February 19 – (24 weeks)

Justin walked through the halls of Kinnetik, nodding and smiling to people as he passed, but didn't bother to stop to talk to them as he was a man on a mission. And stopping would have meant that it would have taken that much longer for him to get to Brian, and he didn't think that he could put off his hunger for even one more second. As it was, he'd felt like it was gnawing his insides to ribbons.

Turning a corner, he screeched to a halt and threw his hand up in front of him as he nearly collided with Murph, who was coming down the hall from the opposite direction. Grasping the other man's arms to stabilize him, Justin apologized profusely for not watching where he was going and was about to squat down and help him pick up his papers, when Murph flushed and waved him off. Justin blushed too, recalling vividly just why the man still couldn't look him in the eye and with one more quick apology, continued down the hall.

Trotting into the reception area outside Brian's office, still flushed and a bit breathless as he always seemed to be these days, Justin smiled as Yasmeen looked up, her phone pressed to her ear. Holding up one finger, she turned back to the caller and very sweetly told them that if they didn't get their asses in gear and get the proofs on her desk in an hour as they promised, Kinnetik would be shopping for a new graphic artist.

Justin snickered as the person on the other end of the phone tried to protest, but Yasmeen very ruthlessly explained that he had signed a contract, spelling out all the terms and conditions of his employment, and that she'd didn't care if the fucking Pope had showed up on his doorstep asking for his services. A promise was a promise; and if he didn't get them here, within the time frame he'd agreed upon, Kinnetik would be invoking the fiscal penalties written into said contract and they would be shopping around for a more reliable graphic artist.

After another moment, a shark-like smile slid over Yasmeen's face as she politely thanked the likely trembling artist and said she looked forward to seeing him soon.

"Vicious," Justin snickered as Yasmeen hung up the phone."

"I hate outside contractors," Yasmeen grumbled, noting something in her computer before turning to Justin with a pleading look. "Why can't you come work at Kinnetik. You draw circles around these idiots and I can actually stand you."

"Because Brian and I would kill each other," Justin smirked, quite familiar with this refrain. And it was the truth; as much as they loved each other, they were so not compatible in the work environment. Brian was anal and liked everything in its place; and Justin's work environment was a study in controlled chaos, and a barely controlled one at that.

"Well, we definitely wouldn't want that," Yasmeen said with a put upon sigh; she turned to the stack files on her desk and began to flip through them, assessing what needed to done now and what could wait. "God knows we'd never survive the fallout if anything happened to either one of you."

"Is he in there?" Justin asked, nodding toward the closed door.

"Yup," Yasmeen nodded, flipping open the first folder with a snap. "He just finished his weekly meeting with Murph. And free for the next two hours; I made sure to keep his schedule clear until one, just as you requested."

"You're a gem," Justin said, dropping a kiss on her cheek before heading for Brian's door; and then paused, his mouth gaping a little when Yasmeen flashed him a cheeky smile and asked in a teasing voice.

"Do I need to make myself scarce?" Yasmeen asked, an amused glint in her eyes as she gestured to her desk.

"What do you mean?" Justin asked, his eyes narrowing just a tad as Yasmeen just laughed and then smirked knowingly. Justin flushed; what was it with people thinking that he was a sex fiend these days?

"Just wondering if this is the kind of lunch where I should make my scarce," Yasmeen clarified, her eyes going round and wide, and her smile taking on a note of innocence. Yeah, right.

"You're terrible," Justin snorted, knocking on the door and then grabbing the knob when he heard Brian giving the okay to enter. "I'm going to tell Brian."

"Go for it," Yasmeen goaded, turning back to her files with a smirk. "He'd probably applaud me for my forethought."

"Terrible," Justin said again, shaking his head as he opened the door and walked in.

Brian looked up from his computer and then leaned back in his chair with that smile that always made Justin's insides twist. Closing the door behind him, he walked over to his desk and leaned down to kiss him gently on the lips. Brian hummed and cupped the back of his head, deepening the kiss until they were both breathless and panting.

"Your assistant gets cheekier by the day," Justin said as he pulled away and sat down in one of the chairs in front of Brian's desk.

"What did she do this time?" Brian asked, a resigned look on his face.

"She wanted to know if it was the kind of lunch where she needed to make herself scarce," Justin snickered, toying with a pen on Brian's desk. "I do believe that was her way of saying that if we're going to have sex she doesn't want to hear it."

Brian smirked, his tongue pressed into his cheek as he slid his eyes slowly over Justin's body. Justin barely held back a groan, his body instantly heating up under his husband's hungry gaze and cursed himself for saying anything; because he now had two warring hungers to sate, and he didn't know which was the stronger one at this point.

"So, is it?" Brian asked, arching a brow as his eyes slowly slid back up to meet Justin's; and then he smirked as Justin squirmed in his seat, his dick already half hard.

Fuck, these hormones were going to be the fucking death of him. Literally.

"I see where she gets it from," Justin said dryly, trying to think of things that didn't involve having Brian ripping his clothes off, laying him down on his desk and fucking the shit out of him, and not having much success with it.

"What's the point of having an assistant that doesn't know her place?" Brian snorted, getting up from his desk; he moved his desk lamp out of the way and sat on the edge in a very familiar gesture that did nothing at cooling Justin's libido.

"Ooohhhh," Justin said, a smirk flitting across his lips. "I wouldn't let her hear you say that. You'd never be able to trust what was in your coffee after that."

"Which is why, you, as my loving husband, won't say a word, will you?" Brian said, hooking his foot around the base of the chair and pulling Justin closer to him. And fuck, Justin was so fucking tempted, but he really needed food as well.

"Maybe," Justin said, sucking on his lips as his eyes slid over his husband's body; and fuck, at the age of forty-two, he didn't look a day over thirty-five. His body was still hard and toned and fucking sexy as hell and Justin just wanted to eat him up. Flicking his eyes back up, he deliberately licked his lips and asked. "What do I get out of it?"

"Well, if you'd get your sweet ass over here," Brian rumbled, spreading his legs in invitation. "I could give you a sample."

And Justin considered it; oh, God, how he considered it, but then his stomach gurgled its protest and he knew that sex was just going to have to wait for now. Brian looked at his stomach with dismay and arched a brow, a mildly exasperated look on his face.

"Tempting," Justin snickered, leaning back in the chair. "But I was at the art store all morning and I'm starving; so you need to feed me."

"Of course you are," Brian huffed, rolling his eyes as he got up and walked around his desk to type something into his computer.

"And since we are no longer avoiding the diner…" Justin continued, ruthlessly employing his puppy dog eyes.

"Who says we're not?" Brian huffed, eyeing him wearily; shaking his head when Justin jutted his lip out in a pout. "Just because we're talking to Deb…

"I want greasy, cheesy, bad-for-me, food," Justin declared, his stomach rumbling in agreement.

"Of course you do," Brian said dryly, rolling his eyes again; but he did begin to gather his wallet and keys. So score one for him. "My kid is going to be a butterball before they're even born."

"My kid is going to actually appreciate food, not look at as merely something to fuel your body," Justin scoffed, scooting the chair back in its original position.

"Wait, what were you doing at the store?" Brian asked out of the blue, a small frown on his face. "Don't you usually buy your supplies online?"

And fuck; he'd been hoping he hadn't caught that part.

"I have that new show that I'm prepping for next year," Justin shrugged, getting comfortable as he knew that Brian wouldn't drop it anytime soon. "And I wanted to look at some of the paints. It's one thing to order paints that I use on a regular basis over the net, and another to try buying new colors over it. No matter how good the pictures are, the colors are always off. Better that I see them in person."

"Please tell me you didn't go alone," Brian demanded, his frown deepening as he skirted the desk and sat down in front of him

"I didn't go alone," Justin parroted dutifully, huffing when Brian scowled.

"Justin." Brian gave him that look; the one that said that Justin was treading on thin ice and made him want to balk and dig his heels in and be a complete brat about it as he told Brian he was a big boy and he could take care of himself. But he didn't; he swallowed the urge. Barely.

"Look, John came with me as he had a bunch of shit to do as well," Justin huffed impatiently; just because he'd decided not to purposely poke the beast didn't mean he wasn't irritated. "So, he helped me with my stuff at the store and dropped me off here, and then went off to do his shit and he'll take everything home. I figured we'd go to lunch, and then I'd spend the afternoon here harassing your art team, and then we'd go home together. I was watched the whole time, Dad."

"Watch it, Sonny Boy," Brian warned Justin in a firm voice, making Justin squirm again in his seat. Fucking tease. He knew exactly what that did to Justin. "Don't make me take you over my knee."

"Don't hurt me, Daddy," Justin pleaded in high-pitched voice, widening his eyes in a way that had Brian murmur something about 'drowning in an ocean of blue.'

Of course, right after he'd demanded Justin thoroughly check him over to make sure that he still had a dick because he couldn't believe he'd said something so lesbionic. Not that Justin minded; it had been a rather enjoyable night of demonstrating just how much Brian was not a lesbian, and was still the stud that he'd always been.

"Brat," Brian snorted, relaxing now that he was aware that John had accompanied Justin to the store. "And you know damned well that Murph and the others would be ecstatic to see you. I think they like you more than they do me."

"Well, maybe if you didn't terrorize them on a daily basis," Justin huffed, eyeing his husband with no little exasperation. "They would stop buying voodoo dolls with your face on them."

"Touché," Brian smirked, and then rolled his lips under for a moment before continuing. "Look, I know that you don't like having people hovering; but until this asshole is caught, I would feel better if you weren't alone, especially as…"

Brian winced and trailed off, obviously unhappy that he was about to reveal more than he'd intended. Justin just arched a brow and waited him out; but when it became obvious that Brian wasn't going to continue, Justin decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Especially as…?" Justin prompted, wondering if the man was ever going to come clean on what he knew about the break-in. Brian pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"There was an incident at Bloom's," Brian stated slowly; and Justin could tell that he was choosing his words carefully. Justin decided to indulge him for the moment. "The reason Sydney had to postpone your show wasn't because of an issue of the pipes, but because there was a break-in."

"I know," Justin said, smirking when Brian snapped his mouth shut and just stared at him. Justin raised his brows and shrugged.

"What do you mean, you know?" Brian demanded, obviously annoyed that Justin wasn't as in the dark as he'd thought. It almost made him laugh, but again, he bit his tongue because it would've just pissed Brian off further. "They said that they'd let me tell you…"

Justin huffed and rolled his eyes.

"You guys honestly didn't think you could keep it from me did you?" Justin scoffed, instantly shutting down Brian's queen out. "Brian, there was an article in the paper about it; it mentioned my name and you know damned well what that means…"

"Your monitoring service…" Brian said, cursing under his breath as he realized just how fruitless their subterfuge had been; Justin just smirked. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I was waiting to see if you guys would come clean," Justin said, his mouth set into a thin line; Brian had the grace to blush and look sheepish. "By the way, thank you for doing so, as I would have kicked your ass if you hadn't."

Brian winced, and then exhaled explosively. He reached over and pulled Justin out his chair and wrapped his arms around him. He leaned his head against Justin's and just seemed to breathe him in for a moment. Justin wrapped his arms around Brian's neck and kissed him softly, lingering for a moment as they shared air.

"I just want you safe," Brian whispered as they parted; he rolled his lips under. "As, I've said before, I want you around for a long time."

Justin sighed; he tipped his head back and stared into his husband's eyes, smoothing his hair away from his face as he said:

"Having all the information available will do a better job of protecting me than keeping it under wraps. What if I had gone into Sydney's by myself one day, thinking that I was perfectly safe in doing so because he has some of the best security around? Had I not been aware that the stalker had somehow gotten access to the building, I could have gotten myself into a jam and been easily cornered in any of those store rooms."

"How do you know it was the stalker?" Brian asked, mostly out of curiosity it seemed. "I never mentioned…"

"Gut feeling," Justin said; he leaned into Brian and laid his chin on his chest. "Technically, I don't know. But judging by the way you, Sydney and Carl have been acting the past few days… it tells me this wasn't your average criminal breaking in and stealing everything that wasn't bolted down job."

"My little genius," Brian huffed, ruffling his hair and pressing a kiss to his brow. "You have always been far too smart for your own good. And mine as well."

Justin tightened his arms around Brian and just stayed there, both comforting his husband and drawing comfort from Brian as well. He knew that Brian was on edge with everything going on, and this new element, with the stalker escalating, it had to have thrown him badly. He understood why Brian was trying to circle the wagons so to speak, with Justin planted firmly in the center, protected and sheltered. He got it. He did. But Brian also needed to realize that he couldn't protect him from everything.

"So," Justin said, turning a few thoughts over in his head; he needed clarification on a few facts to set the puzzle to rest. "I get them wanting to keep details quiet, given that it's an ongoing investigation, but just tell me one…well, no, two things."

Brian looked wary, but nodded nonetheless.

"First, was it one of mine?" Justin asked, his look and tone brooking no arguments; he would find out in time anyways, so there was no reason to keep it from him.

"Yes," Brian said, his eyes flitting over Justin's face as if he was trying to figure out just where Justin was going with this. Justin nodded.

"Second, was it from the current show?" Justin asked; and this was the clincher.

If it was, well, that would negate a few ideas he had on what was happening. It wouldn't make much sense in his head, but it would put a few questions to rest. But if it wasn't, that narrowed the field considerably as Justin was well aware of which paintings Sydney had in his possession that weren't part of the upcoming show. And this answer would definitely give him a clearer idea of where to focus his attention.

"No." Brian said, his eyes narrowing as if he'd just realized where Justin was going with his questions, which wouldn't have surprised Justin at all. His husband was no slouch in the brain department.

"I really want to ask which one it was," Justin said, a knowing look on his face; yeah, it was exactly as he'd suspected. "But I won't. I think I can guess just based on your reaction and what I know Sydney has in stock."

"Like I said, you have always been a clever little devil," Brian sighed, now more than a little exasperated. Justin just smiled as innocently as he could.

"Good thing for you too," Justin quipped, biting him lightly on the chin. "You'd be bored otherwise."

"Boring is a word that I'd never use for you, Sunshine," Brian snorted, and then laughed as Justin's stomach made its presence known again. "Now let's get you some food before your stomach decides to eat itself." Brian pulled him close and ground the dicks together, making Justin moan as he murmured against his ear. "And then, you can come back here and feed another appetite before you go play in my art department. It's been a while since I've fucked you over my desk."