Dirty Laundry: A Tucker Springs Novel #3

anything except that it was true, it was there.” Denver smiled a crooked smile. “You aren’t the only one who can have a panic attack, you know.”
    That made Adam smile, and he shifted away from the thumb, though he liked that Denver went back to stroking Adam’s cheek with it. “Yes, but you didn’t end up in the hospital.”
    “I’ll try harder next time,” he promised, still stroking.
    Adam looked into Denver’s gaze, smile fading into something softer and deeper. He forgot about the ceiling and its geometric possibilities, too caught up in the shape of the man before him. Without his hat, his hair stood on end and his ears stuck out in a way that whispered to Adam this was probably why Denver was so adamant about the headgear. His body was a hulk of muscle in the dark, bent over Adam, so big and powerful. So safe. So strong.
    So Denver.
    “I love you,” Adam whispered.
    Denver’s face was still in shadow, and then it was right before Adam’s, his eyes dark mirrors, his lips parted, his hands tightening possessively on Adam’s arm.
    “I love you too,” Denver whispered back.
    “Make love to me.” Adam shifted against the couch, making himself flatter, sliding his legs so he could wrap his knees around Denver’s thighs. “Please, Sir.”
    Denver caught Adam’s lower lip, then released it. “Denver,” he corrected gruffly.
    Adam’s eyes fell closed in a soft, sweet moment of private bliss. Then he opened that bliss up to his lover and said, “Please make love to me, Denver.”
    Electric thrills ran down his spine as Denver’s mouth covered his own, as big hands pressed him into the cushions, as Denver shifted so he could better press his body into Adam’s. Adam went pliant, moving as Denver directed, going soft for him, giving everything to him not just because it was a relief but because it was right. Not a distraction. Not therapy. Giving himself to Denver, obeying Denver— being with Denver wasn’t codependency, and it wasn’t a crutch.
    It was coming home.
    When Denver scooped him up, Adam grabbed hold and held on tight, not letting Denver break the kiss as he carried Adam into the bedroom. Adam’s anxiety perked up, putting the OCD on prickle alert, because they’d never done this before, not in Denver’s room. Not in a bed, actually. It was new. It was a little scary.
    But Denver was still there, strong and safe, asking him to do it, so Adam—and all his internal personalities, horses included—decided it was okay.
    It wasn’t the raw fucking they usually did. It wasn’t playing either, not this time, and it wasn’t just that they couldn’t seem to stop kissing. It was the way Denver undressed Adam, like he was a present Denver couldn’t believe he was getting. It was the way Denver held onto Adam’s naked hips and stroked his skin like he was velvet, a precious commodity he’d never thought to hold in his hands.
    When Denver pressed him back onto the bed, still kissing, still stroking, it was Adam who drew his legs up, spreading himself, offering, needing to do it, needing to say not with words but his body, Yes, this is all for you, Denver, all of me, please take me because I’m yours . It made Denver draw back, and in the dim light, Adam could see the pleasure on his face, not just at what he saw but at the action, that Adam had done it.
    Denver leaned over, grabbed lube from the drawer. He stared at Adam the entire time he slicked himself up, gaze smoldering.
    Adam whimpered and opened himself up wider.
    Greased fingers slipped inside him, once, twice. They pushed about a bit, testing. Then Denver grabbed Adam’s ankles, held them open wide—and pushed in hard, fast, and deep.
    Adam buckled and tossed back his head, crying out both in pain and intensity—good pain, a hard, nasty stretch that burned before it faded into deeper pleasure, a rawness that made him feel happy and used and claimed. He clutched at the bed as Denver thrust, and he whimpered, and moaned, and begged and pleaded like a dirty whore for more.
    Just when it was building to a frenzy, Denver pulled out with a near growl, flipped Adam over, and pulled him hard to his knees. One hand gripped Adam’s cock and the other wrapped around his torso as Denver lined himself back up and finished the ride, fucking in sharp, hard snaps that he echoed with relentless jacks on Adam’s erection until they were both coming hard, convulsing and gripping each other tight before collapsing together into the