Meridian gripped his waist and hugged him close, giving Ex some much-needed friction against his cock. He threw his head back as relief flooded him. When he did he saw what Meridian had been looking at on his laptop and just as fast as the lust had hit him, reality slapped him right back.
“Hey.” Meridian turned Ex’s head away from the picture of a Somalian human trafficker whose operation they were close to taking down.
“It’s time to get back to work... isn’t it?” Ex bowed his head against Meridian’s shoulder.
“Yes. We have other people to protect, you know that.”
“And we’re going back to what exactly? Me and you acting like robots again? Avoiding and denying each other. No. Why? Why do we have to—?”
Meridian clasped Ex’s face in both hands, shutting off his gripe, “Do you think I’m letting this go?”
Ex didn’t answer for a long time.
“We can do this, Xavier. But, it won’t always be easy. There’ll be times when I wanna touch you and can’t. Times I’ll want to react when someone hurts you... and can’t. We’ll have to stay in control, always. If anyone ever knew what you meant to me, you’d become an instant target.” Meridian stroked the scar on Ex’s temple. “Can you live in secret with me if it means having this?”
“So, we’ll hide.”
“Yes.”
“You’ll just live in a closet?”
“Forever... if you’re in there with me.” Meridian whispered.
Ex felt a tug at his lips. Meridian always knew the right fucking thing to say. It might not sound appealing or like a match made in heaven to any other gay man. But to a covert assassin, it sounded like the most exciting ride he’d ever take. No one would know of his piece of heaven he kept to himself. The government wanted him to be alone and isolated in his head, but his partner had worked his way inside, and he believed it made him a better man and a more efficient killer.
He poured some lube in his palm and slicked it down Meridian’s thick length. He could smell that expensive powdery cologne around Meridian’s collar as he bit along his throat and sank down on top of him. His partner groaned loudly into his chest, thrusting his hips upwards to give Ex that last half inch.
He rode him slow and deep just how Meridian liked. Ex held on to those sculpted shoulders while he ground his ass onto Meridian’s pelvis until he ached, until he cursed the man for being that damn sexy. His partner was the perfect kill shot executed from a mile away—beautiful and flawless.
He felt his orgasm building. And the gruff sounds Meridian made against his throat while he thrust into him, were only bringing it on faster. Ex hollered his partner’s name, no longer afraid to let himself be free when they were alone. He didn’t stop until Meridian was squeezing the last drops from him as he clenched his ass as tight as he could. His hips held delicious fingerprints, his skin still warm where those hands had been, and his body felt as if he’d been hit with live voltage.
Meridian was a man who commanded attention when he desired it. He knew how to use his looks and his charm to get anything he wanted, to con even the smartest man. But, he never used those skills on Ex. All he’d ever shown him was the real him. And he was the man Ex had fallen in love with.
“You don’t need any cases tonight?” Slade asked when he came in the cabin dressed in a crisp black chauffeur’s uniform.
“No. No machine guns needed for this one.” Meridian adjusted his gold cufflinks, then pulled the sleeve of his Armani suit jacket so that the hem stopped just above the cuff. “We’ll be out in five.”
Slade gave them a lazy salute and left to wait for them in the car. The lights were turned down low and their equipment was powered off. Meridian stood on the other side of the room watching him. Ex quirked one side of his mouth and took his own off-the-rack suit jacket and put it on. When he turned back around Meridian was standing in front of him.
Ex inhaled, feeling overwhelmed before he quickly yanked a noose around his desire. He had a job to do. But, damn. He had to give it to his partner. He could clean up to the point where he was hard to ignore and even harder to say no to. Ex went to the door to finish getting ready, needing the space to concentrate. Meridian slung his suede trench around his shoulders, then did one final check of what they needed to pull off what Ex believed to be their last op in Atlanta.
“You ready?” Ex asked him. He couldn't help licking his dry lips as Meridian stalked towards him.