Ex ran his hand through Meridian’s long hair on the top and down to the shorn strands at the nape of his neck, and held him there.
“I thought you were dying in my arms. I thought it was my worst nightmare come true. I’d lost one of our packs, we had no food, no comms. We had a rendezvous point in two days but I didn’t think I’d ever get you there. Not with no supplies in the dead of a winter in Dudinka. I was so fucking—”
“But you did,” Ex whispered.
“If you had stopped breathing,” Meridian said hoarsely, looking Ex dead in his eyes. “I would’ve laid there holding you until I did too.”
Ex pulled him until their foreheads rested together, letting the heaviness of what Meridian had just confessed settle into him. The silence was loud. Nothing more needed to be said that couldn’t be understood with touch. Meridian smoothed his hand over the long scar on Ex’s temple, making him tremble when he remembered how his partner had punished the man who’d put it there.
Meridian was one of the most brutal killers Ex had ever seen, and he’d witnessed the terror of the Chinese Snow Leopard unit. He’d gone up against the Russian Spetsnaz. Had fought against the Sayeret Matkal of Israel, but no one compared to the man who’d been handpicked for battle just for him. The fiercest of them all, Meridian. Yet the warrior touched him as if he were precious china—so calm and attentive. Ex closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He didn’t know where the citrusy, cedar smell came from, but he loved how it clung to Meridian’s skin at all times.
He parted his lips the second he felt the warmth of Meridian’s breath on his tongue. Ex moaned and opened wider when Meridian dove in deeper. This was what he’d been waiting for since he’d had that tiny taste too long ago. It wasn’t surprising Meridian was amazing at this... at making him feel so fucking good.
Their hips began to move in rhythm with their mouths, Ex spreading his legs when Meridian started to thrust against him. His eyes rolled when blunt hardness dug beneath his balls. He broke away from their kiss to gasp for air and Meridian went straight for his throat. He sucked hard on his neck and Ex was flooded with sensations and memories of what it felt like to be touched with care... with love. And he had no doubt now that Meridian loved him. And he loved him back. He did. The program may had stolen the affection and compassion from them for many years, but they couldn’t stop it from forming again. And over time... that was exactly what had happened.
“Did you get your answer, Xavier?” Meridian asked, breathing heavily.
Ex nodded, unable to speak when Meridian reached a determined hand between them and pulled down the front of Ex’s briefs until they were at his thighs. He scrambled for the waist of Meridian’s sexy pants and tugged but his hands shook so hard he wasn’t getting to what he wanted fast enough. Meridian kept their faces close as he pulled his pants down to his thighs to have no barriers between them.
Ex cried out when their flesh rubbed together. He dug his fingers into Meridian’s ass and encouraged him to rock harder. To make him yell and lose control again, to make him remember being touched, to make him come so hard he forgot about all the wrong he’d endured. Only Meridian could make that happen.
“Come with me,” Meridian demanded after he sucked on Ex’s lips. God, that voice was taking him over the edge fast. Meridian wound his talented hips in a slow, lazy circle. Their combined sweat and pre-come made the slickness just right. Ex wrapped his legs shamelessly around Meridian’s waist, pushing his ass up to meet his strong thrusts.
All he could do was nod, because there was no way he could voice what was coming... fuck it was coming! Ex arched, cursing as his eyes went wide from the unexpected shock of pleasure. He’d never felt so alive. Meridian ground against him until Ex stilled suddenly, then hollered Meridian’s real name as his release took over.
“Marshall!” Ex keened as his dick was milked without as much as a stroke from his partner’s big hands.
Meridian’s back muscles tightened and his grip on Ex’s body turned possessive as he groaned loudly into his throat. Ex felt moist heat flood across his groin and over his balls as Meridian shook on top of him. He was rewarded with a few more languid thrusts before Meridian stopped, his chest hot and heaving against his own. They met each other’s eyes and Ex knew at that moment that nothing would ever be the same between them again.