Everything Ex did now would be viewed differently. He’d worn cologne for him. Meridian had never smelled anything but Ex’s natural scent. His partner could spend hours practicing throwing a single blade at a bullseye from eighty feet away, but he never spent more than five minutes grooming himself. But, now, his skin felt soft, as if he’d moisturized. The buzzed hair on top of his head smoothed along his fingertips like fine chinchilla fur as if Ex had used a decent conditioner. And he smelled... Meridian groaned and drove his ache into Ex’s stiff length... fuck, he smelled like the cold springs of Saturnia. And he knew Ex had done it for him.
He sucked another spot on Ex’s throat, sure he was leaving marks but he wasn’t told to stop. He pulled his mouth off Ex’s chilly skin with a startled grunt when a sure hand grazed his hard dick, the other snaking down to his balls. He wanted to hold Ex’s hypnotic glare while he was stroked over his jeans, but he couldn’t stop his eyes from drifting.
“Look at me,” Ex whispered sternly.
He pumped his hips, wanting more friction. Needing more contact. Ex massaged his sac, making Meridian bow over. His balls were kneaded with the perfect amount of pressure while Ex tugged on his belt buckle.
“I want you to fuck me,” he said. Always so commanding, yet there was still that undertone of vulnerability in Ex’s voice.
Meridian sighed and pressed his lips to the corner of Ex’s mouth. “Do you know how long I’ve waited to hear you say that? For you to let me have you.”
“Tonight. You won’t have to wait any longer,” Ex promised, loosening his grip.
Meridian wrapped his arms around Ex’s waist as excitement flooded him. This was crazy. Both of them were using words that’d been long ago wiped from their vocabularies. Feelings that’d been beaten and drugged out of them, had somehow... returned. Maybe the drugs had an expiration date. But, how the hell did he do this? Ex was so silent as he continued to watch him.
“Ex.”
“Yeah.”
“I...” Meridian felt as if his chest was going to explode.
Ex’s face was stern like stone and completely unreadable.
Meridian gritted his teeth. Don’t you dare try to make this harder.
Ex unshielded his expression, his eyes sparkling with mischief as he whispered. “Freight train, huh?”
Meridian felt a strong tug in the corner of his mouth and Ex’s gasp gusted over his chin. “He smiles.”
Meridian frowned. “I didn’t.”
Ex smirked at him and it was enough to set off firecrackers in his heart. Goddamn him. Meridian could probably have thought of ten different ways to get out of a deadly situation, but all Xavier Martin had to do was almost smile at him, and he became completely defenseless.
“Where we headed tonight?” Slade asked, shoveling more salad into his mouth.
He’d brought them each grilled chicken salads, and Ex was appreciative since his roast beef had gone to waste. He and Meridian had kissed and touched some more before Slade arrived at eight. Ex had wanted nothing more than to strip off Meridian’s expensive clothes and take him back to the bedroom, but that was going to have to wait.
Ex pushed his plate to the side and turned his monitors to face his partner and Slade. “I’ve scoured the PD database searching for the arrest records on the Stewart brothers. The youngest turned himself in and the oldest brother gave a sworn statement from his hospital bed.”
“Yeah, and?” Slade grumbled.
“Yeah,” Ex mimicked, irritably.
“Where’s the damn record of it, then?” Meridian asked, more to himself.
Exactly, handsome. Ex’s eyes widened and Meridian gave him a curious, almost knowing expression.
“Doesn’t it mean he’s taking the corruption seriously?” Slade frowned. “What’s the problem?”
Meridian continued to stare at the images of Len Freeman that Ex had left up on the screen. “You wanted Godfrey’s team to have the arrest.”
“Yes... but Evan’s killer is mine,” Ex stressed. “I need that information.”
“Where do you think it is?” Slade asked, still crunching noisily on the large pieces of lettuce and extra croutons in his salad. He was playing something on his phone, not paying attention to the briefing and it was starting to piss him off. Ex inhaled and counted down from three.
“If you stop playing that silly game on your phone and get engaged, you’ll see it staring you right back in the face,” Meridian said so casually it was difficult to distinguish if he was being informative or rude.
Meridian stood and came around the table behind him. His partner knew what he was doing. Ex was already struggling with his cravings and staying professional during an op, so why was Meridian getting unnecessarily close? He leaned over him and turned the monitor towards Slade, his chest brushing Ex’s shoulder when he did.
“That’s Lennox Freeman,” Meridian stated when Slade set his phone down and stared at the screen with an uninterested expression.