Sunset Hearts (2 page)

Chapter Two

When Alan Walker heard the sound of the key in his front lock a little after eight-thirty that evening, he didn’t rise from the couch.

He’s right on time.

“Please tell me you cancelled your charter tomorrow,” Jerald grumbled as he walked into the living room. He’d already showered and changed out of his uniform into a T-shirt and shorts. He pulled his gun from his holster belt, removed the magazine and chambered bullet, and put his belt on the table. He took the gun into the bedroom, where he planned to lock it in the gun safe in the closet.

Besides his toothbrush and deodorant, the gun safe was the only thing that Jerald had moved into Alan’s house. They’d been together a little over two years, and Alan still hadn’t convinced Jerald to move in with him, despite his best efforts.

“Hello to you, too,” he called out after him. “And, no, I didn’t cancel my charter. Why the heck would I do that?”

Jerald returned a moment later without the gun. He arched an eyebrow at his lover. “Because it’s supposed to blow twenty knots or more, six to eight-foot seas, and Ruskin has posted a small craft advisory, that’s why.”

If Jerald Carter had any beliefs in a higher power, they would be firmly focused on the National Weather Service’s regional office in Ruskin. Alan grinned the boyish smile he knew could charm the pants off even over-protective, grouchy Florida Marine Patrol officer Major Jerald Carter. “Jer, it’s not going to be that bad.” He started flipping channels.

Jerald reached over, snatched the remote out of his hands, and tossed it onto the couch. “Can’t you please humor me for once?”

“
You’re
going to be out in it tomorrow.”

“I’m
paid
to be out in it.”

“Yeah? Well, so am I.” They’d had this argument countless times before. Alan knew it would end the same way.

“The
state
pays me to be out in it, hell-ooo. Me, Marine Patrol. You, fishing guide.”

“Relax. It’s a morning charter. They want to cast, not go deep sea fishing. I’m taking the flats boat, not the big one. I’ll stay close and take them out for trout and snook in the sawgrass flats and inlets around Aripeka. Come on, it’s a September full moon tide. Perfect for hooking into snook and they can keep the legal ones.”

“What if I pull you over and ask to see their fishing licenses and snook stamp endorsements?” he growled. “Maybe do a full safety inspection. Take an hour or more to check your equipment and permits and captain’s license? Make sure you’re legal.”

“If you’re talking about checking my equipment, you’d better be talking about the equipment between my legs, dude.” Alan sat up, grabbed Jerald’s T-shirt, and dragged him down to the couch. “Otherwise, I’ll tell them to ignore you, that you’re just my worrywart boyfriend showing his ass and his badge to get me back on dry land because the water’s a little choppy. You ready to pay my mortgage on my boats if I can’t work?”

Jerald’s rugged jaw set in a firm clench. Alan loved the way the older man looked when he got angry. His blue eyes, creased at the edges by years squinting against the sun, his deep tan, his short brown hair sun-bleached almost a reddish blond…

His protective temper.

“Maybe I should cuff you to the bed and call Todd at the marina and tell him you’re out sick.”

“I’ll take the cuffs, you know I love that game. But you try to mess with my charters, you’ll have to figure out a way to keep me cuffed because once I get loose I will kick your ass.”

Stalemate.

As Alan suspected he would, Jerald backed down. He sat next to him on the couch and draped his arm around Alan’s shoulders. Jerald, only eight years older than his own thirty-four, sometimes positively acted like his damn father.

Not that he minded too much.

“Please don’t go out far.”

Alan knew he’d won at that point. He leaned in and kissed him. “I promise. I’ll be careful, you know I will. If it’s too bad, or if they wimp out, we’ll come in.”

“You call me as soon as you’re at the dock.”

“I will.” He glanced at the time. “It’s almost nine. You staying?”

“If you want me to.”

Alan reached for the remote and shut off the TV. “Yep. You know I want you to.” He stood and grabbed Jerald’s hand. “Since when have I ever
not
wanted you to? You got someplace better to be?”

“Not really.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Jerald’s face broke into a wide smile as he rose from the couch. Alan stood six inches shorter than Jerald’s six-four. Jerald pulled Alan to him. “You know I’m just messing with you,” Jerald rumbled. Then he slanted his mouth over Alan’s and kissed him, hard, his evening stubble scratchy against Alan’s cheek.

Alan reached down and grabbed the front of Jerald’s shorts. His lover’s hard cock strained against the cotton fabric. “Yeah, and I’m ready to mess with you, too.” Gently tugging on the taller man’s bulge, Alan led him to the bedroom where they both quickly stripped and fell into bed.

Alan ended up on the bottom, his wrists pinned over his head. “Maybe I
should
cuff you,” Jerald threatened.

“Then you’d have to stay here with me.”

“There are worse things.” Alan tried to kiss him, but Jerald lifted his head out of the way, teasing him. “Sometimes I think you enjoy those games a little too much.”

“As long as it’s you and not the real thing, I’m fine. I’m always up for a game of Marine Patrol poking the Poacher.”

Jerald groaned, then laughed. “You’re too fucking much.” He stared down at Alan. “Maybe I should shove my cock in your mouth to shut you up.”

Alan opened wide, sending Jerald into another laughing jag. He lay on the bed next to Alan. “Get down there, then.”

Alan grinned as he sat up. “Does this qualify as police harassment?”

Jerald’s tone sounded light. “Shut the hell up and suck my cock, goddammit.”

“Such a sweet talker you are tonight.” Alan bent over the other man’s member, which had grown to its full length. With a glance up at Jerald’s hungry expression, he swiped his tongue over the swollen head. “Like that?”

Jerald groaned. “Don’t tease me.”

Alan’s own cock throbbed, desperate for release. Alan knew what his lover wanted. He kept his eyes trained on Jerald’s face as he wrapped his lips around his cock. Jerald’s gaze burned as he watched.

Jerald always loved to watch. And he always wanted Alan to look at him, to never close his eyes while they made love.

Alan slowly engulfed Jerald’s cock with his mouth, teasing it with his tongue, using one hand to stroke the base of his shaft, the other to palm his sac and gently play with him.

Jerald moaned. He folded one arm behind his head, supporting him so he could watch Alan going down on him. With his other, he reached down and fisted his hand in Alan’s shaggy hair.

Working his tongue around the head, Alan teased his lover, his tongue caressing the outline of every throbbing vein as he deep-throated him. When Jerald’s hips started thrusting in time with his mouth, Alan knew he was close. After a few long, sweet minutes, his cock hardened even more, growing slick against his tongue.

He pressed a finger against Jerald’s rim, not breaching it, but the sensation sent him over. Alan swallowed as his lover’s tangy, hot seed filled his mouth.

As Jerald’s cock softened, Alan eased up, finally releasing him.

Jerald’s eyes had dropped closed, his chest still heaving. “Good?” Alan asked.

Jerald nodded.

He licked a trail from Jerald’s cock to his chin before he kissed him. “Roll over,” Alan said, his voice deep and husky. “My turn.”

Without opening his eyes Jerald did, arching his back so his firm ass stuck in the air.

Alan’s cock throbbed at the sight. He reached over to the bedside table and grabbed the lube. They’d done away with the condoms after six months and getting tested. Neither of them were interested in sleeping with anyone else anyway.

Alan worked lube into the other man’s tight rim, teasing him, wondering if he could get Jerald hard a second time. After a few minutes of playing, Alan couldn’t stand to wait any longer. He lubed himself and pressed forward, moaning as he felt his cock tightly fisted inside Jerald’s ass.

“Fuck, yeah,” he whispered once seated all the way in.

“Do it,” Jerald growled. “Fuck me hard.”

If he was asking for it hard, experience told Alan seconds would be had shortly. Alan grinned and grabbed Jerald’s hips. “You got it.” He fucked him, hard and fast, the sound of skin slapping skin filling the air. Jerald moaned as he flexed his ass and hips against Alan’s onslaught.

“Harder, goddammit.”

“Ooh, someone wants to play tonight.” His balls bounced against Jerald’s ass at the bottom of every stroke. It wasn’t long before he felt them tighten and tense, his climax close. He pounded into his lover, fingers digging into his hips until the final stroke took him over and he buried himself deep, his come flooding inside the other man.

Out of breath, he propped himself up with one arm.

Jerald bumped his hips against him. “Get on your back. I want to fuck you.”

Smiling even as he still panted from his effort, Alan pulled out. He stepped into the bathroom to clean up, then returned to bed.

Jerald sat up on his knees, the bottle in his hand, his own cock already hard again and slick with lube. Alan lay on his back, knowing what Jerald wanted. He hooked his hands behind his knees and drew them up to his chest. “Like that?”

Jerald nodded, his large fingers probing and lubing him.

Alan kept his eyes on Jerald’s, never wavering from his lover. Jerald seated himself, slowly stroking his stiff shaft inside Alan. “How do you make me so fucking horny?”

“I know what you like and I’m not afraid to give it to you.”

Jerald leaned forward, pressing Alan’s thighs further into his chest. He hungrily kissed him. “I could fuck you all night long.”

“Who’s complaining?”

In the dim light spilling through the bathroom doorway, Jerald’s blue eyes looked dark, like the midnight sky. “I guess if I lived here it would give me more time to fuck you, wouldn’t it?”

Alan’s heart skipped, his hope blooming. “You could have it whenever you wanted, tough guy. When have I ever told you no?”

Jerald braced his hands on the headboard and took another hard stroke. “I could walk in from work and tell you to drop your shorts and bend you over the kitchen table.”

Alan reached up and brushed his fingers over Jerald’s nipples. “Every night, anytime you want it. But who says I’d be wearing clothes? I’d run around naked if you wanted.”

Jerald laughed. “You probably would, wouldn’t you?”

“You better believe it, if it means you living here. You could wake up to me sucking your cock every morning.”

“Or me sucking yours.”

“Oh, fuck yeah!”

Jerald sat up and grabbed Alan’s thighs for leverage. He took long, slow strokes out, followed by hard, fast deep thrusts in. “Maybe I could try it temporarily. See if you still want me after a few months.”

“I’ll always want you. Now shut the hell up and pound my ass the way you know you want to.”

Jerald grinned. He liked it hard and fast. The entire bed shook with the force of his thrusts. It didn’t take long for his climax to build. “Oh, fuck yeah! I’m coming!” he cried out as it washed over him. A few minutes later they lay tangled together in a sweaty heap on the bed.

Alan wrapped his arms around Jerald. “I love you.”

Jerald kissed him. “Love you, too.” He finally moved, slowly, and stepped into the bathroom to clean up. When he returned they curled together in bed, Jerald’s arms around Alan. He brushed his fingers down Alan’s arm. “I’ve got Thursday and Friday off. I can bring a load of stuff over.”

“I don’t have any charters on Thursday. I can help.” If he had his way, he’d back a truck up to Jerald’s freaking shit hole trailer and completely empty it before burning it to the ground.

“Okay. Then we’ll start on Thursday.”

Alan felt a Cheshire cat grin crease his face. He decided to test the waters. “What do you feel like doing tomorrow evening?”

Jerald shrugged. “Hadn’t thought about it.”

“Tom Kelly invited us over. He’s having a barbecue tomorrow night. Invited a bunch of people.”

Jerald’s face darkened as he looked away. “Go if you want.”

“I wasn’t asking your permission. It’s an invitation extended to both of us.”

Jerald let go of him and rolled over, facing away from Alan. “I’ve got things I can do. You go have fun.”

Alan tried to drop it and couldn’t. After stewing for five minutes, he sat up. “Are you fucking ashamed of me or something?”

“What the fuck? Where’s that coming from?”

“Well, answer the question. Are you?”

“Christ, no! I told you I’ll give living here a shot. What more do you want?”

“Is it because I’m a guide? Or because I’m a guy? Be honest.”