Page 75 of Trigger Discipline

Gabriel lifted an eyebrow as he dropped back to sit on the mattress. “Cold brew with milk.”

“Huh?” Blake asked as he slipped the borrowed hoodie back on, trying to get the thinking part of his brain back online.

“That’s what I would have been ordering when I saw you in the coffee shop.”

He paused with his jeans halfway up his legs. “Iced coffee with cold foam.”

Gabriel reached forward and grabbed Blake by the jeans, pulling him between his legs. He took his time to button and zip the jeans, making sure the back of his hand continuously brushed Blake’s dick. It was so oversensitive that he gasped, body shuddering every time.

Gabriel grinned wickedly. “Noted. For next time.”

CHAPTER 21

SKIMMER

Time was hard to tell in the basement apartment. All the clocks had stopped, and the only windows were narrow, horizontal slits at the top of the living room wall, but they had blocked those with blankets. Out of habit, Gabriel looked down at the watch on his wrist. It had stopped at eleven. Whether that was AM or PM, he couldn’t be sure. He didn’t even know what day it stopped.

Everyone else was still asleep. Victoria was in the chair, her leg propped up. Judd was sprawled out on the floor where he’d dropped after his shift at watch. Tommy and Phin were sharing the couch. And Blake was in the bedroom still, dead to the world after Gabriel had taken both of their watches.

Blake would be spitting mad if he knew Gabriel had taken his shift, but he couldn’t help it.

Gabriel sipped from his mug. The cold instant coffee was unpleasant, but drinking it was more about the infusion of caffeine and a small semblance of normalcy. Gabriel learned a long time ago that holding onto these mundane rituals could make all the difference when you were away from home and struggling.

The coffee was bitter, but his mood was high. He was giddy. In a way a man of his age and station shouldn’t be. Especially not in this situation. He couldn’t help himself. Gabriel was basking in his post orgasm glow, and not even the distant sound of the city being destroyed by aliens could dim it.

Last night had been incredible.Blakehad been incredible. If Gabriel thought that seeing Blake sponge bathing himself had been a treat, then having him under him—naked, warm, writhing in pleasure, red flush spreading over his skin—that was an addiction Gabriel couldn’t crochet away, or want to.

Even now, thinking of all the marks he littered over his skin…Gabriel didn’t think of himself as a possessive caveman type, but maybe that was because he’d never had Blake to be possessive over.

He was lovely, but it was more than his lean waist or the way his pouty lips twisted at him when he was holding back something snarky. It was him.

Gabriel had once flown over part of the Grand Canyon in a helicopter, and he remembered being awed by it. Technically, he knew how it had been created. But seeing it, in all its shades of color, its fathomless depths and changing landscapes…it had felt unknowable. Like it was an aberration humans had attributed to an act of vengeful Gods, because otherwise there was no other way to absolve it in their minds.

Blake’s mind was like that.

And the more of it Gabriel was treated to, the more he wanted to see. Call him an explorer, because he was ready to put on his Pith Helmet and chart all the nooks and crannies.

Gabriel knew himself well enough to know he was falling deep. And he knew what a bad idea it was to get entangled with someone during a mission. His focus needed to be on getting himself and his team out alive. But when everything was going pear-shaped, and the knowing that their life on theother side was going to be different—if they made it at all…how could he deny himself?

He’d spent so long looking to do something, one thing, to lessen the weight. But it seemed like with every country he touched down in, every time he flicked the safety off his gun, the weight only increased. But then he was pulled into the back of an ambulance, and he found someone who, for the first time in a long time, made him feel like a man, and not just a foundation for guilt.

So he was going to let himself have this. Because in a world where aliens were throwing each other into national monuments, he didn’t care if this was a bad idea or a fleeting thing. What was it Blake said?

Pretty damn low on my give a fuck list.

Gabriel finished off his coffee just as the others began stirring. His internal clock was pretty accurate, and he thought it had to be close to morning. Standing, he stretched his arms over his head and felt his back pop. He’d been sitting against the wall for so long his back had stiffened up.

Victoria pulled herself up from the chair and began hobbling toward the kitchen. Judd rolled over to his back, grinning up at her. “Hey, how about a good morning kiss?”

She stepped on his hand, ignoring his yelp of pain as she entered the kitchen.

The noise must have woken up the rest of the apartment. Someone from the couch began groaning.

“Why is the twink on top of me?” Phin groused, his voice gravelly from sleep.

Tommy scowled, pushing some chestnut hair from his eyes. “The twink has a name.”

Phin swung his legs to the carpet. He rubbed his thigh, carefully avoiding his busted knee. “I know,” he muttered under his breath.