Page 25 of Zero Divergence

“Yesss,” Sawyer moaned. “More. Hurry.”

“What’s the problem, GB? Are you eager to leave our bed and return to work?” Royce knew Sawyer was beyond ready to get back to the job after three weeks of recovering at home. Royce also knew the job had nothing to do with the way Sawyer’s body trembled beneath his. Royce stroked his hand over Sawyer’s spine, from his nape to the crack of his ass, watching goose bumps pop up in the wake of his fingers.

“My problem,” Sawyer replied, shifting his knees further apart and lowering his upper body to the bed, putting his pert ass on perfect display, “is that you’re a damn cock tease. Literally.” His golden boy loved to play dirty too.

Royce chuckled but didn’t move; he couldn’t or else he’d spill inside Sawyer too quickly. “Did I dream your late-night confession? I could’ve sworn you told me one of your fantasies was being woken from a deep sleep by an eager tongue licking your cock. Did I misread the signals?”

It had been challenging for Royce to fall asleep after Sawyer planted the idea in his head, and he woke up long before their alarm went off. Royce had started his seduction by tracing the outer shell of Sawyer’s ear with his tongue, then pressing kisses along his neck. Sawyer had hummed and tried to turn in Royce’s arms, but Royce tightened his hold on him, so Sawyer settled for grinding his ass against Royce’s groin. Hums turned into moans, and Royce shifted so Sawyer could roll onto his back. Capturing one flat nipple between his teeth, Royce had gently tugged until Sawyer started to writhe. Sawyer’s eyelashes fluttered, but he never opened his eyes when Royce kissed a path toward the other nipple, sucking it hard. Royce might’ve wondered if he was making a mistake if Sawyer hadn’t fisted his hands in his hair and held him against his chest, showing how much he loved nipple play. Even half-asleep, Sawyer was calling the shots.

Royce had started kissing a path down his abdomen, even though Sawyer’s fingers tightened in his hair, trying to get him to return to his nipples. Sawyer spread his legs, making room for Royce, who’d kept his gaze trained on Sawyer’s face while he licked his semi-erect cock until it was as hard as steel. Royce hadn’t wanted to miss the moment Sawyer opened his eyes. He’d needed to see awareness dawn on the features he loved so much and witness lust replace sleepiness in Sawyer’s expression. The reality of the act was far sexier than he’d imagined the previous night; every sigh and needy moan was indelibly etched in Royce’s mind.

Sawyer’s full lips had tilted into a satisfied smile before his eyes even opened. “Dickhead,” he’d whispered hungrily.

Sawyer’s eyes had slowly opened, his gaze zeroing in on Royce, who’d begun circling the head of Sawyer’s cock with his tongue. Royce wasn’t at all surprised when Sawyer had lifted his hips and tried to push his dick deeper inside Royce’s mouth.

Even though his cock had throbbed, Royce tamped down his need to make Sawyer’s fantasy come true, drawing out the blow job until Sawyer had begged for relief. Even then, Royce had taken his time stretching Sawyer’s ass open with the Dildosaurus II before his restraint had broken, and he’d commanded Sawyer to get on his hands and knees. Then he replaced the toy with his lubed dick bringing them to this moment.

Sawyer whimpered with need and frustration before answering Royce’s question. “No, you didn’t misread the signals. You gave me exactly what I wanted. Now fuck me.”

Royce retreated until only the head of his cock remained inside Sawyer. He ran his thumb over the stretched, puckered hole trembling around his erection. “You never hide how much you want me, and it’s so fucking sexy.” By fulfilling Sawyer’s fantasy, he’d worked himself to the edge of climax before he’d even lubed his cock and slid past the first ring of muscles. “There’s nothing I won’t do to please you, except share.” Royce slammed forward until their bodies slapped together. “Mine,” he growled in Sawyer’s ear.

“Always,” Sawyer whimpered, arching his back and pushing his ass back to meet Royce’s thrusts. “I’m going to come.”

Thank god.Royce canted his hips, aiming his cock at Sawyer’s prostate and making him shake and come apart after a few strokes. Royce followed him over the edge on the next thrust, then collapsed on top of him. “Too heavy?” he asked.

“Shut up, and let me soak this in,” Sawyer groused.

While Sawyer hadn’t fully recovered, more than ninety percent of his burns had healed enough to not require bandages. Only a wound on his left leg and one on each arm still required daily dressing changes. After weeks of physical therapy, his nerve damage had recovered enough to pass his firearm tests. Royce had noticed a slight tremor in Sawyer’s left hand on rare occasions, but nothing so severe that he continued to drop things.

“I’m kind of pissed I won’t get welcomed back with a promotion and a box of pastries,” Sawyer teased.

Kelsey had texted Royce the previous evening, informing him she was bringing in a few dozen of Sawyer’s favorite cupcakes. Royce wasn’t going to ruin her surprise though. Instead, he slapped Sawyer’s ass and eased his softening dick out of his tight clench.

Flopping onto the bed beside him, Royce said, “You should take your sergeant’s exam. You’d ace it.”

“The unit isn’t big enough for two sergeants,” Sawyer said, rolling to his back and looking at him.

Royce hadn’t thought about it before, but Sawyer was right. He’d likely have to take a vacant position elsewhere in the department. Cupping Sawyer’s face, Royce kissed him soft and slow. “You’re capable of great things, and I will never be the person who holds you back from achieving them.”

Sawyer smiled drowsily. “I’ll know when the time is right, dickhead. Until then, I’m more than happy to be your partner.”

“Don’t even think about going back to sleep. We need to hit the shower—” Royce’s phone rang, cutting him off midsentence. He looked at his phone and groaned when he saw Chief Mendoza’s name on the caller ID. “This can’t be good.” He hit the accept button and said, “Good morning, Chief.”

“Locke,” the man said grimly. “We have a very big problem. I need you and Key to meet me at River’s Crossing Estates on Riddick Lane.” Mendoza rattled off the street number and specific unit.Great.It was just another Murder Monday.

“Yes, sir. We’ll be there in twenty minutes or less.” He rolled off the bed and headed to the shower, knowing Sawyer was right behind him. It wasn’t common for dispatch to contact the chief of police before homicide detectives, which meant they were dealing with a high-profile victim. “I’m afraid to ask who was murdered, sir. I know I’m not lucky enough for it to be Franco Humphries.”

“Humphries is in Puerto Vallarta with his wife,” Mendoza said. “Which only complicates our lives further.”

“Because?” Royce asked.

“He has an alibi.”

He took the chief’s implication on the chin like an upper cut from a heavyweight boxer, feeling dizzy and disoriented. “Another coed?” he asked before remembering the location of the homicide. The River’s Crossing townhomes were swanky and nothing like the apartments where Humphries’s victims had lived.

“Just get here, Locke,” Mendoza said before disconnecting the call.

Royce stared at his phone for a second before setting it down to turn on the shower. “Our new chief has a bad habit.”