Second Chances Read online

  Lyle sighed and lay back in his armchair.

  Breslaw shook his head. His charge looked utterly done for. Much to his frustration, moments later Lyle was snoring. Now he couldn’t give him the intended update on his own case and a heads up on what Eidolon had in store for him when he reached the island. He wasn’t sure if it would be safe to talk later on the plane, maybe in the airport before they boarded?

  Breslaw watched Lyle sleep for a while, contemplating the man he was being paid to take care of. Adept at reading people, Breslaw knew Lyle resented his presence in his home; Lyle’s dislike of him might be rooted in how he had come into his life. Maybe, though, it was because Breslaw knew Lyle’s real history too. Living as a man, Lyle hated any reminders that he used to be a woman, someone’s daughter, someone’s sister. That Breslaw also knew he had been someone’s wife, and the circumstances of how he’d lost his husband, just made it all a whole lot more painful.

  Maybe it was better not to tell Lyle about developments on the Mafia front? He would be safe on the island Eidolon was taking them to. No need to distress him with stuff that might well be resolved by the time he was ready and able to leave there. It was a lovely place, according to Pierce; Lyle might even decide to stay there for good, especially since he would be able to make full use of his natural talents if Eidolon’s plans for him came to fruition.

  Deciding that Lyle was going to hurt in the morning if he was left to sleep slumped in the armchair, Breslaw scooped Lyle up in his arms, careful not to wake the good-looking blond. Lyle Tate was five foot ten, maybe 160 pounds soaking wet, so it was no hardship to tote him across to the bedroom and roll Lyle into his quilt. Breslaw turned the light off on the still-sleeping man, then plodded back to the couch in the living room, settling himself down once he was sure his handgun was fully loaded and stashed safely, close to hand.

  3: Now or Never

  Carter (Gil) Gillespie, Miles Sutherland, Agent Tony Alessi

  ___________________________________________________

  Before midnight Saturday 22nd January, Miles Sutherland’s home

  Warning: explicit sex

  This is unreal, Gil thought as he was escorted to Miles’ front door and seen inside by his very own Man in Black. His agent’s name was Tony Alessi and he was a rather ordinary guy which took the romance out of it somewhat, but Gil was left in no uncertain terms that Tony was fully capable of protecting him. He was armed; Gil had noticed the unobtrusive and serviceable handgun tucked in a holster under his open jacket. That brought the unwelcome thought that this was a very serious situation they were all involved in. He went inside somewhat subdued. He almost hoped that Miles was in his room packing, and he wouldn’t have to face him, but then told himself sharply not to be such a wuss. He had felt Miles respond to that kiss, not to mention his own reaction.

  Miles started at the sound of voices outside. After stopping for a few minutes to talk with Aiden before he’d left Lyle’s house, the magic he’d felt at the touch of Gil’s lips on his had died somewhat. His heart was still racing fit to bust though. Fear? Nerves? He wasn’t quite sure which. The thought of being sent to a tropical island had filled him with dread. Too many memories. All he’d managed to do so far was drag down a suitcase. It still stood empty in the hallway. What to take?

  Rather than have to decide, he’d spent most of the time waiting for Gil’s arrival in getting Roofie settled, but then he’d been drawn to the small holiday snapshot taken when he and Darren first met. They were only thirteen at the time: same height, same build, the same happy grin on their faces decked out with snorkel gear and spear guns. For the next few years, the two families made sure their visits to the resort in Fiji coincided; the parents getting on just as well as their sons did. His sister, Siobahn, had felt left out at first, but she’d soon made her own friends, leaving the two of them to do everything together: discovering they had the same dream of being doctors and working in far off exotic places. They’d also discovered another thing that set them apart from the other teenagers at the resort: they were both gay.

  Miles kissed the photo gently and returned the frame to its place in the centre of the mantelpiece. Heck, there were stacks of other photos of Darren around, but for some reason this one always meant more to him. Christ, how much luggage would they be allowed to take to this God forsaken place? These photos had been his link to Darren. He couldn’t leave them behind.

  Gil stepped into the hall, said a quiet goodnight to Agent Alessi and closed the door. He didn’t hear the agent move off until he had locked the door securely behind him. Letting out a breath he had not been aware he was holding, Gil realised someone was in the living area. He spotted Miles over by the fireplace, back to him, intent on something. The look in Miles’ eyes as he turned to face Gil was positively guilty, and he knocked over a photo on the mantelpiece, fumbling it back to rights with trembling hands. “Miles? You okay?”

  Miles wiped his hands on his jeans and took a step towards Gil. What was he supposed to do now? “Yes.” He didn’t feel fine. You’d think he’d just been out jogging for half an hour, not standing here, waiting. Waiting for what?

  “You don’t look okay.” Gil closed the distance between them. When he had stepped through the door, he truly hadn’t had any idea what to do or say to the doctor. That kiss had been…amazing, and now he had no clue what Miles was thinking. If anything, the man looked scared.

  Miles took another step towards Gil until he stood within inches of the younger man. He drew in a deep breath to calm himself. Once again, the clean smell of his aftershave or whatever Gil used as a shampoo infiltrated his defences. His hand shook noticeably as he reached out to touch Gil’s arm. Had the kiss been just to get him to fall in with the other’s plans or was there more here? Ever since they’d met, they’d been jockeying like two adversaries in the arena, sizing each other up: sometimes colleagues, sometimes friends, sometimes even enemies, but always the interaction had been strong.

  It hit Gil with a suddenness that the dynamic between the doctor and himself was set to change, probably already had. He allowed himself a smile, tried to put warmth and reassurance into it, and failed to be certain that he had succeeded. If they were both set on this course, they would no longer be employer and subordinate. Gil almost heard a clatter as one of the barriers between them fell away.

  Miles swallowed and slid his hand up Gil’s arm to his shoulder, resting it there for a second, waiting for a reaction. None came, so he slid it higher, tracing the side of Gil’s jawline with the back of his thumb, stroking the short stubble. God, it felt good to touch someone like that again. Gil was so gorgeous, but young, damn it, at least ten years younger than he was. Why would he be interested in him? Gil’s eyes opened and the young man gazed at Miles with a smile. Miles finally found he could speak. “That kiss back in the hallway was…. incredible. Was it just to make sure I joined the team?” His thumb flicked the corner of Gil’s lips.

  “I won’t lie to you, I did the first thing that came to me.” Gil turned his cheek toward the caress, trapping Miles’ fingers gently against his shoulder in reassurance. “I just couldn’t…” there was a catch in his voice and he swallowed and cleared his throat, looked away for a second. “I couldn’t just let you go.” Gil turned his gaze back to Miles again. “I admit I wanted to do something, anything, to make you stay…. The thought of you not coming with us…” Gil shuddered, “but you have to know, Miles, surely you know, how I feel?”

  Miles stopped stroking and turned his hand, cupping Gil’s jaw so he could see his eyes better. The brown seemed to have grown darker, more intense, reflecting the depth of his sincerity. His heart skipped a beat. “That’s the problem. I don’t know how you feel. From the looks of things, you and Lyle had a thing going. I…” but Gil was shaking his head.

  “I like the man, a lot. He’s…. going through some personal shit right now, quite apart from this business with Vale. I think I need to tell you about that later because I want to be the
re for him, but we never made each other any promises…” but Gil knew it would hurt Lyle anyway, if he found out.

  Miles swallowed; his brain wasn’t functioning too well. All he wanted to do was see if those lips felt as good as he remembered. He closed the distance between them and brought his mouth down on Gil’s. God, he was out of practice. Teeth clashed and he pulled back in a start with a nervous chuckle.

  Gil couldn’t help himself, he began to laugh. The tension broke. Grabbing Miles by his shirt front Gil pulled him closer and pressed their lips together. His tongue demanded entry, he wanted to experience the taste of Miles’ mouth again, and more, much more. He could but hope he didn’t scare the man away. He had no desire to push too hard. Well, not in that sense anyway.

  Miles groaned, he felt like a starving man at a three course all-you-can-eat banquet. It had been too long since he’d been kissed like that. A tiny part of his brain tried to tell him to go slow, think of Darren, but his body revolted. He wrapped his arms around Gil and pressed into him, a low guttural sound escaping as he returned the kiss with interest. He peeled his lips away and turned his attention to kissing along the jawline where his thumb had been stroking, working his way down around one side before coming back the other and returning to the man’s soft lips. The sensations seemed to travel through every part of his body, setting his nerves on fire. He ground his hard cock against Gil’s body, feeling more like a rutting stag than a human. He broke off the kiss and stood back, panting. Christ, the poor guy probably hadn’t bargained on that. “Sorry,” he muttered.

  “Sorry?” Gil’s eyebrows rose. He already missed the warmth of Miles’ body pressed against his. “What in hell have you got to be sorry for? That was…” he shook his head as his vocabulary failed him. He was panting hard. That’s not the only thing that’s hard either, he thought. He couldn’t ignore the response he had felt in Miles’ body; the man had been rock solid against him.

  “It’s just that I suppose I’ve wanted to do that for so long, but I was your boss and I wasn’t sure you’d welcome my… advances.” Miles sniggered at the term, he sounded like something out of an old-fashioned bodice ripper. He clenched his fists, trying to get his reactions under control. Gil didn’t seem too fazed by his rough and ready caveman technique. God, perhaps once he’d got this out of his system, he could start acting like the civilized man he was. He shook his head and laughed. Nah, he hadn’t been civilized for ages and wasn’t likely to be anytime soon. He moved closer again. “You’re not running away, I see.” He reached for Gil’s shirt and carefully undid the top button. Pausing, waiting for Gil’s response as his fingers slid to the next one.

  “Did you honestly expect me to?” Gil kept his eyes on Miles’. “You should laugh more often, you know. You’re more handsome when you laugh like that.”

  Miles blinked in surprise. “Me, handsome? You had your eyes checked lately?” He undid the second button and sped up as his fingers fumbled with the third and fourth. Once they were all open, he peeled the shirt back off Gil’s shoulders and using his eyes, just devoured the broad expanse of chest in front of him.

  “My eyes are working perfectly. You honestly don’t see it, do you?” Gil stared at him, the smile had slipped a little.

  Miles groaned. The light sprinkling of hair and the pleasure trail heading south made his cock even fuller. Even though he’d lost weight, his bloody jeans were still too tight. The sleeves of the shirt were still wrapped around Gil’s arms. Miles twisted them around, trapping Gil’s hands behind his back and leaned in to lick his nipple. He glanced up and saw that the smile had disappeared. In its place, Gil’s pupils had grown larger, blacker. He stopped licking for a moment. “You like that?” For answer, Gil arched toward him and growled an affirmative, his eyes glittering with lust.

  Sometimes having a few pounds weight advantage came in handy. Miles twisted the shirt even tighter and placed his arm into the small of Gil’s back, stretching him backwards as he latched onto the other nipple, rolling it around in his mouth, biting sharply. Gil moaned and gasped as he did so.

  Miles brought his free hand down and cupped Gil’s package, squeezing and stroking it as he sucked on the nipple. Gil bucked under his touch, but his hands weren’t struggling to break free although Miles could feel the tension there. Somehow, he managed to undo the button of Gil’s dress trousers with one hand and pull down the zip. Gil’s cock was struggling to escape his boxers so Miles set it free. A drop of pre-cum sparkled at the tip. The sight of it drew another groan from Miles. He sank to knees that were almost unable to bear his weight anymore and drew the glistening head into his mouth.

  This was one hell of a ride. Gil’s brain had disengaged when Miles had squeezed his cock. He had known about the doctor’s dominant personality, had thought more than once that he was probably bossy in bed, but this? Then the wet heat of Miles’ mouth closed around him and coherent thought fled completely.

  Miles swallowed Gil’s cock and didn’t care that he seemed to be moaning louder than Gil was. It seemed years, was years since he’d been able to let himself go like this. To suck, heck feast on cock, and not any cock, but Gil’s cock. Some part of him must have been lusting after the man even though the sane part had been denying the attraction. Now it was here in his mouth he couldn’t get enough of it. He tightened his lips around the nice sized girth and drew back, relishing the feel of the hard length as it passed through his lips until just the tip rested inside his mouth, his tongue lazily exploring under the foreskin, tracing the head. He glanced up, searching Gil’s face for some sort of sign that he was enjoying this as much as Miles was. Gil’s eyes were shut though, his head tipped backwards, mouth open slightly, gasping.

  God, he looked like a fucking angel. Miles stroked the smooth skin of his hip a couple of times then tightened his grip, preventing Gil from thrusting forward as he swallowed his cock all the way down. For a second Miles just stayed there, his nose buried in the hairs at the base, inhaling the musky smell he loved so much, then he pulled back to the tip and sucked him in again, gradually picking up the pace as his body started to remember his old tricks. How to suck cock like a pro.

  Some part of Gil’s brain was telling him he shouldn’t submit so completely to this, that he should object to being restrained and should challenge for dominance, or at least equality. But another part of him, the compassionate empathic side, knew Miles probably needed it this way. It was the way he was, and with a slight shock, Gil realised he was probably only now seeing the real person. Miles was being totally honest with him for the first time since they had met. If Gil couldn’t accept that, then they had no business being together. It didn’t change the fact that he desperately wanted to run his hands through Miles’ hair and thrust his hips into that amazing heat.

  Miles moaned as he swallowed. The tip of Gil’s cock was lodged deep. How long had he denied himself this? This feeling of being so close to another man. He sucked hard and was rewarded by spurts of cum flooding down his throat. Gil’s hips jerked under his touch. Vaguely he became aware that Gil was struggling to get free.

  Miles let go of the shirt, releasing Gil’s trapped hands and dropped back on his heels. Gil’s cock making a soft plop as it fell out of his mouth. Miles licked his lips and swallowed, but was too afraid to look at the younger man’s face. When he’d arrived in Haven Falls, Miles had looked like the wild Man from Borneo, now he had acted like it. Shit.

  Gil couldn’t move. He was struggling to bring his breathing under control for one thing, for another he was trying to engage the higher functions of his brain. He felt as though his legs might collapse if he didn’t sit down. Then again, he felt like he might collapse if he moved at all, so he stayed standing. He flexed his shoulders and was sure he heard something pop back into place. When he could finally manage coherent thought, he wondered at Miles’ lack of response and looked down.

  “Sorry,” Miles muttered, addressing the floor.

  There it was again. What was the matter wi
th the man? He seemed almost…submissive in his posture, his body language as apologetic as his words. Gil sank to his knees beside Miles and cupped his chin, lifting his face so that their eyes met. Leaning in, Gil kissed him again, a soft kiss, undemanding. “Miles,” he said gently, “what’s wrong?”

  Miles blinked back a tear at the gentleness of Gil’s touch. In some ways the contrast making his own rough love-making even more reprehensible. He tried to turn his head away, but Gil’s fingers tightened. Miles swallowed; the taste of Gil’s cum lingered at the back of his mouth. “I feel… “ the words seemed to dry up in his throat. “I forced you…” Miles swallowed again, and closed his eyes, unable to look any longer into the warmth of Gil’s brown ones. “I’m sorry. I’m not normally as rough as that. I shouldn’t… I just couldn’t help myself.”

  Gil chuckled. “Did you see me struggling? Did I tell you to stop? I’ve seen more honesty tonight than you’ve ever shown me, Miles. You needed that as much as I did. If I hadn’t enjoyed it, do you really think I’d have let you do it? Do you think I’m such a pushover?” Without warning, Gil wrapped his arms round Miles and threw his weight forward.

  Caught by surprise, Miles felt himself toppling backwards. Soon he was sprawled on the floor with Gil’s body pinning him down. He stared at Gil for a few seconds, guilt churning his gut, relaxing only when he noticed the glint of amusement dancing in the younger man’s eyes.

  “Just so you know you don’t call the shots entirely…old man. Look, Miles, stop apologising. If I hadn’t wanted you to do what you did, I hope you believe me now, I wouldn’t have allowed you to.”