Forsaking Truth (6 page)

“My dad
wasn’t a nice man and he liked to wear big belts.”

His head jerked up and
he checked Tristan’s eyes for sincerity. “He hit you with a belt? That’s what
all these marks are?”

The stubble along his
rugged throat shifted as he swallowed. “He wasn’t happy when
he caught me doin’ something I shouldn’t have been
doin’—to his way of thinking.”

“What were you doing?”

“This.” He stepped
close and his palm curled around the back of Luke’s neck. A split second
later—too quick to pull back—Tristan’s lips met his.

Luke
grunted and jerked away at the first stroke of the other
guy’s tongue. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I…I thought you
wanted me to. You touched me.”

He frowned. No he
didn’t.
Yes. You fucking did. You’re still
touching him.
He
jerked his hand away. It was
the beer! Shit, he
needed to lay off the drinking.

“Luke, look, it’s
okay. I just thought with everything today—the shower—clearly I misread—”

“Are you dating my
cousin?” he suddenly blurted.

“What? No. Ryan’s
straight.” Tristan’s answer shouldn’t have re
lieved
him, but it did.

“You’re
gay
?”

Luke was distracted as
Tristan took a deep breath. Tanned
skin shadowed with hair drew his gaze to the cut of his chest glistening with a
hint of sweat or maybe spilt beer. “Yeah, but it doesn’t have to be an issue. I
f you aren’t interested, we can act like nothing happened
here and just go back to five minutes ago.”

“Does Ryan know you’re
gay?”

“Yeah. He’s fine with
it. Most people are. It’s not like I openly maul anything with a dick. I have a
specific taste.”

“Me?”

“Well…” He turned and
forked a hand through his hair. “You’re very handsome. Christ, I already saw
you naked.”

And for some reason
Luke had purposely made sure he’d seen him. He wanted him to look, like it was
some pissing match or something. Thinking back
, it
was stupid and nothing like he’d ever done before.

“I’ll go,” Tristan
said, grabbing his soiled shirt.

Luke caught his arm.
“Wait.”

“For what, Luke? I
clearly misread the situation.”

“Did you think I was
gay?”

“No, but then…I don’t
know. I thought ma
ybe you were bi. You hear things
about football players playing grab ass in the locker rooms and shit. I don’t
know what the fuck I thought. Then you touched me and I just…stopped thinking.”

“You like being with
men?” Well, no shit. That’s pretty much what
it was
to be gay. He couldn’t fathom it. Did Tristan take the top or bottom? He didn’t
look gay, whatever that looked like.

“Well…yeah.”

“What do you do with
them?”

“Jesus, Luke,
everything. What do you want to know?”

“Does it hurt?”

“Fuck no. It feels fa
ntastic.”

He stepped back,
needing to do something, but not the type to fidget. “Have you ever been with a
woman?”

Tristan’s expression
became serious. “No. It’s always been guys.”

“This is crazy. I need
a beer.” He turned and pulled out a new bottle.
He’s
fucking gay.

Luke never met a gay
person that he knew of. He lived in Center County, not the most liberal place.
“Man, you picked the wrong town to move to.”

“Tell me where the
right town is.” Tristan stepped into the den. “I’m just another guy, Luke. I j
ust wanna work and live and have the right to the same
happiness everyone else is looking for in this fucked up world.”

Luke’s gaze moved over
his chest. There were over a dozen scars. “That’s why your dad beat you, for
being gay?”

“Yeah.” There was so
muc
h gravity in that one little word something in
Luke broke.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not. Taught me a
lesson I’ll never forget. No matter how hard someone hits me, or shuns me, or
calls me ugly names, I’m still me. They don’t have to like it. They don’t have
to li
ve with it, but I do. And I refuse to be
something I’m not.”

Luke dropped into the
chair. “How old were you?”

“When I realized I was
gay? Probably four.”

“No, when your dad did
that to you.”

“Eighteen. Five days
later my lover tried to kick the shit out of
me in
front of the whole school and called me everything he was afraid to call
himself. Three months later I left for college and never looked back.”

Holy shit
. “Did you ever think it would be easier
to be straight?”

“I’ve thought lots of
things. Sometime
s I think it would be fun to fly, but
that doesn’t make it possible.”

“No women?”

“No. Only men.”

“I’m not gay.” Luke
stated, needing to hear the affirmation.

Tristan nodded. “And
that’s cool. I didn’t mean to…”

“Right.”

The silence stretched
between them
. Finally, Tristan said, “I’m gonna take
off.”

“Okay.” He was in a
daze. This was some heavy shit.

“Thanks for…”

“Thanks for your
help.”

They nodded at one
another and Tristan slipped on his wet shirt. A moment later the door closed.

Luke sat there for pro
bably five minutes just digesting everything. He liked
Tristan. A lot. Just not in any sort of romantic way. He didn’t swing that way.
He liked pussy. He was a boob man or maybe a leg man. Definitely wasn’t a gay
man.

He stood and went to
hit the lights. H
e was way past the legal limit and
needed to sleep. Maybe things would be clearer in the morning.

He dropped the empties
in the bin and went to lock up. As he approached the door it suddenly opened.
He stilled and Tristan stepped back in. Why was he back?
His return sent a rush of blood pumping through Luke’s
veins and his breathing picked up.

“I don’t have a car
here.”

Right. He’d picked him
up. “I’ve been drinking.”

“I could call a cab.”

“Or you could crash
here.” He hadn’t thought about his offer, it
just
slipped out.

“Or I could crash
here.”

Luke stared at him and
waited. Sure, Tristan could crash. He could sleep on the recliner. Luke
swallowed. He felt like he was doing something very wrong. Part of him was glad
he couldn’t drive. So glad, that when
the thought of
calling Sheilagh and asking her to take Tristan back to his Aunt Rosemarie’s
popped in his head, he immediately shoved it away.

“I was about to hit
the sack anyway,” he said.

Tristan nodded. “You
got an extra blanket?”

“Yeah. I’ll grab it. M
ake yourself comfortable.”

He went to the closet
in the hall and pulled out a spare blanket. When he turned, Tristan was in the
den, kicking off his boots. “Here you go.”

“Thanks, Luke. Listen,
I’m sorry about all this. I hope—”

Luke slammed his lips
to T
ristan’s mouth. He didn’t know who was more
shocked, him or Tristan. All he knew was the thought of Tristan, who’d taken
his fair share of beatings for only being who he was, apologizing to him, cut
him apart. He silenced him the only way he knew how.

Stro
ng hands cupped the back of his head and he was walked
backward through his house. His back slammed into the wall as Tristan’s mouth
slanted over his. His heart was going to beat out of his chest.

Sturdy hips pressed
into his and his ass clenched. His cock
filled his
jeans in seconds flat. He didn’t lift his hands or touch the other man, only
let him do his worst.

Tristan’s tongue stole
into his mouth, hard yet soft. Their teeth gnashed and there was an unfamiliar
nudge at his hip he didn’t want to think a
bout for
too long. It was hard to think about anything. All he could do was feel. Feel
how incredible Tristan’s mouth was on his, the strength behind his hold, the
forceful way he pinned him to the wall. Every part of his body was suddenly
alive, pumping w
ith the adrenaline of a million
victories.

His shirt was stripped
away and Tristan’s mouth sealed over the pulse point at his throat. “Your
heart’s beating so fast. I can feel it.”

He shivered as
Tristan’s gravelly voice whispered over the shell of his ear
. So many foreign things were affecting him he couldn’t
keep up. There was the scrape of the other man’s stubble along his shoulder,
the scent of his cologne, the trace of a cigarette he’d likely smoked when he
realized he didn’t have a way home, his cock
digging
into his hip. Luke had never been more turned on in his life—or terrified.

Jolted into action by
the pure eroticism of the moment, Luke grabbed the other man’s shoulders and
gave him a power drive into the adjoining wall. Things hanging from the sh
eetrock rattled and Tristan grunted.

“Sorry,” Luke mumbled
as he gripped Tristan’s shirt and sealed his mouth over his.

Tristan moaned and bit
his lip. “Don’t be.” His tongue thrust into his mouth. The kiss broke only for
a second as Luke ripped off Trist
an’s shirt and
tossed it aside. Skin to skin, chest to chest, his body caught fire. Their lips
rejoined in a fury as his hands roamed over the other man’s body. So hard. So
strong. Nothing like a woman’s.

He heard the clink of
metal followed by the tug at his fly. Tristan’s hands worked fast at getting
him out of his pants. Before Luke could object, Tristan dropped to his knees
and took his cock into his mouth, swallowing him back to the root.

Luke’s knees
trembled and he caught his weight against the wall and
cursed.

“God damn, you have a
beautiful cock.” Tristan’s breath cooled his wet flesh which was then engulfed
once more in the heat of his mouth. He didn’t suck him off like a woman. There
was no toyi
ng around. Tristan swallowed him back and
pumped his mouth over his length like there was nothing in the world he’d
rather be doing than sucking his dick.

Finally, Luke grabbed
hold of the hair that had been driving him crazy all night. He fisted the long,
soft strands in his fingers and pumped Tristan’s head over
him. “Yeah, you suck my cock. Take all of it.”

Slurping sounds echoed
off the walls and high ceilings. His jeans were yanked down to his boots and
warm fingers fondled his balls. He groaned as Tri
stan
tugged at his sack. When his spine tingled and he knew he was gonna come, his
fist tightened in Tristan’s hair. Tristan sucked faster, harder, and Luke’s
toes curled almost painfully as he blew the most violent load of his life.

Tristan never stopped.
He swallowed every last drop and Luke was shaking by the
time he pulled away, licking the last bit off his shaft. Fuck.

Luke’s fingers relaxed
their grip in Tristan’s hair and his hand fell away as he panted. Tristan
stared up at him, lips swollen and par
ted. Luke
stumbled back and the gravity of what they’d just done settled in.

Tristan seemed to
register the change in his demeanor. Slowly, he stood. Luke wanted to bolt, but
his pants were still twisted at his boots and his body was so strung out he
could
n’t move if he tried.

“Don’t panic,” Tristan
whispered. “Everything’s cool. Just give it a second.”

He needed more than a
second. He’d just let another man blow him. And he liked it. He couldn’t
breathe.