He would agree whole-heartedly with Beau – what had just happened between them was unlike anything Ethan had ever felt before. And as far as intimacy goes, they had merely shared a kiss. Several actually. But those kisses had rocked him to his very soul. For him, a kiss had never been more than a means to get to the final encore. Except with Beau. With Beau, a kiss was so much more.
And now he was holding Beau in place, wanting to beg him not to move. Not to walk away. As much as he had previously denied his desire for him, Ethan was immersed in a desperate need that bordered on insanity and holding on was the only thing that he could do to keep himself from shattering into a million pieces.
When Beau’s warm hands came up and flattened against his, Ethan dropped his forehead against the back of Beau’s neck, relishing the warmth that penetrated him. He didn’t know if he’d ever felt like this. Not with any man he had been with. Including Gavin. Although there was an underlying hunger that couldn’t be ignored, the comfort was what lured him in.
For the first time in a long time, Ethan felt like he could breathe. As though the weight that had been resting on his chest, making it difficult to draw air in, had finally been lifted. Not only was it an amazing feeling, it also scared the shit out of him.
“Can we get out of here for a little while?” Beau asked, breaking the silence.
The question surprised him. The idea of being somewhere alone with Beau, for even a little while like last night, was the most appealing offer he’d had in quite some time. Ethan lifted his head and released Beau, waiting until he turned to face him. “What did you have in mind?”
Ethan watched Beau’s throat work, his Adam’s apple sliding sensually down and then back up as he swallowed hard.
“Somewhere… I don’t know. Somewhere private, maybe.”
Now it was Ethan’s turn to swallow around the lust that had tried to escape as soon as Beau said the words. Not wanting to risk what might come out of his mouth, Ethan nodded his head.
Grabbing his keys from the small office, Ethan followed Beau to the door, his heart picking up a strange pounding rhythm that he felt as well as heard.
Once they were outside, Ethan turned to lock the door only to be stopped when he remembered the toolbox still sitting on the flatbed wrecker. He’d left it on the truck the night before, only because he had completely forgotten it was there, what with all of the evading Beau he’d been doing during the day.
“Think we should get the toolbox down first?”
“How about we just drive the wrecker inside?” Beau suggested.
Good idea. With one of the heavy duty bays empty, the wrecker would easily pull inside without a problem. Reversing his direction, Ethan went back inside to grab the wrecker keys and tossed them to Beau while he went to the controls that would open the bay door.
Several minutes later, Beau had the wrecker pulled inside, and Ethan closed the door behind him. Both anxious and nervous, he turned to face Beau, wondering if things had changed in the last few minutes. Had Beau come to his senses? Ethan damn sure hadn’t, but he’d realized when it came to Beau, he didn’t think clearly most of the time anyway.
“You still looking to get out of here?” Ethan asked, trying to remind himself that this was Beau’s idea. Not his.
Beau’s devilish grin sent sparks shooting through his veins. “Yeah.”
“What did you have in mind, Bennett?” he asked, trying to sound more confident than he felt. The intense craving that burned like a roaring fire threatened to drop him to the floor any second, and he seriously needed to get his mind on something else quickly, or he’d run the risk of thinking this through.
Just when Beau was going to say something, the sound of tires on gravel brought Ethan’s attention up short. There, with the absolute worst fucking timing in the world, was Zane, hauling ass toward them like the cops were on his ass.
Once the truck skidded to a halt, Zane climbed out, approaching them with a mischievous grin on his face.
“What’s up? Y’all taking a vacation or what?”
Something like that, Ethan thought to himself but didn’t say a word.
“Did you get your stuff from Dillinger’s yesterday?” Zane asked Beau.
“Yeah.”
“Thanks, by the way, for helping with that,” Zane said to Ethan before turning his attention back to Beau. “I would’ve come, but I was due for my weekly ass ripping from Travis.”
Beau laughed, but to Ethan’s ears, it sounded strangled. Like he wasn’t comfortable.
Beau nodded to Ethan. “He came to the rescue.”
Ethan watched the interaction between Beau and Zane. For as long as the two of them had been friends, practically able to complete the other’s sentence, today their easy camaraderie seemed slightly off. He couldn’t help but wonder whether that was because he was there or if it was something he just hadn’t picked up on lately.