Page 28 of Paradise

“Why not?”

“My brain’s too busy.”

“Oh, dear,” Garrett drawled, soft and smiling. The smile transformed his face back into the one that Jonah loved best, tender and teasing andprivate, something that was just for him. “You know, putting brains to sleep is something of a specialty of mine.”

“Is that right?”

“It is,” Garrett said, slowly drawing away from the bed and standing up. “And I have the perfect place for just such a thing. It’s kind of a delicate operation, though, requires a lot of space.” Jonah glanced down at Cody, but Garrett drew his eyes back with a gentle touch to his shoulder. “He’s fine,” he said softly. “He’s sleeping. You need sleep too, and you won’t get it unless we can turn off your brain. Come on, sweetheart. Come to bed. You’ll be back before he wakes up.”

Garrett never had to work hard to convince Jonah to go to bed with him. He stood up, let his fingers linger for a moment on his boy’s head, then followed Garrett out of the infirmary. Their suite wasn’t too far away, and as soon as they entered it, Jonahexpected to get jumped, but apparently something else was on offer tonight.

The lights stayed low, and Garrett’s arms wound sensuously around his neck as he pressed his lips to Jonah’s chin, to the line of his cheek, his temple, and the side of his nose. Jonah pressed forward with his mouth, seeking out a kiss, but Garrett evaded him. “No pushing,” he murmured, “no straining. Just relax. Come on.” He backed off and led Jonah over to their bed, nudged and tugged and pressed until Jonah was lying back against the blankets, his head cushioned by pillows, and his body laid bare to Garrett’s ministrations.

“You’re beautiful,” Garrett told him seriously, brushing a kiss against the base of his neck before sliding down his body. Jonah wanted to protest or maybe confess, but then Garrett took him into his mouth, and all of his thoughts vanished. Jonah used to need more time to get his body on board for sex, but for some reason, Garrett was the exception to the rule. His mouth enveloped Jonah, all of him, hot and smooth and just holding him while Garrett’s hands went everywhere, climbing across his chest and down his sides and across the firm flesh of his ass. Jonah hissed and lifted his hips, making more room for his fiancé’s wandering hands.

He hardened slow and easy, pushing deeper into Garrett’s throat until just the very base of his cock was exposed to the air. Garrett didn’t pull back and didn’t stop moving; it was incredible, Jonah didn’t even know how he was breathing, but it felt amazing. Garrett rolled his balls in one hand, tugging gently while he circled Jonah’s hole with one cool finger.

“Garrett,” Jonah moaned. “Darlin’, come up here, let me—” There was a barely perceptible head shake, an increase in pressure around his cock, and then Garrett slowly pushed his finger, dry, a little way inside.

“Oh,” Jonah breathed, “oh, fuck, Garrett …” He got deep enough to brush against Jonah’s prostate, and that was it, too much, and Jonah tipped slowly and inevitably over into orgasm, thoughtless, peaceful, and so right. He drifted for a while, barely noticing when Garrett moved away and cleaned up before coming back to bed.

When Jonah reached down to start to return the favor, though, he found Garrett soft. That was strange; he was never soft after giving a blow job. “Darlin’?”

“I’m just tired,” Garrett assured him, pulling the blankets over both of them and curling in close. “Later, sweetheart. Get some sleep.”

“No.” Jonah sighed. “I need to talk to you. I’ve made you wait long enough.”

Garrett froze, absolutely still for a second, then relaxed against Jonah’s body. “Tell me.”

Jonah sighed deeply. This was it. Moment of truth. “When I went to meet Kilroy, there was someone else there. It was …”Just get it over with.“Jack.”

“Wait,JackJack?” Garrett lifted his head a little, real surprise in his eyes. “Your ex, Jack?”

“That’s the one.”

“What the hell did he want?”

“To …” Jonah tried to sit up, to make some space, but Garrett held him down. “It’s complicated.”

“Just tell me in the simplest way you can,” Garrett urged. “Is Jack working with Kilroy?”

“After a fashion. Kilroy wants … he wants information. He wants me to”—fuck fuckfuck—“to put skimmers in the mansion. He wants ship names and numbers for false identities. I didn’t, I won’t,obviouslyI won’t, but—”

“Okay,” Garrett said soothingly. “Okay, we can deal with that. You haven’t done anything yet, you’re fine, and there’s no reasonfor you to do anything. What else? What’s the connection with Jack?”

Jonah sighed again. “Jack is Kilroy’s ace in the hole. He wants rights to Cody.”

Garrett’s mouth dropped open in shock. “What?”

“I know.” Jonah covered his face with both hands. “I never thought it would happen. He was so against the whole idea of it when I brought Cody home, he was so adamant, I just … I didn’t tie up loose ends. I took Cody and ran away and tried to leave that all behind, but Jack’s got a lawyer now, and … shit.” Jonah took a deep breath, then pulled his hands away and looked straight at Garrett. “The deal is, if I help Kilroy, Jack will work somethin’ out with me. If I don’t, then he’ll sic his lawyer on me, and I could get forced into an arrangement that’s … not good. He might be able to take Cody away from me.”

Garrett’s expression had gone utterly blank. Jonah lay still, frozen with fear until his fiancé spoke. “First things first: it’s not just you. It’sus. And no matter how good your ex’s lawyer is, I can find one that’s better.”

“You can’t know that,” Jonah insisted. “Law as it applies to Drifters is complicated, and we didn’t exactly get our boy on the up-and-up. That’s what Kilroy’s banking on, to get me to deal with him.”

“He’s coercing you; he can be arrested for that.”

“He can just deny it all; there’s no record of the conversation.”

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