“We can get to the most elevated spot through here.”
Vars grinned, watching Jake’s jeans cling to his ass as he climbed the steps before disappearing in the trapdoor above. Vars followed him straight to Wonderland.
The landscape opened all around him in its vast glory. Woodland stretched as far as the eyes could see, gradually climbing up steep hills, but on the other side, beyond the forests around the clubhouse, was the town of Brecon, stretched along the coast of the pale ocean, which suddenly glinted with an orange glow that started out as a single dot of bright light, only to spread as the sun rose, reflecting off the cool-hued water.
He exhaled, stumbling over a brick someone left behind on the flat part of the roof. “That’s spectacular.”
Jake smiled back at him with his hands huddled up in the pockets of his jacket. With the bright glow behind him and a soft smile curving his lips, he seemed to beckon Vars closer. Just two weeks ago, Vars had stared death in the face, yet here he was, watching the sun rise to see another day, with a handsome young man for company.
Maybe Damon had done him a favor by bringing about a change Vars hadn’t known he needed.
He stood next to Jake, facing the sun that by now had rays shooting holes in the purplish clouds as it rose above the peaceful waters. It had been a while since he’d seen dawn, and now he had a whole new perspective on it. Maybe he should try to make it a habit of waking up early and watching each new day of his afterlife begin?
He pulled out a pack of cigars and offered one to Jake.
“I’ve never had one before,” Jake said but accepted one. “Should I smell it first, like they do in the movies?”
Vars grinned and put one into his mouth. “Maybe you should.”
Jake smiled at Vars again as he inhaled the scent of the cigar, and Vars had to fight the instinct to slide his arm around the boy. He was so unbearably cute and didn’t even know it, puffing his chest up like a rooster every day instead.
Jake leaned forward when Vars snapped open his lighter. Unable to resist the temptation, Vars moved his hand down the back of Jake’s head. “Don’t bite on it and don’t hold it in your mouth while you smoke. Make sure you don’t actually inhale any into your lungs. That shit’s strong,” he instructed before sparking the flame and offering it to Jake. “Slowly pull the smoke into your mouth and hold it there.”
He’d be lying if he said he didn’t care for the way Jake’s reddened cheeks hollowed when he sucked in the smoke. But hadn’t Vars promised himself to keep things casual for a while? To stick to sex only if he felt like scratching that particular itch? And yet here he was, teaching Jake how to smoke a cigar after bearing a cold shower for the boy’s sake.
“Are they more popular than cigarettes where you’re from?”
Vars blinked, somewhat startled. Was this Jake’s way of asking about Vars’s accent?
“In Poland? No, definitely not. Or maybe they are now, I don’t know. We left when I was eleven, and I only visited once after that.”
Jake nodded, savoring the taste of the smoke in silence.
They sat on the roof in silence and smoked their cigars, contemplating the sun coming up. This had been a strange night. He couldn’t pinpoint when the urge to suffocate Jake with a pillow changed to wanting to tuck him into bed safely instead.
Handsome young men were a dime a dozen in the world. Just in the past week he’d met club hangarounds who fit the bill, but Jake’s sweet smiles and never-ending dedication to the patched members ticked boxes Vars didn’t even realize existed.
He just needed to convince Jake that they were two very compatible pieces of the same puzzle.
Chapter 5 - Vars
Mr. Magpie hadn’t been kidding when he told Vars the Kings of Hell MC knew no taboos. The farewell party thrown in Magpie’s honor was going strong even after the man in question left to pack his belongings. The scene was like something from a movie. Five girls danced on table-like stages, twisting around poles, illuminated by bright spotlights while pink and green rays swirled over bodies in various stages of undress. People danced, grinded against each other, and fucked openly, without any shame whatsoever.
It was kind of exhausting.
The president’s fiancé, that sweet kid Laurent, avoided those events like the plague, but most members were keen to dive right into all that free ass and pussy, and for the hangarounds it seemed like the epitome of the whole experience. Vars had to admit the club attracted a very particular crowd, which included plenty of handsome gay and bi men, some of whom would surely be up for a leather daddy.