Stoneface Read online

  He didn’t have the heart to force Tim to stop, especially after he started playing with his ass and coaxed renewed interest from his limp cock. “At least I got you off first,” Jack said. “Not like I fell asleep and left you hanging. If it doesn’t bother me, it shouldn’t bother you.”

  “Yeah, but I wanted to do more than just fuck you last night. I was looking forward to some bottom time.”

  He reached down and stroked Tim’s head. “I’ll make it up to you tonight, buddy. I promise.” Tim’s blond curls bobbed between Jack’s legs. “I need to get to work.”

  Tim already had Jack’s cock deep in his throat. He made a muffled uh-uh sound around his member and increased his efforts.

  Tapping him on the head didn’t work. Jack finally lay back and enjoyed it, his fingers burrowing through his lover’s unruly curls. He bucked his hips in time with Tim’s ministrations until his balls tightened. His climax, not as hard as the last one, rolled out of him, filling Tim’s mouth with cum as his body tensed on the bed.

  As he lay there recovering, Tim released him and rested his cheek against his abs. “There. We’re even.”

  “I didn’t know you kept score.”

  “I don’t, normally. I just didn’t feel right getting off last night without returning the favor.” He crawled up the bed to lie next to Jack, propped on one elbow. He stroked Jack’s chest. “Are you sure I can’t talk you into a full body waxing? You’d love it.”

  Jack arched an eyebrow at him as Tim broke into laughter. He leaned in and kissed him. “You know I’m teasing. Why would I wait to complain until now? Damn, you’re fun to tease.”

  Jack rolled away from him and climbed out of their bed. After casting a glance at the clock, he shot a glare at Tim. “Now I don’t have enough time to eat breakfast.”

  Tim laced his fingers behind his head. “I’ll make you a to-go sandwich. Go hop in the shower.”

  Jack’s harsh expression softened. He leaned in again and kissed him. “Thanks, babe.”

  * * * *

  Tim waited until he heard the shower start to leave their bed. Naked, he walked out to the kitchen and hummed a random tune as he poached an egg and toasted an English muffin. Jack was his stone-faced man. In their six years together, Tim hadn’t coaxed Jack to talk about his private pain. Not that he ever could force Jack to divulge his heart’s deepest secrets, but he wanted to help him, wanted to love his man’s pain away. It hurt him there was a rock-solid bubble of ache inside of Jack that no amount of tenderness seemed to ease.

  He suspected it centered around a tragic event in Jack’s past, one Jack had briefly glossed over not long after they’d gotten together. Even that little bit of recollection caused Jack nights of broken sleep and so much obvious anguish that Tim felt loathe to ask him more about it. He knew Jack had loved the girl very much. Sometimes, when they still lived in California, Jack visited her grave there even though she’d died here, in Rapid City.

  At least Jack smiled more now than he used to, which said a lot considering how little he smiled now, and how he never seemed to smile when they first met.

  Stoneface. As hard and craggy and cold at times as those damn presidents carved into the Black Hills not too far down the road from their house.

  Tim wouldn’t complain. He felt loved beyond measure and knew Jack would rather die than hurt him. Not to mention he suspected Jack would kill anyone who ever tried to hurt him. He was protective in a sweet and wonderful way. Tim would readily take his reserved, dependable lover over any carefree Cali party boy who didn’t care to think past the end of the week, much less the rest of their life.

  By the time Jack emerged from their bedroom, dressed and hair still damp, Tim had Jack’s breakfast ready. Jack walked through the kitchen and scooped the wrapped sandwich from the counter after leaning in for a good-bye kiss.

  “Thanks, babe. See you tonight.” Jack started to step away from the counter, then returned for one last, lingering kiss. “I promise I won’t leave you hanging tonight.” He reached up and touched Tim’s chin before he brushed another kiss across his lips. “Love you.”

  Tim smiled. “Love you, too. Go catch some bad guys. Make this town safe for the rest of us.”

  Jack’s lips curled in a faint smile before he left. That was as close to happy as Tim usually saw Jack.

  He’d consider it a win.

  Tim headed for the shower. Lots to do, including finishing Gwen’s latest book so he could write the review. After Jack fell asleep the night before, Tim had gone ahead and read her book, all but the last twenty pages or so. He could easily stand there and jerk off in the shower if he thought about her books too hard. Sure she was a straight chick writing male-male erotica, but she wrote damn good erotica that stiffened his cock without hesitation. Not to mention her stories rocked.

  Especially the ménages with two guys and a girl. He slowly smiled and resisted the urge to stroke his stiffening cock. One of these days he’d grow a nutsac and work up the nerve to ask her where she got her fantastic ideas.

  And if she wanted any help with “research” in real life.

  * * * *

  “Ellis Books and Bites…Yes, we carry books.” Tim tried not to roll his eyes even though the person was on the phone and not standing in front of him. “Yes, we carry fiction books…Yes, we carry mysteries…Can I look up a particular book for you?” He tried to keep a smile in his voice, but from the way the caller droned on it proved difficult to maintain his happy place. “We’re open until nine tonight…Yes…Thank you.” He hung up and let out a relieved sigh.

  Celia, his store manager, giggled. “You’re not in Laguna Beach anymore, Toto.”

  “Tell me about it. Remind me why I let Jackson talk me into moving to Rapid City?”

  “Because you’re a good boyfriend.”

  “Keep reminding me of that.”

  “How’s the other store doing anyway?”

  “I’m flying out there next week to help with inventory, but so far, so good.” Tim had taken a risk to open a second store in Rapid City, but his theory was why not try it if he’d be living here anyway? They’d moved the profitable internet operations to Rapid City, where real estate was cheaper, and converted the unneeded storage and office space in the Laguna Beach store into more café and display space. He paid a fraction of the price for a third larger storefront here in Rapid City, where he opened a second Ellis Books and Bites a year earlier. The Laguna Beach store brought in more money gross every month, but the reduced operating expenses in Rapid City translated into a nicer net profit every month, plenty to justify keeping it open since it housed their online operations.

  It also kept him busy and from going stir crazy with boredom.

  “How’s Jackson’s mom?”

  Tim shrugged. “Good days and bad. His dad’s coping. Jesus, keep reminding me I’m a good boyfriend, kiddo.”

  He handed her the phone and retreated to his office to do paperwork and check for new orders. They handled specialty and rare books through the internet, which helped supplement income for the brick and mortar stores. A side business as a third-party distributor for e-books helped even more. With Jackson’s mom in a slow and losing battle against Alzheimer’s, he couldn’t refuse to move with his partner when two years ago he said he needed to quit the LAPD and return to his hometown of Rapid City, South Dakota, to be close to his parents.

  Considering Tim had never lived anywhere but in the Laguna Beach area, residing on the outskirts of the Black Hills and suffering through his first brutal South Dakota winter had been quite an adjustment for the native California beach boy.

  One he’d made out of love.

  After he wiped out his little Toyota during his first snowstorm on a patch of black ice, Jack made him promise not to drive on winter roads again until he could teach him how, and made sure to drive him to and from work every day. While Tim could now navigate winter roads in relative safety, he preferred to let Jack do the bulk of the winter driving. It still terr
ified him, especially the hills.

  And around Rapid City, there were a lot of hills. Thank god it’d been three months since their last snow, although he wasn’t looking forward to the return of winter.

  He turned back to his laptop, which he had set on the counter. At two in the afternoon, their lunch rush had thinned. “Read through this for me and proof it, would you?”

  She turned the computer toward her. “What is it?”

  “My review of Gwen’s latest book.”

  Celia laughed. “Why not just copy the last several reviews you did and put one of those in there. You’ll gush about her anyway. You’d think you had a fangirl crush on her.”

  He stuck his tongue out at her. “Hey, I’m a friend of the author, and she’s a damn good writer.” He leaned against the counter. “Maybe I can talk her into coming out here for a book signing sometime.”

  “Internet stalker is more like it, not friend.” She paged through the review and made a few corrections before turning the computer back to him. “There you go.”

  “I am not a stalker. Okay, maybe not friends, but we’re more than acquaintances. We’re flirty e-mail buddies. That counts for something.”

  “You barely know anything about her personally. If you were straight and single you would be chasing her for her phone number.”

  “I would not.”

  She arched an eyebrow at him.

  “Okay, so maybe I would, but that’s beside the point.” He glanced through the review one more time before posting it to the store’s blog, then zapped an e-mail off to Gwen letting her know he’d posted it. “She really is good. She’s cute, too.”

  “Oh, do not tell me you cruised for a pic of her?”

  “I can’t help it if she was tagged on Facebook, can I?” He brought up a photo and showed her. “Look, her and her sister.” Gwen had curly brown hair not quite to her shoulders, and sweet brown eyes. Her sister, Amy, shared her sister’s brown eyes, but looked like she dyed her straight hair dark blonde, judging from her dark eyebrows and roots.

  Celia shook her head and rolled her eyes.

  “If straight women can fangirl Adam Lambert, I can fangirl Gwen.” He closed the browser screen.

  “You’re in lurrrrv.”

  “Am not.”

  “You are. Bet you’re sporting wood right now, aren’t you?”

  Celia got away with teasing him like that only because he’d known her since high school. He’d asked her to move to Rapid City to help open and run the store. “Am not,” he fibbed.

  Well, only a little fib. He wasn’t stiff, just…interested. He tugged on his trousers to adjust them.

  She tried to peek over the counter. “Liar.” She turned when the front bell jingled as a customer came in. “We’ll pick this up later.” She went to greet them.

  He smiled as he put his laptop under the counter. She could be a ballbuster, but he loved her like a sister. After they’d tried sleeping together as teenagers, he realized that maybe he did prefer dicks to chicks. He considered himself homoflexible. There were a few women he wouldn’t mind doing.

  Gwen definitely topped that list.

  He adjusted his trousers again.

  Jack walked in a moment later and waved when he spotted Tim. As Jack approached, Tim’s cock fully stiffened. Okay, so since he was with Jack he had effectively become homosexual, because he wouldn’t give him up for anything.

  “Hey,” Tim said before he leaned over the counter and kissed him. “What are you doing here this time of day?”

  “I can’t come harass my boyfriend when I want?”

  Tim grinned. “Sure, but are you doing it on the taxpayers’ dime or yours?”

  “Late lunch break. Got caught up investigating a robbery. Thought I’d come bug you.”

  “I’m flattered.” He led Jack over to the cafe, behind the counter. “What are you in the mood for?”

  “Just a quick and easy sandwich.” He leaned against the wall and watched Tim put it together.

  Tim could see from the look on Jack’s face that his mind was elsewhere. “Did you talk to your dad this morning?”

  Jack nodded.

  “How’s your mom?”

  Jack’s expression clouded. “Dad said they’re trying another medicine,” he quietly said. “Started her on it yesterday.” He took the offered plate. “Thanks, babe.”

  Tim made him a cappuccino and followed him to the back corner table he preferred. He slid the steaming cup in front of Jack and brushed his fingers over his hand. As Tim sat, Jack caught his hand and held it without looking up from his plate. “Thank you, Tim.”

  Jack’s soft tone worried Tim. “For what?”

  Jack finally looked up. Tim didn’t miss the way his eyes looked too bright, as if close to tears. “For coming back here with me. I couldn’t do this without you.”

  Tim squeezed his hand and tried to lighten the mood. “Hey, you think some stupid snow is going to scare me away from you, think again. I told you, you’re stuck with me, Stoneface.”

  Jack finally managed a faint smile. “I love you.”

  Tim wanted to sit there and talk with him, but the front bell jangled, signaling a customer. Tim turned and waved. “I’ll be right with you.” He stood, and Jack pulled him in for a quick kiss.

  “Thanks for taking such good care of me, babe,” Jack said.

  “You’re my man. What the hell else do you think I’d do?” Tim released his hand after a final squeeze and headed over to the book counter where the customer waited.

  * * * *

  Jack tried not to think about the conversation he’d had with his father on the way to Tim’s store. Nothing would stop the inevitable advance of his mother’s Alzheimer’s. He knew that and accepted it, but it didn’t make dealing with it any easier.

  As he ate, he watched Tim take care of the customer. He knew how damn lucky he was to have Tim. Part of him had seriously expected Tim to reject the idea of moving. Maybe not outright, but to say he’d take a few months to transition things so he could move out and join him and then…not.

  He’d never expected Tim to immediately, that very night in fact, jump into list-writing mode of everything he’d have to do to get them ready to move. It wasn’t until they spent their first night together in their new home in Rapid City that Jack could finally let go of his fear and accept Tim really was there for the long haul.

  Before Tim, after Jack moved to California, he’d had a few relationships, none lasting more than a couple of months. Then there was a long, lonely stretch where he didn’t bother dating. He’d go to Mel’s grave and talk to her, then go home and try to sleep without drinking himself into oblivion first.

  Then he responded to a robbery at a shop in the same complex as Tim’s store. Jack hadn’t missed how Tim, a friend of the victim, didn’t take his blue eyes off him while he took the victim’s statement. When he’d finished the interview and turned to go, Tim had followed him outside.

  “Is there something else, Mr. Ellis?”

  Tim nodded and stepped close, his gaze never wavering, voice low. “Yeah. You busy tonight? If not, would you like to be?”

  From that night on, Tim had made it a point to keep him busy, one way or another, every night.

  Jack finished his sandwich and Tim finished with his customer. Tim walked over and took the plate. “Better?”

  “Thank you.” Jack stood and handed the mug to him, leaning in for a final kiss. “Don’t work too hard.”

  “You stopping by their place tonight?”

  Jack nodded.

  “Look, come get me first, okay? Let me go with you tonight.”

  “You’ve got a ton to do.”

  Tim set the plate and mug down and grabbed Jack’s hands. “Stop,” he softly said. “Let me.”

  Jack took a deep breath and closed his eyes before he nodded.

  “Was that so hard, letting me help?”

  “Smart-ass.” He opened his eyes to Tim’s blue gaze.

  “
You love this ass and you know it.”

  “Yes, I do. I damn sure do.”

  Chapter Four

  Gwen had decided two thirty might be better if she wanted to pry her mother’s fingers off Liam before their father’s usual return home at five. Sure enough, Liam had packed, but their mother was busy fretting and worrying and wondering if she should also spend the night at Gwen’s. She’d totally freaked out over Gwen taking Liam to the book signing, claiming it wasn’t healthy for him to leave the house.

  Gwen suspected the unhealthy thing was her mom trying to keep him cooped up like a fragile china doll.

  Her mother sleeping over was the last thing Gwen or Liam needed…or wanted. She took a deep breath. “Mom, he’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. You and Dad go out to eat or something. Enjoy having the house back to yourselves for a couple of days.”

  “But what about your back?” When her father wasn’t home, her mother acted like a different person around Gwen. Still a pain in many ways, but not nearly as obnoxious.

  “My back is fine, it’s healed up, you know that. Besides, it’s not like I have to carry him.” She grabbed Liam’s rolling suitcase and laptop bag and trundled them out to her Honda Element. She’d already folded the back seats up so she’d have room for Liam’s stuff and his wheelchair.

  When she returned, her mom was going after Liam again. “Just because your sister’s gone doesn’t mean you have to leave, too!”

  Amy watched Liam successfully fight the urge to roll his eyes. He grabbed their mom’s hands. “Mom, I love you, and you take good care of me, but you need a break. Dad needs a break. I need a break. Amy’s getting her break. Gwen and I want to hang for a few days, and I need to redo her website anyway. It’ll be easier working on it there at her house than staying here and trying to coordinate over the phone with her.”

  Gwen took another load of Liam’s gear out to her SUV. His walker and other things he might need to avoid a trip back to their parents’ house. Liam had really good days and really bad days. On the really good days, he could walk with a cane outside, and unassisted inside. On the really bad days, he was practically bedridden. Fortunately, the really bad days were rare. With the latest round of medication his doctors had tried, it’d been over a year since a really bad day, minus the occasional problems like his latest kidney infection. On the average, he used a manual wheelchair for outings and long distances, and his cane or walker in the house unless he was really tired.