Sandpipers' Secrets (19 page)

Then the tip of Zak’s thick shaft nudged insistently against him. Without thought, Brody pulled back a little from Lark and tried to thrust himself down over Zak’s shaft. He wanted Zak inside him, and he wasn’t about to let the man go slow.

Zak’s hands gripped his hips tighter and tried to slow his thrust.

“Oh! Slow down, Brody,” Zak panted. “Oh, fuck! Just—”

“No! Now! Inside me.” Brody almost didn’t recognise the sound of his own voice it was so low and filled with a deep, demanding growl.

Whatever it sounded like to Zak, it was apparently exactly the right thing to say, because Brody felt the long thick invasion of Zak’s shaft fill him and drive home until Zak was buried balls-deep. Zak’s lunge pushed Brody forward, pressing him into Lark until he was buried to the hilt inside Lark’s tight hole.

With the three of them joined as deeply and completely as possible, they shared a moan of mixed joy and torment. The seconds dragged out as they all fought for breath.

Zak was the first to recover. He tentatively pulled back, still holding Brody’s hips in a bruising, wonderful grip, then thrust back in. On the next pass, Brody joined him, pulling out of Lark and letting Zak’s momentum thrust him back in. Slowly, the dance and play of skin riding over skin, of murmured praise and grunts, of pleasure built until it was a cacophony of sound. A noisy meeting of flesh slapping against flesh.

“Ahhhh!” Brody wailed, no longer able to contain his orgasm. “Gonna—”

He felt the cum explode out of the tip of his cock to fill the condom deep inside Lark’s body. Seconds later, Lark’s hole spasmed around his sensitive, throbbing cock, dragging another, weaker orgasm from him as Lark shot long, spatters of pearly white cum over their bellies and chests. That was all it took for Zak to call out his release, and Brody felt the cock in his own ass pumping long, hard jerks inside him.

It was too much. Brody’s arms trembled and he could no longer support his own weight. Before he collapsed on top of Lark, Brody managed to ease awkwardly down beside the smaller of his lovers.

Unable to move, he didn’t even have the energy to raise his head when Zak’s warm, solid body wrapped around him.

As Brody drifted off to sleep, finally finding the peace and calm that had eluded him all day, he realised
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that this was it. This was what he had needed and never thought he would ever have. And no one could take it away now. He wouldn’t let them. More importantly, he finally realised Zak and Lark wouldn’t let them. They all wanted this and they would all fight for it.

Brody realised he had a home at last. He had somewhere that was more than just nice. It was heaven on earth. He would never have to worry about how he was going to pay for it or if someone was going to steal it from him. Home was Zak and Lark.

Brody gently stoked back Wolf’s wild, tangled fringe and smiled to himself. The boy’s soft, even breaths around the thumb in his mouth was so peaceful, it was hard to imagine the little tear-away being anything but angelic.

Man, he loved Wolf. Leaning forward Brody placed a small kiss against his sleeping brother’s temple and quietly heaved himself up from beside the bed.

Placing the storybook he had just finished reading on the bedside table, Brody stretched the kinks out of his back. He moaned softly at the tiny pops that went off and eased some of the pressure in his spine.

Smiling down at Wolf one last time, Brody padded silently to the door.

He would never have imagined four days ago, as he waited and worried while his lovers where in the hands of the police, that he could ever feel this good again. But here he was, so happy he could almost burst. Even the knowledge that it was Saturday—traditionally the busiest night of the week in the restaurant—couldn’t burst his bubble.

Nothing had happened in days. No letters. No more threats or incidents with the police. Nothing. It had all just disappeared. And Wolf’s birthday was only a month away.

Brody’s smile morphed into a true, wild grin of joy. This year, for the first time ever, there was enough money to go all out. There would be presents and cake and balloons. And of course, two very special men to share it all with.

Carefully opening the door so as not to make a sound, Brody slipped out of the room and sighed in relief. Things were about as perfect as he could ever imagine them being. Wolf was finally down for a nap, there was still over an hour before they had to be down at the restaurant to get things ready, and Zak and Lark were waiting for him in the living room to make the most of it. For the first time in forever, Brody could actually see possibilities, not just problems, opening up before them. Life was good.

But the ecstatic smile slipped from Brody’s lips when he heard raised voices drifting down the corridor.

What’s that all about?He’d heard the faint chime of the front doorbell a few minutes ago, but had been enjoying watching Wolf go to sleep too much to be overly bothered with it. They weren’t expecting anyone, so he’d ignored it. Most of the time it was either someone wanting to sell something, pontificate,
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or drop off supplies for the restaurant, anyway, and Zak dealt with those sorts of things.

Whoever they were, if they woke Wolf, Brody was going to be pissed.

Heading purposefully down the long corridor from the bedrooms to the living room to ask them to keep their voices down, Brody slowed when he heard the muffled voice again. The thick walls and distance garbled it, but it sent a shiver of apprehension down his spin. It sounded like—

“You’re ruining everything!”Rio suddenly screamed, loud and clear.

“What are you talking about?” Lark’s voice sounded tight and high with fear.

Brody crept forward. Something in the way his lover spoke urged him to be very careful and very quiet.

“You and him!”Rio shouted back. “Flaunting your disgusting perversions all over the place!”

“Rio, you’re not making any sense. Calm down and let’s talk,” Zak replied in the kind of voice used to placate a madmen as Brody reached the end of the hall.

Stepping into the entrance to the living room, anxious to find out what was going on, Brody froze in shock.

Riowas standing in the middle of the room with a gun trained on Lark and Zak.

The panic that filled Brody at the sight ran parallel to the calm section of his brain that sized up the situation logically and realised he’d been bloody stupid to keep heading in the direction of the yelling.

Why did he have to pick this moment to ignore his natural instinct to run when he heard raised voices?

If he had run, he could have made it to the bedroom and called the police. He would have taken the cordless and locked himself in Wolf’s room and—

Wolf! Oh, God! Wolf!Brody’s heart pounded wildly in his chest.

His breath hitched in his throat whenRio glanced over to see him standing frozen in the hallway, gaping like a landed catfish. The chance to run was well and truly gone.

Rioturned hard, burning eyes on him without shifting the gun away from the centre of Lark’s chest.

Brody felt the cold sweat break out across his body.

“There you are. I was wondering where the hell you’d got to.”Rio motioned with a barely perceptible movement of the gun’s barrel. “Please come in and join us.”

“Rio, let Brody go.” Zak’s tone was now hard and cold. “He’s got nothing to do with this.”

“I don’t think so,”Rio replied smoothly.

“Rio! What the fuck are you doing?” Brody managed to force out.

Brody could understand the gun. He could even understand the cold, menacing tone ofRio ’s voice that sounded chillingly rational and sane, but so obviously wasn’t. What he couldn’t understand was why.

“I’m taking care of things, the only way they can be taken care of, apparently.”

“Rio—” Brody started, determined to try to reason with the man, even though it probably wouldn’t do any good. At least it might buy them some time.

“No!”Rio bellowed. “I’m through trying to do this the easy way. I gave them plenty of opportunity to end it. To walk away and do what’s right. It ends now. Even if I have to do it myself. It’s people like them that bring all of us down.”

“Rio, what are you talking about. Lark and Zak aren’t—”

“Don’t! Just don’t!” Brody could seeRio was getting more and more agitated. The wild look in his eye was truly terrifying now. “It’s their sort of sick, fucked up perversions that will send the whole gay rights movement back into the dark ages. We’ve fought and marched and campaigned for years! Then some stupid fuck-ups like them come along and threaten it all. I’m sick of how many times I’ve seen it. And it’s always the only thing the fucking media ever report! I have no idea how you managed to fool the police, but I’m going to fix the problem once and for all this time!”

“Brody…” Zak cautioned, but Brody ignored him.

“That was you? You called the police?” Brody was clutching at straws, but he knew he had to keep the man talking. He needed to getRio ’s attention away from Zak and Lark. And whatever else happened, he couldn’t let the gun go off.

“Of course it was me. Get a fucking clue!”Rio ’s eyes narrowed as he focused in on Brody. “You know I really can’t believe you either. How can you allow that child anywhere near these perverts?”

“Don’t talk about them like that!” Brody snapped back, bristling at the wayRio was talking about the men he loved.

“They don’t deserve to live!”Rio spat.

“Shut up! They’re a hundred times the man you are. You’re a fanatic,Rio . Get—”

“Brody!” Lark’s voice pleaded with him to back off, but it was too late.

“Shut the fuck up!”Rio bellowed, the gun shifting slightly off target from where it had been aimed directly at Lark’s chest.

Spittle was collecting in the corners of Rio’s thin mouth as he spoke, making him look even more insane as his anger rose and the wild light in his eyes morphed into rage. Brody really didn’t care. In fact, he wantedRio to get angry with him. Maybe it would save Lark and Zak.

“You’re a prejudiced, intolerant, self-righteous jerk, every bit as bad as the people you claim to be trying to fight and march and campaign against.”

“Brody!” Zak snapped in warning.

“Don’t you fucking talk to me like that!”Rio took a threatening step towards Brody, the gun way off target now.

Brody felt a spike of triumph fused with fear.

“I was fighting for the meagre rights you enjoy now before you were born, you stupid little cock-sucker!”

“You’re still an asshole!” Brody retorted, relieved to see the gun waver slightly towards the ground as Rio became more and more distracted.

“You’re as bad as they are—”

“Brody?”

Brody’s heart leapt up into his throat at the sound of the small, sleepy voice behind him.

Riostarted in surprise at the sound of Wolf’s voice in the corridor and the gun jerked back up to chest level, moving towards the unexpected noise.

Then everything happened in a blur.

Zak’s roar of fury filled the room as he launched himself atRio . The deafening noise of the gun firing exploded in Brody’s ear, but all he could focus on was getting to Wolf.

Spinning around, he ran full tilt back towards his brother.

Wolf’s eyes were wide and terrified. He looked too scared even to scream.

Meeting the small boy in the hall before Wolf could make it any further into the living room, Brody scooped him up into his arms and ran back down the hall towards the bedrooms. He heard Zak begin pounding intoRio and Lark screaming, “Don’t kill the bastard! I’m calling the police!”

After that, it all became muffled and faded into the background as Brody slammed the door to the master bedroom and locked the two of them in the en suite.

Wolf sobbed into his neck as Brody settled onto the floor, cradling the little boy close against his chest.

Brody tried to make soothing sounds, but his mind was screaming and sobbing right along with Wolf, so he wasn’t sure how successful he was.

“Where’s Lark?” Wolf howled. “I want Zak!”

“Shh. It’s okay. They’re right outside.”

“Lark! Zak!” Wolf began to call, as if summoning them would instantly bring them in and make them safe. Brody wished it could work like that. He’d be screaming out at the top of his lungs, too.

“Are they going to be all right?” Wolf eventually managed to get out between hysterical, hiccupping sobs several minutes later.

“Yes,” Brody said firmly, putting all his belief into that one word. They weren’t allowed to be anything but all right. They just weren’t allowed.

Brody continued to rock and pat Wolf’s back, taking an equal measure of comfort himself—from the
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gesture, and from the fact that there were no more gun shots.

Everything would be all right. It had to be.

After what seemed like days, but was probably only about half an hour, Brody heard a gentle knock at the door.

“Brody? Wolf?” Lark’s soft voice called through the door.

“Lark!” Wolf shouted, bounding up and running to let Lark in before Brody could stop him.

“Wolf! Wait—”

But it was already too late. Wolf frantically pulled at the lock until it finally sprung open and he could launch himself at Lark.

Lark bent over and wrapped his arms around the small body attached to his legs.

“It’s okay. Everything’s fine. Really.” Lark looked up and Brody saw the reassurance was every bit as much for him as it was for his little brother.

Following Wolf’s lead, Brody rushed forward and threw his arms around Lark. It felt so good to hold his lover after the recent terror. The realisation that he could have so easily lost him made Brody weak at the knees and a fine tremor worked its way over his body. He felt his breath hitch in his chest and mumbled his thanks to whatever higher power was listening that Lark was safe.

“Zak…” Brody croaked into Lark’s neck, hoping the man would understand.