Ethan (Alluring Indulgence #5)(131)
Author: Nicole Edwards

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief as the feeling in his fingers returned. He’d been clutching his hands into fists for so long, he’d lost the feeling in his hands.

“Coming right up, Sheriff,” Mack called from just inside the open door.

Before walking inside, Ethan turned and made eye contact with Jimmy. He wanted to ensure the man understood, he wasn’t putting up with his shit from here on out. He’d lost too many years of his life trying to protect those he loved from having to interact with people like that. Jimmy Reardon was a bully. Always had been. People had suffered, Jimmy’s own family included, by his actions.

It looked like Jimmy’s fortified wall of hostility was finally crumbling because the men around him didn’t seem to be all that interested in backing him up any longer.

But more importantly, it looked like somewhere along the way, Ethan had gotten over his fear.

Making his way over to Beau once they were back inside, he took a minute to check him out. And yes, Ethan touched his hands, his knuckles, the huge knot that had formed on his temple.

He wouldn’t lie, it wasn’t solely to make sure he was all right. He knew, by the way that Beau stood straight and tall, taking stock of Ethan’s injuries as well, that the man was just fine.

Ethan didn’t settle for just looking though. No, he touched Beau because he had to. That connection he found with this man would always be what kept him grounded. He knew without a doubt that he would heal with Beau’s help.

Looking around the room at his brothers, his cousins, and his father, for the first time in a long time, Ethan felt… relief? Yes, that had to be what he was feeling.

It seemed that, in a matter of minutes, maybe an hour, all of the demons that had been lingering in Ethan’s life had been addressed directly. Maybe not resolved completely, but Ethan was stronger than he’d ever been, and it had nothing to do with physical power. No, he was stronger because Beau made him that way. Beau filled the empty space that had been eating at him, controlling his life for more years than he cared to admit.

He looked at Beau and noticed he was still staring back at him.

No, Ethan wasn’t in a place where he wanted to show public affection, wasn’t sure he would ever be in that place, but as he studied Beau, he hoped he could see just how much he loved him. Even without saying it or showing it, he knew it had to be written all over his face.

Beau leaned over slightly, still keeping some distance between them. “Yeah, I know.”

It was Ethan’s turn to cock an eyebrow at his lover.

“And the feeling is completely mutual.”

Chapter Forty Two

“Does it hurt?” Ethan asked, standing behind Beau.

“No.”

“Not at all?”

Beau laughed, making Ethan smile.

“No. Why? Did you want it to?”

“Maybe just a little,” he teased Beau. “I like it.”

Tim handed Beau a mirror and Ethan took a step back, letting him get up from the table so he could go check out his new tattoo for himself.

“Nice,” Beau said as he admired the ink that spanned the width of his back, standing in front of the floor length mirror on the wall.

Never Too Late

Although Beau hadn’t told him what he was getting – insisting it be a surprise until Tim placed the outline on his skin – Ethan had loved it immediately. And Beau was right, it was never too late. Not to go after what you wanted. Hell, they were both living proof of that.

Ethan was particularly fond of the tattoo – both the design and the meaning – and looked forward to being able to see it, especially when he was lodged deep inside of Beau’s magnificent body.

“All good?” Tim asked Beau, cleaning up his workspace. The guy had been true to his word, calling Ethan up yesterday to let him know he’d be in Austin. They’d met up with him at one of Tim’s buddy’s tattoo shops a few hours ago, and now it looked as though they were finished.

“I like it,” Beau confirmed. “Nice job, man.”

Tim looked pleased as he glanced between the two of them.

“You sure you don’t want another one?” Tim asked Ethan.

Shaking his head, he grinned. “Not yet anyway. Won’t rule out never, but not just yet.”

The next one he planned to get would be on his left index finger – with Beau getting a matching one. One that symbolized the promise he fully intended to make to Beau one day in the very near future.

Epilogue

♂♀

Sawyer stood along the outer wall, watching as people walked around the large, open banquet room. As it turned out, the conference area at Alluring Indulgence Resort doubled as a reception hall quite nicely. Just like he’d told Zane it would.