by Ally Blue
“You do?” Greg sidestepped toward Adrian and crouched beside him, a hand on his shoulder. “How?”
“Some of the stuff from Lyndon’s memory. I remember a few things I couldn’t make sense of at the time, but now…” Closing his eyes, Adrian focused his mind inward and rifled through the blurry watercolor images permanently imprinted on his brain.
A brief vision of the castle from outside, jagged white lightning illuminating the bare trees and the tower reaching toward the black sky.
Rain. Wind. Wet earth.
Adrian’s heart gave a sickening lurch. Fingers scraping at the stone of the tower floor, he hunched his shoulders and dug deeper, looked harder, found details of the memory he’d never noticed before…
…Jostling movement. Tower tilting. A thud, and the movement stops, the castle halting at an odd angle. Edge of a tree trunk, smooth grass, then the castle’s back porch…
…Solid thunks. Wet, tearing sounds. Cursing…
…Trees, grass, castle, sky, all wheeling in crazy circles…
…Rain. Wind. Wet earth pressing in all around, tunneling up toward bare branches. Roots sticking out. Soupy smack of mud blots out the lightning…
Adrian opened his eyes. Beside him, Greg sat, darting worried looks back and forth between him and Lyndon. “Adrian? Everything all right?”
“Yeah.” Adrian laid a soothing hand on Greg’s knee. “I think I know where to find Lyndon’s body.”
Greg’s gaze snapped into focus on Adrian’s face. “Really?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Adrian smiled at Greg’s eager expression. “Just inside the edge of the woods, not too far from the back porch. We were right. I saw the exact spot through Lyndon’s eyes.”
Greg’s mouth formed a silent “oh”. “Do you think you could find it?”
“It might take a while, but there might still be traces of Lyndon’s psychic energy lingering around his body. I can use that to zero in if I need to. We have plenty of time, anyway.” Excitement surged through Adrian’s blood. He scrambled to his feet. “Are there any shovels or anything around here?”
“There’s a gardener’s shed out back. It’s padlocked, but I’m sure that’s not a problem for you.” Greg stood and linked hands with Adrian. “Come on.”
As they headed for the door, Adrian stopped and gazed at Lyndon, who still hovered in the middle of the room. For the first time, his melancholy gaze seemed to hold a certain measure of peace.
We’ll find you, Lyndon. I promise.
~ * ~
The woods had grown closer to the castle since Lyndon’s time. It took Adrian almost two hours to locate the area with the angle best corresponding to the one from his vision. After that he spent another twenty minutes pacing back and forth with his eyes shut, his arm linked through Greg’s and his psychic senses wide open to follow the faint trace of Lyndon’s energy to its source.
Finally, he stopped in a small, sunny space between two young dogwoods and opened his eyes. “Here. He’s right here.”
Greg glanced down at the unimpressive patch of dirt and weeds. “Here? You’re sure?”
“Positive.” Dropping to the ground, Adrian laid his cheek against the earth, his face toward the castle. “Yes. The angle’s perfect. This is definitely it.” He pushed to his feet again. “Okay. Let’s get the shovels.”
Greg stuck his hands in his pockets. “Should we mark this spot?”
“Probably. Or you could just stay here while I go get the shovels.”
“That works.” Greg pointed toward a green wooden building nearly hidden in the bushes on the other side of the back lawn. “That’s the shed over there.”
“Okay.” Laying his hands on Greg’s cheeks, Adrian leaned close and kissed him. “Be right back.”
Greg’s lips curved against Adrian’s. “I’ll be here.”
Adrian jogged over to the shed. A simple padlock secured the door. He unlatched it with a mental nudge, slipped it free of its metal loop and swung the door open. Inside, garden tools hung in neat rows from hooks on the walls. Skirting the mower with its attached leaf collector which took up half the floor, Adrian lifted two shovels from their hooks and left the shed, leaving the padlock hanging on the loop.
Forty-five minutes of hard digging later, he and Greg had carved out a roughly circular space in the ground about three feet across and four feet deep. There wasn’t room for both of them to dig in the shallow pit at the same time, so they’d started taking turns. Right now Adrian was scooping earth from the trench onto the growing pile at the edge while Greg sprawled on the thin grass a yard or so away.
So far, they hadn’t found anything more exciting than a couple of quarters, and Adrian had begun to doubt himself.
Sighing, Adrian thunked the blade of his shovel into the red clay at his feet and used his forearm to wipe the sweat from his brow. “Maybe this is the wrong spot after all. We haven’t found a thing.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s the wrong place. We don’t know how deep he’s buried. Plus I bet bones are hard to find by digging.” Greg rolled onto his side. “You want me to take over again? It’s probably about time.”
“It isn’t, and you know it. I can’t possibly have been digging for more than five minutes this turn.” He managed a tired smile. “But thanks anyway.”
Adrian curled his fingers around the shovel handle and yanked. The blade came free with such surprising ease that Adrian lost his balance and fell onto his butt in the dirt. The shovel slid from his grip and came to rest against the side of the pit.
“Oh, shit. Adrian?” Leaves rustled, and a moment later Greg peered over the edge. “You okay?”
“Yeah, fine. I just pulled on the shovel too hard, I guess.” Adrian planted a palm on the cool clay to push himself to his feet, and stopped. Something brownish stood up from the ground where the shovel blade had dug in, something with a different texture from the earth around it. “Hang on a second, there’s something here.”
“What, that brown thing there?” Greg bent dangerously far forward. “What do you think it is?”
“I’m not sure, but it looks like leather.” Leaning closer, Adrian rubbed a thumb over the material. A tingle shot up his arm, and for a moment the world around him blurred behind a vision of a lightning-split night sky, wind-tossed trees and the castle wall looming in the rain.
He knew what it meant, even though he couldn’t see the bones yet.
He turned wide eyes up to meet Greg’s. “Oh my God, Greg. We did it. We found Lyndon.”
Chapter Nineteen
At first, Greg didn’t want to call the police. He was afraid he and Adrian would get in trouble for excavating on college property. Adrian argued that while they might face some sort of punishment, they had an obligation to notify the authorities.
Greg hedged up until Adrian offered to remain at the castle alone while Greg returned to his dorm. At that point, he relented and let Adrian dial nine-one-one from his iPhone. No way, he said, was he letting Adrian go through any of this alone.
After three hours of standing around broken up by brief bouts of questioning by the police, Adrian was incredibly grateful for Greg’s presence. Especially since the officers weren’t predisposed to believe Adrian’s tale of how he’d found the body in the first place.
“Oh, my God,” Adrian groaned as he and Greg shuffled into his apartment that afternoon. “I’m exhausted. Who knew just finding a hundred-year-old body would take up so much of a person’s time?”
“No kidding. But at least we didn’t get busted for digging up college property. I had no idea the property ended at the tree line, but damn, I’m glad it does. Thank God for cops who know their property lines.” Toeing off his sneakers, Greg stripped out of his filthy jeans and sweatshirt and headed toward the bathroom in his underwear, his dirty clothes hung over his arm. “I’m taking a shower. Care to join me?”
Adrian’s cock twitched at the thought of naked, wet Greg. “Oh, yes.” H
e followed Greg’s black-brief-clad rear, pulling off his sweater as he went.
Greg laughed. “No shower sex. I’m too tired to stand up and fuck at the same time.”
“And here I thought you’d be in great shape with all that dancing you do for theater.” Grinning, Adrian dodged the swat Greg aimed at his head. “Kidding, kidding. I agree with you, actually. We’ll get clean, then have fun.”
“That’s what I like about you. You’re so smart.” In the bathroom, Greg dropped his jeans and sweatshirt into the laundry basket in the corner, turned and started working on Adrian’s button fly. “So. Now that the mystery of Lyndon Groome’s murder is solved, is his ghost going to be gone forever?”
A pang of loss tugged at Adrian’s heart. “I expect so, yes.” He put a hand on the sink to steady himself while he took off his mud-caked sneakers. “I know it’s what I set out to do, and what’s best for Lyndon. But I have to admit I’m going to miss him. There were a couple of times over the past few weeks when I felt like he was my only friend.”
Greg’s shoulders tensed. He said nothing, however, even though the meaning behind Adrian’s words couldn’t possibly have escaped him. Keeping his gaze downcast, he hooked his thumbs into the waistband of Adrian’s jeans, snagging his underwear as well, and worked the garments down over Adrian’s thighs. Adrian took over from there, and they each finished undressing in silence.
Neither said anything else until they’d finished bathing and Adrian shut off the water. Greg stepped out of the shower first. Adrian stood just inside the half-drawn blue plastic curtain, wiping water from his eyes and wishing he’d kept his mouth shut. He could’ve shared his fondness for Lyndon without adding that bit about him being Adrian’s only friend. The days of his and Greg’s breakup were in the past. Bringing up that time now—especially in a way serving only as a reminder of how much Adrian had been hurt—was unnecessary and petty.
Adrian drew the shower curtain aside and stepped onto the bathmat. “Greg, I’m sorry, I—”
Greg cut him off with a hard kiss. Both arms wound around his waist to pull him close. Adrian opened to him, a tiny involuntary whimper escaping as their tongues slid together. Almost four months to the day after their first kiss, electricity still sparked along Adrian’s skin every single time Greg’s mouth found his.
When the kiss broke, Greg stepped back enough to meet Adrian’s gaze with his. “I’m sorry too. But that’s all over. We hurt each other, we’ve moved on, and it’s all in the past now.” Taking Adrian’s hand, he walked backward toward the bathroom door. “Come on. Let’s go to bed and fuck ’til we drop, then we can order pizza.”
Happiness bubbled up in Adrian’s chest. He laughed. “Sounds like a perfect plan to me.”
“I know. I’m a genius that way.” Greg reached behind him with his free hand, felt for the door and opened it. In the cooler air of the main room, he shivered. “Wow. It’s cold. You need to turn up the heat in here.”
“I’m about to.” Pulling his hand from Greg’s grip, Adrian dove forward and swooped Greg into his arms.
Greg yelped in surprise. “Hey, be careful!”
“What, afraid I’m gonna hurt you?”
“No, dumbass, I’m afraid you’re gonna hurt yourself. I’m not exactly a delicate flower here.” Greg let out an oof, then snickered when Adrian dropped him on the bed. “Caveman.”
“You bring it out in me.”
“Yeah? What else do I bring out in you?”
The wicked smile on Greg’s face brought Adrian’s cock from half-mast to diamond hard in two heartbeats. Climbing onto the bed, Adrian nestled between Greg’s open thighs and rocked his hips. Greg moaned, and a shiver of excitement ran up Adrian’s spine. “You make me want to try things I’ve never tried before.” He kissed Greg’s lips. Did it again, because it tasted so damn good. “I guess that means you bring out the adventurer in me.”
The warm light which always made Adrian’s heart beat faster rose in Greg’s eyes. Without a word, he buried both hands in Adrian’s hair and angled his head to kiss him deep.
As usual, the feel of Greg’s bare skin against his, the strong legs winding around his waist and the long fingers cradling his skull, kicked Adrian’s psychokinesis into overdrive. He tamped it down with an effort. After four months, he had gotten much better at keeping his gift under control, but it was never easy.
Several glorious minutes later, Greg tore his mouth from Adrian’s. “Shit. Are you using your mojo on me?”
Adrian frowned, trying to think past the waves of lust thumping through him. “My mojo?”
“Yeah. You know, your moving stuff with your mind thing.” Letting his legs fall away from Adrian’s waist, Greg slipped both hands down to squeeze his ass. “I could come just from kissing and humping. That can’t be normal for a suave and worldly guy like me.”
“Actually, I think that sort of thing is perfectly normal for guys our age, no matter how suave and worldly they might be.” Adrian arched an eyebrow at the flushed and grinning naked man underneath him. “But yeah, my ‘mojo’, as you call it, was acting up. It always does when we’re together. I can control it, but it doesn’t really go away. It does make for an enhanced experience, though.”
The fire that flared to life in Greg’s eyes created an answering heat in Adrian’s belly. Greg extended one arm toward the bedside table, rummaged through the drawer and emerged with a tube of lube, which he handed to Adrian. He didn’t say anything. There was no need.
Sitting back on his knees, Adrian opened the lube. He squeezed some onto his fingers, then reached down behind Greg’s balls, slick fingertips sliding into the crease of his ass. Greg lifted his legs and spread himself open with both hands, staring straight into Adrian’s eyes the whole time.
God, the way he looks at me. Like he wants to eat me alive. It was almost enough to make Adrian feel like he could come without ever being touched. He clamped his free hand around the base of his cock and started counting backward from one hundred by sevens in his head until his belly stopped tightening and the pressure in his balls eased.
Biting his lip, he pressed two lubed fingers deep into Greg’s ass. He pumped and twisted to spread the slick stuff around both inside and out. Greg moaned. One hand went to his cock, curling around the shaft. His thumb caressed the flare of the glans, but otherwise his hand didn’t move. Almost as if he wanted to wait for Adrian to be inside him before he started getting himself off. Adrian found it oddly sweet.
When his fingers penetrated deep enough to nail Greg’s gland, Greg let out a sharp, desperate cry. “Ah! Jesus, just…I know you like to finger my ass, but right now I want your cock in me so bad I could die.” Greg unfolded one leg, rested his foot on Adrian’s shoulder and used muscles made strong by hours on the stage to urge Adrian closer. “C’mon, Adrian. Fuck me.”
The need in his voice intensified the hot ache in Adrian’s groin. Pulling his fingers from Greg’s hole, Adrian managed to coat his cock with lube in spite of Greg adding the other leg to the fight to get him horizontal. He tossed the half-empty tube over the side of the bed just in time to keep it from being trapped as he finally gave in and let Greg yank their bodies flush against one another.
“You’re awfully impatient today,” Adrian observed, attempting to wriggle into position without rubbing all the lube off his prick. “Anyone would think I didn’t take care of your needs.”
In response, Greg bit his neck. “Too much talking. Fuck me.”
Adrian snickered. “Trying.”
Propping himself on one elbow, he bent his right hip just enough to get his hand in the space. He grabbed hold of his cock, fumbled with it a moment, finally got it aimed in the right direction and slid home.
They let out identical groans. For what felt like the hundredth time in the last few weeks, Adrian thanked whatever deities existed for long-term monogamy and reliable disease testing, because fucking Greg bare felt incredible. If he had his way, they would never use a condom again.
> Greg’s thighs tightened around Adrian. One heel dug hard into Adrian’s lower back. Bare toes wove into his still-wet hair and pulled so hard his eyes watered. Wincing, he dislodged Greg’s leg from his shoulder. The overly enthusiastic toes wrenched free of his hair. Probably took a few strands with them, he figured. For some reason, the thought made him smile.
The smile dissolved into a heartfelt moan when Greg’s pelvis tilted upward, creating a mind-melting friction against his cock. Greg’s ankle hooked over his other one across Adrian’s back. “Adrian. God, please. Move.”
Greg’s hips rocked, back and forth, and Adrian’s vision blurred with the force of the energy pulse that hit him. Curling his forearms beneath Greg’s shoulders, he dug his knees into the mattress and set up a firm, steady rhythm. Forceful enough to satisfy Greg—who liked to be fucked hard and deep—but slow enough for Adrian to keep control of his powers. He felt himself trembling on the edge already. Not close to orgasm, but to losing his grip on his psychokinesis. The strength of it still took him by surprise sometimes, when he and Greg were together like this.
A tender caress on his cheeks brought his attention into sharp focus on Greg’s face. Greg’s smile was dazed, but his eyes glinted with the determination Adrian had come to both adore and dread. “Don’t.”
Adrian shook his head. “Don’t what?”
“Don’t hold back.”
“I’m not.” Adrian gave a hard thrust to prove his point, and grinned when Greg’s back arched and his eyelids fluttered. “I know how you like it. I never hold back with you.”
“Not…what I meant.” Visibly gathering himself, Greg lifted his body up enough to kiss Adrian’s lips. “Your mojo. I can feel it. I want to know what it’s like to feel all of it.” He stroked Adrian’s hair, his jaw, ran a thumb over his lower lip. “Don’t hold back. Let it go.”
Whatever Adrian had expected, that wasn’t it. If it weren’t for the undulating grip of Greg’s insides on his prick, he would’ve gone soft. He shook his head. “No. I can’t. It’s too dangerous. If I don’t control it, you might get hurt.”