Shadows Fall (14 page)

Charlie sighed, because he’d had the same feeling initially, but after he’d taken Titus home—well, that fear was genuine, so he knew Titus couldn’t be involved. “He’s a friend of mine, did you know that?”

Sonny hung his head, looking chagrinned. “No, I didn’t. Sorry.”

“We haven’t known each other long, but we were friends before this happened. I don’t want to discount your instincts about his testimony… why don’t you let me see what I can get from him? If he is hiding something, I’m sure it’s because he’s scared. No way is he involved.”

“That’s what I was getting at,” Sonny said emphatically. “It’s not like I think he’s murdering people or anything, I just think he knows something.”

Charlie nodded, because as brash as he could be sometimes, Sonny’s instincts were usually spot on. He and Titus would have to talk—but not tonight. Tonight, they had a date. Charlie could feel himself blushing just thinking about it, and he hoped his partner wouldn’t notice.

“Titus comes from a culture that raised him not to trust law enforcement. If he knows something he’s afraid to say, he won’t tell you. I’ll have a much better chance of getting him to talk.”

Clasping Charlie’s shoulder as he brushed past him, Sonny nodded. “Do what you do, brother. Just do it fast. We’re drowning on this case.”

Charlie answered in a voice laced with frustration. “Don’t I know it?”

* * * *

As Charlie ushered Titus out the back door of the station that led to the officer parking lot, a thick, wet wall of heat smacked into them. It was so dense and viscous, it stole his breath. They made their way to his car, and he swiped a finger through the crust of yellow pollen that had settled on his black Charger. Making a face, he looked at Titus and held up his finger. “I hate spring.”

Titus laughed tiredly and sank down into the low-set car after Charlie unlocked it. Once they were inside, and the noises of the world were muted, Charlie glanced around the parking lot for any onlookers before leaning over and capturing Titus’s lips with his own. It was tentative and shy, just a brush of lips and a hasty sweep of tongue before it was over—he was still new at this.

Titus smiled like the sun, and Charlie felt an unfamiliar warmth infuse his body. Was this what really connecting with another person felt like?

“What was that for?” Titus asked.

“I missed you. I don’t think I’ve gone more than one day without seeing you in some capacity in weeks—even if it was just passing through the shop some days.”

“I thought you had freaked,” he said quietly.

“Oh, I did. A little. But then I really did just get caught up with work. Speaking of which, I’m sorry about that nonsense with Sonny. He can be a little… overbearing. He should’ve checked with me first.”

Titus shrugged, although Charlie could tell the experience had rattled him more than he was letting on. “It’s okay. He was just doing his job… I guess.”

Charlie maneuvered his car out of the gated lot and started heading towards Titus’s place. Why shouldn’t they get started on their date early?”

“Where ya goin’?” Titus asked playfully.

“Your place. Why? You have to go back to work?”

Chuckling at some inside joke that eluded Charlie, Titus shook his head. “No, we’re good, but there’s something you should know. My grandmother’s here.”

Charlie’s face fell. “Oh, you have company? I didn’t even think, since we made plans for later. We could go to my place, but I know you said—”

“She’s not staying in my house.”

“Huh?”

“She’s old-school gypsy. She’s sleeping in her trailer. It’s just parked at my house, so there’s a possibility we could run into her today. Thought I’d warn you.”

“Uh, warn me? About your grandmother.”

“Oh, yes.” Titus smiled humorlessly in the face of Charlie’s confusion. “You’re a triple threat of things she distrusts—policeman,
gajo—
non-gypsy
—
and homosexual. And she has no filter. None.”

Understanding dawned. Charlie realized that meeting Titus’s grandmother wasn’t expected to be a pleasant experience. “Well, don’t you worry… white Southern grandmothers can be much the same. You should hear what
my
grandmother has to say about me. We just ignore her, as she’s got a judgmental thing to say regarding just about anybody.”

Charlie basked in the grateful smile he got from Titus. Turning onto Poplar Street, he glanced over at his passenger. “Well, uh… is there anything I should specifically
not
say?”

Titus combed a hand through his silky black hair, and suddenly Charlie wanted to do it for him. “I doubt she’ll be at the house when we get there. It’s been a while since she’s come to Charlotte, so she’s gone tramping. I may not see her until tomorrow, but I’m not naïve enough to think we’ll get through the visit without you meeting her. I’m not that lucky.”

Charlie chuckled. He wasn’t worried. There were people whose opinion he cared about—his partner and the folks in his unit, his parents and sister—and Titus’s eccentric grandmother wasn’t one of them. If he had to take a bit of a beating to be around Titus, he’d happily do it. “You worry too much.”

“That’s entirely possible,” Titus said. Charlie noticed him surreptitiously casting nervous glances out at the sidewalk in front of his house, like he saw someone he didn’t like. He explained it away in his head, assuming Titus was still worried about him meeting his grandmother.

“I know it’s a little early for our… plans, but if you want, I’ll go ahead and order a pizza,” Titus said. “If you’re hungry.”

“I could eat.”

Titus ordered a large supreme with pretty much every-damn-thing on it, which was fine with Charlie. Parking the Charger in front of the townhouse, Charlie got out and went around to open the door for Titus. He delighted in making the self-assured guy blush.

“Thanks. Come on in,” Titus said, leading the way inside.

Charlie really liked Titus and Riot’s townhouse, it was cozy but masculine, and so quiet one would never guess it was on the fringes of a thriving young city. He took off his shoes and left them by the door, a habit ingrained in his mind at an early age by his mother and her white carpets.

Titus kicked off his own shoes and turned to face Charlie. “I know you said pizza and beer, but after dealing with Granny—you should call her Hester or Mrs. Faa or she’ll skin you—and Detective DeRossi, I want something a little stronger. Any preferences?”

Charlie grinned. “My go-to liquor is usually scotch—I think that might be a cop thing—but I’m up for anything.”

“I was thinking vodka,” he said, heading for the kitchen without waiting for confirmation.

“Sounds good,” Charlie said and followed. It was as good a time as any to let loose a little.

“You want something with yours or you just want it straight? I have both cranberry and orange juice.”

“Cranberry.”

Titus nodded as if somehow that was the right answer, and set about mixing the drinks. Almost as soon as he was finished, the doorbell rang.

“That was fast,” Charlie said, realizing it was probably the pizza guy. He pulled out his wallet and started toward the door. He looked over his shoulder at Titus. “I’ll get it. Just go ahead and get us set up wherever you want to eat.”

Opening the door, Charlie paid the man and politely shooed him away. He didn’t want anyone intruding into their secluded little world for the evening.

“Where’s Riot?” he asked, bringing the pizza over to the coffee table where Titus had set out plates. He wanted to know if the guy would be sneaking home in the middle of the night.

“Motor City Comic Con. His publisher has a booth. We’re all alone, buddy boy,” he said with a grin that was shy and maybe a little hopeful.

Charlie could feel himself hardening at the thought. Suddenly he didn’t want pizza anymore, but intellectually he knew he’d need to eat to keep his strength up for all the things he wanted to do with Titus—things he could scarcely imagine. He wasn’t sure how to ask Titus for all the things he wanted, he would just have to see how the evening progressed.

They finished eating mostly in silence, then Titus took their plates and glasses to the kitchen. “You want a refill?” he asked, referring to Charlie’s drink.

“Why not? I’ve got nowhere to be.” Charlie hoped Titus got the message. It was as forward as he was willing to be. It wasn’t as if he was having some big life-changing revelation—he knew he was gay and he’d accepted it, he’d just never gotten the chance to act on it, and didn’t really know how to ask for what he wanted.

“Great,” Titus said, grinning as he returned to the living room with full glasses of vodka-cranberry. He sat back down beside Charlie on the couch, handed Charlie his glass, and took a deep swallow from his own. When he made eye contact again, his face grew serious. “Do you need to talk about what happened between us the other day?”

Charlie gave the question his full attention, because it seemed important to Titus. It was weird, sure, being intimate with another guy, feeling a cock alongside his own, feeling cum splash on his belly, feeling hard planes and muscle against him instead of soft curves. Not that Titus wasn’t soft… Titus’s coppery skin was the softest he’d ever felt, silky and seemingly hairless. Charlie’s cock began to ache at the thought of it.

He shook his head resolutely. “No. I’m done talking.” He set down his glass, grabbed Titus by the front of his T-shirt, and hauled him in for a kiss. Somehow, Titus managed not only to not spill his drink but to set it down blind.

Then he opened for Charlie, welcoming him into all that warm, wet heat of his mouth. Charlie worked his free hand into Titus’s hair, alternately tugging on it and massaging his scalp, as they devoured each other’s mouths. Titus clung to his shoulders in a bruising grip. The kiss went on for a minute or two before Titus gently pushed him away.

Charlie’s brain was clouded with lust. He was afraid he’d somehow offended Titus and caused him to break the kiss when he wanted nothing more than for it to go on forever. When he searched Titus’s face, however, what he saw was sparkling blue eyes and a wicked grin.

“I have an idea,” Titus said conspiratorially. “Let’s play truth or dare!”

Charlie stared at him and blinked.
Huh?
“I’m sorry… when did we become twelve-year-old girls at a sleepover?”

Titus rolled his eyes. “Oh, don’t be such a stick in the mud,” he teased. “Aren’t you interested in learning anything you want about me? And refusing a dare would bring shame on my family—you could make me do what
ever
you wanted.” His eyes turned seductive and he reached over to cup Charlie’s hard cock through his slacks. “Don’t you want to do that?”

“Um, yes,” Charlie croaked, his voice cracking. His eyes drifted closed at the feeling of Titus’s hand on him, but then it was gone.

Titus practically bounced in his seat. “So… who’s first?”

“You can ask me first,” Charlie said. The idea of being at Titus’s mercy…
Christ
.

“Okay, truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

Titus looked Charlie over from head to toe and bit his lip. Charlie could immediately tell that his dare was going to be something naughty.

“I dare you to go into my bedroom and take off
all
your clothes. And I get to watch,” he rushed to tack on that stipulation to his dare.

Charlie’s face heated, from arousal rather than embarrassment. “That’s easy,” he said, jumping off the couch and bounding into the hall. He skidded to a stop when he realized he didn’t know which bedroom belonged to Titus.

Suddenly Titus was behind him, grasping his hips to turn him in the right direction. Charlie shivered from the contact. Jesus, it had really been too long since he’d gotten laid—not that he’d ever gotten laid the
right
way, in his mind. He hoped he could hold out through whatever Titus had planned.

Titus gently pushed him from behind until he entered the room. The room was sparsely furnished, as though he didn’t spend much time in there. Charlie vaguely noticed a desk, a dresser, comic book posters that he didn’t recognize up on the walls—maybe Riot’s, he wasn’t sure. His attention was immediately drawn to the queen-size bed in the corner of the room, dressed in a comforter of rich fall colors, and piled with a ton of pillows.

Titus, still behind him, bumped him playfully in the ass with his bulge. “Get to it.”

Charlie didn’t mind putting on a show for Titus. If it got him worked up enough to forget the silly game and get to the good stuff, it’d be worth it anyway. Keeping his eyes on Titus’s face, he slowly unbuttoned his long-sleeved dress shirt—he tried to dress nicely when he was speaking with witnesses.

Titus followed the path of Charlie’s fingers with his eyes until he parted the material of the shirt and shrugged it off his shoulders. Charlie noticed his fingers curl into fists, he hoped with the effort not to touch.

Next, Charlie unbuckled his belt and yanked it out of the belt loops in one quick motion. Titus swallowed hard. He hastily unfastened his slacks and pulled them down along with his boxer briefs, until he was completely naked.