Courage and Comfort

  Evernight Publishing

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2014 Berengaria Brown

  ISBN: 978-1-77130-835-9

  Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

  Editor: Tricia Kristufek

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  COURAGE AND COMFORT

  Gemstone Romances, 1

  Berengaria Brown

  Copyright © 2014

  Chapter One

  Edmund watched his sister rock her baby. Tears dripped from her pale blue eyes onto the sleeping infant’s head. Her normally soft blonde hair was in desperate need of a shampoo, and her sweater had the remains of baby puke on the right shoulder.

  But Mavis’s unhappiness was not the usual exhaustion of a new mother. Her husband, John, had been killed by a hit-and-run driver on his way to the hospital to share in the birth of their son. John had never met John Jr., and so far, Mavis was struggling to cope with the tragic loss of her husband.

  Edmund didn’t know how to help her. He and his partner, Utah, had washed dishes and laundry and floors. They’d cooked meals and taken out trash. Utah had even walked the floor, rocking baby John for hours and hours one night when the infant had cried inconsolably, hoping a deeper, male voice might soothe the child.

  The other woman in the room, AJ, spoke softly to the men. “You must go and find the Aquamarine. It’s in the ocean off the coast of Rocky Point Beach. Swim straight out from the line where the rock wall marks the end of the beach. It will be near the sandbar, and you’ll recognize it. It’ll call to you, Edmund, as you’re close to Mavis, but Utah must go with you. It will only respond to lovers. That’s why I can’t retrieve it. The person who will be my lover isn’t aware of our connection yet.”

  Edmund looked over at Utah. This was the second time AJ had told them to find the aquamarine. He really didn’t believe in this paranormal, witchy woo-woo stuff, but the fact was that Mavis wasn’t coping. It couldn’t be good for the baby to have a mother who was always crying. She cried as much, if not more, than John Jr. did. “You’re convinced this will work?”

  “When Mavis holds the Aquamarine, she’ll have a tangible connection with John. Aquamarines bring courage and comfort. They soothe people, calming fears and releasing anxiety. As well, they give courage, which Mavis needs right now. You must go and retrieve the aquamarine.” AJ’s voice was stern, forceful.

  Edmund nodded at her and Utah. “We’d best go now then. It’ll take us four hours to get to Rocky Point Beach, and we’ll need to pack our bags and do some chores before we leave. Do you want us to go to the store first, to buy anything for Mavis? Diapers? Tissues?”

  “No, you’ve already bought more than she needs for the moment. I’ll stay here while you’re away, to help her, but it’s the Aquamarine she really needs.” AJ’s gaze pinned Edmund to his chair. Her black eyes seemed to see right through him, into his soul. He shrugged off the fanciful thought and walked over to his sister, kissed her forehead, then dropped a kiss on the sleeping infant’s head.

  Utah followed him, gently stroking Mavis’s shoulder before whispering to the baby. “Sleep, precious child.”

  Utah and Edmund held hands as they walked down the stairs toward the apartment parking lot. Edmund automatically turned left, but Utah said, “The usual places were full, remember. We’re in the back lot this time.”

  “Oh yes, that’s right. Thank God we thought to move Mavis’s car into her own parking space to reserve it for her.”

  “Do you think there really is an Aquamarine? And if it does exist, that we’ll find it?”

  “Hell if I know. But I do know Mavis will end up in postpartum depression or something even worse if we can’t help her to focus on the future. Maybe if she feels John is really with her she’ll cope better.”

  “Yeah, the little one needs all the help we can give him. It’ll be tough for a boy growing up with no father. Heaps of kids don’t live with their dads, but at least they see them sometimes. I hope the driver who killed John rots in hell,” Utah said viciously.

  “Someone must know who did it. Someone must have seen the damage to the vehicle that hit him. I hope Karma gets that asshole real soon.”

  “So what do we need to pack? How long do you think this’ll take?”

  “AJ seemed pretty sure where the Aquamarine will be. But I don’t know. Likely we should plan to stay a couple of days in case it doesn’t reveal itself to us the first time we look,” said Edmund thoughtfully.

  All the way home and while they were each packing a small bag, Utah and Edmund tossed around the idea that a stone could help Mavis recover, could give her courage and comfort. Edmund wanted to believe it was possible. He really wanted Mavis to adjust to the terrible blow life had dealt her and concentrate on raising her baby. But he wasn’t sure he had that much faith. The whole concept was just too weird.

  Chapter Two

  Rocky Point Beach, despite its name, was a stretch of about a mile of golden sand between a high cliff wall to the south and a curving rocky promontory that extended well into the sea to the north. Keen swimmers could swim out around the rocks and into a much smaller, sheltered cove. But few bothered to do that, finding the main beach more than adequate for their recreational needs.

  Edmund had the pale skin that commonly accompanied blond hair and light blue eyes. But he loved swimming and the beach, so he usually wore a full-body wetsuit, including a hood, which protected him from his ears down to his ankles. He only had to worry about sunburn on the few inches of skin on his face not covered by his goggles and the equally small amount of skin on his feet not covered by his flippers.

  Utah, on the other hand, had the solid tan of an outdoorsman. His black hair and dark brown eyes hinted at a more Mediterranean heritage, although his name seemed to imply Native American antecedents. Utah had no idea which was correct. What he knew of his family tree seemed to include a bit of everything from everywhere. However, he almost never had to worry about being sunburned, so he watched with a smile as Edmund slathered his face and feet with waterproof sunblock.

  Utah wore short black board shorts, his black goggles dangling around his neck for when they reached the sandbar and started to look for the Aquamarine. Although he looked more the bad, beach-boy-type, he cheerfully admitted Edmund’s swimming and diving skills were superior to his. He’d grown up where it was too cold to swim outdoors most of the year. Edmund, on the other hand, seemed to revel in cold water—or likely it was the wetsuit’s protection that enabled him to cope with lower temperatures.

  Thank God today was hot and sunny, and the water was warm.

  Utah faced the ocean and stared into the distance, mentally marking the line from the rock wall out to the sandbar. It was about two hundred yards, he thought, which made him grateful the sandbar was there for him to rest on before he had to get back to shore. He was a strong swimmer, but when he added in the diving around they’d likely have to do while looking for the Aquamarine, it’d be close to half a mile of swimming, and that was pretty much his limit.

  “Are you working out where to look?” Edmund asked, dropping the sunblock onto his towel.

  “Yeah. It’s lucky you’re such a good swimmer. I reckon I’ll need to sit on the sandbar and rest after a while.”

  “There’s other things we ca
n do on the sandbar too,” Edmund said softly, waggling his eyebrows.

  “Uh-huh. Like get arrested for public indecency?”

  “Nah. No one will see anything they shouldn’t. We’ll keep our backs to the beach.”

  “And no one will be watching us with binoculars from those speedboats out there?” challenged Utah.

  “We’ll be fine.”

  Utah just smiled at his partner. Edmund had all the confidence in the world and likely some naughty plan in mind. Well, they’d soon see just how doable his plans were. One of the things Utah loved about Edmund was his insouciant acceptance of sex as an integral part of daily life. And Utah’s dick was always ready to get involved in sex with Edmund!

  Even just looking at Edmund in that tight, body-hugging wetsuit made Utah’s cock grow and harden and his balls tighten. Down boy, he thought, widening his stance a little to ease the pressure on his equipment. First we find this mystical Aquamarine for Mavis. Then we fuck each other’s brains out.

  The more he thought about it, the crazier it sounded. Here on a public beach where dozens, even hundreds, of people visited every day, they were going to swim out to a sandbar and find a precious stone. They would then give this stone to Edmund’s sister, and with no other help—no therapy, no psychiatrists, no lawyers, nothing else at all—she would accept the loss of her husband and focus on rearing her kid. When he put it like that, it almost sounded like he was the one who needed a good therapist. Deluded didn’t come close to explaining the lack of logic in those thoughts. Ah well, all I can do is support Edmund. AJ had made it quite plain Edmund would not succeed if Utah wasn’t there with him. And anyway, he wanted to be with Edmund, wanted to help him.

  Shrugging, he swung around to look at Edmund. “Are you ready to go fetch this rock?”

  “Yes, sure. But how are we supposed to recognize it?”

  “Hell if I know. Isn’t it supposed to call to you, or something?”

  “Just as well our business clients can’t see us now, then.”

  Together they walked into the water until it was waist high. Then Utah watched as Edmund dived into the surf and sped through it like a sleek black fish. He hardly seems to make any movements, Utah thought, just the occasional wiggle of his hips and kick of his flippers, yet one minute he’s there, and the next he’d disappeared.

  Much less neatly, Utah dived in and followed his partner, lover, friend, swimming as directly as he could to the place he’d mentally marked as where the Aquamarine should be. When he thought he was about in the right place, Utah bobbed upright, treading water and looking around. On an east-west axis, he was almost exactly where he’d figured he should be, but maybe a few more yards south would be better.

  Sure enough, there was a streak of black on the ocean floor. Edmund was already here, and looking for the stone. Once again Utah treaded water while he pulled his goggles over his eyes, and then he filled his lungs and released the air several times, oxygenating himself thoroughly before filling them one more time and diving deep, all the way the bottom.

  It was a bright, sunny day and the water was clear, so the ocean floor was very easy to see. In fact, everything looked as crisp and clear as if it weren’t underwater, although Utah knew if he tried to pick something up, it wasn’t actually where it looked like it was, thanks to the light’s refraction at this depth.

  Silently, he followed the ocean floor, looking for rocks, pebbles, anything that might be an Aquamarine. But all he could see was sand, the occasional shell, and a bit of seaweed here and there. He let the air dribble out of his mouth very slowly as he swum up and down, but he finally needed to return to the top for another breath.

  For what seemed like hours—although was likely less than half of one—he swam up and down, searching until his legs and lungs ached. Finally he caught Edmund’s attention and gestured to the sandbar. Utah really needed a rest. He simply wasn’t as good a swimmer as Edmund.

  Edmund nodded and pointed down again, indicating he would keep searching.

  Utah gave Edmund a thumbs-up, then swam over to the sandbar and floated across it until he reached a high point where he could sit with his head out of the water. Gratefully, he sank onto his haunches, then onto his ass, letting his aching legs stretch and float in the shallow water. He looked at the sky, resting his arms behind him, filling his lungs with clean air and his face with sunlight.

  This was a beautiful place. The air was so crisp and clean, with a delicious salty tang to it, that every breath was like savoring a tasty meal. The beach was a mile of pristine sand, the water was clear, and the deep blue of the sea met the brighter blue of the horizon in a line far out in the distance. Even the rock cliff at the end of the beach was a stunning sight of colorful layers—reds, ochers, browns—and interesting shapes where the cliff had been eroded by the water over millennia. If he wasn’t here on a quest for the Aquamarine, he’d be more than happy to just sit and fill his eyes with nature’s wonders for hours on end.

  Of course, the most interesting shape of all was the sleek black form of Edmund, slowly swimming up and down near the edge of the sandbar. The man was beautiful too. Kind of like an aquamarine even, with his pale skin, blond hair, and light blue eyes. They’d been together for over two years now, and Utah had known the instant they’d met they were right for each other.

  Utah sat a little straighter and moved one arm from behind him to his lap, sliding his hand inside his swimwear to tug on his cock under the water. He smiled to himself. Two years into the relationship, and his dick still became hard the moment he thought of Edmund. They fit together like two parts of a whole. He liked to plan things carefully, to know exactly what would happen and when. He liked certainty, logic, reason, likely because of his mathematical background. Numbers were easy to explain.

  Edmund was more relaxed. He’d drop everything if a new project attracted his attention. It’d been Edmund who’d encouraged Utah to move into a condo together, then to quit their jobs and start a do-it-yourself kit-building business together.

  Inside, Utah’s orderly mind had been almost panicking over that move, but they’d never had a moment’s problem with the business. Their skills meshed completely—his own anal, mathematical, business-focused background, and Edmund’s people-focused, customer-driven attitude. Although many businesses failed in their first year, theirs was growing steadily.

  It had been a major help in this time of crisis with John’s death too, as they’d been able to continue running the business while spending many hours with Mavis. Their long-suffering office manager, Jayne, dealt with the hundreds of e-mails they sent her at all hours of the day and night, forwarding them only messages that need their personal attention and dealing with all the day-to-day details in her simple, no-nonsense way.

  Utah thought of Edmund’s long, lean figure in his bed. Edmund’s pale skin contrasting so sexily with his dark tones. Edmund’s pale pink ass upturned, open, waiting for his cock to plunge deep inside. Edmund’s tongue tangling with his.

  Whoever it was who’d said a man couldn’t jack off in water didn’t know what they were talking about. Utah was tugging hard on his cock now. His dick was full of cum, aching, engorged, and his balls were drawn up tight against his body. His dick was harder than a spike, and he was so close. So very close.

  Utah pictured Edmund as he’d been in their bed last night, his blond hair sweaty after a marathon sex session, his dick still half-hard despite having come twice. He saw himself flipping Edmund over and driving his own dick deep into the welcoming heat of Edmund’s dark channel, his hands pulling on Edmund’s cock, his teeth biting down on that sensitive place where Edmund’s neck and shoulder joined together. Cum roared up his cock and spurted into the water. Utah groaned as he pulled on his shaft again, releasing another jet of seed, and another. Finally he leaned back, breathing hard, Edmund’s face still the center of his mind.

  Almost as if Edmund sensed what Utah had been doing, he rose out of the water just then and walked across t
he sandbar to sit by Utah. “This might take longer than I thought,” Edmund said.

  Utah slowly slid the zipper down Edmund’s wetsuit, keeping his eyes fixed on Edmund’s face. “Let me just have a snack while you catch your breath.”

  “A snack, huh?”

  He reached in and released Edmund’s cock from the boy-shorts swimwear he had on under the wetsuit. “Yeah, I want a taste of you.”

  “Only a taste?” Edmund’s voice was hoarse.

  Their positions weren’t ideal as the dick was underwater, but to stand up would be to risk an observer seeing exactly what was happening. While they were seated, a watcher might wonder, even guess, but they’d never be sure. Utah bent down and sucked Edmund’s dick into his mouth. Next, he pulled Edmund’s ass onto his own thighs, raising him a little higher so the tip of his cock was out of the water. “That’s better. I can breathe and suck at the same time now.” He lowered his head once more, and sucked Edmund’s yummy cock into his mouth. Utah used his other hand to cup Edmund’s balls. Not only was his partner’s cock huge and engorged, his balls were hard and tight. This wasn’t going to take long. Edmund was every bit as aroused as Utah was. Doing something as naughty as this on a public beach was one hell of an aphrodisiac. No one was in their immediate vicinity, but the risk of being caught was still very real.

  Utah sucked hard, hollowing his cheeks, stroking Edmund’s balls and the root of the shaft while sucking the tip. He let the cock out of his mouth a little way, then scraped his teeth over the soft cockhead and down the shaft along the big vein. He made sure his touch was hard enough to arouse but not enough to hurt. Edmund’s heavy breathing told him he was successful.

  Once again he sucked the dick into his mouth, taking as much of it as he could, then humming. This was one of his favorite tricks and never failed to win an instant response from Edmund. Once again it worked. Edmund’s dick twitched in his mouth, then a jet of cum shot out and hit the back of his throat. Quickly, Utah sucked again before releasing the shaft a little way and swallowing Edmund’s essence. He continued to roll Edmund’s balls, knowing how much the man loved that, his touch firm but not harsh, just how Edmund liked it best.