A/N: Thanks go to Separatrix for once again beta reading my chapter. You rock! Sorry for the delay in getting this out, real life sucks. Any errors remaining are my own.
Warnings: The ratings just hit max with this chapter, I hope you like where the boys go in this one.
Unavoidable Truths, Chapter 16
The kiss was rich and warm, and Don let himself feel it completely from his head down to his toes. He wanted it to last forever but it ended after several seconds when his rational mind took over; he jerked away in shock. "Charlie!"
Don watched as Charlie blinked some more and saw the horror wash over the other man's face as he realized what he'd done.
"Oh, man! I'm so sorry, Don. I..." Charlie honestly couldn't come up with a convincing lie to cover his actions. He'd been dreaming of making love to Don just as the knock on the door had come and woken him up, and seeing the very man in front of him had spurred him into continuing the dream. In his half-awake state, Charlie had participated in the kiss, but as if numb and partially unaware of this actions. Now he wished he'd been more awake to have processed the kiss and all the physical reactions to it. "I ... " Charlie sighed, then rubbed his hand over his face and up through his hair to wipe away some of the lingering sleepiness. The pain killers coursing through his body were still working and his brain wasn't firing on all cylinders.
Don turned around to avoid looking at Charlie's discomfort, and closed the hotel room door. He then leaned sideways to take some of the pressure and weight off his leg. He closed his eyes and felt so much of the day wash through him. The worry, the guilt, the anger, the frustration, the love, and the loneliness were all there. "Is this why you left?"
Charlie didn't pretend to misunderstand Don's question. "Yeah," he said softly. Almost too soft for Don to hear, but he heard it all the same. Don watched as Charlie wandered back to his temporary bed and sat down on the edge. Charlie's good hand clenched the sheets in panic and his head was bowed.
Don pushed away from the door and took the lone chair not attached to a table of some kind and slowly lowered himself down and stretched his leg out straight.
"First off, when you get a chance, call Dad. We were worried when you took off like that this morning, and then never called. Second, I don't know what kind of epiphany or event led to this happening, but you sure as hell better explain why running away was your only answer. And third, next time, keep the hotel door chained. You don't know who may be on the other side of it."
Charlie grumbled something under his breath, and Don was almost tempted to ask him to repeat himself, but thought better of it. Both men were emotionally drained and physically tired, so he wasn't really into discussing things in detail right that very moment.
"Look, Charlie. I just wanted to make sure you were here, and to let you know that I was also staying in the hotel. I'm one flight up in 609. How about we both call it a night and we meet up in the morning for breakfast at around 9, sound good?" Don asked Charlie in as pacifying a tone as possible.
Charlie's head cocked to the side in contemplation, while he looked intensely at him. He was sure that Charlie could see the pain etched around his eyes, and the droop to his shoulders. Charlie nodded his head, and a smile caught at the corners of that wonderful mouth. The lips of which were still a little puffy from the brief, but enthusiastic kiss. Don wanted to drag the man across from him back into his arms for another round of kisses, now that he'd had a brief but wonderful taste. He could, of course, follow through on his desires, if it weren't for the that fact that he was still tired and Charlie was still a member of his family. Cousins. Not brothers. And it was that thought that reminded him of the second reason he'd come in search of Charlie.
"Charlie, there's something you have to know," Don paused as he waited to have Charlie's full attention to what he was about to say. "David had come by the house minutes after you had left, telling Dad and I that there was something wrong with our DNA test results when they tried to match up the samples David had taken in the hospital from those at the scene of the shooting. The tech in the crime labs told him that the DNA didn't match up with our being brothers and that he'd made an error."
Don paused and waited to see if Charlie would get the pieces of what he was trying to say without having to finish the story. When he saw the surprise and understanding dawn on Charlie's face, then the quizzical and questioning look follow, he knew he'd have to continue.
"Biologically speaking, I'm your cousin apparently, something like once removed. I'm not up on the family tree terminology. Dad's cousin, Michael Eppes and his wife died along with his parents in a car accident when I was barely old enough to walk. I was at home being watched by a babysitter while they were out having dinner. Dad and Mom took me in and adopted me. Then of course a few years later, you came along."
Don drifted off in thought as he thought about all their years growing up. "You know, it makes sense really."
"What makes sense, Don?"
"Why I'm so different from the rest of the family. I don't have the same facial features, like the bushy eyebrows you and Dad both have; the Eppes nose, you both sport as well." Don reached up and ran a finger down his nose, as he looked closer at the beloved features of Charlie. "So we're not brothers, except in spirit of how we were raised. But even having known that, we fell in love with each other anyway. It is love, right? For you as well?"
With sharpened eyes, Don watched every change that would come across Charlie's face as he asked that question. "I... I'm not... " Don's breath stalled as Charlie stuttered and then closed his eyes. He waited for the denial of words, that it wasn't love after all; just a physical attraction and nothing more. "Yeah, I've been trying to convince myself that I didn't love you, I mean, that I only loved you as a brother. But all I've done this last week and this last day, is think about you. Be worried about you, about our relationship. Keeping it together. Seeing those two men in the restaurant last night..." His voice trailed out as he recalled the events of the night before and Charlie shook his head, while a smile touched his mouth at the corners. "The men looked just like us, well as close to us without actually being us. And the love they shared -- so visible for anyone to see -- sparked the same need in me for you. I wanted that. I wanted you. And I couldn't have you, just like you couldn't have me. So I tried to deny it, hence getting away as fast as possible."
"Oh. Yeah, I can see it." Don's heart beat picked up at hearing Charlie declare his love for him. He wanted to jump up and down with joy. The two men were so close to having everything they wanted, yet one thing still remained in their way. Then he remembered that there was one more piece of news he had to share and figured he might as well get all of the truth out in one night. "Ah, you should also know that I told Dad that I was in love with you."
"What!? Don, are you insane? Even if we're not brothers, we're still related, which means it's still illegal. Right? I mean, you would know more about the law than I would." Charlie stood as he spoke, then paced in his agitation. "What did he say, when you told him?"
From his seat, Don watched the short strides as Charlie walked back and forth in front of him. He would rather like it if Charlie sat, so he wouldn't accidentally trip over his outstretched legs. "That whatever happened, he still loved us and would support us." His words stopped Charlie in his tracks. "You know, maybe if you checked the computer we could find out if our relationship... I mean, the uh, possibility of our having a close relationship is illegal. You brought yours didn't you? And this room does have internet access?"
Charlie jerked and blinked. "Right, right. Yes, I did and yes, it does. Hold on, let me set it up."
Don felt a stirring of interest as Charlie bent over to grab his laptop bag and stretched his pants over a fairly tight ass. He shifted in his chair as subtly as possible and sighed with relief as the pressure lessened. He drifted a bit as he heard the sounds of a computer booting up and the hard drive spinning. The white noise was lulling. Then before long the clack of keys joined into the melody. Charlie's humming made him open his eyes a bit. Through his slitted gaze, he watched the lamp that sat next to where Charlie sat halo his dark curls. The sight was enthralling to Don.
"Ah ha!"
The sound of the excited exclamation jolted Don from his reverie. "What did you find?"
"It's only illegal if we're first cousins, and in fact California law states that first-cousin marriage without restriction is permitted. And according to this family organization chart I found, we're second cousins." Charlie turned around and looked Don square in the eyes as he spoke again, "Which means a relationship between us isn't illegal."
Don sat up straight as the news sank in. "Seriously?"
"Yes. I mean with the brief search for the information I've just barely touched on. We could do a more thorough search later. But I honestly think because we're second cousins, we're safe from any law in the U.S."
Don was at a loss now how to proceed. If this were one of his usual relationships with someone like Robin, he'd go straight for the sex. But this was Charlie, who was a man and someone he'd thought of as a brother for nearly thirty-five years. He didn't know how to have a sexual relationship with a man and neither had Charlie as far as he was aware. Before he could say something, the silence was broken first by Charlie.
"As much as I wouldn't mind having you stay the night and finding out where this could go, Don, neither of us in the shape to do anything about what we're feeling and I don't think my brain is ready to go there just yet, though my heart and body are checking in and saying otherwise." Charlie got up from the desk and squatted down next to Don's chair. While he balanced precariously on one knee, he put his bandaged arm on top of Don's good leg and reached out with his left hand and caressed Don's cheek tenderly.
Don let his eyes drift closed and he leaned into the touch. The warmth from Charlie's hand was soothing.
"You know, this is yet another first.
"I've never felt another man's face before, and the five o'clock shadow you're sporting feels prickly against my hand. It feels wonderful to me, Don." As he spoke those words, he ran his fingertips from the corner of Don's eye down to the edge of his mouth. The contrast in textures on one face was startling. With women it had always been smooth, with the occasional residue of make-up left behind, but not now. Don's face was strong and yet the skin was soft around the cheeks and eyes, bristly around the mouth, and his lips were firm and yet silky to the touch. Charlie felt his breathing escalate as he watched his fingers trace the outline of Don's mouth. It was erotic and sensual, to be doing this.
Charlie felt his cock stir to life and then harden when he saw, then felt, Don's tongue come out and swipe at his fingers. He experimented and ran his fingers along the lips again and then when Don opened his mouth once more, Charlie slipped two fingers inside. The warmth surrounding those digits gave him fuel to his imagination of what that mouth would feel like wrapped around the head of his penis. Charlie groaned at the sight and the feeling. He knew if they kept this up, it would be over quickly. He didn't want his first time coming with Don to be while they were both tired and just getting accustomed to their new status of second cousins and possibly as... no... definitely as lovers. With some reluctance, Charlie slowly slid his fingers from between Don's lips. He felt Don's tongue lave the fingers and the lips grip them as if it to keep them in place. If he had had the ability to use his right hand, he would definitely have grabbed his erection and squeezed it. He noticed that Don had no such problem, and watched as Don's right hand came up and palmed his own cock through his jeans. Charlie gasped at the sight. Maybe he shouldn't have been so hasty in trying to pull back, because watching Don stroke himself ramped up his arousal even more.
"God, Don. You are so fucking hot like this. You make me want to bury my head in your crotch and lick your cock until you explode into my mouth." As the words left Charlie's mouth, he felt Don's teeth nip at the fingers that were still trapped in the other man's mouth and then heard them leave with a pop as Don gasped and then groaned.
Don bucked up from the chair and his hand pushed down as he rubbed hard on his cock. "Charlie," he groaned long and low as his body came. He felt the long spurts of ejaculate dampen his underwear, and it was all so good. It felt luxurious to orgasm and not have to be ashamed of who was causing the reaction. He panted as the high from endorphins swept through his body -- his leg temporarily stopped aching, the headache that had been building behind his eyes was now gone, and he felt pleasantly lethargic, so he relished every second of that feeling. He hadn't known Charlie had such a dirty mouth on him. But now that he did know and what his own response would be to it, he'd definitely be encouraging Charlie to talk dirty often in the days to come.
"Shit, Charlie." Don pushed the lethargy off and reached for Charlie. He grasped the man behind the neck and pulled him up, while he leaned down. He plundered the sweet mouth below him. That lovely carnal mouth with the soft, pouty lips. His tongue dueled with Charlie's, both of them strong and determined to seek as much satisfaction as it could from the other. The taste of Charlie's mouth was something he would definitely become addicted to. Hints of beer that Charlie must have had earlier still lingered and Don chased it down along with everything else.
Don strained his body to almost breaking, but he would damn well see that Charlie got off, just like he had. He reached for Charlie's cock, being careful of the man's arm almost pinned between their two bodies and rubbed it with as much surety as had done his own. He felt Charlie's moan through their joined mouths. He didn't think it would take much more to bring Charlie off. With dexterity Don hadn't known he had, he flicked open the button at the top of Charlie's pants and pulled down the zipper, once there was more room to maneuver his hand, Don slipped it inside Charlie's underwear. For the first time ever, he was gripping a cock that was not his own and the weight and feel of it was beautiful. So warm and alive in his hand. He gave a few light squeezes and pulls, and Charlie pulled away from their kiss to gasp for breath.
The sight of a disheveled and debauched Charlie was amazing. His lips were now thoroughly bruised and puffy from their kisses, and his eyes were glazed with lust. Don leaned in close and whispered against Charlie's temple, "You are so beautiful like this Charlie. Kissable, fuckable, and totally delicious looking. I could eat you and swallow you whole." With each word spoken, Don pulled and twisted Charlie's cock and watched as come shot out from the end. Most was caught within the underwear but some splatters landed on Don's jeans and Charlie's shirt, and a lot fell onto the hand still cradling the spent cock. Don pulled his hand away and gave a tentative lick to the white droplets. The taste burst on his tongue, and he knew he'd have to try getting it fresh and straight from the source at some point, but for now they wouldn't rush it any more than they already had. Here they were going to date and take it slow. Don huffed out a laugh and watched as the pleasure on Charlie's face faded a bit as curiosity took its place. "Some first date, huh?"
Charlie's lips formed a perfect 'o' in surprise and then he laughed. "Yeah, Don. Some first date. I may have said we shouldn't spend the night earlier, but seeing as how we've already progressed past that, would you like to stay? Get some sleep beside me?"
Don shook his head, "Nah, buddy. I think I should sleep in my own bed tonight.
"We really shouldn't have done what we just did, but it felt right at the time and I don't have any regrets. We should slow down and yeah, definitely learn together. But while the good feelings are still running through me and the pain is at an ebb, I should go." One brother helped the other get situated for the night. Then Don dropped another quick kiss onto Charlie's lips and departed before he could change his own mind, because the image of Charlie looking sated and completely relaxed would tempt the soul of a nun.
As the door shut behind Don, Charlie whispered a soft goodnight as he lifted his hand to touch his lips. A thrill shot threw him that both men could have what they wanted now, with no bothersome consequences about morality and legality.
TBC