Embrace My Reflection (6 page)

At first he thought she was going to refuse him, but something flashed over her face, and he realized MaeAnne was lonely. It seemed obvious she didn’t get many visitors and probably didn’t have any family in the city to come make sure she was okay.
“I’d love to have lunch with such a handsome young man like yourself, but Lucius isn’t expecting you or anything, is he?” She stood and tugged on her sweater.
“No, ma’am. He’s at work and said he’d call me later, so I’m free to spend time with such an intriguing woman.” He winked, and MaeAnne laughed, slapping his arm as he offered it to her. “I’ll just leave my bag here while we’re out and I’ll pick it up later.”
He waited at the door while she gathered her purse and keys. After checking to make sure he had everything he needed and that she locked her door, Ronnie escorted MaeAnne downstairs and outside. They strolled slowly down to St. Charles Avenue, making idle talk and enjoying the cool weather.
“How long have you lived in New Orleans?”
“Oh, I came to the city in the sixties. Quite an interesting place back then. Met so many wonderful people, though most of them are gone now. It’s the pits getting old.” She sighed.
“Well, I think you look good for whatever age you are. And all the stories you must have about people and events you’ve seen. I’m afraid that now I know you worked in Hollywood, I’ll be knocking on your door to get more insider information.” Ronnie motioned to the cafe they approached. “Will this be okay?”
“Oh, yes. It’s been so long since I’ve gone anywhere for lunch.”
Ronnie held the chair for the elderly lady and swore to himself he’d take her out once a week. Maybe he and Lucius could have her up for Sunday brunch or something.
“Have you always lived in that apartment?” He settled across from her.
She waited until after they gave the waitress their drink orders. “Yes. Bronson was a very close friend of mine and he convinced me to come to New Orleans. He was Tory’s uncle. Tory was Lucius’ friend in the army. I was happy when Lucius inherited the building. I was afraid the city would take and sell it, and we’d end up with a landowner who wouldn’t understand the arrangement we made with Bronson before he died.”
“How many apartments are there?”
“Just three. One on the ground floor. Mine on the second, and Lucius’ on the third. The tenants on the first floor are a wonderful older gay couple. They’ve been together for at least thirty years. Bronson befriended them when they were thrown out of the place they lived before. Bronson used to own one of the big jazz clubs in the city. He knew everyone around here. He was willing to give us a break on the rent since he owned the building outright.” MaeAnne’s wistful smile touched Ronnie’s heart.
“You miss him,” he commented.
She nodded. “I do miss Bronson. He was a friend when I needed one all those years ago. I was forty and pregnant with no husband in sight. He could’ve turned his back on me like everyone else had, but he opened his home to me. Bronson gave me a job and took care of me when I lost the baby.”
“Oh, MaeAnne, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to drag up bad memories.” He leaned over and patted her hand.
She waved away his concern. “Thank you, Ronnie, but I’ve come to terms with my grief. There will always be a little ache in my heart, yet I’ve come to love other children. Tory, Bronson’s nephew, became like a son to me, and so has Lucius. He goes out of his way to spend time with Randall, Preston and me, every weekend when he can. If he can’t on the weekend, then we get together sometime during the week. He’s adopted us old people.”
“I can understand why.”
The waitress returned, and they continued talking after giving her their food order. Ronnie lost track of time while he chatted with MaeAnne. Finally, when their plates were empty, and he checked his watch, he saw two hours had gone by and he still had to go and get his clothes from Cindi’s place.
“That was wonderful, Ronnie, but I really should be getting back home.”
He paid for their meal and walked MaeAnne back to her apartment, where he picked up his bag before heading out to catch a cab to Cindi’s place. His phone rang while he was in the taxi. After tugging it out, he checked the number and answered.
“I adore MaeAnne,” he said.
Lucius chuckled. “I thought you’d like her. I planned on introducing you to the others this weekend. I wanted to have them over for Sunday brunch. You just jumped ahead of me.”
“Oh, I was hoping you’d be willing to have all of them over more often. I had lunch with MaeAnne, and she’s the best. I’m on my way to Cindi’s right now to pick up some clothes and then I’ll be back at the apartment. I don’t have to be at the club until eight. It takes me a while to get ready for my set.”
“Sounds good to me, honey. I should be home by six and then we can decide what to have for dinner. I’ll take you to the club.”
“I can take a cab. I don’t want you to take too much of your time up by escorting me back and forth,” he protested.
Lucius tsked. “Ronnie, you don’t realize I don’t see it as wasting my time. I want to be with you, and the more time I get to spend with you, the better. So don’t try to talk me out of it. I’m not listening.”
He laughed along with Lucius. The cab pulled to a stop in front of Cindi’s apartment building.
“Just a sec. I have to pay the cabbie.” He tucked his phone between his ear and shoulder while handing the cabbie the money for the ride. After he let himself into Cindi’s, he set his bag down and flopped onto the couch. “I’m going to have to get a Jazzy pass. It’d get expensive using a cab every time I go from your place to the club.”
“No problem. Of course, you’ll take a cab home when you’re done working for the night or I can grab a nap and pick you up. We’ll work that out.” Lucius paused for a second before he continued, “I can’t tell you how much I like being able to call you and talk about what you’re doing. I’ve never been able to do that before.”
Ronnie closed his eyes and sighed at the happiness swelling in Lucius’ voice. “I haven’t had that either. Cindi and my friends don’t count because I’m not the most important person in their lives. God, that sounds really self-centered, doesn’t it?”
“Not really. I know what you’re saying. You want to be the lover and partner to someone.”
“Yeah.” He was silly to feel embarrassed by his longings. He had every right to demand to be special to someone, and Lucius wasn’t laughing at him. “Are you out at work?”
“Yep. When I transferred to the Quarter, I made sure to let my captain know when he hired me, which is one reason why he wanted me working for his unit. I spent eight years hiding myself and this time, no matter what other people think, I was going to be who I was.”
“How’d that go?” Ronnie worried the bigoted people populating the police department might harass Lucius.
“Captain didn’t seemed thrilled by it, but he couldn’t very well fire me. He deals with me and doesn’t make any comments. Can’t say the same about others. There’ll always be people who hate me because I’m different. But I also have some great guys who don’t care what I do in my private life.” Lucius’ voice softened. “Don’t worry, Ronnie. I won’t ever deny you to anyone.”

As Lucius entered his building, the door of the first-floor apartment popped open. He smiled at Preston, who gestured to him from the doorway.

“How are you doing today, Preston?” He signed as he walked up to Preston.
The older gentleman signed to him, “Good. I saw your new man today. And I must say he is a pretty young thing.”
Lucius glanced over Preston’s shoulder to see Randall standing there with a bright grin. “Ronnie is gorgeous, isn’t he?”
Both men snorted. Preston turned to his hearing partner and signed something. Lucius was still learning sign language to be able to communicate with Preston, so he didn’t always catch what he was saying.
“Preston wanted to know if he was going to join us for Sunday brunch.” Randall reached out and stroked his hand down Preston’s arm without seeming to think about it.
Lucius loved the relationship between the men. It encouraged him to believe love could last for years instead of the few months he’d seen with many couples. Of course, he had no room to talk about that since he hadn’t been able to keep a guy around for more than a few months himself.
“Yes, Ronnie’ll be there. He’s having some trouble with a stalker, so I told him he could move in with me.” He leaned closer to both men and winked. “But I’m going to convince him to stay with me after we take care of his stalker.”
“Oh, good,” Preston signed. “He took MaeAnne out to lunch earlier today. She really likes him as well.”
“Ronnie’s always been beautiful, inside and out.”
“You’ve known him long then?” Randall slipped his arm around Preston and they leaned toward each other like magnets attracting.
Lucius nodded. “Since high school. We lost touch when I joined the army, but we reconnected the other day.”
Preston clapped and laughed silently. “Marvelous.” Preston’s fingers and hands sped through the words. “I love to hear about lovers reuniting after years apart. Did you always think about him and compare all your lovers to him?”
“Now…now…Preston, it isn’t any of our business.” Randall admonished his partner.
Preston pouted, and Lucius took pity on him.
“In a way, yes. I didn’t have a ton of lovers. I was in the army and didn’t want to chance getting caught and tossed out. Yet now that I look back, I even compared my friendships to what I had with Ronnie.” He glanced up at the ceiling. “I better get upstairs. I’m hoping he’ll be there waiting for me and we can have dinner before he leaves for work.”
“Have a good night, and we’ll see both of you on Sunday.” Randall shook his hand, and Preston hugged him before he left.
He made his way up to his apartment, excitement teeming in him, and he couldn’t figure out why. Maybe it had to do with the fact there was someone waiting for him to get home from work, just like any other couple. Maybe it was because that someone waiting was Ronnie. Lucius didn’t really know or care why he was so excited.
Opening the door, he sniffed and his mouth started watering. His stomach growled at the aromas filling his apartment. He shut and locked the door before he put his gun away.
“Ronnie, where are you?”
Ronnie strolled out of the kitchen, and Lucius almost dropped to his knees as the lust hit him so fast and hard, all the blood fled his head to pool in his groin. Ronnie wore a black mini skirt that hit him mid-thigh paired with a silky red tank top and a fuzzy white cardigan sweater. Lucius dropped his gaze to check Ronnie’s feet and a small bit of disappointment hit him when he noticed Ronnie wore a pair of red flats.
He wanted to see red high heels showcasing Ronnie’s fabulous legs, but the flats weren’t bad either, though that might have more to do with the black stockings Ronnie wore. Ronnie’s shoulderlength hair fell in a waterfall of golden brown strands.
“Welcome home,
cher
. How was work?”
Ronnie walked up to him, and Lucius reached out, snagged him around the waist and pulled Ronnie tight to him. He lowered his head and kissed those red lips smiling up at him.
A soft whimper eased from between Ronnie’s lips as he melted into Lucius’ arms. Lucius slid his hands down Ronnie’s back to cup the man’s tight ass. They shuddered as their groins met through layers of fabric. Ronnie wrapped one of his legs around Lucius’ thigh, and they rocked together.
Lucius teased Ronnie’s tongue into his mouth and he sucked on it, drawing a moan from Ronnie. Just as Lucius seriously considered picking Ronnie up and carrying him into the bedroom, the buzzer in the kitchen went off.
They eased apart, panting and hard. Lucius adjusted himself in his slacks, enjoying Ronnie’s slightly ravaged look. Lipstick smeared and clothes skewed, Ronnie looked sexy, and Lucius almost reached for him again.
“Dinner’s ready. Afterward, maybe we can have a little dessert before I go to work.” The gleam in Ronnie’s eyes told Lucius just what dessert would be.
“Sounds good to me.” With his desire under control, he held out his hand. “That’s the best welcome home I’ve had in years. You didn’t have to cook dinner, you know.”
“I know, but I like to cook. I haven’t had a chance to do it very often. No fun cooking for one, and Percy likes to cook as well, so I let him do it at his place.” Ronnie took Lucius’ hand and dragged him into the kitchen. “I made lasagna, garlic bread, and a salad with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing.”
“Sounds great.” He washed his hands in the sink and dried them. When he turned around, Ronnie was there with a napkin, and Lucius stood still while Ronnie cleaned the lipstick off his face.
“Bet you never thought you’d have to be careful about lipstick stains,” Ronnie joked.
“True, but I’m not worried. You know how to get them out of clothes, right?”
Ronnie nodded. “Of course. I’ll give you lessons.”
“Good. Let’s eat.” Lucius spotted the bottle of wine on the counter. “I’ll pour the wine, while you dish out the food.”
They got dinner on the plates. Taking his seat at the table, Lucius glanced over at Ronnie and happiness threatened to overwhelm him again. This very occurrence had been a repeating dream of his for years. It had never been a faceless man sitting across from him. It had always been Ronnie there, smiling and dressed amazingly similar to the way he was right then.
“Did you have a good day at work?” Ronnie asked before taking a bite of the lasagna.
“It was okay. Got some leads for a case I’m working on, so that was good, but the lab tests aren’t back for one murder yet, and I can feel the time ticking. I’m afraid the suspect we have in mind will get away before we can prove he did it.”
“Isn’t there a way you can hurry up the lab?”
Lucius shook his head. “Unfortunately, it’s not like on TV. The lab’s backed up with cases and it takes longer than people think to get fingerprint hits and stuff like that.”
He took a bit of the pasta and moaned. Ronnie beamed at his obvious enjoyment of the food.
“What did you do when you got up? I assume you went back to sleep after I left.”
Ronnie pushed his empty plate away and grinned. “MaeAnne’s marvelous.”
“She’s a wonderful woman. God, the stories she’s told us about some of the actors.” He chuckled.
“I know, and I can’t wait to spend more time with her. Plus I’m not sure she’s taking care of herself.”
Ronnie’s concern for an elderly woman he’d just met touched Lucius deeply. He reached across and covered Ronnie’s hand with his.
“I know. We all try to make sure she eats and gets out, but sometimes I think we’re not doing enough. I wonder if a nursing home might not be the best thing for her, but I don’t like the thought of her being left alone with people who don’t know her or care about her.”
Ronnie frowned. “You’re right. Well, if it comes to a nursing home, we’ll do some research and see what we can find. Right now, we’ll all take care of her. I didn’t meet Randall and Preston yet.”
“Oh, they’re quite intrigued by you. They stopped me as I was coming in to ask about you.” He laughed. “It’s kind of like Mutt and Jeff. Preston is really tall and skinny, but if you see him, make sure he’s looking at you because he’s deaf. Has been for years as far as I know. Randall is short, round, and African-American.”
“Do you know sign language?”
They stood and cleaned off the table, rinsing the dishes and sticking them in the dishwasher.
“Yeah. Once I found out Preston was deaf, I decided I should know how to talk to him, in case Randall isn’t around to translate for us.”
“Will you teach me?”
“Sure.” He held out his hand to Ronnie.
Holding hands, they wandered out to the living room, where they curled up on the couch together. Lucius tugged until Ronnie straddled his thighs. He cradled the back of Ronnie’s head, bringing their mouths together.
He tasted the spice of the lasagna and tang of the garlic on Ronnie’s tongue as he stroked his in. Ronnie sucked on his as he tried to get closer to Lucius. Their erections rubbed against each other, and Lucius wanted to learn what Ronnie tasted like. He moved the slender man to the side and dropped to his knees in front of him.
Ronnie ran his fingers through Lucius’ hair. “What are you doing?”
“I want to taste you.”
Lucius pushed up the hem of Ronnie’s skirt and groaned as he spotted the deep blue panties. A wet spot stained the front of the fabric.
“Oh, honey, you steal my breath away.” Looking up, he saw a puzzled look on Ronnie’s face. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m just used to being the one in that position.” Ronnie shrugged, his expression puzzled and a little sheepish.
Lucius rested his hands on Ronnie’s knees. “Do you mean no one’s ever given you a blowjob before?”
Ronnie’s cheeks flamed bright red and he shook his head. “No. I guess when most guys look at me, they think I’d be totally a bottom and willing to do all the work.”
“Damn, you’ve known some crappy guys. Lucky for you, I like it both ways. So you can do me any time you want.”
“Really?”
Ronnie’s eyes lit up, and Lucius laughed.
“Yes, really, but right now, I want my dessert.”
“I’m not going to stop you,” Ronnie murmured.
Lucius tugged down Ronnie’s panties to reveal his cock. He licked his lips at the sight of that hard flesh. Ronnie’s prick was shorter than Lucius’, but it was thicker than his. The flared head dripped clear liquid from its slit. He bent forward to lick up a drop. “Oh, wow,” Ronnie whispered.
Lucius met Ronnie’s surprised look. Laughing, he stroked his hands up and down Ronnie’s smooth legs. “You wax everywhere, huh?”
Ronnie nodded. “Doesn’t look good to be hairy and I like the feeling.”
“Hmmm…so do I.” He hummed and placed his hand around the base of Ronnie’s prick. “If you liked me licking you, just wait.”
With a wink, he rose up on his knees and leaned forward, wrapping his lips around Ronnie’s shaft. He took Ronnie down as far as he could, which was pretty much all the way. Lucius was proud of his ability to suck cock. The guys he’d slept with had praised him for his oral talents. He wanted to make sure Ronnie’s first blowjob melted him.
“Shit!”
Ronnie’s hips arched off the couch and his hands buried themselves in Lucius’ hair. Lucius didn’t stop him from moving. He just relaxed his throat muscles, letting Ronnie fuck his mouth. He sucked harder and played with Ronnie’s slit with each outward stroke. Pumping with his hand, he used every trick up his sleeve to build Ronnie’s pleasure.
He slid his free hand up between Ronnie’s legs and fondled Ronnie’s balls, squeezing gently. Ronnie spread his thighs wider, encouraging more touching and stroking. Lucius took him up on his silent demand. Ronnie moved faster, and Lucius created stronger suction, driving Ronnie higher.
“Lucius, please. I need…”
Lucius knew exactly what Ronnie needed. He pressed his fingers to the soft piece of skin right behind Ronnie’s balls.
“Lucius,” Ronnie shouted as he came, flooding Lucius’ mouth and throat with hot, salty liquid.
He drank Ronnie’s cum down like it was the most expensive wine. He sucked and pumped until he was sure he had every drop from Ronnie before he licked the softening flesh clean. Easing back, he settled on his heels and looked up at Ronnie.
What a gorgeous picture. One he’d keep in his mental photo album. Ronnie sprawled on the couch, thighs wide, his black skirt hiked up to his hips, his cock lying limp in a nest of dark blue silk. The lace from Ronnie’s black stockings brought attention to Ronnie’s pale skin. Not fighting the urge, Lucius leaned forward again and sucked up a mark on that smooth expanse, wanting to leave his sign of possession somewhere on Ronnie. He knew better than to put it somewhere Ronnie would need to hide it.
Ronnie ran his fingers through Lucius’ hair and sighed. “Wow. That was incredible. Why don’t you let me take care of you?”
Lucius wrinkled his nose as he stood and pointed to his groin. “Don’t worry. I took care of myself while I sucked you.”
“You came when I did?” Ronnie sounded surprised and he took the hand Lucius held out to him.
“Yeah. I’ll admit I never had that happen before, but you were so hot, I guess I couldn’t control myself.” He nuzzled Ronnie’s jaw before leading him down the hall to the bathroom.
“Oh.”
“Let’s take a shower. It’ll be time for you to head to the club when we’re done. I’ll drop you off, come home, and nap until you call me.”
Ronnie started to protest, but Lucius stopped him.
“No arguing with me, Ronnie. It’s too far away for you to walk home, and it’s not safe for you to do it. Plus taking a cab every night is expensive. It won’t screw up my sleeping pattern. I’ll sleep until you call, then I’ll come and pick you up.” He stripped off his shirt. “You’re far more important to me than my sleep, honey.”
Ronnie didn’t say anything else while they undressed and stepped into the shower. As much as Ronnie’s slender body called for Lucius to inspect every lush inch of the man, Lucius kept his hands to himself for the most part. He didn’t want Ronnie to be late for work.
He might have made a good impression on Cindi to begin with, but he didn’t want that good will to wear off by making her best performer have to scramble to get dressed or anything like that.
“How did Cindi take the fact that you’re moving in with me? Did she think it was too soon?” Reaching out, he shut off the water and grabbed a towel to dry Ronnie off.
“No. She thought it was about time.”
Lucius paused and looked at Ronnie. “About time? What does that mean?”
Ronnie shrugged. “We’ve known each other for twelve years, and I admit you’ve never been far from my thoughts when we were apart. So she thinks we’ve had a long enough courtship.”
Laughing, Lucius toweled off quickly and gave Ronnie a gentle push toward the bedroom. “I think she’s right. I have to admit I hadn’t planned on asking you to move in with me when I went to see you last night, but taking you on a date was in my plans. I wanted to get to know this you, not the one I loved as a teenager. Unfortunately, the senator rushed things for us.”