It wasn’t long before Ethan went there. He knew Gene’s arm had to be incredibly sore. He was barely using it, and that told Ethan all he needed to know.
“Need a pill?” he asked, wanting to take care of him. “Is your arm hurting?”
Gene nodded.
“Please,” he whispered.
Getting up, he walked across the room to the dresser and grabbed a bottle of water and the pills. Pouring two into his hand, he walked them back to his man.
Gene took them, gratefully, and drained the whole bottle of water.
And he just laid there.
Since it was still early, and Ethan knew that Gene wasNOTgoing to be able to stay awake after two pain pills, he opted to just spend some time with him until they kicked in.
He’d work while his man slept.
HIS HUSBAND.
So, Blackhawk grabbed the cake box and headed back to the bed. When he climbed on, he let Gene rest. Instead, he unwrapped a plastic fork that came with the cake and opened the box.
“I smell chocolate,” Gene said, finally opening his eyes.
It made Ethan laugh.
“It looks like a really delicious cake. Want a bite?” he asked, smiling at his man. “We should celebrate. That was some fine fuckery,” he added.
Gene glanced over at his words.
“Only that?” he asked.
Ethan forked the cake and fed Gene some of it.
“And the fact that we got married just without the paper,” he stated. “Did we?”
Gene ate the cake, and it was pretty damn good. What was even better was the conversation. He only had about twenty minutes before the pills kicked in.
So, he wanted to make sure he was clear.
“Yes. I told you that I didn’t need a paper, Ethan. I needed a vow. Did you mean what you said?” he asked.
Ethan took a bite of the cake and chewed.
“Yes.”
Gene laid there, not sure if he would lose it, or not. With Ethan, he moved at his own pace, and this was fast-forward, about as quickly as you could get.
They’d leapfrogged right to the goal, but he couldn’t help it. When Ethan ran, his brain demanded he find a way to lock him down.
It was caveman-ish, but he couldn’t help himself. The last thing he wanted was a runaway man.
Or a lost one.
Ethan fed him some more cake, and when a piece fell onto Gene’s chest, he ate it off of him.
“Are you preparing for a freakout?” Gene asked, needing to know.
Ethan nodded.
