Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 9

moved in together and everything was going great, or so I thought. He came home from work one day, just like my dad did, and told me he wasn't happy and had fallen in love with another man. Eight years of my life wasted."
    "I'm sorry to hear that, Gabe, but every relationship won't be like that." Lucas could hear the pleading in his own voice. He didn't want Gabe to close off any chance of them ever being together.
    "Lucas, don't you see? Everyone leaves in the end. Nothing's forever." His voice sounded so far away, detached.
    So much loss and sadness in Gabe's life. It truly was terrible, but Lucas wanted to change that. Wanted joy and happiness to reign superior in the inky pool of despair Gabe chose to live in. Life was about living and taking chances, because in a blink of an eye it could all be gone tomorrow. And being with Gabe was what he wanted more than anything, so he had to prove to the stubborn detective that they were meant to be together and that he was worth the gamble.
    "Gabe, look at me." He placed a finger under Gabe's chin and gently turned him his way. "I get that you've suffered and you're scared to believe in us, but just give me a chance to prove to you I'm not like them. Please don't punish me for the things they did."
    Gabe stared into his eyes long and hard. Lucas could see the cop in him trying to decipher if what he said was a lie. No matter how hard Gabe looked, he wouldn't see one ounce of doubt from him. Lucas was committed to being with Gabe, but he had to let Gabe come to that conclusion on his own. He just had to prove himself every day, prove that he was worth the shot.
    "Just give us a chance, baby." His voice raw with emotion. He wanted to give so many things to Gabe but he couldn't, not without Gabe's permission.
    "I think I'd like that." Gabe tucked his head into the crook of Lucas's neck, grasping him tight around the waist.
    "You won't regret it, Gabe. I promise." He kissed the top of Gabe's head and held on to his man as Gabe's body began to tremble. Letting go of his personal baggage had to be hard for Gabe. The man didn't give his trust willingly, and Lucas would earn that trust. He'd shower Gabe with all the love and affection that he possibly could. Because that's what you do when you love someone.
    CHAPTER 8
    Two weeks, three days, forty-three minutes, and eighteen seconds. Gabe had been keeping track of his time with Lucas like some sort of love-sick teenager. But he couldn't help it. He hadn't been this happy since he was a little boy. Even the time he had with Colby was nothing compared to what he shared with Lucas.
    After he poured his heart out to Lucas, they sat cuddled on the couch. Sharing sweet gentle kisses. He was a large man, but Lucas treated him like he was as fragile as a piece of crystal. Which in some ways he was, but Lucas didn't make him feel less of a man for it. No, Lucas did it because he cared about him, and Gabe loved knowing that.
    Ever since his mother died, no one had put him first. Then Lucas came along and tore down every one of his self-protecting walls. And for the first time in his life, he wasn't afraid. The more time he spent with Lucas, the more he learned about the man, and how he was true to his word. He attributed that to the caregiver in Lucas.
    He was getting antsy, though. They'd yet to have full-on sex. They kissed, jerked each other off, and engaged in oral all the time, but they hadn't consummated their relationship.
    Gabe blamed that on himself. Lucas was being respectful to what he'd suffered through and didn't want to push him too hard, too fast. And he loved that about Lucas. Lucas's gentle yet firm touch soothed all his doubts. Made him hungry to explore more of the wild streak he got glimpses of from Lucas.
    As Lucas explained to him, he wasn't the average dom. He liked power play and control, but he wasn't walking around decked out in leather, being overly demanding. What Gabe had seen in his research was nothing like the man he'd had come to know. Lucas was sweet and kind. But Gabe would be lying to himself if he said he didn't like it when Lucas grew dark and made him submit to his needs.
    When Lucas would bind his hands together or make him hold still, it was freeing. It was a vulnerability about himself he could control. If he didn't like what Lucas wanted to do, he could say stop and they would. Lucas was in control, but respected his wishes.
    It was different from the vulnerability he felt on the inside from first