Jericho snorted, staying where he was. “1. I’ll try bottoming if you’re willing to give up pillow princess status. and B. I’ll come over there and give you a hand up if that gets me a kiss hello.”
Atticus grew hot, earning a smug look from Jericho. Sometimes he hated being this pale. It left him with no secrets at all. Not that he kept anything from him anyway. “For the record, I have no interest in giving up my pillow princess status,” he said huffily. “But I will take the hand up.”
Jericho grinned, crossing the room and offering Atticus both hands, pulling him to his feet when he took them. Before he could even say hello, Jericho was capturing his mouth in a filthy kiss that had Atticus’s toes practically curling and a hand down the front of his underwear. Fuck, he was good at that. Good at everything really.
“You’re practically naked,” Jericho murmured against his lips, cupping Atticus’s underwear clad ass with his free hand and squeezing. “Were you hoping for a repeat of last night?”
“You said hand up, not hand job,” Atticus reminded breathlessly.
“To-may-to. To-mah-to,” Jericho said, before delving his tongue back into his mouth for another taste.
Atticus wrapped his arms around him, but when Jericho broke the kiss he laid his head on his shoulder, content to have his husband hold him. “Honestly, I had a migraine so I came home, took a shower and a pill, then made it as far as my underwear before I passed out on the couch. I felt better when Iwoke up so I started working on the data I brought home from the office.”
Jericho’s fingers threaded into Atticus’s hair, kneading his scalp and neck until he moaned.
“Why didn’t you call me, Freckles?”
Atticus was jello in his arms, his words lazy. “So you could watch me sleep? I knew you wanted to go to the garage and check up on Arsen and your latest muppet.”
“You’re never going to stop calling them murder muppets are you?” Jericho asked.
Atticus made a noncommittal sound. “No, probably not.”
Jericho sighed. “Well, ourgatitois not a killer.”
“Gatito?” Atticus parroted.
“Mm, little cat.”
“I know what it means. I also speak Spanish,” Atticus said, affronted. “Why are you calling him little cat? Isn’t Ever cute enough without the pet name?”
“You sound jealous, Freckles,” Jericho teased.
Atticus snorted. He wasn’t jealous. But he wasn’t wrong either. Ever was quite possibly the cutest child he’d ever seen. Small and delicate with big brown eyes and a round face. He was dangerously adorable. And horribly traumatized.
“I’m just saying, he already sounds like some white girl named Bethany picked his name from a website called something stupid and trendy likeSuper Unique Names for your Precious Angel Baby.”
Jericho chuckled. “Damn, Freckles. You really hate Bethany that much?”
Of course, Jericho would remember Bethany, with her tight little body in her cute little scrub set. “She said Boots was a dumb name for a cat.”
Jericho huffed out a low laugh against his ear, giving him goosebumps. Fuck he smelled good too. “She said that our catwas the third Boots they’d seen that week. She’s just a vet tech. You’re so sensitive.”
“She was inferring that our Boots was just another generic cat when we both know she’s far superior. Look at her.” They both looked to wear Boots lay in the corner, leg in the air, licking her ass.
“Yes, she’s quite the lady,” Jericho teased. “So classy.”
“Please, if you could lick your own ass, I’d never get you out of the house again.”
“Oh, Freckles, you know I much prefer your tongue over mine.”
Atticus felt himself blush but changed the subject before things turned steamy. “How is our newest orphan?”
Jericho sighed. “Terrified, but surprisingly tough. Far tougher than our young Arsen.”
Atticus frowned, pulling away to fall onto the sofa, dragging Jericho down with him. As soon as he was beside him, Atticus laid down, dropping his head into Jericho’s lap and placing his hand back on his head, hoping he’d get the message. Jericho smiled, then began to flex his fingers in his hair once more.
Atticus sighed contentedly. “Is Ever staying at the safe house with the others?”
