No, not true. All those years ago, Devlin had trusted Gradyn Connell with his very soul and had believed everything he said.
Today, an Internet search of both Garrick Langley and Gradyn Connell only swirled more confusion into some already murky waters.
Devlin could find very little information about Garrick Langley, which he knew didn’t have to mean anything. If someone were to do a search on him, that person wouldn’t find much information about Devlin, and he knew he was as real as the day was long. What Devlin had found was a website dedicated to a high school in the Midwest. The site had Garrick listed as a graduate for a year that would have put him at thirty-three years old now, and that was within a year of what Devlin knew Gradyn’s age would be today. The website had no individual class photos loaded, unfortunately, and nobody identifying himself as Garrick had ever left a comment in the forum there. Devlin could find nothing else about Garrick Langley.
Gradyn Connell was a different story. Or, more accurately, Devlin should say the one piece of information he had turned up trumped a search for anything else.
An obituary.
Devlin went cold all over again just thinking about what he’d read. Everything in that obituary: the age, the place of birth, the surviving relatives of a mother, sister, and uncle--whose names matched the ones Gradyn had shared with Devlin--all jived. The obituary hadn’t had a photo, but even the job and the city where the deceased had lived were the same as the Gradyn Devlin had known in San Francisco. The obituary said that man had died in a car accident two months ago.
Only, Gradyn wasn’t dead. Or, at least, whomever the hell Devlin had spent a weekend with in San Francisco was still very much alive. Something deep inside Devlin that he could not name recognized that man on a fundamental level. In his gut, he knew he would have felt something inside him hurt two months ago if Gradyn really had died. The draw to that man--Gradyn--who was now this Garrick person, felt so goddamned right and real. It pulled at Devlin today with just as much force as it had the night Devlin had given Gradyn his body for the first time all those years ago...
*
...Back at the motel room after their late dinner, Devlin leaned into Gradyn and looked into his beautiful eyes. As he did, their scorching naked flesh and stiff cocks came into full contact, and Devlin sucked in a deep, cleansing breath.
Keep it cool; you can do this.
Their bodies rubbed against one another with greater force, making Devlin gasp again at that searing heat riding his bare front. At the same time, a shudder rocked through Gradyn and went right into Devlin.
Nothing could have gotten Devlin out of his own head faster than that. “You’re trembling, Denny.” He brushed his fingers down the fierce tattooing that edged Gradyn’s face and then along the rest of the firm, ink-covered skin down his side, paying attention only to the reactions of the man’s body and not the way it looked. “You did the same earlier this evening.”
Gradyn tilted Devlin’s head back and brushed their lips together with the softest caress. “I want this to be as good for you as you were for me. I don’t want you to regret your first time.” The piercing depth of his gaze, and the crush of his hand curled around Devlin’s nape, pulled an answering constriction out of Devlin’s chest. Gradyn scraped their mouths together again, and said roughly, “I don’t want you to regret me.”
Oh, holy hell.
Devlin’s knees went a little shaky. He grabbed onto Gradyn’s forearm and lifted on his toes until their foreheads touched. “I will never regret you.” His blood raced with heady speed as he said those words, and knew he meant them. “No chance of that.”
“You are something special, beautiful.” Gradyn tightened his hold around Devlin’s waist and rocked them in a slow wave. “How are you so fucking sexy and sweet and incredible and bold all at the same time?” He shook his head, as if dazed. “What in the hell made me choose that bar tonight when I fucking hate techno music?”
“Same thing that kept me there longer than I wanted to be.” Devlin’s throat tightened with a vulnerability he never let anybody see, yet with this person it seemed to flow out of him without any of his usual caution. “I think I knew you would come.”
“Christ,” Gradyn said, “I’m glad I did.” He tripped Devlin’s legs out from under him and tumbled them both onto the bed.
The bedsprings squeaked as Gradyn came down on Devlin, and his additional weight created a dip in the center of the mattress. His thick cock dug into Devlin’s stomach, just like before, except this time arousal and a strange, incalculable trust in this man overrode the tentacles of fear still whispering inside Devlin over what they were about to do.
Gradyn braced himself on his elbows and brushed the backs of his fingers against Devlin’s hair. “Okay?”
Shots of warmth reached into every corner of Devlin’s being, and he nudged into the loving touch. “Yeah.” He let his legs fall open the rest of the way, and he moaned as Gradyn settled in, filling out the space. “I’m good.”
A cheeky, sexy-as-hell grin appeared, and Gradyn lowered his lips to Devlin’s. “Glad to hear it.” He claimed Devlin’s mouth with an exploring kiss that quickly turned voracious, and he sought entry with a lick and tug on Devlin’s lower lip. It felt like sparks danced on Gradyn’s lips, and Devlin ignited the second their mouths touched. He eagerly opened up for more, taking with aggression and force.
Devlin writhed under Gradyn. He scratched at the man’s back and bit at his mouth, and Gradyn hissed and broke the kiss.
“Slow down, honey.” Gradyn wiped his lower lip, and his finger came away clean. Devlin hadn’t broken
