“Hearing a geezer like you say the word dude is off-putting.”
Wes took my hand and put it on his morning wood. His deep morning grumble got my heart going better than a cup of coffee. “I don’t want to do anything off-putting. All on-putting.”
I stroked him slowly, teasing him while I propped my head on my hand. “What are we doing this morning?”
He thrust up into my hand. “Each other, hopefully.”
I reached down to cup his balls. “After that.”
Wes groaned and squeezed his eyes closed. “Keep touching me. I can’t think.”
After leaning in to kiss underneath his jaw, I moved over to lie on top of him. He was still solid and barrel-chested, sexy as hell. I kissed down past his collarbone to his chest.
“After sex and showers, I mean,” I murmured.
Wes’s hand cupped the back of my head gently as I began to lick and nibble below his belly button. “Whatever you want, Doc. I will do absolutely anything if you’ll put your mouth on my dick.”
Which is how he ended up wearing his full dress uniform at our wedding.
My sexy cowboy walked down the aisle a highly decorated retired lieutenant colonel. The medals and ribbons I’d snuck in my suitcase shone brightly in the California winter sunlight. When I’d originally asked him to wear it for the ceremony, he’d balked, claiming he felt strange in it after all this time. But I knew the truth. He was scared about being openly gay in uniform for the first time.
Major and I had been together for decades by now, and I knew him almost better than I knew myself. The fear of being outed in the army was so deeply ingrained in him, it was one of the reasons I’d decided to push him to wear the dress uniform for our wedding. He needed to fully feel how different things were today than they were in 1968 or in 1954 when he’d first enlisted.
So watching him stride across the lawn toward me with that thing on? Holy mother of god was it powerful. He was tall and proud, brave and determined. He carried himself with the confident, competent grace he’d always had, and that alone was enough to nearly bring me to my knees.
I loved him so damned much, I was dizzy with it.
When we arrived at the end of the grassy aisle hand in hand, Felix stood under an arch covered in peach and cream flowers and greenery. He wore a stunning dark suit with a bright purple sash and some kind of royal insignia above his breast pocket signifying his position as king consort of Liorland. Despite standing tall and proud, his eyes were wet already which, of course, set me off.
“Our boy,” Wes murmured under his breath, his hand tightening in mine. “Look at him, Liam.”
“Stop. Don’t make me cry harder, asshole.”
“You’re not supposed to call me that right now,” he tskd. I turned to face him. His faded denim blues were full of all the love and tenderness they’d always carried when pointed at me. Those eyes and his soft smile made the kind of promises that rendered vows completely unnecessary. They always had.
“I love you,” I said in a voice broken by the memory of decades of commitment already passed, years spent aching and desperate for his comfort, moments of the two of us exchanging a simple look that said absolutely everything without speaking a word.
Wes reached out and thumbed a tear off my cheek. “You are the greatest gift of my life.”
Tilly piped up from her spot at his elbow. “Can it. That shit’s supposed to come later.” If she surreptitiously swiped at her own eye with a dainty linen handkerchief, then it was probably just for appearances. Even if the linen was already noticeably damp.
Bill chuckled by my side. “They’re polar opposites.”
“Right?” I muttered. “It’s weird.”
Bill’s hand came up to squeeze my shoulder. “Marrying Pop was the greatest gift you gave the four of us, Dad.” His voice was thick with emotion. “I don’t know if we ever thanked you, but we couldn’t be happier to be here today for this.”
Brenda murmured her agreement from his side, and I caught Gina’s wink and nod behind Tilly. Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. We turned to see Jackie sneak up to Gina’s side with an apologetic expression on her face. I love you, she mouthed at us.
Oh god.
The waterworks came like a fountain then. I couldn’t help it. I stepped forward and buried my face in Wes’s neck. His arms automatically came up to wrap me in their strength as always.
“Shh.” I could hear the indulgent smile in his voice. “Shh, baby, it’s okay. Take your time. No one is going anywhere.” His hands rubbed my back through my suit coat, and his lips brushed the top of my head.