Prologue
Malcolm Jenner
kept one eye on the silent, dark-haired man standing at the rear of the room as
he made his way toward the glass door leading to the riotous explosion of color
that was Penny's garden. Jacob didn't look like he was doing very well. Against
the smooth blue paint of the walls his face was pale, his violet eyes
red-rimmed and damp-looking. Disarrayed dark curls testified to the fact that
he'd been running his fingers through them, a habit that Malcolm remembered
well from their time together. Malcolm had no intention of allowing Jacob to
leave the reception until he'd spoken to him, but the other man did a very
creditable job of keeping people between them and avoiding eye contact with
Malcolm.
Malcolm eased his
way around the room, dodging chatting guests in their wedding finery and
caterers in black pants and white shirts alike, moving ever closer to his
target. He'd asked his brother Rick, the neurosurgeon, to keep Jacob occupied
and unobtrusively lead him to the patio doors. They now stood engaged in
conversation. Rick watched Malcolm's approach and attempted to keep Jacob from
noticing him.
Malcolm slipped
behind the other two and reached out to grasp Rick's hand in a quick shake.
"Thanks, Rick, I'll take him from here."
Jacob whirled
around, dark curls scattering. He raised his face and Malcolm's heart ached at
the pain in his eyes. He extended a slightly shaky tanned hand to brush the
hair away from Jacob's forehead, but pulled it back quickly when Jacob
flinched.
"Jake, baby,
I'm so sorry. I know how hard it must be to be here without Peter. Come outside
and talk…" He trailed off as Jacob began shaking his head.
"No. No, I
can't be around you right now. I don't want to talk to you, Malcolm."
Tears leaked in a tiny silvery stream from Jacob's eyes and his slightly
muscled frame appeared to vibrate.
The slender hands
that had once stroked his flesh with urgent need rose to push him away, then
ran again through the long black hair nearly touching his shoulders. Malcolm
wanted to embrace the other man, to absorb all the hurt this day had brought
his beloved, and replace it with warmth and security.
"I have to
talk to you. There are things you need to know; things we need to
discuss." Malcolm's heart broke for many reasons: to see the desolation on
Jacob's face and because he knew that deep inside he actually felt a glimmer of
happiness that Jacob was unattached again. He knew it had to be difficult for
Jacob to be here, surrounded by Peter's family at his sister's wedding. He had
a distinctly uncharitable wish that some of the obvious sorrow and anxiety
Jacob so clearly felt was on his behalf.
"Not today,
Malcolm. I’m here today because Peter would have wanted me to come. He'd have
been here himself." Jacob didn't seem like he could handle much more
stress on top of the wedding and Malcolm was willing to wait; he had, after
all, been waiting for Peter and Jacob to end their relationship for the past
five years, hadn't he? He had been highly skeptical that it would even last
that long, had been positive that Jacob's relationship with Peter had been a
deliberate attempt to hurt Malcolm. He frowned. He hadn't ever wished for
Peter's death, though. The car accident that had taken Peter's life a year ago had
been traumatic for Jacob and he'd wished fervently that he could've been there
to help the other man through the devastation of the loss. Loss was something
he had felt fully capable of dealing with.
"I was
surprised that you accepted the invitation. Penny and I both were. We
appreciate your coming." Malcolm cast a nervous glance over Jacob's
shoulder into the garden. Especially
since it gave me the chance to be here with you, to establish contact again.
"Of course I
came. This is about family. Peter would have wanted me to come. Family was
everything to him," Jacob replied, his voice steady. "Penny
practically raised him, you know, after their parents died."
Malcolm understood
that too. How could he not? For so many years family duty and responsibility had
been his guiding force. Every decision he'd made had been considered from their
perspective. What would his father, the neurosurgeon, think? What would his
mother, the society wife, have to say? How would their society friends and
neighbors view his actions? Since he'd married Penny twenty years ago, her
brother Peter had been a part of his family. At one time, he'd considered his
responsibilities to his family more important than even this man before him
today. That time had passed, though it had taken a boot in the ass from an
unlikely source for him to see it.
"How about if
I come by in the morning with breakfast? Will someone be staying with you? I
don't think you should be alone after this." Attending Peter's sister's
wedding without his husband of five years had been a surprising action on
Jacob's part. He and Penny had fully expected that Jacob would say good
riddance to bad rubbish without a backward glance at his deceased spouse's
remaining family. Hardly a charitable view, but Jacob had plenty of reasons to
dislike him and Penny.
Jacob nodded and
gestured toward a fair-haired man in his midthirties. "Peter's cousin,
James, is staying at the condo with me. He's taking care of things." The
condo he referred to had been Peter's when they first met and Peter had kept it
as a vacation rental property after moving to Vermont to teach in the education
department at the University of Vermont.
As though sensing
he was the topic of conversation, the blond man turned in their direction, and
upon seeing Jacob talking to Malcolm, broke off his conversation with the group
of people where he stood and headed in their direction.
"All right,
early tomorrow morning. I'll bring you breakfast from the Black Forest Deli. I
really want to talk to you and clear the air between us." He wanted more
than that, but was unwilling to speak of the want and desire that pulsed
through him in the blond man's presence. Mentioning the gooey cherry stollen from the deli they had
frequented as a couple was a deliberate and, he admitted, slightly underhanded
way of bringing their past to the present. In the months that their affair had
run hot, he had made a habit of gifting Jacob with the sweet treat on lazy
Sunday mornings after long nights of steamy sex.
"Excuse
me," the blond interrupted them. "Jacob is needed in the other
room."
"Thank you,
James." Jacob nodded and took the other man's hand in a white-knuckled
grip that didn't escape Malcolm's notice. Good, Jacob had feelings for him
still, even if they weren't the warm, fuzzy kind of feelings he'd once denied
wanting from Jacob. That white-knuckled grip denoted the strength of the
feelings involved. Given half a chance, he'd turn Jacob's hatred into love
again. He could battle anything but indifference.
"I'll see you
in the morning, Malcolm."
James's blue eyes
burned into Malcolm's. He possessively raised Jacob's hand to press it into the
crook of his arm. Stepping fractionally closer to the younger man, he smiled
disdainfully. "Not too early, Jenner. We need our sleep."
Malcolm followed
the other two men with his gaze as they left the room, locking on that spot
where the two hands clasped together. Fuck. Had Jacob already moved on from
Peter's death? Not again, he vowed. You're coming back to me, where you belong.
He wouldn't take a backseat to another man in Jacob's life ever again. Once
before, that beautiful man had been his and he would be again. Malcolm had
learned a lot in the last five years and most of that learning had been done
the hard way.
He'd never felt
for another man the same level of attraction he felt for Jacob. Just being in the same room with the slight
dark-haired man sent prickles of awareness rushing through his body and
thickened his cock in anticipation. Though he'd tried like hell to deny it,
he'd known when he first set eyes on the younger Jacob, newly hired to work in
the technology department at his office, that they were meant to be together,
and this time he would do anything and everything in his power to guarantee
that outcome. He'd made the mistake once before of putting another's needs
before his love's; of believing that only he could direct their future. The
duty and responsibility that his parents had drummed into him from birth to
carry on the family name had been fulfilled. The price it had cost him had been
more than he would have willingly paid if he'd been aware of the consequences
of honoring his family name above all others.
So yeah, he'd
bring up the past any chance he got, remind Jacob as often as possible how good
things had been between them from the start.
Chapter One
Five
Years Earlier
Malcolm gritted
his teeth and reminded himself that an office fling with a man who had to be at
least ten years his junior was out of the question. He and Penny had long since
relinquished any pretense of monogamy in their marriage and reached an amicable
agreement to conduct their affairs discreetly out of respect for their son and
their friendship. Fucking purple-eyed twinks in the elevator at work? Not
discreet.
He kept his gaze
focused on the gleaming silver metal of the doors as the elevator made its
excruciatingly slow way up to the third floor. His glance flicked to the
reflection beside his. The younger man stood casually, shoulders propped
against the wall, licking pink lips. His purple gaze in the hazy reflection was
focused…fuck…on Malcolm's obvious erection beneath his dark dress pants. Discretion. Discretion. He snarled at
his libido. There will be no casual
hookups with people from the office, he warned his eager cock. He shifted
to the side slightly, hoping to hide the evidence of his arousal from the other
man. Damn it. That kid had the sexiest eyes he'd ever seen. He wanted like hell
to see them glaze over as he fucked the tight ass hinted at by the khaki pants
he wore. He didn't go much for the intimacy of face-to-face encounters, but for
the sight of those eyes and that mouth in the throes of orgasm, he'd make an
exception. His tendency toward quick casual encounters disguised his preference
for male partners and kept word of his homosexuality from getting back to his
parents, his partners in the firm, and out to the public.
A law office, like
any other place of business, was a microcosm of the world at large. Malcolm
knew from being on the receiving end of gossip from his secretary Marge that every
action and interaction between employees was fodder for the gossip mill. Being
the subject of water cooler gossip lacked appeal and offended his sense of
dignity, as did the knowledge that he apparently couldn't control his urges
around the tech guy.
He threw in the
towel and gave up the fight against his attraction to the young man from the
technology department. Malcolm caught that sultry purple gaze on his cock for
what must have been the hundredth time. The slight young man brushed against
him in an intentional teasing slide while he tried to exit the elevator on the
second floor.
Impulsively,
Malcolm grabbed Jacob's hand and pulled him back inside the otherwise-empty
space. He kept that small, soft hand locked in his own as he allowed the heavy
metal doors to slam shut and the elevator to rise to his own floor. There he
slapped his palm against the button that prevented the doors from opening. He'd
had all the titillation he could stand. Malcolm swept the young man into his
embrace. He tilted Jacob's head upward with one hand and dropped his mouth
passionately, almost brutally, to kiss the other man. His other hand tangled in
the black curls that had taunted his senses over the past weeks. He forced the
soft pink lips apart, then swept his tongue inside. Instantly he was absorbed
in the heated, slick haven of Jacob's mouth. The honeyed sweetness drew him
further in and his tongue eagerly sought the textures and flavors that had been
hidden there. Fuck. He could drown in
the wet heat he found behind those soft lips. It was addictive. Jacob didn't
even try to escape the kiss; in fact, he seemed to be doing his best to
encourage it. He brushed his tongue against Malcolm's, sweeping it gently along
the roof of his mouth, seeking and finding the sweetest spots. Both men were
panting heavily when they separated.
Malcolm pulled
back and spoke harshly. "Is that what you're after, little boy? You want a
quick fuck in the elevator to start the week off right?"
Jacob gasped and
tried to pull away, but Malcolm wouldn't let him. "No! Well, yeah, but
that's not all I want." The young man seemed to be a bit dazed and shook
his head as though to clear it. His shaking hand rose to push through the
tangled black curls that Malcolm could picture so easily coiling around his
cock while Jacob knelt on the dull gray carpet sucking him off, as he had every
intention would happen very shortly.
"Well, that's
all I'm offering. Take it or leave it." Malcolm drew his hand down the
length of his cock, which had pulsed to aching life during the elevator trip.
Jacob wore light, spicy citrus cologne that seemed to linger in Malcolm's
nostrils long after the encounter between them had ended and being in the
elevator with the sexy younger man had a predictable effect on his dick.
"Look, I'm
very busy. I have a few minutes for you now, but…" He let his
arousal-roughened voice trail off, waiting to see if Jacob took the bait.
Jacob's purple-hued gaze locked on his hand gliding up and down, pressing
against his throbbing cock behind the zipper of the black dress pants he wore.
That gaze was an added caress that fired his blood even hotter and he swore
softly. "Fuck. You want it. I can see it in your eyes, feel it in you
every time you come near me."
Jacob licked his
lips, but remained silent. Malcolm flipped open the button of his pants and
began lowering the zipper carefully. The metallic clink of the zipper filled
the spaces between their labored breaths. He spoke harshly. "I have a
meeting with a client in ten minutes. I need to take care of this. You can
watch, or you can help; take your pick."
He pushed aside
the black cotton of the briefs he wore and drew his thick cock out of his
pants, watching that silky pink tongue slick over Jacob's lips again. He wanted
to feel that tongue tracing his shaft and flickering over its sensitive crown.
Slowly he trailed his hand up from his heavy swollen balls to the
precum-slickened head and squeezed gently, his eyes still locked on Jacob's
face. The younger man breathed heavily, eyes hot, molten purple liquid. Malcolm
stroked himself more quickly, silently urging Jacob to his knees, willing him
to take his dick into his mouth.
He groaned in
approval when Jacob dropped in seeming obedience to the unspoken command.
Malcolm pulled his hand away from his cock and wound his fingers through the
wild curls that had teased his senses since he'd first noticed the boy. He used
his handful of silky hair to guide the pink mouth where he wanted it, rubbing
the soft, moist lips against his tip before pressing, gently seeking entrance.
"You have
done this before, right?" He couldn't help asking as the youthful
innocence and enthralled look of wonder in the purple eyes gazing up at him
gave him pause. A blow job from a novice might not be the best idea. He could
wait to feel those sweet lips closing around him if he would have the privilege
of teaching this gorgeous man how to suck a man's cock.
Jacob's tongue
flicking in a velvety caress, first across his lips, then Malcolm's swollen
crown, vanquished any intention of preserving that innocence. "No
teeth…" was all he managed to choke out before a blazing hot mouth
engulfed his hardness with enthusiasm. Rough swirling strokes of Jacob's tongue
along his crown and under the rim convinced him that giving in to his urges
made sense. He groaned his pleasure as the silken heat of that agile tongue
burned wet trails from the rim of his cock up, over the throbbing head and down
again to the base. He jerked, hands pulling and clenching tight in the silky black curls. Malcolm guided Jacob in a rhythm that set
his balls to buzzing and a hot warmth spreading out from the base of his spine.
The sensations rocketed up through his aching length and he found release in a
series of convulsive spurts of cum that Jacob sucked up and swallowed without
pause.
Enough experience
guided those lips and that tongue to erase any doubts Malcolm may have had
about starting something with Jacob. However innocent Jacob may appear, he was
clearly old enough and knew enough to satisfy a lover in this way. Malcolm felt
absolutely certain that this was just the start of something.
As the aftershocks
of pleasure rippled through his body, Malcolm pulled Jacob to his feet and
brought him in for another kiss. He fastened his trousers and then set the
other man aside before pressing the button to open the doors of the elevator.
He strode forward, leaving Jacob gasping for breath as he collapsed back
against the wall of the elevator. He looked back over his shoulder and bit back
a groan at the sexy sight of those dazed purple eyes, the wildly tousled black
curls, and the passionate flush on the delicate cheekbones. So much for discretion. He'd just have to hope the last ten minutes
hadn't caught anyone's attention on the security cameras. Not that anyone in
security would gossip about anything seen or heard on the security tapes. Confidentiality was key in legal work and
anyone who discussed the surveillance tapes or shared their contents without
being legally obligated to do so would be terminated.
"Meet me here
at six." He tossed the directive over his shoulder and hurried past the
empty reception desk to pause at the office suite marked with his name on a
brass plate. That shiny brass plate signaled his only rebellion to date from
parental control. His father, the neurosurgeon, had wanted him to go into
medicine and join his practice. In an unprecedented act of rebellion that had
earned him a few frosty glares, Malcolm had elected to attend law school.
Difficult as his parents had found it to accept, the sight of blood made him
physically ill. A career in medicine was not an option. Announcing his desire
to practice law had been difficult, but his family had accepted his career
choice before he graduated law school. After all, it was an entirely
respectable career with prospects for public service and prosperity. He was
sure that announcing that he was gay wouldn't have gone over nearly as well.
His brother became the neurosurgeon in his place with alacrity. In every other
aspect, his life followed the blueprint the Jenners had laid out for their
eldest son at birth: excel at school and in sports, attend prestigious
universities, get married and have children, and above all, do nothing to
embarrass your parents.
REVIEWS
Mrs. Condits gives Lee Brazil's Loving Jacob FOUR & a HALF Sweet Peas -".... Loving Jacob by Lee Brazil completely threw me for a loop and I loved it!..." Mrs. Condit Reads Books
Mrs. Condits gives Lee Brazil's Loving Jacob FOUR & a HALF Sweet Peas -".... Loving Jacob by Lee Brazil completely threw me for a loop and I loved it!..." Mrs. Condit Reads Books
Pick up the Sequel to Trapping Drake today!
"I"m not the type of guy who lets someone else control my life, Jesse."
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