023

Fate

"Do you believe in fate?" Bry asks him. Stephen smiles because the question is unexpected, and amusement is never in short supply with the boss.

Bry is a practical man who works endlessly toward a single purpose-—to protect the family. Not by choice but by circumstance. Not by providence but by blood. Bry, Stephen has no doubt, does not believe in fate.

Stephen drags his tongue along the curve of Bry's shoulders; his fingers press into Bry's body. "I believe in myself," Stephen whispers, and kisses him to smother a smile drawn in the tender lines and melancholic shades of Bry's mouth.