Parker Williams

Tom and Aiden: Thinking of Eternity

Tom and Aiden: Thinking of Eternity

This is a short featuring Tom and Aiden from ‘Stained Hearts’.

When I got into the house, the smell of lasagna perfumed the air. My stomach growled, because I loved it when Aiden got creative in the kitchen. I was always the lucky one who benefitted from his ingenuity. I peeked around the corner, but he wasn’t where I figured he’d be.

“Aiden?” I called out.

Silence was my only answer, and that made me nervous. My husband liked to push himself, sometimes way harder than he should, in my opinion. There was a time I would have insisted he stop, but our therapist reminded me, more often than I’d like to admit, that just because a person is disabled, that didn’t make them weak, and they had to be able to make their own choices. I tried to get better, really, but seeing him in pain was always so difficult.

“Tom?”

His voice was weak, thready, and my heart slammed into my chest. I hadn’t heard that level of pain from him in months. I hurried to the bedroom and grabbed his pill bottle, then stopped and filled a glass of water. Entering the living room, I found him, head thrown back, arm over his eyes. His lips quivered, and the lower one jutted out slightly.

“Bad?”

He nodded, and I could see the shine in his eyes. “This sucks. Olivia and Blake are coming for dinner, and I still haven’t done the salad.”

I put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. “I’ll take care of that. How many pills do you need?”

“Two, please,” he whispered.

He hadn’t needed two since before we got together. “Want to go to the hospital?”

He shook his head. “Just have to rest a few minutes, then I’ll get up and—”

I stroked a hand over his hair. “Aiden, baby. Close your eyes, okay. Let me handle the rest of the dinner.”

He snorted. “I’ve had your cooking. Better if I do it.”

That was my sweetheart. When he was in pain, he tried to mask it with humor. I sat beside him on the couch, and put a hand on his knee. “Okay, how bad is it, and be honest.”

“I… I fell,” he admitted. “I turned too fast, and my legs gave out. Down I went. Fortunately, I wasn’t holding anything at the time.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask why he hadn’t called me, but again, I had to trust him to know his body.

“I should have called,” he said, as though he’d read my mind. “It wasn’t easy getting to the couch. Every time I tried to stand, I went down again. It was so damned frustrating.”

Which meant that he pushed himself even harder. Aiden didn’t like anyone to think he was weak. He would do whatever he had to in order to show he was strong and capable. I loved him for that, even while I longed to take care of him. Still, I knew I couldn’t, and had done my best to make peace with it.

“Where will you be buried?” he blurted out.

The shift in conversation threw me. “What?”

He sat up and peered into my eyes. “When you die, where will you be buried?”

I smiled at him. “I don’t plan on dying for a while.”

“No, I know.” He gestured toward his tablet, which sat on the side table. “While I was sitting here, I was watching some TikTok videos, and came across one that broke my heart. Makaleigh Colleen did a song about a husband and wife who planned to be buried next to each other, and how, after she died, the man remarried, and planned to be buried beside his new wife, and how the first wife was alone and lonely.”

“And you cried?”

“Buckets,” he assured me. “Then I thought about us. Where do you plan on being buried?”

“Well, you know that Brian was cremated, and I buried his ashes, right?”

“Yeah, but you still have a place for him. We put flowers on it last year.”

And we had. Aiden wasn’t wrong. It was planned that I would be buried next to Brian. To be honest, I’d never even considered being away from either of my men.

“We had plots next to each other,” I admitted. “I was supposed to be buried next to him.”

“Then you should do that,” Aiden said, his tone strong. “I don’t want to think of Brian being alone and waiting for you.”

We’d sworn to each other that we would wait if one of us went first. I could see how that song would affect Aiden, because even though I hadn’t seen it, now I felt like crying.

“I won’t leave you alone either,” I said adamantly.

“I’ll have Olivia.”

“And if she marries Blake?”

His lips curled downward. “Oh.”

“Let me ask you a question. There is no right or wrong answer here, so don’t think there is, okay?”

“Sure,” he replied, his tone a little loopy. His pills made him sleepy, and I knew he’d be out soon.

“How about if we—you, me, and Brian—all share? You can be buried on my left, Brian on my right.”

A sloppy grin and eyes fluttering shut. “I like that,” he said, his voice filled with sleep. “If it wasn’t for Brian, I wouldn’t be here now. I think… no, I know, I’d like to spend eternity with the man who gave me such happiness.”

I leaned in and kissed him on the forehead. “Then it’s settled. I’ll handle everything tomorrow. Now close your eyes. Do you want me to carry you to the bedroom?”

He shook his head, which was already lolling. “Can’t. Livvy is coming and…and…” His head dropped, and he was out. I went to the bedroom and grabbed a comforter, then came back and helped Aiden to lay down, then covered him up. I went to the kitchen and took the perfectly golden brown lasagna out of the oven and placed it aside to cool, then called Olivia.

“Let me guess. Bad day?”

“Yeah. He needed two pills.”

“I told him I could pick dinner up. He insisted he wanted to make it.” She sighed. “He’s always pushing himself. I get tired just watching him. Okay. Save me some lasagna, and  I’ll swing by tomorrow to check on him.”

“Let Blake know how sorry we are.”

She chuckled. “Believe me, with Aiden as a brother, I plan for these things. I’ll take Blake out for a Big Mac, and he’ll be happy.” Her voice softened. “Take care of him, okay?”

“You know I will,” I answered. “Remind me later to tell you what he asked me.”

“Okay. Good night, Tom.”

“Night, Livvy.”

I put my phone away, and returned to the living room. The pain that I’d seen on Aiden’s face earlier was gone, the tightness around his mouth smoothed out. I bent and kissed his forehead, then sat in the chair to keep an eye on him. Two pills really knocked him out, and I wanted to be there if he needed me.

God, I loved him so.

 

If you want to see the video that inspired the story: https://www.tiktok.com/@makaleighcolleen/video/7105232136822590766

The Return: Chapter Thirteen

The Return: Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

The two of us laid there, touching, kissing, stroking. Jonas’s cum was leaking from my ass, and when I said I was going to clean up, he pinned me down, telling me that he liked it, and I should leave it. Any protest was cut off when he jammed his tongue into my mouth and got me hard again. This time when he pushed back into me, it was slow, languid. He spent the entire time staring into my eyes, and I could see the love in them.

We fell asleep in each other’s arms, and I knew a true contentment. I had been searching for something most of my life, and now? I found it. My home was Jonas. I didn’t even care if we had to move to the pack house anymore, as long as I was with him.

“Core,” he murmured. “Love you so fucking much. I never thought it could be like this.”

Then he was snoring again. A light, airy buzz that made me smile.

The house door opened, then closed. I could hear Matt and Kinsey as they made their way through the living room.

“….loved the explosions,” Kinsey said, actually sounding excited. “They don’t usually get them right, but these were amazing.”

“When the two men kissed, I was shocked. I didn’t realize the woman wasn’t going to be the love interest. That threw me for a loop.”

“Plus the sex scene was hot.”

“Yeah,” came the shy reply. “Kinsey, I—”

Whatever Matt was saying was cut off by a soft moan. I got up, put my pants on, then crept to the door. When I opened it, my jaw dropped. Kinsey had Matt’s wrists held in his hand and pinned above him to the wall as he kissed Matt breathless. When he pulled back, Matt’s eyes were wide.

“Why did you do that?” he asked.

The Return: Chapter Twelve

The Return: Chapter Twelve

Someone asked why I’m posting a book that’s for sale. The simple answer is, this version is unedited. The version that’s up at Amazon/Kindle Unlimited has been through edits. So if you like the story, please feel free to hit up KU to get it. 🙂


Chapter Twelve

I won’t lie and say the Council’s visit was smooth after Corey’s stunt. Yawen was pissy, probably because Corey forced them to step back and look at how they were running things. My dad always said we should respect the Council, but that they were behind the times, and he looked forward to the younger generation when the time came for the elders to step down.

So they could be as grumpy as they wanted, I didn’t care. Corey’d done it. He stood up for our pack, and got us two new members. It was agreed with the Council that Matt and Kinsey would continue in their roles and Corey’s chauffeur and bodyguard, but that payment would be handled by our pack now. Matt was tripping on air, a huge smile on his face. Kinsey was…well, Kinsey.

After the Council left, my mate and new pack members sat in the coffeeshop and chatted, while I went back to my office to get some work done. I didn’t want to leave Corey alone, but he shoved me out the door and reminded me I needed to get moving if I wanted a special surprise that night.

I never worked harder.

When I got home, the lights were down low, there was a bottle of wine on the table, and two taper candles in silver holders standing in the center.

“What’s this?”

Corey swooped in and gave me a gentle kiss. “This is our first date. I wanted something special for tonight.”

“It’s beautiful,” I told him. “Where are your new boys?”

“I threw some money at them and said they needed to get the fuck out.” He grinned. “I told them to go out and get a pizza, and afterward go to a movie. A long one. Matt was excited, but I’m pretty sure from Kinsey’s raised brows he knew what was happening.”

The Return: Chapter Eleven

The Return: Chapter Eleven

Corey had his routine down pat. When we got in, he had the three of us sit at the counter, while he went in the back. The sounds of cooler doors opening and closing, then baking tins sliding into the oven was the first thing I heard.

“Core? You need help?”

“I’m good. I’ve been doing this every day for years.”

That was all well and fine, but I wasn’t about to let my mate work his fingers to nubs while I sat on my ass. I got up from my seat, then ensured the sugar caddies, salt and pepper shakers, and condiment station were all full. Then I did the same for the dish ware.

“What can I do?” Matt asked me.

“Matt wants to help,” I called out. “Do you have something he can do?”

The door opened and Corey stepped out. I could see traces of flour and shiny spots, probably from the nonstick spray we used in the pans, on an apron he’d donned. He smiled at Matt.

“Which do you prefer? Hot chocolate or tea?”

“I can have coffee.”

The Return: Chapter Ten

The Return: Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

When Jonas entered the house, he came out to the back where I was working with Brent Royale, who I found on the website. It listed him as being a handyman jack-of-all-trades kind of guy, and when I spoke with him, he said that putting together a shelter for Matt would be no problem.

The work had been going well. The lean-to style edifice would give Matt protection from the elements, but still allow him to see the stars he loved. And if things got bad, Brent added tarps that a man or wolf could easily unfurl to cover the unit.

Then Jonas walked in and dropped his bombshell.