Not That Type of Guy

Published by Sara York

Copyright © 2012 by Sara York

All Rights Reserved.

Editor: Elicia Seitz Stoll

Cover Designer: Sara York

Photography by DWS Photography

This book is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s
imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead,
events or places is purely coincidental.

License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given
away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase
an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it
was not purchased for your use only, then please return and purchase your own copy. Thank you
for respecting the hard work of this author.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether
by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of Sara York.

Warning: This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature
readers. This book deals with difficult subject matter, including abduction, abuse and murder. It
also includes amazing sex between incredibly sexy men, masturbation and an engaging story.
Enjoy!

Dedication:

I dedicate this story to International Justice Mission. A few years ago, I heard about an

organization, International Justice Mission. I was intrigued, but didn’t think much of it. Then,
last year, I heard one of the men who works for IJM speak, and it blew me away. IJM works to
free people from the worst type of injustice in the world, slavery. Many of the people IJM frees
know life can and should be different, but are helpless in their situation. I am thankful for the
work IJM does to give the most precious gift in the world, freedom. I encourage you to seek
more information about International Justice Mission and discover the good they do in our world
to make it a better place for everyone. For more information on IJM, please visit their website
http://www.ijm.org/

I also want to give thanks to Dee Clancy for her help in figuring out DC. The information

you provided was invaluable.

I can’t let the opportunity to thank Eden Winters pass. Eden’s assistance helped make this book

even better. Thank you for all you did.

* * *

Trademarks Acknowledgement:

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following
wordmark mentioned in this work of fiction:

Westin: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Louboutin: CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN
Equinox: Harvest Moon Hospitality Group

Chapter One

Aiden Jackson took the disposable cell phone out of his pocket, plugged in his earpiece and

answered the call. “Go.” Aiden spoke with his lips in a thin line, dark sunglasses covering his
eyes as he searched the bustle of people waiting for their train at the Waterloo Station in London.

“They know someone’s here,” Chuck said, his voice whisper quiet.
“Shit, they on to me?” Aiden took off his shades and picked up a book. He leafed through

the pages, acting the part of bored tourist on holiday.

“No, I can see you, and you’re good.”
Aiden put down the book and moved through the little shops, exploring the crap for sale,

wishing he were anywhere else but here. Maybe on a beach, or playing golf even, though he
hated the game. This close to the end of a mission always made him jumpy. If he were on a
beach, he would have the satisfaction of another successful operation notched on his belt.

“You’ve got someone tailing you now.” Chuck’s voice sent a shiver through Aiden.
An untrained person would turn to find their tail or they would run. Hell, even a semi-

normal person would roll his shoulders, but Aiden did nothing. After flipping a few more pages
in the book, he put it down and picked up another.

“Any ideas?”
“Yeah, but you’re not gonna like it,” Chuck said.
“Tell me.”
“Fuck no; just meet me in the men’s room two stores to your left. And go with whatever I

do.”

Aiden dropped the book and headed out of the store. Chuck could start a fight or act like

they were old friends. Twice before he’d worked with Chuck, and everything had gone according
to plan. Of course Chuck wasn’t the guy’s name. Hell, none of them knew the real identities of
the other operatives, too dangerous.

He passed a group of people and a few other travellers. The eyes of his watcher were on

him. The hair on the back of his neck rose as he passed by a squat stocky guy of eastern descent.
Pakistani?

Aiden pushed open the bathroom door, surprised when Chuck grabbed his hand and yanked

him into the back stall. Chuck turned the flimsy lock on the door, closing them in the small
space. Chuck’s hands were on Aiden’s chest, caressing his nipples through his shirt. Anger
brewed deep in Aiden’s belly. His phone screeched and he turned it off, checking his watch for
the time.

Chuck’s tongue teased Aiden’s nipple through the cloth. Aiden wanted to yank Chuck’s

blond wig, pull him away and ask what the fuck he was doing, but the main bathroom door
swung open, and the clip-clop of dress shoes echoed in the tiled room.

Was it the guy following them?
Chuck gazed into Aiden’s eyes, and a small smirk tilted his lips before he slanted his mouth

across Aiden’s.

What the fuck?
Aiden froze. The extensive shit he’d suffered through in SEAL training, and then with the

CIA, helped him keep his cool as the guy invaded his space, kissed him and touched his body

like a girl would. Chuck’s tongue probed Aiden’s lips, demanding entrance. For a moment,
Aiden wavered on accepting the kiss. He couldn’t do it. It went against everything he’d fought to
keep hidden.

His darkest desires were playing out in this kiss. The lust he’d kept in check, the dreams that

haunted him, all here, wrapped up in this one fleeting moment of joined lips that was a joke to
Chuck, but a fulfillment of desires for Aiden. His breath came in halting gasps as Chuck licked at
the slit of his lips. It felt so good. Aiden opened his mouth, admitting Chuck’s thick tongue.

A hint of spice and dark chocolate fired on Aiden’s taste buds, drugging him with the heady

clutch of Chuck's embrace. The kiss deepened and Aiden felt a bubble of excitement build in his
chest. Mother of God, I fucking like this!

Where the prosthetics weren’t disguising Aiden’s features, the scrape of Chuck’s beard

made his skin tingle. A rush of desire flooded his body and zipped straight to his cock. Their
tongues warred as Chuck pulled him in close, trapping him in a cocoon of unfamiliar lust and
desire.

Aiden barely registered the footsteps of the guy chasing them. He didn’t pay attention to the

man outside the stall and when the door burst open from a solid kick, Aiden jumped.

Chuck broke the kiss, his glare deadly. “Do you fucking mind?” he spit out at the intruder.
Aiden kept his face adverted as shame burned through his veins. He should look at the guy,

but embarrassment flooded him. Keep it hidden, deny everything. At the last minute he glanced
at the guy, trying his best to keep his face covered with his hand as he studied the man following
them. His muscles tightened and his cock brushed up against Chuck’s belly, leaving him
confused. The shame almost overwhelmed him as his father’s bigoted accusations came back to
haunt him.

Chuck pushed the door closed and fumbled with Aiden’s zipper. Cold air shocked Aiden’s

senses as Chuck reached in and scooped his dick out of his-body warmed underwear.

Aiden gasped, almost choking on his own spit. Chuck dropped to his knees and sucked

Aiden into his mouth. Chuck’s tongue rasped against Aiden’s foreskin, pulling it away from the
tip of his uncut cock.

Aiden wanted to push Chuck away. He wanted to have the strength to demand Chuck stop,

but he didn’t. Every errant desire he ever had was being fulfilled right now. Maybe it was the
operation, the excitement of almost being caught by their enemies, or maybe it was the rough
scrape of stubble against his thighs, or the prickle of Chuck’s fake moustache on his rod.
Whatever the reason, Aiden fingers sought out Chuck’s thick hair, recoiling a bit at the feel of
the wig’s weave. He clutched onto Chuck’s ears and pushed the guys face into his crotch as he
face-fucked his mission partner.

The rush of blood to his cock and balls was more powerful than when he was with a woman.

His heart thundered in his ears, making him dizzy. Aiden closed his eyes and threw back his
head, no longer caring a guy was giving him the best head of his life. Fuck, I’m face-fucking a
guy!

His balls rose high and tightness pulled at his stomach, sending waves of hot and cold down

his legs. His knees wanted to buckle, but he wouldn’t fall to the floor.

Outside the stall he heard the enemy speaking on his cell phone. “No, it’s just two faggots

dicking together.”

Heat washed over Aiden’s body. It was as if his father were here, judging him of the crime.

I’m not a fucking faggot.

Messing around with Chuck felt better than any girly fuck he’d ever done before. Every

muscle of his body tightened, his orgasm built. He didn’t want to think about what his father
would say or whom he was doing, but he couldn’t help but marvel at the strength of Chuck’s
shoulders as his dick leaked pre-come down the guy’s throat.

Chuck reached around and spread Aiden’s checks, brushing his fingers along the crease of

Aiden’s ass. The sensation took Aiden by surprise, causing his heart to pump wildly.

“Damn, that’s good.” Aiden felt heat creeping over his face. Why had he spoken out loud?
Then Chuck did something Aiden thought he would never be brave enough to allow anyone

to do. One finger, then another, slid into Aiden’s ass, pushing past his tight ring of muscles. He
gulped in a breath, shocked at the pain.

“Awe...Fuck.” Aiden couldn’t stop the rush of come jetting from his balls and down

Chuck’s throat.

The guy searching for them escaped the restroom, but not before telling them to get a room.
Chuck nursed Aiden's dick, draining all of his seed and swallowing it with a satisfied moan.

The man crawled up Aiden’s body, lips scorching a path over his abs and his pecs. A final kiss
seared Aiden’s brain with images of scruffy beards, strong muscles and rough sex, and the taste
of his own semen.

The kiss ended and Aiden checked his watch, worried they were late for their train.

FuckityFuckFuckFuck. Only a minute thirty-six and he’d popped his fucking cork and shot his
jizz down Chuck’s throat. How the hell had he blown his load so fast, and with a guy too?

The last time he had sex he almost thought he wasn’t going to reach orgasm. Hell, he hadn’t

been with a chick in months, many months, which explained everything. The private desires he
had weren’t for real, just pent up lust. The need for release had him hot and bothered. No
gayness at all, just desire making his dick hard and his balls full.

Liar, liar.
He checked his watch again, sure he’d spent longer kissing the dude and letting the guy suck

his rod than a minute thirty-six. Never had he blown his load under three minutes, and here he
was going off like a kid in heat in half the time.

“Time to hustle.” Chuck’s voice broke into his thoughts.
Aiden shook his head and stored his package, zipping up his jeans without looking Chuck in

the eye. Aiden dialed Chuck as they left the bathroom and moved to separate parts of the
platform, their conversation all business, ignoring the moments earlier when Chuck had sucked
Aiden off so quickly.

His training kicked in and Aiden forgot the sex, forgot the kiss, and forgot the amazing

feeling that rocked through his body as another man had sucked him dry. He focused on the
mission at hand. In three minutes, a train would pull into the station. He and Chuck would board
and sit as close to their target as possible.

They did the impatient tourist thing again, Chuck filtering through his bag fifty feet away

and Aiden browsing a newsstand. God, he wanted to lick Chuck’s neck.

“Ride’s here,” Chuck said and disconnected his phone. No more contact during the

assignment. Rules were rules.

Aiden boarded the train and found his mark sitting with his three bodyguards. He sat two

rows away and on the opposite side of the car, facing the guy. Aiden opened the newspaper he’d
bought for this occasion. He observed Javad Shirazi without openly watching, a true art form few
mastered. Any direct eye contact would alert the man to their interest, and the last thing he or
Chuck wanted was for Javad to get antsy and suspicious.

The guy who’d followed them into the bathroom wasn’t on board. Aiden wondered how

much security Javad had. Did he have men at every station looking for a professional hit man?
Did he really think the government would be that obvious?

Javad Shirazi had been a particularly itchy thorn in the ass of the American and British

governments for the last four years. He’d come onto the terrorist scene quietly, funding one
bomb plot then another, till he was the head of a cell located in Germany. This week, he’d taken
his family on vacation. Stupid fuck ran a legitimate medical supply business, which afforded him
the opportunity to take frequent trips with his wife and daughters, a luxury the parents of babies
he’d murdered would never have.

Last week, the CIA received information regarding Javad’s morning itinerary, including a

brief meeting with two members of a terror cell here in London. Officially, the government
didn’t want to blow their surveillance on two low level members of the London cell when there
were more pressing matters at hand. The call was placed. Chuck had requested to work with
Aiden.

The thought of Chuck sent heat racing to Aiden’s crotch and face. He groaned and shoved

away the illicit images of Chuck wrapping salmon pink lips around his wand. The train jostled,
reminding him to focus on the mission at hand.

The Vauxhall Station was less than two minutes away, which apparently was more time than

it took him to come into a guy’s mouth. Aiden shook off the self-recrimination and slid the safety
nub off the ring on his left hand, careful to not prick himself.

Announcements were made, and people stood. Chuck jumped up from his seat and took a

step towards Javad. This is where the plan could easily go wrong. They’d spent days working
out, practicing and running through how to get Javad to smoothly take the coin Chuck offered. It
wasn’t a normal coin, but one covered in a film that when introduced to the subject, made the
poison in Aiden’s ring more potent. The chemical on the coin had no scent, no taste and no color.
The subject would never know he’d been given a doctored coin.

Chuck bent down, his face full of surprise, just like they’d rehearsed. “Wow, this is cool.”
A few people turned to check out the interruption in their boring commute. Javad didn’t

move.

“Huh, interesting.” Chuck stood and moved his head to look at all the passengers.
The men with Javad were getting antsy like Aiden knew they would. Aiden hated and loved

this part of their missions. Sure, it was easy to stand two thousand yards from a mark and pump
lead into him, but where was the fun in that? Personally, Aiden could waste an orange at three
thousand yards; a human at two was chump change. Working a person up close allowed for
much more creativity, and the creative aspect of this job kept him from going crazy.

“This must be yours.” Chuck held the gold Iranian coin out for Javad to take.
The coin wasn’t anything over the top. Just a piece they’d picked up from a corrupt eBay

dealer after the government had shut him down, worth about a hundred to two hundred
American. Enough to make Javad want it, but not enough to make him recoil.

It was common knowledge Javad loved coin collecting and often carried pieces of his

collection with him when he travelled. He would bring them out to show off, so it was
reasonable to assume he might have a coin of worth in his pocket.

Javad took the bait. He fingered the gold coin, rubbing his thumb across the surface and

examining the marks on the front and back. His eyes grew larger for a millisecond then he broke
into a huge smile.

“Ahh, thank you very much. I seem to have lost something important this morning. Ali, give

him a twenty pound note.”

“No, I don’t need anything for giving you back what was yours. It’s nothing.”
Aiden could have said Chuck’s lines for him since they’d rehearsed the interaction so many

times. They knew their mark, knew what he would do when given the coin and how he would
react. Chuck played the dumb American tourist to a T, reveling in the stereotypes, almost too
much. Had Chuck not just sucked him off he would give into the pleasure of seeing the big guy
work, but now Aiden couldn’t look at Chuck without popping wood.

“I insist.” Again, Javad didn’t stray from what they’d assumed he would do. They’d done

their homework and knew the man.

The train pulled to a stop and the doors opened. Javad stood, his movements spry for a man

in his sixties. But Javad didn’t go the way they'd predicted. Instead, he moved away from Aiden
towards the far exit, tossing a wrench in their careful plans.

Aiden improvised. He folded his paper, careful of the poison wrapped around his ring finger.

They’d joked about the delivery method. Poison wedding band, just like the real thing.

Aiden jumped up and pushed forward. Javad’s rear guard blocked the aisle. Aiden hated

they were going to miss their opportunity to strike. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chuck
move and bump into the rear guard. The guard’s face went red as Chuck used his bulk to push
the guard into the row of seats opposite of him.

Aiden used the opening to pass the guard and come right up on the back of Javad. Before he

could deliver the poison, he tripped and fell forward. He yelped, and Javad spun around, reached
out and grasped onto Aiden, supporting his body weight. Aiden purposely thought about Chuck’s
mouth on his cock, forcing a blush and making him look embarrassed. He reached forward and
grabbed onto Javad’s arm, letting the poison ring prick the terrorist’s skin through his coat

Javad didn’t flinch. Aiden knew exactly what the stick from the ring felt like, knew how

much force to make the small needle sink into the other man’s arm through the clothing he wore.
Knew exactly how to move to keep Javad unaware of the poison introduced to his system.

If Aiden had done his job right, the terrorist had no clue what really happened and, judging

from the utter lack of reaction from Javad, Aiden had done exactly what he’d meant to do.

“I’m so sorry. I’m such a klutz. Pardon me,” Aiden said.
Aiden shook his head, again pushing the thought of Chuck on his knees to the front of his

mind, leaving him stammering with sweat popping out on his face, the perfect reaction of
embarrassment and awkwardness to cover for the cold hatred running through his blood. He
struggled not to think of the fifteen women and seventy children who’d been murdered by this
man’s work. He didn’t think of the pictures hung on the board in their war room. The bomb blast
that killed four babies last May, which Javad had financed, didn’t cross his mind. Only Chuck,
his eyes staring up at him as he opened his mouth and sucked in Aiden’s cock.

“It is fine. Are you feeling unwell?” Javad asked in perfect English.
“No, no, I’m fine. Just a bit clumsy, that’s all. I’m so sorry.”
Javad helped Aiden right himself, and waved off his angry guards.
“Be careful,” Javad said.
“Sorry.” Aiden watched as Javad and his guards moved on. He picked up his newspaper and

left the train, following after Javad and his entourage. The guards glanced back, but left him
alone. Aiden stopped by a support pole and mopped his brow with a hanky, playing up his role as
a bumbling idiot. He took the time to place the cover back on the small needle on the ring to
avoid an accidental stick, so practiced in this task; no one would have any idea what he’d done.

Aiden checked his pockets and turned around in a slow circle, acting like a lost tourist. He

assumed a stupid, but pleasant look on, his face and moved towards the exit. Javad and his group

were moving up another stairwell and going on their merry way. Little did they know, in less
than thirty minutes Javad would suffer a heart attack, and no doctor in the ER would ever think
to check for poison or look for the skin prick where the poison had been delivered.

All was well as Aiden headed to his safe house only four blocks away. He walked five

blocks up and circled around, making sure he wasn’t being followed. After punching in his pass
code, he entered the safe house, shucked his gear, tore off the prosthetics covering his chin and
cheeks and removed the brown contacts hiding his eyes’ natural ice-blue color.

The teeth were next. Wearing the fake teeth didn’t bother him too much as long as he didn’t

have to eat. He had no idea how the hell Chuck had given such good head with his disguise on.
Aiden forced his mind to consume other aspects of the day and forget the blowjob. No way in
hell would anyone at this safe house or at headquarters ever find out Chuck had sucked him off
in a minute thirty-six today in the Waterloo Station in the middle of London.

After removing his disguise, he opened the door to the main part of the house and entered

the room. Another makeup artist hired by The Company waited for him. A wig and a new nose
were fitted along with a pair of glasses to match the ID he travelled home on. Never a good idea
to walk around in his normal state for too long. Any pictures of him at the airport might filter
back to a social media site or be viewed on the news. He couldn’t take the chance, especially
when he’d left the country under an assumed name. Minimize the risk in every operation. Not
only his personal motto, but a good plan too.

Aiden watched the news as he waited for his plane. His seat was business class because first

would have drawn too much attention. BBC news flashed across the TV screen. Aiden adjusted
his glasses, trying his best to appear like a Poindexter even with his six-two, two-ten frame
packed with muscles. He felt he was doing a decent job of it since few women or men even
looked at him.

Thoughts of Chuck on his knees flashed through his mind as he made his way to the

restroom. His dick firmed up, causing heat to flare up his neck and face. Shit, he had to stop
thinking about Chuck’s perfect mouth wrapped around his cock. As he stood in the bathroom
stall, he pinched the underside of his penis hoping the pain would cause him to deflate. It
worked.

A few minutes before the gate agent called for his boarding group, a story flashed up on the

news, Javad Shirazi had died of an apparent heart attack in London earlier today. The funeral had
already been planned for tomorrow in his home country. The medical examiner did as thorough
of an investigation as possible with the restrictions placed on him by Muslim religious practices.
With the heart attack confirmed, no other complications were suspected. Shirazi’s body was on a
plane on the way back to Iran.

Aiden didn’t smile, didn’t change his breathing pattern, displaying no outward signs to show

the elation he felt at the news the man he’d assassinated today had actually died, and apparently
of natural causes. The small victories like this kept him in the job. No, he hadn’t prevented
Javad’s men from killing those babies or the other children last year, but he’d prevented a
corrupt man from funding any more disasters. One terrorist at a time, and they would get it done.

The flight back to DC passed without incident. He refused to think about the bathroom

episode again. He quietly slipped back into the country as Nick Lawson, took public
transportation to mid-town and removed his disguise at a gas station he knew had no videotapes
or computer images from the cameras. No one had followed him. He was safe.

At home, with the comforts of his real life surrounding him, his mind flitted over thoughts of

Chuck touching him, kissing him and then finally sucking him. He tested each memory for only

seconds before pulling away and refusing to think of sex with Chuck again--Until he did.

Aiden stepped into the shower, his mind all over the place trying to not think about his cock

in another man’s mouth. He washed his hair and roughly scrubbed his body, ridding his mind of
the explicit thoughts of fellatio.

When his soapy hands came in contact with his dick, he lost the battle. A string of

excitement pulled deep in his gut as he stroked his cock all the way to his balls, grabbing them
and squeezing.

“Ahh, yeah.”
Hot water beat against his back and steam filled the shower. He imagined a man kneeling

before him, his tongue darting out, licking the tip and then lips sucking him in, swallowing him
whole.

A flash of his father’s angry face filled his mind. “Fuck, I’m not gay,” Aiden whispered as

he pushed away the thoughts of his father and his condemnations.

Stroking harder, he jerked his meat like a punishment. Images of men ready to please him

filled his mind. Tears burned his eyes as he stroked up and down on his cock.

“I’m not gay,” Aiden spoke louder this time, his voice carrying over the flow of the shower.

His father’s words of admonishment roared through his head.

He tried to substitute in images of women. But they wouldn’t stick. Tears ran down his face,

mixing with the water sluicing off his body as thoughts of one of his SEAL team buddies, Mike,
filled his head. Mike was lanky for a SEAL, not beefy like Aiden. His lips had been the perfect
shade of red and Aiden imagined him putting those lips to good use.

Aiden groaned and fought the images and the words of his father, telling him not to be such

a faggot.

“I’m not fucking gay!” Aiden shouted as though screaming the words could somehow

convince the ghost of his father he was straight. His voice bounced off the flat tiled surface and
rang in his ears.

Mike’s image popped back into his mind, and his muscles tightened, his breath stalled.
“I’m not gay,” he whimpered as images of Mike on his knees flowed through his thoughts.
His knees went weak and his brain fuzzed as he squeezed his dick.
“I’m not gay,” Aiden sobbed.
Another image of Mike, ass naked, diving into the pool as they finished training for the day,

rushed to the front of his mind. The need to touch another man did him in.

His cum splattered against the shower wall, emptying from his balls. Aiden dropped to his

knees, his sobs unintelligible now. He flinched, remembering the beating he’d received from his
father’s hand the one time he’d been caught masturbating to the NBA calendar that hung above
his bed--And not the cheerleader version.

Aiden curled up on the shower floor, shame flowing through him as he cried, determined not

to think about men and all their deliciously hard body parts. He half expected his father’s ghost
to whoosh into the room, shrieking at him for liking men.

The water turned cold as his tears dried. He crawled out of the shower, drying with a towel,

but never once touching his junk. The betrayal of his dick pierced his heart and left him numb.

Aiden couldn’t look at himself in the mirror, couldn’t bear the shame. He crawled naked into

bed after brushing his teeth. His mind replayed the mission, skipping the part where Chuck blew
him.

Aiden sat up, his heart thundering and his stomach churning. What if Chuck put their little

tryst into the report? Fuck, this could ruin him.

He pulled out his computer, plugged it into the secure line and logged onto the reporting site

for The Company. The report wasn’t in. Shit. He could contact Chuck, but calling the man would
be suspicious. The government tracked all communication between operatives, and he had no
idea what Chuck’s real name was, just like Chuck had no idea who Aiden was.

Aiden tapped his foot, unsure what to do. Aiden couldn’t submit the report on this one.

Chuck had been the lead. Once the report was filed into the system, he would file his addendum
based on his experiences, but he couldn’t change the initial report.

Aiden refreshed the screen, praying Chuck was home and finishing up the narrative. He held

his breath, knowing he wouldn’t sleep until the paperwork was filed, and he was sure no mention
of him being sucked off by Chuck was anywhere in the documents. After twenty white knuckled
minutes the report surfaced. Aiden opened the file and read through the document quickly. No
mention of the sexual act was included in the account.

Aiden breathed a sigh of relief and read back through the report more slowly. Chuck had

said they were able to avoid their tracker by going into the bathroom. He shut down his
computer, thankful Chuck hadn’t mentioned their sex act.

He climbed back into the cold bed and rolled to his side, surprised to find his dick hard and

poking the mattress. Why the hell was he hard again? Thoughts of Chuck caused him to bone up.
Aiden clenched the sheets before sitting up and grabbing his personal cell from his nightstand.

Three messages. The first was from his mother, the second from Jessica, and the third from

his brother. He skipped the message from his mom and listened to Jessica.

“Hey, Aiden! I’m back in town for a few days. Call me. It’s my cell, and you know the

number.”

He groaned, remembering the last weekend he’d spent with Jessica. One night with the girl

would cure him of any gay inclinations. She was a former gymnast and could bend any way he
wanted.

He hit "call back" before even checking his calendar. Any plans he had could be changed.

Work, real work, wouldn’t call him in on another mission for a while. Time down for assassins
included meeting with a shrink and spending time being debriefed. The debriefings wouldn’t go
past five in the evening, and he would be free for whatever she had in mind.

Jessica answered her phone. “Hey, Aiden, glad you called.”
“I want to see you tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow, what about tonight?” Jessica’s voice tinkled with merriment, annoying the hell

out of him.

He checked the time. It was only nine, but he was exhausted and sure as heck didn’t want to

see a woman right now. No way could he perform tonight with the thoughts running through his
head. Plus, he wanted to have a very special night with the girl, one where he could prove to
himself, and the ghost of his father, he was

not gay.

“Sorry, just got in from out of town. I’m exhausted and about to go to sleep.”
“Okay, but I’ll be thinking about you all night long.”
Jessica sounded like she was pouting. He imagined her lips stuck out and her eyes all doe

like. His dick didn’t respond, instead, he was soft as bread now.

“Where are you staying?” Aiden asked.
“The Westin, Georgetown.”
“I’ll be there at six thirty to pick you up. Dress for dinner.”
“I can’t wait.”
Aiden hung up, hating that his dick had played dead while talking to Jessica. She was

beautiful and smart. She’d graduated from Georgetown with a doctorate in biochemistry. The
girl was special. Tomorrow was soon enough to put his libido to a test. Jessica was so amazing,
he wouldn’t stay limp for long.

Aiden lay back on his bed, satisfied with his course of action. Tomorrow he’d be able to

prove he wasn’t gay and this whole incident with Chuck was just a thing. Jessica would work on
him and get him back on the right path.

Aiden fell into a deep sleep, forgetting the gay moment, his assignment, and even Jessica.

This sleep was full of peace and no dreams, a blank mind totally exhausted from little rest and
intense concentration.

His alarm went off at six, and Aiden showered quickly, forcing his mind to stay on his work

and not stray to anything sexual. A driver picked him up at seven, and he spent the day writing
reports and going over every detail of his London assignment. The interviews would start
tomorrow because staff was light today, and they were needed on another task. Aiden arrived
home early and lifted weights, working hard at staying disciplined and thinking only of Jessica.

The limo he’d rented pulled up in front of Jessica’s hotel three minutes before six thirty.

Aiden loved how she waited for him downstairs, not forcing him to come up to the room or go in
and call her down. She looked absolutely ravishing in a jade green dress. The color
complimented her eyes and made her reddish-blond hair seem like a halo. The girl knew how to
dress, even down to her expensive Louboutins, similar to the blue ones she’d worn the last time
they’d gone out.

Seeing Jessica pleased him. The emotion wasn’t some cover for what had happened on the

other side of the pond. Pure happiness at seeing the woman made his heart balloon with hope.
When they met in the lobby, he lowered his lips and kissed her on the cheek. The scent of wild
strawberries and something darker filled his nostrils. The girl had gone all out to please him. He
liked it when his dates tried hard. Any minute now, he would plump up and the specter of homo-
man would be banished from his mind.

When they strolled out of the hotel, Jessica stopped and a wicked smile lit her face. “Nice

move, Aiden. I’m impressed.”

She slid into the limo like she’d done the move a thousand times before. The Louboutins

made her legs look spectacular. All the men and half the women outside of the hotel turned to
stare at Jessica as she slipped into the car. Her visit to DC couldn’t have come at a better time.

Thoughts of men doing sexual acts to him were overshadowed with his memories from the

last time Jessica came for a visit. She’d worn a blue dress and matching heals. She never opted
for the typical black or red dress, but she always outshone the other women wherever they went.
The girl was a total looker and at Aiden's side for the evening.

Jessica pushed the button to close the privacy shield between the backseat and the driver.

Any minute now, Aiden expected to start experiencing the aphrodisiac affect this woman had on
him. She leaned forward and the front edge of her neckline gapped enough to reveal the deep
cleavage of her perfect breasts. Even if his dick didn’t respond, he appreciated her attention.

Their eyes met, and she smiled. “This is over the top, even for you, big boy. Love how

you’ve grown those blond locks out too.”

In the past, he’d loved the way she’d teased and flirted with him, always making him feel

special, but today, her efforts were wasted. He found her engaging, but no attraction fired inside
him at all.

“Just think of it as a nice evening out,” Aiden said.

“Hmm, did you get a new job or a raise?”
Everyone thought he was a sales jockey. It was easy to cover, and he could speak boring

mumbo-jumbo if anyone asked too deeply. Usually people enjoyed talking about themselves too
much to pay attention to what he did.

“Na, just wanted a special evening out with you.” Which was true, he wanted tonight to be

special. He needed a bump to his ego and needed to spice tonight up enough to feel real desire
for a girl.

The ride to the Equinox, the restaurant he’d chosen for the night, passed quickly, and they

were seated at the elegant tables, sipping their Merlot before Jessica could tell him about her
work. He loved hearing about the lifesaving medicines she developed in cancer research at the
pharmaceutical company she worked for up north.

Hope filled him as she spoke animatedly about her life and her job. Everything about their

date progressed wonderfully, until a tall, lanky man with a runner’s body in a deep blue suit
entered the restaurant and came into his line of sight. The runner guy caught his stare and smiled
a lopsided grin. Aiden’s heart lurched. A short guy with black, spikey hair stood beside runner
man and bumped his shoulder. Were they a couple? He felt butterflies in his stomach and
tightness in his balls.

Aiden turned back to Jessica, focusing on her lips and her eyes, anything to get his mind off

the guy with the sweet brown eyes and sultry smile. Jessica hadn’t noticed his panic as she told
him about a new cancer-fighting drug she’d been working on.

“Really, it’s the best hope, but it won’t be ready for human trials for four more years.”
Aiden needed to say something. “Wow, that long?” Damn, he needed to be more attentive to

the conversation. Really, he couldn’t think of anything else to add. He hadn’t been paying any
attention since the sexy man had entered the restaurant.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the maître d’ coming close. He glanced over Jessica’s

shoulder. Crap, the table behind her sat empty. His heart and mind warred between wanting to
gaze at the guy and knowing he needed to stop thinking about guys that way. Jessica had to be
his focus tonight.

For the next five minutes. He paid one hundred percent attention to the beautiful and

accomplished woman across from him. It had been easy listening to her talk about life in upstate
New York and how she loved the skiing...he should come up for a visit. The beautiful foliage
and how lovely the springtime was...he should move there since his job didn’t force him to live
in DC.

If Jessica only knew, but she didn’t...no one did. He couldn’t move away from DC, not now.

His job at The Company was a secret, like his confused sexual identity. Both were secrets best
kept hidden, just like his desire for the man he now stared at over Jessica’s shoulder. Aiden
caught himself before he licked his lips. The guy with the runner’s body noticed his observation
and lifted his glass while the dude with spiky hair sitting across from him was looking the other
way. Heat filled Aiden’s face.

He forced his eyes and his thoughts back on Jessica. The poor girl had no clue what he was

thinking. Towards the end of the meal, he excused himself to the bathroom, squashing any sexual
thoughts for the lanky man he’d been drooling over all night long.

He couldn’t go on this way. Jessica was an amazing woman with brains and beauty, but he

felt nothing for her. Aiden slipped off his jacket, rolled his sleeves up and scooped up a handful
of cold water and splashed it on his face.

“Hey,” the voice from behind startled him. “You should stop lying to yourself.”

Aiden stood up quickly, water dripping off his face and stared at the mirror, making eye

contact with runner guy standing behind him. The man’s lips were pink, more pink than Chuck’s
had been, and Aiden imagined them kissing his nipples. Heat swamped his entire body while his
dick prepped for action.

“She may be gorgeous, but she’ll never be able to satisfy you.” The object of his desire

moved closer, lifting a hand towards Aiden’s body, but not touching.

Aiden swallowed and fought the urge to lean back and force the man to grasp his butt. “You

don’t know what you’re talking about.” His tongue felt too huge for his mouth and the words
came out broken and choppy.

“It’s your life buddy; don’t waste it trying to be something you’re not. Here’s my card if you

ever...well, you know. My personal number is on the back.”

Aiden spun around. Big mistake. His lips were only inches from the other man’s mouth. The

enticing smile and the rich scent of sandalwood and pine drew Aiden in. He wanted to taste this
stranger, see if he could be as good as Chuck, but he didn’t have the guts to kiss the guy here in
the bathroom at one of the top restaurants in town with Jessica sitting only yards away.

Aiden gasped for breath, and his head swam with heady thoughts of kissing then licking this

guy. He felt like all the blood had drained from his upper body to pool in his dick, swelling it up
five times larger than normal.

The stranger looked down at Aiden’s crotch and licked his lips. “I would, but I’m here on a

date too, and he can come in here looking for me. Best not to cause a scene. He’s an artist type,
rather emotional.”

The stranger leaned in quickly and brushed his lips across Aiden’s mouth, then turned and

left the bathroom. Aiden had only seconds to step into the back stall, unzip his pants, and shoot
his cum into the toilet. He jerked with each shot, thinking about the stranger’s lips and his hands.
Holy fuck, the guy hadn’t even touched him, and Aiden had almost shot his jizz in his pants.

Why hadn’t he been with a girl in months? He turned around and sat down on the toilet,

resting his head in his hands. How many months had it been since he’d been out on a date.
Three? Or was it five? Fuck, he didn’t know. Even then, he hadn’t had sex with the girl. His job
had been hectic lately. Too many bad guys and not enough down time. He could blame the
terrorist or the job, but really, he’d changed. Hell, he hadn’t changed; he'd just stopped fighting
the deep-seated need rooted in his life since forever.

Jessica was the last girl he’d had sex with. Had it really been a year since she’d come into

town for business? God, what was he doing with his life? No girls in the last year, and he was
wondering why he was shooting his load over a guy. He needed to date more. This date with
Jessica would help. They'd have sex, and he’d get back on track.

Too much time had passed since he left the table. He pulled up his pants and washed the

drying cum off his fingers, too shamed to even glance up into the mirror. He stopped before he
left the bathroom and forced his eyes to the reflective surface for a quick review, never once
looking himself in the eyes.

Jessica came out of the women’s restroom ahead of him. Damn, he’d taken longer than she

had. He didn’t want to explain why, nor could he look at the man who’d caused the problem.
Fuck, the cute stranger hadn’t caused the problem, he had.

Aiden caught up with Jessica and wrapped his arm around her, hoping he sounded seductive.

“How about we ditch this place and get some desert back at your hotel?”

“I thought you'd never ask.” She squeezed his arm, her smile sexy as she let him get a peak

of her cleavage.

Nothing. He felt no surge of excitement or rush to bed her. The card the stranger had given

him burned in his pocket. The desire to take out the card and learn the man’s name before he left
the restaurant almost caused Aiden to stop in his tracks.

His eyes automatically swung to the gorgeous guy who'd kissed him. Again his face heated

and his breathing grew deeper. Any desire he felt tonight was directed at the stranger across the
room and not this beautiful woman he’d once thought of asking to marry him.

Chapter Two

Trace watched the man as he left the restaurant, his cock sat heavy against his leg and his

mouth watered from their kiss. There were so many things he could have said, could have done
with the guy, but maybe it was best to leave without getting a name or number. The ball was in
the stranger’s court, and Trace didn’t really have time to nurture a new romance before leaving
for South America next month.

Derek cleared his throat, and Trace turned his attention back to his date. Derek was a sweet

guy, about eight years younger than Trace and totally different in almost every aspect. Their
relationship was casual, to the point they only got together about once a month for dinner and hot
sex. Trace always paid for the meal because Derek lived up to the moniker of "starving artist".

“So, what’s his name?” Derek asked.
“I’m sorry, who?” Trace hated being caught ogling another man. He wasn’t that type of guy,

one who would be with one guy while thinking of another. It wasn’t his style.

“Come on, we’re both done.” Derek stood and held out his hand.
Trace pushed out of the chair and grabbed onto Derek’s hand. Maybe he could salvage the

date and they could get back to enjoying the evening together. When they stepped out of the
restaurant, Trace’s thoughts strayed to the man he’d kissed in the bathroom. He wished Derek
were the other guy. The reality of his situation sucked, and he hated being so shallow as to wish
his current partner were another man. He dropped Derek’s hand, and they both stopped walking.

Derek frowned. “You know, I gave you enough time in the bathroom with the guy to get

busy and get him out of your system. Call him. Come on, I could watch while you two do it.
There isn’t any reason we can’t get freaky together. You know two cocks in your mouth is twice
the fun.”

Trace rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. “You know, as tempting as your proposal

sounds, I’m not that type of guy.”

“It’s no big deal. I do it all the time with the other men I date. Condoms, cock, and lust. It’s

all in good fun. We’re guys, we just want to have fun and get off. No harm.”

Trace shook his head, more grossed out than turned on by Derek’s suggestion. “Come on,

I’ll drop you off at home.”

“What? This fucking sucks.” Derek stood with his hands on his hips, his face twisted in

rage. “The only reason I go out with you is because you’re a sure thing. Don’t back out on me
now. I need to get laid.”

Trace didn’t want a bad scene but he couldn’t sleep with Derek now. Not only was he

thinking about the hot guy he’d kissed in the bathroom, but Derek’s attitude bugged the crap out
of him. “It’s not going to work out. Here’s ten, catch a cab. You’ve been a great companion, and
I wish you well.”

Derek grabbed the ten and stalked away, his gait stiff. “Stupid fuck.”
Trace swallowed down his anger and headed to his car. Eventually he might regret blowing

Derek off this way, but right now he was glad to be rid of his date. Derek was right, they were a
sure thing together. He could count on Derek wanting to bottom every time. No doubt Derek
would take whatever Trace desired, not that Trace got freaky as Derek had said, hell he was very
vanilla, and he knew it. For the last two years they’d screwed on a regular basis, but never took it
past the normal stuff.

Trace wished he’d asked for the mystery guy’s number. His dick was half hard, and it

wouldn’t take much to get him fully erect. All he had to do was think of that kiss and the
amazing feeling he got from brushing his lips over the handsome stranger’s firm mouth. He’d
probably never see the guy again, but he sure as hell would fantasize about the muscular blond
with the tight ass.

Dropping Jessica off at her hotel hadn’t gone well. She’d wanted sex, and he couldn’t

deliver. Nothing happened. South of the border, he was as dry as the Sahara, limp as a wet
noodle, soft as fresh out of the oven bread. No action on her part could get him going, and Lord
knows she tried but it was no use.

Aiden said he’d been suffering from exhaustion. You know how those sales jobs are. He’d

sounded like an idiot making up excuses to appease her, but what else was he to do? In the end
he left her unsatisfied, knowing it would be the last time he’d see her.

Once home, he dropped to the floor just inside the front door and held his head in his hands

as he desperately tried to not think of the kiss in the men’s room. Not that it had been a real kiss,
but the feathery brush of lips took his breath away and left him tied in knots. The card from the
stranger still sat in his pocket, mocking him.

“I’m not gay,” he hollered to no one. His head pounded and his eyes hurt. The silence of the

empty rooms mocked him. “I’m not.”

The defeat sucked at his soul. He jumped up, pulled the card out of his pocket and tossed it

in the bathroom trash. Still, he couldn’t look at himself in the mirror. He didn’t want to see the
betrayal and anger flashing through his eyes.

With heavy hands, he undressed, placing his clothes in the laundry hamper, and fell into bed.

Everything was wrong. Blowing his load so quickly with Chuck, and then dumping his jizz down
the toilet at the restaurant, indicated something he didn’t want to believe.

He tossed and turned as memories of the kiss at the restaurant haunted him. After two hours

of no sleep, he climbed from his bed and stumbled in the dark to his bathroom. He stood in the
doorway for a long moment, already knowing what he was going to do, but trying like hell to
deny his actions.

Aiden grabbed the card out of the trash. Trace Williams was a local doctor. His office

number was listed on front. Aiden flipped the card over, smiling at the scribbled handwriting.
Trace’s phone number. He wouldn’t call tonight and risk appearing desperate. Maybe in a few
weeks. Hell, he didn’t know what to do, but that kiss was driving him crazy. He crawled back in
bed, set his alarm for three, and fell into a deep sleep.

After waking, Aiden lifted weights for an hour than ran six miles before dawn. The car

arrived at his door fifteen minutes past six. He accepted the coffee from Adam, the driver, and
relaxed on his way to the exchange point. No one knew where he worked and the CIA spent
good money making sure no one ever found out. The office they were taking him to sat on the
edge of DC and Virginia. No one would ever dream of what happened inside the innocuous-
looking building. The spooks cooked up plenty of fun as they sat around in trashy offices
drinking stale coffee, munching on crappy snacks, and pretending they ate healthy when they
ordered in an organic chicken salad. Everything about the people he worked with was coated in
thick lies and mysteries, but for the most part, their way kept the government running smoothly.

As the last person to arrive, Aiden had the displeasure of getting the last of the coffeepot and

no donuts. He didn’t need or want the sweets anyways. Early this morning, he’d decided
discipline was the key to his future. No more strange activities, no more thoughts of naked guys

or whack-off sessions where he thought of men. Hell, no more whack-off sessions. He was going
cold turkey. No sex.

The debriefing went smoothly. Aiden didn’t say anything about the sex. He thought he was

totally home free when Wayne, one of the analysts, looked him in the eyes and frowned.

“In Chuck’s report, he said you and he escaped the tail by going into the bathroom. What

exactly did you do in the bathroom?”

Aiden’s stomach turned. They were asking him the impossible. If he and Chuck didn’t

answer the questions in a similar manner they were both screwed. This type of operation called
for total transparency, no one lied on the team. You lie, you die. Sure, they lied to everyone on
the outside from congress to the president, but in this room, truth was the only option.

When you worked with the types of stress he and his team lived with on a daily basis, you

had to trust everyone on your team. Liars could kill a mission, exposing everyone to harm or
even death. He’d never lied before, but he would today just to save his ass.

“I walked in and entered the stall, unzipped my pants and did my best to sound like I was

using the bathroom.”

Wayne shot him a quizzical look. “The tail believed it?”
“Must have,” Aiden said.
Wayne didn’t look like he believed him. This was going to shit real fast. Aiden wouldn’t tell

the team about the best fucking blowjob he’d ever received. Couldn’t tell them. Fuck, it wasn’t
any of their business. He didn’t understand what had happened. That was a lie; he knew exactly
what had happened to him. Those moments when he was in high school playing sports, and he’d
felt something brewing in his cock while watching the guys running around the locker room
naked, he’d known. He’d always passed it off as the excitement of playing the game or some
other excuse, but the truth haunted him.

He’d grown up in a very conservative household. Guys didn’t like guys. It was impossible

for him to like a guy because he wasn’t gay. His father drilled the idea into him daily, especially
after the calendar incident. No way could he ever be gay. Gay was wrong. His father and
brothers hammered it into his head every chance they got. Any feelings he’d had for guys
weren’t real, just figments of his imagination, and if he kept telling himself the way it was
supposed to be, according to his father, he could overcome this small issue. Liar, Liar.

“Let me see.” Wayne slid his chair over to the computer and camped out for a few minutes.
“What are you doing?” Carol asked as she hung her head over Wayne’s shoulder. “If the guy

said he was taking a crapper, then he was.”

“Just looking,” Wayne said.
The seconds stretched into minutes as Wayne pored over reports. At one point he picked up

his headphones and listened to an audio file. His face remained impassive, just like a CIA trained
agent should be.

“Ahh, I’ve got it.” Wayne jumped up, the smile triumphant on his face.
The world tilted and Aiden wondered what Chuck had said. He had no idea where Chuck

lived--Europe, Asia or even the US. They must have already conducted the interviews with him,
and Wayne found the part about the bathroom.

“Chuck said the same thing,” Wayne said.
“God, Wayne, you’re being ridiculous. What the hell else do you think our guys were doing

in there? They're professionals, and they don’t lie about their activities,” Carol growled.

Wayne shot her a look, and Aiden tensed again. This wasn’t good. The team blew off steam

every debriefing session, but this was worse than normal. He didn’t like the tone in Carol’s

voice.

“Damn it, Carol, I know we can trust our team, but I had to check. It’s strange that the tail

would accept they were taking a crap. Aiden, was the tail on the train?”

“From what I could tell, no. He stayed behind at the station. Sharif was traveling with only

three other men.”

“Good, good. Next I want to hear about the poison delivery. You weren’t supposed to trip

against him.”

Relief washed over Aiden. Any chance of them guessing about his gay moment disappeared

as they got back into evaluating his performance and hashing out exactly what happened during
the mission. Improvements were suggested, and everyone agreed he and Chuck worked well
together.

The mention of Chuck’s name brought heat to Aiden’s crotch. He didn’t want to see Chuck

again. Didn’t want to have thoughts about men. The thoughts of men touching him, invading his
body and sucking him dry had him worried about his future. No way would he give into this
crazy temptation. Jessica hadn’t been right for him. Sure she was glamorous and beautiful, but
she was rather aggressive. Maybe he’d call Sue. She was as docile as a kitten with low ambition
outside the bedroom.

As the day wound down, he spent an hour with a psychologist making sure he felt normal

about killing another human being. He answered the questions appropriately, discussing the need
to rid the world of the bad people without obsessing over taking a life. The Company
psychologist understood, helping him through the worst of the guilt, and for a moment, Aiden
thought about telling him about his encounter with another man, but stopped before the words
left his mouth. He couldn’t let anyone know.

The car was parked outside the building when he finished, and a different man, Liam, drove

him home. Tomorrow Aiden would come back, and they would talk about any inconsistencies in
his story matching with Chuck’s, then another trip to the psychologist and a bit of relaxation
therapy. So far, so good, and he hadn’t revealed his anxiety about his sexuality to anyone. All he
had to do was keep quiet, and everything would be fine.

Today had been good. He had a plan now. Sue was his girl. As soon as he went home and

retrieved his personal cell, he'd call and schedule a date. The super sweet woman would get him
back on track and off of this male idol worship, provoking him to do weird things, like blowing
his load over a guy kiss.

Trace stood outside the entrance to the hospital thinking about the kiss he’d shared with the

stranger last night. His balls tingled as he imagined what would have happened if he'd pulled the
guy's pants down and sucked him off right there. He was sure the other man had been so close to
orgasm he could have just licked the guy twice and he would have blown his load.

Work had been tiring today. And for some stupid reason, he’d picked up a shift in the ER for

a friend. Maybe tonight would be entertaining. Working the ER did provide him with plenty of
stories to commiserate over. Heck, anything to get his mind off the slide of his lips with the
stranger in the men’s bathroom.

Derek had called this morning and left a message apologizing for his anger. Trace didn’t

want to deal with it. Derek wasn’t really his type. Heck, he’d stuck around because of the easy
access to sex and Derek’s non-commitment philosophy. He did eventually want to find a guy to
share his life with, but not until he knew it was a true love match. He and Derek got along, but he
didn’t feel enough for the guy.

Funny, everyone thought gay men had sex all the time, just pop into a gay bar and boom,

he’d get laid, but Trace had always felt wrong about having sex with strangers. Hell, up until last
night, he’d never kissed a stranger. He always knew their names and a small bit about them.

“Doctor Williams, any reason you’re standing out here?”
Trace looked over his shoulder to find one of the nurses he loved to have assist him in

surgeries when he worked ER. “Hey, Lisa. Glad to see you on shift with me. If we get any
surgeries, I want you in there.”

Lisa tapped him on the shoulder as she walked past. “Awww, you say the nicest things to

me.”

“You’re smart and have a great work ethic.”
Lisa smiled and held the door open for him. “Thanks. Could you tell my boss? I want a

raise.”

Trace laughed as they strode down the hall and hooked his arm around her shoulder. “You

got it.”

“Meet anyone lately?” Lisa never asked if he met any girls. She knew, and yet she never

said anything.

Trace smiled and winked. “I’ll never tell.”
“See you on the floor, Doctor Williams.”
“Sure.” Trace entered the doctor’s lounge and stowed his belongings in a locker. At least he

hadn’t filled in for the full twenty-hour shift. He was thankful he no longer worked ER full time.
The schedule sucked, and he’d never have a chance of finding a great guy. It seemed like when
he worked in the emergency room only, sick people and idiots wound up in the ER, not
exceedingly handsome men who were deep in the closet like the stranger he’d been thinking
about all night long.

Aiden stepped out of the car and waved the driver off. There was no attraction, no

mysterious magnetism with his dick plumping up in the guy’s presence. It was all so confusing.
Hell, he’d spent the day in the company of a couple of great looking guys who worked out like
he did, their bodies finely tuned for performance, and he hadn’t wanted to touch or blow any of
them.

Aiden pulled on his running clothes and cross trainers, grabbed his keys and left his house.

He would jog off his frustration and turn this strange sexual energy into muscles and strength.
The run this morning had been great, keeping him stable throughout the day. Jogging more
would be great for his physical stamina. Sure, his last assignment had been a cakewalk, but soon
he’d have to do some reconnaissance in the mountains or be a tail on some mission in the forests
of Europe. Anything could come his way, working this job he loved.

The streets were packed as he headed into Rock Creek Park. A light wind blew, cooling his

body as he ran, trying his best to get into the zone. Thoughts of Chuck surfaced over and over
again, and just when he thought he had control of the situation, he thought of the doctor, Trace
Williams. Shit, why did he have to think of guys? He needed to call Sue. Sue would take his
mind off of sex with guys.

The path was packed with joggers and other people trying to get in some exercise. As the

sun began to set, the joggers were fewer. Safety in the park was an issue, and he didn’t blame
people for wanting to flee the darkness before the creeps came out to play. Under the trees, the
path grew darker. Jogging at night wasn’t a problem for him since he’d regularly jogged in the
dark during military training. There was enough moonlight filtering through the trees,

illuminating the path, to allow him to read his surroundings.

Going home because it was dark would be a mistake. He needed the exhaustion to push him

into sleep. Insane notions tumbling through his head would only get him into trouble. He picked
up the pace, racing around the bend to a particularly dark area where the trees grew thick. He’d
cleared his mind, thinking only of the crunch of leaves underneath his shoes and the flex of his
muscles as he ran. The scream startled him. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Aiden
stopped running, his senses on high alert.

The scream sounded again to his right. As Aiden Jackson, playing the hero wasn’t his style.

He was the quiet, unassuming one who went through life being as invisible as possible. Not that
he didn’t have a life, but staying out of the limelight was key to being a successful agent. The
scream pulled at his conscience and demanded action.

Aiden raced through the trees, moving closer to the sound of limbs breaking and anguished

groans. He saw two shadows moving together, fists being thrown by one, the other blocking as
best they cold. The small figure fell to the ground as Aiden broke through the last of the trees
into the clearing. Without thinking he one-punched the attacker, sending him reeling into the
bushes.

The guy came at him and Aiden jumped, sending a snap kick into the guy’s jaw, knocking

him to the ground. Aiden picked up the victim, a small woman, tucking her close to his chest. He
ran the way he’d come from, praying he could escape. There was a road in about fifty yards
through the trees--Someone would stop.

The flash of car lights broke through the trees then disappeared. Aiden didn’t care if tree

limbs slapped him in the face, or if the skin on his arms tore as he raced through the woods, he
needed to save this woman. The forest butted up against Bingham Drive, the best place to find
help. He raced out onto the dark blacktop, hoping a car would pass soon. Nothing.

Aiden turned around in a slow circle. Where to now? There were a few houses and a nursing

home off of Nebraska. The woman was light as a feather, but her attacker was still out there.

The sound of tires on pavement filled him with hope. He swung around just as the lights

settled on him. Tires screeched, red and blue lights strobed. Cops, perfect.

Aiden rushed forward, stopping at the front bumper of the cop car. The officer stepped out,

his face in shadows.

“You got a problem?” The officer asked.
“Yeah, she was attacked in the woods. The guy is still out there. Just through the trees.”
The cop looked at Aiden, the woman and then into the trees. He placed his hand on the butt

of his gun and closed the door to his car.

“Stay here,” the cop commanded.
Aiden wanted to stop the cop, tell him to hold on for back up, but he was a normal, ordinary

citizen right now, not a CIA operative who knew how to handle himself. His stomach dropped as
he watched the cop disappear into the dark forest. The only assurance he had was the cop had
called for backup.

Waiting sucked. The cop had been gone for a few minutes when Aiden heard a loud crash,

then gunfire. The girl in his arms squirmed, and he turned his attention to her. Her eyes were
wide with fright. Hell, Aiden didn’t like what he'd heard either. They were the perfect targets
standing in the pool of lights thrown off from the cop car. He needed to move.

The sound of approaching sirens cut through the night. It was an ambulance, probably the

company from engine thirty-one. The cop had thought to call in the injuries and not just for
backup, but shots were being fired, and the cop had locked his car. There was no way for Aiden

to tell the EMT’s they were running into danger.

Aiden moved around to the other side of the cop car and placed the woman on the ground

behind the back tire, the best position to avoid gunfire. He knelt before her, ignoring the rocks
digging into his knees.

“Whatever happens, don’t move. This is the best place for you. Do you understand?”
The woman’s eyes were huge and glassy. Aiden hoped she understood what he meant. He

sighed and waited, wondering how much trouble the cop had gotten himself into.

The backup cop car arrived and the ambulance right behind them. Before the cop could even

open the door to his cruiser a shot was fired, pinging off the hood of his car. Aiden watched
helplessly. He hated getting shot at, especially when he didn’t have a gun.

With only a few seconds hesitation, the cop whipped out his gun, opened his door and rolled

down the window. Bracing his gun hand in the window opening, he lined up for a shot, but he
probably couldn’t see crap. The cop tried to work his spotlight, but with the gun in his right
hand, his left hand was having difficulty operating the light.

The sound of gunfire filled the park as the cop exchanged bullets with the attacker. Shit,

something needed to be done. Aiden pinned the girl with a stare, putting on his most menacing
face. “Do not move.”

The young woman whimpered as he crawled in the dirt by the car to the front of the vehicle.

The asshole shooting at them was probably too distracted to notice him. At least he hoped to hell
the guy was distracted. Not only was the jerk firing a gun at the cop, the guys in the ambulance
were pinned in, and the girl he’d saved was in danger too. This bastard had to be stopped.

If only the cop had turned off his lights this would be easier, but he didn’t have much to

work with, and someone was going to get shot if he didn’t put a stop to this soon.

Aiden took a deep breath and raced across the blacktop into the trees. The cop stopped

firing. Maybe Aiden could make it out of this alive. Aiden moved through the trees as silently as
he could without night vision goggles on. Thankfully, the light from the police cruisers was
enough for him to work by.

After thirty seconds of crawling through the bushes, he spied the attacker with the gun.

Aiden reached down and found a palm-sized rock. He picked it up, liking the weight. His
weapons were limited, and he’d have to disable this jerk with the rock. Lucky for him, he had a
fast arm. Throwing the rock wouldn’t be too difficult, but hitting his mark might prove a task he
wasn’t up to.

Aiden prayed he could throw it straight as he weighed the rock in his hand. He pulled back

to aim. In his mind he counted down and tossed the rock directly at the head of the asshole still
shooting at the cop. The rock struck true, delivering a blow to the guy’s temple, stunning him
enough to drop the gun.

Before the gun hit the ground, Aiden had already sprinted halfway to the jerk, closing the

gap before the guy could find the weapon he’d dropped. Aiden punched him in the face then
dropped him to the ground and trapped his arms behind his back.

The cop called out, his voice shaky. “You got him covered?”
“Yeah, he’s down, but I would appreciate some handcuffs.” The tight knot in his stomach

grew harder. Sure, he’d saved a girl, the cop and the EMT’s, but he’d cast the light onto himself.

The cop rushed forward and took over, cuffing the guy before pulling him to his feet. Aiden

could tell the cop was shaken; the entire situation was a clusterfuck.

“Damn, that was awesome. I almost shot you. Are you on the force?” Words spilled from

the cop’s mouth, his voice shook a little, but not too bad.

Aiden heard the EMT’s slam the door to their truck. As they came close, he could see the

men were grim-faced as fear danced in their eyes. They probably weren’t used to being in the
line of fire.

“Where do you need us?” one of the EMT’s asked.
Aiden guessed they hadn’t seen the girl. Hopefully she was still behind the car. He didn’t

want her wandering around in the park because she could get lost out here too easily. He was
sure she was in shock. Then there was the cop in the forest.

“We need another ambulance. There’s a girl behind the first cop car. She was attacked by

this asshole.” Aiden glanced at the cop, knowing he would be angry at this next part. “There’s an
officer down somewhere in this forest. I need one of you to come with me, and let’s try to find
him.”

“Shit,” the cop cursed as he stowed his prisoner in the back of the car.
“I’ll bring the gurney,” the shorter of the EMT’s said.
“No, just your bag. The terrain is rough,” Aiden said.
The EMT heading over to the girl called for another ambulance, and the cop called in for

more police, reporting a downed cop. This place would be flooded with people in thirty minutes.
Any chance of Aiden fading into the background would disappear. He should leave now, but he
couldn’t let this cop and EMT traipse back into the forest alone to search for a fallen member.
Plus, he knew where to look for the guy. Minutes could save the fallen cop’s life.

A minute of fast tramping into the woods with the aid of the cop’s flashlight led them to the

other cop, but no amount of help from the EMT could save him. The guy had taken his last
breath long before they'd arrived, probably while the shootout was going on.

The cop cursed, the EMT shook his head, and Aiden wondered if giving a false name would

save him from being identified. The cop stayed with the body while Aiden and the EMT went
back to the road to wait for the rest of the emergency personnel.

Just as Aiden suspected, the number of people on the scene grew exponentially. As the

EMT’s were loading the woman he’d saved into the back of the ambulance, he saw a news van
pull up. Aw shit.

Aiden looked around desperately, his gaze settling onto the woman being loaded in the back

of the emergency vehicle. He marched with purpose towards the ambulance and climbed up in
the back next to the paramedic.

“I’m riding with you,” Aiden said.
The EMT was going to argue, his mouth opened, but the girl begged for him to stay and

grasped onto Aiden’s hand so tight he couldn’t get away even if he wanted to. As they pulled
away from the scene, Aiden ducked his head and looked away from the news van. The camera
would have a hard time seeing who he was, and no one knew his name. Maybe he could escape
without anyone figuring out he’d been here.

The woman’s grip on his hand was like a vice, her gaze searching his face, leaving Aiden

full of guilt and regret. She’d want to repay him, and she’d remember what he looked like.
Maybe the doctors could slip her a bit of medicine, causing her to have a foggy memory. Hell, he
didn’t want to have to explain his actions to his boss, James. They would question why he
stepped in when he knew low profile was the only way to live. At least his image wasn’t blasted
all over the TV. He would need to call James and tell him what happened once he was alone.

At the hospital, the EMT’s had to pry his hand out of the girl’s clutch hold. She didn’t want

to let go, but they wouldn’t let him back into the examining room with her. He stood in front of
the large white doors leading to the main emergency rooms, wondering if he should call a cab or

run home. He checked his pockets, remembering he’d left everything at home. No money and no
credit cards meant he would jog home.

“You know her?” someone asked from behind.
Aiden turned to see Trace Williams standing beside him. The man looked exceedingly hot in

his opened doctor’s coat, a tan button down shirt with a tie complimenting his clothing. Trace’s
brown eyes looked amazing with the combination. Aiden drew in a shaky breath as his head
spun.

“Oh yeah, I’m Trace Williams. Of course, if you kept my card, then you already know my

name.” Trace raised one eyebrow as a smile turned up his lips, but didn’t reach his eyes. “So,
you need to check her in or talk to her doctor?”

Aiden shook his head. “No, I don’t actually know her.”
“Interesting, most people don’t ride in the ambulance with a stranger.” Trace tapped his chin

with one finger.

“I was in the right place at the wrong time.” Aiden wanted to kick himself, he was being too

truthful with this guy.

The last few days Aiden had worked hard to deny he felt any attraction to men, and he’d

been doing great, except for this man. It made no sense. The EMT’s elicited no response; the
cops also held no attraction for him, but before the doctor’s outstretched hand even touched his,
electricity arced through Aiden, leaving him desperate for the man’s touch. Aiden allowed the
doctor to shake his hand, even though he knew touching Trace would be a mistake.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.” Both of Trace’s eyebrows rose as he spoke.
“Aiden Jackson.” He hadn’t even thought about making up a fake name. This man, who he

most certainly didn’t need to spend any time alone with, was his kryptonite. Aiden felt powerless
to the attraction. He told himself he just needed to eliminate any chance he was gay. If he spent
some time with the doctor, he would know it was the circumstances and nothing else. Hell, he
already felt better about seeing the doctor since his dick wasn’t swollen with lust.

“Do you need to go back there?” Aiden asked.
“No, I’m on lunch break, and I’m here for surgeries. You know; gunshot victims and car

crashes, not general shock and possible rapes.”

“Oh.” Aiden wanted to slap himself on the forehead. Surely he could come up with

something more interesting to say.

“What are you doing tomorrow night?” Trace asked.
Aiden glanced at Trace and shook his head. “Why?”
Trace looked adorable as he laughed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Come on, you

know why. Dinner and we’ll see how compatible we are.”

Aiden shook his head, understanding completely, but wanting Trace to think he didn’t.

“Compatible?”

“You aren’t one for too much talk, but you sure are nice to look at.”
Aiden felt his cheeks going hot and his dick taking notice. A bubbly feeling began in his

stomach and raced through his body. Why the hell had he never felt that way about a girl? “I’m
busy,” Aiden blurted out, though the lie turned his stomach.

Trace smiled and chuckled before shrugging his shoulders. “Sure you are. When you get

tired of playing this game, look me up. And you should get someone to look at those cuts, like
me. I am a doctor.”

“No, I’m fine.” Aiden couldn’t check into the hospital. Any official record of him being here

would piss James off. He needed to call in and soon. Of course if The Company still kept dibs on

him, they would know he was here. He wished they would be on the up and up about tracking
him, but keeping agents guessing was their deal.

“You sure?” Trace asked.
“Yeah, I’ve got to go.”
Trace walked away, leaving Aiden feeling lost and alone. Before he left the hospital, the

desire to call Trace surfaced. What the hell was he doing? Going on a date with Trace would
force him to see the truth and let that crazy fantasy go. He wasn’t really interested in the man.
All the excitement from the shooting had gone to his head. His desire and lust had nothing to do
with Trace, but everything to do with the action he’d seen.

Chapter Three

All the way home, new images of Doctor Trace Williams surfaced in his mind. How the hell

could he be thinking these thoughts? He wanted to unbutton Trace’s pants, slide them down to
the floor and just stare at the man’s cock. Then he would drop to his knees and--No, he wouldn’t
go there.

When he reached home, he raced to his bedroom and pulled out his private cellphone,

looked up the number, and started to dial. Excitement pumped through his veins because he
knew this idea was solid.

“Hello, this is Sue,” her voice sounded like music to his ears.
“Sue, it’s Aiden. I was wondering if you were busy tomorrow night?”
The hesitation, he expected. The line sat silent for about four seconds before he heard her

sigh, his cue she’d relented.

“No, Aiden, I’m not. Where are you going to take me?”
“Italian?”
“God, you know how to get to a girl. I’ll see you at seven, and don’t think you’re off the

hook just because I’m going out with you tomorrow. You’ll pay big time for your lack of
attention this last year.”

Aiden laughed. Sue would be good for him. Her sweet personality would shine through,

building up his confidence and leaving him full of desire. Sue was just the type of girl he needed
at home to keep his mind off the guys. The girl was pixie small and cute as a button. She had the
greatest personality of anyone he’d ever met. Her threats of him paying big time didn’t scare
him. Sweetness oozed from her, and she wouldn’t even know how to torture him even if she
tried. Sue would cure him, he was sure of it.

By the time the next evening arrived, Aiden was more convinced than ever he’d done the

right thing. He’d cleaned up the cuts from running through the bushes well enough so he didn’t
look like an accident victim. James had given him hell for interfering too much, but calmed
down once he was sure Aiden hadn’t been mentioned in any paper or on any news program.

Hiring a limo for Jessica was a must, Sue was different. Jessica had been high maintenance,

and that had been his problem. Sue was the opposite. Excitement zipped through him as he drove
to her place.

He pulled up in front of Sue’s apartment, ready to hop out for her, when she came bounding

down the steps and jumped into his car. Before he could say hello, her lips were pressed against
his. The kiss felt familiar. Lust pumped through his veins as warm lips slid across his mouth.

Heady thoughts of sex filled his mind and his dick grew hard. The fog of desire dulled his

senses.

“Mmmm, Trace,” slipped from his lips without even thinking.
The warm touches left his lips and his body.
“Who the fuck is Trace?” Sue yelled.
“I didn’t say Trace.” Aiden didn’t remember what he’d said, but damn it, he’d been thinking

of the good doctor.

“You sure as hell did say Trace. Who is Trace?”
All the blood must have left Aiden’s head as dizziness prevailed. He shut his eyes and

leaned his head against the seat. He couldn’t get Trace out of his mind. Thoughts of the man
kissing him still blazed hot in his memories. Funny thing was; he couldn’t remember a single

kiss with any other date in his life as clearly as he remembered that one brief brush of the man’s
lips across his.

Sue opened the car door and jumped out. “Don’t fucking call me again. Ever.”
Aiden watched her storm back into her building, her anger evident in her crisp steps. Damn,

he’d fucked up royally. Not only had he treated a sweet woman like crap, he’d probably ruined
his chances with Trace by refusing to call him.

Aiden started the car and headed for home. Traffic was heavy, and he took a wrong turn,

heading down M street. The bars were mixed in this area of town. Gays and straights hung out
along the sidewalk, enjoying the last of the summer’s warmth.

Maybe he should go to a gay bar and test the waters, get this Trace guy out of his head.

Aiden swung the car into the parking lot for one of the bars he was positive was for gays. His
palms were damp and his breath shallow. Going into this bar and buying a drink didn’t mean
anything. Fuck, he’d just kissed Sue and called her Trace. He couldn’t believe he’d called her
Trace. In his mind, he was thinking of the man’s tight muscles, bedroom eyes, and his impossible
package Aiden wanted to unwrap.

Going to a gay bar would help him figure out the truth. He always went for the truth in his

job, and this situation shouldn’t be any different. Half of what he did as an operative was review
the data before he ever committed to an operation. Approaching this problem with the same
method he used at work might shed light on his motives and his real desires.

Being attracted to men came about after Chuck had blown him. Aiden stopped midway out

of the car. He closed his eyes and shook his head. His shoulders slumped, knowing he’d just lied
to himself. He’d been attracted to guys for years, but had blown it off as excitement of the game,
or the heat of battle, or even the companionship you couldn’t get with a girl. Chuck was just the
first person to act out the desires buried deep in his heart.

Aiden fell back into the car, plopping down hard in the seat. What the hell had he just

admitted to himself? There was no way he'd just admitted he was gay. Oh good God, this is
ridiculous.

Aiden jumped out of the car and stalked into the bar. Heads turned when he entered, and he

tried not to scowl. The place looked and felt like any other bar, the only difference was no
women.

He moved through the crowded room, a little weirded out by the looks shot his way. He’d

never been in an environment where it was okay to openly observe a person of the same sex. A
few of the guys looked like the type he thought he liked. Aiden resisted the urge to slap his
forehead. Hell, how did he know what type of guy he liked? He didn’t like guys, and he wasn’t
gay.

The stools on the far end of the bar were empty, and Aiden took a seat far away from any of

the other patrons. A hand on his arm made him jump. He looked up into the dark eyes of the
bartender.

“Hey dude, didn’t mean to startle you. What will you have?” The bartender was dressed in

jeans and a T-shirt, just like other bars of the same class. No naked guys dancing on poles, no
shirtless waiters. Hell, if he didn’t know this was a gay bar, he wouldn’t have guessed it by the
looks of this place.

Fuck, what if this wasn’t a gay bar? “Um, a beer, draft.”
“Sure.” The bartender winked at him then turned to draw the beer.
Okay, it was a gay bar. The barkeep hadn’t just been winking; he was doing that come-on

wink thing. Aiden swiveled on the stool and looked out into the rest of the crowd. His gaze

stopped on a guy with a runner’s body. He was a bit older by about ten years and had grey at his
temples, but his muscles were in good shape, and his face looked pleasant.

The guy looked up and smiled. Aiden’s heart slammed in his chest and his face burned. The

man stood from his table and approached. Aiden’s entire body was on fire. A spike of desire shot
through him as the man neared. For a moment, Aiden thought of Trace, his perfect lips and his
perfect smile. Maybe kissing this guy would get the doctor out of his head.

“Hi, my name’s Mitch. I couldn’t help but notice you staring. Can I buy you a drink?”
Aiden looked down to see his beer half empty. “Sure, when I finish this one.”
Mitch looked over at the bartender and held up two fingers then did one of those

exceedingly smooth moves Aiden had used on girls for years. He slid his arm around the back of
the bar stool and braced his other hand on the bar, trapping Aiden in a triangle of sinew and
strength. Aiden shivered as lust pulsed through him.

“You have a name?” Mitch asked.
Aiden cleared his throat, not sure if his voice would hold. “It’s Mark.”
Mitch smiled again, bringing on another round of thoughts about Trace. He wondered if

Trace would act like this if they were together, or would he be more standoffish?

The bartender slid two beers towards them and Mitch tipped his head, giving Aiden

permission to drink. Damn, he was acting like an idiot. He shook his head, clearing the lust fog
keeping him from taking control of the situation.

The air between him and Mitch crackled with desire. Aiden’s cock throbbed, and his balls

tightened against his body. He’d worn slacks for the evening, thinking he was going out with
sweet Sue, not picking up a guy in a gay bar.

“So, after we finish this beer how about we go out to my car?” Mitch asked.
Aiden nodded, not trusting his voice. He was caught up in the desire and excitement, not

thinking about any dangers as he slammed the last of his beer and stood, towering over Mitch by
at least six inches. The urge to push Mitch over the bar and slide his cock into the guy struck him
so violently, he grunted. Aiden clenched his fists and ground his teeth to get control of his libido.

Mitch led the way out to the same lot Aiden had parked in. The light at the back of the lot

had been knocked out, and that’s exactly where the guy led him. Mitch beeped open a slick
BMW and settled in the front seat of the car. He popped the keys in and slid the seat back. Once
they were settled, fear squeezed Aiden hard, leaving him wondering what the hell he’d gotten
himself into. Why was he here in this car, with this guy who he didn’t know or give a shit about,
when all he wanted to do was call Trace Williams and talk to him?

Mitch pulled out a small blue bottle and tilted it to Aiden. “Popper?”
The one thing Aiden never did was drugs. Never, even when he’d been on cases with high

drug use, he’d never given in, and he sure as hell wasn’t now.

Aiden found his courage and lost the lust immediately. “Oh, fuck no. I’m not into drugs.”
He reached for the door and Mitch grabbed his arm. Aiden stilled. If he were on a mission

he would break the guy’s arm, or if this guy were a target he would kill the bastard, but he wasn’t
on a mission, and he couldn’t even punch the guy.

“Wait, I don’t use them either. It’s just the scene. Everyone expects it. I thought with your

body, and the way you were acting in there, you were probably already high.”

Aiden sat back against the car seat, closed his eyes and sighed. How the hell could he

explain his behavior to a stranger?

“I’m sorry if I read you wrong,” Mitch said.
Aiden turned to look at the guy, wondering if it was worth it to tell him anything. “I’m new

at this.”

“Just out of the closet?” Mitch’s eyebrow cocked up and reminded him of Trace.
“Oh, hell no, I mean I’m new at this.” Aiden waved his hand in the air, the pain of his

admission burning his chest.

“Ah, have some desires, and before you try it out on the guy you like, you thought you

would come here for some fun. It’s okay, I don’t mind. I didn’t come here to find mister right
either. I’m here for pleasure, nothing else.”

Aiden pressed his hand against his own crotch. He’d come here for this, to find some

pleasure and work this gay thing out of his system. Just doing the deed would get him past this
stage and back to his normal self. This passing attraction to men would go away once he got his
fill, then it would be pussy land for him. Liar, liar. Aiden groaned and shook his head, forcing
thoughts of his father away.

Mitch slid his hand along Aiden’s thigh. Without thinking, Aiden grabbed Mitch’s hand,

forcing him to stop. Aiden glared, his confusion burst into anger, and he almost hurt the guy.

As they stared into each other’s eyes, both breathing hard, the edge he’d been living on for

the last few days seemed to disappear, sliding him down gently into a longing he didn’t
understand. He wanted this guy to push past his barriers and demand sex. Aiden needed the guy
to take command, that way it wasn’t Aiden making the decision. And if he didn’t make the
decision, then whatever happened wasn’t his fault.

“Shhh, close your eyes and think of your friend. Think of his hands doing this. You can even

call me by his name, I don’t mind.” Mitch placed his hand on the waistband of Aiden’s pants.

Aiden shivered and his dick turned to stone. The hands were rougher than when he was with

a woman. A woman would be gentle as she undressed him, but not this guy. He unzipped and
tugged Aiden’s pants down hard. When Mitch freed Aiden’s cock from his underwear, he didn’t
delicately touch it; instead, he dropped his head, his mouth immediately covering the tip, and
began sucking.

White-hot lust pumped through Aiden, curling his toes and burning his ears. The wet heat of

Mitch’s mouth made his balls so tight, he thought he would come.

Mitch stopped moving and toyed with the glove box. Aiden opened his eyes and saw the guy

grab a towel before closing the box. He started moving again and Aiden shut his eyes, trying to
create a fantasy where he and Trace were doing this.

Trace was going down on him, not Mitch. They were somewhere else. Like a couch in some

strange hotel, and Trace was moving against him. Trace licking him, and Trace doing wicked
things to his body. And then Aiden thought of doing this to Trace. He lost control.

“I’m gonna...”
He arched up into the warm mouth wrapped around his dick and shot his come straight

down the guy’s throat. Mitch took him all in, swallowing down his bitter seed and then lapping
at him, cleaning off the residue afterwards.

Aiden opened his eyes to see the guy jerking his own dick, and he wondered if he could suck

him. A shudder raced down Aiden’s spine. He couldn’t, not with this guy. If it were Trace, Aiden
wouldn’t hesitate.

Mitch jerked once more, grabbed his towel, and came. The combined scent of their spunk

made the car smell like some of the brothels Aiden had been in overseas. He hated those places
and had shut down a few, but usually he was there to kill someone, never to seek pleasure.

This wasn’t what he wanted. Sure, he’d gotten off, but he wanted something more. He’d

always been into romance and setting up the night when he thought he was into girls. When he

acknowledged his darkest desires, he thought his patterns would have changed, but they hadn’t.
This parking lot rendezvous left him feeling disappointed. Sure, he’d had an orgasm, but he
wanted more. That connection one got with someone they cared about when they had sex, that’s
what he wanted.

Trace would give me that.
Aiden didn’t wait for Mitch to recover. He opened the car door and hopped out. Before he

could shut the door, Mitch leaned over and called out to him.

“You want to exchange numbers?”
Aiden couldn’t even look the guy in the eyes. He knew the type of desperation this guy

displayed, the type that would get you to go out with someone because they seemed interested,
even when you knew they were bad for you. You wanted a connection, any connection.

“No.” Aiden took one last look at Mitch. He wasn’t bad looking, but he wasn’t Trace.
“Didn’t think so,” Mitch said.
Aiden pushed the car door closed then walked to his car on trembling legs. He got in and

locked the doors. The lust for Trace wouldn’t go away. No amount of fucking strangers was
going to solve this for him.

The drive home took too long, and once there, he jumped out of the car, tossed his clothes

onto a chair and pulled on his running clothes. He needed the exhaustion to work for him tonight.
It was a little after nine so he’d only go for a short run, just something to knock the edge off so
he could sleep.

Chapter Four

The thing about working for the CIA is you had information other people would never know

you had access to. Aiden used his skills and connections to find Trace’s schedule for the day.
Using his resources to stalk the man was wrong, and he knew it, but Aiden didn’t care about the
morality of his actions--He could apologize later if Trace ever found out.

Aiden pulled his car into the lot across the street from Trace’s office. From all his digging,

he knew the good doctor was done with his schedule for the day. Trace would leave his office
about thirty minutes after finishing his appointments, an hour at the latest.

Stakeouts sucked, but waiting for Trace to walk out into the lot had Aiden excited. Two days

ago when he’d been sitting in the parking lot of that gay bar, he’d decided to see Trace. Sure, he
could have gone at it the normal way, but he didn’t want there to be any chance the call would be
tracked.

Meeting Trace outside his office after work was the best way to keep this hidden from his

co-workers and boss. He was sure The Company would eventually find out about his sex life, but
he sure as hell didn’t want them to know at this point.

The back door to Trace’s office opened, and the man stepped out of his office and into the

lot. He was smiling and hollered back in the door before letting it close behind him. Aiden’s
breath caught in his throat, and lust pumped through him.

Aiden opened the door to his car and slid out of the seat. He’d disabled the dome light

earlier so he could move unnoticed. He watched Trace as he stowed his jacket in the backseat of
his car and hopped into the driver's seat. Every move Trace made seemed poetic to Aiden.

Before Trace could start his car, Aiden walked up and tapped on the glass. Trace jumped,

and then recognition fired in his eyes. The slow smile was nothing less than sultry. Aiden knew
the smile was for him, and it made him feel like a million bucks. His cock twitched against his
leg as his desire for Trace grew.

Trace opened the car door and stepped out, shutting it behind him. They said nothing for a

moment as they stared at each other, cars drove past and life went on as Aiden mulled over the
decision to accept himself, as is. His activity with Mitch could be excused as just a thing in the
heat of passion, but asking Trace to go to dinner was stepping over the line.

They both started speaking at the same time, and then Trace smiled. “You first.”
Aiden cleared his throat and looked around the area, feeling totally exposed, even out here at

the back of the office buildings.

“Hey, I have an idea. There’s a park around the corner from here. Let’s take a walk,” Trace

said.

Relief filled Aiden. He could talk better if he didn’t have to stare at Trace and wonder if a

second kiss would be as good as the first. They hadn’t gone two steps when someone burst out of
the door to Trace’s office. The person stopped when they saw Aiden and Trace together.

“Everything okay, Doctor Williams?” the woman asked.
“Yeah, Samantha, great. Just talking to a friend from college. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Aiden wondered why Trace lied. Maybe he wasn’t out to his office staff. Dating a guy who

wasn’t out would be easier since both of them would have something to hide. Hell, how could he
think of dating a guy? This was some passing thing he would get over as soon as he...Good lord;
he didn’t know what would stop this madness rolling through his mind. He wanted Trace more
than he’d ever wanted another person in his life.

“I’m not sure why I’m here,” Aiden said.
Trace stopped walking beside him, and Aiden turned around to face the man. The look Trace

shot him almost brought Aiden to his knees. He was lying to Trace and to himself. He knew
exactly why he was here.

“Okay, I know why I’m here, but I don’t know why. It makes no sense to me.”
“You ever kiss a guy before me?” Trace asked.
Aiden started walking again, not able to look at Trace and think of Chuck at the same time.

“Yeah, but the circumstances were...complicated.”

“Every circumstance is complicated, but what I find interesting is, you liked that one kiss

enough to hunt me down and talk to me.”

Heat washed over Aiden’s body. He'd loved the kiss with Trace. Just thinking about the way

the man felt when he got close made Aiden’s mouth water and his heart pound. Touching Trace
would be so good.

“I’m not gay.” Aiden didn’t know why he said that, even he didn’t believe it anymore. Hell,

he’d let a stranger suck him off two days ago, not far from here. Sure, getting off in Chuck’s
mouth in England was excusable, but hunting out a gay bar after Sue had bolted from his car
meant only one thing.

“You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself more than you are me.”
“What do you mean?” Aiden asked.
“You lack any conviction. Your statement sounded more like a question. Is being gay that

bad?”

“Yes, no, fuck. I don’t know.”
“Dinner, that’s all I want from you. Just two guys going out to grab a beer and some pizza.”
“Pizza?”
Trace winced. “Okay, maybe some grilled fish and a salad. I don’t each much comfort food,

but I thought you could stand the comfort since your emotions are a bit strung out.”

Aiden wanted to deny Trace’s assessment of him. He was strung out. He needed to get it

together and figure out the truth of the matter. “When do you want to go out?” Aiden asked.

“I’m starving, and I bet you haven’t eaten dinner. Am I right?” Trace asked.
They were in the heart of the park, and Aiden stopped walking. Trace would want to do this

now. Aiden needed more time to process, think and gather data, but he didn’t want to lose this
opportunity to prove to himself he’d been wrong about this all the time. He could joke about it
tomorrow with the guys. Maybe he’d tell the story at a party or to his next girlfriend. They would
laugh their asses off that he, Aiden Jackson, thought he was gay all because of a little blowjob.
Though deep down, Aiden knew he would never tell another soul about this week if it turned out
to be just a mix-up.

“’Kay, where do you want to go?” Aiden asked.
Trace stepped back, his eyes traveling down Aiden’s body, pausing at Aiden’s crotch. The

man smiled to himself then shook his head.

Trace cleared his throat. “How about Sam’s. The food is great.”
“I’ll follow you over,” Aiden said.
“No, parking’s a bitch. I won’t get towed if I stay here. Let’s take your car. I can leave my

car parked here for weeks, and it would be fine.”

Trace couldn’t believe how much he was babbling. He stole another glance at Aiden and

shivered. That the man had showed up here at his work was amazing, that he’d shown up without

calling first, a little strange. Aiden was the last person he thought he’d see when he left work
today.

When he’d first seen Aiden outside of his car door, his stomach had clenched, and his brain

went fuzzy. The lust and desire for this man burst forth in a full-fledged hunger, demanding his
attention.

They climbed into Aiden’s car, and Trace tried to get comfortable, but with his stiff boner

waking up for playtime, he was having trouble.

“Let’s go,” Aiden said.
Trace thought of a million things to say, but nothing seemed appropriate. Asking a guy to

suck your dick on your first date didn’t make for long-term relationships, and he wanted Aiden
for more than just a one-night fling. “I was wondering if I was going to see you again.”

Aiden was quiet for a while, his fingers clenched on the steering wheel. “I’m not sure I

should have come.”

Trace said nothing as Aiden navigated the streets of downtown. The tension in Aiden was

palpable. Trace felt the need to do something to calm the man down; his mind was blank though.
They made their way through traffic, and were close to the Sam’s, before Trace could come up
with anything witty to talk about. Hell, it was like the gorgeous man had rendered him mute.

“I’m glad you came to my office,” Trace finally said.
Aiden took his eyes off the road for a second. He smiled, then frowned, but said nothing.

Parking was difficult, but after circling the block twice, Aiden pulled into a just vacated spot and
turned off the car.

Trace saw the desire in Aiden’s eyes, but the man was beyond nervous. Trace slid a glance

to the man’s crotch and, sure enough, there was a bulge. His eyes were glued to the spot because
he couldn’t deny what he wanted. It was probably rude to stare at Aiden’s hard-on for so long,
but Trace couldn’t help himself.

Trace finally let his eyes travel up Aiden’s body to his face. The man wasn’t angry about

Trace’s over examination, instead he looked pleased. Aiden blew out a huge breath, and his brow
pinched together.

Trace reached across the car and grabbed Aiden’s hand and squeezed. “Hey, we’re just two

friends out for food. No one is going to think you’re gay. I’m out, but only to my friends, not my
office staff or any of my patients.”

“Why?”
“It’s complicated, and I think you understand complicated.” Trace wasn’t hiding, but he sure

as heck didn’t think it was appropriate to speak about his sex life to his staff. They didn’t need to
know he liked to grab male ass.

Aiden turned to face Trace, their gazes locked onto each other and the air grew thick with

awareness. Trace caressed Aiden’s jaw with a light touch from his thumb. The contact with
Trace was such a rush, Aiden’s cock went full hard and his nipples tingled with awareness.
Aiden brought out something primal in him. Trace wanted to tell Aiden to lean down and blow
him hard, to suck him off right here on the streets of DC.

Trace cleared his throat. “It’s time to leave the car. Just dinner and some talking, getting to

know each other, that’s all,” Trace dropped his hand and stepped out of the sports car, adjusting
his pants before coming around to meet Aiden.

Aiden climbed out of the car and flashes of the blowjob from the other night with Mitch

jumped to the front of his mind. Mitch had been a good stand-in for Trace, but he didn’t come

close to the way Trace made him feel just from one look and the barest of touches. He shivered
and had to adjust his pants so his wood sat upright against his belly instead of trailing down his
leg.

Trace was too hot for words and beyond desirable. Dinner with Trace might be the biggest

mistake Aiden ever made, or the best decision of his life. His entire body was reacting to the
man. Aiden’s adult life had been spent in control of everything. Every smile, every flare of his
nostrils, every wrinkle of his brow was scripted to shape what others thought of him. With Trace,
he couldn’t control anything; it was all reaction to Trace’s movements and smiles. When Trace
smiled at him, Aiden’s heart felt light. It was totally a chick thing, but he couldn’t help it.

Aiden didn’t like the cold feeling sweeping over him as he lost the physical connection with

Trace. He wanted to hold the man’s hand, but didn’t think it would be appropriate since people
would see. He wondered if he could steal a kiss before they entered the restaurant. Aiden looked
around and felt depressed immediately. There were too many people around. Someone would see
them kissing.

Halfway through dinner, Aiden realized he really liked Trace, not just in a lustful "suck my

dick" kind of way, but the guy was amazing. Every year, he traveled to South America for two
weeks and worked for free. Of course, Trace wouldn’t have mentioned it, except one of the other
doctors Trace was traveling with to the Amazon Basin this year was at the restaurant, and
mentioned the trip. Trace’s face turned pink when the other doctor went on about how much
good Trace had done in the last five years, saving babies and doing surgeries in the worst
environments, working twenty plus hour days with the threat of wild animals and gang violence.

This was the type of man he seriously respected, someone who tried to make a difference in

the lives of others. After Trace’s friend left, Aiden looked at his date with a newfound respect.

“I’m impressed,” Aiden said.
“Don’t be. I’m not that great. There are so many other doctors who give more than just two

weeks a year. Maybe one day I’ll have the ability to do more, but I’m glad I can help when I
have time.”

“So many people don’t help at all,” Aiden said.
“What type of job do you have? It’s obvious what I do. I want to know more about you.”
Usually the lie rolled off his tongue so easily, computer sales person, blah, blah, blah and

it’s boring. But he didn’t want to lie to Trace. He’d been unprepared for this; never before had he
actually cared about his dates this deeply. Hell, he’d never cared about anyone so deeply. The
realization shocked the hell out of him. Even Jessica, who he’d almost ask to marry him, didn’t
elicit this type of response. Sure, she was nice, smart and charming, but Trace made something
inside of Aiden click.

“I’m a—It’s complicated,” Aiden was torn between telling all and keeping the secret. He

sure as hell couldn’t tell anything here. He looked around the room, making sure no one was
listening to their conversation.

Trace’s eyes narrowed to slits as he stared at Aiden. He cocked his head to the left and

shook it once. “Fine.”

Aiden groaned. “Please don’t be that way. It’s just...”
“No, don’t explain. I’m a smart guy. Graduated top of my class at Harvard Med. This is DC,

enough said.”

Aiden didn’t say a word; he didn’t change his facial expression or move at all. Trace knew

he had a secret to keep. This was bad. He had to get prior approval before he told anyone, and
they were searched, questioned, investigated and generally went through hell to even learn what

his job entailed. Not that he’d ever put anyone through getting clearance, but another agent,
Christopher Jenkins, had wanted to tell his wife. The process had been brutal. Plus, if he wanted
to tell Trace, he would have to give a reason. “I think I’m falling in love with him,” wasn’t
something he wanted to disclose yet.

Aiden’s stomach rolled, and his head went light. Oh God, I can’t believe it. Damn, his boss

had to know.

Hell, he would have to tell James, and James’s boss, he was gay. His entire team would have

to know. Why hadn’t he thought of this before? He couldn’t go on a job with this hanging over
his head. Trust was the cornerstone of a team, and with a secret this big floating between them, it
would be a death sentence.

“Hey, Aiden, are you okay? You just went white.”
Aiden shook off the fear, calming his nerves. “I’m fine. Just...never mind.”
“Come back to my place with me tonight.” Trace bit his lip, his eyelids half closed, making

him look shy. He looked so adorable. His gaze connected with Aiden’s, and he shook his head.
“Drop that. No pressure. Go home and get a good night sleep. We can talk tomorrow. That’s
what I meant to say.”

Aiden didn’t want to forget Trace’s request. He wanted to snuggle with the man and see how

far they would go. “This will never work.”

Trace looked annoyed for a moment, then his brow smoothed out, and his frown

disappeared. “You can make almost anything work. You just have to be willing to pay the price.”

Aiden’s shoulders slumped. “That’s the thing, can I pay the price?”

Aiden’s dreams were filled with erotic images of Trace. They hadn’t even kissed after they

left Sam’s. The desire to bring Trace home and fuck him hard, lost to the level headed
reasoning’s of Trace. The guy didn’t want Aiden to feel used, and with the questions looming in
his mind, it would be easy to feel used.

In the end, it was better Aiden woke up alone. The call came in the next morning at four; the

car would be there in fifteen minutes. He didn’t know the city or the country, but was told to
dress for cold weather. Could be Russia or Germany, or it could be somewhere in the extreme
end of South America. Having to explain his sudden need to travel to Trace would have been
difficult.

His winter weather bag sat packed in his closet. The hot shower woke him enough to grab a

piece of toast and his luggage only seconds before the car pulled up out front. At this point in the
investigation, Aiden was along for the ride. Just because they'd called him didn’t mean he would
be killing someone, but chances were another evil person would drop by the end of the week.

The contrast with what Trace did when he traveled struck Aiden hard as he boarded a

private jet. Two company makeup artists were already set up and started creating his travel
identity before the plane took off. They flew for about forty minutes before landing to drop off
any unnecessary personnel.

Aiden closed his eyes and laid his head against the seat. Sleep hadn’t been good last night.

Trace kept showing up in his dreams and disturbing his peace. Exhaustion overcame him as they
sat on the tarmac. They were on the ground for a long time, and Aiden wondered if he’d missed
the cue to exit the plane. He checked his work phone, regretting he couldn’t call Trace. There
were no messages from his boss, so he lay back in the chair and closed his eyes again.

Some time passed before he heard footsteps on the air stairs leading up to the plane. He

didn’t open his eyes wide, instead, he cracked them just a slit, moving his gun hand to the butt of

his pistol, releasing the safety.

“Good morning.” A short man with black hair and glasses said as he entered the cabin.

“Your name is Blake Miller. You're an oil executive who speaks Russian and English. Please
don’t use any other language during this trip. Everything you need to know before you land on
the other side of the pond is in this package.”

Aiden sat up and took the manila envelope from the guy. He’d open the documents once

they left the ground. The new guy handed Aiden a passport. He flipped open the front and
studied the picture. This identity was the new him. The mustache and scar over his left eye made
him look older. Who knew how long he would be Blake but he needed to go through customs,
and this passport and disguise would do just as well as the other’s he’d traveled under.

“Mister Miller, enjoy your trip. Customs will be arriving shortly. Tell them you're traveling

to London and staying there for two weeks on business. Would you please surrender any other
identifying information on your person before they arrive?”

Aiden stood up and allowed the man to search his pants pockets and jacket. He’d left

everything at home, but he knew the drill. His handlers treated him like a child, not trusting him
to get the details correct. They had good reasons to no longer blindly trust. A few years ago, an
agent had carried his New York driver's license with him and been caught by the enemy. It
looked bad when the guy had two ID’s. The state department had a hell of a time explaining
away that one.

“So, Mister Miller, are you traveling to London for business or pleasure?” the handler asked.
“Business. I’ll be there for less than two weeks and will return using a private jet,” Aiden

said.

“Very good. I hope to see you again, Mister Miller. Stay safe.”
Aiden watched the guy walk off the plane. The documents burned hot in his hands, but he

wouldn’t open them before customs finished with him. He stowed the document packet under his
seat, knowing the customs officials wouldn’t even want to look at any of his bags too deeply.
He’d done this many times before, and the customs officials knew better than to ask questions.

Heavy footsteps tromped up the steps to the plane’s cabin. Two guys walked in, one asked

for his passport, the other stood off to the side, not even looking at Aiden.

“Mister Miller. How long will you be staying in England?”
“Less than two weeks. I'll be returning by private plane,” Aiden said.
The customs agent seemed satisfied and turned to leave; then he stopped walking and looked

over his shoulder. Aiden’s stomach dropped. This was the first time he’d ever been given a
second glance.

“Whatever you’re doing over there, do it well,” the agent said.
The customs agent turned and left the plane. What the hell what that about? Maybe the guy

knew more than he should. Aiden picked up his work phone and dialed a special code. The
phone rang twice before an automated voice sounded. He relayed the message about the customs
agent, knowing the poor guy would be reassigned to a different department and never work in
this area again. Hell, he might even be fired for his comment, but Aiden couldn’t worry about
others when National Security was at stake. All it took was one mouthy customs agent to blow
cover for someone.

The pilots came next, all smiles and laughing as they boarded the plane. Aiden had traveled

with them before, but never with him as Blake Miller. They were company pilots, probably ex-
military, and had never worked a civilian job before. They waved and moved into the cockpit.
The plane’s engines ramped up, and the cabin door closed. After a few minutes, the pilot left his

cockpit and flashed a huge grin at Aiden.

“Hi, I’m Captain Bob Smith, and I’ll be your pilot today. Sit back and relax. Food is in this

cabinet over here. Fix your lunch when you’re ready, and I’ll turn off the seatbelt light as soon as
I feel safe. Tom Smith is our co-pilot on this trip. Have a safe flight.”

Aiden laughed and smiled at the pilot. Depending on the situation, he flew private. Not

always, but enough times they’d done this song and dance before. This guy’s name wasn’t Bob
and the co-pilot wasn’t Tom, but they sure as hell wouldn’t tell you their real names. Their boss
knew their real names, and when working for the CIA, that’s the only person you wanted to
know who you really were.

He played along with the joke, pretending this was the first time he’d flown with captain

Bob and Tom. “Thank you sir. I’m sure the trip will be uneventful.”

Bob chuckled. “Let’s hope so.” Six trips ago he’d been flying back with Bob as the pilot

when a RPG had been launched. Bob’s quick maneuvering had saved their lives.

They all took their usual seats and strapped in. Bob and Tom left the cockpit door open since

he was the only passenger. Seemed like a waste for him to be the only one on the plane, but half
the time he flew commercial so he didn’t feel too guilty about going private when The Company
required it.

After they leveled off, Aiden pulled the documents out from under his seat and spread them

on his lap. Two pictures were attached to the top sheet. Aiden flipped through the pages. Now he
knew why he was traveling private. His target was too high profile, and this mission too
complicated. The job would keep him busy for the next week and a half, and he would traverse
six countries. In the end, one of the biggest financial backers of terrorism would be taken down.

He studied the research, making sure the evidence pointed to his mark. By the time they

touched down in London, hate for his target burned hot in his belly.

Every assignment he’d ever been on there was always an argument phase where he would

question the background information for hours, making sure they really needed to assassinate the
target, but after reading the document package, he didn’t even need to ask. Assassination was the
only option.

Four days into the mission, Aiden took his first break. He’d been at a casino in Monte Carlo

until five in the morning when his mark plead exhaustion. There'd been plenty of drugs and loads
of women, all of them totally useless to Aiden.

He turned the water spigot off and dropped into the tub, letting the hot water relax his tired

muscles. Later today he was flying to Paris. It was all part of the plan. Sometimes he wished the
plans were simpler. He wanted to pull out his gun and waste the bastard, but they needed his
money. Playing in Monte Carlo had gotten Aiden’s partner on the mission access to the target’s
bank account in France, hence the need to travel to Paris.

He closed his eyes and forgot about the assignment, focusing instead on his date with Trace.

He thought about the way Trace’s lips curved as he smiled and the way his eyes narrowed as he
thought deeply about things. Aiden loved how every emotion the man had was displayed on his
face and in his eyes.

Aiden had almost submitted to the fact he was gay. Women just didn’t do it for him, and if

he were really honest with himself, they never had.

There were plenty of women for him to dip into on this mission. Rich women, fake women,

dumb women, and smart women, all here for him to play with. And none of them did anything
for him.

Aiden’s phone rang, and he answered on the second ring. “Blake Miller here.”
“Mister Miller, this is Air France calling to confirm your flight at six this evening.” The

woman on the other end of the phone was cordial, probably not one of their operatives, but who
knew.

“Thank you,” Aiden said before hanging up the phone. He blew out a breath, glad he could

sneak in a few hours sleep before he met with his team to discuss the next phase of their plans.
The mission was complicated, but he was glad he had the distractions to keep him from mooning
over Trace too much.

He missed the man. When Trace had turned him down for sex he’d been pissed. Looking

back, it had been the right thing to do, but he wished it hadn’t been the right thing. He could only
imagine how good it would feel to be with Trace. Aiden grabbed his dick and stroked it twice,
wondering what Trace’s lips would feel like on him.

His cock thickened as he stroked and imagined Trace on his knees lapping at his foreskin.

Aiden grunted and stroked harder, his balls growing tight. What would it feel like to slide into
Trace’s tight hole? Aiden dipped his fingers lower, circling the ring of tight muscles at his ass.

Aiden’s breath grew shallow as he skimmed his fingers across his bottom, playing with his

opening. With one hand still on his dick, he jerked off, slipping the tip of one finger into his ass.
Pleasure filled him as he pushed his finger in farther. He imagined Trace using his fingers to
invade him.

He bit his lip as his dick grew harder and his whole body tingled. How would Trace’s

fingers feel against his hole? Aiden pushed his finger in deeper, crying out as an explosion of
sensations raced through him. He wrapped his fingers around the base of his cock and squeezed
while he grabbed his balls. He was so close, but he wanted more.

Aiden pushed another finger into his hole; pain fired intensely before backing off as he

relaxed. His dick was dark purple and ready to blow. He curled his fingers in his ass just a bit,
and it was enough to make him whimper.

Trace’s face, innocent and pure, flashed in his mind and he lost it, coming hard as he pulled

back the foreskin on his dick, exposing the sensitive tip. Semen floated on the water, then sank to
the bottom of the tub as Aiden recovered.

God, he wished he could tell Trace he’d left town. That was the worse part of this job. He

couldn’t wait to get home and see the man. This time he wouldn’t take no for an answer. His
need was too high. Having sex with Trace was a must.

Trace picked up the phone and then placed it back on his desk. He’d called Aiden once and

left a message already. The guy was ignoring him, and he hated it.

Maybe they should have had sex. Hell, it was impossible to say. If only Aiden would call

him back, maybe he could convince the guy to meet again. Trace blushed as he thought of the
wild fantasies he’d had last night in the shower. Aiden on his knees. Aiden pressed up against the
wall. Aiden squirting spunk down his throat. The positions he’d thought up, and the sex he
imagined, had left him hotter than ever instead of satisfying him. Heck, this morning he’d had to
jack off again.

He grabbed his phone and placed the call to Aiden, waiting for the man to answer. After six

rings he was dumped to voicemail. Trace hung up, deciding it wasn’t worth it to leave a message.

Trace placed his phone in his desk and stood up. Before he could make it to the door his

phone rang. He raced back to his desk and answered without checking to see who was calling.

“Hello.”

“Hey, Trace. I was wondering if you were free tonight.” Derek’s voice was a huge letdown.
Trace didn’t even have to think about it. “I’m sorry, but I’m busy.”
“It’s that guy, isn’t it?” Derek sounded angry.
“Derek, we had fun while it lasted, but I think we’re done.” Trace grabbed his forehead and

rubbed.

“You’re fucking kidding me. Come on, it’s just sex. We don’t even have to tell him if you

don’t want to invite him to join us.”

Trace closed his eyes, keeping his voice calm. “Derek, I’m grateful for the time we had

together, and I enjoyed everything you had to offer, but it’s time you found someone else.”

“Fuck you.” Derek hung up.
Trace breathed out a ragged breath, and his intercom buzzed. “Yes, Tracy.”
“Patient in room three.”
“Thank you.”
Hell, maybe he should swear off dating for a while. Aiden was playing games, and he didn’t

like it. He spent the next few days buried in work, picking up shifts in the ER. His bank account
would love him, but swearing off Aiden wasn’t doing anything for his sleep.

After one overly exhausting night of work, he called Aiden and left another message. He

was ready to give up on the relationship. It pissed him off Aiden was playing these childish
games. His body was aching for relief even though he jacked off every night before falling
asleep. Getting Aiden out of his system would take a hell of a lot more than just time.

There were a few guys he could call to take the edge off, but he didn’t want to. No one

measured up to Aiden, and they hadn’t even had sex. The guy had him going crazy. If Aiden
showed up tonight, Trace would throw pride to the wind and sink to his knees just to touch the
man. How low had he fallen? He’d do anything for Aiden, no matter how much he had to
humiliate himself.

Aiden fell into bed on his first night back from the assignment. It had been easy to secure the

money trail and take out his target, but he hadn’t slept in three days. Normally he would crash on
the plane, but he’d had company.

Shelly Newton, an operative out of Tokyo, had hitched a ride back to the states. Everyone

approved of her tagging along, so there was nothing Aiden could do about it, but he sure as hell
wasn’t going to sleep with another assassin onboard.

Tomorrow, he'd hunt down Trace and apologize for the lack of contact. The guy would

probably be livid. Aiden had to tell him something, just not the truth, at least not yet.

When his phone shrilled beside his bed, he jumped, coming up on his knees, then fell back

onto the pillows and answered the phone.

“Bl--It’s Aiden.”
“Well, my goodness, son, why haven't you called me back?” His mom’s voice was sweet

music to his ears.

“Sorry. I was out on business.” His mom knew he worked for the CIA, but she had no clue

what he actually did for them. He’d kept quiet about his specific assignment and didn’t intend to
tell his family he killed people for a living.

“For a whole month? No, don’t answer. Anyways, since I know you're always coming and

going, I wanted to talk to you about Christmas.”

“Seriously? It’s only August.”
“September, son. September first is today.”

Aiden groaned. How long had he been gone? Time passed in unreal manners when he was

on a mission. This one had been exciting, and in a sick sort of way, a little bit fun, so it zoomed
by.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize. I guess I was gone longer than I thought.”
“We want you to come home for a visit. Doesn’t have to be Christmas Day, but sometime in

December.”

Aiden lay back in his bed and closed his eyes. “I’ll find some way to stop by. You know my

schedule though. It sucks for making plans.”

“I know, sweetie. Bring a girl if you like.”
His mother’s words burned his soul. Oh, damn. Sure he was feeling kind of okay with the

thought of liking a guy, but his mom would never understand. During his last trip, the thought of
Trace being special to him filled so much of his down time that he accepted being gay. But those
who knew him, what would they say?

“Sure, Mom,” Aiden lied, he would never bring home a girl.
“I love you, Aiden. I’ll call you next week.”
“Love you, Mom. And I promise to call more often.”
“We know you’re busy. Just keep on doing what you’ve been doing.”
“I will. Bye.”
Aiden crawled out of bed and glanced at the clock. It was already past three in the afternoon.

He’d shower and get cleaned up then make his way over to Trace’s office. Calling would leave a
trail, and he hated to have a trail left behind.

He picked up his personal cell and checked the messages. He listened to and erased the ones

from his mother. She’d left five messages over the last month. He should have called when he’d
been home between assignments, but he’d forgotten with all the crazy stuff going on with girls
and Trace. Hell, she’d die if she figured out he was gay

Trace called three times and only left two messages. Aiden’s heart felt heavy as he listened

to his first message.

Hey buddy, it’s Trace. Just wondering if you were up for watching the game this weekend?

Call me. The message ended and a huge empty spot opened up inside his chest. Damn, he should
have called Trace and told him he’d be out of pocket for a few days. Trace had left the message
the day Aiden took off. Then three days later Trace called back and didn’t leave a message.
Finally, a week after Aiden left town, Trace called and left another message.

Um, Aiden, it’s been a week. Call if you like. The message ended and Aiden knew there was

more Trace wanted to say. The tone of his voice was too sharp, his words too stilted and stiff.
He’d screwed up and knew it. Going to see Trace was the only way to make this right.

He didn’t know what time Trace would finish work tonight, but he didn’t want to miss the

man. He could call in another favor to find out Trace’s schedule, but it would take time. Aiden
hurried into the shower, ignoring the rest of the messages from various women he used to date.
Later, after he got things settled with Trace, he’d call them and tell them he was involved with
someone else and wouldn’t be seeing them any more. Hell, it had been so long, he couldn’t
believe any of them were actually still calling him. A few of them were university professors and
were back in town for a new semester. They probably called out of misplaced obligation or
boredom.

After shaving and getting dressed, he drove across town to Trace’s office and parked in the

back. Trace’s car started, sending Aiden’s heart racing. He jumped out of his car and raced over
to Trace’s BMW.

“Hey,” Aiden yelled out then tapped on the window.
Again, Trace jumped, but this time he didn’t smile. He shook his head and rolled down his

window, his lips in a thin line.

“Please?” Aiden begged. He couldn’t say more now. Not out here in the open, not where

anyone could hear him. Trace’s face was hard with anger as Aiden waited for him to answer.
After a moment, Trace relaxed, the hard planes of his face softened.

“Fine, get in.”
“My car. It’ll be safe?” Aiden asked.
Trace looked over to where Aiden had parked. “Yeah, you’re in Shelly’s spot, and she won’t

be in tomorrow.”

Aiden sucked in air. Trace had implied they would be together all night. He didn’t hesitate,

but raced around the car, opening the door to slip into the passenger seat. Trace rolled up the
window and put the car in gear.

“You’ve got five minutes to tell me something believable and prove you’re not a flake.”
Aiden swallowed over the lump in his throat, and bit back the fear clawing at his brain. He’d

never told anyone anything close to the truth. This could get very sticky.

“I’m CIA, and I get called out of town all the time. When I go, I can only let certain people

know I’m out of town. Every one of my calls is monitored. Hell, I’m monitored half the time.”

Trace took his foot off the gas. “Are they watching us right now?”
“No, we’re safe. No one knows I’m dating you. A few more phone calls from you and they

would, but for now, we’re safe.”

“Dating? Huh, is that what we’re doing?”
Heat crept up Aiden’s neck to his face. “Sorry, I guess I’m presuming too much.”
“Well, we aren’t lovers. Yet.” Trace’s eyes cut towards Aiden. Lust spilled out, and the air

grew thick between them.

“No, we're not. We’ve been on one date; at least I think it was a date.” Aiden clenched his

fists, trying to keep his hands to himself.

“So now, two weeks after you were dead set against being gay, you’re okay dating a guy?”
Aiden looked out the window at all the passing cars. He had no idea where they were going

and didn’t care. All he wanted was to be with Trace. He’d spent hours thinking about the man
and nights dreaming about him.

“I don’t know. Like I said, I’m new to this. I thought about you every day when I was gone.

I got back late last night. Hadn’t slept for three days and crashed, but I really wanted to call you.
So yeah, I think I need to see...I don’t know, see if we can make it.”

“That’s a huge change from the way you felt at dinner two weeks ago.” Trace turned down

Beach drive and then onto Massachusetts.

“You live over here?”
“Yeah, but it’s not what you think. I live in a small apartment. It’s not much, but it’s a nice

neighborhood. I’m saving up to buy a home when I settle down.”

Aiden ignored the last comment. He couldn’t think of Trace dumping him to settle down

with a woman. Of course, the guy could always settle down with another guy. “Is that where
we’re headed, to your house?”

“Yep. I’m tired, and I want to relax at home. I’ve had a bitch of a day, and I’ve already got

food waiting.”

Aiden didn’t want to ask the next question. He didn’t want to know if Trace was going to

kick him to the curb or invite him in. He really wanted to be with the guy. The last time they

were together, his balls had ached when Trace turned him down. Aiden clutched his damp palms
together.

“You’re welcome to stay for dinner. It’s leftover Italian.”
When he’d been on assignment, he wondered if he would ever get the chance to be alone

with Trace. Now here was the chance he’d dreamed about.

Trace pulled the car into a parking spot and cut the engine. “Home sweet home.”
Aiden gulped down his fear and reached for the door handle to get out, but Trace grabbed

his arm and stopped him. Aiden cut his gaze over to the guy. Their eyes locked, and lust filled
Aiden.

“I’m not feeling very gracious, in fact I’m horny as hell, and I’m not going to behave. I

won’t hold back, and since you came here on your own volition, I think screwing your brains out
is what I want to do,” Trace said.

Aiden’s mouth went dry, and he tried to nod, but he didn’t think he even moved.
“The minute the front door closes, your pants are coming off.” Trace let go of Aiden’s arm

and got out of the car. He waited on the steps for Aiden to join him.

The promise of wild sex made Aiden’s dick stand at attention. He wanted this more than

he’d ever wanted sex with anyone. The thought of Trace’s tongue on his cock made him shudder.
He pushed open the car door and stumbled up the steps, latching onto Trace’s hand in passing.

Trace’s lips curled into a satisfied smile when Aiden turned back to look. This was

happening right now. He didn’t have to sit through another long dinner with Trace or spend time
just talking. They were going to get naked and busy within the next few minutes.

Before Aiden could fully comprehend what he was doing, the door to Trace’s place was

open, and he was being yanked inside. Trace slammed the door and slid the deadbolt home with
a click of finality.

“Pants off, big boy. Now.”
For years Aiden had followed commands, and it was easy for him to do what Trace wanted.

A small part of him thought about saying no, but his balls ached, and his dick strained to be set
free.

As slowly and deliberately as he could, he unbuttoned his pants then slid the zipper down.

His gaze locked with Trace’s, and he gasped at the intensity.

“Push them down slowly, and leave your underwear on. I’ll take those off of you myself.”
Aiden’s hands trembled as he pushed his pants over his hips. He swallowed hard as Trace

watched him move. To Aiden’s surprise Trace squeezed his own package and moaned. Women
didn’t touch themselves when they had sex. He liked seeing Trace’s hands on his package. Trace
slid his hand into his pants, stroking his dick with one hand while he used the other to touch his
nipples through his shirt.

“Oh God, that’s hot,” Aiden said.
“You’re hot. I want to shove you down onto the floor and have my way with you.”
Aiden dropped his pants and kicked off his shoes. He reached for his underwear, but Trace

moved fast and grabbed his hand.

“Hell no, those are mine to remove. Ditch the shirt though.”
Aiden unbuttoned his shirt and let it slide off his shoulders and down his arms. It made a

swishing sound as it fell to the floor. Trace walked around him, his fingers running over Aiden’s
muscles. He stopped over Aiden’s ass crack and grabbed on tight to the round globes of Aiden’s
butt.

“Soon,” Trace squeezed again, “very soon, we’re going to start playing back here. I’m

guessing you’re still a virgin in that area?”

The heat in Aiden’s face was almost painful. “Yeah,” he said in a hushed voice.
“I like how you blush. You probably didn’t think of yourself as a blusher until you met me.

I’m going to do wicked things to you that will make you turn all shades of red and pink.”

“Yes,” Aiden hissed.
“You want me to lick your cock now. Am I right?”
Aiden loved the dirty talk. His body was tingling with need. “Please.”
Trace dropped to his knees in front of Aiden, hooked his thumbs into Aiden’s underwear

and slid it down over his hips slowly. “Oh God, would you look at that.”

The look on Trace’s face was priceless. Aiden knew he had a big cock. He’d caught hell in

Basic Underwater Demolition training, gained the nickname Porn King with his BUDs class. Not
that he was hung like a horse, but he wasn’t small either.

Trace didn’t touch, didn’t lick or kiss the tip, instead he stared at Aiden, licking his lips and

making a purring noise under his breath.

“Uncut, nice,” Trace said as he stared.
So unprepared for Trace’s lips actually touching him, when Trace leaned in and brushed a

delicate kiss across the knob, Aiden cried out and jumped back.

Trace grabbed Aiden’s ass cheeks and pulled him in close, nuzzling his nose in Aiden’s

crotch and breathing in deeply.

“Damn, you smell great,” Trace moaned.
Aiden wanted more. “Mmmm, I need you.”
“Don’t you worry your sweet little ass. I’m going to turn you inside out.”
The moment Trace sucked Aiden’s dick into his mouth, Aiden thought he would drop to the

floor. His knees wavered and almost gave out. Trace clenched Aiden’s ass cheeks tight, forcing
Aiden to hold still.

Warm heat enveloped him, sending tingling electricity through his body. He watched

Trace’s mouth slide up and down his pole, licking and nipping as he went. Every cell in his body
had been waiting for this moment. Sure, with Chuck it had felt good, but with Trace everything
felt better, more intense.

Aiden felt something cold and wet against his ass. He looked down and saw a tube of lube

beside Trace’s knee. Where the hell had that come from? Trace’s lubed up fingers were teasing
his opening, relaxing the muscles with smooth circles and pressure. The slide of Trace’s finger
into his hole was painful at first, then he relaxed and pleasure started to surface.

Trace moved his finger, opening Aiden’s hole up and relaxing his muscles. After a few

seconds Trace slid his finger in farther and hit a spot that made Aiden lose control. He grabbed
onto Trace’s head and held it still while he rocked his hips hard, fucking Trace’s mouth.

His balls were tight, his dick hard and ready to blow as Trace massaged his sweet spot.

Aiden couldn’t hold back, and he shoved his dick in as deep as Trace could take it, coming hard,
jerking with each spurt of come down Trace’s throat.

He pulled out of Trace’s mouth and dropped to the area rug, totally spent. Trace plopped

down beside him and began kissing every inch of Aiden’s body. The man didn’t miss a spot as
he licked, nipped, and touched with his mouth. Aiden wanted to move, he wanted to hold Trace
against him and tell him how wonderful he felt, but words escaped him as his head swum with
the aftereffects of such a powerful orgasm.

“Roll over,” Trace commanded.
Aiden rolled to his stomach, his dick soft underneath him. The wool of the rug scratched his

belly. He needed time to recover, but he wouldn’t deny Trace his pleasure.

Trace lay half on Aiden, his chest pressed against Aiden’s shoulder, two fingers massaging

the muscle around his tight opening, never slipping in, just back and forth across the ring. Aiden
knew what was going to come next and a trickle of fear mixed with excitement raced through
him.

The soft nuzzle of Trace’s nose against his neck made Aiden shiver. Trace chuckled, his

breath tickled Aiden.

“I’m going to screw you now,” Trace said.
Aiden gasped and his dick jerked against the carpet.
“I promise I’ll be gentle. I’ll open you up first, and when I enter you, I’ll move slowly. This

first time is getting you used to me inside of you, melding with you and becoming a part of your
body. Next time, I’ll ride you hard and make you scream my name before we’re done.”

Aiden’s breath caught in his throat, and his head swam with anticipation. Each move of

Trace’s fingers against his crack made Aiden harder. When Trace finally inserted two fingers
into his hole his dick jumped again.

“Mmmm, you’re almost there. Just another finger here.”
The third finger pushed against Aiden’s opening, bringing with it a small wave of pain.

Aiden cried out and Trace stopped moving.

“Relax, I’ll be careful,” Trace whispered.
Trace started moving again and inserted his fourth finger next, pushing in and out slowly so

Aiden could grow used to the invasion. Suddenly, the warm body wasn’t pressed up against
Aiden any longer, and the fingers were gone. He wanted to beg for Trace to reconnect with him,
before he could say anything Trace was between his legs, pulling at Aiden’s hips. Trace let go
and Aiden heard the rip of the condom packet. He looked over his shoulder to see Trace rolling
on the latex.

“Up on your knees,” Trace commanded.
The tone excited Aiden as much as the act. Aiden rose up, with his elbow’s staying on the

floor, resting his head against his hands. The lube cooled tip of Trace’s condom-covered dick
slid against his crease, and he jumped away from the contact.

“You okay with this?” Trace’s reassuring hand covered Aiden’s hip.
Aiden shivered. “Yeah, I want you so much.”
“Are you afraid?”
He nodded, unable to lie to this man. He wanted this too much to let the fear stop him.

“Yeah, a little.”

“If you want me to stop, I will.”
Trace’s reassurances were like warm honey to his soul. The man cared for him, and that

meant more than any relationship ever had. This was more than just sex or getting off.

“Please, take me. I’m yours,” Aiden begged.
Trace squeezed Aiden’s hips and lined up his dick, pressing against the ring of muscles that

had never before been breached by a cock. Fear knifed his chest, catching his breath and leaving
him dizzy as he opened, granting entrance to the thick rod at his back door.

The pressure inside of his hole increased and he gasped. Trace stopped moving.
“You okay?” Trace’s voice was filled with worry.
“I’m good, just give me a second.” Aiden breathed through the pain, blinking away the tears

in his eyes. Five seconds turned to ten then something released and the pain diminished. “Move.”

“You want me out?” Trace asked.

“No,” Aiden said through gritted teeth. “Fuck me. Own me.”
Trace gasped and his fingers dug into Aiden’s flesh. “Baby, you’re mine now. I’m the first,

and I’ve marked you with my body. No other will ever have this pleasure or this honor. You’re
mine.”

The slide of Trace’s cock into his ass felt good now. When Trace’s pelvis was flat up against

Aiden’s body he thought he was going to pass out with pleasure. Trace pulled back then rode
forward again. A deep rush of pleasure sent a spurt of pre-come out of Aiden’s dick.

“Oh damn, that’s good,” Aiden said.
“Tell me how good.”
Aiden fought for words. Being fucked felt so amazing. He couldn’t believe he’d never done

this before. His ass muscles squeezed as he looked between his legs to see Trace’s balls
bouncing into his.

“Oh fuck, this is impossibly good,” Aiden said. “I’ve never--”
More pre-come leaked out of his dick and onto the floor. They were locked together, balls

bouncing against each other, legs slapping in the otherwise silent rooms. Aiden’s dick was rock
hard again, and he knew one touch would send him over the edge.

Trace stopped moving, his breath coming in gasps as he reached around and stroked Aiden’s

cock. Aiden’s body jerked and Trace moaned, rocking his hips gently forward.

“We were meant to do this. We fit together so well.” Trace’s breath warmed Aiden’s back,

his hand heated Aiden’s dick.

“God, I’m gonna...Can’t...”
Trace’s hand pumped him hard twice more as he rocked in and out of Aiden's ass. Tension

rolled through Aiden’s body, his muscles tightening just before he felt the first jets of come
rocket out of his dick. Aiden couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think.

“Hell yeah,” Trace yelled as his body jerked against Aiden’s.
Trace’s dick pulsed deep within Aiden’s body as the condom filled with jizz. After Trace

stopped moving, he slid out of Aiden, and both of them dropped to the floor. Trace forced Aiden
to roll over then covered Aiden’s body with his own. They lay, chest-to-chest, dick-to-dick, and
eye-to-eye.

Aiden shivered, his legs felt weak and his body a bit used, like he’d been exercising for

hours instead of fucking for only minutes. He wondered if he could stand or would his legs give
out.

Trace gazed at him, his eyes soft and filled with wonder. Aiden lifted his head and brushed

his lips across Trace’s.

“Next time, we’re going to be facing each other when we do this,” Trace said.
“I’d like that.” Aiden filled with an emotion so close to love it stole his breath away. His

heart squeezed and his eyes moistened. This couldn’t be love, not yet. Love took years to build.
He’d never fallen in love before. Of course, he’d never been with a man before.

“Come on, we need to shower.” Trace pulled him up, and they bumped into each other.

Trace bit his lip and glanced down at Aiden’s body. A smile curved up the corners of Trace’s
mouth, and his cheeks went pink.

Aiden felt pride in his body, that Trace liked the way he looked was an added bonus. He

stopped walking before they left the main room of Trace’s place and looked back over his
shoulder at the evidence of their sex. Clothes were strewn all over the place, the scent of spunk
lingered on the air.

Trace came back to him and wrapped his arms around Aiden. They hugged, their bodies

pressed against each other, their chests rose and fell together as they breathed in each other’s
scent. Aiden left a trail of soft kisses up Trace’s shoulder to his ear and nuzzled his neck. “That
was good.”

At first it sounded like Trace was purring, then he realized his new lover was moaning.

Trace squeezed tighter and sought out Aiden’s mouth. The kiss was long and sumptuous with
their lips open and their tongues twisting slowly against each other.

Trace pulled away first, his eyes hooded as he gazed at Aiden. “You’re amazing, and that

was great sex. I’m glad I was your first.”

“Me too.” Aiden didn’t want to let go, but they needed to shower, and he probably needed to

dress. The longer they stayed naked, the more likely he was to beg for Trace to do him again, and
his body was too sore to contemplate another round right now.

In all of his dreams and thoughts of being with a man, he’d never imagined how good it

could be. Being fucked was way better than he’d expected. Hell, he never really thought he
would be the one to take bottom. In his most secret fantasies, he’d been on top and in control.
When Trace had assumed control of the situation, Aiden gladly handed over the decisions. His
lack of command was totally and completely unlike anything else in Aiden’s life. Sure, he was in
the military and used to taking commands, but in his personal life, he never had.

With girls he’d always been the one to dictate what happened. Every moment with a girl,

he’d been totally in control. He shivered before he stepped into the shower.

“You cold?” Trace asked.
“No, just thinking.”
“Tell me.”
The dynamics of this relationship were so foreign to him, he almost balked and kept his lips

sealed. Women didn’t act this way. They didn’t command when they wanted him to talk about
his feelings, instead, they manipulated and talked around any issues. Trace was in total control of
this relationship, and Aiden liked it.

He stepped into the warm spay of water and obediently turned as Trace pushed him around.

The soft slide of the soap against his skin set off a wave of goose bumps.

“I was thinking about how you’ve been in control of us since I showed up at your office

today,” Aiden said.

Trace stopped soaping Aiden’s ass, his breath hot against Aiden’s back. “You okay with

that?”

Aiden wanted to turn around and look Trace in the eyes, but Trace’s firm grip on his

shoulder held Aiden still.

“I liked it,” Aiden said, admitting the weakness. He was always the strong one, the one in

control, and with Trace, he wanted to be told what to do.

Trace hugged him tight. “We’re good together. Don’t ever hesitate to tell me if you don’t

like something though. I’m not into forcing you to do something you don’t want to. I want you to
have pleasure most of all.”

Aiden swallowed over the lump in his throat. So much had happened in the last month.

Being with Trace felt so right. A month ago, he would have beaten the shit out of anyone who
suggested he wanted to be with a man, but now he wanted to tell everyone how he felt.

He tamped down the excitement, as fear of retaliation flooded him. Sure, he could win in a

fight against anyone who even tried to hurt him, but work was another thing. What if one of the
CIA uppity ups was homophobic? Could he lose his job over coming out? The Army was going
liberal, but it didn’t mean the rest of the government gave a damn.

“What’s wrong?” Trace asked.
“How the hell do you read me so well?”
Trace turned Aiden to face him, and cupped Aiden’s jaw, sliding his thumb across Aiden’s

lips.

“You are so beautiful. Everything about you is wonderful,” Trace said.
“But how do you know what I’m thinking?”
“Easy, you tense or you still your breathing.”
The shock he’d given away so many cues sent a burst of anger racing through him. “Damn,

that’s awful.”

Trace stiffened, his eyes looked wary.
“No, it’s okay. Hell, it’s not you. It’s just...I can’t tell you what I do exactly. I wish I could,

but I need...Never mind.”

“It’s okay. Just don’t talk about your job. Here, let me finish soaping you up.”
Trace washed off the rest of Aiden’s body, smoothing his fingers over his muscles, paying

special attention to Aiden’s balls and dick. He didn’t go full stiff, but Aiden’s dick took notice of
Trace’s touch.

Aiden returned the favor and washed Trace’s body, loving the way his hands caressed the

other man. This was how it was supposed to feel when he washed off his lover, hard muscles and
tight curves accentuated by the hair sprinkled across Trace’s chest.

They were done soaping up each other, but not done kissing. Trace pinned him against the

tile, pressing his pelvis into Aiden’s and spent minutes kissing his mouth, chin, and nose. When
the water started to turn cold, Trace turned off the spray and tossed Aiden a towel.

“I’m starving. Don’t get dressed yet, I want to see you naked,” Trace said.
The thrill of Trace’s words spread through Aiden, giving him more confidence. He came up

behind Trace and hugged him. “I really like this. I never thought I would ever...well, ever be
with a man, but you’ve made this into something I like.”

Aiden wanted to use the word love to describe how he felt, but with a chick you never said

love, they took it too seriously. He didn’t know how Trace would feel if he said the word. Not
that he wanted to tell Trace he thought he was falling in love because it would be a bit too much
too soon. He wanted to spend time with the man and get to know him before he expressed his
feelings.

Trace pulled the spaghetti with roasted tomatoes, garlic, and pancetta out of the fridge. He

popped it in the microwave and watched Aiden checking his phone. He picked up his own phone
and dialed Aiden’s number. The phone in his lover’s hand never rang.

“You don’t carry your personal cell with you.”
Aiden looked up and flinched. “Not often.”
“That work?”
“Yeah.”
“Would they call you out again so soon?”
Aiden shrugged and Trace felt annoyance building. He’d basically told Aiden he didn’t need

to know what he did for a job, but it was bugging the shit out of him. He wanted to throw a fit
and find out what the big secret was. Hell, he should know, he was practically in love with the
man.

Oh no, what was he thinking? He couldn’t believe he’d fallen for this bastard. The guy had

left town for two weeks without saying where he was going, and they were supposed to pick up

where they left off? Dumping Aiden wouldn’t work. His heart was already too twisted round the
man for him to leave. Trace pushed back the annoyance and smiled at Aiden.

“I hope you’re here for a while. I’m leaving for the Amazon soon, but I want to spend some

time with you before I go.”

“Wait, are you leaving already? When?” Aiden asked.
“A week from Thursday.”
“Damn, I thought I had a month with you.”
Trace threw out a bark of laughter. “You did. You were gone for more than two weeks.”
It gave Trace a perverse amount of pleasure to see Aiden upset about how soon he was

leaving. The man looked down right sexy with his brows bunched together and his hip cocked to
the side, blowing that sexy blond hair out of his eyes. Aiden looked more like a surfer than a CIA
agent.

“You’re sexy when you get angry,” Trace said.
Aiden popped his head up and frowned. “I’m not angry.”
Trace moved towards him and ran his fingers over Aiden’s jaw. “Baby, I can read you. You

may not like it, but I’ve got your number.”

The microwave dinged, and Trace walked away. Aiden groaned and followed him. Before

Trace could pull the food out, he felt Aiden’s hands on his bare ass.

“You may have my number, but I have your ass.”
Trace laughed and whipped around. “Babe, you can have my ass anytime.”
Aiden leaned in and kissed him, his body pressing Trace up against the wall. Trace’s cock

grew hard as they ground against each other. This is what he’d never had with any of his other
lovers. Sure, they’d had sex, but this went beyond sex. This was making love and Trace knew it.
He’d lost his heart to this man, and it scared the shit out of him.

Falling for a normal guy would be easier, but he wouldn’t give up Aiden. The guy was like a

fine wine or a drug, and Trace couldn’t get enough.

Chapter Five

In the middle of the night, Aiden woke with sweat drenching his body. He sat up, his breath

coming in gasps. Crap, Adam would be at his house at eight in the morning. He had to get home.

Trace’s hand smoothed across his back. “Baby, what’s up?”
“What time will you leave for work in the morning?”
“Seven. Have to be there by eight.”
“We have to leave early.” The words spilled out of Aiden’s mouth as his heart slammed

against his ribs. How much did his team already know? Did James know whose bed he was
sleeping in tonight? The feeling of wanting to tell everyone about his new love had disappeared
at some point as he slept. Sure, making love to Trace had been amazing, but what would people
say?

“Hmm, let me move up the alarm by thirty minutes.” Trace rolled away from him and

fumbled with the buttons then settled back into bed.

Aiden lay down and tried to get comfortable. He’d make it home with enough time to

change and get ready for his debriefing. After a heavy sigh, he settled and closed his eyes. About
a minute later, a horrible thought struck. What if they’d placed bugs in Trace’s apartment? He
hadn’t thought to check when they arrived yesterday evening. He’d been so focused on being
with Trace, not on his safety.

Trace snuggled close, pulling Aiden tight against him. The closeness felt like a death grip,

like he wouldn’t survive if he didn’t get out of there right now. Aiden took a calming breath, and
Trace stirred beside him.

Aiden settled into the sheets, rubbing his leg up against Trace. Trace moaned and hugged

him tighter. His breathing slowed, and his heart settled. This wasn’t too bad. He liked being with
Trace. The fear of being found out was near suffocating, but he could push it away.

He checked the time, only a little past four. It sounded like Trace was back asleep, his

breathing deep and steady. He didn’t want to wake the man, and there was really nothing he
could do. The device he needed to check Trace’s place was sitting in the back of his car.

He’d done so many things wrong in the last twenty-four hours, but allowing Trace to slide

his hot cock into him wasn’t one of them. He didn’t regret having sex with the man at all.
Getting banged by Trace could possibly be the best thing he’d ever done in his life. The
Company had no idea he was here, and if they did know, they didn’t have any clue he was this
serious about Trace.

Aiden relaxed, and he must have drifted off at some point because he was startled awake

when the alarm rang. The atmosphere between Trace and Aiden wasn’t strange or stilted. He’d
only slept over at one girl’s house before. Usually he didn’t like to spend the night because
spending the night meant commitment beyond what he wanted.

They laughed over coffee and eggs and rushed through their showers, with Trace giving him

a blowjob he wouldn’t soon forget. He’d offered to do Trace, but the man reminded him of the
time and told him he could take care of him later, once they were back here for the evening.

“You mean you want me to spend the night again tonight?” Aiden asked.
Trace ducked his head and looked through hooded eyes at Aiden. His cheeks were a bit pink

and his mouth turned up in a small smile. Hell, the man looked downright shy, a total change
from the in-command hottie he’d been yesterday. “Yeah, I do.”

Aiden mulled over the thought for a few seconds. No alarm bells sounded, only anticipation

filled him.

“I’ll be here. What time?” Aiden bent low to tie his shoes.
“How about I give you a key?”
Aiden sat up straight and looked Trace straight in the eyes. “A key, that’s beyond causal

fucking.”

Trace sat down on the couch beside Aiden, his eyes dark and serious. “I feel nothing casual

about you.”

“But you don’t know me.”
“No, I don’t, but I also know you aren’t going to mess me over.”
Aiden said nothing. The guy was way too trusting, or maybe Aiden was way too jaded. He

would never in his life allow anyone else to have a key to his place.

“How many keys you ever give out?” Aiden couldn’t stop himself from asking.
Trace stopped working on his tie, his hands froze mid air. “That doesn’t sound like jealousy

when you ask the question. You aren’t trying to pry into my past?”

Fear raced through Aiden, if there were keys out there, then anyone could get one. Of course

a good agent could get in easily, but it wasn’t the agents he was worried about. The crazy shits
who might find out what he did and want retribution, that’s what he feared.

“I’m not jealous or digging about you past.”
Trace didn’t look satisfied with Aiden’s answer, but he shook his head and smiled. “No one.

Not even my family has a key.” He got up and walked across the room, grabbing his jacket and
tugging it on.

Relief poured through Aiden, at least no one could get in without having to break in. He’d

hear someone breaking in if he were here. Now all he had to do was secure the place for Trace so
no one could get him.

Now real fear pinged against his heart. He stood up and breached the distance between them

in two steps. His arms were around Trace before he could move. Aiden crushed him to his chest
and didn’t let go even when Trace struggled against the tight hold.

“Hey, you okay?” Trace asked.
Aiden pushed him to arm’s length and held him there, not letting Trace move. “We need to

sit down and have a very serious conversation later. Right now I have to get back to my car so I
can get home. Just promise me one thing.”

“Sure.”
“Be careful. Anything makes you feel uncomfortable, leave the situation immediately.”
Trace laughed and leaned in for a quick kiss. “Baby, my job is one of the safest jobs in the

world. No need to worry about me.”

He liked and hated the fact that Trace was so naive to think any job safe. Terrorists loved to

target hospitals, and if they ever found out he was in a relationship with a doctor, they wouldn’t
think twice of eliminating his lover along with thousands of other people.

All the way to Trace’s office, Aiden’s stomach twisted in knots, and when they arrived, he

could barely kiss Trace on the cheeks before stumbling to his car, speeding off and burning
rubber. There were no issues on the drive home, and he arrived long before Adam showed up.

His nerves were jumbled as he dressed for the debriefing, wondering if he could actually tell

James he was gay. His stomach tossed and turned, and his hands shook as he buttoned his shirt
and tied his tie. After dressing, he sat at the kitchen table, his head resting on his hands as he
tried to calm his nerves. He slowed his breathing, forcing his heart to calm down. Sure, his
situation sucked, but he could make it work. There wasn’t anything he was doing wrong. If he

made it through BUDs training, he could make it through anything, including coming out to his
boss.

The purr of the car alerted him Adam was outside. He grabbed his coat and headed out the

door after setting his alarm. Trace needed an alarm like his house alarm, but he probably
wouldn’t understand unless Aiden told him everything.

Trace was going to have to be listed as a person he wanted to tell everything to. Of course,

the CIA wouldn’t allow him to tell Trace yet. They hadn’t dated for long enough, and they
weren’t going to have one of those civil unions anytime soon. He was stuck between a rock and a
hard place. He wanted Trace to know about his life, but he couldn’t tell him. Trace would just
have to have a lot of trust for their relationship to work.

The debriefing was long and boring. They wanted answers about every minute detail of his

operation. No one questioned where he’d spent the night last night or what he’d done when he
got home. They were interested in how he’d gotten the account information from his target, and
since the questioning went on and on, he didn’t have time to tell James about his sexual
orientation.

When he first joined The Company, the surveillance on him had been close to degrading, but

he guessed they’d slacked off. He had no idea when the CIA stopped watching him so closely,
but if they were scrutinizing him like before, they would have known he was gay, had spent the
night with Trace, and what sexual positions they’d used.

Afterward, another driver, not Adam, dropped him off at home. He took a quick shower and

dressed in jeans before heading to Trace’s apartment. He stopped and picked up a bottle of red
wine on the way over. He was used to playing the romance card with women, it felt comfortable
to continue with Trace. Looking back, he knew he’d done a lot of the flower and candy buying to
cover for his true lack of interest in the women, but some part of him still enjoyed the whole
romance thing.

He wanted to see Trace. Wanted to run his tongue down Trace’s spine and dip lower, all the

way to the guy’s balls and up his cock. Aiden’s dick grew hard thinking about Trace’s cock and
the rest of him.

Before leaving home, Aiden had checked his car for bugs, GPS devices, and other tracking

items. It was clean, which surprised him. Of course the government was always upping their
technology, and they could always ping his cell, so who knew what he missed in the sweep, but
as far as he could tell, he was clear. He hoped he arrived at Trace’s place before his lover did, but
it would be close.

He rounded the corner down the street from Trace’s apartment and saw him standing on the

front steps going through mail. Aiden held his breath and took his foot off the accelerator. The
man was totally gorgeous, and he had no clue. All Aiden wanted to do was kiss and hold Trace
for the next hour, working up his courage to push the man underneath him and slide his dick into
the guy’s hole.

Aiden shivered as he pulled to a stop. First, he had to sweep Trace’s place for bugs. The

street was empty, no vans and no cars with people sitting in them so they were clear from direct
surveillance. He’d been watching all the way over and made some silly turns that would have
revealed a tail. No one had followed him.

He stepped out of the car, and Trace’s smile knocked the wind out of him. The emotions hit

him hard. No way this was anything less than love.

Aiden grabbed his bag from the back of his car and slung it over one shoulder. Trace

watched his every move, but didn’t come to him. Aiden wondered if Trace was out to his
neighbors. Of course he’d said he had never given his key away, now Aiden wondered if the man
had ever invited anyone to spend the night at his place.

“Hey, I thought we would grill tonight,” Trace said.
“Sounds good. I’m starving.”
Aiden almost walked past Trace, but the man stuck out his hand and grabbed Aiden’s arm.

When Trace leaned in and kissed his cheek, Aiden’s entire body burned with lust. His cock
stiffened, and he breathed in deep before letting go of a low growl.

“You do that again, and we won’t be eating anytime soon.” Trace smacked Aiden on the ass,

his eyes filled with mischief.

Tonight, Aiden felt more in control. His gaze connected with Trace’s and electricity sizzled

between them. They were both on edge, their pupils dilated as they took in everything about each
other.

“I missed you,” Trace whispered.
Aiden didn’t trust his words so he leaned in and skimmed his lips across Trace’s mouth.

“Come on. We need to talk.”

Sex would have to wait and so would dinner, Aiden had to sweep the rooms for bugs. When

they shut the door behind them, Aiden kept up the happy inane conversation as he pulled the
scanner from his bag. He held his finger up to his mouth, shushing Trace.

“So how was work today?” he asked in a chipper voice, hoping Trace would catch on.
Trace only hesitated a moment before answering, “Great. Saw loads of patients. My nurses

are scheduling me with too many patients too close to lunch. I’m going to have to talk to them.”
Trace shot him a look and raised his shoulders.

Aiden gave Trace a thumbs up signal, telling him he was doing good as he worked the room

searching for any electronic signals. After unplugging the TV, Aiden cleared the room as they
talked about baseball and football, anything to keep the conversation going without actually
speaking about anything important.

Trace’s bedroom was the last place for Aiden to look. With the apartment cleared, he

plopped down on the bed and sighed.

“Okay, what the hell was that about?” Trace asked.
Aiden took a deep breath in and then blew it out. “I need you to go along with a few things

for me. I can’t tell you why, just like I can’t tell you what I do for work. This is just one of those
things about my job. We have to be careful.”

“Am I going to get a visit by men in dark suits one day?”
“Are you asking if you’ll be investigated if they find out we’re dating? Hell yes, and it won’t

be quick or shallow. Every skeleton in your closet will be exposed. You can drop me now if that
scares you.”

Trace shook his head. “Not scared.”
“If I die on a mission, you’ll never hear about it, and there won’t be a funeral.”
Trace’s face fell, and then he dropped to his knees beside Aiden, his eyes wide and his

mouth hung open.

“I’m not going to die. I’m careful. I haven’t been shot at in, hell...I don’t know. I guess I was

shot at the night we met in the hospital, but that was DC crap, and I wasn’t on a mission.”

“What the hell do you do for a living?”
Aiden dropped to his knees beside Trace and cupped Trace’s face in his hands. “Shh, don’t

worry about me. I’m home for a while. I’ll tell my boss about you soon, and then you’ll be on the

list of people who get to know if anything happens.”

“I don’t want anything to happen,” Trace whispered.
“Baby, I’m not going to die. I swear. My life now is easy compared to what it used to be.”
Trace’s brow knit together and tears filled his eyes. “What did you used to do?”
“I was a SEAL in my twenties. I was shot at on a daily basis back then. My current job is a

cake walk compared to my past jobs.”

Now real tears rolled down Trace’s face. “Don’t freaking die on me.”
Aiden felt miserable since he’d brought up the subject, but Trace needed to know something

about his life. They came together and kissed long and hard. The anger and helplessness Aiden
had seen on Trace’s face came out in the kiss. Trace punished Aiden with his mouth, pulling him
close and holding him there. He yanked at Aiden’s clothes, ripping them from his body and
shoving him down onto the ground.

“Stay,” Trace commanded as he stood and went to the bathroom. He came back with a

condom and lube, his eyes still troubled.

Lube was spread on Aiden’s ass and Trace’s fingers before Trace slid them into Aiden,

prepping him for the delicious assault sure to come. Aiden’s body trembled with anticipation as
Trace kissed his pecs and abs while sliding fingers in and out of his ass.

“You’re mine. I have to have you.” Trace kissed Aiden’s neck, and then nipped with his

teeth. “I don’t know why I feel so possessive over you. I want you so much it hurts.”

Aiden tugged at Trace’s clothes and helped him get naked. Trace pushed Aiden back down

to the rug and climbed on top of him, his ass sitting on Aiden’s abs. He leaned over with his
hands braced on the floor beside Aiden’s head. His eyes were full of emotion, and Aiden knew
how he felt. This little affair had gone way beyond testing the waters. He’d taken a plunge into
the gay sex pool and come up totally changed.

Maybe changed wasn’t the right way to describe how he felt. The biggest change was finally

admitting to himself what he’d known deep down for so long. He was gay, and Trace freed him
from the lies he’d lived under his whole life. With Trace, he could actually be who he really was.

The knot of emotions deep in his belly grew stronger. Aiden knew it was love, but he wasn’t

brave enough to tell Trace.

“I have so many feelings for you.” Trace dipped low and used his tongue to skim over

Aiden’s lips. “Mmm, you taste so good.”

“So do you.” Aiden squirmed below Trace, his dick riding the crease of Trace’s ass.
Trace kissed down Aiden’s neck as he slid down Aiden’s body. His tongue glided over

Aiden’s left pec to his nipple. The shock of Trace’s wet tongue made Aiden jump. Fire grew
deep in his belly as Trace gently bit the pebbled flesh and pulled the skin with his teeth.

“Oh, damn, that’s good,” Aiden murmured.
Trace sat up, his eyes serious. “When I take you today, I want you to feel it in here.” Trace

tapped Aiden’s chest. “Give me everything, not just your body, but your soul.”

Aiden’s body tingled as Trace kissed down his belly all the way to his cock. For a moment

he thought his lover was going to give him head again, but he didn’t.

Trace grabbed the condom and rolled it on before spreading more lube. He moved into

position and pulled Aiden’s knees up. “Your soul.”

Trace’s dick knocked against Aiden's ass and Aiden relaxed. He shifted slightly and the next

time Trace pushed forward his cock slid in a few inches, sending stabbing pain through Aiden.
He gulped in a breath and panted.

“Breathe and relax,” Trace whispered.

Aiden drew in a deep breath, sucking in the fresh air and forcing his muscles to unclench.

Trace didn’t move above Aiden for a full minute. As Aiden’s body relaxed Trace slid in more,
pushing in inch by inch. The fullness surprised Aiden again as his body grew used to having
Trace invade him. Going through life only having sex with women had left Aiden missing out on
so much.

“Look at me,” Trace commanded.
Their gazes connected, and Aiden saw the beauty of Trace’s soul. They were linked by more

than just sex. The love from Trace flooded Aiden, and he wanted to give that love back. It was
way too soon to say those words in a relationship, but they were there, squeezing his heart and
driving him crazy.

As Trace moved inside of him, Aiden’s dick spun strands of pre-come across both of their

bellies. The words of love were so close to flying out of his mouth. Aiden had to bite his tongue
so he didn’t blurt it out.

Aiden’s balls tightened as Trace increased his rhythm. His whole body was on fire with

passion and need. The tightness in his chest increased and his abdominal muscles tensed. Trace’s
balls slapped against Aiden’s ass with each trust deep into his hole, leaving a tingling feeling
each time they came together.

Loving this man seemed possible when they were together like this. Nothing got in the way,

and any argument about gay being wrong fell away and didn’t matter. Everything was better with
Trace.

Aiden’s dick swelled between them, he couldn’t last much longer. He had to tell Trace how

he felt, the love he had for him. Later, after they were done, he might not have the courage.

The words were on Aiden’s tongue when Trace shoved in one last time, then lowered to

Aiden’s lips, locking him in a passionate kiss. Aiden felt Trace’s dick erupt into the condom and
pulse deep inside. Aiden’s body shuddered as he came, spurting his jizz onto both of their
bellies.

Trace broke the kiss, his breath hot against Aiden’s face. “You’re wonderful. That was

wonderful. I feel so good.”

Air whooshed out of Aiden’s lungs like he’d been punched in the gut. He had to tell Trace

how he felt, and he had to speak up now. There may not be a tomorrow, that’s what he'd just told
Trace, that he was in danger all the time. Hadn’t he learned anything watching his buddies cash it
all in on operations gone wrong? The words couldn’t wait.

“I love you.” The words tumbled out of Aiden’s mouth, and he felt free after speaking them.

If he died on his next mission, at least Trace would know.

Trace didn’t move a muscle, and his breathing stopped. They were too close for Aiden to

look into his eyes. The seconds ticked by and regret started to settle into Aiden’s stomach. Those
three words, which he’d never said to a woman, and were so easy to say to Trace, had come too
soon. He should have held back, maybe waited a few more days.

Trace pulled out of Aiden, tossed the condom in the trash and sat down without looking at

Aiden. Fear pinged around in Aiden’s head. Fuck, stupid words.

Finally Trace’s eyes met his and Aiden saw the tears there again. Crap, he’d ruined the best

thing in his life to have ever come along.

“When I saw you in the restaurant a few weeks ago, sitting there with a woman, I knew you

weren’t what you were advertising. Then again, when I saw you at the hospital, I wanted you,
but I didn’t think you would give me a chance. Now I have you in my life, and it seems totally
unreal.”

Trace ran gentle fingers over Aiden’s chest, sending sparks of awareness through his body.

He wanted to pull Trace close for a kiss, but didn’t want to disturb his flow of words.

“I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to have you leave me. I can’t believe I’m saying this

so soon into our relationship.” Trace took a deep breath and lowered to only inches above
Aiden’s face, their gazes connected and held. “I love you with all of my heart.”

Elation bubbled up in Aiden, and he burst out laughing as he pulled Trace down to him and

rolled over to be on top. He pinned a very surprised Trace to the floor and kissed him until they
were both out of breath and panting.

“You’re an exceptional kisser too,” Trace said.
“I love you. Damn, I can’t believe I’m saying it to a guy, but it’s so damn true. I’ve never

said it to anyone before, and it feels so good to tell you how I feel.”

“I love you. I want you to move in here.”
Aiden sobered up quickly and sat up. “Are you sure? You do realize what you’ll have to go

through?”

“I don’t care. I love you.”
Aiden rubbed his jaw, scraping his hand over his morning stubble. “We need to go away

first, maybe a weekend get away.”

“Are you trying to romance me into bed? You do understand I’m easy. Hell, we have sex on

the floor more than in the bed.”

Aiden laughed. “No silly, we have to show The Company we’re serious.”
“Oh, so if we go away for a weekend it will look better?” Trace’s lips quirked into a

lopsided smile.

“Yep.”
“I know just the place.” Trace pushed Aiden off and jumped up, his eyes lit with excitement.

"Come on, I’ll pull it up on my computer, and we can book for this weekend.”

Aiden followed Trace into the kitchen and stood behind him as he pulled out his laptop

computer and fired it up.

“What are you getting us into?” Aiden asked.
“Hey, why do you think I’m getting us into something?” Trace’s smile stretched across his

face, his eyes filled with merriment.

“You’re up to something, I can tell.”
“Just give me a minute, and then I’ll explain. If you hate it I’ll understand, but I think you’re

going to love it.”

The web browser popped up, and Aiden resisted looking over Trace’s shoulder. After a few

more seconds of clicking and typing, Trace sat back and smiled. Aiden’s heart stalled when
Trace turned his smile on him. He’d never get used to being the center of this man’s attention.
The feelings Trace provoked were big and powerful, not at all what Aiden was used to in a
relationship.

“Here, this is the place,” Trace said.
Aiden looked at the resort picture and resisted the urge to shake his head no. For some

reason with Trace, he couldn’t hide his emotions like he could on the job. When he was on a
mission, he was a different person, with Trace, everything was out in the open and visible.

“You don’t like it,” Trace said.
“The Poconos? Seriously?”
“Please tell me you don’t hate it?”
Trace’s puppy dog look did him in. He couldn’t say no.

“Make the reservations, but I want the one with the pool in the room.”
Trace jumped up and kissed him on the lips. His enthusiasm was infectious, and in seconds

they were both laughing and kissing as they petted each other’s bodies. Desire for Trace had him
wanting to have sex again, but he knew they needed to eat first, or they would end up at midnight
without any food in their system.

He pinned Trace against the cabinets, and their laughter died off. He felt Trace’s dick go

half hard, and he was close to being right there with him. As they gazed into each other’s eyes,
Aiden felt like he had finally found someone he could love forever.

“Make the reservations,” Aiden said.
“When?”
“This weekend. I’ll make sure I’m available for you.”
Trace leaned in and brushed his lips across Aiden’s jaw. “Start the grill, and I’ll book it for

Friday night, Saturday, and we’ll come home Sunday. Will that be good enough for your work?”

“Yeah baby, I can’t wait to spend the entire weekend with you.”
“Then we have to seriously talk about moving in together,” Trace said.
Aiden swallowed over his fear. He would eventually have to tell Trace they couldn’t live

here, it was too unsecure. They'd have to live at his place for safety reasons. The grill was easy to
work, and he had the steaks on by the time Trace finished with the reservations.

“All booked. We’re set.” Trace leaned against the side of his apartment as he watched Aiden

cook their dinner.

“I’m looking forward to spending time with you.” Aiden rested his hand on Trace’s hip,

content with their newfound love. They got along so well and were an easy match. Everything
was working out for them both. Bone deep satisfaction wound its way through Aiden. He’d
known something was missing from his life, but never would have guessed it would feel so good
when he found it. As cliché as it sounded, Trace completed him.

Chapter Six

Aiden woke to the alarm and rolled over to find Trace already out of bed. Fear raced through

him as he searched for his lover. After his head cleared, he caught the sound of water running in
the bathroom, his breathing calmed and his heart slowed.

For some reason, he felt secure in Trace’s presence. Never before had he been able to sleep

through anyone moving around in a room where he slept. On missions, he was sometimes forced
to sleep in the same room with other operatives, and light sleeper didn’t even begin to describe
how shallow he dozed, but with Trace, it was like he was dead.

Trace walked out of the bathroom already dressed. What the fuck. How had he slept through

all the noise of Trace getting ready?

“I didn’t want to wake you before the alarm. You looked so peaceful.” Trace smiled down at

him.

“You’re up early.” Aiden crawled out of bed and headed to the bathroom. It pissed him off

that Trace had been able to take a shower and get dressed, and he hadn’t even heard him. Hell, he
needed to change his attitude. It wasn’t Trace’s fault he’d lost his edge when the guy was near.

“If we’re going away for the weekend, I need to go in early and get caught up on

paperwork.” Trace let loose a bark of laughter and Aiden whipped around with the toothbrush
hanging out of his mouth.

“It’s nothing, only funny because I usually spend Friday night at the office because I have

no one to spend it with.”

Aiden finished brushing, rinsed and spit. “Please tell me you didn’t have an alarm set.”
“No, just woke up and couldn’t sleep. I tried to be quiet when I got out of bed.”
“It worked.”
“Awww, let me guess, you feel bad because you didn’t wake up from me getting out of

bed?”

Aiden wiped the moisture from his face on one of the hand towels and turned the shower on.

“Something like that. I’m not supposed to sleep through people walking around in the room with
me.”

Trace came to him and wrapped his arms around Aiden. “Baby, you trust me. That means a

lot to me. Shower and I’ll get some breakfast going.” Trace popped him on the ass before leaving
the bathroom.

Aiden smiled as he rubbed his butt cheek and stepped into the shower. He washed off

quickly and dressed. He needed to get home and take care of a few things before heading into
work this morning. The higher-ups were still debriefing him on his last outing. He would have to
pull James aside today and have a little chat about his relationship with Trace. It may not be
easy, but the conversation needed to happen.

The drive home was fast since he knew all the shortcuts, and before long Adam was out

front waiting for him. All the way into work his palms sweated and his head pounded as he
thought of how he would tell James the news he was gay and had a partner who he was going to
move in with. It sounded bad since he’d just met the guy. How could he possibly even think of
moving in with Trace? It wasn’t the living with part that scared him as much as the coming out
of the closet part. What would everyone think? He didn’t imagine it would be this bad, but fear
of rejection and even violence made him nervous.

They arrived at the office, and he went through the process of being scanned and searched. It

didn’t help when he’d forgotten to drop his keys into the plastic bin for the x-ray machine before
walking through the metal detectors.

“Aiden, come on man, you know better than that,” Chris, the x-ray technician, said.
“Sorry guys, I’m distracted.” Aiden pulled back on his jacket and pocketed his keys before

walking away from the x-ray machine.

“Be careful, you never know what’s lurking behind the corner,” Chris said as Aiden walked

off.

The warning was too true. Sure, he lived in DC, one of the more gay friendly cities, but it

wasn’t totally free from hate-inspired violence. Anything could happen, and he personally knew
how easy it was for someone to take you out. That was his job. This year alone he’d killed five
people. Of course, all of the people he killed were scum of the earth, but wasn’t that how some of
those stupid religious types thought of gays? What if one of them decided to target Trace?

Maybe he should drop their relationship and leave Trace alone. But his leaving wouldn’t

solve anything. Trace was gay and had acknowledged his sexuality long before Aiden came
around. If Aiden were out of the picture, he would still worry about Trace all the time.

James stepped out of a conference room and waved at him. “Aiden, I need to see you right

away. Closed-door conference.”

Shit, they knew. Aiden put one foot in front of the other, forcing himself to face the music.

He shut the door behind him and locked it, standard procedure for closed-door conferences. Two
other people were in the room. He didn’t know either of them and the lack of knowledge made
him queasy. He would have a hard enough time talking to his boss about this without having to
tell a stranger he got freaky with a man and let himself be topped.

Heat crept up Aiden’s neck to his face. The last thing he wanted to do was act embarrassed

about his choice to be with Trace. He loved Trace and didn’t want to cheapen it with lies. Hell,
he never would have thought he would bottom so willingly, but he loved feeling Trace inside of
him.

“Sit down. We have a lot to go through. Aiden this is Michelle and William, you two, this is

Aiden,” James said before clicking on the overhead display and showing a photograph of an
Asian man. “This is Rajeev Chandrark. He’s seen here and here.” Pictures flashed across the
screen. “Take a good look at him.”

Aiden watched the pictures on the screen studying the subjects. The middle aged Asian man,

with Indian descent, sat on the right side at a round table with four other men. All of them were
smoking cigars and drinking from glass tumblers. Rajeev was a little overweight and had slightly
thinning hair.

When the second picture popped up, Aiden stood and moved closer to the screen, then

farther away. He walked around the room, studying the photo from every angle.

“Show me the next one of Rajeev,” Aiden said.
The next photo was of two men standing in front of a luxury automobile. The car was a

silver Jaguar.

“His car?” Aiden asked.
“No. It belongs to the other guy, Faris Bhatt,” James said.
Aiden took in the shape of Rajeev’s mouth and the line of his nose. He memorized

everything about the guy. The small mole under his left eye and the way his lips curved when he
smiled. After fifteen minutes of looking at the photograph, Aiden took his seat.

“Now we have to go through this information and determine if there is enough evidence to

launch an operation.” James looked everyone in the eyes, his face expressing the seriousness of

their task.

Any chance of telling James about his lover was gone. They would sit here for eight hours

discussing the merits of their plan before James could take the discussion higher up where they
would spend a few more hours mulling over the matter.

Aiden had been listening to James give evidence for the last hour about Rajeev’s financial

transactions, all of which pointed to him supporting terrorist activities. When the talk turned to
human trafficking, Aiden held up his hand and stopped James from speaking.

“Wait a minute. This Rajeev dude, who's funneling money to Al Qaeda, is also peddling

flesh?”

“Yes. We’ve known for years he’s been recruiting prostitutes in India. He has a few brothels

in Mumbai, and then he started sending girls overseas. It’s a profitable business and easy to start
up. Take a girl off the street, and you’ve got shop.”

Aiden shook his head. “Are you sure he’s started trafficking women across country

borders?”

“His network is huge. Rajeev is operating on American soil.”
Michelle and William finally spoke, both erupting into outburst.
“Where the fuck is the bastard?” Michelle asked.
“Can we attack today?” William bellowed.
Aiden’s blood boiled. How had this jerk gotten onto American soil to steal away hometown

girls as sex slaves? “How long have we known he’s been operating over here?” He struggled to
keep his voice even. The anger of having someone attack on home soil pissed him off. No, it
wasn’t the Twin Towers, nor was it mass destruction, though he thought this was worse in some
ways. At least with a bomb you could see the destructive force at work, taking one girl at a time
called no attention to their plight. No one championed these young women. No one cared.

“When do we leave?” Aiden asked.
“We’re not done presenting the evidence,” James said.
“Isn’t this enough?” William countered.
“I’m ready to go,” Aiden butted in.
“None of you are on this. You’re all the prep team. Michelle and William, you know the

drill, you hear the evidence, and then we take the evidence to another team higher up, and they
have to agree with your findings. The go team will be people who haven’t been through this
briefing. Aiden, this is a new role for you, and this is the way it works.”

“Shit.” Aiden wanted to be part of the go team on this one. He wanted to hunt this Rajeev

shit down and murder him with his own hands. Instead, he would have to sit for the rest of the
day and listen to the evil deeds this little crap-head perpetrated, hoping to find enough hard
evidence to send out a team who would eventually kill the bastard.

James gave them the facts from the data they’d gathered. Hours of evidence piled up,

twisting Aiden’s stomach in knots and leaving him angry and hurt. How the fuck could people be
so mean and nasty? The Company figured some of the girls this bastard took were five and six
years old, the jerk was grooming them for later. Aiden felt tears burn his eyes more than once as
they discussed who could have possibly been taken.

By three in the afternoon, the team had enough evidence to send up for approval. Michelle

and William left for the day, leaving only James and Aiden in the room. He no longer had the
strength to tell James about Trace. If his boss found out about his sexuality then so be it, but
being open right now and exposing himself to any hurt after a day like today was impossible.

“Aiden, you’ve had two tough assignments in the last month. You’re off for the next two

weeks. You’ve been debriefed enough, don’t worry about coming in.”

“Do I need to check in at all?”
“You can, but no big deal. Try every other day or so. Just tell me if you leave the country.”
Aiden pulled himself out of the chair, hating the disgusted feeling running through his mind.

He trudged to the door and pushed it open, glad he was done talking about Rajeev and the crap
he’d put those girls through.

“Hey, Aiden,” James called.
He turned around, a sliver of fear made him uneasy as thoughts of being found out wormed

its way through his mind. “Yes.”

“Have a good weekend. Relax, and maybe get away. You deserve to have some fun.”
His mouth went dry and Aiden had to force his words out. “Thanks. I’ll try.”
It was only Tuesday and he had till Friday to think about his long weekend with Trace. They

were flying into Wilkes-Barre airport in Pennsylvania and then driving to the resort. He gulped
down the strange feeling in his stomach. They would have a good time, he was sure of it. There
wasn’t any reason to worry about disappointing Trace this weekend, but he wondered if Trace
would be angry once he found out what Aiden really did.

Chapter Seven

Trace spent four hours in surgery and was still at the hospital when Aiden called. He

plopped down on the couch in the doctor’s lounge and answered the phone. “Babe.”

“Hey, you sound exhausted,” Aiden said.
“I am.”
“I was worried about you.”
Trace smiled to himself. Having someone worry about him felt good. “Sorry I didn’t call.

Emergency surgery for a patient of mine. I kind of forgot to call with all the other junk going
on.”

“Oh.”
The line was quiet for a few beats before Aiden sighed heavily.
“Hey baby, you didn’t think something bad had happened, did you?” Trace asked.
“No, not at all.”
“You are such a bad liar.” Trace toyed with the hem of his shirt, his feelings for Aiden were

so deep, it was strange to him.

“Sweetie, I have to say I’m one of the best liars in the world, just not with you.”
Trace’s heart swelled with pride. “That makes me feel good.”
“What time do you think you’re going to be home tonight?” Aiden asked.
“No clue. Patient has to stabilize. I usually sleep up here when it’s this late, but I’m not sure

I want to stay away from you tonight.”

“I’ll be there in thirty minutes with dinner. Chinese fine with you?”
Trace sighed and dropped his head back on the couch. “What ever you bring will be

wonderful, my love.”

“Mmmm, I love to hear you call me that.”
“You are my love. I can’t believe you’re bringing me dinner. I’ve never had anyone who

would do that. Ever.” Trace was getting choked up. Aiden was too good to him.

“Hey, I love you, and I care about you. I know all about long days and crappy hours. I want

to take care of you if I can. You mean so much to me.”

Aiden’s voice had grown thick with emotion. Every day with Aiden was better than the last.

They were drawing closer. The sex had been amazing, and now their relationship was growing,
he almost felt overwhelmed with love.

“I’ll see you in a bit. Just call me on my cell when you arrive.”
Trace hung up the phone, tears pooling in his eyes. Another doctor walked in, then stopped.

“You okay, Trace? You lose a patient?”

“Oh, hey, Rick. No, just on the phone with someone who means a lot to me.”
“New girlfriend?”
“No, not a girlfriend.”
Rick opened his locker and pulled out his clothes. “Want to grab some dinner?”
“No thanks, I have someone coming by.” Right now would be the perfect time to tell Rick

he was gay, but the words wouldn’t come. Maybe he needed to just play it cool and let people
think what they would. He didn’t need his coming out to be a big deal. Hell, it wasn’t a big deal
to people like Rick. They saw each other two maybe three times a month when their paths
crossed at the hospital.

Rick dressed and then dropped into a chair next to Trace. “So, if it’s not a girlfriend that’s

got you so worked up, who is it?”

Trace kept his head resting against the back of the couch, but turned to look at Rick. “You’re

asking a lot of questions.”

“Just trying to keep up with the gossip. You know how it is around here. If we didn’t have

our stories to tell, we’d go crazy.”

Trace’s heart thundered and his head swam. Everyone would know he was gay once Aiden

showed up. Should he call him back and tell him to cancel?

A calm fell over Trace; he didn’t really care if people knew about his lover. He wasn’t doing

anything wrong. Everyone important in his life knew he was gay, so what if the doctors gossiped
a little about him, they probably already had a pool set up on if he were straight or not.

“Yeah, doctors gossip worse than any sorority,” Trace said.
“You know it. Hey, I got to go, catch ya later.” Rick moved to leave the lounge then turned

back to him, looking like he was going to say something before walking out the door. If Rick
saw Aiden with him, so what, but he wouldn’t purposely feed the gossip mill, and he wouldn’t
let anyone intimidate him into not seeing his lover.

His phone rang, and he looked at the display, glad to see Aiden had arrived. They were good

together. The people at the hospital would just have to get used to seeing him with Aiden. He
wouldn’t lie if asked point blank, but he also wouldn’t go begging for trouble.

The days flew by as Aiden worked on projects in his yard and around his house. Each night

after Trace finished at his office, Aiden would slip away to Trace’s apartment. Aiden loved the
way they were together. Every night they made love, and every morning when they parted, he
missed his man.

He’d called into work when he was supposed to, but basically he had no commitments to

them for the next week. When Friday evening rolled around, Aiden was itching to go. The plane
flight north was uneventful, as both Trace and he agreed to act like friends while they traveled. It
would be nice to be able to show the world who they really were, but Aiden couldn’t even talk to
his boss or his mother about Trace yet. Telling strangers about them would be awkward.

Renting the car together was a bit strange, even though he’d rented cars on assignments with

other men all the time. It wasn’t really Trace, but his own insecurities warring inside of him.
They pulled out of the lot and were on their way in no time at all without anyone questioning
them.

“Hey, babe,” Trace slid his hand down Aiden’s leg.
Aiden’s gaze shot to the mirrors, making sure no one was close and could see into the car.

After a second, he glanced back at Trace.

Trace frowned. “Babe, no one cares we’re together.”
“I know, I’m just freaking out. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I freaked out that evening you brought dinner up to the hospital, but no one said

anything after you left. Like I said, most people don’t care.”

Aiden watched the scenery outside the window, wishing that were true of everyone. Sure,

strangers didn’t care, but his boss and his mom weren’t strangers, and he feared their reaction.

Trace tapped his leg. “Let’s pick up a few bottles of wine before we hit the resort.”
“Sure, sounds good.” Aiden needed to shake off the feeling someone was watching him. A

part of him was still very afraid of being discovered. Only when he was with Trace did being gay
feel totally normal. Outside of Trace’s apartment, he didn’t know if he could endure the
questions or the looks strangers would send him. He feared someone trying to make trouble, not

that he couldn’t fight them off, but he didn’t want to make a scene. Up until now, his life outside
of work had been boring. Aiden Jackson was just an average Joe. Being gay took him out of the
realm of average and dropped him into being different.

“I’ve been looking forward to this time alone all week.” Trace’s voice was low and velvety

as it caressed Aiden’s ears.

He turned to stare at Trace, his heart felt full of love and lust. “Skip the wine; we can go out

later to pick it up. It’s only a few miles from the resort.”

Trace cut his eyes from the road to glance over. Aiden slid his tongue out and licked his lips.

The car swerved and Trace self-corrected.

“Dude, you’re going to make me wreck.”
“I don’t want to delay kissing you any longer. We’ve been together all day, but this no

kissing thing is crap.”

“Can you imagine the uproar if we would have gone into lip lock mode on the plane.” Trace

laughed.

“Shock and awe, that’s what it would have been. You know we usually end up naked with

you on top once we kiss,” Aiden said.

“This weekend I want you inside of me.”
Aiden had held back every time they’d made love. It wasn’t so much fear of sliding his dick

into a man, but he loved the feeling of having someone inside of him. Maybe a little bit of his
hesitation was based on fear of what it would mean if he fucked a guy. He already knew he loved
taking it in the ass, but would he love doing an ass more than he liked pussy? It was a stupid
question, and he couldn’t believe he was still holding onto any thought of going back to
pretending to be straight. It was only anxiety pushing him to stay in the closet and not admit
what he wanted in life.

“I’m ready.” Aiden’s dick had been sitting at half hard all day, and now he went to full mast.

The people at the check-in desk would know what they were going to do, and he almost didn’t
care.

The hotel lobby was nice, and the desk people friendly. Aiden was a little shocked when no

one made a face or said anything as they checked-in. No one cared they were gay, and he liked
the freedom to be with his man. He didn’t want to lie about sleeping together. Plus, how the hell
could you lie about just being friends when you were checking into a romantic room with a pool
for your pleasure.

He had special plans for the in-room pool. They tried their best to play it cool as they made

their way to their room. Trace used the keycard to open the room and shoved Aiden in, slamming
the door behind him.

Trace took control almost immediately and Aiden was going to let him, until he thought of

his doubts about his sexuality. Normally he wasn’t the type of guy to play around. He was all in
or getting out. Making love to Trace felt so right. They’d spent hours learning how to touch each
other to bring optimum pleasure and tonight he would see how well he fit inside of Trace.

Aiden grabbed Trace’s hands and used a martial arts maneuver to switch places with Trace

and lock his hands above his head, his chest against the door. The air whooshed out of Trace’s
lungs.

“Oh, want to play rough?” Trace tried to break Aiden’s hold, his struggle light at first, then

harder as Aiden didn’t loosen his grasp.

Aiden plastered his body against Trace’s, his hard cock pressing against the round globes of

his lover's ass, chest hard against Trace’s back.

“You’re mine tonight, Trace, baby. You do what I say, what position I command. You

understand?”

Trace shivered against him and sighed, relaxing against his body.
“I take your silence as agreement to my plan?”
“Yes, I’ll do whatever you want,” Trace said.
“Strip and get in the shower, now.”
“The shower?”
“Yes, we’ve been traveling half the day. I want this to be special.”
Aiden let go of Trace, and he turned to kiss him, but Aiden stopped Trace from getting too

close.

“We’re doing this my way tonight,” Aiden said.
Trace’s eyes went wide, and he smiled up at Aiden. “I like this, you telling me what to do.

It’s a huge turn on.”

“I’m finally ready to embrace the fact I’m gay.”
Trace let out a bark of laughter. “So us getting busy at my place didn’t convince you?”
“I’m a hard case, get in the shower.”
“Hell baby, you certainly are hard.” Trace glanced down at Aiden’s crotch and smiled at the

huge lump.

Aiden swallowed hard, restraining himself from jumping Trace right then. His hands shook

as he stripped out of his clothes and joined Trace in the shower. He washed Trace’s body then
allowed Trace to wash him, but he drew the line on blowjobs. If Trace’s lips touched his cock
he’d be a goner.

Trace pushed Aiden up against the wall of the shower, his eyes dilated with desire and his

breath heavy against Aiden’s neck. “Now. I want you now.”

Aiden turned off the water, stepped out of the shower and handed Trace a towel, instead of

drying himself, Trace began rubbing the cloth over Aiden’s body.

Trace looked up from his position of kneeling in front of Aiden. “I love your thighs. When

you wrap them around my waist and press your meaty muscles against my hips, I want to melt
into you. We’re one, not two at that moment. If I could, I would permanently attach myself to
you right here.” Trace grabbed the inside of Aiden’s thigh and squeezed.

Aiden grabbed Trace under the arms and pulled him to standing. “You have condoms in

your bag?”

“Yeah.”
Aiden reached into Trace’s bag and pulled out shoes, underwear and a sweater but no

condom. “Where the hell are they?”

“Here, let me.” Trace took over searching and found the condom pack immediately. “Here

and hurry.”

“Bed.” Aiden opened the pack and rolled one on, spreading lube over his dick and onto his

fingers.

Trace hopped onto the bed and scooted back, a smile lit up his face, spreading his lips wide.

As much as Aiden wanted those lips on his cock, he needed to fuck the guy hard in the ass first.
He’d been putting it off, but no longer. Now he knew it didn’t matter. He loved Trace, and
whatever that meant, it surely made him better.

With one knee on the bed, Aiden kissed Trace’s raised legs. His tongue slid lower over

Trace’s lean thigh, almost to his balls. Trace moaned and squirmed, tilting his hips up and
flexing his ass.

“Hot damn, do that again.” Aiden watched as Trace moved. His body went hot, and he knew

he wouldn’t last long.

Aiden couldn’t wait; he needed to be inside of Trace. His heart hammered in his chest as he

moved into position. The excitement mixed with fear as Trace lifted his legs and wrapped them
around Aiden as he lined up. What if he wasn’t good enough for Trace? Every time Trace did
him in the ass, it felt so wonderful, he thought he would pass out from the sheer pleasure, but
could he be good enough for Trace?

With one hand braced on Trace’s knee, Aiden pushed forward. He stopped moving.
“Wait, I didn’t stretch you. I don’t want to hurt you.” Aiden moved his hand to Trace’s ass,

pressing his fingers against the hole.

Trace grabbed his hand and smiled up at him. “It’s okay, I’m not tight.” His face went pink

as his eyes cut away, then back to Aiden. Trace bit his lip and shrugged his shoulders. “I was
wearing a plug for part of our trip up here. I put it in at the bathroom at the car rental place and
just took it out a few minutes ago.”

“What?” Aiden sat back on the bed.
“I wanted this so much, and I know you’re not experienced. I wore the plug to make it easier

on you. Take me now. I’m ready.”

Blood rushed into Aiden’s dick as he moved into position. His brain fuzzed at the thought of

Trace walking around with a plug in. All he wanted was to slide into Trace and feel the tight
channel wrapped around him.

His dick pressed against Trace’s hole and nothing happened. He didn’t want to hurt Trace,

but the soft type of pushes he would use on a woman weren’t working.

“Harder,” Trace said.
Trace lifted his hips as Aiden moved to push in, and suddenly heat enveloped him, clouding

his brain as his knob slid in to Trace’s ass. Aiden gasped for breath as he pushed in farther, his
body tingling with electricity of the orgasm about to erupt.

“Oh fuck, this feels good.” Aiden pulled back then pushed forward again. Trace’s ass was so

tight he thought he would pass out. Being inside of Trace’s hole was nothing like being in
woman’s pussy and everything like it. So much better than when he was with a woman, hotter
and tighter. His balls were already sending warning signals to his brain, he was going to blow.

Aiden wanted to hang on, delay the orgasm and give Trace pleasure, but the sensations were

so intense, he couldn’t even think of Trace or his own needs. Aiden’s head spun and his body
went hot, then cold. His dick grew harder and bigger, and he knew it was time. He tried to say
something, anything, to give Trace a warning, but he blew, his body jerking and his eyes rolling
up into his head.

The orgasm ripped through him, taking his breath and his mind, leaving him panting and

weak as he collapsed onto Trace’s jazz slickened chest. He tried to look and see what had caused
the sticky mess, but all he managed was to move his head a little bit.

Eventually, he heard Trace breathing hard underneath him. Trace must have come, but

Aiden had been so amazed by the feeling of being inside of Trace, he couldn’t even think of the
man during the height of his orgasm. Guilt filled him as he recovered.

“That felt so--I don’t know, but my brain shut down. Was it good?” Aiden asked.
Trace feathered kisses along his jaw. “It was wonderful. The look on your face as you came

did me in.”

Aiden groaned. “That was fast, and now I’m too weak to move.”
Trace played with Aiden’s hair. “It was fast, but wonderful.”

“I felt like a teenager shooting off so quickly.” His face heated thinking about how immature

he’d been. Damn, he wanted to be better with Trace.

Trace tapped Aiden’s shoulder with his fist and turned onto his side, pushing Aiden off.

“You were great. It felt so good to be with you that way.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t last long.”
Trace sat up and forced Aiden to look him in the eyes. “Babe, you were perfect. You know

how good it makes me feel that you blew so fast? You were so excited about making love to me,
you couldn’t hold back. Talk about an ego boost.”

Aiden felt a little better at Trace’s words. He'd been totally out of control once he entered his

lover. “I can do better next time.”

“You were perfect, don’t doubt yourself.”
Trace lowered and brushed his lips across Aiden’s. “I love you. You are the best thing ever

to happen to me. Now, how about going to find something to eat, and let’s head out to buy some
wine.”

Aiden lifted his head and kissed Trace, their tongues rubbing against each other, jaws

scraping and hands exploring. Aiden wouldn’t recover from this round of sex for a while. Even
with Trace touching and playing with his balls, his dick was still limp.

It felt good to be touched this way. Trace knew how to hold his balls so there wasn’t any

pain, and how to stroke his dick with just the right pressure. Life with Trace was absolutely
perfect.

Going through the annoyance of telling his boss about his sexuality was worth it if it meant

he could be with Trace. The man made him feel amazing, and he never wanted to be without
him. They were good together, and with all the crap he dealt with in his job, he needed good in
his life.

They’d gone out to buy the wine first and were back at the resort in the main restaurant

enjoying steak and shrimp for dinner. Every moment with Trace was wonderful. It felt good to
be out in public with him. They had gone out once together in DC, but after this weekend, they
would date more.

“I’m glad you’re going to be moving in with me,” Trace said.
Aiden’s fork stopped midway to his mouth. This was one of those things they had to discuss

this weekend, but he hadn’t wanted to bring it up yet.

Trace’s face fell then filled with annoyance. “Oh no, don’t tell me you’re not going to.”
Aiden leaned close and spoke low. “You have to move in with me. Can we talk about it in

private?”

“Wait, I don’t understand. What’s the difference if you move in with me or I live with you?”
Aiden looked around, glad to see the room half empty. They were here later than most of the

other guests and had some privacy. The entertainment at the other end of the resort had started,
and neither of them cared about nightclubs and dancing. All they wanted was time together.

“The difference is bulletproof glass and other measures built into my house to stop an

assault and help me get out alive if something goes wrong.”

Trace stopped chewing and looked down at his plate. He pushed the food around as his

shoulders sagged. He didn’t look up, but his mouth was set in a thin line.

“Hey, don’t be angry with me. Please,” Aiden begged.
“I’m not. It’s just in stark contrast to what I do. I save lives every day, and from what you

told me about the people who surround you, they end lives on a daily basis. It’s just so different

from my life.”

“I’m careful. I built my house so I’d be prepared for anything. Nothing has happened yet,

and I doubt anything will.”

Trace’s gaze rose, his eyes hooded by half-closed lids. “I’m a life saver, Aiden. Everything

I’ve ever done in my adult life has been to save others. Your world is different to me.”

Aiden didn’t know what to say. Everything he did saved lives, but not everyone would see

his chosen profession as lifesaving. Sometimes you had to break one bad thing to find something
decent. With him, the bad things were terrorists, and he’d done a lot of breaking in the last few
years to help bring good to innocents.

“I’ll move in with you, mainly because you own and I rent, but I’ve never in my life

condoned killing another human. It’s wrong, and I don’t like it.” Trace’s face was all hard planes
and angry lines.

Tension hung in the air as they stared at each other. Seconds ticked by. Aiden swallowed

hard.

“Neither do I.” Aiden hated killing people, but he knew the price of not killing certain

people. Trace saw killing as a black and white issue, whereas Aiden saw all the shades of gray.

As they were finishing their plate of fruit, Aiden looked up and almost choked. His heart

stopped beating for a moment as bile rose in his throat. He did everything humanly possible to
not react. Lucky for him, Trace was too busy paying attention to a strawberry and a slice of
pineapple to see his expression crumble as Aiden had a fit over the site of Chuck standing next to
Rajeev.

Aiden took a sip of his water to cover his horror. Why the fuck were they doing the Rajeev

operation here? He had to stop thinking about this in public. Getting back to the room was
imperative, but he couldn’t walk past Chuck. It didn’t seem as though Chuck had seen him yet,
but if he went to the other end of the room. All bets were off.

Oh hell, Chuck would recognize him if he even caught a glimpse. Even though Chuck was

in a disguise Aiden hadn’t seen before, he knew it was the man. They’d worked together and
shared too much for Aiden not to know. Plus, the disguise sucked. He’d seen better disguise jobs
from a five and dime store.

He bit his lip and tapped Trace under the table with his foot. “Hey, let’s go for a walk by the

pool. I want to be inspired before we try out the water in our room tonight.”

Trace smiled and lust fired in his eyes. Aiden had covered his reaction to seeing Rajeev, and

Trace had no idea how pissed Aiden was. He forced the image of Trace on his knees, his tongue
playing with Aiden’s cock to the front of his mind. Everything had to be about Trace right now,
or he would blow not only his private life to hell, but also ruin Chuck's operation.

Aiden held Trace’s hand after they slipped out the side doors of the restaurant, making their

way along the path to the main pool, then up to their room. The night was perfect with stars
above and the quiet of the resort surrounding them. They walked hand in hand, but didn’t kiss.
Once there, Trace lowered to his knees, sliding the zipper on Aiden’s pants and scooping out
Aiden’s dick.

Trace’s eyes were huge as he inspected every inch of Aiden’s cock and balls. “I want to lick

all of you.” Trace leaned in and sniffed hard, his nose buried in the hair at the base of Aiden’s
dick.

Aiden groaned, rocking his hips forward, searching for stimulation against his sensitive

cock. Trace slid his nose up Aiden’s shaft, moaning as he moved along the hot rod. When
Trace’s tongue flicked out and over the tip of Aiden’s dick, Aiden hitched in a breath. Then

Trace attacked the sensitive spot on the underside of Aiden’s cock with his tongue. Aiden
reached out and held on to Trace’s shoulders so his knees wouldn’t buckle.

They took turns torturing each other with blowjobs, never quite finishing it off. Sweat

dripped off of Aiden’s body as Trace played with him. The sweet torture made Aiden half forget
about Rajeev, but in the back of his mind he kept working the problem of Chuck and Rajeev,
praying he’d find a solution, but knowing there was nothing he could do to make the situation
change.

Trace rolled on a condom and crawled between Aiden’s legs. “I love you forever.”
Aiden opened his legs, pulling his knees up, welcoming his lover in. Trace pushed against

Aiden’s tight opening, going slow and giving Aiden time adjust. It didn’t take long since he was
already relaxed enough to have sex from earlier play. Then Aiden was full of cock, his breath
ragged as pre-come trickled onto his belly. Trace rode him hard, and each push into him brought
Aiden closer to the edge. Trace changed positions, kneeling on the bed and brought Aiden’s hips
up to meet him.

Aiden felt as though his mind had left his body, and all he could do was let Trace fuck him

hard. Every nerve in his body fired with need and want. His balls tightened and his body
clenched.

“Mmm, babe. Now I’m...” Jizz sprayed onto Aiden’s chest and across his belly.
Trace’s gaze burned his soul as Aiden’s dick emptied. Trace licked his lips, grunted, and

pistoned twice more before digging his fingers into Aiden’s hips, his body jerked as come filled
the condom inside of Aiden.

They stayed locked together for a moment, both of them breathing hard. Trace pulled out

and took care of the condom before collapsing on the bed beside Aiden, dragging the covers over
both of them.

“Night,” Trace mumbled.
Trace’s even breathing surprised Aiden. Trace was asleep, his body totally relaxed. How the

heck could the man have drifted into sleep so soon after that? Hell, now Aiden felt like such a
girl, complaining about Trace falling asleep after sex. Heck, Aiden wasn’t asleep because of
what he’d seen earlier. Thoughts of Rajeev and Chuck on the property haunted him.

He crawled out of bed and moved to the bathroom to clean off his chest, wincing when his

chest hair pulled as he scrubbed at one spot. After cleaning up, he sat down on the toilet lid and
cupped his head in his hands. What the hell should he do about Chuck and Rajeev? People
always complained about their work life interfering in their private lives, but this went beyond
inconvenient. Lives were at stake. Chuck was a professional. Hell, their team members were all
professionals. Everyone associated with an operation always gave their best. Any doubts he had
about the setup were unfounded.

Aiden glanced down at his hands and then chewed at the hangnail on his left thumb. He’d

never been physically near a mission in process and not been involved. Seeing Chuck sitting with
Rajeev made his blood boil. Aiden jumped up, and the toilet lid banged. He heard Trace move in
the other room. Shit, this was difficult.

Going in search of Chuck could blow the operation. He didn’t know who the hell was

watching the place. Calling in right now could be just as bad. Either side could have bugged the
hotel. No one had called him or sent a message. Nothing strange had happened, and most likely
no one knew he was here.

He suppressed the yawn threatening to escape. His phone said it was after two in the

morning. Damn, he and Trace had spent a long time giving head to each other. Had to have been

a record on foreplay for him. A goofy grin settled on his face. All he wanted was to be back in
bed with Trace, locked in a pair of strong arms. Then he wanted to wake in the morning and take
advantage of the pool and the close proximity of his lover. Chuck could take care of himself, and
the mission would go off without a hitch.

Chapter Eight

Trace woke to find his arm stuck under Aiden’s head, but he didn’t mind. His bladder was

full, but Trace would gladly suffer pain to be able to stare at Aiden’s face while his lover slept.
The love he felt for this man surprised him at times. Sure, the stereotype stated guys were
supposed to be above emotions, but only defective idiots were without any feelings. Thinking
about Aiden took up all of his extra mental energy. Eventually he’d be able to concentrate on
something else, but his mind kept coming back to Aiden's sexy body. He wanted nothing more
than to be able to spend the rest of his life getting to know this man.

Aiden rolled over, giving him his arm back. Trace left the bed, looking back over his

shoulder at his man. He was the luckiest guy in the world. Eventually Aiden would tell him what
top-secret job he did for a living, and it would be one more piece of the Aiden puzzle solved.

Trace took care of business and stepped in the shower. Aiden stumbled in looking half

awake. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” Aiden mumbled.
Aiden swished around some mouthwash and joined Trace in the shower. He stood still under

the spray for a minute with his eyes closed. Trace watched his every move, memorizing the way
his mouth curved and the slope of his nose, the way his curly blond hair stuck up and looked
crazy in the morning. Aiden was so much more beautiful than any other man he'd dated, but that
wasn’t why he’d fallen in love with him. Aiden was nice to him, plain and simple. He had a great
personality and from what he’d seen, the man treated others kindly.

“You didn’t sleep well, did you?” Trace asked.
“Good enough. Come here, I want a kiss.”
Aiden pulled him into a tight embrace, their dicks bumping as Aiden brushed his body

against Trace’s. Trace’s morning erection came back full force. He’d woken wanting and
needing this man, and now he would have him. When he’d come in here for a shower he’d
brought in a condom and a tube of lube hoping they would have sex in the shower before
breakfast.

He reached between them, seeking out Aiden’s cock while he kept Aiden’s mouth busy,

their tongues sliding against each other. Aiden’s silken rod felt amazing in his hand. He loved the
male anatomy, but he loved Aiden’s more than any man he’d ever seen. Every small divot,
bump, bulging vein, and muscle of this man turned him on.

The deep moan from Aiden’s chest signaled Trace to get the condom on before Aiden came.

He wanted to get a few pumps in before his partner spent his load. Trace broke the kiss, loving
the disappointment Aiden showed.

“Turn around,” Trace said.
“What?” Aiden cocked one eyebrow and scrubbed his hand over his face.
“I want to be in you right now, in this shower, and that means you have to turn around.”
Aiden cracked a smile and turned, wiggling his ass. Trace popped him hard on the butt

cheek, leaving the red sting of a handprint.

“Hey!” Aiden jumped forward before bracing his hands against the wall and spread his legs.

“This good enough for you?”

“Heck yeah.” Trace spread lube on his fingers and massaged Aiden’s ass. The man was

tight, and still needed loosened up before sex, so Trace patiently worked Aiden’s hole, gently

sliding in one finger, then the next.

“Damn, you’re amazing at this,” Aiden said.
Trace rested his head on Aiden’s back, breathing in the deeply masculine scent of the man’s

skin. “I love touching you here.” Trace pushed in deeper and stroked Aiden’s prostate.

“Oh fuck, that’s good.”
“You’re ready.” Trace slid his fingers out and spread more lube on his condom-covered

dick. This was the best part of his entire day. Aiden’s hole was a warm, welcome treat. He still
couldn’t believe he had the pleasure of being the man’s first experience. A passing fear of being
jinxed flitted through his mind, but he pushed it away as he bumped against Aiden’s opening
with his cock. The muscles relaxed enough for him to push in, and his whole body shivered.

“Ahh, amazing,” Trace moaned.
Aiden grunted and squeezed his butt cheeks. Trace loved the feel of Aiden’s body tightening

around him. Aiden was so muscular that sexual positions he’d tried with other men actually
worked with Aiden. He wasn’t as limber as a gymnast would be, but Aiden was damn near close.

Each stroke into Aiden’s ass warmed his dick and made him harder. He grasped on tightly to

Aiden’s hips, his fingers wrapping around muscles he didn’t even know men could have. A
giddy happiness filled him as his orgasm started to build. There was no stopping him now.

His balls pulled up high against his body, readying to spin their jizz deep into Aiden. The

pure bliss from the orgasm would overwhelm him, just like it always did with this man.

Aiden dropped one hand from holding onto the wall and grabbed his own dick. He jerked

hard as Trace pounded into him.

“Trace--So close,” Aiden said.
Trace tried to hold off on his orgasm, but the pressure from Aiden squeezing his muscles

tight, then relaxing, did him in.

“Oh God, now,” Trace uttered.
Come spurted into the condom, and he felt Aiden’s ass clench spasmodically as he fell over

the edge too, their orgasms as close to simultaneous as possible. Trace clung to the side of the
shower, using one hand to prop up Aiden. Their breathing came in gasps, filling the small
bathroom with the rasps of their breaths. When Trace’s heart stopped thundering and his legs
stopped shaking, he pulled out and deposited the condom in the trashcan beside the shower.

Aiden turned to face him, his gaze serious as he stroked Trace’s chest. “I love you more than

anything. Don’t ever forget it.”

The fierceness of Aiden’s words left Trace filled with such an amazing feeling, he wondered

if he could ever get used to loving this man. Everything good felt squeezed into this one moment.
“I love you too. And that will never change.”

After breakfast, Trace suggested Aiden take a nap, and he’d felt tired enough to lie down

and fall into a deep sleep. He woke to Trace stroking his face.

“Time for lunch.”
Aiden reached out to pull Trace down on top of him, but Trace jumped away and shook his

head. Disappointment flared in Aiden.

“Oh, heck no. Don’t pout, and no pulling me into bed. I’m starving, and I need food. Get

dressed. After lunch we can play in the pool.”

“You didn’t bring a bathing suit, did you?” Aiden asked.
“No way. We’re swimming naked.”
Aiden reached out again, but Trace jumped back and laughed.

“Out of bed. Come on, I’m starving,” Trace said.
Aiden stood and stretched, then took care of business in the bathroom. After getting dressed,

he found Trace and pulled him into a tight hug, kissing Trace’s jaw and working his lips down
Trace’s neck.

“I could eat you up.” Aiden licked and nipped at Trace’s skin.
Trace wiggled away from him. “Oh, no you don’t. I need real food.”
Aiden threw up his hands and laughed. “Fine, whatever you want.”
On the way over to the restaurant, Aiden worried he would see Chuck. He’d wanted this trip

to be fun, and it was, but the intrusion of Chuck into his vacation was making it hard to be as
lighthearted as he wanted.

A waitress seated them in the far corner of the place, away from other guests. Aiden

wondered if she was treating them different because they were gay, or if it was all in his
imagination. Two more couples came in, and both of them were placed far away from the other
diners. Aiden studied the other couples and realized the waitress was sitting people based on the
way they looked at their partner. Those who gave their partner a loving look got sat separately
from the other diners. That made him feel special.

They both ordered grilled chicken and vegetables. They talked about life, and Aiden realized

halfway through the meal how much he and Trace were alike. Heck, he’d known it for a while.
Both of them were radically on the side of justice, and they both thought the world needed more
people willing to step up and fight for good.

“How about we take a walk after lunch?” Trace asked.
“How far?” Aiden took another bite of chicken and savored the spices.
“Just around the resort to burn off some of this food before we use the pool.”
Aiden leaned in close and whispered in Trace’s ear. “Babe, I can’t wait to get you in that

pool. Just thinking about you totally naked, all for me, is making me unbelievably hard.”

Trace leaned back, his eyes filled with merriment. “Good. I want you so hot, you’re about to

explode.”

Aiden growled as he took another bite of his food. They were good together. This weekend

trip had been a wonderful idea. Aiden felt they could make it through anything. Their
relationship was strong, and Aiden no longer dreaded telling the CIA about his partner and their
love for each other.

Aiden didn’t see Chuck or Rajeev as they wandered around the resort. It could mean one of

two things. Chuck either accomplished his task and Rajeev was dead or he soon would be, or this
was a preliminary meeting for more fact checking, and the actual hit would take place later at
another location. Aiden doubted the second scenario because it would be too obvious. The
nagging urge to call his superiors fled the closer they got to their small suite. He wanted Trace
too much to think about Chuck, and yet he couldn’t keep his mind from straying.

Back at the room, Aiden and Trace stripped quickly, abandoning their clothes before

jumping into the water. It was like they were both back in junior high with the splashing and
dunking. Having sex in the in room pool proved to be too hard so they did blow jobs at the edge,
then climbed back in after an energetic orgasm exhausted them both.

Aiden let his legs float behind him as he rested his head on his arms folded at the rim of the

pool. He watched as Trace ran a lazy gaze over Aiden’s body.

“I’m so glad we found each other,” Trace said.
“Yeah, me too. I’m still a little freaked out about it all.” Aiden stared at Trace, loving the

way his expressions revealed his emotions.

“Why?”
“Two months ago I would have sworn I was straight, and no one would have ever caught me

with a guy.”

“And yet here you are. I’ve thoroughly corrupted you.”
Aiden laughed. “I’m way more corrupted by my own right, much more than anything you

could have done to me.”

Trace’s eyes went serious, and he stood up, turning around to lean his back against the side

of the pool. “You’ve killed people, right?”

“Taking a life is serious business, and yes, in my line of work I’ve had to pull the trigger

more than once resulting in someone’s death.”

Trace closed his eyes and shook his head. “I can’t understand it.”
“Some days, I don’t understand it either.” His job made him depressed at times. Killing

another human took a toll on his soul. Working with the therapist was a must to get through the
emotions brought out after an assassination. He knew what he did was good for the world, but
very bad for the person directly affected by his actions. Sometimes he wished he’d taken a
different path in life, but then he’d remember the people who’d died at the hands of a terrorist,
and he vowed to never stop hunting them down until all of the bastard killers were eliminated.

“Let’s go take a walk through the woods.” Trace pushed out of the pool and stood above

Aiden, his body dripping water onto Aiden’s face.

“Sure.” Aiden hopped out of the pool and toweled off. His jeans felt a little loose going on.

They’d been having so much sex and not refueling, he’d probably lost a few pounds.

He grabbed a bottle of water for each of them, and they headed out to the trail. The sun was

up for another two hours so Aiden wasn’t worried about them getting stuck out in the dark. They
heard animals in the forest, but didn’t see anything until they sat still behind a copse of bushes
and waited for their four-footed stalkers to move.

Eventually a deer wandered close, then a few squirrels and a raccoon. Aiden had fun just

sitting with Trace and watching the wildlife go by. When he'd traveled to Eastern Europe to do a
few weeks of recon, he enjoyed sitting like this and watching nature.

Trace bumped their shoulders and desire shot straight through Aiden. With his dark hair, and

oh-so-intelligent eyes, strong chin, and defined cheekbones, Trace put to shame the airbrushed
models gracing magazine covers.

“I’ve never sat for this long waiting for any animal to come out. It’s great.” Trace snuggled

close.

“Back when I was a SEAL, I would spend days in a forest near one of our target’s homes,

watching and waiting for something to happen. I would fill my extra hours with stuff like this.”

“I bet you saw so many animals.”
“Sometimes, when I was still, deer would bed down for the night only ten feet from me.”
“Dang, what about bathroom breaks?” Trace asked.
“Ah, those are secrets I cannot divulge.”
Trace laughed a throaty chuckle, filling Aiden’s heart with pleasure. Being with Trace was

always a pleasure, but this weekend everything became clearer. He could see a long future before
them.

“Come on; let’s walk out a little farther before it starts to get dark.”
“Aiden, do you know which way we came from?” Trace turned around, his eyes wide as he

looked for something familiar.

“Baby, I know exactly where we are. Don’t worry. I’m an ace at directions.”

Trace wrapped his arms around Aiden and pulled him close. Their lips met in a tentative

kiss, sweet and simple, instead of demanding. Aiden melted against his lover, pressing his hips in
as he thought about being connected with Trace. His dick responded, plumping up and leaving
Aiden wanting. He couldn’t believe after as much sex as they’d had, he still wanted more.

“I want to screw you out here behind this stand of trees.” Trace bit Aiden’s earlobe and

pulled, sending a wave of desire straight to Aiden’s balls.

He reached between them and unzipped Trace’s jeans. His hand reached in and found

Trace’s hard cock ready for sex.

“Condom?” Aiden whispered.
Trace separated from him and dug into his pocket, pulling out a condom and lube. “You

may know directions, but I know when to have a condom handy.”

“Hot damn, I’m ready for you.”
Trace unzipped Aiden’s pants and reached around to his ass, stroking the tight crease and

prepping him for loving. They touched and petted each other, both working themselves into a
fury of heated passion. Trace brought both of their dicks together, holding them as one as he
used both hands to stroke them. Aiden’s dick was harder than he thought it had ever been. His
breath came in gasps as he held onto the last shred of his control.

“You’ve got me so hot I’m ready to explode,” Aiden whispered raggedly in Trace’s ear.
“Turn around,” Trace commanded.
Trace rolled on the condom and spread the lube then grasped onto Aiden’s hips so tightly

Aiden yelped.

“Sorry.” Trace released his hold and backed off a bit.
“No, do me hard. I want to feel you pump into me,” Aiden said through gritted teeth.
He didn’t know if it was the outdoors setting, or that they were totally alone, but Trace took

him wildly with an animal fierceness, his dick plunging in and stealing the breath away from
Aiden. They shared loud grunts as Trace bottomed out with each stroke.

Aiden grabbed his own cock and pumped, thinking about being buried deep in Trace’s ass.

“Fuck yeah, harder.”

Trace leaned in and bit Aiden on the shoulder, his teeth digging into the flesh.
“Ahh, I like it rough.” Aiden reached around and squeezed his ass cheeks and pulled at his

balls. “Fuck yeah.”

“Oh, oh I...” Trace threw his head back and grabbed onto Aiden’s nipples, squeezing them

and twisting as he jerked and spasmed from his orgasm.

The nipple grabbing did Aiden in, hot come shot to the forest floor as he blew his load.

Trace pulled out and tossed the condom into the bushes. They both zipped up and moved a few
feet away from Aiden’s spunk and plopped down onto the ground.

“Shit man, you wear me out,” Aiden laughed.
Trace leaned in close, his eyes hooded. “I love you.”
They kissed, lying back onto the leaves blanketing the ground and spent God knows how

long making out like teenagers. After a while they stopped kissing and watched the sky grow
pink above the trees.

“We should leave soon. Head back to the room,” Trace said.
“Yeah.” Aiden moved to stand, but the sound of someone speaking forced him still.
He put his finger to Trace’s mouth and shook his head. The hair on the back of Aiden’s neck

stood on end. He’d left his gun at home, leaving them totally vulnerable. Of course it could be
just another guest, but being caught making out might embarrass Trace, and it sure as held would

embarrass him.

Chapter Nine

The voices grew louder and he could make out some of the words.
“...million and in my account by...”
“...get it there...”
“...this is...”
Only bits and pieces could be deciphered over the crunching of leaves that littered the forest

floor. Aiden looked to Trace and held up his hand, telling Trace to stay low. Aiden moved
silently into position where he could get a good look at their interlopers.

Aiden’s heart stalled and his breath held in his chest till his lungs burned. His head whipped

around, and his gaze connected with Trace. His fucking work life was interfering big time right
now. Chuck and Rajeev were getting all buddy-buddy, and from the handshake he just saw, it
looked like Chuck had turned on the good ol’ US of A. Aiden’s heart sank, he must be imagining
things. A CIA agent like Chuck would never turn bad.

Fear for Trace filled him and the urge to run almost made him jump up to move, but neither

Chuck nor Rajeev knew he was here. Hell, this could be part of the plan. But his group never out
and out killed someone. It was all smoke and mirrors, undetectable poisons used to make death
look natural or staged accidents, not this.

If this went south, the best person he knew in the world could end up dead. Fear for Trace

made Aiden tremble as he sent up a little prayer. He held up his hand, imploring Trace to stay
still.

Aiden turned back to listen to Rajeev and Chuck. They were no longer walking, so more of

the words floated his way.

“...a wire. No way.” Chuck looked pissed.
“Prove it.” Rajeev pulled out a little pistol and pointed it at Chuck.
Aiden wanted to jump in and stop Chuck from getting killed, but a little niggling of doubt

surfaced. What if Chuck was a double crosser? What if he was out here to get millions from
Rajeev? They had said something about millions earlier.

Chuck stripped off his jacket and opened his shirt, pulling it away from his body.
Rajeev waved his gun. “Take it all off. I’m not stupid.”
“Fine.” Chuck stripped off all of his clothes, even his underwear. “You satisfied.”
Rajeev scowled. “No, I don’t trust you. You’re a fucking double crosser.”
The gun was leveled and Aiden knew what was going to happen next. Before the shot rang

out, Aiden silently moved towards Trace, hoping he’d get there before the gun went off and
Trace moved, revealing their position and leaving them open to danger.

Just as the gun went off, Aiden reached Trace and slapped his hand over Trace’s mouth.

Wide eyes stared back at him. Trace’s body shook, and he tried to whip his head around, but
Aiden held him still, doing his best to communicate the need for complete silence.

Bringing nothing to a gunfight always sucked. This was about self-preservation now. Once

he was sure Trace was safe, Aiden would go after Rajeev. He listened for movement, anything to
indicate they’d been given away. Nothing, then the crunch of leaves sounded. Aiden’s heart
thundered and his breathing grew shallow. Shit, he had to protect Trace.

Ten seconds passed, then twenty. The sound retreated and Aiden relaxed, his body going

slack for a second. He put his finger to his lips, telling Trace to be quiet before pulling his hand

away. Aiden wanted to talk too, but gave a quick shake of his head before moving silently to
view the aftermath of the gunfire.

It was exactly as he’d suspected. Chuck lay in a pool of his own blood, a red hole in the

center of his forehead. The guy was dead. Chuck had fucked up big time by trying to screw the
government over. At least that’s what Aiden assumed had happened.

Aiden heard Trace move behind him. His eyes flicked in the direction Chuck and Rajeev

had come. The bastard extremist was long gone, and Trace was safe.

“I can help him,” Trace whispered.
“Shot to the head. He’s gone.”
“I can’t believe anyone would do this out here. Who would do this?” Trace reached for his

cell phone and drug it out of his pocket.

Aiden grabbed his arm. “No.”
“This has to be reported, the guy killed someone. Shit, that could have been us.”
Aiden shook his head. How much to tell? “We can’t call local authorities.”
“But he killed him.” Trace looked scared and pissed; his eyes were red and his mouth a thin

line.

“Trace, baby, I know this man.”
“What?” Trace’s eyebrows scrunched up, and his eyes narrowed.
“God, this sucks. Listen, I can’t explain everything right now.”
“Why not?” Trace gave him a hard look. “Just tell me.”
Aiden glanced at Chuck and shook his head. “This is a classified case. If I tell you anything,

we could both go to jail. Telling you I know any of these punks could put you at risk. Please, for
my sake, go back to the room and let me take care of this.”

“Take care of it. What do you mean?”
Aiden pulled Trace into his arms and brushed a quick kiss across Trace’s lips. He leaned his

forehead against Trace’s forehead, their noses touching.

“Please, do as I ask,” Aiden begged.
“Fine, but we are going to have to sit down and have a serious conversation once you get

back.”

“Not here, the place is probably bugged.” Aiden looked around making sure they were still

alone.

“Bugged?”
“That’s why Chuck dragged him out here.”
“Chuck?”
Aiden tipped his head towards the dead guy and took off walking, dragging Trace with him.
“I’ll be back in the room within the hour. Don’t call the authorities. It will only make life

worse for everyone and put a bulls eye on your back,” Aiden said.

“Which way back to the resort?” Trace looked confused; he kept turning back to Chuck’s

dead body.

“Follow me, and I’ll point you I the right direction before I peel off.”
They moved quickly through the dark forest. Aiden tripped once, and so did Trace. Aiden

helped him back up, knowing all of this was probably scaring the crap out of his lover, but hell, it
was scaring the shit out of him that Trace could get hurt all because of his work.

They were close to the resort grounds, when Aiden stopped and pulled Trace into a hug. He

held on tight, praying his lover would stay safe through this all.

“Please go back to the room, lock the door and don’t open for anyone but me.” Aiden kissed

Trace, and Trace kissed him back, holding on tight as he sniffled. Aiden leaned back and looked
Trace in the eye. The tears he saw made Aiden sad, but he couldn’t allow emotion to filter in.
Emotions and work didn’t mix.

“Hey, I love you. Stay inside, and do as I asked. Please.”
Trace nodded and took off towards their cabin. Aiden watched until his lover was secure

inside their room, then he moved off to search the perimeter of the resort. There were too many
private cabins, too many places for a person to hide and not be seen. Fifteen of the cabins had the
curtains drawn. Hell, Rajeev could be in the main hall. It was impossible to determine where he
was. Since Aiden wasn’t in on the operation, he didn’t know what was really going on.

Aiden walked through the parking lot, hoping to catch a break. Rajeev would probably leave

soon. Hell, he might be gone already, but Aiden had to look for the bastard. His team wouldn’t
get another chance to strike at this guy if Chuck was a double agent.

Aiden played back the conversation he’d over heard, his mind pushing to recall the facts. It

had sounded like Chuck was accepting a bribe from Rajeev. Had Chuck told Rajeev about their
plans to kill him? Where the fuck was the rest of the team? When Aiden ran an operation they
had someone else in the area. Where were the guys watching Chuck’s back?

Not everyone knew Aiden, but enough people in the CIA did, and they would see him

walking around. He would get a phone call or text from James or another operative, and then he
would know something. Hell, someone would have seen Rajeev come back to his room, or they
would have spied him at his car. This operation stank like shit.

Maybe this thing between Chuck and Rajeev hadn’t been the mission. Maybe Chuck had

taken it upon him self to get some money. Aiden stopped walking and stared around the parking
lot. This lover's haven was such an unlikely place for a hit. Too secluded. His group would strike
on the flight from Europe or at the airport after the target left customs. Or they would cycle in
one of their guys as a customs agent and have him dip the passport in poison. Not this. Not
meeting at a secluded resort where lovers met.

“Fucking shit.” Realization hit Aiden like a brick wall. What if Chuck and Rajeev knew

each other already? What if Chuck wasn’t really a good guy? That fucking shit Chuck had pulled
in the men’s bathroom back in London had him wondering. Never before had he gone sexual
with any of his team.

Maybe he was wrong about Chuck, but he didn’t think so. One thing he was sure of; he had

to stop Rajeev. Aiden moved to the back of the parking lot and pulled out his phone. He should
call James and get this situation settled. He’d found James’s number in his contact list and was
ready to hit the dial button when Rajeev stepped out of one of the cabins and hurried across the
parking lot, his focus on a silver car. Aiden moved before thinking. Rajeev couldn’t live. The
jerk had probably called his contacts, and they knew what was going down. It couldn’t be
helped, but allowing this scum bucket to exist was wrong.

Aiden caught up with Rajeev at his car where Rajeev was stuffing his bag into the trunk.

Aiden saw the gun, stepped close, pulled the weapon from Rajeev’s holster, pressing it into
Rajeev’s back.

“You scream, and not only will I kill you, I’ll search out your family. They won’t live long

in my hands.” The lie made Aiden want to throw up, but he had nothing else to work with. They
didn’t strong arm their targets into complying with their demands; instead, they finessed their
way into their target’s lives.

“I have money,” Rajeev said.
“Perfect, let’s take a walk so I can make sure to get all of your goods.”

Let the idiot think this was a simple robbery. Anything to get Rajeev out of the parking lot

and into the woods. Once he was hidden in the trees, he would kill the bastard and be done with
him.

Aiden pressed Rajeev forward, they moved through the forest, drawing closer to Chuck’s

dead body. Making it look like a murder-suicide would stall the locals, but he didn’t know if he
could force Rajeev all the way, and dragging his ass over to Chuck would eliminate the murder-
suicide angle.

After they’d walked for a minute Rajeev hesitate. “I won’t go any farther.”
“Oh, yes you will.” Aiden jammed the gun hard into Rajeev’s back and pressed forward.

The dark forest hid fallen branches and Rajeev stumbled, but Aiden held the man tight enough so
he didn’t fall all the way to the ground. Every ounce of strength he had was focused on keeping
Rajeev up right.

They were about twenty feet from Chuck when Rajeev stumbled and went all the way to the

ground. Aiden let go so he didn’t go down too. Rajeev jumped up and took two quick steps.

Aiden dove for Rajeev, hitting him square on the butt with his head. They crashed to the

forest floor, Aiden wrapped around Rajeev’s legs. They roll over and Aiden crawled up on the
man, whipped out the gun, shoved it into Rajeev’s mouth, held it at a totally awkward angle,
forced Rajeev’s mouth closed and pulled the trigger.

The blowback was minimal. Aiden wiped the gun down twice with Rajeev’s shirt and placed

the weapon in Rajeev’s hand so it would look like he had committed suicide.

No one on his team would buy it. They would know this scenario had been faked. Hopefully

the rinky-dink police force wouldn’t see the set up. If everything went right for him, the cops
would come in here and damage the evidence before they called in the staties or the FBI. True
luck would mean a cleanup crew hitting the area before anyone local showed up.

The sound of leaves crunching underfoot startled Aiden. He’d been so wrapped up in killing

Rajeev, he hadn’t heard anyone following. Shit.

“Aiden, Aiden are you out there?”
Oh, fuck me, no. Trace was only about ten feet away as Aiden sprang to his feet, the

flashlight caught Aiden in the eyes, blinding him for a second. Rajeev and Chuck lay about
fifteen feet from each other, both of them dead. Trace knew Chuck was dead, but this second
body would freak him out. Trace would see the second dead body and know Aiden had killed the
man. Every muscle in Aiden’s body quaked with fear as Trace came closer.

“Stop,” Aiden commanded. His breath came in gasps, and he tried desperately to figure out

a solution to this additional problem.

“Oh, my God. Is he dead?” Trace’s hands flew to his mouth, and his eyes went wide.
Aiden held up his hands. “Please, just listen.”
Trace shook his head, anger flashing in his eyes.
“Trace?” Aiden said.
Trace shook his head, and his face went blank. He rushed forward, bending towards the

newly dead Rajeev.

Aiden reached out and grabbed him, jerking Trace away from the body and the blood.
“He needs help,” Trace cried out.
“He’s dead. His brain is blown out. Nothing you can do.”
Trace slumped against Aiden, his face pressed against Aiden’s blood spattered chest. He

must have realized there was blood because he jerked back quickly, his eyes narrowing.

“You--You shot him?” Trace’s eyes were wide at first, then he narrowed his eyelids and his

brow furrowed.

Aiden’s heart stopped beating as he watched Trace’s face fill with anger. “Trace, there are

things in this world that don’t fit into a box. This guy has committed—Fuck, I can’t say, but it’s
bad, and now he can’t do them any longer.”

Trace shook his head and squeezed his hands together. “But you actually pulled the trigger

and killed him?”

Aiden blew out a breath. He had to get Trace away from Rajeev and Chuck. The scene was a

fucking mess. His shoeprints, Trace’s shoeprints and blood spattered on both of them now.
Nightmare didn’t even begin to describe how horrible this situation was.

“I had no choice,” Aiden said.
“What the hell kind of excuse is that? Of course you had a choice. You killed a man. He had

a life. What if he had a family, kids?” Trace’s hands shook, and his teeth ground together.

“Trace, please keep your voice down.” Aiden’s mind spun as desperation filled him.

Fuckfuckfuck.

Trace shoved Aiden away and took off towards the resort. Aiden carefully reached into

Rajeev’s pocket and took his car keys and room card. The man had information his team needed.
Aiden jogged to catch up to Trace, worried anything he said wouldn’t be enough.

“When we get back to the room, I’ll explain everything to you,” Aiden said.
“There is no amount of explanation you can do to make me understand why you killed

another person.”

Trace picked up his pace and ploughed ahead. Aiden trotted beside him. He’d just blown the

most important relationship he’d ever had, but letting Rajeev leave the US once he knew they
were planning to assassinate him would mean the death of many young girls. Countless people
would be caught in the crossfire of some stupid vendetta. Men like Rajeev were bastards who
used other people to line his stinking pockets. Aiden couldn’t let that happen.

Aiden grabbed Trace’s arm about fifteen feet from the edge of the tree line. Trace tried to

shake him off, but Aiden held firm. He bent to whisper near Trace’s ear. “Someone is in the lot.
Just give it a minute.”

Trace stood still, his gaze everywhere, but on Aiden. Earlier in the evening they couldn’t

keep their eyes or their hands off each other, and now Trace wanted nothing to do with him. He
would have to talk fast once they got back to the room.

When the coast was clear, Aiden led Trace to the room and shut the door behind him. He

turned on the lights, glad they’d kept the curtains drawn when they’d left earlier. His shirt was a
mess, the blood spatter was less than he’d anticipated, but enough to count as evidence if the
wrong police officer figured out what happened before Aiden could get them out of here.

He peeled off his shirt and wadded it up so the blood was contained in the folds of the cloth.

Trace watched him, his eyes filled with revulsion and anger.

“I need your shirt.” Aiden held out his hand and moved his fingers, motioning Trace to

obey.

Trace looked down and saw the blood on his shirt, disgust evident on his face. Aiden folded

Trace’s shirt so it too would contain the blood.

“Pants are next then underwear and in the end, shoes.” Aiden looked around on the carpet.

He sighed with relief since neither of them had stepped in blood and tracked it in.

“Shoes?” Trace asked.
“I’ll have to bag all this up then clean it with bleach later.”
Trace stripped naked and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Aiden

heard the shower turn on as he gathered their clothes. He used the dry cleaning bag and tied the
top tight. If a cop showed up at their door right now they were screwed. Checking out in the
middle of the night wouldn’t do either. Nothing screamed guilty like running away from a scene.
Staying at the hotel wouldn’t hurt since no one knew Rajeev and Chuck were dead.

Aiden went into the bathroom, watching Trace through the glass enclosure as he scrubbed

his face. Aiden entered the shower, not surprised to see the disgust still in Trace’s eyes.

He washed quickly and was out of the shower seconds after Traced finished. They had to

talk now, before Aiden went to search through Rajeev’s room.

“I know you don’t understand why--”
Trace cut him off his face filled with hate. “No, I don’t understand.”
Aiden held up his hand. “You can’t ever repeat this. You can’t talk about this ever. What

I’m about to tell you is strictly forbidden conversation. It’s classified and on a need to know
basis.”

Trace didn’t move, but nodded his head, indicating Aiden could speak.
“Rajeev, the Asian man, was a terrorist, among other things.”
“You still shouldn’t have killed him. Who made you judge and jury?”
Aiden bit back his quick retort about knowing what was best for the people. He drew in a

deep breath and counted to ten. Being judge and jury sucked, but targets were selected by
committee after hours of evidence. They just didn’t go to trial. It didn’t seem fair for a group of
people to determine the fate of one individual, but sometimes the crimes were so heinous, so
disgusting, that his team had to step in.

“There were more than fifteen people in on this decision,” Aiden said, knowing he’d already

revealed too much.

“What? Fifteen? Is this some kind of illegal black ops shit?”
Aiden hated when people thought all terrorist squelching activity was illegal. The general

public had no clue what would happen if the US government stopped doing everything they did
to keep the peace.

“It’s legal, Congress approved our unit.”
Trace began pacing around the room, his face red, and his teeth bared. “How the hell do they

know what’s right? How do you decide who lives and who dies?”

“Rajeev is also a sex trafficker.”
Trace threw up his hands. “Still, you had no right to kill him.”
Aiden knew he would never convince Trace of his right to kill another person, he just hoped

he could keep the man from calling the cops. If Trace let it slip, they might not survive the shit
storm.

“When faced with men like Rajeev, right and wrong are sometimes hard to determine.”

Aiden felt lost as he spoke those words. They were so true and so painful to admit. Right and
wrong were blurred in his world. There was no black and no white, just gray all over.

“I don’t like this. I thought you were a nice guy, someone I could love, but I can’t be with

you. You killing this guy, it’s too much to deal with.”

Aiden’s heart shattered. He knew Trace would leave, but the reality of Trace calling it quits

hit Aiden hard. Aiden let the pain sizzle through him, ripping his heart in two before he pushed it
away and focused on what he had to do. He’d grieve later, after he knew Rajeev’s room was
clear, and he and Trace were back home safe.

“I have to go search Rajeev’s room. Please stay in here and don’t call anyone.”
“What would happen if I called the cops?”

“I work for the CIA. The backlash would be so huge, neither of us would survive. They

might plant evidence and blame it all on you...I don’t know.”

Aiden grabbed his phone and walked out of the cabin, praying Trace would keep their secret

and tell no one. If Trace chose to call the cops, then there wasn’t really anything he could do
about it. Life sucked, and eventually his activities would catch up to him, he just thought that day
would be much further away from today.

The phone call to James wasn’t pleasant at all. Curses were thrown about, and Aiden was

told exactly what he and Trace were to do next. Rajeev’s computer was stowed in the back of his
car. Aiden grabbed the computer, along with a briefcase, but left Rajeev’s bag behind then tossed
in the bag of bloody clothes. When he finally arrived back in his room, Trace was holding his
phone, staring at the display.

Aiden didn’t want to come off as an accusing ass-wipe, so he kept his mouth shut. He placed

Rajeev’s computer next to Trace’s already packed bag.

“We’re leaving now.” Trace dropped his phone in his pocket and marched towards the door.
Aiden blocked him, his soul burning for the connection they used to have. “We can’t.”
Trace stood his ground, his face a mask of hate and pain. “What the hell do you mean? I can

leave whenever I want.”

His heart squeezed and Aiden tried to remain calm. Keeping his voice even was difficult

with Trace because all he wanted to do was scream at the man until he understood why Rajeev
had to die.

“We need to stay till normal check out time,” Aiden said.
“I don’t want to stay in the same room with you anymore. I can’t stay in the same room with

you. You make me sick.”

Aiden felt as though Trace had physically kicked him in the gut. He swallowed the pain and

kept his shit together.

“We don’t have an option. We will stay here until nine this morning, and then we'll leave.

We’ll act like we had a marvelous weekend where we connected on another level. We’ll take the
plane back to DC and part on good terms. Anyone watching will have no idea what really
happened up here. You don’t ever have to see me again after we part company at the airport, but
I hope you will.

“I want you to understand what I did wasn’t because I’m an evil person. Hell, maybe I am

evil, but Rajeev is a killer and would have killed many truly innocent people over the next few
years. As shitty as it sounds, sometimes the end justifies the means.”

“I’ll never be able to look at you the same way.” Trace dropped his bags and went to the bed

to lie down on top of the blankets. His body was stiff, and his eyes closed. Nothing about him
looked inviting.

Aiden stored the laptop in the other dry clean bag, then opened Rajeev’s briefcase. The

desire to look through the files on the laptop filled Aiden, but protocol meant he’d have to have it
hooked up to a device to suck all the data off of the computer just in case there was a kill switch
associated with the password. He didn’t have the right equipment.

There wasn’t much of interest in the briefcase, mostly papers for legitimate businesses.

Trace closed the case and plopped down on the couch. He couldn’t believe this weekend ended
this way. He and Trace were supposed to move in together after their time away. Why did he
have to suggest they take a little trip? This weekend away was supposed to make this relationship
look better to his boss, now it was over.

Had they not been here, he wouldn’t have killed Rajeev, and Trace would still be able to

look at him, touch him, and kiss him. But then Chuck would still be dead, and Rajeev would be
on a plane back to Europe. No one would know about Chuck’s betrayal or Rajeev finding out
about the hit on him. Fuck, this is all screwed up.

He wanted Trace, needed the man, but knew from watching others at his workplace; his job

was a romance killer. Maybe it was better to lie, but when you have the blood of the man you
assassinated on your shirt, it’s kind of hard to lie about killing him. Trace should have stayed in
the room, but Aiden didn’t blame his lover for being worried. Hell, he would have followed too.
The big difference, he was a trained Navy SEAL and a CIA agent who knew how to handle
himself in difficult situations.

Aiden laid his head back against the couch and closed his eyes. No way in hell was he going

to piss Trace off even more by lying down in the bed. He’d stay on the uncomfortable couch all
night. Aiden checked his watch, it was almost three in the morning.

Trace turned over on the bed, the rustle of the covers magnified in the quiet room. The

sound of the heat turning on drowned out some of the noise, but not enough for Aiden to ignore
his lover.

He opened his eyes enough to see Trace across the room. The man was having a terrible

time trying to get comfortable. Aiden swallowed his pride and moved to the bed. He grabbed
Trace’s shoulder and squeezed. The sigh Trace let out said it all.

“I can’t...”
“I’m not asking you to do anything. Just relax and try to sleep. Tomorrow will be difficult.”

Aiden slid his hand down Trace’s back and was surprised Trace didn’t jump away.

Trace held his shoulders stiff as Aiden massaged his neck and back. Eventually Trace

relaxed, and then his breathing evened out. Aiden slowed his massage and ended with his hand
resting on Trace’s waist.

The sun was up when he woke, and Trace was curled up in his arms. Aiden’s heart ached.

He wanted this relationship to work out. They were a great match in bed, and they had fun out of
bed too. Everything about their relationship had been wonderful, until Trace figured out Aiden
would kill another human if he felt it necessary.

Trace woke up and smiled. Aiden’s heart felt light. He hadn’t realized how much a smile

from this man meant. Then Trace’s memory must have kicked in because he pushed away and
jumped out of bed, a frown replaced his smile. Aiden had hoped they might salvage something in
time. He was a patient man and could wait. But waiting might be a mistake. Only recently had he
figured out what was wrong with his sexual mojo. He didn’t want to end up with a woman, he
wanted it to be all male from here on out, but did it really have to be with Trace?

Aiden stared at Trace’s stiff back and set shoulders. God, he hoped it was with Trace. This

man was beyond wonderful, and he loved him. No other man could ever take Trace’s place.

They checked out of the hotel, Trace doing a bang-up job of trying to act like he wanted to

be with Aiden. The drive back to the airport was done in silence, but at the airport Trace was his
usual charming self. Anyone watching wouldn’t be able to tell they’d had a huge falling out.

The flight was uneventful and they parted with a quick kiss in the parking lot in DC. Aiden

cringed as he watched Trace walk out of his life. He’d fallen in love with the man and had given
up that love for his job. His heart was empty, and his soul cried out for Trace. He hated his
fucking job. If the CIA came calling right now, he would give them the finger and walk away.

Aiden reported into work after stopping by home and showering, trying to maneuver

through the steps of showing up and talking to people, but his head wasn’t in the game. He kept

thinking about Trace. The story of his weekend was told over and over again, no detail left out of
his account. Aiden didn’t care if they knew he and Trace were butt buddies. Lying about their
relationship would be worse for Trace. Hell, the CIA was going to fuck over Trace’s life, and the
fucking would be worse if Aiden hadn’t told the truth. One thing Aiden knew he had to do was
warn Trace.

Everyone else left the room, but James held back and slid into the seat next to Aiden,

sighing heavily and not meeting Aiden’s eyes. Aiden could feel James’s tension, the unasked
questions and uncomfortable reality of the answers he needed to provide. When James finally did
meet Aiden's gaze, his eyes held sympathy.

“I don’t care if you’re gay, but I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. Every member of this team

has to trust everyone else. Your life is at stake every time you go out in the field. Hell, even
when you aren’t in the field there is danger. Anything else you need to tell me?”

Aiden blew out a huge breath. “I only just figured it out myself, but I’m sure Chuck was

dirty. At the time I was embarrassed, and I still am. When we were in London together and we
went into the bathroom, Chuck pushed me up against the wall and gave me a blowjob. That’s
how we evaded the guy looking for us.”

“You’re kidding me?” James swiped his hand down his face. “Fuck Jackson, why didn’t you

include that in your report? I expected more out of you.”

“Would you have told anyone? I was warring with myself to stay straight. Hell, I was totally

blown away when Chuck sucked me off and I liked it. He was the first man I’d ever allowed
myself to kiss. It freaked me out.”

James stood up and paced the room, leaving Aiden unsure if he would have a job with the

CIA after today. He half wanted to be fired, and then he could get on with his life and stop
worrying about all the bad people in the world. He could only do so much, and losing Trace left
him beyond exhausted.

“Aiden, I’m not going to put this in your file. For one thing, Chuck is dead, and I don’t want

you to suffer from this decision.”

Aiden blew out a huge breath. Relief poured through him, and he felt better. Maybe he did

like his job more than he thought. “Thank you.”

“Oh, don’t thank me. You just got more responsibility. Report to McLean at eight hundred

hours tomorrow. You’re moving up into an analyst position in addition to the other activities we
want you to do.”

Aiden shook his head. He couldn’t believe he’d heard James correctly. “Is that wise?”
James tilted his head and his eyes narrowed. “You’ve got a man now; you need to stop

doing so much traveling.”

Pain speared Aiden’s heart. “He’s no longer mine.”
“He’ll come back,” James said.
“I don’t know.” Aiden wanted Trace in his life, no question about it. He missed the guy so

much, but he’d fucked up terribly. Sitting at home alone sucked. Before he knew Trace, Aiden
actually loved his solitary weekends, but now he felt such loss each time he walked into his
bedroom and thought about Trace never moving in. He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life
without Trace, but he didn’t know how to change the man's mind. The situation sucked, and he
had no way out.

Aiden sat outside of Trace’s office building waiting for him to finish work. Doctors were

always busy, and with Trace’s trip to South America coming up, he was probably trying to clear

his paperwork before he left.

Long after sunset, the back door to Trace’s office opened, and the man came out; his head

hung low, his shoulders slumped. Aiden felt like shit. He hadn’t meant to make Trace’s life
worse, but part of him knew hooking up with anyone was dangerous. He’d kept his relationships
casual with girls because of his job. That wasn’t the real truth--He kept girls at arms length
because he didn’t want a woman in his life, he wanted a guy.

Aiden didn’t move towards Trace. He didn’t want to scare the man he loved, he only wanted

to talk if Trace could handle talking.

Trace moved to his car, his eyes glancing towards Aiden, his shoulders stiffened as he

turned away to toss his coat and briefcase into the back of his BMW. Trace pulled open the
driver’s side door, but didn’t step in. He stood still for almost a minute before he slammed the
door and whipped around, facing Aiden. After a few seconds of staring into the distance, he
stalked over, his shoulders rigid and his head high.

“What?” Trace demanded.
Aiden’s eyes roved over Trace, taking in every detail of his weary face and stiff posture. The

rings under his eyes were new, and the lines marking the ends of his mouth weren’t there
yesterday.

“I wanted to let you know they’ll be waiting for you when you get home.” Aiden tried to

catch Trace’s eye, but he wouldn’t look at him.

“Is this a threat?” Trace shifted from one foot to the other.
“No, not at all. I just wanted to give you a heads up so the guys didn’t scare you. Your car

has already been bugged, and they’re tracking you so don’t try to go anywhere else but home.”

“Who?”
“The people I work with. CIA spooks.”
“I don’t like the people you work with. What about your car, is it bugged too?”
Aiden looked back at his ride. “No, I checked it before I came over here. I have a

professional go over it every few months, and I have my own device.”

Trace rubbed his temples with both hands, exhaustion making him look older. “Thank you

for stopping by to tell me.” He turned to leave.

“Wait,” Aiden reached out his hand, but stopped before he actually touched Trace. “I want

to talk to you soon.”

“I don’t know.” Trace didn’t even turn around to look at him.
“I still love you.” Aiden couldn’t believe he’d said those words. It wasn’t like him to moon

over anyone. He’d never been the possessive type when he’d dated girls, but dating Trace was
different. The feelings he had for Trace couldn’t be compared to anything he’d ever shared with
a girlfriend.

Trace’s shoulders slumped, and he shook his head. “I leave on Thursday morning.”
“After you get back then. Coffee and nothing more. I swear I won’t pressure you.”
Trace stood mute, the silence stretched for over a minute. “Let me think.”
Aiden felt a small amount of hope. Trace would eventually agree if he kept at him, but he

shouldn’t come on too strong. “I’m not lying or trying to manipulate you when I say I love you. I
really do love you, and I’m a very patient man.”

This time Trace did swing around and glare at Aiden. “I can’t even process what happened.

I’ve been scared shitless the cops will find...You know.”

Aiden stepped closer, wanting any connection with Trace, even if it really amounted to

nothing. “A team went in last night and retrieved the bodies. They were cremated this morning.”

Trace took a step towards Aiden, “What? Don’t you think their families will come looking?”
“Chuck had no family to speak of, and as for Rajeev, we have a body double traveling under

his passport back to Europe. No one will know what happened. Ever.”

“Holy mother fucking Christ. You have got to be shitting me? You work for assholes.”
Aiden was shocked. He hadn’t heard Trace curse like this, and the anger in his voice seared

Aiden’s soul. He stumbled for words. “I’m sorry...It’s just the way The Company is.”

“I don’t like this at all.” Trace turned to leave then whipped back around. “I can’t

believe...Hell, never mind.”

Aiden did reach out and grab Trace this time, electricity zinged through him. Trace’s eyes

widened and his pupils dilated, Aiden noticed the change in Trace’s breathing too. Trace still felt
something for him, and the poor man probably felt betrayed by his body.

“I will be here when you get back. Promise you’ll think about everything while you’re

away.”

“I hope to forget it all.” Trace pulled away and raced to his car. He hopped in and gunned

the motor, tires squealed as he sped away.

The pain in Aiden’s chest intensified. The one person he actually fell in love with, hated

him. His job sucked even though he loved it. What he did mattered. Who else would flush the
world’s toilets when there were shits like Rajeev making everyone smell the cesspool of rotten
behavior?

Trace closed the door to his apartment behind the CIA agents and slid down against the

door. They'd bugged his apartment, his phones, and his car. He had no privacy at all. Everything
he did was monitored. Every word he spoke could be heard by those stupid spooks. What the hell
had Aiden gotten him into?

Trace tried to forget the interview with the CIA, but he was having a hard time erasing the

fear and betrayal he experienced when the men questioned him about his sex life. Aiden had told
them everything about their love affair. In one sense he felt relieved to not have to hide anything
from these guys, but he couldn’t believe Aiden provided such in-depth personal details. It was
humiliating.

Trace spent the next two days trying like hell to just live without saying or doing anything

the crappy CIA might think suspicious. When Thursday finally came, he was so relieved to leave
the United States, he woke up early and left for the airport four hours before his flight. He didn’t
care if he had to sit at the terminal for half a day. He hated being in his apartment now that it was
bugged. After he returned, he would have to figure out a way to get rid of the listening devices.

The Amazon proved to be as hot and humid as ever. Trace worked long hours, sometimes

not even getting to bed before another group of patients rolled into their camp in the middle of
the night from one of the outlying areas. Trace tried to forget about Aiden, but then someone
would bring up home and how much they missed their spouse.

Hell, Aiden wasn’t Trace’s spouse, but he missed the guy and thought Aiden was as close to

a spouse as he would ever get. In the second week, after a long and difficult surgery on a boy
whose arm had been crushed, Trace went out to one of the hammocks and relaxed enough to
catch some sleep. Images of Aiden filled his mind and lustful thoughts followed until the man
who Aiden shot began haunting his dreams. Trace jerked awake, the hammock swinging under
him. He understood Aiden killing a person in battle, but the man at the resort could have just
gone to jail. It was like Aiden hadn’t given the guy a chance to explain. The whole ordeal was
more than Trace could comprehend. Forgiving Aiden would be impossible.

After seventeen more surgeries, and way too many hours of treating sick children, Trace was

happy to be in Rio de Janeiro staying at one of the Americanized hotels. The hot shower felt
heavenly after being in the rainforest for two weeks. Their flight wasn’t for twenty-four hours,
and after a nice nap, he planned on partying a little bit. Actually, he planned on getting wasted,
buying some condoms and fucking any willing guy he could find until he couldn’t fuck anymore.

He shoved away any guilt he felt at cheating on Aiden. Hell, he was so pissed at Aiden he

didn’t know if he could talk to him again, much less make love to him or ever move in with the
guy like they’d planned. Trace slammed his hands down on the bathroom countertop and looked
at himself in the mirror. How could he even think of going back to Aiden? The man had taken a
life, and that was unacceptable in Trace’s book.

Before Trace could get dressed, he heard someone banging against his room door. This was

a nice hotel, so he wasn’t afraid of robbers showing up, but still his heart gave a lurch and his
knees shook as he moved to peer out the peephole. Two men in blue suits stood in the hallway.
They looked rather official.

Trace gritted his teeth and reached for his jeans, sliding them over his hips and zipping them

before he opened the door, “Can I help you?”

“We have need of your specialty,” the short one said.
Trace’s stomach turned, and his head pounded. They looked like someone Aiden would

know. Had he sent them here as a joke? “My specialty?”

“You are Doctor Williams, correct?”
“Yes sir, I’m Trace Williams.”
The taller of the two men reached in his jacket, and Trace jerked back and tried to slam the

door closed. His heart was in his throat, and he couldn’t get out the scream he so desperately
wanted to voice.

Chapter Ten

The guy held up his hands. “Hold on. I’m just getting my badge. Didn’t mean to scare you.”
Trace grabbed hold of the door and the doorframe. His face burned with embarrassment, and

his knees shook. He looked at the ID’s and asked, “US Department of State?”

“We work at the embassy and were made aware of your location. I’m agent Evans, and this

is agent Reyes,” the short one said.

“How? How did you know about me?” Trace asked.
“Um, that’s classified. Anyway, we have some American citizens who need medical

attention,” Reyes said.

“Brazil has wonderful doctors.” Trace tried to close the door, but Evens stopped him.
Evans’ voice was quiet and calm when he spoke. “We need you, an American citizen, for

this.”

Trace looked over his shoulder at his bed and sighed. No nap and no fun. Fuck it.
“Fine, let me grab my bag, and let’s go. I won’t perform surgery unless I’m at a hospital

with good equipment.”

“Not sure if surgery is necessary,” Reyes replied.
“Great, just want I wanted to do tonight. My flight leaves in twenty-four hours.”
Both men stopped walking and faced Trace. He pulled up short, annoyed with the entire

situation.

Reyes spoke, “If you miss your flight, we’ll put you on military transport and get you home

earlier.”

“Fine, let’s just get this over with.”
Trace stayed silent in the car as his mood plummeted. He hated elitist assholes that

demanded attention, and he was sure that’s what this was about. Some pampered star was
probably having a nervous breakdown. This is what he got for getting involved with someone in
the CIA. Never again.

They pulled up outside a warehouse and got out of the car. Trace looked around, surprised to

see eight guys with serious guns standing guard at the front of the building and on the corners.
He assumed there were more men around the other side of the building. Once he got close, he
saw they were American soldiers.

“Evening, sir,” one of the soldiers said as he opened the door.
“Good evening.” Everything felt unreal to Trace, even the lighting looked too bright as they

walked down a hall to a set of double doors.

“What’s this about?” Trace asked
The man who had been speaking to him the most, Reyes, stopped outside the double doors,

his face unreadable, but his coloring had turned a little green. He couldn’t hold Trace’s gaze as
he began to speak.

“The girls are about twelve to fifteen years old. You might recognize some of them from old

missing child alerts. We’ll do a full physical on them before we allow the parents to take them
home after we land in the US, but we need to know if they need immediate attention.”

Trace swallowed hard, goose bumps rising on his skin. “Oh God, were they—”
“They were all in a brothel when we found them,” Evans said.
Trace didn’t move. The girls were kids, not even older teens, just kids. They’d probably

been here for a while if they were US citizens. His breath grew rapid as anger burned through
him.

“A few of the girls have been missing since they were four and five,” Reyes said.
Trace felt like vomiting. Tears stung his eyes, and he swiped them away. Showing a calm

face was key to treating kids. He bit his cheek and dug his nails into his palm. “Let’s go.”

The first three girls stayed silent, their eyes wide as he treated their wounds and gave them a

mini physical. They specifically asked him not to do a rape kit on the girls to help save them
from further humiliation. He did give each girl a pregnancy test, and so far, they were all
negative.

When they brought in the fourth girl, he wanted to drop to his knees and hug her, but he

didn’t. She looked so wounded and afraid, the hurt poured off of her.

“Sweetie, I’m a doctor, and my name is Trace Williams. I’m not going to hurt you or touch

you anywhere you don’t want me to.”

She sat down on the bench he was using as an examination table, her tiny hands clenched at

her sides. His heart went out to her. If he could take all her pain away he would.

“Okay honey, what’s your name?”
She squinted and bit her thumbnail before answering. “Maris.”
“Maris, I need to listen to your heart now. All I’m going to do is press my stethoscope

against your back and your chest, nothing more.”

Maris’s face went blank and she moved to take off her shirt.
Trace reached out and touched her arm. Maris jumped and hugged her arms to her chest.
“Oh sweetie, with your shirt on. You don’t need to get undressed.”
“I thought...” her little face went pink.
“I’m here to make sure you can travel, that you’re well and don’t need any medicine right

now. That’s all.”

Trace bit his tongue as he pressed his stethoscope against her chest to listen. Her heart was

strong and her breathing good. He sat back and smiled at Maris, all the while his insides
churning. Someone had taken her from her parents and treated her like a whore. It made his mind
ache with a strain he didn’t understand.

“Well, your heart and lungs sound good.”
Her eyes narrowed and her brow furrowed. “Do you think my parents will want me back?”
Trace almost choked, but he tempered his reaction and tried his best to remain calm. “I can

guarantee it.”

Maris hung her head and whispered, “But I’m broken.”
“Oh sweetie, no you're not,” Trace said. He wanted to break down and cry, to throw a fit and

toss a chair or two across the room, but he held it together for the girl’s sake and bit back the
tears.

“The men who used me said I was trash, just a fucking whore.”
White-hot anger welled up in Trace. The desire to kill the men who’d done this to Maris

rose up inside of him and made his head ache. His nostrils flared, and his eyes were wild, Maris
cringed. He calmed down immediately.

“Honey, Maris, your parents are going to be so happy to see you. They probably won’t let

you out of their sight for days. You’re special to them, and I think you’re going to be special to a
lot of people. I’m happy you were found and that you’re going home.”

Maris tilted her head to the side and stared at him through small slits. “Do you think they’ll

let me have a birthday party?”

Trace laughed and smiled at the little girl. “Yes, and I’ll come if you want me to.”
She studied his face and nodded once. “You can come because you didn’t try to touch me

like those other men. They can’t come to any of my parties, ever.”

Trace’s heart melted as his eyes burned with tears. He let a few fall before he bit his tongue

and dried his eyes. “I would be honored to be at your birthday party, Maris. Now, let me finish
up with the exam, and you can go back out with the other girls.”

Before Trace could move, Maris held up her hand and looked him in the eyes, her face

serious. “Annie is sick.”

“Really, how is she sick?”
“I don’t know, but they said something about giving her help or aid.”
The anger he’d felt earlier was nothing to what he felt now. “I promise I’ll help Annie as

much as I can.”

“Thank you, doctor Trace. I like you.”
“I like you too, Maris, and I’ll make sure to come to your party.”
Maris left, and one of the men who’d come to get Trace walked in, he thought it was Reyes.
“Hey, is there anyway to send someone to get my bags?” Trace asked.
“Already here. We decided you’ll take the military transport back with us.”
“Great, I need my bags now.”
Trace stared at the vials of blood he’d taken from Maris. When he’d come down here he’d

brought a few quick AIDS tests with him. He had one left, and he had to know if Maris was
infected. It was totally inappropriate to test her without her parents’ permission, but he wanted
the answer. He had to know if this sweet little girl was sick with AIDS.

After his bags were dropped off, he pulled out the test and used a small amount of Maris’s

blood. He saw the next three girls, all the while thinking about Maris and her blood test.

When Annie came in, he knew exactly who she was. Her parents might have a few months

with her or maybe not. Some of the medicines they had out now were close to miracle cures, but
it would take a huge miracle to help Annie. Ten years ago she would have an automatic death
sentence, but there was some hope for her.

After seeing Annie, Trace picked up the AIDS test but didn’t look. After a moment of

ethical dilemma at doing the test without permission, he glanced down. His heart stalled and
sweat popped out on his forehead. Maris was negative for now. She would have to be retested
multiple times before she was declared clear, but for now she was good.

Trace sat on the bench and cried. How could anyone treat kids this way? Trace saw the rest

of the children, not even stopping to eat. He had no idea how long he’d been working when
Agent Reyes came back in to check on him.

“We’re wrapping everything up here. We need to leave to catch the transport back to the

states.”

Trace gathered his things, all the while looking at the ground. He couldn’t comprehend the

world Agent Reyes lived in. “Damn, this sucks. How the hell did you find these girls anyways?”

“Lucky break. The brothel was full of kids, most from other countries. They’re over at their

own embassies.”

Trace glanced at Reyes. “You sure these girls are all American?”
“Yeah, we’ve run them through the missing children’s database. Lucky for them, we found

them.”

“How though? Local police just stumble upon the place?” Trace asked.
“Heck no. A lucky shit up north found the bastard running the ring and killed him. I wish I

had been there to see the sorry asshole die. From what I’ve heard our agent found this bastard by
accident, kind of. Happened up in Pennsylvania.”

Trace froze, his vision blurred as realization struck. “In Pennsylvania?”
“Yep, and this isn’t the only brothel where he stowed American kids. We’ll track them down

somehow though. It might take a few months, but there are going to be some happy parents once
they get their kids back. Anyways, grab your stuff, we’ve got to go.”

Trace felt as though the whole world had tilted. He and Aiden had been in Pennsylvania

almost three weeks ago. He was breathing, but he felt like his lungs wouldn’t work. His blood
pressure went crazy. Dizziness smacked him upside the head. He had to reach out to steady
himself.

“You okay?” Reyes asked.
Trace shook his head, “Yeah.” He grabbed his bags and followed behind Reyes.
“So, did this guy in Pennsylvania get killed recently, like this week?”
“Nah, about three weeks ago. Took us this long to actually find the girls.”
Trace stopped walking. Oh God, the man Aiden had killed was the human trafficker who

kidnapped these little girls. Maris walked into the hall and stopped, she smiled and waved her
little hand, he waved back. Tears burned his eyes.

Aiden had been right, Trace didn’t understand anything. When Aiden had killed the guy at

the resort he’d been so angry. Aiden had tried to explain, but how the hell can you explain, really
explain, human trafficking to anyone who’s never seen it?

Trace moved in a fog as he loaded into the back of the plane, watching the girls play with

two female soldiers who’d stripped out of the combat gear in order to look more normal. The
girls were laughing at the soldiers’ antics, and Trace couldn’t help but laugh with them.

When the plane landed, he half expected Aiden to be waiting for him. His disappointment

was still there even though watching the girls being reunited with their parents was beyond
special.

Maris found her family. Tears filled Trace’s eyes as he watched her mother sit on the floor

with Maris in her lap, rocking her back and forth. Her mother cried and laughed all the while
kissing Maris’s head.

All was right in the world for these families now that they had their children back, or at least

they could make it right with help and support. His heart broke as he watched parents hug their
children close, kissing them over and over again. There were no dry eyes, even among the
soldiers. White-hot rage boiled up inside of Trace. If he didn’t already know Rajeev was dead, he
would hunt the man down and personally kill the bastard with his own hands. He had to find
Aiden.

Aiden tossed his gym bag into the trunk of his car. Trace had been due back from Brazil last

night, at least that’s what he’d found when he’d searched the airline’s ticketing system two days
ago. Aiden thought about going to the airport, but decided against stalking the poor guy.

He wasn’t surprised Trace hadn’t called. These last few weeks sucked without Trace, but

he’d best get used to life without the man he loved. Maybe one day he could change Trace’s
mind, but it would take a long time.

Aiden reached in his pocket for his wallet and couldn’t find it. He patted both back pockets

and then checked his gym bag. Nothing.

“Shit.” He returned to his house and picked up his wallet from where it had fallen on the

floor. He shut and locked the front door behind him. A car skidded to a stop in front of his house.

Aiden froze, then recognized the BMW. Shock jolted through him. Aiden stood still, waiting for
the anger he was sure Trace still harbored.

Trace cut the engine and hopped out of his car, leaving the door open. He ran towards

Aiden, the smile on his face shocking after the way they’d parted. Trace jumped to the patio
when he was a few feet away. Aiden braced himself against the door as Trace slammed into him,
wrapping him in a huge hug. Trace’s lips were all over him, kissing his jaw and his nose and his
cheeks.

The heavy stress weighing him down lifted, and Aiden laughed. “Hey, what’s this for?”
“Oh God, I can’t believe I was so stupid. I love you, and I never want to leave you again.”
Aiden shook his head. Had he heard Trace correctly? “You’ve seen the worst side of my job,

and you still want me.”

“God, it was awful. I’m so glad you sent them for me.” Trace kissed Aiden again, his lips

pushing insistently at Aiden’s mouth.

Aiden held Trace at arm’s length. “I didn’t send anyone for you.”
Trace’s brow furrowed. “You didn’t? How did they know where I was?”
“Who was sent?”
“Guys from the State Department.”
Aiden bit his lower lip as desire fired inside of him. He needed to stay focused through this

discussion and not attack Trace right here. “I’m sure they’ve got you under surveillance.”

“Impossible, I was in Rio.”
“Honey, they just know. But what are you talking about?”
“Oh God, it was awful.” Trace shivered and closed his eyes.
“Babe, tell me. Did they hurt you?” Aiden looked up and down Trace’s body, searching for

any injury.

“No, no, not at all.” Trace shook his head, his eyes full of love.
“So?”
“I’d just arrived in Rio when two guys came and got me. They were from the State

Department, and they took me to a warehouse. Girls, little girls, not adults, but kids, had been
found and liberated from a brothel.”

Aiden gulped in a breath. “Damn, you were there. You saw the girls.”
“Yeah, it was that guy, the one from the resort. I can’t believe you did that. You freed those

girls. You saved their lives. Maris is at home with her parents because of you.”

Aiden wrapped his arms around Trace. He’d been in on the planning stages for the rescue of

the girls, but he hadn’t gone down to South America, now he wished he had. When they'd found
the brothel, he’d been so happy. He didn’t know Trace would have any part of the plan. The
Department of State said they contacted a doctor from the US, but he didn’t know whom.

“Trace, will you come inside so we can talk?”
“I thought you would never ask.” Trace kissed him again, grinding his hips against Aiden’s.
“We need to lock your car.”
Trace looked back over his shoulder and smiled up at Aiden. “I don’t care about my car, all I

want is you.”

Aiden smiled and squeezed Trace close. “You may say that now, but when it’s gone, you’ll

want it back.”

“Fine, but don’t go anywhere.”
Aiden made sure his car was locked up tight and met Trace on the lawn near his front door.
“Thank you,” Aiden said.

“For what?” Trace reached up and brushed a lock of hair out of Aiden’s eyes.
“Giving me a second chance.”
“You make a difference. I didn’t understand it before, but you killing that guy actually saved

people. Important people like Maris.”

“Tell me about Maris.”
Trace followed Aiden into his house, telling him about the little girl and how wonderful

she’d been. He ducked his head when he told Aiden about the AIDS test he’d administered
without the parents permission. Aiden knew how he felt. Sometimes you had to bend the rules to
get the results you needed.

Trace fell asleep on Aiden’s couch, his features relaxed as he slumbered. They’d cried over

the young girls Trace had treated in Brazil and Aiden told him everything he could about the
other kids who’d been rescued in the last few weeks. Before falling asleep, Aiden said he was
willing to leave the CIA, but Trace had said no, Aiden’s work was too important.

Aiden found a blanket and pulled out a pillow for Trace, not wanting to wake him, but he

woke anyway. Aiden dropped to his knees and brushed Trace’s hair off his forehead.

He kissed his hairline down to his ear and whispered, “Hey, babe, I didn’t want to wake

you.”

Trace grabbed onto Aiden’s wrist. “Do you mind if I share your bed with you tonight?”
Aiden sat back on his heels. Trace’s brows were raised and worry filled his eyes. Aiden

leaned in close and kissed Trace on the nose then each cheek.

This was exactly what he wanted. “Come to bed with me, and let me show you how much

you belong there,” Aiden whispered.

Trace shivered and sighed. “Mmmm, I love you.”
Aiden grabbed Trace’s hand and led him to the bedroom. This was the type of relationship

Aiden wanted. He wanted the closeness and the fun, but most of all he wanted a guy he could be
himself with. His heart felt full, and his soul sang with happiness.

Chuck might have betrayed the country and done some other stupid stuff, but he’d opened

Aiden up to the possibility of having a true, loving relationship with a man. At least he could
thank Chuck for showing him his true path and remember the good the man brought into his life.

Trace pushed Aiden onto the bed, his fingers tugging at his shirt hem. Aiden watched as

Trace undressed, turning around to drop his pants and underwear in a sexy hip-shaking dance.

Aiden laughed, and it felt good. So much of his world was filled with pain and anguish,

mixed with indecision and regret, but he would never regret loving Trace. Trace brought color to
his gray world and opened his eyes to the way love should be.

“Now it’s my turn to undress you.”
Trace reached for Aiden’s shirt, but Aiden was too fast. He flipped Trace off of him and

straddled his lover.

“Move in with me,” Aiden said.
“Are you sure?” Trace asked.
“More than I’ve ever been. I love you and want you in my life. You’re the best thing that has

ever happened to me. I’ve done some stupid things, and I’ll probably do more before the year is
over with, but I swear I’ll love you like no one else ever would.”

Trace tucked a hand under Aiden’s shirt, touching his abs and playing with Aiden’s nipples.

Desire shot straight to Aiden’s dick. He moaned with pleasure as Trace licked his lips.

“Yes. I’ll rent a truck this weekend and give notice at my place.”
Aiden’s heart felt almost too light as he stripped out of his clothes and tossed them to the

floor. His lover was moving in. He was going to have a real relationship with Trace. Sure, they
would argue and disagree, but they would do it together.

Trace grabbed a condom and lovingly rolled it over Aiden’s dick. No words were spoken as

they moved onto the bed. Their gazes stayed locked as Aiden lined up to slide into his lover's
hole. He hung over Trace, memorizing this moment. His man loved him. He had someone he
could count on now, someone who understood his life and the difficulties of his job.

“I love you, Trace Williams.” Aiden pushed forward, his dick pressing through Trace’s tight

ring of muscles and into the welcoming warmth, satisfying him and filling his heart with hope.

“Aiden Jackson, I love you, and I’ll always be here for you.”
Loving Trace never felt so good. With his whole body, mind, and soul, he made love to

Trace, taking them higher than they’d ever been before. As they both cried out in ecstasy, Aiden
knew he’d made the right choice when he took a chance on love, and sought out Trace...his
lover...his man...his partner.

The End

* * *

Sara York lives in the southern United States with her family and dogs. Sara loves romance that
takes you to distant worlds where you could be a princess or a warrior. She enjoys reading about
far away places, but writing erotic romance is her passion.

For more information on Sara York visit her website

http://sarayork.com

or her blog

http://sarayork.blogspot.com