Realistically, though, what else could he do? He had friends scattered around the US, and he could always decide to try out San Francisco, Chicago or Miami. If Carlucci’s foundation came up with enough money, he could even go back to school, get a degree in something else. He’d always been good with computers, had built a couple of web pages and played around with various kinds of software.
Maybe he could write a book. He’d been thinking about writing an ESL text for a few years, unhappy with the materials that were available. Or maybe a novel about two gay guys chasing through the desert and falling in love.
No, no one would believe that one.
Liam woke and yawned. “Morning,” he said, turning to look at Aidan.
“Morning. We’ve got about two hours before we get the plane.”
Liam was still weak, so Aidan helped him shower, Liam propped against the wall. He soaped Liam’s body carefully, paying attention to every muscle, and the bodyguard’s dick swelled to Aidan’s ministrations. His hand slippery with soap, Aidan grabbed it and began stroking it. “Oh,” Liam groaned.
“You’re not going to pass out on me, are you?” Aidan asked. “I don’t think I could explain that to the nurse.”
“I’ll try to hold on,” Liam said. He was having trouble catching his breath, a combination of the sex and the infection in his lungs, and Aidan sped up his hand, using his other to penetrate Liam’s ass with a single soapy finger. The big bodyguard’s body writhed and he whimpered as he shot a load in Aidan’s hand.
“I want to,” he panted. “Take care of you.”
Aidan shook his head. “I’m doing the caretaking here,” he said. “You need to get your strength back.”
Aidan rinsed Liam’s body, once again marveling at how the water cascaded off the bodyguard’s tall, muscular body. He remembered that first glimpse he’d gotten of Liam, showering behind the Bar Mamounia. He couldn’t even imagine how long ago that had been.
He left Liam leaning against the wall of the shower stall as he hurried through his own cleaning. He was hard, but tried to ignore the pressure of his dick, swiping the soap past it quickly. “No,” Liam said, reaching out to grab his hand. “More.”
Aidan’s eyes grinned mischievously. “You want a show?” he asked.
“I want you to do what I can’t.”
“You can do this,” Aidan said. He raised Liam’s right hand and took his index finger into his mouth. He sucked on it, tasting the polished surface of his nail, the roughness of his skin.
He soaped up his own hand and began stroking himself. Liam groaned next to him. “You are so sexy,” he said, moving his finger around inside Aidan’s mouth. Aidan sucked it, closing his eyes and trying to imagine it was Liam’s dick. Nope, that didn’t work. Liam’s dick was so much thicker, and it pulsed with blood and lust when Aidan had it in his mouth. But the finger was all he was going to get, so he sucked it.
It was the closest they’d come to making love since that night on the desert dune, when Liam had fucked Aidan’s ass bareback. Aidan felt all that closeness flooding back, his body swelling with passion, his dick pulsing under his hand. He longed to grab Liam, pull him close, rub his dick up and down on Liam’s smooth skin, but he knew he couldn’t.
He pulled one last time on his dick, whimpered, and then let his body sag. Liam pulled his finger from Aidan’s mouth and rubbed his grizzled cheek against Aidan’s. Aidan was so tempted then, to say, “I love you,” but he held back.
Out of the shower, Aidan dried them both off, then shaved, and helped Liam do the same. As Aidan combed Liam’s sun-kissed hair, grown shaggy during their time in the desert, Liam said, “I could get used to this kind of pampering.”
He kicked the bathroom door shut, wrapped his arm around Aidan, and pulled him close. Aidan felt himself melting into the bigger man’s arms, pressing his cheek against Liam’s. “I want to kiss you so much,” Liam said. “But I don’t want you to catch this shit.” He turned his head aside and coughed.
“Shh,” Aidan said, rubbing his back. “Feeling you next to me like this is enough for me.” He felt Liam’s chest rise and fall against his own, inhaling that scent that was so Liam, like sand and sunshine, even after being cooped up inside for so long.
Liam faltered, and Aidan pulled back. He opened the bathroom door and led Liam to the bed, where Liam sat as Aidan threw the last few items into their bags. A soldier arrived a few minutes later to drive them to the airfield. Aidan could tell that Liam hated being helped to stand or walk in front of someone else.
“Look at us,” Liam said, as they hobbled together across the tarmac. “Like a pair of old men.”
“Speak for yourself,” Aidan said, but then he stumbled, and they both laughed. They managed to climb the stairway to the plane, then collapsed into adjacent seats. The rest of the plane filled up quickly, with soldiers and a couple of men in plain clothes Aidan supposed were either diplomats or spies. As he buckled his seat belt, he stole a glance at Liam. Savor the moment, he thought. This whole fantasy adventure might be about to end, but he could enjoy every minute of it. The memories would sustain him through the long winter ahead.
ONCE THE FLIGHT BACK to Tunis had taken off, Liam looked over at Aidan. He’d always thought he couldn’t fall in love, because of his military career, because he wasn’t attracted to the only men he could tell were gay, because who could love someone who was too afraid to face himself and his desires?
But maybe that was all wrong, and this was why he’d never let himself fall in love before. Because it hurt too much as it was ending. They’d get back to Tunis, and within a day or two Aidan would be on another plane, this one back to Philadelphia. And Liam would still be in Tunis, alone. He’d suffered a terrible depression when he’d left the SEALs, without the camaraderie of men who’d become like his brothers. He’d clawed his way out of that, pretending that he liked being on his own, that everything he’d lost didn’t matter. Could he keep on doing that?
He wasn’t a wimp. He’d gone through Hell Week at BUD/S, he’d excelled at every SEAL mission, and he’d survived fatigue, dehydration, bullet wounds, and now infection with anthrax. He’d get through this. On his own. He forced himself to look at Aidan and smile. “You got your adventure,” he said. “Didn’t you?”
“I guess I did. Though it wasn’t exactly the one I was thinking of when I left Philadelphia.”
“You’ll be going back there, now?”
Aidan looked over at him. “Not sure.”
“What do you mean? You have some other city in mind?”
Aidan shrugged. “I’ve got to get on the computer, see what kind of offers I can drum up.” He paused. “It might take me a while.”
Liam felt something surge in his heart. Maybe Aidan wouldn’t have to leave so soon. “Like I told you, you’re welcome to stick around Tunis, bunk with me for a while, if you’d like.”
“I’m not showering out there in the courtyard, where everybody in the bar can see,” Aidan said.
Liam laughed. “Come on, Aidan. You’ve got a great body. Why not show it off?”
Aidan leaned close to Liam and whispered, “This body is for your eyes only.”
A smile twitched at the corners of Liam’s mouth. “It’s going to take me a few more days to get my strength back,” he said. “But then...”
“But then we’ll see,” Aidan said, and squeezed his hand.
43 – An Unexpected Visitor
They took a taxi from the airport to the Bar Mamounia. Liam hobbled into the bar first, where he was assailed by a young Tunisian. “Liam! You come back to me!” the man said.
“Sorry, Mohammed,” Liam said, pushing him gently aside. He pointed to Aidan, toting his backpack and Liam’s duffle, and said something in Arabic.
“Maybe you like three,” Mohammed said. He looked at Aidan and smiled.
Aidan dropped the bags on the tiled floor and put his arm around Liam. “La,” he said. “No.”
Liam laughed, and said somethi
ng more in Arabic. The Tunisian crossed his arms, pouted, then turned and stalked out of the bar. Aidan helped Liam through the courtyard and in through the back door of the little house. The bartender had repaired the broken front door, and assured Liam that nothing had been taken while he was gone.
Liam thanked him, then closed the courtyard door. “How about if we get you to bed,” Aidan said.
“Only if you come with me,” Liam said.
“I think I wore you out this morning in the shower,” Aidan said.
“You don’t know me, then.”
“We’ll see.”
Liam tried to walk to the bedroom, but his step faltered, and Aidan had to steady him. “Hold on, tiger,” Aidan said. They walked together into the bedroom, and Aidan slowly unbuttoned Liam’s shirt, then unbuckled his shorts. “You can’t walk, but you’ve got a hard on,” Aidan said. “Your body sure knows how to channel its energy.”
“What can I say? This body was built for action.”
“Yeah. Right.” Aidan pulled off Liam’s sandals, then tugged his boxers down. “Lie down, Romeo.”
Liam sat hard on the edge of the bed. He struggled to lift his leg, and Aidan had to help him get into a prone position. “You’re coming to join me?” Liam asked.
“I don’t know,” Aidan said. “I thought I might go out and walk around a little. See some more of the city.” He smiled.
“Get your clothes off, and get that cute ass over here,” Liam commanded.
“Yes, sir,” Aidan said, saluting. He pulled off his clothes in record time, then crawled into the bed next to Liam, nestling his naked body against Liam’s. “This is nice,” he murmured. “When was the last time we were actually in a bed together?”
Liam reached his arm around Aidan, and Aidan nestled into his chest. “The Hotel La Gazelle, in Tataouine,” he said.
“You’ve got a good memory,” Aidan said.
“I do. I remember that you like this.” He leaned over and took Aidan’s right nipple between his teeth. Aidan arched his back, inhaled and said, “Oh, yeah.”
They moved slowly, turning into each other and rubbing their bodies together. Aidan pushed Liam back onto his back, then mounted him, careful not to exert too much pressure. He rubbed his dick against Liam’s, lubricated by their precome, resting his hands on either side of Liam.
“I won’t break, you know,” Liam said.
“I’m not taking that chance.” Aidan leaned down and kissed his cheek. “You’re worth too much to me in good shape.”
Though his body wanted to move fast, Aidan forced himself to take his time. He arched his back like a cat, began to hump Liam, rubbing his dick against the bodyguard’s. They were well matched, even though Aidan was circumcised and Liam wasn’t. Aidan had always thought Liam’s dick was bigger than his own, because Liam’s body was so much bigger, but seeing them pressed against each other, he realized that his own dick was a little longer than Liam’s.
“What?” Liam asked, noticing Aidan’s smile.
“Nothing,” Aidan said. Both their dicks were slippery with precome, so they kept slipping apart. Aidan shifted a little, so that his dick was rubbing against Liam’s crotch, sliding through the dark, curly pubic hairs, and Liam’s dick rubbed against Aidan’s belly.
He clenched his ass and increased the speed and pressure, keeping his eyes focused on Liam’s. He’d never noticed how deep Liam’s eyes looked, the black pupil surrounded by green. They were eyes he could spend a lifetime falling into, he thought.
His dick throbbed until it was painful to continue, but impossible to stop. His groin began churning, his whole body shaking as the orgasm swept through him. He felt Liam’s body constrict beneath him, the bodyguard panting, then grimacing as come shot out of his dick. That pushed Aidan over the edge, and he threw his head back and howled.
“They’re going to hear you in the bar,” Liam said, laughing, as Aidan flopped down on the bed next to him.
“They’ll know I’m taking care of you,” Aidan said. “Keep that Mohammed guy at bay, at least.”
He snuggled against Liam, regardless of the come seeping into their pores and dripping down through their pubic hair, and both of them fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. They woke as darkness fell, and Aidan ran out to pick up food for dinner and breakfast. First, though, he wanted to make a small detour.
His former apartment building looked the same. He no longer had a key to the front door, though, so he stood outside staring at the façade. Then he felt the touch he had been hoping for, a wet nose sniffing the back of his knee.
“There you are, girl,” he said, leaning down and scratching the dog behind her ears. “Did you miss me?”
The dog sat on her haunches and looked up at him. “I guess we’ll have to give you a name,” Aidan said. “How about we leave that up to Liam?”
The dog wagged her tail, then followed Aidan to the small grocery, where she waited obediently outside as Aidan shopped. Then she was on his heels all the way back to Liam’s house.
“You just can’t resist the urge to domesticate, can you?” Liam asked, sitting at the kitchen table stroking the dog’s back as Aidan fixed dinner, a simple pasta primavera he’d made a hundred times in Philadelphia. He boiled water in a battered pot, then steamed some peas, carrots and squash.
As Aidan cooked, Liam ruffled the dog behind her ears, then scratched her belly as she lay on her back waving her paws in the air. “How about we call you Hayam,” he said to her. She looked up at him and panted. “Guess you like that.”
“What does that mean?” Aidan asked. “Hayam?”
“Madly in love,” Liam said. “Suits her, doesn’t it?”
Aidan thought it suited him, too. Then the pasta on the stove overflowed, and Liam began coughing.
When he went back to his old apartment building to retrieve the dog, Aidan knew he’d already made up his mind to stay in Tunis for a while, as long as that was OK with Liam. “What was it like, working with the SEALs again?” he asked as they ate.
“I can’t go back,” Liam said. “If that’s what you’re asking. But I did like it—that feeling of working with a team. It’s hard being a lone wolf.”
The question hung in the air. Aidan felt foolish suggesting that he and Liam could be a team. In the bedroom, no question. But Aidan wasn’t a bodyguard, and he had no training in whatever it was that Liam normally did, when he wasn’t chasing through the desert.
They had made a few wrong turns, though. The first had been letting Wahid Zubran and his thugs jump them in the souk. The second had been at the pharmacy in El Jem, when they hadn’t planned on Zubran getting to the pharmacy before they had. And the third? Probably taking off from Tataouine without preparing for the trip into the desert. That had been the most serious; Liam had been forced to leave Remada for the supplies he needed, and if he hadn’t been able to catch up with the caravan at the oasis, the whole operation could have fallen apart.
But they’d done a lot of things right, too. They’d both been resourceful, overcoming obstacles and doing what they set out to. Aidan smiled as he looked over at Liam.
“This is really good,” Liam said, holding up a forkful of pasta. “You ever think of a career as a chef?”
“I did,” Aidan said. “But it’s such an all-or-nothing job. I took a ton of cooking courses, but I couldn’t take a restaurant job because the hours were too long. Had to take care of Blake, you know.”
“How much did you give up to stay with that jerk?” Liam asked.
“He wasn’t always a jerk,” Aidan said. “He took care of me for a long time. I could never have had that life on my little salary.” He laid his fork down next to his plate. “Blake was attractive, and charming when he wanted to be, and he was generous with money when it was something he thought worthwhile. He liked to pick out my clothes and buy them for me. I wore designer labels, slept on high-thread-count sheets, drank good wine.”
A (former) friend had once accused Aidan of being a high-p
riced rent boy, living off Blake’s money, and he’d warned Aidan that he was a disposable asset, easily replaced by someone younger or better-looking. At the time, Aidan had dismissed the comment, believing there were much more complex threads tying him and Blake together. Looking back, now he wondered if his friend had come uncomfortably close to the truth.
“I’m just saying,” Liam said, holding his hands up. “I think Blake always undervalued you.”
Yes, Aidan wanted to say. But Blake wasn’t shy about taking what he wanted. Long ago, he had wanted Aidan, and made that very plain. Aidan wasn’t sure what Liam wanted.
After dinner, they took Hayam out for a short walk, and then began writing a report for Carlucci’s foundation. It took some time that evening, and then most of the next day, recounting in detail everything that had happened from the time Liam had been asked to serve as Carlucci’s bodyguard until their return from the army hospital, which Aidan had discovered was in Sicily.
“Wow,” Aidan said, when they finished proofreading the final draft. “This was pretty amazing, wasn’t it?”
“Not your typical bodyguard job,” Liam admitted. He leaned back in his desk chair, and Aidan looked at him and smiled.
Liam emailed the report to the foundation’s headquarters in New York, along with his bank information, as requested. Hayam got up from her place by the front door and padded over to them, sitting on the floor next to Aidan and resting her front paws on his knees. “Who’s a good girl?” Aidan asked, rubbing behind her ears. “You want to be a bodyguard dog? Can you bare your teeth and growl?” He mimicked the action, which set Liam laughing, though all the dog did was bob her head and stick her tongue out.
Liam’s laughter turned to coughing, and Aidan helped him stand up. “Damn this crap,” Liam said, between fits. “Can’t do anything like I used to.”
Three Wrong Turns in the Desert Page 24