A Man of Many Parts

by Edward Kendrick

  “I did,” Jax replied. “He’s now languishing in jail awaiting trial for attempted murder.” Or he would be, if he existed. Not something he could ever tell Donovan.

  “Good. I was about to eat lunch, if you’d like to join me. Are you planning on sticking around for a while? You can use the same bedroom if you are.”

  Jax almost declined the offer of lunch before deciding it would give him time to get used to the idea he was here before going in search of Noel. “Lunch sounds good.” As they went back to the small dining room, he said, “I don’t want to impose on your hospitality. Since I’m only visiting, not working for you, I can get a room at a motel.”

  “Absolutely not. You know you’re always welcome here.” Donovan stopped long enough to tell Mrs. Greene Jax would be joining him for lunch, which didn’t fluster her in the least. When they were out of her earshot, he continued with a smile. “I have a feeling I won’t be seeing much of you, however. You’ll be spending most of your time at the shelter…with Noel.”

  Jax didn’t deny it. “I’ll admit, he is the main reason I’m here.”

  “I’m glad. He’s been, well, not moping, but definitely not his usual happy self since you left.”

  “Donovan…” Jax shook his head as they sat down at the table. “Don’t get your hopes up, okay? Noel and I only knew each other for a short time before I left. When he sees me again, he might wonder what the attraction was.” He smiled wryly. “I might, too.”

  “At least it was there at one point, which is a start.”

  “You do know you’re an incurable romantic.”

  Donovan laughed. “So my ex has told me, more than once.”

  “You two are still seeing each other, on and off?”

  “She was here a couple of weeks ago, which was nice.” The expression on Donovan’s face told Jax that ‘nice’ was an understatement.

  Mrs. Greene brought in their lunches and while they ate, Jax and Donovan caught up on what they’d been doing since Jax had left. As soon as they finished, Donovan said in no uncertain terms, “Get out of here. There’s a man and a dog who will be happy to see you.”

  Jax didn’t argue. As he walked down to the shelter he felt his anticipation rise, as well as the fear that, despite what he’d said when they’d talked a week ago, Noel might not be as happy to see him as Donovan thought.

  Jax stopped by the gate in the fence surrounding the shelter. Across the yard, he saw Noel with some of the dogs and his pulse sped up. There was a grace to Noel’s movements as he played a rousing game of fetch that Jax had never noticed before. But then he is a cat, so why am I surprised?

  Before he could announce his presence, Andre did it for him, dashing to the gate, barking his greeting for all the world, and Noel, to hear. The young man looked over and waved as if Jax’s being there was an everyday occurrence. The smile on his face belied his casual demeanor, as did his hurried steps when he came over.

  Jax opened the gate, stepped into the yard, and closed it quickly before Andre could make his great escape. Not that dog would. He seemed bent on knocking Jax over in his enthusiasm to let him know he’d been missed.

  “Sit,” Jax ordered—and Andre did, looking up at him in adoration. Jax knelt to give him a hug. “I missed you too. And you,” he added when Noel stopped beside them. “Almost more than Andre.”

  “Almost?” Noel replied with feigned dismay, reaching out a hand to help Jax stand.

  “It’s a toss-up,” Jax replied, not letting go of Noel’s hand. He wanted to hug him, the way he had Andre, but wasn’t certain now was the time or the place. Before he made any such overt moves, he needed to know if Noel would accept or rebuff them.

  His answer came sooner than expected. Noel pulled him into a loose embrace, saying with a smile, “I hope I come out on top.”

  “Trust me, as much as I like dogs, there’s a certain cat who has all my attention, if he wants it.”

  Stepping back, Noel looked gravely at Jax. “I think I do, in spite of what you are.”

  Jax understood immediately that he didn’t mean the fact he was a metamorph. “I can change my ways. I’ve told you, I only do it to relieve my boredom.”

  Noel nodded, then smiled. “It’s not what you do that bothers me. I like the idea that you’re getting rid of some criminals. It’s the aftermath. You should return whatever was taken from the victims. It’s not their fault the creeps robbed them.”

  “True. It’s not as if I need the money I get from fencing the goods. Not anymore, anyway. Way back when, it helped keep me on my feet.”

  “You just said that you do it because you’re bored,” Noel replied pointedly.

  “Now, it’s the reason. There was a time…Maybe someday I’ll tell you about it, but not right this moment. We have more important things to think about, like where do we want to go for dinner, have you gotten any new dogs, and how’s Susan?”

  “Susan is fine,” she said from the doorway to the shelter. “Okay, I’m fine and welcome back.”

  “Thanks. It’s good to be back. Not that I’m sticking around forever, but I’m not leaving tomorrow, either.” Jax felt he had to make that clear, even though they all knew it would be the case. If things worked out the way he hoped, he would return as often as possible. But that depends on Noel. No, it depends on both of us. It does take two.

  “How long can you stay?” Susan asked.

  “As I told Noel, I don’t have any pressing business at the moment, so I’ll be in your hair for at least a few days.”

  “Great. That’ll make Andre happy.” She grinned. “And Noel. Okay, I should get back to what I was doing and leave the two of you to get reacquainted.”

  “Over dinner,” Jax replied with a glance at Noel. He was relieved when Noel nodded in agreement. “You never did tell me if you’ve gotten any new dogs.”

  “This is us,” Noel said. “There are two new ones to replace Argyle and Max, who have been adopted.”

  “Together, I hope.”

  “Yep. That was the deal and the family who took them were all for it.” Noel pointed to two of the dogs he’d been playing with. “The corgi and the spaniel are our newest. The corgi was dropped off in a box, no tags, no chip. The spaniel was found along the highway. A Good Samaritan stopped and caught him when he ran into traffic. From what our vet said, he must have been running wild for quite a while from the condition of his coat and how malnourished he was. She had to shave him to get rid of all the matting.”

  “Now you call him ‘Baldy’?” Jax asked, chuckling.

  “Not even. He’s Rusty, because his fur was, is rust colored. The corgi’s Queenie because corgis are Queen Elizabeth’s favorite dogs.”

  “Makes sense, I guess. Since I’m here and at loose ends until you can leave, is there anything I can do to help out?”

  Noel chortled, picking up a ball one of the dogs had brought over. “Entertain them while I make some calls and update our website.”

  “Can do.”

  For the next hour, Jax did, playing fetch and ‘catch me if you can’, which of course the dogs could. Then Noel returned, suggesting they take some of the dogs for a walk. ‘Some’ turned out to be three each, which kept the two men busy as the dogs all seemed to want to go in different directions. Andre made it clear he wasn’t going to be left behind which didn’t surprise Jax and Noel in the least. Rather than leashing him like the others, Jax told Andre to heel. He did, staying by Jax’s side even after they returned to the shelter.

  Then it was feeding time, and finally, much to Jax’s relief, time for the dogs to go inside for the night. “How you do this every day, day in and day out…” he said, shaking his head.

  “It’s what we love,” Noel replied. “I can’t think of a better way to spend my life than this. Right now, though, I think someone said something about dinner.”

  “That was me. Where do you want to go?”

  “Where we did the first time, after I drop Andre off at home.”

  Th
ey decided Jax should ride with Noel, rather than going back to get his car. After leaving a very reluctant dog at Noel’s house, they went on to the restaurant. They asked to be seated away from the other customers if possible, which earned them a knowing smile from the hostess before she took them to a table at the back of the room.

  They didn’t talk much until after the waitress brought their coffees and they’d ordered dinner. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable, though. More like they were getting used to being together again—at least that’s how Jax thought of it.

  “What are you going to do to keep busy during the day while you’re here?” Noel asked after taking a drink of his coffee.

  “You mean you don’t want me hanging around the shelter?” Jax replied with very feigned dismay.

  Noel grinned. “You could. I’ll set you to cleaning the kennels.”

  “Uh-huh. I’ll pass on that and see what trouble I can get into going through Donovan’s library. I’ve got my basic kit with me so if there are any minor repairs, I can do them. Don’t worry, I won’t charge him.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me in the least. Not to sound all mushy, but you’re a good man…mostly.”

  Jax laughed. “Mostly.”

  Leaning forward with his elbows on the table, Noel said softly, “I’m glad you’re here. I wasn’t certain I’d ever see you again.”

  “Neither was I. I had the feeling you were happy to see me go, in spite of how we felt about each other. Which,” Jax added, “might have been physical attraction and nothing more.”

  “At the time I was relieved you left so fast,” Noel replied. “Learning what I did about you? It was a lot to take in. Of course you found out a couple of things about me that probably surprised you.”

  “Probably?” Jax smiled. “If I were a normal human it would have scared the hell out of me. Luckily, I’m not so I had no problem accepting it. I’ll admit I wouldn’t have though you had it in you to fight him the way you did.”

  “It was him or you, and I wasn’t about to let him kill you if I could help it.”

  “He might have, if you hadn’t been there. He was insane, at least when it came to me. Insane and very clever. I thought I was finally safe after years of being someone else so he couldn’t find me. I wouldn’t have gone back to doing what I love, otherwise.”

  “That’s how he located you?”

  “I think so, although it still took him five years. If he hadn’t decided to play cat and mouse to frighten me, he could have killed me at any time because I had let my guard down.”

  They stopped their discussion when the waitress brought their meals. Once she was gone, Noel asked, “How did he find you?”

  “The best I can figure is, he knew I used to restore books for a living and probably spent a great deal of time checking out any professionals in the field.” Jax smiled dryly. “If I’d kept my real name it would have been a lot easier for him, but I was a bit smarter than that. Still, he might have, undoubted did, put two and two together when he learned about Jackson Martin. From there, it was easy. All he had to do was find out where I live and then follow me. Or, and I thought of this after the first time he took some potshots at me, he might have gotten into my email, which a competent hacker could do, learned I was coming out here, and then followed me when I left.”

  “You’re always…? Okay, never mind. When you go after crooks you’re someone else.”

  “True, but if he saw me either at my condo or out here, he’d have recognized me because I looked like the man he knew was Jax Martel. After that, following me would have been easy. I can change how I look, but I can’t change my basic scent and he was a canid. Their sense of smell is excellent.”

  “Makes sense to me. All I can say is, thank God he decided he wanted you terrified, afraid of what would come next, rather than killing you the first time he got the chance.”

  “I agree. Otherwise I wouldn’t have had a chance to get to know a very interesting young man I’ve grown quite fond of, to put it mildly.”

  Noel swallowed hard, which amused Jax, before saying, “Maybe we should eat?”

  “Absolutely. Eat, and then go back to your place to make certain Andre has been behaving himself.”

  The look Noel gave him said he was well aware that wasn’t the only reason they’d end up at his place. What happens after that? I guess time will tell.

  * * * *

  “The furniture is still in one piece and there aren’t any chewed shoes or books lying around,” Jax quipped when he and Noel walked into Noel’s living room. “Someone has been a very good boy.”

  “One who needs to go for a walk,” Noel replied since Andre had greeted them enthusiastically before dashing to the door.

  “I’ll take him.” Jax got the leash from the hook by the door. “You can make coffee while we’re gone.”

  “Like we need more coffee, but okay.”

  Noel had the feeling Jax’s offer was his way of giving them a few minutes apart to think about what might, or might not, happen when he got back.

  Are we going to end up in bed? Do I want us to? Is it too soon? Last time we planned on doing it, it was supposed to be tension release because of what was happening and nothing more. We both knew that he didn’t plan on staying, no matter how we felt about each other. Hell, I’m not sure either of us had a clue if our attraction was anything more than physical to begin with. But now? If it is more, it’s going to be damned hard to have a relationship when he won’t be around all that much.

  He jumped when the coffeemaker dinged and had two cups poured when Jax knocked on the door to let him know he was back. Andre was, thankfully in Noel’s opinion, much more subdued. He went to get one of his rawhide bones, settling down on the kitchen floor to chew on it while Jax and Noel took their coffees into the living room.

  Jax must have been feeling some of the same things Noel was because he asked, “Are you sure you want me here?”

  “Yes. I’ll be honest though, I’m scared. Not of you being here. That doesn’t frighten me in the least. But, damn it, I don’t want to find out we’ve blown things out of proportion and that what we think we’re feeling is only physical attraction and nothing more.”

  “I’m sure that’s a part of it,” Jax replied. “A small part, at least for me.” He took Noel’s hand in his. “Confession time, I suppose, and you might not like it. I’ve had more men in my life than I care to think about. That said, last week I got a new commission and I’d spent the whole day working on cleaning the book’s pages, which is tedious at best. I needed to get away from it and unwind so I decided to hit up a club.”

  Noel nodded. He didn’t like where this was going but it didn’t surprise him, either. He had no illusions that Jax was a saint when it came to his sex life.

  “I ate dinner out and was trying to decide which club to go to when you called. It took our talking after being apart for so long to make me realize I really wanted to see you again, once you said it was okay with you if I came out here. I mean…I honestly wanted us to reconnect so we could figure out if we could be more than friends. I didn’t go to the club. Instead I went home because—” Jax gripped Noel’s hand tighter, “—there was only one man I needed to be with, and it was you. So…here I am, for better or worse, and I’m not leaving again unless you tell me to. Well, not permanently, anyway. I know your life is here, so it’s on my shoulders to make certain we’re together as much as possible, if it’s what we both want.” He paused, looking directly into Noel’s eyes. “I know I do.”

  As Jax talked, Noel listened. More than that, he watched him. Watched his eyes, his expression, seeing in them the truth behind what he was saying. He does want this, us, as more than friends who might fall into bed sometimes because we can. It’s a big step but one I’m willing to take. If it doesn’t work, then it doesn’t, but it’s worth finding out.

  “I do, too,” Noel replied. He touched Jax’s lips with his fingertips, then with his lips—briefly. The barest of kisses, b
ut one that he hoped told Jax he meant it. He did want to find out if what they felt was the real thing. “If you…” As he’d done what seemed like such a long time ago, Noel lifted one eyebrow in question, nodding toward the stairs, afraid if he said the words it would break the spell.

  * * * *

  Jax smiled, replying, “At least we don’t have to clear the table first.” He stood, and when Noel did as well, he wrapped his arms around him. Relieved when Noel didn’t pull away, he kissed him. Noel returned it enthusiastically. It deepened as they moved to the stairs, only ending so they could walk up to the bedroom.

  As soon as Jax closed the door they kissed again. He slid his hands down to cup Noel’s ass, pulling him tightly to him. The result was what he’d hoped. Noel’s cock hardened, pressing against his already partial erection through the fabric of their jeans. His initial impulse was to strip them naked as quickly as possible. He resisted, ending the kiss by stepping away and then slowly unbuttoning his shirt, dropping it to the floor when he finished.

  Noel did the same, then kicked off his shoes and undid the button of his jeans. At that point, he froze, panic washing over his face.

  Jax understood and gathered him into his arms, saying, “What happened is in the past. I have no other enemies who are going to show up the way he did, I promise.”

  Noel sucked in a shuddering breath. “I know. I just…had a flashback. I’m okay.” Easing out of Jax’s embrace, he finished what he’d been doing until he was standing naked in front of Jax. “Now, you.”

  Jax smiled, humming under his breath as he stripped slowly, aware that Noel was following his every move. “Do I meet your expectations?” he asked. Noel twirled his finger, so Jax turned full circle until he was facing Noel again.

  “You do. For a guy who’s been around as long as you have, you’re damned impressive.”

  “Thank you…youngster.” He put his hands on Noel’s waist, tumbling them onto the bed, and they began a slow exploration of each other’s bodies with hands and mouths.