A KNOCK SOUNDED from somewhere nearby. Not Charlie’s bedroom door, but maybe Jeremy’s, right next door?
Either way, the sound kicked Charlie’s heart into a sprint for a whole new reason. Fear. Fear of getting caught. Maybe that was ridiculous, but when your own father disapproved of you to the point of cutting off all communications, that left a lasting mark. The team may have discovered that his father wasn’t guilty of selling out his own men, but that did nothing to absolve the man for the way he’d treated his only surviving son.
“Someone’s out there,” Charlie whispered, tugging his jeans up and bending to grab his shirt. “Oh,” he said, remembering he needed to clean off. He grabbed the towel off the back of the door and gave himself a hasty rubdown before passing it to Jeremy.
Jeremy chuckled as he accepted the towel. “I can guarantee no matter who it is, they’ve seen a penis before.” He buttoned his jeans, rehung the towel, and grabbed his own shirt.
Charlie hated to see all that beautiful ink disappear as the tee slipped over Jer’s body, because what he really wanted to do was spend the rest of the afternoon exploring it and learning what every single piece meant to Jeremy.
“Still,” Charlie said, wishing he could be like Jeremy and not give a damn what anyone else thought. Especially since what he’d prefer to be thinking about was how amazing it was being with Jeremy like that. How good Jeremy made him feel. How mind--blowing it was to be touched and kissed with such abandon. How hot it was seeing Jeremy come.
“Hey,” Jeremy said, coming to stand right in front of Charlie.
Knock, knock. “Jeremy?” Nick’s voice reached them from the hallway.
Nervous energy lanced through Charlie. After everything Nick had done for him and given how much he seemed to care for Becca, Charlie didn’t want to do anything to damage his relationship with Nick. And Kat approving of them didn’t necessarily mean Nick would, too. “Nick wants you,” Charlie said.
Jeremy’s hands gently clutched Charlie’s neck. “Well, I want ten more seconds with you.” He kissed Charlie softly, slowly, almost reverently. And Charlie wanted to just lose himself in it. He really did. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the amazing contrast between the soft pull of Jeremy’s lips and the cool bite of his lip piercing. Which of course made him think of the piercing the guy had on his dick. What would it feel like—-?
Knock, knock.
Charlie flinched. The knock was against his door this time. “Sorry,” he whispered to Jeremy as he moved to open it.
“My brother has the worst timing,” Jeremy muttered.
Charlie opened the door. “Hey Nick,” he said, hoping his attempt to act like the guy’s brother hadn’t just given him a mind--blowingly good orgasm worked.
“Hey. Sorry to . . . oh, there you are,” he said, looking over Charlie’s shoulder to Jeremy.
“In the flesh,” Jeremy said. He leaned against the door jamb, the picture of chilled--out ease. “What’s up? Everything go okay with the roadblocks?”
“Yeah. Everything’s fine. I think it’s going to serve our purposes great,” Nick said. “But that’s not why I’m here. Actually, I’m glad I found you together. I have a favor to ask and it involves Charlie, too.”
Charlie looked from one brother to the other, not having the first clue what Nick could want that would involve him.
“Name it,” Jeremy said, his tongue flicking at the piercing on his lip.
Heat shot through Charlie’s body at the sight. Damn. It had already been difficult acting unaffected by the guy when Charlie thought the attraction was all one--sided. Now that he knew Jeremy wanted him, it was all he could do not to jump the guy and make his promise of “again and again and again” come true right this very second. The fact that he’d just come apparently bore no relevance to his dick, which stirred with interest and approval at Charlie’s imagining.
Nick’s voice pulled Charlie from his thoughts. “I was wrong about our commander. And I want to make it right, in every way I can.” He tugged up the right sleeve of his plain white T--shirt. A tattoo ringed his biceps. The black silhouettes of six soldiers connected by the dark ground on which they walked. Nick’s light green eyes fell on Charlie. “Given what I thought had happened, I excluded your father when I had this done. I want to rectify that. Right now.”
“You want me to work on you?” Jeremy asked, pushing off the door jamb.
Nick nodded. “Please.”
Charlie didn’t know what to say. It was an amazingly personal gesture, and it meant a lot despite the fact that Charlie was so conflicted in his own feelings about his father. “That’s . . . really good of you, Nick,” he finally managed.
“It’s long overdue,” he said. Nick looked to Jeremy. “So, you game?”
“Absofreakinglutely.” Jeremy followed his brother out of the room, then looked over his shoulder to Charlie. “Come with?”