Total pages in book: 17
Estimated words: 15051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 75(@200wpm)___ 60(@250wpm)___ 50(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 75(@200wpm)___ 60(@250wpm)___ 50(@300wpm)
He’d also never hid that he grew up on the wrong side of town. His parents’ two-bedroom home had been filled with four boys. He was the only one of the bunch that hadn’t wound up in prison a time or two.
But Derek’s aunt reeked of old money and threw it around like a heavy weight. He knew her kind well. They were like the ones that always brought boxes of food to his parents’ house during the holidays when he was a boy. It didn’t matter that his parents were good people, or that they tried as hard as they could to make a living. Even at a young age, he could see the judgment in the socialites’ eyes as they looked around the meager home and over all their family’s circumstance.
“Let it go, Delacroix. Everything changes. Let it go,” he whispered to himself. He pushed the insecurity away and concentrated on the sex he’d just had with the man he loved. That memory had his scowl fading. He’d gotten a taste of Derek’s ass in the closet and no one knew. That didn’t mean he could do that regularly, but damn, this job just got better and better. Maybe he needed to carry his own supply of condoms and lube for the future. He wondered how surprised Derek would be if he pulled those out of his wallet and dropped them in his hand.
Oh yeah, totally surprised. He needed to make sure that happened, soon.
Chapter 5
Biting at his fingernail, Derek kicked back in his oversized office chair and waited. He had about a million different administrative tasks he could be performing, but this particular shift had worn him out on more than one level. He decided well over an hour ago that he’d catch up on those paperwork details later. But for now, he just sat there, waiting. Justin had texted him a while ago, letting him know he was running further behind than he’d thought and Derek found he didn’t want to leave the hospital without him, even though he’d arranged to see his aunt after he got off work.
Did not wanting to leave without Justin make him insecure? No, of course not. He was just a man in love, he reasoned to himself.
Well, maybe it did make him a little insecure, but it was the same emotional insecurity he’d dealt with for the last five or so years.
Maybe he still hadn’t gotten completely used to Justin being home all the time. It seemed they had always just settled back into life when Justin got orders to go again. Or perhaps this round of insecurity had to do with the weeks long anticipated closet sex they’d shared tonight. When Justin landed this job, Derek had begun plotting the best possible ways to get him alone. It took time and diligence, but the effort paid off. Finally.
What he hadn’t considered was how much that one sexual act would mean to him. They were fluid at home. They shared lots of those moments behind the closed doors of their house, but never, ever in public—most definitely not in such a risky environment.
How would Justin have acted if they were caught? Would he have distanced himself even further?
Derek had been wrong to assume everything would easily fall into place once Justin left the military. They were months out and completely relocated. Their home set up, yet they were no closer to being out as a couple than before. At least before, Derek had the hope inside his heart that one day they’d have a normal relationship, but now, as each day passed, those thoughts began to fade.
Derek closed his eyes and scolded himself. Self-doubt was the least attractive trait to him. Why would he allow himself to wallow now? Since the beginning, Derek had known Justin was for him. They’d met five years ago. Justin was about to be reassigned and relocated. He spent his leave time back in his hometown, partying in New Orleans.
Derek had been downtown that night at a bachelor party hosted by a friend. Tristan Wilder had been a onetime-patient-turned-friend who had planned a destination bachelor party for the COO of Wilder Inc., Landry Prescott. Even though the eye-candy in the bar that evening had been tempting, Derek couldn’t help but be drawn to the auburn-haired man he spotted out on the street. Derek watched through the window as Justin eyed some men who were walking by. The longing in the gaze told him what he needed to know—Justin was gay—and Derek made a beeline straight for the guy.
That shy, quiet, unsure attitude, along with those devilish good looks and hot as hell body endeared Justin to him from almost the first handshake. They enjoyed that night together. It hadn’t taken too much persuasion to get Justin back to his place and Derek had pretty much glued himself to him since that moment. Within a few months, he even quit his job, packed up, and moved across country to set up house with the guy. How risky had that been? He’d given up everything for Justin and no one in their lives even knew.