Partners In Crime [Eternal Flames 9]

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

Vik walked into Twixie's in turmoil. For three years, Vik has lusted after a man that he wanted but couldn't have. His phoenix fluttered every time Baldwin walked into a room or spoke in that deep, sexy baritone voice he had. Vik had fought to maintain a working relationship. His rules were clear. Never get involved with someone you work with and never, ever, get too attached, because one day your mate could walk through the door and the other person would be hurt.

"Hey, Vik, have a seat and I'll be with you in a minute," Twix yelled out.

"I don't have a long time, Twix. I just need a couple of roast beef sandwiches and a couple of iced teas. I'll need that to go," Vik replied back.

Nodding, Twix yelled back, "Not a problem. Just have a seat and I'll get it to you as quickly as I can."

The place was seriously busy. Vik looked for a place to sit and the sound of someone calling his name from the other room had him turning, seeing Angelo sitting with Amelia in his lap as Ethan and Rhys ate.

Walking over to his long-time friends, Vik sat with a large exhale.

"What's going on, Vik? You okay?" Angelo asked smiling at Amelia giggling, as he bounced her on his knee.

"We just got done processing the murder of Carlin Francis," Vik said sounding as tired as he felt.

Angelo stopped bouncing Amelia. "Oh, by the Gods! He was only twenty-four. Hell, he's a teacher, what the hell?"

Vik sighed. "I know. I'm so tired of all these f*****g deaths. I feel seriously incompetent. I should have caught this fucker by now. I don't know, maybe Justice should consider bringing Pauly in to take care of this. I clearly suck and am not ready for such a huge case."

"Vik! Stop talking like that. You are doing the best you can. From what my dad says, the person doing this has yet to leave a damn clue," Ethan argued.

Angelo took a closer look at Vik. Vik squirmed in his seat because he knew that no one knew him better than his best friend and Angelo could always see right through him. Tonight was no different. "What's really going on with you, Vik? I know the murders are taking their toll on you, but something else is going on as well. So, out with it."

Rhys stood up and took Amelia from Angelo. "I'm going to take our little girl to visit with daddy number two at work while you three talk."

Vik looked at Rhys. "Oh, don't leave, Rhys. I didn't want to take you away from your visit."

Rhys kissed Ethan, then turned to Vik wiggling his brows. "Oh, trust me, I am not the least bit put out. If I'm lucky, Day can get our daughter to go to sleep and I can get some fun time of my own in."

Ethan laughed. "Give our mate my love and later I will give you the same thing. I'll have Angelo take me home to get ready for you."

Rhys giggled. "Oh, I plan on giving Day all the loving he could ever hope for and I can't wait for you to return the favor."

Swirling his hand and opening a portal, Rhys quickly stepped through, leaving Vik alone with his two best friends.

"Okay, now spill. What's going on with you?" Angelo asked.

Vik slumped back in his seat. "It's Baldwin."

"Are you two fighting again? I thought you guys were starting to get along better since you've been working together?" Ethan asked.

Vik picked up a napkin and started tearing it into small pieces. "We are getting along well.

Maybe too well."

"What the hell does that even mean?" Angelo asked in confusion.

"I'm really attracted to him, Ang. I mean seriously attracted. Every time I hear his voice or see him walk into the room, my d**k gets so hard I could pound nails. We go out for beers, or dinner, and I could listen to him talk all damn night and never get sick of hearing him. I think about him all the f*****g time. Jerk off in the shower remembering the sight of his ass. Hell, I even started jerking off in the f*****g car after I drop him off at Twix's place. I jerk off so much my d**k is practically raw," Vik whined.

"Why not just go for it?" Ethan asked.

Angelo snorted, "His rule book."

Ethan rolled his eyes, saying, "Oh s**t, you still have the rule book? What is it again? Never get involved with someone you work with."

"Never get into a relationship in case you find your mate," Angelo chimed in.

Angelo and Ethan both looked at each other saying at the exact same time, "Never show interest unless you plan on following through."

"Yeah well, I just broke that rule, big time," Vik muttered.

"How so?" Angelo asked.

Vik felt his cheeks heat, muttering, "I had to call Dain earlier and he was kinda in the middle of something with his mates. With the noises they were making and Baldwin sitting next to me, it was all a bit much. Dain didn't hang up and, well, one thing led to another and Baldwin and I kinda had a jerk off session together in the car."

"Oh s**t, Dain is going to kick your ass!" Angelo said with laughter.

Twix walked up with a large paper bag. "Here you go, Vik. Why is my uncle going to kick your ass?"

"Because Baldwin and Vik were m**********g to sound porn coming from Dain and his mates,"

Angelo quickly answered, still laughing.

"Eww. I really don't need to hear about my uncle's s*x life or even that he has one." Twix replied in horror.

"Angelo, I don't think Vik wanted Twix to know that," Ethan admonished.

Angelo looked at Vik with mirth still in his eyes and voice. "Sorry, Vik. It was just too funny to keep to myself."

"You and Baldwin? Are you guys finally going to do something about all those vibes you keep putting off to the rest of us?" Twix asked.

"What vibes?" Vik asked, already knowing the answer.

Twix rolled his eyes, saying, "Anyone that can't see that you two would like nothing more than to find a flat surface is either dead or daft."

Vik tilted his head back, closed his eyes, muttering, "Great. Just great."

"Hey, Baldwin is a fine catch. Anyone would be lucky to have such a wonderful man in their life," Twix snapped.

Ignoring Twix's outburst, Ethan asked, "Could Baldwin be your mate? I mean, if you are as attracted to him as you say, then maybe he's your mate?"

Shaking his head, Vik replied, "I don't scent mate when I'm around him."

"Well, duh, Griffions don't have a scent at all, Vik. Uncle Dain made sure of that, remember? He didn't want anyone trying to come for me to know that there was a guard so they could be taken out quickly and efficiently," Twix explained.

Vik sat up, wide eyed. "You're right, Twix. How could I be so stupid?" Then a thought hit Vik and his shoulders slumped and sadness gripped his heart. "But if I was his mate, he would have scented me by now, right?"

Twix sat heavily in the seat across from Vik. "I didn't think about that."

No one said anything for a while and Vik reluctantly got up, taking the paper bag in hand.

"Thanks anyway, guys."

Just as Vik turned Angelo gasped, "Unless―"

"Unless what?" Ethan asked before Vik could.

Angelo smiled at Vik. "If I remember right, Dain said he created the Griffions from the blood of a dragon, scorpion, phoenix, and pixie."

Nodding, Twix replied, "That's true."

Angelo looked at Twix and then Vik. "Kerrick told me that elves only know their mate by a taste of their blood."

Ethan quickly said, "Dragons and phoenix know their mate by scent, just like other shifters."

"And Fairies only know their mate by s*x," Angelo said suggestively as he looked at Vik as if he could put together what the hell they were talking about.

Twix gasped and stood. "A kiss! Dain's blood is mixed into Baldwin! What if he's like us?"

Vik's eyes went wide as he said in understanding, "He could be like the pixies! Holy s**t, how crazy is it to think that I could have been with my mate for four f*****g years? Worked with him, side by side, for three of those, and not known the whole time he was my mate."

Turning quickly Vik yelled, "I gotta go."

Vik rushed from the building and made it to the station in record time. Rushing into the building, Baldwin and Orion looked up as he dropped the bag on his desk and grabbed Baldwin's hand, pulling him down the hall calling back, "We'll be back in a minute."

He thought he heard Orion say something like, "Sure you will." But he couldn't be sure.

However, this was something he couldn't wait to see for himself.

Making his way into Nash's office, Vik closed the door and started closing the blinds.

"What's going on, Vik? Is there a problem?" Baldwin asked with a great deal of tension in his voice.

Vik turned and grabbed Baldwin by the shirt, pulled him close, got on his tippy toes and slammed his mouth onto Baldwin's. The second the man gasped, Vik went in for the kill. He was not taking any chances that Baldwin might miss the flavor of his mate.

Baldwin relaxed and started kissing Vik back. It was beautiful and sweet, everything a kiss should be.

Vik slowly pulled back and looked in Baldwin's half-closed, turquoise eyes. Slowly, Baldwin opened his eyes all the way, panting, "What was that for?"

Feeling a loss greater than he knew, Vik let go of Baldwin's shirt and started backing up. Sadness engulfed every part of his heart and tears formed for no reason Vik could fathom. s**t, who was he kidding? Vik wanted Baldwin to be his mate. He wanted this man with every fiber of his being. Yet it wasn't meant to be. "Nothing. I just thought―you're part pixie―maybe―It was stupid."

Baldwin tilted his head to the side and started to slowly make his way to Vik. "You thought we might be mates?"

Vik nodded and dropped his eyes to the floor.

"Would you have wanted me if we were?" Baldwin asked, getting closer.

Vik nodded, not looking up.

Vik yipped when he felt Baldwin grab him, turn him around, and push his back to Nash's desk.

Items fell to the floor and something shattered. However, Vik wasn't thinking about any of that when Baldwin slammed his lips onto Vik's as he had done just a few moments ago.

Lifting his head up, Baldwin panted, "I have wanted you for what seems like forever."

"I've wanted you too, but the rules I have―"

"f**k your rules. I don't give a s**t about rules. I want you, Vik. Please," Baldwin practically begged.

Vik swallowed hard at what the man was asking of him. "But what if we get involved and I find my mate, or you find yours?"

"We know the rules of a mating, Vik. If you find your mate, I'll step away gracefully, thankful for the time we had together," Baldwin rasped, unbuttoning Vik's shirt and spreading it wide, as he started kissing and nibbling on Vik's right n****e.

Moaning, Vik whispered, "You're not playing fair."

"I have dreamed about you, Vik. m*********d to your voice when you left messages on my phone, to images in my mind as I took a shower, and every night you dropped me off at home."

"Oh Gods, me too," Vik admitted, loving the feel of Baldwin's lips on his left n****e and feeling his c**k bounce out of his pants as Baldwin unzipped them.

"I don't know where this is going to lead, Vik, but I want us to be together. More than just work partners, partners in life, as well. Can I have you, Vik?"

"We―we don't have time. Orion is waiting," Vik hissed as Baldwin nibbled his way past Vik's belly button and proceeded to sniff his crotch.

"Gods, you smell better than the fresh bread Twix bakes every morning," Baldwin replied, drawing in one deep breath after another.

"Oh Gods! Please―"

Baldwin licked his lips, and in a deep gravely tone, asked, "Can I, Vik? Can I taste what smells so f*****g good?"

Vik could do no more than beg, "Gods, please!"

Baldwin licked the tip of Vik's c**k then brought his lips slowly around the tip, dropping lower and lower. Vik squirmed and slapped the desk in pleasure. The warm moist feel of the man's mouth was overwhelming.

Baldwin drew in a sharp breath when his nose touched Vik's pubes. He moaned, making Vik's c**k twitch within the man's mouth. Baldwin drew up slowly then slid down once more. He took Vik's nut sack in hand and rolled and lightly squeezed them.

"f**k! f**k!" Vik chanted, grabbing Baldwin's hair and pulling as he lifted his hips.

Baldwin let go of Vik's balls to grab him by the hips and pull him closer, suckling, raising, and lowering his head faster.

Vik was forced to grab the desk and yelped when Baldwin moved one hand to take a finger and with the use of just saliva, pushed into Vik's puckered hole.

"Oh! f**k me sideways!" Vik practically shouted.

Baldwin pulled off his c**k long enough to say, "Later." Then quickly engulfed his shaft once more, taking Vik's c**k all the way to the back of his throat and further.

"Need to come! I need to come!" Vik chanted.

Baldwin crooked his finger and Vik felt it touch his love gland. Vik's seed released within seconds. Vik grunted and opened his mouth, but no sound could escape as the most pleasurable feeling he had ever felt in his life wrapped around his very soul.

Baldwin grunted and then quickly released Vik's c**k, both men gasping and saying, "Mate!"