When Memphis seemed to get lost in himself, I cupped his face and turned it so he was looking at me. “What happened?”
“We kept missing the guy…sometimes literally by minutes. The guys back in DC were getting frustrated so Drake flew back there to give them an update and smooth things over. I stayed behind to monitor the drug lord. I finally found the vulnerability we’d been looking for. I got a tip that the guy’s mother had been admitted to a hospital and that one of the nurses was going to sneak him in to see her while she was having some tests. Everything happened so fast after that – I didn’t even have time to call Drake and tell him we were going to make the arrest.”
“Did you catch the guy?” Tristan asked.
“I’d called in our backup to help me arrest him, but the guy opened fire on us. I ended up killing him,” Memphis said quietly. “It was a big deal. I ended up getting a commendation and a promotion.”
“And Drake?” I asked.
“Kept telling me how proud of me he was. I spent most of the next few days doing press and stuff so I didn’t see much of him. I was at a press conference when I got a text message from him. It…it said I deserved everything I got,” Memphis choked out. “The video was attached to it.”
Memphis paused for several long seconds as he squeezed his eyes shut. His body was trembling between ours so I began rubbing his arm soothingly. “Take your time,” I whispered.
He managed a nod and waited another pregnant moment before saying, “He’d been sleeping with the drug lord for years. Not just sleeping with him – he’d fallen in love with him. He’d warn him whenever we were preparing to make an arrest. But because he was in D.C. that day…”
“He couldn’t warn him and you killed the guy,” I finished for him.
Memphis nodded. “He flew to Oregon the morning of my press conference. My parents knew him – we’d stayed with them dozens of times – so they would have let him in the house without question. He beat them both to death before…”
Memphis just shook his head.
“What happened to Drake?” Tristan asked.
“Cops arrested him when they found him broken down trying to get over the pass in my parents’ car. He was killed in prison by another inmate a month after the trial ended.”
“Did you talk to him at all?” I asked.
Memphis shook his head. “The prosecutor said it could mess up the case if I did. After…after they played the video of Janie, he…he said, ‘You did this… You brought this on yourself.’”
“It’s not your fault,” I whispered, though the words seemed hollow.
“I can’t, Brennan,” he said in an agonized voice. More tears fell as he turned to look at me. “Please, I can’t do this,” he said brokenly. His hand went to his chest like he was in physical pain. “Please make it stop.”
I wiped at the tears that spilled unchecked from my eyes. Memphis’s gaze shifted to Tristan. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said about you being worse than him-”
“Don’t,” Tristan said softly and then he shifted up to kiss Memphis gently.
“Tristan, make it stop,” Memphis cried and he clutched Tristan’s hand in his and pressed it right over his heart.
“We’ll make it stop, baby,” Tristan promised and he levered up on his elbow. The move jarred Tink who got up and jumped off the bed. Tristan’s eyes met mine briefly and I nodded.
“Can we make love to you, Memphis?” Tristan asked as he ran his fingers over Memphis’s lips. More tears fell as Memphis nodded and then he was rolling into Tristan, his arms wrapping around him. Tristan held on to him as I began placing soft kisses along the back of Memphis’s neck. After a couple of minutes, Tristan lay Memphis flat again, and then his mouth was covering Memphis’s. Their kisses were light and fleeting and I knew Tristan was letting Memphis set the pace. As soon as Tristan pulled back enough, I kissed Memphis in the exact same way. I let my hand skim his chest and abdomen. My hand repeatedly brushed Tristan’s because he was doing the same exact thing. It wasn’t until Memphis began seeking out more that Tristan and I began undressing him. We touched him everywhere and as the current began to change from pain and sorrow to something else, Tristan and I kissed each other as well.
We took our time undressing Memphis and each other, but it never stopped being about Memphis. And while he would occasionally touch us, that was all he did, seemingly content to just feel, to just take the love and comfort we were offering.
Once we had him naked, I swallowed his cock to the back of my throat while Tristan kissed him. He began thrusting into my mouth, but I used my hand around his base to keep him from controlling the pace. I reveled in the sound of the whimpers falling from his throat. I lifted my eyes long enough to see that he had his arm wrapped around Tristan’s naked body and they were exchanging, deep, wet kisses, their tongues swirling and dancing together. Memphis’s other hand cupped the back of my neck and I loved knowing he needed that connection with me. I kept up my ministrations on Memphis’s dick, but I made sure to keep him riding the edge. When I released his dick, I gave it one last lick and then climbed up his body and kissed him. I kissed Tristan too and then used my hand to wipe the hair from Memphis’s glistening brow. I was glad to see that the pain in his gaze was gone. There was lust there now, but something more too.