Faded in to You Page 12

  “And that doesn’t bother you?”

  “You were a child, Thaddeus.” Ravinder frowned. “As kids, we make stupid decisions and do some pretty dumb things. You’re not hacking into people’s things anymore, right?”

  “Right. I only hack in when they pay me to test their systems.”

  “Then what’s to be bothered about?”

  “I wanted to make sure we’re on the same page, that if you didn’t know about my jail time it wouldn’t blind-side you down the road, like when you’re about to walk down the aisle to me.”

  “Who says I have any intention of marrying you?”

  Thaddeus smirked and knelt before Ravinder to brace his palms on either side of Ravinder’s thighs. “But, my darling, we all know it’s inevitable.”

  “Aren’t we sure of ourselves?”

  Thaddeus kissed him. “Yes. We are. Now, you’ve stayed away from me long enough.”

  “And I would love to give you just what you’re craving right now, but Ko’s in the next room.”

  “And we both know you’re a screamer,” Thaddeus whispered dramatically.

  Ravinder laughed and smacked him in the shoulder. “I am so not a screamer.”

  “Are too.” Thaddeus inched up for a kiss.

  “Am…” They kissed again.

  “We can either make out right now or keep arguing,” Thaddeus said softly. “I, for one, prefer your mouth on mine, then my lips on your neck, maybe on your dick.”

  “Damn, Thaddeus. Come on. You know I can’t think straight when you talk like that.”

  “I don’t want you to think straight.” Thaddeus covered Ravinder’s cock with a large hand and squeezed.

  Ravinder whimpered. “Shit. We have to go somewhere. Either that, or you have to stop kissing me and touching me like this.”

  “Just say the word and we can have a suite at the Oberoi for the night. Just you…”

  Kiss.

  “And me…”

  Ravinder ground his hips upward into Thaddeus’ hand. “We can’t…just leave…Ko alone…”

  “Ko is a big boy.” Thaddeus nibbled along Ravinder’s neck, sucked where his pulse beat the fastest then kissed up to his chin. “He knows what we do to each other. Besides, he has plans to go into Pune to see another designer he’s thinking of working with.”

  Ravinder’s cheeks heated. “You told him?”

  “He knows I’m a man who craves you and will take any chance to have you. So are you saying yes to an illicit affair, Mr. Raja?”

  There was no way Ravinder could say no. Not when Thaddeus touched him with such authority and brought out so many wonderful feelings inside him. He tried saying no, to test himself. But all that came out was, “Yes…”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Thaddeus stood by the window, waiting for Ravinder to take a shower. The luxury suite was silent except for the sound of the running water in the bathroom. Ravinder had left the door open, and Thaddeus couldn’t figure out if it was because Ravinder wanted Thaddeus to join him or if Ravinder was just that comfortable. To be on the safe side, Thaddeus remained by himself, trying to pull this emotions together.

  The moment Ravinder had walked into the room, Thaddeus could see how amazed Ravinder had been. Ravinder had ventured around, peering into the two bedrooms, turning on the television just to watch the large screen light up before turning it off again. Thaddeus had stood back and watched Ravinder, all the while stunned this man was his.

  He smiled and shook his head. It had to be a little early for that, even though Ravinder had agreed to his childish request. Seriously, who asked a man to be his boyfriend anymore? But Ravinder had liked it.

  “Thaddy?”

  Thaddeus laughed softly and turned to see Ravinder was out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his hips. “Thaddy?”

  “Sorry, that just kind of slipped out.”

  “As long as you’re the only one who calls me that.” Thaddeus smiled. “You’ve never called me that before.”

  Ravinder walked over and wrapped his arms around Thaddeus. “This is taking some getting used to.”

  “This?”

  “Us.”

  Thaddeus inhaled and kissed the side of Ravinder’s head. “It is new to me too. I gave up on finding someone a long time ago. I figured with all the crap I’ve done in my life, I just didn’t deserve any of this.”

  “You know that’s not how it works, right?”

  “I’ve been told.”

  “No. Tell me you know that’s not how it works.”

  Thaddeus stared down into Ravinder’s eyes. They shimmered brightly up at him with such hope he couldn’t help smiling. “I know now that’s not how it works.”

  “Good. Now, can we get something to eat? I’m starving.”

  “Of course.” Thaddeus released him to grab the phone to call room service. While he spoke with front desk, he kept looking at Ravinder, who was now standing at the window, arms folded across his muscular chest, staring out. Once the food was ordered, he wrapped his arms around Ravinder from behind and kissed his shoulder.

  Ravinder inhaled deeply. “I never thought I’d see the queen’s necklace.”

  “The what?”

  Ravinder pointed out of the window at the C-shaped stretch of road that was glowing a beautiful gold color from all the lights. “There. See it?”

  “Mmm-hmm.” Thaddeus wasn’t really paying attention. He was busy nibbling at Ravinder’s shoulder then the back of his head. “It’s beautiful.” He sucked on Ravinder’s earlobe, grazed it with his teeth then licked at the spot beneath Ravinder’s ear.

  “You’re not…not paying…” Ravinder sighed and reached a hand up to hold the back of Thaddeus’ head. “Attention, are you?”

  “Sure I am.” Thaddeus was still busy caressing Ravinder’s body. From his hips to his cock, Thaddeus couldn’t get enough of the warm hardness of Ravinder’s body. He pulled the towel away and wrapped his fingers around Ravinder’s dick. He didn’t have to stroke it to life because it seemed Ravinder was way ahead of him. Ravinder was hard and pulsing.

  “We have someone coming soon,” Ravinder said.

  “This is just foreplay, baby,” Thaddeus replied, slipping down Ravinder’s back, landing kisses along Ravinder’s spine. “I want dessert before dinner.”

  Ravinder laughed and arched his ass out for Thaddeus. “Okay, then. Get your fill.”

  Hearing those words made Thaddeus happier than he’d ever imagined. Even as he slid his tongue between Ravinder’s cheeks, his heart raced with the excitement. How could he still be so over the moon to taste Ravinder, to smell him hot and feel him tremble? They’d made love numerous times, yet he still craved Ravinder mindlessly.

  He licked at Ravinder, took pleasure in sliding his tongue as deeply as he could and he got hard hearing the sounds Ravinder made.

  “Damn, Thaddeus…” Ravinder writhed his hips back then rolled them. “You’re gonna make me come.”

  Thaddeus amped up his efforts. Sucking, licking, tongue-fucking—he took great pleasure in making Ravinder come. He knew when it was about to happen for Ravinder’s hole closed around Thaddeus’ tongue.

  Ravinder growled loudly then stiffened. “Thad…”

  When Ravinder released him, Ravinder was bent over, face pressed into the glass. Standing, Thaddeus scooped his naked lover into his arms and carried him into the master bedroom. Gently, Thaddeus set Ravinder on the bed and kissed him.

  “I’m going to clean up your mess and wait for dinner.”

  “Serves you right.” Ravinder laughed while lifting a hand to caress Thaddeus’ cheeks. “You made me do it.”

  “Now, that’s the kind of blame I’ll happily take on. Rest for dinner.”

  “But I don’t want to rest.” Ravinder dragged a hand down to Thaddeus’ belt and pulled it from the latch. “I want you to finish what you started.”

  Thaddeus grinned. “We need to wait until after food gets here. The last thing we want to do is sca
r the poor server for life.”

  “Okay. I’ll be here, naked and lubed.”

  Thaddeus groaned and exited the room before he changed his mind about waiting.

  Ravinder stared up at the ceiling, a smile stretching across his lips. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so happy. He was finally comfortable when Thaddeus called his name. Sighing, he wrapped a sheet around his body and waddled out. Before he could ask Thaddeus what was happening, he realized his Facetime was going off.

  He kissed Thaddeus, grabbed his phone and headed back into the bedroom. When he was sitting in the center of the bed, he glanced down to see that it was Lana. He answered it, and she grinned at him.

  “Hey there, handsome!” Lana waved.

  She was already made up, her hair done, so he assumed she was heading to the office. “Hey, you! You have really bad timing.”

  She giggled. “You two in the middle of coitus?”

  “Wait, coitus?”

  “You know what I mean.” She batted a wrist at him.

  “No. We’re waiting for room service to show up so we can eat,” Ravinder told her. “He’s amazing, Lana.”

  “I’m glad. I should call you back. If you two are about to get your freak on…”

  Ravinder chuckled. “Not until after dinner. How are you?”

  She shrugged. “Can’t complain. Business is booming. I’m living in a fantastic condo.”

  “Well, good. You still going to Feng’s wedding, right?”

  “Of course. Can you do me a favor?”

  Ravinder nodded. “Of course.”

  “I need a beautiful necklace to go with my dress for the wedding. Can you see if you can find something to match it? I’ll pay you back.”

  “Sure. Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure all I have to do is talk to Abhay and his sister.”

  “Ravi?” Thaddeus called from the living room. “Dinner!”

  “You gotta go,” Lana said with a wink. “We’ll talk when you’re free. Love you.”

  Ravinder blew her a kiss and waved before hanging up. He pulled on a pair of track pants and walked from the room as he tugged the strings and tied them in a bow. In the living room, he was stunned by the amount of food that sat on the cart. He curled into one of the overstuffed chairs and accepted a warm plate from Thaddeus.

  “Manjal Tikka,” Ravinder whispered. “I haven’t had this in years.”

  “When was the last time?” Thaddeus sat beside him with his own food.

  “My mom and dad died eight years ago, so yeah. I don’t have anyone to make these things for me and when I do it just tastes weird.”

  “If you don’t mind me asking—how did your parents die?”

  “Car accident,” Ravinder replied. “It was winter. Everything was frozen and we had a major power outage. They were coming home from a conference downtown. A trucker hit a patch of black ice and went right into my parent’s SUV. My mom didn’t make it from the scene and my dad died on the surgery table.”

  “Darling, I’m sorry.”

  “Thank you. But I’m okay. What about you?”

  “Mom died after she had an allergic reaction to some medication, and my father, well, he basically drank the pain away. One day his heart just stopped.”

  They went silent. For a while, the only sounds in the room were the hum of the air conditioner and the scrape of forks against plates. Ravinder turned his head to stare at Thaddeus. Thaddeus had his jaws set but he was looking intently down at his plate, moving a shrimp around with his fork. Ravinder set his plate on the cart and removed Thaddeus’ from his hand to put it beside Ravinder’s on the cart. He turned his body and took Thaddeus’ hands in his then lifted them to his mouth to trail his lips against them.

  “So we’re both orphans,” Ravinder said. “We have each other now, right?”

  “Right.”

  “I’m sorry about your parents, Thaddy. I really am. But no matter how bad, or how good they were, I’m sure deep down they wanted you to be happy.”

  Thaddeus’ brown eyes shimmered in the light of the room. Helpless, Ravinder climbed across Thaddeus’ lap and wrapped his arms around his lover’s neck. He lowered his lips to Thaddeus’ then brushed them back and forth until Thaddeus wrapped his arms around Ravinder. Caressing the back of Thaddeus’ neck, Ravinder pushed to his knees and pressed his body into Thaddeus. He kissed Thaddeus, praying the intimacy would take away some of the pain and uncertainty he saw in Thaddeus’ eyes. He wanted to use his body to make Thaddeus forget all those things from his past that made him hesitant, that made him feel unworthy.

  “Ravi.”

  His name tumbled from Thaddeus’ lips so softly, Ravinder wasn’t sure he’d heard it.

  “How hungry are you?” Ravinder asked, kissing Thaddeus’ shoulder.

  “For food? Not very.”

  “And for me?”

  Thaddeus wrapped his arms around Ravinder’s back and stood. He tossed Ravinder over his shoulder like a fireman would.

  “Wow!” Ravinder gasped while laughing. “I love it when you toss me about.”

  Thaddeus tapped Ravinder’s ass. “Good to know.”

  Ravinder took that moment to lick his finger wet and slid his hand into the back of Thaddeus’ pants. He found Thaddeus’ hole and pushed the wet finger in.

  “Shit, Ravinder!”

  Ravinder smiled. “One good turn deserves another.”

  “If you keep that up I’m liable to drop you.”

  “You won’t.”

  In the bedroom, Thaddeus let Ravinder fall onto the bed. He crawled away from Thaddeus then rolled to kneel. He pulled off the track pants and hurled them to the floor before falling to all fours. “No time for foreplay, Thaddeus. Just fuck me.”

  “Please…”

  Ravinder smiled and looked at Thaddeus over his shoulder. “Please…”

  Thaddeus took him. It was as if he was getting pillaged and it was glorious. He pressed his face into the bed, trying not to scream too loudly. That fear was quickly silenced when Thaddeus grabbed his hair in a large fist and slammed into him. Rearing backward, Ravinder shouted his joy, all the while knowing he probably should be ashamed. But Thaddeus was an all-consuming force, an out-of-control fire that he didn’t mind getting consumed by. For the first time in his life, Ravinder had one orgasm, followed closely by another until he was weak and writhing on the bed.

  “Thaddeus…”

  Thaddeus pulled from him and rolled him over. He stared up at Thaddeus under heavy lids and licked his lips.

  “Jerk off for me, Thaddy.”

  Thaddeus held his cock in one hand while flicking a nail over his nipples. Ravinder took that moment to kneel before his lover and leaned in to lick at Thaddeus’ nipples. He grazed them with his teeth before swirling his tongue over one then the other. Thaddeus grunted.

  “Ravi…”

  Holding onto Thaddeus’ shoulder, Ravinder continued teasing Thaddeus. He dragged his palms down Thaddeus’ massive back to palm his ass cheeks. Ravinder massaged them, spanked them and chewed on Thaddeus’ nipples.

  “Baby, I’m gonna come!” Thaddeus growled.

  Thaddeus grabbed Ravinder by the back of his head and pulled upward. Ravinder unlatched his teeth from Thaddeus’ nipples just before their lips collided. Ravinder moaned for the searing hotness of Thaddeus’ cum splashed against his abs and cock. The kiss was the most powerful thing he’d ever experienced. Even as Thaddeus’ body trembled, Ravinder kept the kiss going, loving the sounds his lover made.

  “That was…” Thaddeus wrapped his arms around Ravinder’s back. “That was incredible.”

  Ravinder grinned as they fell together against the bed, panting and basking in the bliss they’d just shared. “You can say that again.”

  Epilogue

  “Did you sign the papers?” Ravinder asked.

  “For the one hundred and fifty-fifth time, yes.” Thaddeus waved a copy of their deed before dropping a kiss to Ravinder’s mouth. “Stop worrying. I’l
l send the originals to my lawyer and before you know it, we’ll own a house in Mumbai.”

  “Perfect.” Ravinder turned with a smile back to the mirror to fidget with his tie. “Why does Alfred want us to wear these things?”

  “Because they bring the outfit together.” Thaddeus walked up behind Ravinder. He wrapped his arms around Ravinder and began fixing the tie by looking at it in the mirror. Ravinder rested heavily back against him, and Thaddeus couldn’t believe his luck. He’d gone to India for work, yet he’d returned with a man whom he’d come to love blindly.

  He smiled and met Ravinder’s stare in their reflections.

  “What’s so funny?” Ravinder asked.

  “I love you.”

  Ravinder’s eyes widened. He said nothing and in that silent forever, Thaddeus felt as if he’d said something wrong. He finished what he was doing with the tie and left Ravinder standing before the mirror. After grabbing his jacket, one Ko had designed specifically for the wedding, he descended a couple of steps, but stopped at the door. “Don’t be too long. You still have to help Alfred get ready.”

  Without waiting for an answer, he left the room and closed the door softly behind him. He couldn’t believe he’d said that. Sure, he felt it, but there was no reason to say it out loud. What in the hell was he even thinking? That Ravinder would give up his chances of dating someone his own age for an old geezer?

  He fell into the sofa across from Ko and ran a hand over his face.

  “What’s wrong with you? This is a happy occasion!” Ko said.

  “I just told Ravinder that I love him.”

  “Let me guess. It didn’t go well.”

  “What the fuck was I thinking?” Thaddeus asked. “It popped out and now it’s out there, in the universe and there is no taking it back.”

  “What did he say?”

  “What was he supposed to say?”

  Ko chuckled. “How about I love you too?”

  “Not a fairy tale, Ko.” Thaddeus rose and made his way into the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the counter, found a glass and dropped a few ice cubes in it. After splashing some of the harsh liquid over them, he didn’t wait for it to cool. He merely tossed it back and began pouring another. “We don’t all get a happily ever after.”