Crossroads Shadowland (2 page)

The air hummed with a heady
mixture of scents, soap, sweat, and moist
steam. Against him, Frank seemed content to hold them
directly under the
showerhead and allow
the water to stream down on them. In fact, the man
appeared to be in full relaxation mode. Rand
turned around in his arms and
saw his eyes
were closed, his powerful chest moving in and out with deep
breaths, and his mouth open.

Those lips. How many times
had he longed for Frank to kiss him? It
wasn't Frank's way, but damn, he wanted to kiss the man,
never wanted
anything more in his life
right now. Except Frank himself. A slight lift of his
head, a tiny movement toward that full mouth and.
. . .

He couldn't resist
capturing Frank's lips or his own moan from the
exquisite melding of their mouths. Like Frank, he closed his
eyes and reveled
in the taste and texture
of the man. He'd wondered for a long time if the
simple act would serve as an aphrodisiac; sweeten
his obsession of never
getting enough of
Frank. He would wonder no more.

Emboldened that Frank
hadn't recoiled or pushed him back, he
continued his exploration by running his tongue over Frank's
lower lip before
plundering his mouth.
Rand kissed him with an urgency borne of need, hunger
and, truthfully, a smidgeon of
triumph.

Before Frank came to his
senses, he wanted to make every second
count. Of its own will, his hand moved to the back of Frank's
wet head and he
drew him deeper into the
kiss. Still the man didn't resist, but rather allowed
him to continue the sensuous journey.

Like a thirst-starved
creature of the forest, he set upon ruthlessly,
mindless of anything but the man's mouth that had been denied
to him until
now. Aware of the hot water
crashing down on them and of the intense
sensation of his cock lengthening and expanding, he was too
engrossed in the
kiss to do anything about
either.

Without breaking from the kiss, Frank said,
"I can see you're really into this, but I've had enough of the
water drilling into my skull."

Rand arched his neck back
aware of the smirk stretching his lips. "You
must have been into it too, Frank, or you would have stopped
me."

"Just because I didn't stop you didn't mean
I liked it."

"You liked it; you're just
too macho to fess up." Rand picked up the loofa
sponge, ran the soap across the surface several times and
began to scrub
Frank's hairy chest. "I've
been waiting a long time for that kiss."

"Is that a fact? Well now
that you've had your way with me, it's only fair
I have my way with you."

Rand plopped the sponge
into Frank's hand and spread his arms out at
his sides. "Command me; I'm all yours after that unexpected
kiss." He leaned
forward and whispered,
"I'm like putty in your hands, McGuire."

Rand's eyes wandered down
to his cock, an impressive sight. The thick rim stood out from the
shaft and bulging veins along the side pulsated with
need. His throat went dry and he licked his wet
lips.

Frank followed his gaze. "I
changed my mind. I'm not quite ready to
have my way with you yet."

His gaze still fixated on
the Frank's cock, he said. "My offer still stands,
command me."

"Suck it, all of it."

A rush of saliva filled his
mouth, and an ache in his groin reminded him
of the ecstasy awaiting him. Soon. . . soon Frank would take
him, possessively
and with any luck hard
and deep.

Rand lowered himself to his
knees on the hard marble tile but soon
heard the thud of a soggy towel dropped to the floor. He
slipped it beneath his
knees and moved in
on the enormous cock. He sucked the cap and was
rewarded by Frank's guttural groan.

His lover's hands wound
into his hair and pushed his head forward. "All
of it; take it all in your mouth."

The wet, salty taste shot
another unexpected jolt of lust through him. He
swallowed the length, retreated, and launched into a
deliberate tempo. Taking
the wide, long
dick into his mouth until it hit the back of his throat he
pulled
back and sucked on only the
remaining head again.

"Ah, yes, Rand." Frank's
voice echoed in the shower, low and hungry
with need. "You know how to suck a man off until he's fucking
crazy."

Rand toyed with his cock,
running his tongue over the slit, back and
forth.

Frank's grip on his head tightened, his
voice impatient. "Take it all."

The hoarse hunger in his
voice elicited a wild abandon in Rand. He
sucked him harder, deeper, pushing his head forward until
Frank's cock was
buried deep. The man's
width and length made his jaws ache. He panted
through his nostrils and willed all muscles in his face to
relax, aware of the
intoxicating passion
whipping through him.

Held firm by strong hands
on his head, Rand moaned around the engorged member, and like
always, reveled in the man's dominant nature.
Frank rocked his hips forward, but held back on surrendering
to thrusts. His
hot cock pulsed and his
moans filled the enclosure. Before Rand could form
his next thought, Frank pulled him to his feet
and shifted him around so his
chest and
face met
the hard, marble tile. He kicked
his feet out until his
legs were spread
wide. A shiver of anticipation pedaled through Rand. He
never knew exactly what to expect from Frank, but
it was always mind-
blowing.

Without warning, Frank slid
two fingers inside him with one hand and
reached for his shaft with the other. "Ah, you're ready for
me. Hard and
ready."

A moist, breathless gasp
tore from Rand's lungs and his heart rate
quickened. He fought to remain standing against the bold
intrusion, reeling
from the methodical
motion of Frank's skilled fingers. He felt his muscles
spasm, gripping Frank's digits like a vise. If he
didn't stop with the tortuous ecstasy, he'd soon be begging like a
schoolboy for Frank to take him.

Enveloped in a cocoon of
bliss, he felt the head of Frank's cock nudge his
hole. In one powerful rush, Frank shoved past the
ring of muscle and buried
himself to the
hilt.

Suspended between pain and
pleasure, Rand cried out against the
sudden invasion. Within seconds the pain receded and Frank
moved in
measured strokes, enveloping him
in a haze of lust and passion. With his
shoulders digging into the slippery tile, Rand panted and
arched back into the
fluid, thrusting
motion.

Frank grabbed his hips with
both hands and licked a trail along the
prickled skin of his neck, pitching him into spirals of
ecstasy. The more he
gasped and moaned,
the harder Frank drove into him.

At some time during their
joining, Frank had turned the water off, but
the residual steam added to the heat of their bodies
rendering the small
enclosure a virtual
sauna.

Nearly weeping with the
need of release, blood and hot liquid surged to
the tip of Rand's cock. "I'm gonna come now; can't hold
back."

Frank groaned and a shiver
passed through him. "I'm right there with
you, pretty boy."

Rand's orgasm exploded over
him, the force so potent, he'd have
collapsed on the floor if Frank wasn't holding him up. With a
final thrust and
on the heels of a
pleasurable moan, Frank emptied his seed into his ass and
fell to his knees, taking Rand's weight onto his
thighs.

Frank's warm breath fanned his ear. "You
just nixed my day from hell."

"Glad to be of assistance."
Rand rose to his feet and slid the door open,
acutely aware of a blast of cool air entering the shower.
"I'll go rustle
something up for
dinner."

The water from the
showerhead ran in a steady stream after Frank
turned the knobs on again. He picked up the soap and the
loofa and washed the areas of his body Rand missed before they were
distracted. "No, let's go
out tonight. How
about Italian?"

"Are we celebrating?"

"Seeing New Orleans for the
first time is always cause for celebration."
Rand couldn't help the smile. "New Orleans? You'll tell me
all about it at
dinner, right?"

"Right after the wine and salad are served.
How about Sabatino's."

Rand snapped his fingers.
"Little Italy. I'm on it." He walked to the
bathroom door, pivoted, and scooped his jeans and shirt from
the floor. "After
I get
dressed."

"Good idea." Frank reached for a towel on
the nearby rack and stepped from the shower. "Hey, how did the test
go today?"

Rand yanked the jeans over
his hips and pulled the t-shirt over his head.
"I'll tell you all about it at dinner."

Before Frank had a chance
to answer, he hustled from the bathroom and
headed toward the phone in the kitchen.

Chapter Two

Tucked into a corner at a
cozy booth, Frank ordered a bottle of Pinot
Noir, a light sherry hue, flavored with strawberry, plum and
violets. Minutes
later, the waiter
delivered the wine with two Bookmaker salads smothered in
Sabatino's famous house dressing and took their
order. Frank ordered Shrimp
Renato, Rand
the Veal Francese he'd been dreaming about for the last
hour,
notwithstanding the awesome shower
sex he'd shared with Frank.

"This was a great idea, Frank. I've been
starving all day."

Frank rolled the wine
around in his glass and took a sip. "You were
going to tell me about your test today."

"Oh, yeah, I think I aced it."

With a roll of his eyes,
Frank said, "You
think
?"

"I'm feeling confident.
When you were on the two-hour phone call last
night I went over my notes again." Rand picked up his fork
and dove into the
salad. "I knew most of
the answers on that exam, and besides, I promised you
I'd go out with a bang."

"We need to talk about that."

Rand narrowed his eyes.
"You're not backing out on me, McGuire. We
had a deal. You said—"

"Are you going to let me talk or not?"

Rand put his fork down and
placed his hands on the table. "Okay, shoot,
but if you think to put me off, you got a fight on your
hands. I know something is up again. I caught part of your
conversation when you were talking to that
nun on the phone."

"It's not polite to
eavesdrop, and I thought you said you were cramming
for the test."

"I was, but I heard your
end of the conversation. So, what's up with the
nun?"

Frank chuckled and shook
his head. "What makes you think I was
talking to a nun?"

"You called her Sister
something and. . . ." Rand stopped in mid sentence while the waiter
set the entrees on the table and asked if he could bring
them
anything else.

"Not for me, thanks," Frank said.
"Rand?'

"No, I'm good." As soon as
the man ducked through the archway near their booth, Rand picked up
where he'd left off. "Fast service here; and you
don't have a sister."

Frank gave him a quizzical look.

"The nun, you called the person on the phone
Sister Francoise."

"Francoise Genevieve from New Orleans, an
Ursuline nun."

"Ursuline?"

"A Roman Catholic religious
order that goes way back to some place in
Italy." Frank stabbed a plump shrimp on his plate with his
fork and popped it
into his mouth. "Damn,
this is good."

His lips splitting into a
grin, Rand cut off a chunk of the veal. "She going
to save your rotten soul, Frank?"

"I think it's beyond redemption."

"You got that right." For a
long moment, Rand studied him as if mulling
over the redemption comment. "You said something about New
Orleans
earlier. Does Sister
whoever—"

"Francoise Genevieve. You
need to remember that if you plan to
accompany me on this one."

With every element of his
attention focused on him, Rand asked, "
Am
I going to accompany you this
time?"