The Teddy Bear Club Read online

  He snorted and finished his latte. “Well, in the end I appreciate the help. I don’t know how I’d be handling this on my own.” It would be awful, stressful, and horrible, and he wasn’t sure he’d have gotten through it.

  “That’s what friends are for.” Aiden gave him a warm, happy smile. “Honestly.”

  He smiled right back, hoping that they were maybe more than friends. More than hoping, really.

  Aiden moved closer, and Bee reached for Dev, kicking and trying to get to him.

  His grin widened. He and Aiden were never going to do more than kiss. Ever. He could tell.

  At least not until the kids were forty.

  “She wants you. You willing?”

  “Of course.” He liked Aiden’s kids a lot. They were both beautiful, happy girls. He reached over and Bee laughed, making grabby hands. He took her from Aiden and brought her into his arms. “Hey, beautiful.”

  Bee crowed and flailed, the baby so sweet, so ready to see him. He bounced her gently and made faces at her, talking nonsense.

  “She adores him. I’m jealous.” Zack bounced U. “You see that, kiddo? She’s never given me the time of day.”

  “Really? But you’re so good with babies.” U loved being held by Zack. Of course, U did pretty well with Aiden too. Maybe it was him. That wasn’t fair, though, because he was doing great with the sling, with remembering to breathe and evince calm.

  He blew a raspberry at her and she blew one right back at him, making him laugh in delight. What a cutie.

  U looked over at him, watched for a second, then blew a raspberry himself.

  “Hey! Nicely done, U,” Dev exclaimed, pleased.

  The words seemed to make U kick and blow harder. Sweet boy. He grabbed Bee and raised her up into the air, catching her easily. The dear girl cooed and gurgled, watching him with huge blue eyes.

  “Do you like to fly, baby girl? Do you?” He tossed her up again. This was a good workout. Bee crowed for him, her baby face a study in joy.

  Maybe U wasn’t quite old enough to enjoy this—he always got a startled look from his boy when he tried it. It was fun, so he hoped U would come to like it as much as Bee so obviously did.

  “Make sure you don’t do that right after she’s fed,” Zack warned. “Baby vomit from above is not a pleasant feeling.”

  Dev laughed, tossing Bee up again, a little higher this time, and this time she laughed—an honest, wild little laugh. That had him laughing harder, joy shooting all through him. He loved this about babies. Sure, they could cry up a storm and fuss, but there was nothing like their happiness.

  U began to fuss, his boy obviously jealous and trying to get to him.

  He almost teased Zack about losing his touch, but he didn’t. The man was a wizard with his boy and he wasn’t going to risk insulting the man. “You want to trade?” he asked Zack instead.

  “I’ll take Lady Bee.” Logan held his hands out and Bee went, easy as pie.

  Dev reached for U and Zack pouted. Dev chuckled. “You can keep him if you want. For now.” He totally wasn’t giving U up.

  “I suppose I should let him go to his daddy.” Zack grinned and handed the baby over.

  Dev took U into his arms and kissed his boy’s nose. Then he tossed U up into the air, a small toss to start off with. He could build in height once he knew U was enjoying it.

  U hummed and wiggled, less enthusiastic, but focused on him.

  He started talking, lifting U above him and telling his boy how great he was. U responded, kicking and burbling, face wreathed in a grin. “That’s my boy. You like hanging out with your daddy, don’t you?” He was going to make sure it kept happening too.

  “You two are adorable together.”

  “Well, I know he is, so I’ll take it.” He threw his boy up again, caught him, and tickled his ribs gently. “Are you going to laugh for me? Are you going to show me how happy you are?”

  U flung his arms wide and wriggled, cooing and giggling merrily. There was no way in hell he was giving this up. It didn’t matter how hard he had to fight for this. U was worth it. No, not U. Dylan. U was Terry’s boy. Dylan was his.

  “Dylan. Dylan. Dylan.” He murmured the name against his son’s belly. Then he blew a raspberry against the soft skin, laughing right along with Dylan.

  Those tiny hands clenched in his hair, holding on tight.

  Yeah, baby. You hold on to me too. We’re going to make it, you and me. We are going to be a real family.

  Smiling, he breathed Dylan in, that beautiful baby smell. Then he blew another raspberry against Dylan’s skin.

  He could manage this. He could. He really could.

  Aiden chuckled. “He’s got you!”

  “He does.” And he was perfectly happy being caught in Dylan’s little hands.

  “Lucky man.”

  “I am, aren’t I?” He gave Aiden a smile, feeling very lucky indeed. He needed to make sure he could keep it.

  Chapter Nine

  THERE were things about having an extra baby that were harsh, but the good things about having an extra adult far surpassed the bad.

  “Dev, do you have any laundry to do? I have to wash this onesie of Bee’s because oh my God.”

  “You think I want to put my delicates in with an ‘oh my God’ onesie?” Dev asked, face deadly serious.

  “Dylan doesn’t have anything. I don’t want to waste electricity.”

  Dev chuckled. “I’m only teasing. I do have a few things, and I trust the soap and water to deal with the ‘oh my God’ so I don’t get any on my clothes.”

  “If you’re worried about that particular stuff, you haven’t been the dad of a baby.”

  “Hey, I wash my clothes separate from Dylan’s. His get that gentle sensitive-skin crap that costs twice as much, but they are nice and soft when I’m done.”

  “Yeah. I have that for Bee and Linds.” Amazing soft baby suds or something like that.

  “I have a couple of T-shirts and some undies. They’ll be nice and soft when they come out.”

  “Absolutely. Baby-butt soft.”

  “Maybe that’ll entice you to feel my butt up.” Dev’s eyes went wide at his own words.

  “Oh, listen to you!” Aiden grinned, tempted to reach out except for the filthy laundry in his hands.

  “Yeah, it’s a good thing there aren’t any short people around.”

  “Good thing my hands are full.”

  Dev tilted his head. “I don’t know. Maybe we should revisit the question.”

  “Let’s do that. Laundry. I’m afraid of this onesie.”

  “Gimme a sec, I’ll get my stuff. And then we can revisit the right question.” Dev took off to the guest room he shared with Dylan, meeting Aiden in the laundry room. “There we go. Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.” He put the soap in, got the washer going, then turned to grin at Dev. “Ta-da.”

  “I think hand washing is in order before we revisit anything.”

  Aiden snorted but headed for the kitchen sink, cleaning up his hands. Dev came up behind him and reached around him to wash his too. Aiden dried his hands, then reached back, grabbed Dev’s ass, and squeezed.

  Dev hummed and pressed closer, his body warm against Aiden’s back.

  “Have I mentioned that I’m glad you’re here?”

  “You might have. I like hearing it, though. I like knowing I’m not an intrusion.”

  “You’re not. Not at all.” He had to let go, so he braced himself against the sink and rocked back into Dev’s body.

  Dev groaned and pressed forward, meeting him.

  “Dev. That feels…. I mean, you feel so good.” And they’d teased and played, danced around what they needed for days now.

  “You feel good too. Make me feel good. Whatever. It’s all good.” Dev rocked again.

  “Uh-huh.” He wasn’t sure exactly what he was agreeing to, but he was utterly willing to do whatever it was. Dev began to touch him, hands sliding along his arms and across his
belly. “Tell me that one of us is going to get off.”

  “Uh-uh. I want us both to get off. But not in the kitchen.”

  “I am totally with you. I don’t know if I can orgasm with Cheerios and Goldfish surrounding me.”

  Dev shook his head. “No kiddie words allowed. It’s grown-up time now.”

  “Now?” He was ready. The kids were in bed. Supper was cleaned up. He knew that something terrible was going to happen.

  “Where?” Dev asked, looking ready to go and get down.

  “Bed? I mean, my bed.”

  “You sure? I totally want to, but it’s your girl who could come looking for you….”

  “Dev, if we keep waiting for a time where there’s no chance we’ll get interrupted, we’re going to be ancient.”

  Dev nodded. “I wasn’t trying to stop it. I wanted to make sure you didn’t—” Dev raised his hands and made shooing motions. “You’re right. Let’s go and do this while it’s all quiet.”

  Aiden nodded, but he had to admit this was surprisingly hard. He wanted to be all suave and classy, but he was nervous. He wanted it to be good, but more than that, he didn’t want it to be bad. Devon was becoming necessary to his life.

  “I feel like a teenager on his first date,” Dev told him as they moved into his bedroom and he closed the door.

  “Yes. What was your first time?”

  “Oh God.” Dev laughed, the color high on his cheeks. “It was in the school bathroom with the only other gay kid in high school. I went off the second he touched my cock. What about you?”

  “My best friend after senior prom. We dropped our dates off, had a couple beers, and suddenly we were all over each other.”

  “Yeah? How did it turn out?”

  “We had a wild summer, and then his prom date ended up pregnant. They’ve been married ever since.” Irony, thy name was Aiden.

  “Oh man. Well, I’m not sorry because this way I get to have you.” Dev seemed less nervous about the whole thing now.

  “Yeah? At least we’re not teenagers anymore.”

  “No, we’re daddies now. I think that might be scarier.” Dev laughed, then grabbed his collar and tugged him in for a kiss that was more sweet than awkward.

  It was scary, but it was wonderful too, and worth fighting for. Sort of like this thing with Dev right now.

  Dev touched Aiden’s lip with his tongue, which he was starting to think of as Dev’s calling card. Of course, he opened his mouth for Dev, didn’t he? Humming, Dev deepened the kiss.

  Heat began to grow in the pit of his belly as he leaned in, moaning softly into Dev’s open lips. Dev drew his fingers along Aiden’s cheeks, stroking gently.

  He opened up, begging for more, for one more kiss. Dev gave it to him, tongue sliding through his mouth, and suddenly he was randy as a teenager, reaching up to rock against Dev.

  Dev’s hands slipped around his waist and down to grab his ass.

  He nodded and rocked back into the touch, his moan almost too loud.

  “Bed?” Dev asked, licking his lips and leaving them shiny. He was so pretty.

  “Please.” God knew how much time they had.

  They held hands and went to the bed, sat side by side. Dev cupped his face again, opening his mouth with another kiss. Oh God, they were in bed, the two of them, touching. Kissing.

  Aiden grabbed Dev and rocked them together, both of them achingly hard. Dev leaned and they fell back, laughing as their torsos bounced, their legs still dangling.

  Dev caught his breath. “Damn, now we have to do the undignified squirm up the bed.”

  “I promise not to remember.”

  Dev giggled, and they pulled the maneuver together until they had their heads on the pillows, their bodies fully on the bed now. He took a kiss while Dev was laughing, taking the joy in. They were both hard as rocks, both cackling like madmen.

  Dev grabbed the bottom of Aiden’s T-shirt, tugged it out of his jeans and pulled it up his body. That sobered Dev up, his fingers trailing over Aiden’s bared skin.

  “So soft and warm,” murmured Dev, and that made Aiden feel like he was magical.

  “Yeah. Yeah, feels good, honey.” He goose-pimpled up, arched into Dev’s fingers.

  Dev brushed his fingers across Aiden’s right nipple, and then he tugged the T-shirt the rest of the way off. Aiden helped by leaning up slightly, and they made short work of it. Dev looked at his chest, then reached for both nipples again.

  “I don’t know whether to take my time to explore you or get us naked and rubbing fast in case someone wakes up and needs us.”

  “It’s a conundrum, isn’t it?” Aiden arched up toward Dev’s hand.

  “Yeah.” Dev played with his nipples, fingers moving back and forth across them over and over. “Maybe we can do both. Go fast and then take time to explore?”

  “You are a brilliant man. No wonder I like you.”

  Dev laughed it off, but he was tugging his own T-shirt off, then starting on his pants. “You do yours and I’ll do mine—that’ll be quickest. Then we can meet in the middle again.”

  “I like meeting. I like your middle.”

  “Uh-huh. Me too.” Dev pressed close to him and their cocks touched, rubbed against each other. “Oh God.” Groaning, Dev began to move, sliding them together.

  They were naked. Together. In bed. Together.

  Aiden didn’t think he was going to last very long, especially when Dev wrapped those big hands around his ass again and tugged them even closer together. Dev groaned, eyes dropping closed, mouth opening.

  They rocked together like they were meant to be.

  Dev leaned forward, blindly searching for his mouth and touching on his nose first, then getting it, and they kissed as they rubbed. The pleasure seemed really big, so much bigger than taking care of business with his own hand had ever been.

  Aiden reached out and gathered their cocks together, squeezing tight.

  “Oh fuck!” Dev’s eyes snapped open and his mouth snapped closed. “Sorry! It’s really good, though, and I couldn’t help it.”

  “I swear I won’t tell.” Aiden squeezed again, his chuckle turning into a moan.

  Dev groaned and got them moving, working with Aiden to keep their cocks sliding through the tunnel of Aiden’s hand. Dev found his mouth again too, kissing him enthusiastically.

  “Close,” Aiden warned. His balls were drawn up, hard, aching.

  His eyes rolled back in his head and he cried out into Dev’s lips. Dev swallowed the noise he made and moved them together faster. “Gonna. Aiden.”

  God, he hoped so. He wanted to know.

  “Oh God.” Dev froze, spunk shooting up over Aiden’s hand as he came.

  Aiden groaned, the heat splashing on his cock, slicking the way of his stroking and making everything unbearably good.

  “Your turn,” Dev insisted, squeezing his asscheek tight.

  “God yes. Please. Harder.” He leaned into Dev’s shoulder, panting.

  “You need this to come?” As Dev said “this,” he pinched Aiden’s right nipple, giving it a little twist.

  Seed sprayed from him, his balls emptying in hard pulses, and he muffled his cry in Dev’s body.

  Groaning, Dev rubbed the come into his skin. “You smell good, Aiden.”

  “Mmm. Thank you. Damn, you. I—you made me stupid.”

  “Ditto.” Dev tilted his head up and took a kiss. “This is where we get to slow things down and explore, right? Because I don’t hear anything I shouldn’t hear.”

  “Perfect.” He reached down, weighed Dev’s balls in one palm. “Pretty.”

  “God, I love your touch.” Dev took another kiss and began to touch him, fingers tracing the muscles of his arms, then his back.

  Everything seemed lazy and slow—sated—but with an edge to it, like it could become more at any second, and suddenly Aiden wanted that more.

  Not in a purely sexual sense either.

  “I—would you…?” What was he doing? Was he goin
g to ask Dev to share his bed?

  “Anything,” Dev murmured, nuzzling his cheek. “Tell me what you want.”

  “Would you like to stay in here, with me? I mean, not just for sex, but for sleeping?” Very suave, Aiden. Super classy. His cheeks started to burn, and he was fucking glad it was dark.

  “Oh.” It was more a gasp than a word, and Dev suddenly hugged him, holding him tight against his warm body. “Yes, please.” There was a hint of wonder in Dev’s voice.

  “Yeah?” Oh. Okay. Cool. “Rock on.”

  Dev kissed him suddenly, and just like that everything ramped back up. Dev touched him, fingers moving with more intent, tracing his spine and playing with the bundle of nerves in the small of his back.

  He pressed close, his heart slamming in his chest, his cock trying to fill again. Then Dev upped the ante, sliding one hand around his right asscheek and squeezing, bringing the other to his front. Dev ran his touch across Aiden’s belly before heading upward.

  Aiden took a kiss, slow and hungry all at the same time, his brain still spinning. Dev returned it, their tongues sliding together, playing, as control of the kiss traded back and forth. Then Dev found his nipple, brushing warm fingers across it. It hardened immediately and began to tingle.

  Groaning, Dev broke their kiss long enough to murmur, “So responsive.” Then they were kissing again, and Dev tugged at his nipple, fingers taking the hard little numb and pinching lightly. It ached so well, and he shivered, mouth opening to let Dev in deeper.

  Moaning, Dev rolled them slightly so he was half beneath the long body. As their kisses deepened, so did the strength of Dev’s touches, the ache in his nipple growing. Someone had remembered when he’d said he liked a bit of a strong touch there. Not hurting, but he wanted to feel it.

  Aiden kept rolling Dev’s balls, careful not to push too much, but stroking the velvety sac, rubbing the tender strip of skin behind. Dev gasped softly at that and slid his leg over Aiden’s, which gave Aiden more room to play with the warm flesh down there.

  “Mmm.” Someone liked that. He filed that little bit of information away for future reference.

  “You feel so good.” Dev smiled at him, the look in his eyes half dazed, half pleasure. “Don’t stop, please.”