by BL Maxwell
“He’s so angry,” Jason mumbled.
“He’s more than angry. He’s pissed the fuck off, and he doesn’t want to be bothered by anyone going down in that basement. You guys got off lucky. It could have been much worse.”
“Jason got his feet all cut up. When he went down there he was barefoot and there’s glass all over the place. Why would he be so pissed? Or do we even want to try to figure it out, because I’m starting to think we should leave well enough alone.”
“No, he needs help. I think he’s trapped. Like we talked about when we watched the tape, he’s trying to get us to help. I think that might have been what he was trying to tell you too, Jimbo. Only he has no other way to contact us. Maybe his rage is what makes it possible for us to see him?” Jason tried to explain. He knew way more about the house than I did, and I trusted his judgment. He might be crazy for wanting to see ghosts, but he was also smart and very careful. He wouldn’t have put us in danger if he had known what could possibly happen this weekend. And he was the one who was injured.
“I remember reading he was insane when he died, let himself starve to death. What if he doesn’t realize he’s dead and he’s trying to get help for some reason?” He dropped my hand and started pacing. He was suddenly more agitated than he had been at any time when we were at the house.
“Jason, are you okay?” I reached over and squeezed his arm.
He immediately jerked away from my touch. “No, I’m not okay at all, not even a little bit. Don’t you understand, Wade? This is so much more than either of us thought, and we have to do more than just observe and study. This is serious and we need to take it that way.”
Jimbo was looking at Jason, with wide-eyed shock. “If you’re right, then you’re on your own. There’s nothing that will get me back in that house. I don’t really care why he’s there. I just know I never want to see or hear anything else from him—ever!”
Jason stopped pacing and stood in front of Jimbo and I. “What about you, Wade. Are you willing to try to help him? I need to know now, because if you’re not you need to tell me. I’m going back, and I’m going to figure out how to help him and his wife too. They deserve some peace. If they’ve been trapped in that house all this time, it’s time for them to be able to leave.”
I thought about it for a second then slowly walked over to him. “Of course I want to help. There’s nothing that would make me desert you now. We’ve come this far; now we need to finish the job. Even if we didn’t realize any of this was going to happen, but you’re right, they deserve to find peace. I’m not leaving you here to do it alone.”
Suddenly he seemed to find some calm, and he cupped my face in his hands. “Thank you. Thank you so much, Wade. You’ve always been there for me, always.” Then he pressed his warm lips to mine and in that instant, nothing else mattered to me. Not the house, not the ghosts, and not even Jimbo, who stood there staring at us with a look of impatience.
“Okay, you guys, hurry it up. So what are you going to do now?”
Breaking our kiss with a laugh, we both looked at Jimbo. He gave us another impatient look and held his hands out toward us. “Come on, guys, what’s it gonna be? You still want to go back there or what?”
We leaned back to look at each other, still in a tight embrace. Slowly Jason lowered his forehead to mine. “Together, we’ll do it together.”
“Well, okay then, you guys better get going before it gets dark. And be sure you stop back by here before you leave town. I want to know what happened and make sure you guys are both still alive.” Humor danced in his eyes along with concern.
“We will. We’ll be leaving tomorrow, so we’ll stop by. Will you be working?” I asked.
“I always work. I own this place and no way in hell would I trust my baby to anyone else.” He started to walk toward the back door. “You boys be careful now, and don’t forget to stop by before you leave town.”
I grabbed Jason’s hand and led him back to the car. “Come on, let’s go see the sights before we head back to the house.” We both got in and slowly made our way through town. When we drove by a sign that pointed to the old jail, I turned in the direction it indicated.
“I want to check this out. Do you mind?” I asked, eyebrows raised in question.
“Sounds great, let’s do it.” He waggled his eyebrows at me.
“You dork,” I admonished as I pulled the car up to the site of the old gold rush era jailhouse. Or more accurately what was still left of the old jail. There were two walls and a window with some metal bars, and that was about it. We got out of the car and stood at the edge the area, enjoying the nice weather and just relishing each other’s company without the constant fear we knew would once again be there as soon as we returned to the house. The afternoon was wearing on, and it was time to get back.
“Wade, are you sure about staying there tonight? I don’t want to put you in any danger, and I’m not sure what we’re getting ourselves into by being there again.”
I thought about what he’d just said as we walked the few steps back to the car. “Jason, we’ll get through this like we have everything else since we were kids, together. If Louise Chalmers decides to come and fuck with us again, she’s going to be dealing with us both. There is no way in hell I wouldn’t be there with you through all of this craziness.”
He ducked his head and smiled, then looked over at me with one eye squinted shut. “It really is crazy, isn’t it?”
His smile grew even more then, for some strange reason, this all seemed very funny. We both threw our heads back and laughed like we hadn’t in months. All the stress and fear and emotions of the weekend were released in this big bout of mutual laughter. As we slowly came to our senses, Jason reached out and took my hand.
“Thank you.” His voice was full of sincerity. “I know I’ve already told you that, a few times, but I really do mean it. No one means more to me than you do, Wade.”
I could only nod in reply, my throat suddenly choked with emotions. In twenty-four short hours, this man had worked his way into my heart even more than he had already been. I squeezed his hand, hoping he understood he meant as much to me as I did to him. When I looked over at him, he wore the same goofy grin he had yesterday when we both had finally admitted our feelings. We’d make it through this together, hopefully none the worse for staying one more night in The Vineyard House.
Chapter Fifteen
We climbed back into the car, both of us reluctant to leave the peaceful surroundings of the park and historical area by the river. It really was very beautiful here: the big old-growth trees, the lush green grass of the park areas, and the old houses that were all from the Gold Rush. We followed the narrow road past the old cemetery and turned back onto The Vineyard House property.
Even if I visited here repeatedly, I’d never get used to seeing the house. It held more secrets than either of us would ever be able to figure out. We drove up to the front of the house and parked where we had yesterday when we first arrived. It seemed so long ago, and it had only been a day. Something about this house seemed to bear down on us and quickly drove us both to mental exhaustion.
Neither of us had gotten much rest since we’d been here, and that only heightened the constant need to stay aware of what was going on at all times. It felt as though if we dropped our guard for one second, somehow the house would know and we’d once again be dodging broken glass—or worse.
I turned off the car and we both sat there, neither of us moving to get out, both of us looking up at the house. “We don’t have to stay, you know. We could go in and gather everything up and get the hell out of here and never look back.” I hoped he would agree with me, but I knew he wouldn’t.
He was hunched forward, still looking up at the house. A look on his face of both wonder and concern. “We have to stay.” He slowly pulled his eyes away from the house and looked me directly in the eye. “I can’t do this alone. I need your help. I don’t trust myself to not get overtaken again by one o
f the Chalmers. Please stay with me and see this through. I won’t ask you to do anything like this again. But please, do this for me.”
He turned in the seat and clutched my hand in his. It was clear to me that he meant every word he’d said. He didn’t need to ask; there was no way in hell I would let him stay here alone. I palmed the back of his head and pulled him to me, catching his lips in a possessive kiss that started rough and ended softly with me stroking his cheek. Jason’s eyes stayed closed as I rested my forehead against his. “There is nothing you could say or do that would make me leave you, Jason. I love you. We’re in this together, and no matter what happens tonight, I will make sure we make it out of here unharmed.”
He pulled back so he could meet my eyes then nodded. “We’ll look out for each other.” He echoed my thoughts exactly.
“We’ll go in, check the equipment, then go back to our room and listen to the audio recordings we’ve gotten so far from the EVP. Then once it’s dark, we don’t leave our room. We use the cameras to see what’s going on around the house. But you have to promise me we won’t leave the room.”
“Okay, Wade, I’ll pretty much do whatever you say.” He opened his eyes then, and gave me a glimpse of his usual cocky attitude. We could handle this, as long as we stayed in the room nothing could happen. I hoped.
“Funny guy, come on, let’s get this show on the road . . . or in the house, I guess.” He bumped his shoulder into mine and caressed the line of my jaw while he stroked my cheek with his thumb. I leaned into his touch and put my hand on top of his and gave a gentle squeeze.
“I love you too, Wade. Come on, let’s go.” With that we both hopped out of the car and slammed the doors. Maybe we thought we needed to warn the house we were back, or maybe we were just being stupid. We both stopped at the bottom of the stairs that led up to the porch and into the house. Jason held out his hand to me, and I grabbed it without hesitation.
We walked up the stairs, much less enthusiastic than we had been yesterday. When we reached the door, Jason dug out the key from his pocket. It was so quiet. It felt like the house was waiting for us. I placed my hand on his to stop him from opening the door. I turned around and scanned the surrounding property.
“I noticed it too. Way too quiet.” I nodded back to him and released his hand. He turned the key and opened the door.
The house was the same as it was when we’d left it. As we walked into the entryway, it was as though it was waiting for us. Maybe it was my imagination, but this house had my nerves so on edge that there was nothing that would ever make me feel comfortable about being here. Jason pulled me by my hand and started to head for the stairs, not bothering to look around the bottom floor at all. I knew his natural curiosity had to be killing him, but I was relieved to be headed to the one place where nothing had happened to us yet.
We slowly made it up the stairs, both of us scanning all around, just waiting for something to happen. When we got to the top of the staircase I turned and looked down at the entryway, still there was nothing. I hoped that would be the norm for the rest of the night.
Jason tugged on my hand and set us in motion, moving down the hall. He opened the door to our room and pushed it all the way open. He stood out in the hall leaning in, still holding my hand. The room was so small it was easy enough to see all of it from the hall.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
He nodded before he walked in pulling me along with him. I immediately shut and locked the door as soon as I was clear of the door frame. He was so on edge. More than he had been earlier, more than he had been the whole time we’d been here. His free hand was clenched in a tight fist, and the set of his shoulders and spine was board straight, his mouth a straight tense line. His eyes darted around the space, and finally when he seemed to believe we were safe here, he let go of my hand.
“Are you okay, Jason?” I needed to ask to be sure. I didn’t want him to think he had to stay here for any reason. If he was that stressed about it, we were out of here. I smoothed my hand down his arm then gripped his fingers with mine. “I’m here, Jason. No matter what, I’m here. We got this, buddy.”
That seemed to snap him out of it. He looked at me and bent over laughing. “What’s up with the ‘buddy’ talk?” He laughed again, and I didn’t realize until right then how much I had missed hearing that sound.
I grinned at him. It was worth it to make Jason happy again. All the stress of yesterday had weighed even heavier on him than I’d realized. I pulled him to me and hugged him tight. “Only one night. Then we’re going back to Sacramento and having wild monkey sex for days.”
He pulled back and once again busted up laughing. Then he sobered and with no humor at all he said, “Really, Wade?”
I could feel my face heat and flush red. I couldn’t stop my eyes from gaping at him with a look of shock, trying to figure out if he meant what he’d just said. “Are you being serious?” I had to ask, since he still had a stoic look on his face that made it very hard for me to read. Then his face bloomed into that gorgeous smile I’d come to expect from him. “You fucker.” I punched him as hard as I could in the arm to punctuate how much he’d pissed me off.
He wrapped me up in a firm embrace. “I cannot wait to have ‘wild monkey sex’ with you. You’re all I want.” He brushed his thumb against my cheek then slowly leaned in to kiss me. “I love you, I really do. And I want everything that goes with loving you.”
Those words ignited so much want in me I wasn’t sure I could wait until we left. Then I was sure, I couldn’t wait. I walked him backwards to the bed while we were still embracing, never breaking apart. I kissed him with a need that I didn’t think I’d ever feel for another person. When his knees hit the edge of the bed, I kept pushing forward until we landed on the bed with a dull thud and a puff of dust.
I grabbed his hands and wove our fingers together before stretching them above his head. I ground down on him, letting him feel exactly what he did to me, what he’d always done to me as long as I’d known him. Only now I didn’t have to pretend. I could show him exactly how I felt about him.
I kissed him with increasing urgency, and when I couldn’t hold back anymore, I let go of his hands and let my hands trail back down his arms and his sides until they ended up clutching at his waist. “Want you so bad,” I mumbled into his neck as I continued to take advantage of the way his head was thrown back exposing all that kissable skin.
“Oh god, Wade, you’re killing me here.”
“Let me take care of you. It’ll be quick.”
“What if I don’t want it to be quick?”
“You really are demanding. Tell me what you want.”
He let out a deep groan then flicked his hips up to meet mine. “Touch me. I want to feel your hands on me. I want you to make me come.”
I stopped; he really was pushy. Just yesterday I wasn’t sure about his feelings, and now here they were for me to enjoy.
“What’s wrong?”
I reached down and brushed my thumb over his cheek, then raked my fingers through his hair and squeezed the back of his neck. “Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s right. I just realized you’re in this for real. I know you told me before, and it’s not that I didn’t believe you, but somehow it seems more real to me now.”
I leaned down and sucked on his bottom lip, grazing it lightly with my tongue. I slid my hands under his shoulders and pulled him closer to me while he deepened the kiss. I ground my hard cock down on him, and I couldn’t contain the groan that escaped me.
“Wade, if you don’t stop, this is where it’s all going to end. You’re killing me here.”
I jerked my head back and looked him in the eye, then held him close while he laughed into my shoulder before sobering.
“I love you so much, Wade. Don’t ever doubt it.”
The happy sparkle in his green eyes showed me how those words made him feel. I was getting everything I’d ever hoped for—Jason, my friend who I’d secretly loved for years, now
freely admitted he loved me too. I pecked his lips again and couldn’t stop myself from getting lost in those beautiful eyes.
“I love you too, so much.”
Now if we could just get through this night, we could get on with our lives. But first there were things I wanted to spend a little more time on.
“I can’t wait for more with you.”
“Oh god, Wade. I want that.”
“Promise me, as soon as we get home we go to my place and you show me how bad you want it. How bad you want me.”
He rolled us over so he was on top. He leaned down and nipped at my bottom lip. “I can’t wait for that,” he whispered to me, his voice husky with desire.
I had to turn away from the intense look he was pinning me to the bed with. “One more reason I can’t wait to get out of here.”
“Me either. I’m ready to start working on the recordings if you are.” He looked down at me but didn’t move, and then he slowly increased the pressure of his cock pressing down onto my own hard-on.
“I’m okay with that.” But I made no move to get out from under his pressing weight.
“I don’t suppose you happen to have a condom and some lube in that backpack of yours?” he asked with a lustful gleam in his eyes.
I could only shake my head in response. My mouth had gone dry. The things this man did to me. I would never have imagined this. Well, I did imagine it, but I never thought it would actually happen. There was no way we were going to work on those recordings yet. Not until we were both panting and sweating, and chasing sweet release, and soon enough that’s exactly what we were doing.