Ian (Unbreakable Bonds 4.5)

“What’s her name?”

“Tasha.”

“I’m glad she has such a loving father,” Ian murmured into his neck.

“There he is now. Stay.” Hollis kept one arm tight around Ian as he grabbed his phone again and called Shane to tell him the job was done. Then he gave Ian a heated look as he tossed it back onto the shelf. He stroked Ian’s back and tugged him closer. One big hand moved up to possessively cup the back of his neck. “I’ve missed you this week,” he whispered.

Ian opened his mouth to insist they hurry home and Hollis swooped in with a deep, hungry kiss that melted every bone in his body. Hollis clutched him close and that wickedly talented tongue stroked his in a way that had him moaning instantly. He went to grab on to Hollis’s hair and was startled to feel the short, spiky strands graze his palms. He rubbed, then couldn’t help but smile with his next thought.

Hollis pulled back to look at him. “You gonna share whatever put that naughty look on your face?”

“Your hair reminds me of your chest when we were at Royce’s place with Rowe and Noah.”

“Prickly, huh?”

“A little…but softer. The smile wasn’t really from the memory, though.”

“No?”

Ian shook his head. “I was just thinking we need to hurry home, so we have more room to get naked. There are a few places on my body that need a good head rub.”

Lids dropped so far down, there was only a hint of blue left. “Like where?”

“How about we start with everywhere?”

Hollis set him on his feet. “Let’s go.”“Start with the Buns,” Said the Spider to the FlyAdrenaline still simmered inside Hollis as he parked behind Ian’s car in their driveway. He’d taken another freelance job with Shane’s private investigative firm and this one had been a bitch. It had started with him spotting a group of thieves who’d been burglarizing homes and ended with him being questioned by his former coworkers. The jubilation over catching someone in the act didn’t mix well with the resentment he’d felt at not making the arrest himself.

Being on the other side of the questions had left a sour taste in his mouth.

After the cops left, Shane had talked him into stopping for pie. With Ian working nights, Hollis had taken him up on it. Shane was fast becoming a good friend, but Hollis had been floored by the permanent job offer.

It was a good one.

He’d earn enough to make him feel a lot less worried about his future with a celebrated chef. Ian’s restaurant had grown even more popular, and a recent write-up in the papers had made getting a reservation at Rialto a challenge. He wouldn’t be making near the kind of money Ian would, but it was more than enough to take care of half the bills they already had with a nice chunk left over for work on his old house.

Hollis looked up at the condo he shared with Ian, and anticipation sped up his heart when he saw faint light coming from the windows. He was used to arriving home to an empty place and feeling Ian climbing into bed after two in the morning. Not that he was complaining. He lived for that time of night when they talked in the dark about their day. More often than not, the talk morphed into the hottest fucking sex of his life. Ian liked it every way it could come—vanilla and not so vanilla.

An image of the sweaty, sticky mess they’d made of the bed the night before had him adjusting himself in his jeans. And Ian was already home.

Amused at his eagerness, Hollis got out of his car and walked to the front door. The scent of one of Ian’s simmering sauces hit him before he had his key in the lock. He glanced at his watch, surprised Ian was making food so close to midnight.

He recognized the low voices and music as he closed the door behind him. Ian had one of their favorite superhero movies playing on his laptop as he cooked. Hollis’s stomach rumbled despite the pie he’d just eaten. The only downside to living with a chef was having to hit the gym twice as hard.

Their condo had an open floor plan, so he could see Ian puttering about in the kitchen, wearing one of the silly aprons that Hollis loved.

“Hey, you!” Ian called out over his shoulder. “Will you come into the kitchen?”

“Said the sexy spider to the horny fly,” Hollis murmured under his breath as he walked around the breakfast bar and smacked a noisy kiss on the back of Ian’s neck.

Ian turned his head and gave him the blinding smile that melted Hollis’s knees into butter. “Did you know that the hundreds of hairs on a spider each act as individual ears?” Ian winked. “Spiders have excellent hearing.”