"Wait, Elliot," Tommy said as he stopped and grabbed Elliot's shoulders, turning the man towards him. "I'm not upset with you, pretty baby. I love the fact that you came so many times. It tells me that you enjoyed what we did together."
"Yeah?" Elliot looked astonished. His eyes widened for a moment before a small grin started to stretch out his mouth. "Because I did enjoy what we're doing, a lot. You're really hot, I mean really hot. And-"
"If you feel the need to come when we're together, then come. Don't hold back from me."
"I couldn't help it, you know. You touch me and I just seem to go up in flames." Elliot laughed nervously. "Hell, you look at me and I go up in flames. You're just so gorgeous and I've never had someone that looks like you want to be with me, well, unless they want to get to my father but you don't know my father and-"
"Damn it, Tommy," Joe shouted from outside, "if you don't open this fucking door I'm going to break the damn thing down."
Elliot laughed when Tommy rolled his eyes. The happy little sound made Tommy smile. He planted one last kiss on Elliot's lips then leaned over to open the door while the man was inhaling. He wanted Elliot to be quiet for just a moment while he dealt with Joe.
"What do you want, Joe?" Tommy asked as he turned to look at his brother, not in the least bit surprised to see Joe standing there in full uniform, a set of handcuffs in his hand. "Can't you see that I'm busy?"
"I brought you some jewelry." Joe arched an eyebrow and held up the handcuffs dangling from his fingers.
"Sorry, don't need any. I was actually planning on staying in for the rest of the evening."
Joe rolled his eyes. "Tommy, damn it, you can't keep going around punching whoever you want. This guy has some clout behind him and he's pressing charges. I can't look the other way this time."
Tommy opened his mouth to tell his brother where he could shove his handcuffs when Elliot stepped forward and started speaking.
"Now, just hold on. Carl had it coming. He was being very rude and Tommy was just trying to make him be quiet. I'm sure that Tommy didn't mean to hurt Carl, but Carl can be a real asshole sometimes and he deserved exactly what he got."
Tommy grinned when Joe just blinked in surprise.
"And this clout you're talking about comes from my father. Carl is really just an errand boy for my father, sent to keep an eye on me, but I'm an adult and I don't need a babysitter." Elliot made a shooing gesture with his hand. "So, why don't you just go back and tell Carl that he is out of luck. You're not arresting Tommy, and Carl is not pressing charges. If Carl doesn't like that then he can take it up with me because I'm not letting it happen."
"Who are you?" Joe asked when Elliot seemed to finally run out of steam.
Elliot crossed his arms over his chest and glared up at Joe. "I'm pretty baby."
Tommy felt like dancing around the room at Elliot's words. He felt like dancing Elliot around the room. However, that would not do his bad boy reputation any good. Instead, Tommy stepped over to stand behind Elliot, pulling the man back against his body.
He rested his hands on Elliot's shoulders and carefully stroked his fingers along the little bite marks on Elliot's neck, purposely drawing Joe's attention to the claiming mark. "This is Elliot, my pretty baby."
"Ah, hell!" Joe exclaimed as his eyes widened. Joe shoved the handcuffs back into his pocket then rubbed his hand down his face. His lips pressed together as he stared at Elliot then Tommy then back to Elliot's neck. "How long have you known?"
"About an hour," Tommy replied. "But does it matter?"
"No, I suppose not, but you know Dad is going to shit kittens over this, Tommy, right?"
"Why?" Tommy snapped. "He didn't get upset when you found Nate or when Jim found Donovan. Why should I be any different?"
Tommy knew he didn't always fall into line like his family wanted. It had caused more than one argument with his father. He knew how he wanted his life to go and that didn't include following his father's footsteps. He had his own footsteps to make.
"I'm not saying it's different exactly, Tommy, but-" Joe paused for a moment as if searching for his words then shook his head a little. "Do you actually know who this guy is? You said you only found him an hour ago and-"
"He's mine!" Tommy growled.
"Now, Tommy," Joe said as he held up both hands, "I'm not saying … look, I'm not sure if you understand who you're dealing with here. His father could cause us a lot of problems. He's not going to sit back and just let you have his son."
"After what you went through with Nate, how can you even ask me that?" Tommy asked softly. He thought of any of his family members that Joe would understand the most. What he went through when claiming his mate, Nate, still gave Tommy the chills.
Joe almost lost his mate before he really had him due to a psychotic man they called the Teacher. He'd kidnapped Nate at a very early age and used the man's unusual abilities to make a profit. When Nate escaped, the Teacher hunted him down. Nate barely escaped with his life. The Teacher wasn't so lucky.
"Look, Joe. Go home to Nate and think about how you would feel if you weren't allowed to keep him. Then you can come talk to me. Until then, either arrest me or don't, but you don't get to say who I have in my life."
Tommy pulled Elliot back into the house and slammed the door. He dropped his arms from around Elliot's shoulders and stalked across the room to the kitchen cabinets, jerking one open and grabbing the bottle there. He started to pour himself a stiff drink when he heard Elliot walk into the kitchen and turned to look at the man.
"Do you want me to leave because I will if that's what you really want? I don't want to cause you any problems and I know how my father can be, your brother is right about that. My father won't like me getting involved with you. He'd much rather me get involved with someone he picked out and when he finds out I was with you, he's going to get real mad and-"
Elliot was twisting his fingers together and leaning from foot to foot. His eyes darted around the room, settling on Tommy's face for a moment then back around the room as if Elliot couldn't quite look at Tommy directly.
"Ssshh, pretty baby," Tommy said as he leaned over and pressed his fingers against Elliot's lips. "I'm not afraid of your father and I don't want you to leave. You're mine now, remember?"
Elliot blinked. He didn't say a word, which kind of concerned Tommy as the man usually couldn't shut up. He just gazed up at Tommy, looking slightly confused and totally stunned. There was even a small wrinkle in his forehead.
"Elliot?" Tommy stepped closer to Elliot and cupped the side of his face. "Is something wrong?"
"Do you mean that?" Elliot's voice was so low that Tommy needed to lean closer to hear him. "Because I would understand if you just wanted me here for one night. Not many people want me around for long periods of time because I tend to talk too much sometimes and I can understand that because I do talk too much, but I just can't seem to help myself. I just open my mouth and all of this stuff starts to come out."
Tommy tilted Elliot's head back and stared down into the man's baby blue eyes. He could see the wonder in them, tinged with a bit of hesitancy. He stroked his thumb along the curve of Elliot's cheekbone and marveled that his mate stood in his arms.
"I meant every word I said, pretty baby. I wouldn't have said them if I didn't." Tommy smiled as he tapped his finger against Elliot's plush lips. "And it just so happens, I like it when you chatter."
Elliot's head reared back a little, his eyebrows shooting up. "Really? It doesn't bother you because I can stop if it does. It wouldn't be easy, but I think I'd do just about anything to keep you wanting me. I'd try anyway."
"I think I'll always want you," Tommy said, "no matter what."
"Now?" Elliot asked as he pressed himself against Tommy. "Do you want me now?"
Tommy grinned at the small hitch he heard in Elliot's voice. He could feel Elliot's hard length press against his leg as the man moved from side to side, then up and down, almost as if Elliot was rubbing off on him. Tommy liked that.
"Now is good, pretty baby."
Tommy wrapped his arms around Elliot's waist and lifted him onto the counter. He stepped between Elliot's legs and pushed their mutual hard cocks together. Tommy almost groaned when Elliot shuddered. He loved the responses he got from Elliot. He just needed to touch Elliot and the man was hot and horny. Tommy had never seen anything like it.