Before You
folder
Original - Misc › -Slash - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
57
Views:
20,074
Reviews:
556
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Category:
Original - Misc › -Slash - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
57
Views:
20,074
Reviews:
556
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
Chapter Fourty-eight
For anyone following my work, check the exclusive chapters of Until You posted.
Happy Holidays!
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Adam met daily with Terry - Doctor Grant – and he surpassed all expectations of recovery. Even she expressed considerable surprise. In a quiet moment, she had said to him, “I guess he just had to go somewhere inside him where he felt safe to face his demons.”
Roth ran beside him on the treadmills for an hour every morning, then they lifted weights together before Roth had to get ready for work. They sparred, made love and showered as if nothing horrible had ever happened to Adam.
He seemed stronger every day.
Roth lived in fear of the reveal about Wes, made worse by an email from Sarah saying the Denver office had reason to believe he turned traitor to Bradley and Stephanie for a payoff. He agonized, impaled upon the horns of the dilemma. Did he risk asking Adam about it to find out if he should even worry? After all, the ugly questions about Adam’s surrogate parents had proven completely erroneous. Or, wait to see if the matter came down in fact? Maybe, he might not even ever have to discuss it with his partner.
Every time he looked at his love, Roth suffered the agony of knowing he committed a degree of betrayal.
One morning, Roth entered the clinic and his need for a strong shoulder overcame his reserve. He looked at Naddy, seeing what he needed.
She planted her hands on her hips. “Half hour early. I’d do the snap thing if I had the energy. I swear, if that cousin of yours doesn’t leave town soon, I’m gonna die of sleep deprivation.”
He broke. “Lock the door, honey. Please.”
“Okay. Shit. You’re scaring me.” He could see her hands shake as she insured their privacy and it struck his heart she already cared so much. Naddy turned and rushed back to him.
Going down on one knee, he hauled her to him and leaned into her. “I have a terrible secret.”
“Oh God,” she lamented, “what is it?” Hugging him tighter, she vowed, “I’ll help you. Just tell me.”
He leaned into her. “I’m keeping suspicions about people who played roles in Adam’s life a secret from him.”
Naddy held him tighter, stroking his hair the way a mother might a fretful child. “Like ‘wow, that sucks’ bad secret? Or bodies buried in the basement bad?”
“’The man he trusted to direct his career may have sold his surrogate parents’ secrets to the mob and got them killed’ bad.”
“Roth, you’re trembling.” Her strong arms gripped him in a palpably maternal circle.
“He barely made it through all the other shit, Naddy. I’m terrified of him slipping back to that place where I can’t reach him.” He dragged the female scent of her down into his lungs. “I’m just so scared.”
“You’re the finest man I have ever met, Roth Garrett. I’ll do whatever you need to help.”
Humbled, he closed his eyes. “Thank you, Naddy. Thank you.”
Her sense of humor returned to lift him from the depths of angst-riddled depression. “Yeah, so scrape that cousin of yours off me already.”
Roth rubbed his face against her, luxuriating in female safe harbor. “Honey, I told you the men in my family mate quickly. Neither you, nor I could scrape him off with a razor.”
“Can we hire someone with all that cash of yours to kill him?”
He laughed, feeling much better. “Yeah, but Luc would just bring the unfortunate bastard back and dump him in my re-fabbed pool. No help for you.”
She cupped his jaw and lifted his face. “I still say you a crazy white man.” Her lovely features softened. Naddy pressed a kiss to his forehead. “One who has my love.”
“What’s going on with you?”
Joseph’s question caught him off guard. He finished shaking the leeks, left them in the sink of water to shed their residual sand, and moved on to chop sweet potatoes. “Whadda you mean?”
“Since your brother and his man left, you have this weird wall around you.”
Leave it to Joseph. “Guess I’m just a little tender.”
The knife Joseph had used to mince garlic hit the counter. The much smaller man punched Roth’s shoulder. “You suck at lying.” He kissed the point of impact in a very sweet platonic manner. “You adopted me. What’s going on?”
Roth sighed, glanced out to where Nathan and Adam minded a grill full of chicken and beef. “I can’t get any conformation on it yet. But, it looks like the man who quote-unquote recruited Adam, sold out Bradley and Stephanie.”
Joseph leaned into him. “I love you, Roth. You can tell me anything. Just don’t try to hide. It scares the hell outta me.”
In that moment he saw his own tendency to find his safe place. How alike he and Adam proved.
Roth snugged Joseph close. “Good enough.”
Adam’s violet eyes gazed up into Roth’s, their jewel-like depths filled with tenderness. Roth shuddered as his lover’s body clenched around his cock. It hurt his soul knowing he withheld what he did.
From his man.
His fiancé
His love.
Happy Holidays!
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Adam met daily with Terry - Doctor Grant – and he surpassed all expectations of recovery. Even she expressed considerable surprise. In a quiet moment, she had said to him, “I guess he just had to go somewhere inside him where he felt safe to face his demons.”
Roth ran beside him on the treadmills for an hour every morning, then they lifted weights together before Roth had to get ready for work. They sparred, made love and showered as if nothing horrible had ever happened to Adam.
He seemed stronger every day.
Roth lived in fear of the reveal about Wes, made worse by an email from Sarah saying the Denver office had reason to believe he turned traitor to Bradley and Stephanie for a payoff. He agonized, impaled upon the horns of the dilemma. Did he risk asking Adam about it to find out if he should even worry? After all, the ugly questions about Adam’s surrogate parents had proven completely erroneous. Or, wait to see if the matter came down in fact? Maybe, he might not even ever have to discuss it with his partner.
Every time he looked at his love, Roth suffered the agony of knowing he committed a degree of betrayal.
One morning, Roth entered the clinic and his need for a strong shoulder overcame his reserve. He looked at Naddy, seeing what he needed.
She planted her hands on her hips. “Half hour early. I’d do the snap thing if I had the energy. I swear, if that cousin of yours doesn’t leave town soon, I’m gonna die of sleep deprivation.”
He broke. “Lock the door, honey. Please.”
“Okay. Shit. You’re scaring me.” He could see her hands shake as she insured their privacy and it struck his heart she already cared so much. Naddy turned and rushed back to him.
Going down on one knee, he hauled her to him and leaned into her. “I have a terrible secret.”
“Oh God,” she lamented, “what is it?” Hugging him tighter, she vowed, “I’ll help you. Just tell me.”
He leaned into her. “I’m keeping suspicions about people who played roles in Adam’s life a secret from him.”
Naddy held him tighter, stroking his hair the way a mother might a fretful child. “Like ‘wow, that sucks’ bad secret? Or bodies buried in the basement bad?”
“’The man he trusted to direct his career may have sold his surrogate parents’ secrets to the mob and got them killed’ bad.”
“Roth, you’re trembling.” Her strong arms gripped him in a palpably maternal circle.
“He barely made it through all the other shit, Naddy. I’m terrified of him slipping back to that place where I can’t reach him.” He dragged the female scent of her down into his lungs. “I’m just so scared.”
“You’re the finest man I have ever met, Roth Garrett. I’ll do whatever you need to help.”
Humbled, he closed his eyes. “Thank you, Naddy. Thank you.”
Her sense of humor returned to lift him from the depths of angst-riddled depression. “Yeah, so scrape that cousin of yours off me already.”
Roth rubbed his face against her, luxuriating in female safe harbor. “Honey, I told you the men in my family mate quickly. Neither you, nor I could scrape him off with a razor.”
“Can we hire someone with all that cash of yours to kill him?”
He laughed, feeling much better. “Yeah, but Luc would just bring the unfortunate bastard back and dump him in my re-fabbed pool. No help for you.”
She cupped his jaw and lifted his face. “I still say you a crazy white man.” Her lovely features softened. Naddy pressed a kiss to his forehead. “One who has my love.”
“What’s going on with you?”
Joseph’s question caught him off guard. He finished shaking the leeks, left them in the sink of water to shed their residual sand, and moved on to chop sweet potatoes. “Whadda you mean?”
“Since your brother and his man left, you have this weird wall around you.”
Leave it to Joseph. “Guess I’m just a little tender.”
The knife Joseph had used to mince garlic hit the counter. The much smaller man punched Roth’s shoulder. “You suck at lying.” He kissed the point of impact in a very sweet platonic manner. “You adopted me. What’s going on?”
Roth sighed, glanced out to where Nathan and Adam minded a grill full of chicken and beef. “I can’t get any conformation on it yet. But, it looks like the man who quote-unquote recruited Adam, sold out Bradley and Stephanie.”
Joseph leaned into him. “I love you, Roth. You can tell me anything. Just don’t try to hide. It scares the hell outta me.”
In that moment he saw his own tendency to find his safe place. How alike he and Adam proved.
Roth snugged Joseph close. “Good enough.”
Adam’s violet eyes gazed up into Roth’s, their jewel-like depths filled with tenderness. Roth shuddered as his lover’s body clenched around his cock. It hurt his soul knowing he withheld what he did.
From his man.
His fiancé
His love.