What Remains by Bailey Bradford (to read list txt) 📕

home. All day, he’d felt off in a way he couldn’t pin down. It wasn’t like he was precognitive or anything—he just communicated with the dead, if their spirits were still on this plane. Yet he kept feeling an icy tingle down his spine off and on, and that spot between his shoulder blades itched, like someone was watching him.

No one was. He was at home, alone. Even the spirits who usually popped in had been absent today. It happened occasionally. Sev didn’t know where they went or what they were doing, but it amused him to think of them all being required to attend some spirit behavior training course or something like that.

He could easily imagine Conner, Laine’s deceased lover who’d been murdered by James McAlister, acting the clown in such a setting. In spirit, at least, Conner was a prankster a lot of the time, but not always. He was the whole reason Sev had come to McKinton, the reason Sev had even met Laine to begin with. Sev often wondered if Conner had known Sev and Laine would hook up and fall in love.

Whether he had or not, it didn’t matter. Thanks to Conner, Sev had finally found love, and faith enough in himself to accept love from someone else. That was one of the reasons Sev was so fond of Conner. It also didn’t hurt that Conner liked to get Laine’s dander up, which could be quite entertaining. Laine was a wonderful man, but sometimes he was a little too intense and needed shaking up. Conner could do it with a flick of Laine’s badge, knocking the star to the ground, or he’d shove Laine’s hat off. Those were Conner’s favorites, but he did other things as well.

Sev, however, had his own way of dealing with Laine when his lover started to brood. Blood rushed to his cock, heating his veins on the way down as he closed his eyes and pictured Laine naked and spread out, his strong arms stretched above his head, wrists cuffed to the headboard. His body Sev’s to explore. The trust Laine showed by giving himself over to Sev.

God! Sev shuddered as his arousal grew. He scrubbed his palm over his erection, moaning at the rough scrape of denim against sensitive skin. Maybe ditching his underwear hadn’t been the smartest move. As much as he loved that rough friction against his dick, he was too close to coming for his peace of mind. Here he’d thought to turn Laine on past all reason, be all lubed and ready to go, yet Sev was the one who was almost quivering with need—and Laine probably wouldn’t even be home for an hour or so.

An hour was more than enough time for him to recover if he jerked off now. In fact, that would pretty much ensure he lasted longer once he and Laine made love.

Sev didn’t see any reason to resist that bit of logic. He unbuttoned his jeans then slowly eased the zipper down. Before he could so much as trail his fingers over his aching cock, the home phone rang.

“Ugh!” Sev gave his erection a stroke that made him shudder. Answer the phone or beat off? The hard flesh in his hand felt so good—he was already leaking, pre-cum dripping from his slit onto the floor. Whoever was calling could wait. It wasn’t like it was Laine, who always called Sev’s cell. It was probably just another telemarketer. Sev moaned softly as he ran his palm over the crown, gathering the moisture there. He got in a couple of good strokes, smeared the liquid around for an easier glide.

“Fuck!” His hips bucked, shoving his length through his fist with enough force his balls slapped the side of his hand. Sev frantically shoved at his jeans, pushing them down one-handed so he could grab his balls. A sharp tug on his sac sent goosebumps skittering over his skin. Sev tightened his fist around his dick and pumped harder, moaning again as every nerve from his balls to his nipples lit up.

He needed more hands, that was all there was to it. His tits ached to be pinched, twisted to the point of pain. Laine knew just how to do it, making Sev ache with pleasure. Sev settled for rolling his balls. He squeezed them gently, mindful that he didn’t particularly like things rough down there. As the answering machine kicked on, Sev delved the tip of his thumbnail in his slit, barely penetrating the tiny hole. His cock pulsed and his damned nipples burned. Another stroke, another soft squeeze, and he was teetering on the brink of orgasm.

“Severo, this is Alma, your sister.”

As if he didn’t know who Alma was. Sev’s erection wilted so quickly it left him breathless and dizzy. No one in his family ever called him. It was always Sev who contacted them, a pattern they’d fallen into when Sev used to move around from place to place.

“I need to speak to you. We’d…we’d like to come visit, if that’s okay. I hate to leave a message like this on here, but I didn’t want you to worry it was something bad, you know?”

Sev was too stunned to move. He stood staring at the answering machine as if it were an alien. It dawned on him he was still holding his dick, which was just gross what with his sister’s voice echoing in his ears. Quickly tucking it away, he listened to the rest of her message. Picking up the phone was out of the question. One hand was coated in a fair amount of pre-cum and both hands were shaking.

“I know we’ve all been crappy siblings. You’ve always had to come to see us, and…I just think it’s time for us to start being a family again. So will you call me back and let me know if you and your”—there was a slight hesitation, then—“boyfriend? Partner? I don’t mean anything bad, I just don’t know how to