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protect Nick, to take care of him, to make everything better.
290
To Serve and Protect
by Chris Owen, Tory Temple, CB Potts
Nick's partner Matthew couldn't even be bothered to show up
tonight, or Nick had snuck out without him (and there had to
be a reason for that). Mitch was the one who was here.
Mitch slid a hand up Nick's arm and over his shoulder to
the back of his neck. His fingertips brushed into Nick's hair at
the nape; Nick lifted his face, and Mitch kissed him.
Nick's lips and nose were cold, but his mouth parted
willingly against Mitch's, his hand tightening at Mitch's waist.
Mitch wrapped his other arm around him and pulled him
closer, delving his tongue into Nick's mouth for a first taste of
the warmth there; Nick made a small, eager sound and
grabbed hold of the front of Mitch's shirt.
"Jesus, you feel good," Mitch muttered.
Nick turned to face him, legs straddling Mitch's lap. Both
his hands came up to Mitch's face as the two of them found a
better angle. "Mitch ... we can't do this," Nick said.
"Sure we can," Mitch disagreed, although they sure as hell
couldn't shouldn't do it here.
"No, we can't." Nick kissed him again, though. It made it
hard to take him seriously.
Mitch decided that the best way to keep Nick from
continuing to say they couldn't do something that they
obviously were doing was to kiss him, so he focused on doing
that. Nick felt fantastic, solid but not heavy, and he clung to
Mitch like he needed him, which just turned Mitch on that
much more.
"No," Nick said against Mitch's lips, and then again with
more emphasis. "No."
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To Serve and Protect
by Chris Owen, Tory Temple, CB Potts
Disappointed, Mitch let go of Nick's arms and leaned back.
"Okay," he said. "Whatever you want."
Nick got up and backed away. "Can we go?"
They walked back to the car without saying anything.
Mitch unlocked the passenger side door for Nick and waited
for him to get in, then shut the door; he didn't realize until
he'd walked around to the other side how weird all of this
was, and then he had to pause for a second and take a deep
breath.
"I'm sorry," he said, after he'd started driving back toward
Nick's hotel. "I didn't I don't do stuff like that."
"It's not that I didn't like it," Nick said. "But Matthew
wouldn't. And I'm pretty sure your boyfriend wouldn't be too
crazy about it, either."
"We broke up," Mitch said. "I think. Which would make him
not my boyfriend."
"You don't know what's going on," Nick said. "You need to
talk to him and work things out before you start messing
around with other people."
Mitch tried to let that sink in. "I know," he said finally.
"You're right. I've never I never cheated on Clay. Never.
God." It made his throat hurt to think about it.
"Hey." Nick patted Mitch's arm. "Don't freak out. Just take
a couple of deep breaths and figure out what you want to do.
If it's over, you can move on knowing you did what you could.
If there's still something there that can be fixed, you can
work on it. Together."
When they arrived at the hotel, it was nicer than Mitch
remembered, even though it had been a couple of years since
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To Serve and Protect
by Chris Owen, Tory Temple, CB Potts
the last time he'd been there. He shook his head at the desk
clerk when they went by she must have recognized him,
because she looked first alarmed, then relieved. It was a
reaction Mitch was pretty familiar with. He walked Nick up to
his room.
"I have a key somewhere," Nick said, fumbling in his
pockets. He got the key card out, but it slipped from his
hands and fell to the floor.
"I've got it," Mitch said. Bending down, he picked up the
card. When he straightened back up again, he glanced at
Nick, who looked so exhausted and miserable that Mitch did a
double take. "Hey," he said gently, and hugged him. It was
an impulse, a need to provide comfort. He inhaled and
exhaled a couple of times, imprinting the scent of Nick's hair
in his memory, then pressed an awkward kiss to Nick's
temple before pulling away. "Here."
Nick took the key and smiled. "Thank you."
Shaking his head, Mitch said, "No thank you. For
everything."
"I just wish I could have done more," Nick said, and before
Mitch could reply, the door opened.
"Where the hell have you been?" Matthew asked. He was
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