When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

*Devlin*

My alarm went off at its usual hour on Wednesday morning. Rolling over, I found that Joel was already gone. I remembered hearing him showering at some God-awful hour the night before, and the comforting feel of his body enfolding mine. I'd experienced a sexual tingle and a lurid dream.

Now, gazing at the empty side of the bed, I half-wondered if I'd only imagined him being there. I touched longingly on the imprint of his head on the pillow then sighed and got ready for work.

Later that afternoon, I managed to catch him for a quick video chat. He looked so forlorn and haggard that I envisioned storming the law offices and forcibly rescuing him from captivity.

"Can I bring you lunch or something?" I asked.

"Naw," he sighed. "We're eating as we work here. I just wish I could have my coffee. I had to be out the door at six this morning and

Espresso

doesn't open till seven."

"So you'd rather have your coffee than me," I joked, "Is that what you're saying?"

That got a grin from him. "We're talking about coffee here. I'm incredibly fond of you, but I'd sell you into white slavery at The House of the Rising Sun for a cup of coffee made the way I like it."

"It's good to know your priorities. And your kinky fantasies."

"We'll see about kinky fantasies come Saturday, luscious one," he rejoined.

That sent a shiver down my spine. It also made me determined to do

something

for him. So when lunchtime rolled around, I took the car and drove over to

Espresso Yourself

. I ordered up two of Joel's favorite drinks, one with hazelnut syrup, one with almond roche, and got four of the cream cheese muffins, two blueberry, two pecan.

There

, I thought, pleased with myself,

that oughta maintain his energy—and keep him thinking of me.

I drove over to his offices, not expecting to actually see him, just to drop off my loving care package. I'd never actually visited his workplace, and I was a little nervous. I didn't want to disturb him or get him into any trouble. I was also worried I'd get lost, but I found the firm easily enough.

"Got a special delivery here for Mr. O'Shaughnessy," I said to the woman at the reception desk. "Survival rations."

A poised brunette with a decidedly feminine edge looked up from her monitor: pink dress, an understated strand of pearls, very much my type had I been on the prowl. Even if I were interested, however, she had a weighty pair of platinum bands on her left ring finger. Square cut diamonds left no doubt that she was taken.

She blinked up at me, and a smile came over her face. "Let me guess. You're Devlin?"

I turned on my own charm. "Recognized my voice, huh?"

"My, oh, my." There was a twinkle in her admiring eyes. "Now I know what he sees in you."

I laughed and put down my cardboard 'gift basket.' "Well, don't disturb him. I just brought this by in hopes of keeping him from going on a killing spree."

"Oh, he's not in the office right now," she said. "He had some urgent, secret appointment he was determined to keep. Said the firm could damn well survive without him for an hour or two." She shook her head. "Like he hasn't been the one too paranoid to leave the office. I thought he was heading for an afternoon tryst with you, but I guess not."

My pulse picked up. He couldn't be meeting Eric; I'd erased the message, and it'd been for Friday, anyway. Unless Eric had called to change the meeting? My stomach dropped, but I maintained my smile.

"Should I let him know you came by?" the secretary asked.

I shook my head. "Tell him a courier brought this." I touched on the coffee, a knot in my throat. "I wouldn't want him to feel bad about missing me," I added in explanation. The secretary approved of that, so I knew she'd keep my visit under wraps.

I was sick with uncertainty now. Joel had insisted he couldn't take a break to see me, not even for coffee, but he'd left work to make this appointment. He wasn't even working through lunch like he'd said. He'd outright lied to me. Why would he do that unless...unless I was falling short of his expectations? Had he snuck off to do a little comparison shopping? And if so, with who?

Late that night, I heard the key in the lock and his footsteps in the living room. I was already in bed, and still wide-awake with anxiety. I listened to him washing up and getting undressed, felt him slip naked into bed. I waited until his arms were around me, his breathing regular, then I turned and kissed his neck. I nibbled and licked my way on down.

"Hmmm," he sighed, as I pushed him gently onto his back and bit at his nipples. Finally, I shifted on top of him and scooted down half under the covers to his flaccid cock. It was soft and heavy against his thigh, bundled up for the night in its cocoon. I lapped and sucked at the tip, then grazed the lose foreskin very gently with my teeth.

He moaned and touched my head. "Jesus. That feels wonderful, but I don't think I can move—"

"Which is exactly what I want," I said, locking one hand around his wrists and holding them out of the way. "You're completely at my mercy."

I lifted his cock with the other hand and went to work, licking my rough tongue over his hairy balls until I could feel the soft skin tightening, the nuts within shifting. Under my stroking hand, his cock emerged from hiding.

"No fair," he moaned, bucking his ass against the bed sheets. I grinned and started on his piss slit, delving into it, getting a taste of that sweet flavor of his. Fuck, he was delicious.

Joel's breath was coming short now, his head was rolling side to side. I expanded out, swirling over the silky dome, flirting with the flared rim. His thick cock extended, eagerly leaving its sheath to enter my mouth. I obligingly got my lips about his familiar girth and sucked him down. My tongue glided over pulsing veins as I started to bob, and I inhaled his scent. Joel's wrists were still in my hand, twisting feebly. He squirmed on the sheets. A deep groan cued me. He tightened up, breath pausing. A shudder and his cock pulsed, its tip striking the back of my throat. Warm cream filled my mouth.

I felt that rush, the one I got from controlling his pleasure, letting him know that I wanted him. Man, I'd missed it. I loved the sounds of his moans, the jerk of his cock in my mouth. Most of all, I loved being able to show him what I'd learned, a reminder that I could satisfy him. Whatever Eric had done for him in the past—was doing for him now?--I could do for him in the future.

And I could and would do it better.

I let his cock slide out of my mouth and released his wrists. Limp on the mattress, he murmured something and drifted off to sleep. Climbing back up his length, I kissed his lips.

"Fuckin' A," I whispered, and with his flavor still coating my tongue, I went to sleep myself.

*Joel*

Wednesday morning I managed to get enough work done that I could steal a little time out of the afternoon to keep the appointment I'd set up. I let Gloria know that I had an important meeting that I couldn't miss, but that I would have my cell on me in case of emergency. I caught a cab home, not having time for the vagaries of the subway, and grabbed a change of clothes and my bike. It was great to be on the road for a while and take a good long break from the paperwork.

The appointment went off without a hitch and when I got back to the office, I found Dev's little surprise. A Jewish fellow I'd briefly dated in my third year of college would have said I almost got fahklempt, choked up, but I prefer to think I was simply very pleased.

How will I ever deserve to have this man give up all possibility of a normal life for me?,

I wondered, gazing at those heavenly coffees and muffins. It was little things like this that made me think he might love me, or at least be falling in love with me.

He was just as incredible that night, just as considerate and thoughtful. I came in late again, so late that it was early, and tried to get into bed without disturbing him. I thought I'd pulled it off until he turned over and started kissing his way down my chest. Before I knew it, he'd crawled completely under the covers to give my nuts a leisurely tongue bath. Cool, slow-moving waves of pleasure washed through me, but I was so exhausted I could barely move, and told him as much. He said something in reply, but the covers and my balls muffled it so that I couldn't understand. He just held my hands out of the way and started using that incredible mouth of his on my cock.

Every motion of his head and caress of his tongue was so sweet, so tenderly done, and that's what undid me so quickly. Within a few seconds, I was writhing and panting in his clutches, feeling a ball of tension growing taut behind my navel. I came, faster even than the first blowjob I'd ever gotten. Came, hell, I thought the top of my head was coming off.

He was the most amazing man I'd ever been with and how did I respond to his generous gift? SOP, I fell asleep. One second I'm floating from a marvelous orgasm, trying to tell him how spectacular it was; the next moment I'm sound asleep, without even trying to reciprocate.

When my phone woke me a few hours later, I promised him silently that I'd find a way to make it up to him Friday night. I doubted that I'd be able to make it home tonight, but the paperwork had to be done by Friday morning. That meant I'd have that evening completely free. I could spend it devoting myself to him. It was the least he deserved after all the special attention and patience he'd given me this week.

I watched him sleep for a few minutes, with his head pillowed on my shoulder, and his fingers splayed across my chest. I wondered why people always look so innocent while sleeping. Was it because this was the real them, that bit of their childhood self that they never lose, that part of themselves that most people never let the world see, or see only rarely? If so, I could understand why they'd want to protect it, because it looked so fragile, as if a harsh word, or a disapproving glance, would snap it in two.

"Will you come and stay with me?" I whisper-sang the line from one of my favorite Gaelic songs into his hair before I carefully extracted myself from his embrace. I knew if he were awake enough to hear me, he'd never understand the words.

I was completely gone on him; I knew it and it both terrified and thrilled me. Leaving him right now was the last thing I wanted to do, but duty called, and there was nothing for it but to get it over with, so I could finally spend some more waking time with him.

*Devlin*

The alarm went off and I started awake from a nightmare I couldn't quite remember. Something about Joel's arms leaving me, slipping away. Feeling neither his heat nor his embrace, I knew he was gone before I even saw the empty side of the bed. The lustful fragrance of last night's sex was in the air. God, I missed him.

I jacked off in the shower thinking of him, remembering that first Friday at the gym, his shy green eyes flickering to and from my naked body. I thought of how I'd had him last night, helpless and coming. That made me shoot my seed right down the drain.

When I got to work, I immediately checked my computer and saw that he was online. I called up a video chat and his face appeared a moment later. He still looked wiped out, but more relaxed than he'd been all week.

"Hey. I never got to tell you how lifesaving those coffees were yesterday. Not to mention the muffins," he said. "I've reconsidered selling you into slavery."

"Tsk. I was starting to look forward to it."

"I bet you were. You know I had the weirdest dream last night, Shane West sucked my cock—"

"Fuck you!"

"—he was dressed like Tom Sawyer. Suspenders—" he teased, making motions in front of his chest as if he were playing with a set.

"Asshole!" I fought a grin. "You'd better watch your mouth. You're going to be in my power again tonight."

The mirth in his eyes didn't vanish, but it did quiet down. "Afraid not. There's a truckload of paperwork due at the courthouse tomorrow morning, and we've only organized half of it. I'll be lucky if I get a five minute nap on the office couch."

I frowned at that. "If that's the way it's gotta be, that's the way it's gotta be, but I expect you to masturbate in the toilet while thinking of me. Twice at least."

He stroked his chin. "Once with you, once with Shane West."

"Asshole!"

We talked for a little longer and then Joel had to sign off. I fielded a few calls from anxious homebuyers, then let my partner know I was taking a long lunch. Twenty minutes later, I pulled into the drive of Cathy's quaint cottage. I was actually looking forward to seeing her, which was a change from how I'd felt a few weeks back. In retrospect, I could see that I'd wanted a relationship with Joel from that first morning after, but I'd been terrified of swimming in those uncharted waters. Bringing him to the barbeque had been my way of taking the plunge. I'd shoved him down the throats of my friends and, in doing so, swallowed down the idea of a relationship with him myself.

If Cathy had been there she'd have made me doubt that decision, which was why I'd been so relieved she was a no show. Now, however, I felt very differently. I wanted to see her, in part because we were still friends, and in part because I'd never completely figured out why she'd broken up with me. Uneasy as I was about Joel right now, I really wanted to understand that, maybe keep it from happening again.

I went through the familiar back gate of Cathy's little house, and around to the sun porch, which was her studio. The screen door, which I'd always said I'd oil, but never had, no longer squeaked as I stepped through it.

I found her sculpting as usual and felt my blood warm up. I'd forgotten how delicate her figure was, visible through the chocolate and cherry floral pattern of her summer dress. There were her small breasts, the nipples I'd loved licking and sucking outlined by the sheer fabric. Then there were her curves. I admit, I'm a basic kind of guy. Whether I'm admiring men or women, I always fixate on what they've got from the waist down. Cathy had nice hips and a pert ass; her bare legs were shapely and she peticured her toenails with had rose red polish.

"Hey, Cath," I said fondly.

"Dev." She spun, and smiled at me in a way I hadn't seen in almost a year. As if she, too, was actually glad to see me. Her satiny brown hair was kept back from her face with tortoise shell clips and her large doe eyes were accented with pastel shadow. She had the longest lashes I'd ever seen on a girl, a button nose and sweet lips.

"You look terrific," I said, stepping up to embrace her. I'd gotten so used to Joel's firm, muscular body that I almost squeezed too hard. It was quite a change to hold a body so light, to experience the incredible, feminine smoothness of her cheek against mine instead of Joel's erotic stubble. I smelled that familiar combination of clay and

Eternity

perfume and feelings I hadn't had in a month washed over me: the desire to cradle a woman in my arms and nuzzle into her soft yielding places.

She kept her hands, sticky and powdered with clay, away from me as she hugged me back, then she gave me a quick kiss. God, even her lips had a different sensuality from Joel's, moist and gentle as flower petals.

"It's good to see you, too," she said. "Do you want some lemonade?" She motioned to the ice cream parlor table, the one that she'd mosaiced herself. I saw a cut glass pitcher of lemonade with fresh sprigs of mint, matching glasses and a plate of homemade brownies.

That's Cathy

, I found myself thinking,

Always making things lovely and inviting.

I had no doubt that she'd used fresh lemon juice and purified water for the lemonade. Me, I would have blended some powered mix with tap water in a plastic pitcher, put out Dixie cups and maybe opened a bag of Oreos.

"Honey!" someone shouted from inside the house, making me jump, and in the next moment Cathy's new guy appeared at the kitchen door. Robbie had gossiped all about him, of course, some kind of electronics store owner. Cathy and he had hooked up recently and she was, rumor had it, crazy about him.

He looked like a bulldog. Square and stocky with a big round head and a face ugly as a prizefighter. He was wearing a threadbare tee and a faded pair of boxers with some kind of paisley pattern.

She left stunningly handsome me for this?

I couldn't help thinking.

"Have you seen my toolbox?" he asked, scratching his ass. "I want to fix that leak in the showerhead. It's driving me nuts."

"Check the garage again. It's there," Cathy said, returning to her clay sculpture. "Ray, this is Devlin."

"Oh, hey," he said, catching sight of me. I half expected him to go on guard and start posturing, but he came right over and shook my hand, friendly as friendly could be. He had a ripe, locker room smell about him. "Heard a lot of good things about you. Nice to finally meet you."

"Good to meet you," I returned.

He poured himself a glass of lemonade and wrapped up a brownie in a napkin, then crossed back to Cathy. "Don't make any plans for Tuesday night," he told her. "I got us tickets to see that performance artist you were raving about."

Her mouth popped open and she squealed. Her arms wrapped about his thick neck. "You did? I can't believe it! I wasn't going to ask—"

"What? You think I'd let you miss out on this?"

"But won't you be bored?"

"You can explain it to me afterwards. I love it when you do that."

Cathy beamed and I felt a strange twist in my heart. It wasn't that I was jealous, exactly. I didn't want us back together again, but I felt bad that I'd never made her that happy. That she'd never, even at our best, smiled at me like that.

Ray left and I stared after him. "I guess you wanted something completely different after me," I finally ventured.

Cathy laughed. "Yes. He's considerate and flexible, and always puts me first. "

"Ouch." I sat in one of the chairs and poured myself a drink. "What I meant is that he's not drop dead gorgeous."

"I knew what you meant," she said, smirking. "He's ugly and he dresses funny, and I adore him. You all right with that?"

"If you are."

"Speaking of which," she went back to carving clay, "I hear you've got your own new fling. A motorcycle riding hunk with green eyes to die for."

"Been talking to Robbie have you?"

"Actually, that was Deb's description. Word is, you've been taking him to barbeques, concerts and the zoo. I have to admit I'm envious."

That did hurt. "I took you places."

"Dev, please! I was the one who arranged our outings to the county fair and the art museums. Even when we went to dinner, I always picked the place and made the reservations. Your only contribution was to do the driving."

She'd said as much to me before, during the break-up, but this time there was no rancor in her voice. It was a simple fact she'd come to accept. "You would have never thought of taking me to see a performance art piece," she finished. "I would have had to buy the tickets myself or do without."

I shrugged. "I always figured you knew how to make us both happy."

"Which is precisely the point," she sighed. "You could have taken me to a baseball game or on a hike up one of those nature trails you like so much. I'd have enjoyed it just because you were trying to share yourself with me, rather than expecting me to satisfy myself

and

cater to you."

That struck a bull's-eye. I'd barely known Joel two days before I'd shared one of my favorite, outdoor spots with him. Why hadn't I ever wanted to do the same with Cathy? Maybe because I'd never been able to envision her in that context. She was supposed to remain delicate and refined in her pretty dresses and open-toed sandals. She wasn't supposed to walk dusty roads in jeans and hiking boots. She wasn't...a guy, a buddy. She was a girlfriend.