MITCH TOLD ME ABOUThis conversations with his father – both the formal one with the detectives and the private one. He was more animated than I’d seen him since we found out about the shooting. I could still tell he was worried about his father’s condition, but he also had hope for the kind of relationship he always wanted with his only remaining parent.
Once back at Mitch’s home, Vic called a meeting. I’d texted him the name of the guy Max suspected was behind the attempted hit and Vic put his team on it right away. Edna brought us tea, coffee, and cookies into the sunroom that overlooked the pool. Vic and the guys smiled politely and thanked her before they descended on the plate of cookies like animals. It was obvious that snack time wasn’t part of their normal gig. Hell, they probably didn’t sit around the dining room table and eat dinner family style either.
“Here’s what we know as of this minute,” Vic said after he woofed down a half dozen cookies. “Timothy Nicholson is 32, a former Army Ranger, and appears to be a loose cannon.” Vic looked through his notes for a minute before he spoke again. “He was given a medical discharge from the army three years ago. He got into a lot of trouble when he got out. He was arrested for assault a few times but the charges were usually dropped before he went to trial. The last time though, he put someone in the hospital so he went away for some hard time.”
“PTSD?” I asked.
“I’m assuming, but I haven’t been able to get ahold of his service records,” Vic replied. “It’s only a matter of time before I get my hands on them,” meaning he had someone hacking into military personnel files. “He would’ve undergone a lot of psychiatric evaluations before he made Ranger so I’m thinking he’s like so many soldiers who witnessed one thing too many for his mind to accept.”
“It’s a damn shame he didn’t get treatment,” I replied. I was in no way condoning Timothy’s behavior upon leaving the military, but I understood how war could ravish a mind and twist a person into someone unrecognizable. Still, as sympathetic as I was to his internal struggle, I would not allow him to hurt Mitch any more than he already had. Any means necessary meant just that.
“I’m looking through police reports and witness statements to see who he’s been running with to see if I can get a feel if he really has a hard-on for Mitch’s family.” Vic tapped his pen on the paper for a few seconds before he reached for another cookie. “I need to solve this case quickly before I gain twenty pounds.”
“I have a fully equipped gym for this reason,” Mitch said after he devoured another cookie. “Help yourself.”
“I might take you up on that,” Vic replied before he settled back into business. “I have some connections at the prison he was a guest of until recently and I’ll see if Timothy was making a lot of noise about getting revenge. Guys love to talk in prison so if he was cooking this scheme up then he would’ve been bragging about it.”
“Sounds like you have everything under control, Vic,” I replied.
“Working on it, anyway,” he said as he rose to his feet. He grabbed one more cookie with a wink before he made a hasty retreat to start reaching out to his connections.
Mitch and I were alone again. The wicked smile he gave me told me he had some ideas on how we could pass the time. I leaned into him and kissed him softly on his lips. Mitch moved Frankie out of his lap and moved her to his other side then reached for me. I loved the combined taste of Mitch and chocolate on my tongue.
“I have an idea on how we can work out some of this intensity,” I whispered against his lips when he pulled back. “Trust me?”
“Of course,” he replied immediately. The brilliant smile he gave me said he liked my thinking.
Fifteen minutes and a little over a mile later on the treadmill, he wasn’t so pleased with me. “Jackass.” He wasn’t even winded so I ignored his complaint. “You’re going to pay for this.” His voice was a little more menacing that time and I rewarded him with an air kiss.
After a two-mile jog, I felt our bodies had warmed up enough for what I had planned. I watched a trickle of sweat run down the side of Mitch’s face and neck before it disappeared beneath the collar of his t-shirt. I pulled off my t-shirt and wiped the sweat off my face with it. “I promise to make this workout something you won’t forget. You’ll never look at this room the same again.”
Mitch whipped off his shirt and tossed it to the ground, looking a lot more eager for a workout than he had minutes before. “Put me through my paces, baby,” he said in a cocky challenge. “Where to first?” Mitch gestured around the room to his equipment.
“Bench press,” I replied. “You go first and I’ll spot you.”
I followed Mitch over to the piece of equipment and watched as he added a hefty amount of weight on the bar before he lay down on the bench. “Ready?” he asked.
“Ready.”
I watched as Mitch easily went through his reps with the amount of weight he chose. I loved the play of muscles beneath his skin, the determined look on his face as he lowered and raised the heavy bar, the way his body glistened with sweat. We were only on the first piece of equipment and I’d already popped a semi hard-on.
Mitch returned the bar to its rack and looked slowly up my body until he reached my face. The sexy smile he wore told me he knew how turned on I was getting by watching his gorgeous body move. He removed his hands from the weight bar and slid them up the front of my thighs until his hands were beneath my shorts and touching my cock through my underwear. I only let him fondle me for a few moments before I stepped out of his reach. If he kept it up, our workout would be short lived and I really loved the teasing foreplay vibe we had going on.
Mitch pouted playfully but didn’t say anything when I added more weight to the bar and nudged him off the bench. The dicktease stood with his cock hovering over my face until I lifted the bar up off the rack and began to work on my reps. I had to stop thinking of the way his shorts molded to his bulge or risk dropping the bar on my neck. A few times I glanced up at his face, and he wasn’t paying a bit of attention to whether or not I was struggling to lift the weight. He only had eyes for my chest, arms, and abdomen. Fuck, if it didn’t make me want to show off for him a little. I knew from experience that was how a guy got hurt so I finished my reps and lay there so he could get his fill. I kept my hands to myself because I knew I lacked the control to stop with just a quick squeeze of his balls or stroke of his cock.
“Bicep curls,” he called out.
We worked from machine to machine, working up a sweat and an appetite for fucking like I’d never experienced before. The first thought that occurred to me as our mouths met hungrily when the last rep was finished was that I wanted to feel him everywhere – on me, over me, and inside me. I pulled back from him in surprise when the last little bit flitted through my brain. I realized it was true and my heart pounded out a staccato rhythm that had nothing to do with the exertion from the workout.
Mitch’s state of the art exercise room came with an even nicer bathroom attached to it. The marble and glass enclosed shower was fancier than any I’d seen at a gym. I told myself not to get used to the luxuries because I’d be returning to my own home after the threat to Mitch was nullified. I immediately forgot what I was thinking about the second he shoved his shorts and briefs down his long legs and stepped beneath the spray of hot water. I stripped down and followed behind him as if he was my own pied piper playing a tune that mesmerized me to come to him.
We kissed hungrily beneath the cascading water; our teeth bumped and tongues dueled for dominance. I placed one hand at the back of his head to hold him still for my possessive kiss while I moved the other to cup his ass. Mitch pulled back and nipped my lip when I slid a finger playfully along the crease of his ass.
“I don’t have any condoms or lube here,” Mitch said as I kissed a path down his neck.
“I’m a Marine, baby; I adapt and improvise.” I rotated our bodies so that he was outside the reach of the spray then I removed the bottle of shower gel from the built-in shelf. I took my time washing his body with soapy hands, relishing the way his muscles trembled beneath his skin with want. I pulled Mitch back beneath the spray to rinse his body and then I dropped to my knees in front of him. “Oorah,” I said to the salute I received from his soldier.
Mitch’s throaty chuckle turned into a deep moan when I took him to my throat on the first pass. “Fuck!” He tangled his fingers in my hair and I loved the bite of his nails scoring my scalp. I loved the way his pre-cum tasted on my tongue even more. “Mark.”
