Private Dances Read online

  “I need to check his vitals.” Dale grunted at her words, hiding against him.

  “No. That is enough.” Gen sat up a little, groaning at the ache in his muscles. “That’s enough.”

  “Look. I’m just doing my job….”

  Dale’s eyes flashed open, a quite impressive growl sounding. “Leave me the fuck alone, lady. I’m tired, and I’m done being a fucking pincushion.”

  “Now, don’t you cuss at me, young man.” The nurse pursed her lips, then marched out, leaving them blessedly alone.

  “Shit, if I’d known that would work, I would have started a couple days ago.”

  “Oh, I imagine someone will be back.” Then again, he was paying for the room.

  “Maybe they’ll throw me out.” That was the first honest smile he’d seen in days.

  “Oh, then we could go home. By all means, be as obnoxious as possible.” He loved it when that made Dale laugh.

  “Hey, I’m all about the obnoxious.” Dale leaned into him, cheek on his shoulder. “Lord, is it tomorrow yet?”

  “Not yet, sweet. Soon.” Gen snuggled in more comfortably, settling Dale’s head against his chest. “Sleep now. I’ll watch over you.”

  “What about you, darlin’? You haven’t been sleeping worth a damn.”

  “I can sleep later, caro.” Dale was the important one, the one with the worries on his shoulders. Gen knew he would be fine. He had only his family to worry about.

  “We can sleep together. Tomorrow.” Dale’s whiskers were soft, longer than he’d ever seen them.

  “We can. We can sleep for days and days. Then we will start your exercises.” The doctors had been very adamant about that.

  “Slave driver.” Dale didn’t sound terribly worried.

  “I will be. I will crack the whip.” The idea of him looking like a lion tamer amused him so he laughed aloud, his breath stirring Dale’s hair.

  “Mmm-hmm.” Dale took a deep breath before relaxing completely, breath slowing into the steady rhythm of sleep.

  Gen hummed and settled in himself, letting his eyes drift shut. He would wake if the nurse came back.

  They only had to make it through one more night.

  Then they could go home.

  HOME.

  Home.

  Home home home.

  Well, except not his home, because Gen brought them to Gen’s place, which was bigger and had food in the fridge.

  Still.

  Home.

  Home home home.

  Dale slumped on the sofa, his leg screaming at him as his crutches fell to the floor. He was going to just die right here, damn it.

  “Better, caro?” Gen smiled at him, bringing him a pillow and a drink.

  “Uh-huh. Home.” He took the drink and drained it, swallowing hard, the cold water splashing into him.

  “Good?” Poor Gen looked a little fluttery. Like he didn’t know where to land.

  “Uh-huh.” He reached out, tugged Gen next to him. “Sit.”

  “Oh.” The tense set of those shoulders relaxed when Gen sat down next to him, leaning gently. “Oh yes.”

  “Better.” He found a comfortable spot for his leg and then tugged Gen into the curve of his body, hand on Gen’s belly. “Good.”

  “Mmm-hmm. I thought we would be naughty and order Chinese tonight. We don’t have to get anything spicy.” The doctor had told them both to go easy on the heavy food after all that great hospital slop.

  “Yeah, I could go for that.” Something cheap. Really cheap. Because, damn.

  “Wonderful. I love the rangoons. What do you like?” Damn. Had they never eaten Chinese together?

  “Whatever ten bucks can buy, darlin’. I’m easy as pie.” He liked it all—sweet-and-sour chicken, beef and broccoli, anything.

  “Oh, we can do better than that.” Gen called down to the dude at the desk and put an order in for more food than God could eat in one sitting.

  “You’re hungry.” He understood that. That shit from the hospital was just plain nasty.

  “Oh, I want us to have a variety.” Gen smiled, leaning to kiss him, sweet as pie. The man had no sense of poor college students.

  It was kind of sweet and kind of aggravating because, damn, he couldn’t afford to keep it equal.

  Gen kissed the corner of his mouth. “You must stop worrying, caro. We will work it out, you and I. I know we will.”

  “I try, darlin’. I just… I want it to be fair between us, you know? I don’t ever want you thinkin’ I’m loving you because of the money.”

  “As if I could. You’ve made that clear, love. I want to make it possible for us to be together. Why shouldn’t I, if I can?” Man, sometimes he wanted that to make sense so bad.

  “Because….” He tugged Gen closer, took a kiss. “Because I was raised that a man did his part, that I’m supposed to contribute my half, and I can’t, darlin’. I don’t know that I ever will. It’s a hard thing to wrap my head around.”

  “You think too little of yourself.” Gen settled against him, hands moving on him too gently to make him wince. So sweet.

  “I think a whole lot of you, darlin’.” He thought he could maybe die happy, right here.

  “And I of you, so let’s not argue about who does what.”

  They dozed until the food came, then Gen fed him little bites of everything, all sweet and sour and crunchy. It was so much better than the fucking hospital.

  They got to telling stories and laughing, Dale licking that sticky red sauce off Gen’s fingers and Gen eating sweet rice from his. When they were together like that, it seemed like nothing could go wrong, like they could make it all work. Like he could stop thinking and just be. Dangerous as hell.

  He wasn’t sure what that fucking meant. What the hell he was supposed to do now?

  The knock on the door kinda answered the immediate question, and he and Gen blinked at each other for a long moment before Gen got up and limped to the door. He looked out the little fish eye and cussed a blue streak in Italian before opening up to show a guy that looked an awful lot like Gen.

  Goddamn. Family. Dale shifted his sweats around and sat up straight. Gen’s folks made pretty babies.

  “Adriano! There you are. We heard that something happened. Something that you were in the hospital for?” The man took Gen by the shoulders and kinda shook him like a dog with a bone, glancing at Dale. He figured the guy must be speaking English for his benefit.

  “You know, shaking him like that ain’t gonna help….”

  “Oh. Sì. Of course.”

  The man let go, and Gen shook his head, rubbing his arms. “This is my cousin, Salvatore. Salvatore, Dale.”

  “Hey, Sal. Pleased. You, uh, want some sesame chicken?” At least that’s what he thought was in that container closest.

  “No, thank you. I want to know what happened!”

  Man, he’d forgotten how dramatic Italians could be.

  Gen hobbled to the couch and sat with him, pointing Sal toward a chair. “We had an auto accident. Certainly nothing to call the famiglia about.”

  Dale nodded. “He’s okay. The docs said he was going to be fine.”

  “Dale is the one that broke his leg.” Gen sighed, rubbing his belly. “You have a hotel?”

  “You need to see a family doctor. These hospitals, they can’t be trusted. You’re pale.”

  Dale thought he deserved brownie points for not laughing. Pale. Gen. Uh-huh.

  “I am fine. We need to arrange therapy for Dale, though.” Always thinking about someone else, his Gen. Well, okay, about him. It made him proud.

  “Therapy? Is this serious?” Dale wasn’t sure if the guy meant his leg or them.

  “The injury needed surgery.” Whatever the guy meant, Gen took it as a question about his leg. “We will have to set him up. Can you take care of it for me?”

  “Of course. I’ll arrange everything.” The conversation turned to Italian then, the Sal guy sorta jabbering away.

  Gen stroked the bac
k of his hand and played with his fingers, keeping him a little drowsy and a lot loopy. His full belly made him sleepy as all get-out, and he woke up to Gen telling Sal he could take the guest room if he had to.

  “Shit, darlin’. I’m sorry. I was wore out.” He sorta blinked a little, staring, trying to decide whether it was worth moving.

  “No problem, caro. He talked and talked. We should go to bed. I think we need to prop up your leg.”

  “I could stay here. Then I wouldn’t have to move it.” He winked, but he was only half joking. Moving meant hurting.

  “Yes, but think how much closer you will be to the toilet in there.” That had been an ordeal, that whole bathroom thing.

  “Oh, now. That’s no fair.” He winked and stood up, wincing as his leg protested like a whore being forced into a police cruiser.

  “I do not try to be difficult, caro.” Gen stood with him, one hand on his back to help balance while he got his crutches and shit.

  “No, you don’t, darlin’. I’m just grumpy and sore.” He gimped along, letting Gen help him. “Good to be out of the hospital, though.”

  “It is indeed. We can sleep in a bed that has padding and is big enough for two.” Gen detoured them to the bathroom, getting him all taken care of before going to the bed.

  “God, I feel like I could sleep for a week.” He got into the bed, naked as a jaybird, except for all the damned paraphernalia on his leg.

  “I think that sounds like a fine idea. We’ll have to make sure to get your assignments, though.” Gen was all about him finishing school. Maybe he could get incompletes….

  “Yeah. I need to talk to the dean. I can’t repeat the semester.” He couldn’t afford to.

  “No. Your grades were good enough that they should, how you say? Extend.” Gen was so certain. So sure of him.

  “I hope so. I’m so close.” They got settled, Gen so good beside him. “Sal settled in okay?”

  “I think so, yes.” Gen shook his head. “I should have known I would not be able to keep the family out of it. When they saw the hospital bill, they would come.”

  “They love you. I think it’s sorta sweet.” He didn’t want to think about hospital bills right now.

  “Sì, but sometimes inconvenient.” Gen shifted, wincing a little. “I do not know how you get comfortable with that leg. I am only stiff and it’s hard.”

  Comfortable was a strong word, really, but he’d take it. “I took another pain pill. It helps.”

  “Oh, that I never thought of.” Those bright eyes blinked at him, Gen looking slow and sleepy.

  “I’m a smart guy.” He took a slow kiss. “Rest, darlin’. I got you.”

  “And I have you. We’ll work it out. I promise.”

  Yeah. Gen was always as good as his promises. He was learning to count on that.

  Chapter Eleven

  SAL WAS going to make him quite insane.

  Gen simply wanted to be alone with Dale and work at getting well. Instead he had his personal assistant from Napoli, his two cousins Lorenzo and Filipa, and a bevy of nurses and physical therapists.

  He thought perhaps they should run away to the beach again, this time with a driver. Gen slammed his date book down on the desk, giving poor Massimo an evil glare. His assistant jumped.

  “That is enough for today,” Gen said. “I want to go rest, now.”

  He wanted to go rescue Dale from the therapist, actually. The man had some sort of crazy antigravity tub.

  Massimo nodded, fluttering a bit. “I will fetch your nurse. She can give you a massage, yes?”

  “No!” Dio, he was going to explode. “I want everyone out. Now.” Everyone but Dale.

  At the very least, they were all still scared of his bark, all of them scattering like ants. He growled at Filipa when she dared to try to open her mouth, and when her skirt vanished out the front door, Gen locked it behind her. Then he went to look for Dale.

  “Caro?”

  Dale looked over from what looked like a table for torture, face flushed, body covered with sweat. “You made that evil son of a bitch go?”

  “I did.” Poor love. Gen went over and stroked Dale’s belly. “Are they hurting you?”

  “That man’s a fucking sadist.”

  “Then I will fire him. You need your therapy, but I will not have you suffer.” Damn it, this was supposed to make Dale better.

  “Okay. Tomorrow. Right now I want up off this fucking table and into a hot tub.” Dale let him get them moving, Dale leaning hard, limping a little. “I’m never going to get back to work at this rate.”

  “I think school is more important. I know you want to contribute, love, but I promise I will let you pay me back if that is what you want, once you graduate.” He eased Dale down into the hot tub, the special wrap on the leg the one good thing the therapist had done.

  “I. Oh….” Dale groaned, throat working, the look pure bliss. “I never want you to feel like I’m using you.”

  “Love, it may be a fine hair, is that how you say? To split? But I am not paying you to stay with me. I am paying for things so you can. You will find a fine job once you graduate.” He had to make the man believe that.

  “You think? I want to be able to stick with you, darlin’. I surely do.”

  “Then stop worrying and get well.” His own bruises and such were mostly healed, but he needed Dale to stay to make him whole.

  “You make it all sound easy.”

  “It can be. I know I tend to….” Oh, what was the word? “Bulldoze? But I want you.”

  “Yeah. Want you too, darlin’. With all my heart.” Dale held his arms out, open. “Come soak with me?”

  “Oh, sì.” He took off the soft shirt and pants he’d slid on that morning, easing into the water, right into Dale’s arms. “Good….”

  “Hell, yes.” Dale nodded, kept him close as if he were the most necessary man, ever.

  Nuzzling in, he let the water push them together, careful of Dale’s leg. The taste was sweat and man, and he licked at Dale’s neck, needing more.

  “Mmm.” Dale lifted his chin, let his head roll, giving Gen all that fine skin. His lips traced a path up, across the Adam’s apple, along the fuzzy chin, right up to Dale’s mouth. There he took a long, slow kiss.

  “Oh. Hey.” Dale’s smile tasted sweet, hungry, and the strong hands on his hips rubbed in slow circles.

  “Ciao, caro. You taste good.” Addictive. Home. Gen had a thousand superlatives. Fortunately for him, Dale arched and moaned for every one of them, offering him every sensation.

  “That’s lovely, sweet.” Goodness he loved touching this man. He loved Dale’s skin, loved the feel of the blond hair on Dale’s body.

  “I want to go back to your home. Walk on the beach with you. Dance with you in your big ole bedroom.”

  “Yes. I cannot wait for you to dance with me again.” He kissed Dale’s throat. “We could see if you can take your courses online.”

  “Yeah? You think maybe?” Dale swallowed hard, chin lifting. “Don’t stop, darlin’.”

  “I think so, yes. I find I am unwilling to let you go.” The feel of Dale against him had his cock hardening, his legs shifting under the water.

  “Promise? ’Cause I’m thinkin’ I’m all yours.” Dale’s hands ran over him, petting and tugging him close.

  “Mine, indeed.” Moving even closer, he kissed Dale deeply, his tongue pushing in to taste what he simply could not resist.

  Dale opened right up, welcoming him in to that sweet mouth, letting him take the kiss deeper and deeper. He cupped the back of Dale’s head in one hand, his fingers slipping and sliding in the heavy curls. Dale tasted of salt, sweat he supposed, but it was so good, so intensely Dale.

  His lover hummed into the kiss, almost dancing under his hands, his lips. Beautiful man. Gen moved them both, careful of that leg, and put his other hand on Dale’s hip, pulling him closer to rub. Dale’s cock firmed, starting to slip against his belly, his hip.

  Gen smiled a
gainst Dale’s mouth, reaching to touch that sweet prick, needing to feel it throb in his hand. There. Just like that.

  “Seems like it’s been a while, darlin’. Too long, huh?”

  “Yes. Far too long. But I will not hurt you. Sì? Should we move to bed, or is this easier?” He stroked, long and slow, giving Dale a firm grip.

  Dale’s eyes rolled back in his head, hands gripping the sides of the tub. “Huh?”

  “Never mind, caro.” He would give Dale what he needed right there. Gen let his fingers trail down, farther down, rolling Dale’s balls.

  That earned him a grunt, a groan, a deep, sweet sound that echoed in him. Soft. So soft. His thumb ran back up the underside of Dale’s cock, tracing the vein. That heavy shaft throbbed for him, entire cock swelling and jerking in his fingers.

  “Sweet, caro. Tesoro mio.” He lost his English, the feel of Dale, the smell of him taking over Gen’s senses.

  “Yours. Don’t stop.” No. No, he had no intention of stopping. None at all.

  In fact he sped up his motions, his hand sliding and slipping in the bubbly water. He wanted to feel Dale come for him, needed it. So badly. Dale groaned, moaning his name again and again as those long thighs went tight.

  “Sì, love. Now, per favore.” Please. Please, come for me. That was his only thought.

  “Now….” Seed sprayed from that long cock, coating his fingers before being washed away.

  He hummed low and sweet, loving the sounds, the way that Dale danced for him in the water.

  “Oh, man. Darlin’. You blow my mind.” Dale’s eyes rolled, the grin on that face silly and happy.

  “Do I? You have no idea what you do to me.” Gen laughed, letting his cock rub Dale’s skin, not caring that his own pleasure was delayed a bit.

  “I want to taste you, darlin’. It’s been forever.”

  “Then we go to bed.” That way Dale could lie down and take it easy, and Gen could give him what they both wanted.

  “Yeah.” The smile Dale offered him warmed him bone-deep, reminding him how stressful the last while had been.

  He cupped Dale’s cheek, taking a kiss that was as sweet as it was needy. “Come to bed, caro.”