EMS Heat 10 - In His Hero's Shadow (5 page)

“I need your cock. Please, give it to me.”

Brody felt certain he’d feel some shame for begging like he was, but at the moment, he didn’t care. All he could think about was how he could convince Chauncey to fuck him senseless, finally.

“I guess since you said please so nicely, I can reward you,” Chauncey said.

Brody wanted to weep with relief when Chauncey pulled his fingers free and grabbed the condom. Brody reached down and stroked himself as Chauncey put it on, adding some slick before he lined up the tip to Brody’s opening.

“Give it to me,” Brody repeated as he began to stroke himself faster.

Chauncey’s hand came down once more and Brody let out a cry that morphed into a groan as he felt Chauncey’s cock slowly filling him. Brody threw his head back, the burn from being stretched mixing with the heady feeling of finally having Chauncey inside him.

“God, you weren’t kidding when you said it’s been a long time. You’re so damn tight,” Chauncey moaned as he slowly began to thrust in and out.

“Not so long that I’ll break if you give it to me hard. Fuck me like you mean it.”

 

“You really are bossy.”

Despite the admonishment, Chauncey relented and gave Brody what he wanted. Using one hand to grip Brody’s hip in a bruising hold, Chauncey began to pound into him.

Brody shouted his pleasure as he began to rock back to meet Chauncey halfway.

 

“Yes, just like that,” Brody panted.

Chauncey stretched out his free hand and grabbed Brody’s hair. Brody arched his neck back, his hand faltering on his cock for a moment before he recovered and got his rhythm back.

“Come for me. Scream my name,” Chauncey growled into Brody’s ear.

That ripped the last bit of Brody’s self-control to shreds. Shouting Chauncey’s name, he came. All the breath left his body as Brody shot off, his cum splashing over his hand and Chauncey’s expensive looking sheets.

“Beautiful,” Chauncey growled.

He gave one last thrust, before he stiffened, Brody’s name a whispered praise. A shiver went through Brody at the sound. Usually, whenever somebody used his name, there was some animosity attached, but this time it sounded almost tender.

Chauncey collapsed on top of him, the man’s heavier weight forcing Brody to the mattress. He let out a hiss of pain as the contact pressed against his freshly spanked ass. Chauncey let out a knowing chuckle.

“Bastard,” Brody mumbled without any real conviction.

 

“You have twenty minutes.”

Brody froze as confusion and a bit of anger filled him. Was Chauncey trying to tell him he had only twenty minutes to gather his shit and get the hell out? Surely, not evenhecould be that cold. Sure, they had some bad blood between them, but that still didn’t mean he had the right to toss Brody to the curb like he was last week’s TV Guide.

“Twenty minutes?” Brody echoed dumbly. “Yeah, that’s how long you have to recover before I fuck you again.”

 

Brody smiled as relief flooded him. Now that really was a plan he could get into.

 

Chapter Five

Chauncey held Brody in his arms and tried to process all that’d gone down in the past few hours.

They’d made love a second time, yet Chauncey realized he didn’t want Brody to leave. Instead, he found himself savoring the sensation of having Brody curled up against his side.

What’s more, Brody didn’t seem inclined to leave either. When they’d agreed to this hookup, Chauncey fully expected the medic to treat the encounter as a quick, fuck and leave. While their chemistry may have been on for this one evening, usually Brody acted as if he couldn’t stand to be in the same room with Chauncey for more than a few moments.

At the moment, though, nothing could be further from the truth. Brody even let out a contented sigh as he idly traced patterns on Chauncey’s arm. In turn, Chauncey studied the younger man’s face. While the stress lines were gone from Brody’s face, his large eyes remained troubled and bleak.

“What’s bothering you? I know it’s more than Mrs. Roberts dying,” Chauncey asked.

Brody tensed and for a moment, Chauncey thought he was in for one of the medic’s trademarkfuck-you’s. Then Brody shocked him yet again by letting out a small sigh before he swallowed a few times. If Chauncey hadn’t known better, he would have sworn Brody was holding back tears.

“It’s always bad for me this time of year. The anniversary brings up so many emotions for me.”

Chauncey blinked a few times in confusion, feeling as if he’d missed an important part of the conversation. “What anniversary is that?” “September 11th,” Brody answered shortly.

“Oh,” Chauncey replied for lack of something better to say.

Sure, that date affected him, too. There wasn’t a person in the EMS world, or most of the civilian community for that matter, who didn’t have strong emotions over that date. Still, they didn’t go into a deep depression like Brody was experiencing.

Then something Brody said earlier came back to Chauncey and it all became so sickeningly clear. You should have seen the apartment my family had when we lived in New York City. Yeah, my mom and I moved back here ten years ago.Then just as quickly, Chauncey recalled the words written on the shirt Brody wore that evening.

Damn, all the clues had been laid right there for any fool to see, yet Chauncey still managed to miss them.

Chauncey tightened his grip on Brody. “Why did you and your mother move back to Michigan?”

Brody lowered his head and fell silent for so long that Chauncey didn’t think he’d get an answer. Just as he was about to call back the question, Brody sniffled and said, “I was in school that day, when my Uncle Walter came to tell me about my dad.”

“How old were you?”
“Ten.”

The soft, forlorn way Brody said that made Chauncey’s heart clench. He pressed a soft kiss to Brody’s temple. “What happened?”

Chauncey already had a pretty good inkling, but something told him it would do Brody some good to talk about it.

“Dad was a New York City firefighter. He was on duty the day the Towers were struck.” Brody took in a heaving breath. “I never even got to say goodbye to him.”

“I’m so sorry, babe.”

Brody gave a slight shake of his head. “No, you don’t get it. The morning that it happened, I was running late for school. I had a nasty habit of sleeping in and that day was no different. So, I rushed out the door without saying goodbye.”

After taking in another shuddering breath, Brody went on, “I used to always tell him,goodbye and I love you, but I forgot that day and now I can never tell him.”

“I’m sure he knew.”

 

“Maybe, but he still deserved to hear it, and I let him down.”

 

“You did not let him down. You were just a kid at the time.”

“They said that he went inside to help out some trapped victims. He was still inside when the first Tower went down.”

Chauncey could only imagine how painful it must have been for a young kid of just ten to lose a parent that way.

Brody sniffled again then said, “A lot of guys from his company were with him at the time so all the families waited for the news together. That was the toughest part at first—the not knowing. All I could think about was the possibility of my dad trapped under all the mess. How he must be so scared and hurt.”

“How long was it before they found him?” Chauncey asked.

A single tear slipped from the corner of Brody’s eye and fell down his cheek. “They never did technically find him. While they did manage to identify some of the bodies from the guys in his company, they never found any…” Brody floundered for a moment. “…they never found any parts that were from my dad. We know for sure he went in with the rest of the guys because there were several witnesses. In fact, one of the survivors from the building snapped a picture of my dad as he was walking up the stairs in the building.”

Chauncey recalled seeing pictures like that on some the various documentaries he’d watched about the event. He shivered as he recalled seeing those men bravely going up to fight the unknown. How they ran toward the danger so they could help rescue the innocent victims.

Brody wiped away the tear before continuing, “We finally had a memorial service for him, but all we had to bury was an empty coffin.”

Helpless, but needing to do something, Chauncey pressed another kiss to Brody’s temple. “How long after that did you return to Michigan?”

“A few months. We had a lot of funerals to go to first. There were so many that they all blurred together after a while. Eventually though, they were all done with and Mom took me back to her hometown so we could live near her parents.”

Something about the way Brody said that tugged at Chauncey. The man seemed sad, yet a bit angry, too. Almost, as if he resented his mother or something.

“How did your mother take losing her husband?”

Brody gnawed on his bottom lip a moment before saying, “She did the best she could, given the circumstances.”

Chauncey had a feeling that there was a lot more to the story, but he decided to let it go for the moment. “Are you going back this year to visit his grave?”

“Why bother? Like I said, it’s just an empty box. My father’s not there.”

 

“How about going to Ground Zero?”

Brody shivered. “No, I never want to see that place again. I won’t even watch the ceremony on TV. I know it sounds stupid, but all I can think about is how my dad is still there somewhere, all lost and alone.”

“That doesn’t sound stupid at all.”

“I know it really wasn’t the buildings’ fault, but I can’t help but hate them. Which is crazy. What kind of person hates inanimate objects?”

Chauncey ran his palm up and down Brody’s arm. “One who went through a huge loss.”

They fell silent for a moment before Chauncey asked, “How come I never heard about all this before? You and Kiefer have been partners for a while now and he never mentioned anything to me.”

“Because I never told anyone all the gritty details, I just told them how my dad died. I didn’t want to go any deeper into the subject with another person. That is until tonight.”

It humbled Chauncey to know that Brody trusted him, and him alone with such an emotional confidence. Brody tilted his head to look up at Chauncey. “I just thought that maybe I should explain why I was such a shit to you earlier at the bar.”

“Since when do you apologize for being a brat?” Chauncey teased gently.

 

Brody started to pull away. “I should get going.”

Chauncey dragged Brody back into place. “What’s the rush? I thought tomorrow was your day off?”

“It is.”
“Then why are you trying to rabbit on me?”

A blush covered Brody’s cheeks. While that kind of reaction usually was uncharacteristic for the in-your-face medic, he’d done it a few times that evening. Chauncey found the new trait very endearing.

“I just didn’t want to overstay my welcome. I know how you feel about me.”

 

“If I didn’t want you here I never would have invited you in the first place.”

Brody rolled his eyes, some of his normal spunk peeking through. “You were horny at the time and not exactly thinking with the right head.”

“That still doesn’t mean I don’t want you here now.”

 

“I don’t need your pity,” Brody snapped as he tried to get up again.

Once more, Chauncey pulled him back in, earning an aggravated glare from Chauncey. “Stop being such an ass.”

“Stop being a brat.”

 

“Can’t you think of any other insults? I think you’ve used that word a thousand times already tonight.”

“I can think of plenty of things to call you, but none of them are more fitting than brat. Now snuggle in and go to sleep already.”

Brody snorted in disgust. “You did not just order me to cuddle.”

 

“I sure did. Now shut up and go to sleep.”

When Brody obeyed, Chauncey hid his grin. Brody still grumbled about the situation, though. “This is so ridiculous. We can’t stand to be in the same room with each other for more than ten minutes without driving one another crazy. We’ll be lucky if we don’t make it through the night without strangling each other.”

“So long as you clamp your yap and go to sleep, we’ll do just fine.”

 

Brody gaped at him a moment. “Why would you ever believe that?”

Chauncey captured Brody’s lips in a sweet, sensual kiss that left both of them breathless. Pressing their foreheads together, Chauncey said, “Because when we do that, it feels so right.”

“You’re just desperate for a good lay,” Brody fired back.

Chauncey didn’t allow himself to get insulted by the comment. Instead, he continued to press, “You know you can’t deny it. You like being held by me.”

Brody narrowed his eyes. “Maybe I just like your excellent fucking skills.”

 

“If that’s the case, then I’m going to have to make sure to fuck you on a regular basis.” “What makes you think that I’m going to let you back in?”

Chauncey ran his fingers down Brody’s side, eliciting a shiver from the younger man. “The way you react to my touch is a pretty good tell.”

“Seriously, we both know this is never going to happen again. Come morning, we’ll be back to hating each other. A couple of blowjobs and good fucks aren’t going to change that.”

While he knew Brody probably had a valid point, Chauncey didn’t want to dwell on it at the moment. He just wanted to take what he could and savor what little time they may have together.

“Let’s worry about that tomorrow. Tonight, let’s just enjoy each other.”

Brody finally gave a nod as he snuggled back into place. “I’m sorry about being such jerk when we were on scene today.”

“That’s okay, I’m used to it.”

In fact, it would have unsettled Chauncey had Brody acted any differently. They were so used to the same pattern of snippiness, it would be odd to have anything different. Which, just went to show how dysfunctional they both were.

“No, it’s not. You’re a damn good trauma nurse and I shouldn’t have hinted otherwise. Fact is, when I see you coming to help me out with a call, I’m glad.”

“Why? Because then you have somebody you can abuse?”

Brody gave Chauncey’s arm a mock slap. “No, because I know that my patient is going to be getting the best care available.”

“Did you just actually just compliment me?” “Yeah, don’t get used to it.”

 

* * * *

As soon as he cracked his lids open the next morning, Chauncey knew their short-lived peace agreement was over. Brody sat, fully dressed, on the edge of the mattress. Since all he could see was Brody’s back, Chauncey didn’t know what expression Brody had on his face. Going by the tense way he held his body, it wasn’t good. While the brat had yet to speak a word, he was giving all kinds oftenseandback-offvibes.