, lining them up. Seth groaned as his body came into contact with the head of Vargas’s dick. Then he held perfectly still. It wasn’t because of fear or anxiety.

Seth had a teasing smile on his lips. “You want me?”

“Like I’ve never wanted anyone.” God, there was nothing Vargas wanted more than to thrust up into Seth, unrestrained, until the relief he craved overcame him, but Seth had to lead the show with this one.

And lead he did. Beautifully.

He began sinking down onto Vargas, his breathing picking up speed. He moaned a loud, long continuous sound.

Once the head of Vargas’s cock had fully slipped past the tight ring of muscle, Vargas grasped Seth by the hips. “Jesus.”

Seth got his meaning. He stopped.

If he so much as shifted another fraction of an inch, Vargas knew he’d blow and this would all be over.

He wanted to stay suspended in that moment as long as he could, wanted to savor the tight heat encasing his dick, knowing it was Seth’s body surrounding him, giving him that incredible pleasure buzzing throughout him. He sucked in an unsteady gulp of air. “Just give me a minute.”

Seth waited a second, maybe two. Then he said, “God, you feel incredible inside me.”

That did it. There was no way Vargas could wait any longer. He nodded. “More.”

Seth smiled down at him again. He worked himself farther onto Vargas, moving with drawn-out shifts of his body, his abs flexing, his lips parted. He looked amazing. Every muscle in his body was tight, his cock hard and jutting out from him, jumping with his movements as he sank down onto Vargas’s full erection.

When Seth had the entire length buried in his ass, he shifted so his left leg with the stiff knee was out straight in front of him alongside Vargas’s upper body, his other leg still bent under him. He splayed his hands across Vargas’s abs to hold himself up.

Then he stared straight at Vargas and said, “Fuck me.”

Vargas didn’t delay. He couldn’t. He rocked his hips, pulling back into the mattress, then pushing up into Seth, tentatively at first, but when Seth begged for it harder, he gave it all to him. Again and again and again.

He’d been right. He was never going to last long. Not this time. But that was okay. They had the rest of their lives to repeat this night.

He thrust up over and over, each slam of his body against Seth’s getting harder, fiercer, and Seth moved with him, taking it all and clearly wanting more.

The slide of Seth’s body along his dick was hot and smooth and the perfect amount of pressure. “Jesus.” Everything drew up tight inside Vargas. His movements and his breath both became erratic. Right as he neared the edge, he reached for Seth’s neglected cock, wanting to give him every blissful sensation he could manage, wanting to be exactly what Seth needed right then.

Seth bobbed his head. “Yeah, yeah. Please.”

Vargas stroked him with fierce determination, loving the weight of him in his palm, the fit in his fist, the way Seth groaned each time he squeezed the head that was salivating precum out the tip. Vargas wished he could lean forward and lick it clean. An impossible move with his dick buried in Seth’s ass and Seth’s leg out straight. So he jerked him with wild abandon.

“Oh God.” Seth’s lips quivered. “Oh God. Yes! That’s it!” His shoulders rounded forward and he shot, bucking up into Vargas’s hand and at the same time sliding his body along Vargas’s shaft again and again. “Oh fucking hell, yes! Yes!”

Seeing Seth lose it like that, rocking through the pleasure, combined with the tight contractions of his ass, had Vargas going off too. “Oh fuck. Fuck!” He jerked his hips one last time, groaning with the incredible pleasure surging through him as he came.

His body continued pitching up and down with little spasms as he rode out his release. He kept his hand gliding along Seth’s dick through it all, wanting to stay buried inside him for another minute. Hell, another hour or two.

He hadn’t shot that hard in ages. Maybe not ever.

After some time, when they’d both been still and quiet for a few breaths, Seth shifted off Vargas’s cock and swung his left leg back so he was on both knees again. Then he collapsed forward onto him.

When Vargas could breathe steadily, could think normally again, he ran his fingers through the back of Seth’s hair, holding him close at the same time. “That was incredible.”

“God yeah.” Seth didn’t move at first, but then he lifted up and stared at Vargas like he needed the reassurance that he was actually there with him, that what they’d done was real. He smiled. “It was incredible.” He moved aside to give Vargas room to ditch the condom. Then he lay half over him again, his lips pressed to Vargas’s neck. “It was never like that with anyone else.”

“Tell me about it. All this time owning a damn sex club, and I had no idea what I was missing.”

Seth laughed and planted a kiss on him, then another, his soft lips repeatedly caressing Vargas’s, and Vargas offered the same in return, running his hands over Seth’s bare skin.

That time it was less hurried, more sensual, Vargas simply wanting to love on Seth some more. Seth seemed to feel the same. Until he began sliding along Vargas’s body, his breath hitching, the wet kisses becoming more passionate, his cock coming back to life.

Vargas was starting to get there were extra benefits of being in love with a man in his twenties. He cupped the back of Seth’s head. “Tell me how you want it.”

“Will you…” Seth spoke the rest against his ear.

“Absolutely.”

With eager movements, Seth slid off him and stood beside the bed. “I’ll be right back.” He pointed at Vargas. “Don’t go anywhere.”

“Not a chance.”

Seth licked his lips, then dashed toward the bathroom, presumably to wash up.

Vargas tucked his arms behind his head and watched that round, tight ass move across the room. He called after him, “Thanks for the gorgeous view. You have an amazing ass.”

Seth stopped in the doorway. “You’re about to get a really good view of it.”

“Uh-huh. Hurry up.”

With a teasing grin, Seth shut the bathroom door. There was about four minutes of running water, and then he was back. He crawled from the foot of the bed to the free space beside Vargas.

Watching that sweet body glide across the mattress was exhilarating. It was like a different version—a more sensual version—of Seth was resurfacing, coming to life, finding his rhythm again.

Vargas rolled to face him. He splayed a hand across Seth’s chest, sweeping it from one nipple to the other, brushing each pointed tip with his fingers in turn. Then he moved that hand south, down over Seth’s taut stomach. He didn’t stop there. He caressed every part of him, kissed him everywhere, learning where Seth was most sensitive, what made him squirm in desperation. Then Vargas focused his attention on Seth’s cock, stroking him until Seth was lifting his ass off the bed.

“You ready for more?”

“Yes!” Seth rolled over onto his stomach and spread his legs without delay.

Vargas settled his shoulders between Seth’s thighs, eager to give him exactly what he’d asked for. Seth curled one leg up and lifted his ass in the air, offering himself up in a blatant move that had Vargas’s heart swelling with love and affection.

He playfully bit one of Seth’s ass cheeks, kissed the same spot, tonguing the muscular flesh, then repeated the action on the other side. When he had Seth whimpering and clawing at the bedsheet in anticipation, he spread Seth’s ass and made love to him with his mouth.

Seth clasped on to the fitted sheet with both hands. He groaned and writhed under him, and it was the most erotic thing Vargas had ever been a part of. He slid his hand between Seth and the mattress, cupping his cock, trying to give him some friction as he continued the rimming, really going to town with his tongue. He could feel the beads of precum gathering at the tip of Seth’s dick.

Vargas gave one last flick around Seth’s sensitive entrance and then sat up. “Turn over.”

Seth let go of the sheet and flipped over. “Please. Need you.”

Without delay Vargas swallowed his cock and teased and massaged his balls.

“Uh-huh. Like that.” With unbridled power, Seth gripped the back of Vargas’s head and pumped his hips up, sending his cock deeper into his mouth. Vargas had never felt Seth so untethered, so unrestrained and alive. It had him sucking harder, moving his mouth faster, his hand continually stroking Seth’s balls and the skin behind with more vigor.

Seth arched his back. “Oh God, oh God, oh God.” Then his words became unintelligible. He let go of Vargas and threw his arms above his head. Grabbing on to the headboard, he jerked his hips up with more force. His stomach muscles tensed, and he went stiff as he shot his release down Vargas’s throat.

Vargas didn’t let up until Seth’s body completely relaxed and a heavy contented sigh poured out of him. “That was…” He exhaled deeply again. “Oh my God. I loved that.”

Vargas dropped a kiss on Seth’s softening cock, one on his hip, another on his stomach. He moved up the bed to lie beside him. Seth turned and pulled him close, clutching him in his arms like he’d lose him if he let go, his body shaking.

“Hey, hey, you okay?”

“Oh God, yeah.” Seth released another satiated sigh, then rolled onto his back, pulling Vargas with him. “Just hold me.”

“Always.”

“I don’t ever want this to end.”

“It won’t. Ever.”

They kissed, languidly, both putting the depth of their emotions, their love into it.

Vargas had been right when he’d told Seth he’d never been in love before. Nothing—no sex, no contact, no intimacy—had ever felt this intense, this significant.

He barely heard the ringing of his cell phone.

Seth asked, “You need to get that?”

“Definitely not.”

“That’s the fourth time it’s rung.”

He hadn’t noticed. “Who cares?”

Seth snickered. He smacked Vargas’s hip, signaling he wanted him to move aside. When he was out of the way, Seth climbed over him and stretched for Vargas’s pants where they lay on the floor. He slid out the cell phone and handed it over. “You have about a dozen new texts.”

Vargas took the phone. The messages were all from Walter. He scanned them.

Seth was eyeing him with concern. “What? Bad news?”

“No.” He couldn’t believe the old man had pulled it off. “The appeal’s been withdrawn. Prescott will be heading back to the prison soon.”

Seth sank back onto his heels. “Why would he agree to that?”

“Who the hell knows? Does it matter? He’s going to stay in prison. Forever.”

Seth lowered his eyelids. “Would it be really weird if I said I think this has been the best day of my life?”

“Not at all.” Vargas held out his arms, and Seth came to him.

“I feel so different.”

“Sounds like a good thing, yeah?”

“Oh yeah.” He snuggled into Vargas and held on. “It’s a really good thing.”