What Matters Most (26 page)

shaking his ass as he bent to shove the clothes down to his ankles. Nick’s hiss only encouraged Josh to put on more of a show, so he kicked the clothing aside then reached back to grab his cheeks and spread them. Widening his stance so that Nick could see his dangling balls and swollen dick, Josh peered around his shoulder and grinned. Nick was standing frozen, his mouth dropped open, his hands fisted, and his eyes zeroed in right where Josh wanted them.

“You ready for this?” Josh asked, letting the tips of his fingers brush down his crack and tease at his hole. Nick cursed and stepped forward, batting away one of Josh’s hands.

Nick slapped his ass hard enough to send a jolt of pain through Josh, and Josh knew his little kink was out. He moaned and arched his lower back, thrusting his butt up in a request for more.

Nick planted one hand on Josh’s lower back and pushed, his other hand gripping

Josh’s hip to guide him until Josh was leaning over the bed. Palms flat on the ugly blanket, Josh lowered his shoulders and wagged his butt at his lover. Nick murmured something about needing to see more pink, then his big hard hand landed on Josh’s ass again.

“Fuck! Again!” Josh moaned and writhed as Nick spanked him. Tendrils of need coiled and dispersed in his bloodstream, firing nerves and sending his pulse into overdrive.

The stinging heat from each blow spread over Josh’s skin and burrowed inside, feeding a lust that was already threatening to shatter his control. Sharp bright pain bloomed from a smack where his thigh and ass met. Josh yelped and started humping air as desperation to come set his spine to tingling. “Nick, God, please—”

“Almost there,” Nick muttered before slapping Josh’s right cheek hard enough to rock him forward. “One more.” Nick landed a matching blow to Josh’s left cheek. “Condoms and lube?”

Josh made a garbled sound as he tried to speak. He gave up on forming intelligible words and tipped his head towards the night stand.

WHAT MATTERS MOST

Bailey Bradford

157

“Figured.” Nick rubbed Josh’s heated skin roughly then squeezed the sensitised flesh.

“Fuck, baby, pink’s definitely your colour. Stay right here.”

As if he could trust his legs to carry him. Josh locked his knees and dropped his head onto the mattress then closed his eyes, letting the sounds of Nick preparing to fuck him stoke his arousal. Their breaths were loud and raspy, but he listened as Nick opened the drawer and found what they needed. The crinkling of the condom package was followed by a ripping sound, then a low curse, probably from Nick rolling the rubber on. The lube spluttered obnoxiously when it was opened, then there was a shuffle of footsteps and the shock of cold liquid oozing down Josh’s crack.

“Cold?” Nick asked, his voice laced with amusement. Josh opened his mouth to

answer but ended up gasping as fingers speared into his opening. “Too much?” Nick sounded contrite, or worried, Josh couldn’t determine which when his brain was shorting out due to the pleasure shooting up from his ass.

“Not enough,” he snarked, hoping to bring back the dominant part of his lover that had just surfaced to deliver the spanking Josh had craved. He felt the rough scrape of Nick’s denim shirt against his back, the moist hot breath gusting from Nick’s mouth. A sharp nip of teeth at his earlobe made Josh yelp and open his eyes.

Nick glared down at him from only inches away, his pupils blown until Josh couldn’t distinguish the dark brown from the black. “That’s not nice.” Nick grinned then, a warning Josh didn’t pick up on until Nick thrust his fingers inside, bringing Josh to his toes as he struggled not to come. Nick used his other hand to deliver a pinch Josh knew would bruise.

Knowing he’d wear a mark from his lover, combined with Nick’s fingers brushing over his gland, the burning heat of his ass from the spanking, Nick’s sheer power at this moment—it was all too much. Josh wailed as his balls sent cum flowing from his dick in a release so intense his legs gave out.

“Damn.” Nick closed his eyes then snapped them back open, not wanting to miss a

second of Josh falling apart for him. He grunted as he kept Josh somewhat upright with one arm, the other immobile as Josh’s ass had a grip on his fingers that Nick couldn’t—and didn’t want to—shake. Nick eased Josh to his knees as the man trembled and moaned. The scent of WHAT MATTERS MOST

Bailey Bradford

158

Josh’s cum was strong and made Nick’s mouth water. He’d love to take the time to taste, but his own erection was throbbing, begging to be buried in the tight heat still clasping his fingers.

“Lean on the bed, baby, that’s it, just like that for me.” Nick helped Josh brace his chest on the mattress then he slipped his fingers from his lover’s hole. He couldn’t wait much longer, not after seeing that. And not after doing something he’d never imagined, spanking Josh’s ass until it glowed a vibrant shade of pink. Josh was showing him all sorts of new things about himself, and though they were surprising—and a little scary; Nick wasn’t sure what to think about the power he’d felt when spanking Josh, but the desire and love, those were stronger than anything else—Nick would be forever grateful to Josh for bringing Nick to where he was now.

Nick knelt behind Josh and lined his dick up to the lube slicked hole. “You ready?” He nudged at the opening, praying Josh was indeed ready, because Nick was about to lose his ever-loving mind.

Instead of answering, Josh rocked back hard, impaling himself fully on Nick’s cock.

Nick grunted as his vision blurred. Silky heat gripped his rod ruthlessly, contracting and rippling. Josh groaned and swivelled his hips and Nick’s tenuous control snapped. Gripping Josh’s hips, he hammered into his lover’s ass, deep hard thrusts that rocked Josh into the mattress. Nick let go of one hip and reached for Josh’s shoulder, using it to pull that cut body back with more force. His balls slapped against Josh’s with each forward shove, sending fire sizzling down his thighs and all the way up to his chest. Everything inside Nick tightened almost unbearably as he pummelled Josh’s ass. Josh’s whimpers and pleas for
more
and
harder
and
deeper
drove Nick past the point of reasoning. He let those sounds and words goad him until he was fucking Josh so hard the bed was battering the wall.

“S’what you want?” Nick asked, his voice slurred as he gasped for breath.

“Fuck yesssss… Fuck!” Josh rammed a hand under himself, jerking off Nick thought.

Nick didn’t have the speedy recovery time his younger lover did and he wanted to make this last as long as possible. Which, he thought ruefully, might not be long at all. Josh was shoving back against him as hard as Nick was ploughing into him. They’d be bruised all over come morning, but neither would mind. Nick spread his knees a little further and canted his hips then rammed in deep. Josh’s scream was proof Nick had pegged the gland he’d sought, and the reward was another shout as Josh’s inner muscles squeezed Nick’s dick so WHAT MATTERS MOST

Bailey Bradford

159

thoroughly he froze with his length buried fully in Josh’s ass. Nick gritted his teeth and strained not to come as his cock was massaged for several seconds. Josh gasped and his entire body shook, his passage rippling and teasing at Nick’s orgasm.

Nick dropped down on top of Josh. He bit the back of Josh’s neck, the tangy taste of sweat coating his tongue. “God damn it.” Nick sucked hard and shoved his dick further into Josh’s ass. Josh’s responding guttural moan shredded Nick’s restraint. He bellowed as his hips jerked, ramming into Josh’s body in short fierce thrusts. His body sang in ecstasy as cum spewed into from his slit. Nick bit the firm flesh he’d pressed his lips against as his insides liquefied, his climax so intense he couldn’t do more than crush Josh with his weight as he filled the condom with spunk.

Drained and sated to near unconsciousness, Nick hooked an arm around Josh’s chest and pulled his lover back with him as he toppled to the floor. He pressed a kiss to the bruised mark he’d made on Josh’s neck and closed his eyes, content to sleep where he was with Josh held firmly against him.

“Love you,” he heard Josh murmur, then Nick gave in and slept.

Josh forced himself to move, his body boneless from the most intense sex of his life.

He reached behind him and fumbled for the base of Nick’s cock, trying to hold the condom in place as he wiggled off that softening length. Josh hissed as Nick’s dick slipped from his ass. He’d be sore as hell tomorrow, and it would be delicious, each twinge and pain reminding him of the way Nick had taken him tonight. Josh rolled carefully in Nick’s arms and eased the rubber off Nick. He tied it off and tossed it towards the trash can beside the bed. The wet
splat
told him he’d missed, but he wasn’t willing to give up the comfort of his lover’s embrace to pick it up.

Morning would come soon enough, and with it all the responsibilities and demands of everyday life. For now, Josh intended to savour every moment of lying here safe and well-fucked in Nick’s arms. He lay awake doing just that until sleep finally pulled him under with the promise of dreams of the future with his man.

WHAT MATTERS MOST

Bailey Bradford

160

Nick set the stack of letters on the homemade coffee table and tapped them absently with one finger. Out of the three who’d tried to correspond with him, Rory was definitely the friendlier one. Annabelle wrote the same way she spoke, boldly and bluntly. She didn’t gush or make promises, but had claimed to want to meet with him and see if they’d be able to get along.

“Guess she still holds Justin’s whuppin’ against me.” Nick couldn’t hold back a

snicker even though he hadn’t fared much better than Josh’s brother. He’d bet that Justin wasn’t used to doing anything other than winning when he used his fists, but he hadn’t won.

A draw at best, but Nick was fairly certain he would have taken the other man eventually.

Justin’s inability to control his temper would have ensured it. A hot head was a careless one much of the time, and Nick had been aware of that for years. Still, Annabelle seemed to have been trying, although who knew what she’d do since he’d never replied? He was almost afraid to find out.

The last letter he’d received was the one that made him the most nervous. It wasn’t the words so much as what wasn’t said, along with the fact that the man who’d written it was Rory’s partner. Chance Galloway was close to Nick’s age, and, from everything Josh had said about the man, Rory was completely devoted to him, as he was to Rory. Nick thought Rory was a forgiving sort, soft hearted but not a fool, a rare combination in a man in his opinion.

And no doubt, if Chance decided Nick was any type of a threat, Nick would lose any chance he might have of a relationship with his half-brother. Which would mean whatever sliver of potential there was with Annabelle would vanish, too.

Nick lifted the letter up and leant back on the nappy futon, grimacing when the frame groaned. He eased back the final few inches, half expecting the whole thing to collapse.

Breathing a sigh of relief when it didn’t, he set the letter on his lap and stared at the single paragraph there.

Josh did a lot of talking and persuading on your part. He’s a good man, but maybe too easy to
trust. I am not as naïve as Josh, or as Rory, and I am not as forgiving as either of them. What I want to
know, need to know before you come waltzing into Rory and Annabelle’s lives is this: Are you an
honest man, or do you carry years of anger towards the siblings who were, until recently, the favoured
WHAT MATTERS MOST

Bailey Bradford

161

ones? I have to ask myself that question, and have numerous times, but the fact is, the only one who
can answer it is you. I hope, for everyone’s sake, Josh is right about you.

The signature below was a sprawling display that practically screamed confidence and strength, although Nick knew he could just be imagining it. He reread the letter again, wondering why it made him so nervous. His palms were sweating so much that the last swipe of his palms over his thighs had left a faint trail. He finally decided it wasn’t Chance Galloway that made him so nervous so much as the influence the man wielded over Rory and therefore Annabelle. Not that he thought Chance was a dictator or anything like that, but if Rory felt pressed to choose between a brother he never knew and the man he loved, Nick knew who’d be left out in the cold—which was as it should be. But he really didn’t want Rory to have to make such a choice, which meant Nick needed to make sure Chance didn’t think he was a complete waste of DNA.

Granted, he didn’t know Chance. The guy might not be as controlling as Nick feared.

For some reason, maybe because Galloway’s disapproval could cost Nick the relationship with his siblings he’d longed for, the man had become a shadow image of Ian in Nick’s mind.

That wasn’t fair to Chance, and Nick tried to crush the thought, but it was hard to do when the man’s approval was something Nick would need. It reminded him all over again of when he’d been young and dumb enough to think he could earn Ian Calhoun’s love, or at the very least, lessen the man’s disdain for him. He’d tried to be perfect, had went out of his way to impress his father time and again, only to be rejected and, much of the time, mocked as an ignorant Mexican bastard. Despite the shell he’d built around his heart where his father was concerned, Nick still ached with the memory. And he didn’t want any kind of a repeat.

Nick tapped the paper again, this time over the phone number included at the bottom of the page. He wasn’t a young boy with stars in his eyes now, although he was sure those eyes lit up for his lover. How could they not when Josh lit him so from the inside? It had to come shining through. Loving Josh was like swallowing liquid sunshine, it left you warm and tingling and filled so full of love it couldn’t help but leak out in an increase in soft smiles and joyous laughter.