Before You

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Roth let himself luxuriate in the splendor of Adam’s mouth for long moments. He kept his fingers still, giving his lover time to adjust. Then, he moved down, kissing his sculpted chin, over his throat. The muscles there worked, sliding under the smooth skin. Completely involved, he continued, re-mapping Adam’s body with his mouth until he reached his glorious, jerking erection. Roth rubbed his jaw along it and gently moved his hand, penetrating his partner more deeply.

Adam stifled a groan.

Roth decided not to stand for it. “Those sounds belong to me.” He gently bit the shaft of his lover’s cock. “Don’t you dare try to keep them.” He wanted this first bout to center on Adam. Roth bit him again and his lover’s hands settled on his head. Carefully, Roth adjusted his fingers and caught the walnut-sized bundle of the other man’s prostate between his fingers.

Adam’s back arched up from the bed and the sound of helpless abandonment saturated Roth in satisfaction. He needed that, wanted so much to break this man down in the giving of pleasure. Placing a lingering kiss on his lover’s hard belly, he turned his head and swallowed the considerable length of his velvety erection. And, as Adam began to emit the most sensual moan, Roth drew hard upon him and cautiously rubbed that gland between his fingers.

An almost inhuman roar of attainment echoed in the room and Roth drank down the abundant sweetness of the orgasm he’d drawn from his partner.

He withdrew his fingers slowly, pressed adoring kisses to the subsiding erection he had just made love to, and savored the shuddering of Adam’s big body and the trembling of his hands.

Roth went to wash his own, and bring back a warm, damp wash cloth. He returned to sit on the bed’s edge. Adam had not moved except to lay his bent arms on the pillows above his head. With his eyes closed, he looked like the prince Roth had likened him to.

“Let me make you comfortable,” Roth murmured and cleaned away the excess exterior lubrication. He took the cloth to the bath’s hamper before walking back to the bedroom.

Adam lay staring at the ceiling. “You’re a decent man. I’m wrong for you.”

“That’s the first bit of real discourse I think I’ve had with you.” Roth resumed his seat. “People in my family, especially the men, have a very long tradition of mating quickly.” He reached over to caress Adam’s brawny shoulder. “Not saying that to scare you. It’s just fair you know. I intend to learn you inside and out.”

Those beautiful violet eyes fixed upon his. “I’m damaged goods.”
Roth laughed mirthlessly. “So am I. We’ll get to that.” Then he quoted, “‘We make war that we may live in peace’. Diogenes Laërtius Aristotle wrote that. What you did in the past is done.” He picked up one of Adam’s hands. “You and I are not so different. We play God with life and death. The difference is that you took orders, and I made the decisions myself.”
For a stark, priceless instant, Adam’s soul showed in his beautiful eyes. “I started thinking of myself as the Angel of Death.”

Leaning close, Roth held his lover’s hand to his chest. “I’ve wondered many times if I should look for black lab coats with cowl hoods.”

“I doubt that’s with hospital policy.” Adam laughed softly, the sound wonderful to hear. He glanced at Roth’s groin. “You haven’t gotten off.”

“No hurry. Let’s have a drink and I’ll cook for you.”

Adam asked, “Why me?”

Roth replied, “You intrigue me.” He stood and tugged at Adam’s hand. “Trust a little.”

Reservation clear in his expression, Adam got out of bed. “Note my objection.”

“Noted.” Roth brought Adam’s hand to his lips, nibbling his long fingers. “You have beautiful hands.” Roth released him long enough to pull on his gi pants.

Adam tugged on his jeans, zipping them but leaving them unbuttoned. He came along to the bar where drinks waited. Roth passed his lover the shot of Stoli. Lifting his own, he said, “To new experiences.”

“I’m standing here with someone who knows the worst of me. That’s new.”

Roth leaned to bring their foreheads together briefly. “Cheers, man.” They each tossed back the shot. Roth set down his glass and walked into the kitchen.

Adam observed, “You seem very comfortable in there.”

Amused, Roth replied, “Yeah. I’m as at home in the kitchen as anywhere. What would you prefer? Eggs Benedict and asparagus or steak and home fries?”

“You’ll just pull those out of your ass?”

Roth laughed. “I have the ingredients.” Watching his lover settle onto a bar stool, he continued, “Choose.”

Adam shrugged. “Steak and home fries.”

“I’ll feed you and then we go back to bed.” He took the things he needed from the fridge, counted out a half dozen potatoes. He did a dry rub on the steak, left it on a plate to come up to room temp, peeled the spuds and cut them into fast-cooking pieces, then minced the fresh herbs he needed. Cooking tended to mesmerize him. Roth glanced up to find Adam’s gaze following him. “I know, I’m kind of a domestic bore.”

Seated at the bar with his long, muscular arms folded before him, Adam admitted, “It fascinates me.”

Roth asked, “Another shot?”

“I’ll set us up.” He stood, rounded to withdraw the vodka from the freezer. Pouring the small glasses full, he picked up Roth’s and offered to hold it to his mouth so he didn’t have to stop and wash his hands. “Let me?”

In answer, Roth accepted, swallowing the glacial liquor and marveling at this thawing of his partner’s reserve. Their gazes met. “Kiss me,” he murmured. Adam set the glass aside, and as their lips touched, Roth shivered.

Evidently, confessions came on the menu.

Adam seemed to search his face before he said, “You were the first I let fuck me. Before, I had never put myself on the receiving end.”

Snapped from his domestic and sensual lull, he demanded, “What the hell were you doing portraying yourself as a prostitute with a virgin ass? Do you have any goddamn idea how fragile the tissues are in the rectum? How easily your sphincter muscle could have torn? There’s septicemia and a host of other complications.”

Adam’s mouth silenced him. When he drew back, he returned, “As much as I wanted to dislike you personally, the way you treated me thinking I was purchased ass, told me a lot. Christ’s sake, you asked permission before you had me.”

Roth drizzled olive oil into a sauté pan, scooped up and dropped in the potatoes. “That was reckless. Didn’t you have second thoughts when you had a look at what you’d be taking? Scares me just thinking about how I could have hurt you.” He walked to rinse the starch from his hands. “Fuck. I could have really done damage.”

Adam downed his Stoli. Placing the empty vessel beside Roth’s, he whispered, “I wanted you. You didn’t hurt me. You’re a healer. Not a harmer.”


CHAPTER FOURTEEN


They ate at the bar. Roth kept his arm close to Adam’s, offered him choicer bites and leaned over often to drop a kiss upon his lover’s shoulder.

Until they had finished, Adam said little. Placing his flatware upon the plate, his cloth napkin beside it, he spoke. “You’re too sexy to have the damn kitchen and medical talents you can boast.”

Finishing his meal, Roth collected his dirty dishes and utensils as well as his guest’s. “The men in my family all cook.” Placing the items in the sink for later, he continued, “Cooking and being a doctor are not that far removed in theory. Both’re about understanding relationships between substances, flesh and elements, knowing human nature, and trusting your instincts.”

Adam’s gaze moved over him with distinct interest. “Let’s go back to bed.”

Roth closed the remaining distance between them. “I meant what I said about your damn foolishness. Pisses me off considering how I could have hurt you that first time.”

Adam stood and began backing across the room toward the Roth’s suite. Voice lowering to an intimate hush, he suggested, “You could punish me.”

Roth followed him, enjoying the sight of the forming rise in his lover’s jeans. Feeling thin-skinned from retrospective fear and unappeased arousal, he replied, “Better idea. I show you why you’re gonna spend a lot more time with me.”

“Maybe I won’t let you,” Adam turned and disappeared into the bedroom.

Following him, Roth closed the door and locked it. He stripped off his single garment. Adam stood waiting, upper chest already flushing. “I know something about you I doubt anyone else has noticed.” The lamp he’d switched on earlier shed soft mellow light. “You can try holding in the vocalizations. But, I can see when your chest blushes.”

“You excite me.”

Just watching the other man had him so hot he could feel the pre-cum leaking from his rigid dick. He strode to Adam, kissing him, groaning as he submitted and responded passionately. Roth helped him from his jeans, caressing his belly and thighs, kissing each knee as he bent to help him step from the garment. Straightening, he welcomed Adam pressing himself close. “You excite me, too.”

Urging his lover back to the bed, Roth did his best to taste every inch of his body. By the time he turned his partner onto his belly, and put a pillow under his hips, Roth’s hands trembled and the emotions boiling in him threatened his sanity. He slicked his erection and eased into Adam’s receptive body.

“Fuck, yeah …”

Roth growled, “You’re so hot wrapping my cock.” He gently shifted the angle of his hips until Adam cried out. Roth leaned over his lover, sliding his arms under him to lace their fingers on the bed above Adam’s head. “Rest your cheek on my forearm.”

He did, closing his eyes and shuddering.

Maintaining the contact with his lover’s internal hotspot, Roth carefully made love to him. He brought his mouth close to Adam’s ear. “This’s what it means to be my baby. I pamper you, pleasure you, until you can’t stand to go without me.”

“Don’t use that tone.”

The ragged, husky plea shot straight to Roth’s heart and erection. “Resisting will just cause you turmoil.” He nibbled the rim of his partner’s velvety ear, nuzzled his jaw. The heat milking his dick had Roth ready to erupt. “Surrender. Let me have you.”

“You’re having me. Christ, you’re having me so good, Roth.”

His heart seemed to turn a cartwheel. “Say it again.” He flexed his grip on the other man’s hands. “My name.”

“Roth.”

Undone, he increased his thrusts. “Adam, I can’t last with you.”

“Don’t. Fuck me. I wanna feel you shoot inside me.”

They surged and strained together, moaning and cursing, two bodies united with a common goal. “I’m coming,” Roth warned.

Adam’s wordless exclamation echoed the sentiment.

Vision dimming as his life, Roth’s life seemed to flash before him. A white hot orgasm tore out of him. Holding tight to the man under him, Roth gave himself over completely.


Roth awoke alone in bed. Glancing at the digital clock, he saw time three forty-five. Naked, he switched on the lamp, swung his legs over the mattress’ edge and stood. He walked out into the large living area. Adam sat in a chair. His inky hair caught the slightest light and he hadn’t bothered to dress.

His head turned and those large violet eyes seemed huge and haunted. “You told me you were damaged goods.”

Roth walked over and knelt between his lover’s knees. Settling his hands upon the other man’s thighs, he spoke. “A woman I loved very much died from cancer. It ripped me apart.”

“Did you ever consider ending it?”

Painful memories clawed at him. “Morphine.” Roth had never shared this with another soul. “I knew I’d just drift off and I had access to more than enough.”

“I slept with my rifle for over a year after I quit.” Adam’s voice sounded oddly innocent. “Sometimes, I’d get up for a piss, come back and stare at it for hours.”

Roth’s heart hammered and his muscles felt weak. “The thought of you dead hurts me.”

Adam placed his hands atop Roth’s. “Have I mentioned you’re a relentless bastard?”

Smiling briefly, he considered what a sniper’s rifle meant to him. Life. Mission. Snipers considered their weapon their mother, lover and first born. “Where is it now?” He knew he didn’t have to qualify the subject.

In an empty voice, Adam answered, “I went to the place my family burned to death and buried it. That way, the two things that killed me could at least be together.”