When you love someone you don't hurt them on purpose, and cheating on someone isn't a mistake. – Sonya Parker
Travis lowered Wes onto his back, drawing a hand down the middle of his chest. "We need to fix that," he murmured, nibbling on his ear.
Wes was unable to answer coherently. Travis' touch had him arching his back into his partner's fingers, prolonging the contact. It had been more than too long, but he'd been afraid to be quite that honest with him. Alex had shut him out emotionally right after he decided to leave law. It didn't take too much longer before she had shut him out physically as well. It was the one time he was thankful for the demands of the job, most times he didn't even have time to miss it.
Deft, dusky fingers lingered at Wes' waist, toying with the button on his pants, but not moving to undo them. Travis placed a kiss just behind the blond's ear. "You sure you want this, baby? I know how lonely you must be but…"
He swallowed the lump forming in his throat, forcing the words out past it. "Please. God, Travis, please."
It was all he needed to say, it seemed, because Travis made quick work of his pants, whisking them off his body before he could change his mind. Not that he would have. Wes knew what they were doing was wrong, that it was cheating and worse – it could possibly ruin their already fragile working relationship – but it had been so damn long since anyone had given him any kind of attention. How could he turn this down?
He'd always wondered about Travis' preferences. Despite the enormous line of women he'd run through during their time together, his partner was an incurable flirt. Didn't matter if you were male, female or somewhere in between. If he thought it would get him what he wanted, he turned on the charm. He'd long been envious of the fact that he was so good at it, too. Often, he'd wondered if he was as into men as he was women. Wes supposed this was his answer.
He pulled away from the kiss Travis had lured him into. "Travis, one question…"
"Uh-uh," he said, kissing him again, sliding his tongue along the ridge of Wes' perfectly straight teeth. "No questions, not now."
He pressed a hand against Travis' bare chest, insisting. "I have to know… am I your first?"
Travis pulled back, studying him. "My first?" His eyes widened and Wes could see the meaning of his words fit together in his head. "Oh, no baby, not quite."
Wes visibly relaxed, knowing the already capable hands caressing his body knew more than he thought they had. "Good."
Travis chuckled against Wes' chest. "Can't say I saw that one coming. Honestly figured you'd be more comfortable if you were."
Wes shook his head, grinning. "Not in this case. God only knows how long it'll be before someone touches me like this again. I don't want to waste my chance."
The sadness he saw in Wes' eyes was his undoing. This was his partner here, the man that kept him safe on the streets. The one that had always had his back, even when they weren't getting along. How could he have missed all this pain? He made a vow in that moment to be more aware.
Travis slid his hand along the length of Wes' cock. The blond bucked against his touch, groaning. He gripped him tightly, squeezing and massaging his erection. "Damn, baby," he sighed, teeth grazing one pink nipple. "You are so hard, and so fuckin' big. You've been holding out on me."
Wes chuckled, nervous and shy. "Now you're just flattering me. But keep doing it, I'm not about to complain." He lifted his hips into Travis' grip, savoring the feel of someone else's hand on his body.
"Oh hell no," he argued, "this is not flattery." He gave Wes a squeeze, drawing his attention downward. "Look at my hand. See how much of you doesn't fit? And let me tell you, blondie, I've got some damn big hands."
He looked and he watched. Travis couldn't take his eyes off his partner's face, didn't want to miss a second of his enjoyment. The way his eyes widened and then fluttered closed as he stroked and grasped his cock. Wes squeezed his eyes shut, his head fell back, and he sobbed out a single word – his name.
"Travis," he gasped, the word a strangled sound.
"Aw, baby, I know what that means," Travis' pleased snicker came from deep within his chest. He released his grip on Wes' cock and received a desperate, wordless complaint in response. "Just a minute, Mitchell, I won't leave you hanging for long."
He leaned over the side of the bed, dug around until he found the lube, a condom, and returned to Wes. Travis pressed his mouth to his partner's, sucking the boy's tongue into his mouth, savoring the early morning taste of him. Wes hungrily rubbed his aching cock against Travis' thigh, begging without words for satisfaction.
Releasing Wes' mouth, Travis put enough distance between them to catch his partner's gaze. "One last time," he said, seriousness lacing his every word. "You positive? 'Cause if you're not, I have no problems wrapping my mouth around that delicious cock of yours and sucking until you explode."
Wes' fingers curled in the bed sheets. He lifted his hips against Travis' ass again, emphasizing his words. "God damn you and your stubborn ass, yes."
"That's all I needed to hear," he growled, lifting off of his body long enough to dispose of his sweats.
Wes' heart leapt when Travis swung his leg off of him so he could undress fully. He must've found his sweatpants around the same time Wes had half-stripped last night. There was so much he didn't remember from those drunken hours, but thankfully, this was not going to be one of those things he wondered about. This, for better or for worse, was going to be forever burned in his memory.
Alex invaded his thoughts then, causing him to groan in frustration. The knowledge of her disapproval of everything that was happening here flooded him. Not just the cheating, but sex with another man, sex with his partner for crying out loud. All of it. The worst part was, he didn't think she'd even be angry if she found out. But she'd be disappointed and that was so much worse.
Travis laid a hand against his cheek causing him to open eyes he didn't know had been closed. "Stay with me baby, no thinking about anything outside this room. Too much time for that later."
He attacked Travis' mouth in gratitude, for pulling him back into the here and now, and out of the what might possibly occur in the future where he spent so much of his time these days. Surrendering to the moment, he allowed Travis to show him exactly why every female in the precinct flocked to claim his attention.
Wes had to admit, he finally got it. He actually understood the appeal of the man called Travis Marks.
"We have an hour," Travis told him, snuggling against his narrow back. "You going to go home?"
Wes shook his head as best he could, lying on his side like he was. "No, I keep a – a spare suit – at the station for emergencies. I'll change there. Deal with the fallout tonight when… never mind."
"When you've had time to rationalize it all away." The hurt he heard in Travis' voice clawed at his insides.
"Travis, no," he begged, not wanting to fight, not now. "That's not what I meant. You can't tell me this hasn't left you a little confused."
He nuzzled his nose into that little sweet spot he'd found earlier with his teeth – that spot where Wes' neck met his collar bone. "Not even a little. I know what I want and I go after it."
"Does that mean you wanted… me?" Wes tried to look up at his partner – his lover – and couldn't because he was currently licking a patch of pale skin.
"Mmm-hmm," he murmured against his shoulder.
"Why didn't you ever say anything," he asked, fingers toying with the fine hairs on Travis' forearm.
He nipped at the skin he'd been teasing with his tongue. "Because you were married," he stated. "And I may be a lot of things, but I'm not a home wrecker."
"Newsflash, Marks, I'm still married."
Travis lifted his head and kissed Wes on his cheek. Reaching out, he took Mitchell's left hand in his, thumb rubbing against the golden band on his ring finger. "I know, but it's not the same now, is it?"
He pulled away from the blond, prompting a growl of displeasure from him. Wes rolled onto his back and looked up at Travis. "Where are you going?"
"If you want to get to the station – and get inside before anyone we know sees you in yesterday's suit – you might want to leave soon." He slipped off the other side of the bed and grabbed his pants from the floor.
Wes' blue eyes locked onto his. "Can't we just stay here all morning?"
A grin tugged at Travis' mouth. "What is it you always say to me when I suggest we knock off early? 'Travis, crime doesn't take the afternoon off' is what I usually hear."
"You can be such a dick, did you know that?" They both knew he'd deserved that, however.
"If I remember correctly, you seemed to quite enjoy that about me this morning." He winked lasciviously and disappeared into the bathroom.
"I hate you," he glowered, throwing a pillow in the direction his partner had disappeared.
"But I loooooove you," Travis called back.
Wes had made sure he was sitting at his desk, eyeball deep in their current case, when Travis arrived at the station that morning. Travis had been considerate enough to arrive late, as always, so no one became suspicious. Or so he said. Wes would bet money that the real reason was that Travis had fallen back to sleep after he'd left.
Heaven only knew, he'd love a nap right about now.
He'd had four messages from Alex by the time he'd gotten out of the shower and another by the time he'd dressed in his spare suit and tie. Wes was terrified of what she might say when he called her back, so he put her off for as long as he reasonably could. Swallowing his pride, he sat on a bench in the empty locker room and called, knowing that if he waited any longer, she was coming to find him. As predicted, she'd been pissed, but thankful he hadn't been washed away with the storm.
Wes felt like a jerk for what he'd done to her, but he hadn't intended on letting his partner get him wasted, either. A ghost of a smile flickered across his face then, remembering how Travis' eyes had lit up when he'd uncovered the bottle of tequila. God, he knew better, but something inside him had been unable to resist. Looking at his watch, he realized that the shifts were about to change and he needed to be at his desk. He needed to distract himself so he didn't do something embarrassing when Travis arrived.
He supposed it was a good thing that Travis was so adept at pretending like nothing ever happened the morning after something clearly had happened. Lord knew he had enough practice at it. Wes, on the other hand, not so much. If he could keep it together long enough to get them both out of the station, they'd be fine. Travis would talk him off the ledge he was on and they'd be fine.
Right?
"Good morning, glory," Travis called, dropping into his desk chair, million dollar smile firmly in place.
The laughter surprised him when it emerged. Seeing Travis all bright eyed and bushy tailed had that effect on him it seemed. "Morning Marks."
"Find something we missed yesterday?" He motioned to the case file on Wes' desk.
He was taking pity on Wes and diving right into the case – he would have to thank him for that later. A flush of heat infused his cheeks at the thought of thanking him. Horrified, he quickly grabbed the case file and opened it, praying Travis hadn't noticed. "No, but I think I know where we need to start today. Miss LaJean Spencer, cousin to the victim."
"Got an address? Good, let's go." Travis stood, waiting on his partner.
Maybe he could get through this first day unscathed after all.