Aftermath by Bailey Bradford (best non fiction books to read txt) 📕

in this world on some level, and some don’t. Nothing we do or decide together will change that,” Darren added.

“I’m aware.” Lee grimaced. “I didn’t mean that bitchy.”

“I know. I’ll be right back.” Darren gotten up then went to get his laptop. He returned and sat down on the couch closer to Lee. “Let’s see what our most viable options are. The laws in this state aren’t going to be in our favor, I can guarantee you that.”

“Okay.” Lee sounded so eager with just that one word.

Together they read through as much information as they could handle in one evening. With many of the courts in Texas refusing to allow an adoption to two parents of the same sex—only one could be listed as a parent—they risked having only one of them on any legal papers.

“But it says in this article that it depends on the judge,” Lee pointed out. “I think we might be okay if we got Judge Ashe. She’s not bigoted, and if she can legally have us both listed as parents, she’ll do it.”

“We need a lawyer to start with, I think,” Darren muttered. “I like the idea of adopting kids who are in foster care, giving them a good home. If—” He flinched a little but forced himself to go on. They needed to be very honest about what they wanted. “If you wanted to, I’d like to adopt more than one. Maybe siblings if we can?”

“Age limits?” Lee responded with.

Darren had no idea. “Um, not adults?”

Lee laughed and gave him a one-armed hug. “Yeah, that’d be good. Come on, we’ve talked enough of this out tonight. Come take a shower with me so we can de-stink your feet.”

“Hey,” Darren said. “What was all that about smelling like a man?”

Lee winked at him and stood up. “You’ll be smelling like a clean man soon.”

In the shower, Darren soon found himself pinned up against the wall.

“Can I?” Lee asked, fondling Darren’s balls.

“Anything,” Darren told him.

Lee kissed him, licking Darren’s lips then sliding his tongue into Darren’s mouth. He cupped Darren’s jaw and canted his head to the side, then sucked on Darren’s bottom lip.

Darren ran his hands over Lee’s wet skin, shivering with anticipation as he thought of Lee fucking him.

“Gotta do this as often as we can, before we’re parents and exhausted from our kids’ antics,” Lee said.

Darren agreed, though he didn’t speak since Lee turned him around to face the wall.

“Brace yourself,” Lee warned. He moved the showerhead aside so the water didn’t touch them much. Then he grabbed the bottle of conditioner and opened it before pouring some into his hand. “Mmm. Coconut scented. Seems appropriate. Makes me think of the beach, and sex.”

“You should get on with that sex part,” Darren teased.

“Patience,” Lee replied. “And spread your cheeks for me.”

Darren reached back and parted his buttocks, exposing his hole to Lee. Once, he’d have been shy about it, but Lee knew every inch of his body intimately, just as Darren knew Lee’s.

“Sweet,” Lee murmured as he rubbed slick fingers over Darren’s hole. “So sweet.”

“And sexy,” Darren reminded him. “Don’t forget sexy. Ungh!”

“Of course.” Lee grinned and Darren closed his eyes as his hole was stretched quickly, Lee starting with two fingers. In short order, he was pulling them out and lining up his cock. “Can you put one foot on the side of the stall?”

Darren lifted his right foot and propped it up. He arched his lower back and gave Lee his ass.

Lee held him by the hip and the shoulder while thrusting in to the hilt.

“Yes,” Darren hissed, wanting a hard, fast ride.

Lee gave it to him, never once holding still. He withdrew almost completely then slammed back in, then did it again and again, until Darren lost track of everything but the way Lee’s dick filled him so perfectly, pushing more and more pleasure into him with each rub of Lee’s cockhead over his gland.

When Lee reached around to fist Darren’s dick, Darren was unable to do more than keen, his body awash in the perfection of their lovemaking. He lasted all of a half dozen strokes, then he was coming, his body flushing hot with ecstasy as he jetted cum onto the wall and his belly.

Lee growled and drove in faster. His balls slapped against Darren’s skin, then Lee clutched at him tightly. Darren felt each spurt of Lee’s spunk warming his inner walls. It was beautiful and perfect, and he wanted the moment to never end.

And maybe, he realized, it didn’t have to end. What they had done was a part of a whole, the joining of their lives and love. He was turning into a sappy fool, but Darren didn’t mind it at all.

* * * *

“I’m so nervous I think I might puke,” Lee said, pressing a fist to his stomach. “I know everything’s been done, but still. I keep thinking, what if.” Those two words had haunted him this past week as the court date had drawn closer.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” Darren said, taking hold of Lee’s left hand. “Judge Ashe loves us.”

“Because you’ve charmed her.” Lee smiled at Darren. “You do that to everyone, though.”

“Not everyone,” Darren scoffed mildly. “There are a few people who don’t see how awesome I am.”

Lee knew Darren was joking, though Darren’s confidence had grown over the years. He wasn’t an egotistical man, though he had every right to be. “Well, those people are fatally flawed.”

Darren laughed but cut it off short when their lawyer walked through into the courthouse.

“Larry, how’s it going?” Lee shook Larry Aimes’ hand then stepped aside so Darren could do the same. Larry was a little older than Lee, gay, and an expert on adoptions for gay couples. He was expensive, but worth every penny as far as Lee was concerned.

“It’s going great.” Larry beamed at them both, his teeth unnaturally white, just as his skin was too tanned, his hair too slick with product. But despite his appearance, he seemed