“I saw them in action earlier. Bunch of punks. Who’s the Amazon?”
Tucker smiled briefly. “Marissa. She was none too happy about me showing up, I can assure you. She had Gavin picked out for herself. I think she hates me, though Gavin disagrees. Says she’s only being protective. ”
“So Gavin is bi…”
“Yes. All of the wol…all of them are. ”
“All of them? But that’s just weird, Tucker. How can they all be bi-sexual?”
“I don’t know; they just are. ” Tucker began to look uncomfortable.
“More of the stuff you can’t tell me, huh?”
“I guess so. Look, Kevin, change the subject, okay? You’ll know more tomorrow night, after the ceremony. ”
“So you keep saying. What’s so special about it anyway?”
Tucker smiled at him. “It’s the blue moon. And you’ll see for yourself why it’s so special. ”
Chapter Five
It was late afternoon and Kevin sat on the sofa next to Tucker in the main hall waiting for the dinner service to begin. His head was back on the seat cushion, and he was staring up at the ceiling and thinking about Richard. Damn it, how had he allowed himself to become so fucking attracted to the man in such a short time? And what the hell was wrong with him that he would like the kind of treatment Richard had been doling out since the first time he’d been in the same room with him? The sex with Richard earlier had been just about damned perfect, though, there was no denying that. He’d never felt so fulfilled, so satisfied
by a lover. It scared the shit out of him.
He couldn’t, wouldn’t, lose himself like Tucker had. He’d keep his wits about him and keep looking for a way to escape. This had to be Stockholm syndrome, where abducted victims begin to identify and even side with their captors. That had to be it. It was a common thing in hostage situations, probably some form of evolutionary survival mechanism. This had to be what was happening here. Surely knowing it was half the battle.
Now if he could only work on a way to steel himself against the attraction he felt for Richard, he might be able to survive this thing. He wouldn’t give into him so easily again. Richard actually had some nerve seducing him after the way he’d treated him from the very beginning.
Richard walked into the room then, and Kevin felt an immediate tug on his emotions seeing his handsome face. Richard hadn’t even seemed to notice him yet, so Kevin turned his attention back to a young man who had suddenly appeared in front of him, and was looking down at him curiously. He had no idea who the guy was, but he’d been staring at Kevin intently for a while now. He was one of the big ones, and up to now he’d been standing with a group of his buddies over by the huge fireplace as they’d also presumably been waiting for dinner to be served. Now the young man had moved closer and was saying something to Kevin, and he tried hard to drag his attention back.
“What? I’m sorry, what did you say to me?” he asked, gazing up at the man.
“I said, it’s nice to finally see you up close. I saw you when you came in the other night but you disappeared pretty fast. ”
“Oh,” Kevin said, trying to pull his hand away from where the young man still had it tightly in his grip. “Yeah, well, nice to see you too. ”
“You’re very nice-looking,” the young man said. “My name is Derek, by the way. ”
“Uh, thanks?” A little unnerved at this direct approach, he looked over at Tucker for help, but Tucker was carrying on a conversation with someone on the other side of him.
“I understand you haven’t been spoken for yet…Maybe later this evening you’d have a cup of coffee with me?”
Kevin stared up at him as his mouth dropped open. Spoken for? Was he kidding? He was saved from having to answer that question when a warm hand dropped on his shoulder.
“Do you need something, Derek?” Richard was standing right behind him, gripping him hard enough that Kevin thought he might be leaving the mark of his fingerprints. Kevin glanced up at Richard in irritation as Derek dropped his hand and took a quick backward step.
“No. No, sir, nothing at all. I was only saying hello to Kevin. ”
“Very friendly of you. I appreciate your making him welcome, Derek. Thanks. ”
The young man’s gaze traveled from Kevin back up to Richard and back down again, and his eyes changed. He gave a stiff little nod and backed away to rejoin his friends.
Kevin sat in stunned surprise. What the hell was that about? Had Richard just staked some kind of claim on him? He’d thanked the guy in a very proprietary way. I appreciate your making him welcome, Derek. Fuck.
How in the hell had this happened in the span of two days? Richard had stormed into his life, turned him inside out and left him craving his touch. If the truth were told, he’d been sitting here pouting over the fact that Richard was nowhere to be seen, when he was probably talking with Gavin or doing whatever it was he did all day. Kevin was the one sitting here mooning over the guy like a love-sick idiot. He needed to put a stop to this and right damn now. And why was his cock so hard at just the sound of Richard’s voice and his hand on his shoulder? Damn it. This was getting out of hand.
He leaned forward to put his coffee mug on the table in front of him, dislodging Richard’s hand. Richard came around to stand in front of Kevin. “Why was Derek talking to you?”