“Um… okay.”

  “Talk to you later.”

  Mason stared at his cell phone screen. “Yep, he hung up.” What the hell just happened? He had no idea, but if Lucky said food was on the way, then food was on the way. Whatever it was had to be a hell of a lot better than what he’d been about to consume. In the time it took him to throw away the TV dinner, the doorbell rang. “Damn, that was fast.” He opened the front door, shaking his head in disbelief at the sight of Ace standing there holding a huge insulated bag, a fool grin on his face from ear to ear.

  “Special delivery.”

  “You feeding an army?”

  Ace let out a snort. “Cuban, remember? You never know who might need feeding. It just so happens we had dinner at Lucky’s last night and he cooked. You get to have his famous Puerco Asado.”

  Mason’s mouth watered. “Did he make that rice with the red beans in it?”

  “Yep, moro, plus yucca with mojo, and plantains.”

  “Christ. I need to marry that man.” Realizing what he’d said, he cleared his throat. “I mean, you know what I mean.”

  Ace gave him a knowing look. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Speaking of my wayward cousin….” Ace let himself in, and Mason sighed. There was no getting rid of him until he wanted to go. He might as well heat himself up some dinner.

  “I’m going to make myself a plate. You hungry?” Mason walked into his kitchen and placed the bag on the counter.

  “I’m good.” Ace crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the doorway. “Heat up your food. Also, you owe me a tip.”

  Mason grinned at him. “I have instructions not to tip you and to tell you to kiss his ass.”

  Ace laughed. Much to Mason’s relief, Ace decided to go easy on him while he ate dinner. There was at least a week’s worth of food in the various sealed containers, and that’s with Mason eating as much as he did. He sat at his tiny dining room table on one of the two folding chairs, and Ace took a seat opposite him.

  “God, this is damn good. Now I know why you and Lucky work out every day.” When Mason had eaten his weight in pork, rice and beans, and everything else, he sat back in his chair with a groan. “I think I’m gonna explode. Where is your cousin anyway?” If the food was in Lucky’s house, why didn’t Lucky bring it himself? Why send Ace? “Wait, you and Colton are in Ponte Vedra. That’s almost an hour away. How’d you get here so damned fast?”

  “We were at Lucky’s house. He sent me to bring the food because he’s elbows deeps in reports right now. Then he’s gotta head to the office to sort out a last-minute case with King and check the inventory on some equipment in the armory.”

  “There’s an armory at Four Kings headquarters?”

  “Well, yeah. Where else are we going to keep all the weapons? Can’t just lock the grenade launcher up in the broom closet.”

  “You have a grenade launcher? What the hell would you need a—nope, you know what? I don’t want to know. Deniability.”

  Ace snickered. “Heard tonight’s job went without a hitch.”

  “You heard that, did you?” Mason took his glass and plate and walked them to the kitchen sink, Ace right behind him.

  “Anything else happen? Besides you almost getting hit by a car? By the way, the car was a rental, paid for by a stolen card, and the guy who rented it used a fake ID. There’s no footage of him with a clear view of his face, so all we know is that he was under six feet tall, wore a black hoodie and black baseball cap. Cops are trying to identify him, and they’re going to keep us posted. Excluding that, anything interesting happen?”

  “Ace, I care about you, so I say this with the utmost respect. It’s none of your damn business.”

  “Lucky’s my family.”

  “He’s also a grown-ass man.”

  “Doesn’t mean I’m not going to look out for him.”

  “Fair enough.” Mason washed up his plate and cutlery. He dried his hands before turning to face Ace. He leaned against the sink, arms crossed. “I don’t know what else I can say other than it’s complicated as fuck.”

  “Complicated as fuck is our family motto. It’s on our crest and everything. In Spanish of course. Complicado como carajo. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? You should see it on a T-shirt.”

  Mason shook his head with a chuckle. “You’re an ass.”

  Ace was a very attractive man, with sharp green eyes and a warm smile. His smile was what had attracted Mason when they’d first met. The cousins shared many similarities, like their sense of humor, fierce sense of justice, and unshakable loyalty, but the two were different in so many ways. Just a few months ago, Mason tried to get Ace to give him a second chance, and now, the only man he wanted a chance with didn’t want him. Okay, so maybe that wasn’t entirely true. Lucky wanted Mason, but he wasn’t interested in keeping Mason.

  A heavy sigh left Ace, as did his smile. His eyes filled with concern. “What are you doing, Coop?”

  “I don’t know,” Mason said, running a hand through his hair. “I just… I care about him, I really do, and it’s different with him, even if at times, sweet Lord, he can drive a man to drink, but I think that’s part of why I can’t seem to walk away. He pushes back.”

  “Yeah, well, you keep pushing his buttons and he’s going to do more than push back, Cowboy.”

  Mason cringed.

  “Oh God, what did you do?”

  “I was being annoying, really annoying, trying to get a rise out of him. He told me to stop, and I kept going. I poked him a couple of times.”

  Ace held a hand up. “Let me stop you right there before you go on. Don’t ever pinch him.”

  “What?”

  “I’m fucking serious about this,” Ace said solemnly. “Don’t pinch him. It’s this thing he has from when he was a kid and his mom used to leave him with a neighbor to babysit. The neighbor had an older son who used to pinch him all the time. He will fucking lose his shit and kick your ass, believe me. I found out the hard way.”

  “Thanks for the warning.”

  “You’re welcome. Now continue. You poked him, and he took you down.”

  Mason opened his mouth to ask, then thought better of it. “That’s pretty much what happened.”

  “Of course it did. Have you forgotten that when it comes to my cousin, no shits are given? If you do something stupid, he’s gonna make sure you know it.”

  “Yeah, I’m kinda figuring that out the hard way too.”

  Ace stepped in front of him, a hand to Mason’s shoulder. “Coop, just be careful, okay? I love you both, and I don’t want to see either of you getting hurt. I know you, and I know Lucky. You two have a lot of shit from your pasts to work through, but if you both want this to happen, you’ll find a way to make it work.” He patted Mason’s arm, then headed for the door. “Nice job on your first day, Cowboy. Talk to you later.”

  “Thanks, Ace.”

  Mason locked up after Ace, then went to take a shower. Unless Lucky called him in for a specific job, he’d be heading back to Four Kings Security headquarters in the morning. After throwing his clothes in the hamper, he grabbed a clean pair of boxer-briefs, a pair of pajama bottoms, and one of his comfortable T-shirts, then walked into the bathroom. It took forever for the damn water to heat, and he began seriously thinking about moving out. Funny, he hadn’t really cared before. He was only ever here to sleep, and he never brought anyone home, so what did it matter? Now for some reason, he thought about Lucky here, and he couldn’t picture it. Not because he was ashamed of his place, but because he wanted Lucky to be comfortable. Man, he was an idiot.

  Mason stepped beneath the showerhead, the hot water pelting against his skin relaxing his muscles. He leaned a hand against the tiles, and let the water sluice over his body. He washed his hair, wiping it back out of his face. All he could think about was Lucky’s naked body, that gorgeous ass spread in front of him. What Mason wouldn’t give to taste him, to shove his tongue inside that greedy hole, eat him out good. No, he wanted more than that. He wanted to taste every inch of Lucky, wanted to run his hands over all that tanned skin, feel Lucky’s stubble rub against his own bare skin.

  Mason slid his hand down his abs toward the heavy cock jutting up against his belly. He was so fucking hard at the thought of Lucky, of running his tongue over his sleek muscles. Shit, his tattoo. Mason had been so damned hot and horny when he’d fucked Lucky, he hadn’t gotten a good look at Lucky’s tattoo. All he knew was it ran down the right side of his body. He’d seen a small piece of it from when Mason had pushed up Lucky’s shirt to where it disappeared inside Lucky’s pants. God, he’d love to run his tongue over that tattoo. Mason palmed his cock, hissing at how hard he was. Closing his eyes, he replayed their time in the truck, stroking himself off. He thought about Lucky on his knees sucking his cock, and fuck, Mason almost came.

  “Fuck, darlin’. I bet those lips would look just sinful wrapped around my cock.” He pictured Lucky on his knees, those long lashes resting on his cheeks as he guided the head of Mason’s cock into his mouth, his tongue flicking out to lap up the pearls of precome on the tip of Mason’s dick. Would he swallow Mason to the root? “Yeah, I bet you’re real good at taking it down deep.” Mason’s hand moved faster as Lucky swallowed him whole, his hands on his own beautiful cock as he drove Mason wild with his mouth, the little black clover tattoo on his right hand between his thumb and forefinger so fucking sexy. “Oh fuck!” Mason came hard, his body trembling as his orgasm rolled through him. I am so screwed.

  Washing himself up again, he finished quickly, then rinsed and dried himself before he got dressed. He walked into his bedroom, turned on his bedside lamp, then turned off the overhead lights, the only other light in the room coming from the sliver of moonlight peeking through the broken blinds of his window. Climbing into bed beneath his blanket, he grabbed his e-reader off the nightstand, then settled back against his pillow to do some reading. That lasted about as long as it took him to open his e-book. He couldn’t get Lucky out of his thoughts, so why bother? He held his right hand up in front of him.

  “It’s you and me, buddy.”

  He’d just gotten a good rhythm at the thought of Lucky riding him when his phone went off. He cursed and considered ignoring it until he saw Lucky’s name and grumpy face fill the screen. His fool heart did a flip, and he answered, smiling into the phone like the dope he was.

  “Hey, darlin’. Thanks for the food. Best roast pork I’ve ever had.”

  “You’re very welcome. I’m happy you did not eat the frozen cardboard mulch. No offense.”

  Mason chuckled. “None taken. That’s pretty much what it would have tasted like.”

  “Are you okay? You sound a little out of breath.”

  “Um, yeah, I’m good.” He placed his e-reader to one side, followed by his blanket now that his body was boiling over, thanks to Lucky reminding him of his little fantasy in the shower.

  Silence. “Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. You could have just let the phone go to voicemail.”

  “What?”

  “You’re with someone.”

  “No. I’m not.” Mason couldn’t help feeling a little smug at Lucky’s put-out tone, despite his acting like he was okay with whatever he thought Mason had been getting up to before he called.

  Another pause. “Oh.”

  Mason smiled to himself, knowing Lucky was dying to know why he was out of breath. He purposefully let his voice go low and gravelly when he next spoke. “Did you need something?”

  “¿Que?”

  “You called me.”

  “I did?”

  Mason held back a laugh. The guy was so goddamn adorable sometimes. “Yeah, you did.”

  “Oh, yes. Pack a bag for the weekend. Tomorrow we leave for Orlando. A young actress is doing a conference, and two of her bodyguards got very bad food poisoning. Are you up for a protection job? It’s nothing you won’t be able to handle. I’ll come by in the morning around seven to pick you up. We can grab some breakfast on the way.”

  “Sounds good.” After their little takedown job, he was looking forward to working another case with Lucky.

  “Okay.”

  The line went quiet again, and Mason wondered if Lucky had hung up. “Lucky?”

  “Hm?”

  “Ask.”

  “Why are you out of breath?”

  “Because after I came in the shower to the thought of you sucking my dick, I got into bed and was masturbating to the thought of you riding my dick.”

  “Jesus Christ.”

  “No, I was definitely picturing you.” Mason chuckled at Lucky’s Spanish curses. “You asked.”

  “I did.”

  “Lucky?” The silence didn’t bode well. The longer Mason spent around Lucky, the better he knew his quirks. Generally, silence meant two things. Either Lucky was thinking hard on something or he was about to lose his shit. Mason hadn’t done anything to make him lose his shit. Not in the last couple of hours anyway, so he figured it wasn’t the former.

  “It can’t happen again.”

  Mason sighed. He’d been expecting it, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt his foolish heart. “I know.”

  “Do you?”

  “I’m not going to ask you for something you’re not prepared to give.”

  Lucky was quiet again.

  “That’s what you want right?” Was he holding his breath?

  “Sí. Yes. It’s what I want.”

  “Okay.” Mason closed his eyes, his arm bent over his face.

  “Maybe we start tomorrow.”

  Mason dropped his arm. “Oh?”

  Lucky let out an annoyed huff. “Well, now all I can picture is you in bed with your hand on your dick, and that’s not a very nice thing to do, to give me that image and then expect me to go to sleep like nothing.”

  “Hm, that’s not nice at all, is it?”

  “No, it’s not. You can’t just hang up and leave me with this image of you, and now I’m all flustered and uncomfortable. It will not be good for my sleep.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t want to be responsible for you not getting a restful night’s sleep.”

  “That’s very good of you. What do you propose?”

  “How about you turn the lights off, get into bed, and wrap your hand around your dick.”

  Lucky sucked in a sharp breath, and Mason grinned. He heard rustling, and then Lucky released a low moan. “Okay.” His voice was breathy, and just like that, Mason was hard again. He closed his eyes and palmed his cock, gingerly stroking himself as he pictured Lucky in his bed.

  “Now close your eyes, bend your knees, and spread them. I want you to picture me laying between your legs, my hands moving up your inner thighs, my face in your crotch. I’m taking a deep breath, inhaling your scent. You smell so fucking good.”

  “Mason.” His name was barely a whisper, making Mason groan.

  “That’s it, darlin’. Can you see me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. I’m licking a trail from your balls up to the base of your cock. Fuck, you’re so hard for me, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. So hard.”

  “Do you want my hands on you? Touching you? Fondling your heavy sack?”

  “Sí. Por favor, Mason.”

  “Move your hand slowly, just like how I’m moving my mouth on your dick after I swallow it down to the root.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Mm, yeah, that feels good, doesn’t it? Slip your fingers in my hair and hold on tight. I love it when your hands are in my hair. I’m going to move my mouth faster now, but before I do, I’m going to wet a finger, and press it to your tight little hole. Do that for me now. Put the phone on the mattress next to you on speaker, and slick your finger up.” Rustling met his ear, and then Lucky moaned. It went straight to Mason’s cock. Fuck, he was so damn hard right now. His body was thrumming with need, the precome helping ease the glide of his hand. “Is your finger inside you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good, now I’m fucking your hole with my finger and sucking you off, working my tongue over that pretty pink head and sucking the pearly drops of come out of your slit.”

  “Oh fuck. Fuck.”

  “That’s it, Cariño.”

  Lucky’s breath came out in pants. “I love when you speak Spanish to me.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Tell me you do it for me, even if it’s not true.”

  “Baby, I am doing it for you.”

  “Fuck!”

  “That’s it. Come in my mouth, Lucky. I want to taste your come on my tongue,” Mason said through panting breaths. He saw Lucky so clearly in his mind, his gorgeous body naked and on offer, one finger inside himself as he jerked off to the image of Mason, his beautiful face a vision of pure pleasure as he pumped his cock.

  “Fuck, yes!”

  “Oh God. I’m so close, baby.” Mason tweaked a nipple, thinking of Lucky’s mouth on him.

  “I want you to come all over me. Make a mess of me, Cowboy.” Lucky gasped. “¡Ay, Dios mío! Mi amor, no puedo….”

  “Yes, you can, darlin’. That’s it,” Mason purred, his heart soaring at Lucky calling him his love, even if he didn’t mean it the way Mason wished he did. “You’re so fucking beautiful. Come on, baby. Come for me. Come in my mouth.” The image had Mason roaring his release, followed by Lucky seconds later. His bedroom filled with the sound of their gasps, panting, and curses as they came to the thought of each other. Soon it was only the sound of their breath steadying until Lucky spoke up.

  “Holy shit.”

  “Yeah.”

  “That was…. I don’t even know.”

  “Fucking amazing,” Mason offered, his hand on his chest, as if by doing so he could steady his heartbeat.

  Lucky laughed softly, making Mason smile. “Is it true?”

  “What?” What he wouldn’t give to have Lucky here in his bed with him, curled up beside him. Mason rolled over, his phone held close to his ear. God, he was such a sucker.

  “About the Spanish. Why you’re learning.”

  “If it was?”

  “Why?”

  “Do you really want me to answer that?”