CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Blaze
Sometime in the night, I woke up and turned my head to look at Lake, who was sleeping peacefully in my arms. Seeing him ride off on Ax’s bike had been tough. I hadn’t been sure what I’d done to drive him away, but that worry had been quickly replaced with fear when Dante had suddenly brought up Skitz.
We’d forgotten about him. Forgotten he’d gone to get Morgan’s bag and that he should have arrived at Dante’s a long time ago. Matteo, Zeke, Dante, Foghorn, and I had taken off in the SUV, and when we’d arrived to find Skitz lying in a puddle of blood in the dark foyer of Zeke and Morgan’s house, my world had turned upside down.
The Pistons had left a calling card—their symbol sketched on the wall in blood. Skitz’s blood. He’d lost a lot, but he’d been conscious and doing okay when I’d finally left the hospital. Matteo had spent the night there, and maybe I should have, but I’d wanted to get back to Lake, and I’d wanted to make sure the rest of my family was all right.
When I’d arrived at the clubhouse, finding Lake’s bed empty had sent me into a tailspin until Zeke had called to me from down the hall. Relief had flooded me when I’d seen Lake curled up fast asleep beside Morgan. When had I started feeling like Lake was mine to protect? Why did lying beside him seem like more of a commitment than I’d ever made to any woman I’d taken to bed?
Lake had shed his shirt sometime after I’d fallen asleep, and I gently ran my hand down his smooth, bare back, thinking about how the cheeks of his ass had felt in my hands; how his strong thighs had gripped my cock between them, and how my erection had felt sliding up the groove of Lake’s crack.
God, it had been heaven. I’d emptied my nuts all over him. Remembering got me hard again.
Fuck, I may have never been with a guy, but I had no problem with the idea of screwing Lake Adams into the mattress.
My dick was leaking. I’d always produced a lot of precum. Some of the women in my life had found that sexy, but others, like Katie and Maddie, had hated it. They’d disliked sucking me because of it. I remembered how earlier, while I’d had my dick between Lake’s strong, smooth thighs, all the precum I was producing had made things slick and perfect.
I took in a deep breath and slowly let it back out. I needed to relax and sleep, or I wouldn’t be up early enough to go to the hospital before the movers arrived with Julianne’s studio equipment.
I thought about extricating myself from the tangle of limbs and getting into the trundle, but Lake’s hair smelled like my body wash, and his warm weight was comforting rather than suffocating. Gradually I relaxed and must have slept because the next thing I knew, the sun was shining onto my chest and the bed beside me was empty.
I found Lake in the kitchen talking to Morgan, who must have just returned from the class he taught because he wore a T-shirt and leggings. I was sure Zeke had accompanied him. Lake and Morgan seemed to have sparked a friendship.
“Good night?” Zeke’s voice in my ear brought my gaze from the firm roundness of Lake’s ass under his jeans. We were standing in the hallway just outside the kitchen door.
“Fuck off,” I said, and Zeke chuckled.
“I about busted my nuts just listening,” Zeke said, and I elbowed him in the ribs in warning.
“I’m serious, you work fast man.”
I turned and dragged Zeke into the living room. “Would you cut it out? I don’t want Lake to hear and feel uncomfortable.”
Zeke crossed his arms over his chest. “Sweet. So, how was your first time breaking down the back door?”
I grabbed hold of his arm, none too lightly. “First off, it’s not like I haven’t used the back door with a girl or two. Second, we didn’t do that.”
“Sure sounded like that’s what you were doing.”
I felt myself blushing.
“Come on, man,” Zeke cajoled, “I was exactly where you are not long ago. You gonna deny me the fun of commiserating?”
Ridiculously giddy and therefore not completely opposed to sharing, I looked over my shoulder to make sure no one was within hearing range then lowered my voice.
“I had my cock between his legs.”
“Ah, that’s a good one.” Zeke nodded with approval. “One of my favorites.”
I punched him lightly in the arm and changed the subject.
“I didn’t mean to sleep so late. You heard anything from Matteo?”
“That’s okay, we understood. You wore yourself out.” Zeke’s stupid smirk was getting old. Enough was enough.
“You better not have made Lake feel uncomfortable,” I said sternly.
“Don’t worry. What would be the fun in that? Seeing you riled is where the big payoff is.” Zeke wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Bullseye called and said Skitz is talking. Doesn’t remember anything after opening the door of the house.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Good. I was worried there for a while.”
Zeke nodded, his expression darkening into a murderous cloud as he dropped his arm from my shoulders.
“Figure when they saw it wasn’t Morgan, they took off.”
“Maybe you two ought to leave the country for a while,” I said. “Think you could talk Morgan into a trip somewhere?”
“He’s gonna put up a fight. And we can’t run forever. I figure we’re gonna have to hire some bodyguards.”
“This won’t be forever. Get lost for a couple of weeks, and I’ll take care of it.”
I turned and walked into the kitchen. The table was set with plates of eggs and bacon, and Cane was sitting with Morgan and Lake, somberly listening to them chat. I got a plate from the cabinet and filled it.
“Movers are coming at eleven,” I said after my second bite.
Lake gave me a small smile, and my heart went wild. “I got a text from Julianne early this morning. She’s been overseeing the packing for days.”
I cleared my throat and concentrated on finishing my eggs before starting on the bacon. “I need to get over there. You working?”
“I’m supposed to be at the coffee shop at two.” I hated the way Lake looked suddenly uncomfortable. “And I, uh, I really need to get my bike from Cal’s. His boyfriend’s threatening to throw it in the trash.”
“I’ll drive you,” Morgan offered. “I have a bike rack on the back of my car.”
“You’re not going anywhere without me,” Zeke said from where he was refilling his plate at the counter.
“Suit yourself.” Morgan shrugged, then laughed when Zeke goosed his side before leaning down for a kiss.
Cane got up from the table and took his plate to the sink.
“Thanks for holding down the fort last night,” I said to him. Cane just grunted and went out the back door.
“Charming fellow,” Morgan said when he’d gone.
“He’s just hard to get to know.” I had made a little headway in the past few months, but Cane was proving a tough nut to crack. He was a good employee, though.
I headed for the warehouse, and when I got there, Kevin was finishing up a scene between Tease and Misty. Cane stood watching, face unreadable. The guys had done as I’d asked and cleared the space for Steel and Velvet’s equipment. Julianne’s business was smaller than mine, and when we’d looked at space considerations, we’d both thought her equipment would fit in well. I’d only had to arrange to store a few things in the building out back.
By the time the movers arrived and everything was unloaded, I’d missed Lake leaving. I found I couldn’t wait to see him again, take him behind closed doors and kiss those delicious lips. Find out what else we could do with our bodies that would feel good.
“Lake say what time he’ll be through?” I asked Morgan when he and Zeke returned.
“He said he’ll catch the subway to the club and then ride home with Ax,” Zeke said.
I tried not to show my disappointment. “You get his bike okay?”
Morgan nodded. “Put it in the garage along with a few boxes of stuff.”
“Thanks, guys.”
“You don’t have to thank us,” Zeke said. “Lake’s okay. From what Dante had said, I thought he’d be a little bitch.”
I couldn’t help smiling. “He can be when he wants, but on the whole he’s great. I think he was worse when Dante knew him back in school.” The more I got to know Lake, the more convinced I became that the attitude he often put forth was a front, and underneath the snark was a world of hurt.
Morgan was looking at me with an “Aw, isn’t that cute?” expression on his face, so I got a bite to eat and went back to the warehouse where I watched Julianne’s cameraman film. He seemed capable and talented at guiding the actors, so I remained quiet.
Cane walked over as they were wrapping up. “Julianne wants me and Tony to do a scene.”
“You up for it?”
Cane shrugged. “I’m okay with it, but Tony doesn’t seem to want to.”
“Why not?” I asked, hoping for insight into why Tony had a problem working with Cane.
“Can’t figure the guy out,” Cane said. “But I’m willin’ if you can get him to agree. Don’t matter to me who I fuck, as long as I get paid, and that woman seems to think we’ll bring in the viewers.”
“You mean Julianne,” I clarified. Cane just stared as though that’s what he’d said.
“I’ll talk to Tony one more time,” I said. “But if he says no, Julianne will just have to find someone else to work with you.”
I found Tony outside with his easel set up. The day was unusually warm for the end of February, and the snow from the day before had melted.
“Looking good,” I said, watching him paint. “Thought you only did nudes.”
“I wanted to try something different,” Tony said.
I watched for a minute before bringing up the subject. “Listen, having you given anymore thought to doing a scene with Cane?”
Tony kept painting.
“What if I do it but don’t want to do it again?” he asked after a moment.
“I’m sure Julianne would be okay with you just trying it out.”
Tony fell quiet, and I took a seat on the cement bench. When he’d finished the tree limb he’d been working on, he put down the brush and turned to me.
“I’m probably going to regret this, but okay.”
I studied his face. “You don’t have to. Julianne can find someone else. I mean it, Tony. It’s completely up to you.”
Tony turned his gaze toward the warehouse and stared a moment as though deep in thought.
“No, I’ll do it,” he said, glancing at me. “I’m sure.”
“Okay. I’ll tell her it’s just an experiment, and you might not want to do it again. But, uh, I expect she’ll be wanting a lot more than what you did before. You realize that, right?”
The scene filmed between Tony and Cane had been a teaser meant to put my company’s toe in the water with gay porn. We’d wound up doing more with Hung and Tease, mostly because Tony had shut down, and Cane had had a family emergency that had taken up a lot of his time for a while.
“I know,” Tony said quietly. He began painting again, and I left him alone and went to find Julianne.