When he sat back to roll on the condom, then reached for the lube, Brantley rolled onto his stomach. Reese was behind him in an instant. There was no hesitance like the first time. He slicked his fingers, sliding them deep inside Brantley’s ass as he leaned over him, dragging his lips across his shoulders, nipping the back of his neck. He scissored his fingers, preparing Brantley for his cock.
“Now,” Brantley urged, his ass rising, hips pushing back to take more of his fingers. “Fuck me, Reese.”
Because he couldn’t wait another minute, Reese guided his cock into the tight, blazing-hot hole, pushing in as far as he could go before stopping.
He nipped Brantley’s shoulder once more. “You can’t come,” he ground out. “Not until I’ve got you in my mouth again.”
This time Brantley’s groan sounded tormented and it made Reese smile. That smile faded, turning into pure bliss as he began moving inside Brantley, pushing in deep, retreating slowly, loving the way his tight ass stroked every nerve ending.
When Brantley began rocking against him, Reese dug his fingers into his hips and held him in place, pushing in deeper, harder, faster until he was fucking him in earnest, the sheer ecstasy rocking him from all angles. Time warped. He wasn’t sure if it had been seconds, minutes, or even days as Brantley’s body gripped him like a vise.
“Oh, fuck, yes,” Brantley said, his hands fisting the comforter. “Oh, fuck … Reese. It’s too good. I…”
“Don’t you dare come,” he warned. “Not yet.”
A tortured growl sounded and Reese gave himself over to the overwhelming pleasure. He let Brantley’s ass stroke him several more times before he groaned long and low, coming so hard he thought for a second his head would come off his shoulders.
But he didn’t waste time, didn’t let the high of release stop him. He pulled out, manhandling Brantley until he was on his back, then took him in his mouth once again. There was no exploration this time. He simply offered up his mouth, letting Brantley fuck himself into his throat. Reese moaned around the thick cock tunneling in deeper with each frantic thrust. And when Brantley came, he closed his eyes and drank him down.
The emotion that overcame him was surprising. Not fear, not anxiety. Something equally powerful though.
It was in that moment, right there in Brantley’s bed, that Reese realized what he felt for Brantley was so much more than desire.
It was love. He was falling in love with this man.
And not surprisingly, the acknowledgement scared him. But not nearly as much as he’d expected.
Chapter Six
The next day started out with Brantley agreeing to meet Professor William Dugan, the former principal of Coyote Ridge High School, back when Lauren Tyler had gone missing, at a Starbucks near the UT campus.
Professor Dugan had since left his position in secondary education, taking a job at the University of Texas teaching English or some shit. He had been a high priority on their list of people to speak to considering, according to the notes in Lauren’s file, the man had been a huge part of the investigation back then.
“I remember that day,” William said, his eyes bouncing around the room. “God, I remember that day. I saw Lauren when she was leaving the school. If one of her teachers hadn’t stopped me to chat, I would’ve been gone already.”
“You saw her?”
He nodded, his eyes settling on his coffee cup. “Yeah. She stayed after to work on a project. I was talking to Ms. Jenkins, her English teacher, when the group broke up. Waved when Lauren passed. Next thing I know, she’s gone.”
Brantley continued to watch Professor Dugan, the way his hand trembled only slightly when he reached for his cup, the way his eyes darted from one person to another. He seemed nervous.
“Did you know Lauren?” Reese inquired. “See her often?”
The guy’s eyes cut over to Reese quickly. “Not any better than I knew the rest of the students. As you both probably know, Coyote Ridge isn’t a big town. The entire population of the school was roughly the same size as the senior classes in Austin’s schools. Plus, I lived there at the time, tended to run into a students and parents all the time. So, yeah, I knew her like I knew the rest of them.”
“Can you walk us through what happened that day?” Brantley prompted.
Dugan’s eyes snapped to his. “What … do you mean?”
“Was it a normal school day? Was there anything going on? Special events? That sort of thing.”
“Normal,” he stated, once again looking at his cup. “A lot of the teachers were prepping for final exams. They tended to stay later during that time. I remember there were quite a few teachers around that evening.”
Interesting thing for him to remember.
“There might’ve been a basketball game scheduled that night, but it would’ve been at the other school’s campus.” Dugan sipped his coffee, lifted his gaze. “We had no events going on that day.”
