Shooting Star (5 page)

Brac
looked away, unable to meet Jessup’s gaze. He felt warmth on the back of his hand and glanced back to see Jessup’s tongue travelling up the length of his fingers. Surprised at the gesture,
Brac
couldn’t help but stare as Jessup continued to clean the drying cum. Maybe breaking down Jessup’s walls wouldn’t be as hard as he’d thought. It took trust to ingest another man’s seed. “I’m clean,” he whispered.

Jessup grinned. “That’s a damn good thing because I didn’t even think to ask.” He shook his head. “You make me want to do a lot of things I never would’ve attempted before.” He pressed
Brac’s
hand against his chest. “For the record, you taste good.”

Chuckling,
Brac
bent over and planted his mouth over Jessup’s for a deep kiss. “Good to know,” he whispered, pulling out of the kiss.

“I shouldn’t have run away like I did.” Jessup ran his hands through
Brac’s
hair. “I want things, but I can’t trust myself not to hurt you. I proved that to myself earlier.”

Brac
skimmed his lips over Jessup’s, needing the brief contact. “I’m fine. It’ll just take a while to figure out the boundaries, but I think it’ll be worth it.”

A bush rustled and Jessup released his hold on
Brac’s
hair and jumped to his feet.
Brac
grabbed Jessup’s hand and stood. “Don’t
worry,
I’m sure it’s just another rabbit. I had one scare the crap out of me earlier.”

Jessup continued to survey their surroundings. “Let’s get back to the house. Guess since neither of us caught anything we’ll be having hamburgers again.”

“
Or
you could take me into town?”
Brac
pleaded. “You said there aren’t any reporters, and I’d really like to see Kit. Maybe we could invite them to dinner.”

Jessup seemed to study
Brac
for several moments. “Does that mean you’re ready to move back to town?”

Careful not to make a wrong move,
Brac
leaned against Jessup’s chest. “No. Maybe I’ll talk to Ezra about renting the cabin until I have to go back to California.”

Jessup pressed his cheek against
Brac’s
. “And when do you think that’ll be?”

“I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t even want to think about it.” Damn, he wished he could wrap himself around Jessup and hold on forever. The revelation surprised him. He wondered if he felt that way because it was such a farfetched dream. Closing his eyes,
Brac
pressed his face against Jessup’s neck, trying to brand the man’s smell on his psyche.

When he felt Jessup’s hands land on his hips,
Brac
felt like rejoicing. “Take me on a date. A real one,” he whispered.

Jessup cleared his throat before dropping his hands from
Brac’s
hips. “I’ve never—what would I need to do?”

The lost expression on Jessup’s face told
Brac
how serious he was. “You’ve never dated?”

A muscle in Jessup’s jaws flexed. “I’m not really the dating type.”

Brac
studied Jessup for several moments. Why would such a good-looking man not date?
“Ever?”

Jessup bent over and picked up
Brac’s
fishing pole and tackle. “Even one date requires a certain level of trust that I was never prepared to give.” He started down the path.

Brac
jogged to catch up. “So you’ve never trusted anyone?”

After passing the fishing pole to
Brac
, Jessup settled the tackle box in his left hand and reached for
Brac’s
hand with his right. “I trust Priest, and I’m learning to trust you. I think that’s enough.”

Brac
slowed and tugged on Jessup’s hand until he followed suit.
“Priest?
Is that the guy you were talking to on the phone a couple days ago?”

“Yeah.”

A lump formed in
Brac’s
throat. He mentally crossed his fingers and hoped for the best. “Is he actually your Priest?”

Jessup erupted in laughter. It was the first real laugh
Brac
had heard from the often sullen man. “I take that as a no,”
Brac
mumbled. He wished he could’ve drawn the laughter out of Jessup without mention of the mysterious Priest.

“Priest is as far from religious as you can get. His name’s James Evans. They call him Priest because he’s the last person most men see before they die.” Jessup grinned. “He plays on it, too.
Tells them to confess their sins while they still have a chance.”

There was something in Jessup’s eyes that spoke of a great amount of affection for this Priest guy. “He’s a killer?”
Brac
didn’t know Jessup’s story, but the thought of Jessup trusting Priest over him didn’t sit well. Priest didn’t sit well.

Jessup released
Brac’s
hand and narrowed his eyes. “So was I, only we prefer the term soldier.”

Shit!
“Sorry. I didn’t mean…”
Fuck!
Brac
was getting damn tired of the taste of his foot.

Jessup gave a sharp shake of his head. “Call your friends and have them meet us at The Grizzly Bar,” he ordered in a gruff voice.

Brac
knew he’d screwed up. “I said that out of jealousy more than anything else,” he confessed.

Jessup started down the path. “No reason to be jealous.”

Brac
waited for Jessup to explain but when nothing else was said, he jogged to catch up. With the easiness they’d shared gone,
Brac
wondered if he was wasting his time in trying to break down Jessup’s walls. He’d seen the tattoo on Jessup’s forearm. Perhaps if he learned the significance, he’d have a better idea.

When they reached the deck, Jessup turned and took the
pole
from
Brac
and stood it against the house next to his cane pole. He dug into his pocket and removed his cell phone before handing it to
Brac
. “I’m
gonna
take a quick shower while you call Kit.”

Moment gone,
Brac
nodded.
He waited for Jessup to disappear before making the call.

“Hey,” Kit answered on the third ring. “How’re you doing?”

“Fine.
I was wondering if you and Hawk would be interested in dinner tonight at The Grizzly
Bar?
”

“Yes! I can’t believe your warden is letting you have a night out,” Kit teased.

“It was my idea. I miss you guys. And Jessup said he hasn’t seen any paparazzi around.”

“Yeah, I think they gave up. I called Jessup yesterday and asked if I could come out to see you, but he said it would be better if I waited.”

“You called Jessup?”
Brac
hadn’t been told his best friend wanted to see him.

“Yeah.
I’ve called him every day. Why?”

“He didn’t tell me.”
Brac
hated being kept in the dark. Damn Jessup. “So, can you meet us?”

“Seven okay? Hawk’s in his office working, but I’m sure he could use a break.”

“Seven’s fine. It’ll give me a chance to get cleaned up.” And have a discussion with Jessup. How dare he keep him from seeing
Kit.

“Later,” Kit trilled before hanging up.

Brac
walked into the cabin and set the phone on the kitchen table before heading upstairs.
“Jessup!”

The bathroom door opened and Jessup sprang out in nothing but a towel, gun in hand.

Brac
held up his hands. “Don’t shoot.”

Jessup scanned the hallway before lowering the gun.
“Someone here?”

“No,”
Brac
managed to say, his gaze riveted on Jessup’s scarred naked chest. The scars, more than anything Jessup had said, brought home to
Brac
the torture he’d suffered in prison.

“Then why the hell did you yell my name? I told you I was
gonna
take a shower.”

Speechless,
Brac
nodded. He took several steps forward and reached
out,
needing to touch the physical reminders of the pain Jessup had suffered.

Jessup stepped back. “What’re you doing?”

Brac
looked up and met Jessup’s eyes. “Let me touch you,” he whispered.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t think I’ll breathe again if I don’t.”
Brac
couldn’t explain how he felt, but he yearned to heal Jessup from the inside out. It wasn’t a normal reaction for him. Usually he walked away from uncomfortable situations or didn’t allow himself to get into them in the first place. But there was something different about Jessup. Something that called to
Brac’s
nurturing instincts that, until then, had been reserved for Kit.

Jessup grabbed
Brac’s
wrist and brought it to his chest, thereby allowing
Brac
to touch him while still maintaining control. He slowly guided
Brac’s
palm from one scar to the next, never breaking eye contact. “Not what you’re used to,” he mumbled.

Brac
allowed his fingers to brush the puckered skin. He felt more than scars, and his body reacted accordingly. “No, not what I’m used to but amazing nonetheless.” He broke eye contact and leaned in to follow the movement of his hand with his lips.

Jessup gave a quick inhalation of breath at the contact.

Moving to the scarred nipple,
Brac
bathed the misshaped skin with his tongue. He was surprised when Jessup released
Brac’s
wrist and buried his fingers in
Brac’s
hair. Smiling,
Brac
glanced up to find Jessup’s eyes closed.
“This okay?”
He knew it was by the deputy’s reaction, but he needed to hear the words.

“God, yes.”

Brac
rested his forehead against Jessup’s chest and closed his eyes. “I
wanna
take you in my mouth. Damn, I want that more than my next breath.”

Jessup reached between them and loosened his towel, allowing the thick terrycloth to fall to the floor.

Taking the gesture as approval,
Brac
kissed and licked his way down the muscled body. He reached for the dropped towel and used it to rest his knees on as he got his first look at Jessup’s cock. Fuck, the man was gorgeous. Curved ever so slightly to the right, Jessup’s cock was darker than the bronzed skin on his upper body and as big, if not bigger, than the biggest man he’d ever been with.

Brac
swallowed his accumulated drool before touching the tip of his tongue to the drop of pre-cum that clung to the head of Jessup’s cock. Careful to keep his hands flat on Jessup’s groin,
Brac
took the crown into his mouth.

 
He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around the deputy and squeeze the man’s ass while he sucked him off, but he figured it would be another fight or flight trigger for Jessup.

After teasing the slit of Jessup’s cock with his tongue,
Brac
took the length further into his mouth. When Jessup’s body began to shake,
Brac
glanced up, hoping he wouldn’t be dislodged from his afternoon snack.

Without taking his mouth off Jessup’s cock,
Brac
tried to ask the question. “Okay?”

“Been too long.
I’m struggling to hold it together,” Jessup ground out between clenched teeth.

“Don’t,”
Brac
instructed.

Jessup’s hips bucked, shoving his cock further down
Brac’s
throat.
“Can’t…hold it.”
He started to pull out, but
Brac
followed the movement.

Brac
curled his fingers around Jessup’s hips in an effort to keep him in place. He wanted Jessup’s cum, but more than anything, he wanted Jessup to trust him.

“No.
Too.
Fast.”

Jessup howled as the first strand of seed shot down
Brac’s
throat. Swallowing as fast as he could,
Brac
tried desperately to enjoy every drop. The volume and consistency told him it had been a while since Jessup had jacked off. The same couldn’t be said for him.
Brac’s
hand seemed to be permanently attached to his cock since arriving at the cabin under Jessup’s watchful eye.

Brac
released Jessup’s hip and began to clean
the cum
that still clung to the softening flesh. He loved the way the prominent veins felt against the flat of his tongue and before he knew it,
Brac
wanted to do it all over again. Would he ever get enough of Jessup? Ghosts, demons, whatever Jessup called them,
Brac
had a strong feeling he’d do anything to help the deputy work through his past.

“Stand up.” Jessup put his hands under
Brac’s
arms and helped him to his feet.

Brac
stared into Jessup’s brown eyes and waited to be pushed away again. What Jessup didn’t know yet was how determined
Brac
was not to let that happen.

Instead of pushing
Brac
away, Jessup reached between them and unzipped
Brac’s
shorts. Without a word, Jessup ran his hand down the length of
Brac’s
erection trapped behind his boxer briefs.

Begging for more was on the tip of
Brac’s
tongue but he remained silent. Whatever spell Jessup appeared to be under, the last thing
Brac
wanted was to break it. A grunt sounded from deep within Jessup’s throat as he pushed his hand under the waistband of
Brac’s
underwear.

Jessup’s touch was everything
Brac
had fantasised it would be. He rested his forehead against Jessup’s shoulder and enjoyed every squeeze, pull and slide Jessup gifted. “Feels so good,”
Brac
whispered.

“Yes, it does,” Jessup returned.
“Thought about touching you.”

“Glad you gave in.”
Brac’s
hips began to snap back and forth as he fucked Jessup’s hand. “Close,” he warned.