Short Stories [Man on Man]

Not His to Keep [1]

Sean looked around the ballroom. Dressed in formal suits and pricy dresses, guests danced, sat at tables, or stood. Everybody was talking, smiling. Booming laughs could be heard. Soft, feminine giggles. The sound of the precise and proper band echoed throughout the vast room. It was like a mini symphony.

He was just an intern, but that didn't matter. Everybody had been invited to celebrate the law firm Webster & Brandt's thirtieth anniversary-thing. He'd made a lot of friends throughout his internship. And then some.

His eyes strayed to the man who'd been dominating his thoughts – and body – for the past few months. Three, to be exact. The man was his boss, in a way, the man he'd been assigned to work under during his internship.

Beau Gallagher stood off to the side, his hand on the lower back of a beautiful woman. Beau's wife. Sean hated the sight of that strong, corded hand there. Those hands were his. They should be on him, holding him, not her.

He took another gulp of his beer and looked back at the band, trying to think of something else. Anything else. But he couldn't.

The first day he'd met Beau, the man had been an ass. There'd been circles under his eyes and what seemed to be a permanent scowl on his face. He'd said he didn't have time for an intern, especially someone like him – a “kid” was what he'd said. A “cocky kid who wasn't worth his weight in salt,” he'd heard the man say to Brandt, the partner of the firm.

But Sean had made sure he was worth it. He'd kept his mouth shut, did what Beau had more shouted than said, and hadn't spoken unless spoken to. He'd proved he was worth his weight in salt and more, all while working another job and finishing with his undergraduate degree. Within a couple of weeks, he'd become not only invaluable to Beau but to some of the other lawyers, as well.

Beau must have seen that, too, because the man had gotten nicer, even to the point of being downright charming. Sean had already felt an attraction to the man, and after another one of those late nights at the firm, Beau had spilled everything to him. Being in the closet his whole life, too scared to come out. Sean wasn't out, either. He was sure Beau had figured it out, though, right after Sean had leaned in and poured out all the pent-up lust that almost half a year could hold with just one kiss.

One kiss had turned into another. They'd somehow made it to his car, to his small apartment, and then, their clothes had fallen to his kitchen floor. And Beau had been fucking him, stretching things that had never been stretched, and making him scream so many times.

And now, they were here. He was just about done with his internship. Beau had already sent a form that completed his time spent there, along with recommendations from a few other prominent lawyers in the firm. He was golden. When it came to his future career, at least.

This on the other hand... He closed his eyes and blinked the tears away. Beau was still over by his wife. Their marriage had cemented Beau's placement in the firm. It was politics. Stupid politics that had forced them together. But Beau wouldn't leave her. No, the man was going to leave him. It was only a matter of time.

He was talking to Elliot Brandt, the other partner. Brandt was getting older. Rumor was that he would be retiring next year, with none other than Beau Gallagher to fill the position of partner.

Beau Gallagher.

He could all but hear those familiar pants and moans. The strength of that body.

Sean rubbed at his eyes and placed the empty bottle back onto the bar. That was his fourth one tonight. He was driving home tonight. A DWI was definitely not something he needed tonight. What he needed was to lay down in bed, close his eyes as tightly as he could, and sleep away whatever the hell was ripping his insides apart.