Mace released me and jerked his eyes towards Jonas.
“Whatever happened, it wasn’t your fault,” Jonas repeated.
“Fuck you!” he snapped at Jonas. “Fuck both of you.”
He started heading towards the back door but Jonas stepped in his path. He grabbed Jonas like he had me but even from where I stood, I could see that his hold was loose and gentle and seemed more about keeping Jonas back rather than moving him out of the way.
“Tell me,” Jonas whispered as his hand came up to rub up and down the arm that was holding on to his neck.
“I overslept,” Mace suddenly whispered, his voice barely a croak. “I was supposed to pick him up from school but I forgot to set my alarm clock. I’d worked a double shift the night before and Shel had left that morning to visit her parents in Miami.”
“Was Shel your wife?”
Mace nodded. “Shelby.”
“What happened to Evan?”
“He must have decided to walk home on his own…we only lived a few blocks from the school. They found his body two days later.”
Mace dropped his arm and I could see tears running down his face as he stepped back until his back hit the opposite wall near the staircase.
“I slept through my son being raped…through him being beaten and then strangled with an extension cord, and through his body being dumped in the woods less than a mile from my own house.” Mace suddenly let out a howl of pain and then began slamming his head back against the wall. I quickly put the rifle down and hurried to Mace’s side and slid my hand behind his head to keep him from hurting himself.
“You couldn’t have known,” I whispered.
“I was his father!” he shouted and then he grabbed my arms in a painful hold. “I can hear him calling for me, Cole! He needed me and I fucking wasn’t there!”
“I’m sorry,” I said as I gripped Mace’s face with my hands. “So sorry,” I repeated as I pulled him forward and began kissing away the damp tears that still flooded his skin. He quieted under my ministrations and the bruising hold on my arms eased but he didn’t release me. I could feel his soft breath against my lips as I reached his mouth and we both held there for several long seconds until I finally slanted my mouth over his.
Like with Jonas, I’d meant the kiss to be brief and comforting but I knew Mace needed more when he automatically opened for me. I let my tongue brush his before I gently explored every surface of his mouth. I knew he was vulnerable so I didn’t deepen the kiss any further and when I pulled back, I waited to see if he would lash out at me. But he didn’t. Instead, he wrapped his arms around me and drew me close and then buried his face against my neck. I held him as tight as I could until I felt a hand settle on my back.
Jonas.
Guilt went through me that Jonas had witnessed the kiss but I couldn’t make myself regret it. Nor did I regret kissing Jonas. I didn’t know what to make of that, but I didn’t have to think on it fortoo long because the second Mace relinquished his hold on me, Jonas reached up to stroke his hand over Mace’s face before pulling him down for a kiss. It was nothing like the passionate one I’d witnessed between them the night before in the gallery, but it was just as intense.
“Let’s go lay down for a bit, okay?” Jonas said to Mace even as his hand closed around mine. Mace managed a nod as he wiped at his face. As I followed Jonas and Mace up the stairs, I knew I was crossing a line I wouldn’t be able to come back from. Not only had I taken the leap into the deep end in terms of exploring my sexuality this morning when I’d kissed Jonas for the first time, I was building a connection with not one but two men and I had no idea what that meant for any of us. I knew what was about to happen between us wasn’t about sex since Mace was way too vulnerable for that but that almost made it worse because what we were seeking in each other wasn’t about pleasure – it was about so much more.
We ended up in the master bedroom which had a king sized bed. None of us removed any clothes other than our shoes and Jonas urged Mace to get under the covers before crawling in next to him. I went around to the other side of the bed and climbed in. Mace and Jonas were both lying on their sides facing each other and Mace had one arm under Jonas’s head and the other wrapped around his waist. But as soon as I pressed up against Mace’s back with my front, his hand sought out mine and then he was pulling my arm around his chest. I linked my fingers with his and pressed our connected hands against his sternum and rested my head on his shoulder. I felt Jonas’s hand settle on the arm I had wrapped around Mace and I smiled because with the one move, Jonas had made sure we were all connected.
Just like we were supposed to be.
Chapter 17
MACE
The first thingI noticed before I even opened my eyes was the smell of cinnamon. The second thing was the warm body pressed up against me. Only problem was that there was just one and I really didn’t like how empty and cold one side of my body felt. I wanted last night back. I wanted to be surrounded in heat and soothing touches.
“Your coffee will get cold if you don’t wake up,” I heard Jonas say softly against my shoulder where his head was resting.
“Don’t want to,” I responded.
“Why not?”
“I don’t want this to be a dream.”
I felt Jonas shift and I was sure I’d lost him but then I felt his mouth brush mine. “Only way to find out is to open your eyes.”
I did just that and was rewarded with Jonas’s silver eyes watching me. “Morning,” he whispered before he kissed me again. I let him control the kiss but I couldn’t keep from wrapping my arm around his back as his tongue slid over mine. I was painfully hard when he finally released me and lowered himself back down to my shoulder.
