Once Upon a Rainbow, Volume One

by Mickie B. Ashling

  It took some time for Dani to relax, easing into his embrace. Christian held him close, the tremors in the thin body slowly lessening. He frowned at the pattern of scars he felt down Dani’s back, but that was a question for another time. Dani stirred and snorted slightly in his sleep and Christian smiled. He could get used to this. He listened to Dani’s even breathing, sometimes interrupted by a cough that didn’t sound as bad as before, until his own eyes drifted closed with sleep.

  Chapter Four

  IT SEEMED ONLY a short time later that Christian opened his eyes, sweaty from the naked body twined around his. God, Dani felt perfect, his chin snug on Christian’s shoulder, warm dick against his thigh. Dani still slept and Christian glanced at the bedside clock, surprised he’d been out of it for nearly two hours. His stomach rumbled on cue, reminding him he hadn’t had breakfast.

  Oddly reluctant to move, he peered down at Dani. Fine blond hair caressed a pale cheek, caught in long dark lashes. Rosy lips parted on an indrawn breath, making Christian hunger for a taste. An unexpected feeling of possessiveness came over him, and he pulled Dani a little closer. Who would he be when he woke up? His sweet self or the more masculine man he’d glimpsed once, when a waiter had snubbed him? Dani had balled his hand into a fist, gray eyes flashing, showing Christian he could take care of himself.

  He tenderly brushed the hair from Dani’s face. “Who will you be?” He was excited to find out. And wouldn’t it be amazing to have that privilege every morning? Or even moment to moment, depending on Dani’s mood? The sting of jealousy at the thought of someone else experiencing it surprised him.

  Why had Dani been out in the cold this morning? Christian’s thoughts kept returning to that question. Abruptly restless, he eased out from under Dani and crossed the semidark room to the short hallway leading to the living area. Going to the table by the front door, he hesitated only a second before pulling open Dani’s burlap sack. He blinked, puzzled. Candles?

  Opening the bag farther, he pulled out two multicolored pillars, about six inches tall. There were half a dozen more and several tattered matchbooks still in the sack. Christian didn’t know much about candles, but they seemed to be of good quality.

  He widened his eyes in sudden realization and shame. He’d seen Dani before. Many times. The Little Match Girl, they called him, a lone fairy sitting on a street corner downtown, huddled in ragged clothing against the cold. He had a single candle lit, others on the bare cement beside him. Christian hardly gave him a glance, crossing the street to avoid walking near him.

  His heart twisted. How many others had done that, leaving Dani to walk home chilled and hungry, without money for dinner?

  “Seen enough?”

  He jumped at the voice at his elbow and turned guiltily. There was nothing soft about Dani now. His lips were pressed tight, eyes flashing, body held rigid. Christian took a step back, not out of fear, but because Dani was amazing looking, so vibrant. To think he might have lost him to the cold the night before…

  Sudden realization that they were both naked in the empty apartment struck him, and he couldn’t help raking his gaze down the sleek body to a very nice cock, already half-erect. Dani sucked in a breath and then took a step to close the distance between them, capturing Christian’s lips in a demanding kiss. Christian gave in willingly, tongues tangling, tasting and teasing until they were both fighting for breath, cocks crushed and rutting against each other.

  With a last nip on Christian’s lower lip, Dani licked down his neck, pausing to suck enthusiastically on a nipple, sharp teeth sparking pleasure to Christian’s already aching dick. Dani slid down his body, nibbling, taking his time until Christian moaned with frustration.

  “Please, Dani,” he begged, unconsciously pushing his hips forward. A wicked chuckle came in reply, making his pulse leap with glee. He was going to enjoy every minute of the time Dani gave him. He lowered his gaze, put his hand out to caress the silky blond head working its way downward. Dani kissed his palm then quickly turned back and licked the head of Christian’s dick, making him jump.

  “Fuck.” Christian wished he was leaning against something as his knees went weak. He watched intently as Dani’s plump lips folded over his cock, drawing him into the wet, sucking heat of his mouth. He wasn’t going to last. It had been too long since a clever tongue had been on him, and Dani knew what he was doing.

  “Sweetheart,” he murmured as the familiar, pleasurable ache built toward release. He threaded his fingers in Dani’s hair, tilted his head slightly back, wanting to see his eyes. His breath whooshed out. Christ! Hurt and sadness and bone-deep loneliness were betrayed in that unguarded look, and then Dani jerked his head down. Christian tried to pull back, not wanting to come like this, but Dani bit him and his orgasm burst out, making him stumble. Light-headed, he fought the bliss attacking his senses, but Dani was already on his feet.

  “Wait,” Christian called, voice thick as he caught his breath, and stumbled after him as Dani raced for the bedroom. By the time he reached the door, Dani was pulling on his tattered pants, shirt clutched in his hand. Shit. Christian had meant to loan him some clothes from his slimmer roommate.

  He leaned on the doorframe, arms crossed on his chest. “What’s going on?”

  Dani didn’t look at him, drawing his shirt over his head. “What do you mean? I got out of the cold, you get to brag to your friends you fucked the match girl. Guess we both got what we wanted.” His voice was angry, bitter, making Christian wince.

  “You think that’s what’s going on here?”

  “What else?”

  Dani’s shoulders suddenly slumped, and he sat on the edge of the bed, a small dejected figure. It hurt to see him like that, and Christian crossed over to sit beside him. After hesitating only a second, he picked up Dani’s hand, twining their fingers together.

  “We’ve been seeing each other every night for a while now, Dani. I thought we were becoming friends?”

  Dani’s breath was ragged. “I was afraid to think that,” he confessed in a rough whisper, eyes on the floor. “Most guys are content to fuck me, but I don’t know why they bother. I never see them again. Or they ignore me.”

  “I know why,” Christian told him gently, touching his face with his free hand, drawing his gaze. “You’re beautiful, Dani. But more than that, even at your softest times, you have that don’t-fuck-with-me attitude that’s intensely attractive. Sexy.” Unable to help himself, he brushed his thumb over Dani’s full bottom lip and groaned. “I dream about your mouth,” he admitted and laughed a little. “That sounds creepy, but I can’t help it.”

  Christian’s pulse jumped when a smile ghosted across Dani’s face.

  “I dream about you too,” Dani said, pretty color in his face. He leaned against Christian’s shoulder. Untangling their fingers, he skimmed them over Christian’s chest then followed the wisps of hair to his growing erection. “Do you want to know what I dream about?” he asked coyly, circling the crown with a hard nail.

  “Yes,” Christian said on a husky breath.

  Dani gave him a wicked smile. “This,” he confessed and pressed those gorgeous, sweet-tasting lips to his. Pushing him back on the bed, Dani pulled his shirt off and straddled him. Christian thought his heart would pound out of his chest when Dani undid his own pants. Then he fished out his cock, and lust scorched through Christian when he held it to Christian’s mouth for a taste.

  Chapter Five

  DANI QUICKLY PULLED on the jeans and shirt and laced up the running shoes Christian’s roommate had unknowingly donated to him. He’d raised a brow when Christian told him that, but Christian said not to be dumb and pushed them into his hands.

  “Beggars can’t be choosers,” Dani muttered, picking up a fleece jacket warmer than anything he’d ever owned. With a last longing glance toward the bedroom, he headed for the front door. Christian was still in the shower, and if Dani didn't leave right then, he never would. Fine way to repay Christian’s kindness to the poor beggar girl
.

  That wasn’t fair, but Dani was teetering on the edge of falling in love with him, and that was unthinkable. Christian deserved someone better. Someone who didn’t beg on the streets, who hadn’t sometimes sold his body for a warm bed on the coldest nights. Recently Carl’s plaything.

  Hot tears filled his eyes. It was too late. Christian had taken his heart. He was the only man who’d ever sucked him off. The others never repaid the favor, but Christian went at it with gusto, as if he loved Dani’s dick. He’d fought against it, but had grown soft and biddable under Christian’s touch. As if sensing the change in him, Christian had responded with gentleness, entering him carefully, fucking him slowly, pushing in with deep long thrusts until Dani came again. And lay with Dani curled in his arms afterward, Dani crying noiselessly, not wanting Christian to know that the security and fondness of his embrace was breaking his heart.

  The shower turned off. Dashing the tears from his eyes, Dani grabbed his candles and let himself out of the apartment. Cold air instantly struck his face, and he pulled his beanie tighter over his ears, drew the hood up on the jacket. Christian had tucked gloves in the jacket pockets, and he slipped those on as well, hating himself for leaving without saying goodbye, but he wasn’t strong enough to stay and fight with him. Christian would gaze at him with those warm, intelligent eyes, smile, and Dani would be lost.

  Dani quickened his pace, needing to be long gone when Christian came searching for him. He broke into a jog despite the icy sidewalk, traversed half a block, and then dodged down a walkway between two buildings. Christian would take the car, and Dani wouldn’t make it easy for the guy to spot him. But maybe Christian wouldn’t come after all.

  He tortured himself with that thought for a few minutes, but he knew better. Christian would take care of his friends whether they wanted him to or not. Warmth spread in his chest. He was one of Christian’s friends.

  The walkway opened onto an alley, and Dani followed it to a side street. Winding his way through the neighborhood, he headed for the library. He’d rescued his mother’s locket from his ragged clothing before leaving. Maybe the library could shed some light on her past before she had taken up with his father. At least the bastard had married her. Probably thought he’d get some kind of dowry out of her. Instead, the family had disowned her and left her to her fate: sorrow and humiliation and pain.

  “You’re my only bright spot,” she’d once confessed to him, whispering so Carl wouldn’t take notice of them. They stood side by side in the kitchen, Dani cutting up onions while she sliced the potatoes for dinner. She’d kissed his forehead, and there was so much love in her eyes his heart had felt like it would burst from his chest.

  Dani blinked at the threatening tears. He shouldn’t cry. The tears would probably freeze, damaging his complexion. Heat flushed his skin. Maybe it was vain, but Christian had touched his face with such awe, saying how clear and soft his skin was. And he hadn’t commented on how skinny Dani was, like other guys did. He seemed to enjoy Dani’s body, just as Dani had enjoyed his strong arms and chest, muscular thighs…

  “Stop it,” he scolded when his dick responded to the erotic image of them sprawled on the bed, Christian’s heart thumping beneath his ear as he pushed inside Dani…

  “Goddammit,” he muttered and then ducked his head as a passerby shot him a scowl. The street was busier in the downtown area, and he hurried to the large library building beside the park. Approaching from the park side, he found a dense thicket of Oregon grape growing against the side of the building. After peering carefully around, he stashed his bag of candles behind it, then continued on the cement pathway to the front entrance. He had to hurry. They were closing early today.

  His chest tightened painfully as he walked up the front steps and through the glass doors without anyone giving him a second glance. So this is what it’s like to look normal. Before, no matter how clean he washed up, his ragged clothing and effeminate face always got him stares. Now the only ones who took any notice were a couple of girls at the counter who smiled at him and a guy standing in the reference section who gave him a flirty wink.

  A thought occurred to him, and he dodged down an aisle, stopped at some encyclopedias, and pretended to read the titles to hide his face. With clothing like this, he could apply for a job somewhere, start a life. His heart pounded. He would have left home at fifteen, only his mother had been diagnosed with cancer. For two years he’d taken care of her, suffering his father’s growing cruelty and temper as she faded and Carl drank more and more often.

  Dani had spent the last year mourning her, selling their dwindling stock of candles in her memory while Carl, his worthless father, beat him nightly, these last few weeks climbing into his bed with his goddamn wandering hands. Only stray touches, apologized for, but he feared it was only a matter of time… Dani’s skin crawled and he shuddered, wrenching his mind from the unwanted thought.

  Blinking the books in front of him back into focus, he chewed his bottom lip. Where to start? The library was heated nicely, and he removed his heavy coat, smoothed the gray shirt over his chest. Going to the end of the aisle, he glanced at the help desk. Did he dare ask? He pulled the locket from his jeans pocket and stared at it, his stomach knotting. Would they think he had stolen it? Call the police on him? Only one way to find out.

  He closed his fist around the heirloom and approached the desk. The woman at the counter wasn’t much older than he, maybe a college student working over the winter holiday. She smiled as he came up, and his face warmed at the interest in her eyes.

  “I hoped you could help me?” He hesitated. He’d never been to school, his mother teaching him all she knew. School would have put him too far out of Carl’s reach. He read whatever he could get a hold of—discarded newspapers, free books from the library—but he worried he sounded as ignorant as he felt.

  Maybe not. Her smile widened, and she leaned slightly toward him across the desk. “What did you need?”

  He opened his hand. “I have a locket from my mother and was wondering if there was a way to find out about her family.”

  “What was her maiden name?” she asked, typing something into the computer in front of her.

  “I don’t know.” Hot blood stung his face when she raised a surprised brow. Maybe that was something a normal person would know. “She died before—”

  “I’m so sorry,” she interjected, the compassion in her voice bringing stinging tears to his eyes. “Let me see if I can match it to anything we have on file. Do you know if her family is from this area?”

  “I think so.” He stopped. Lowering his gaze, he vigorously chewed his lips, wishing he hadn’t asked her anything. His mother never spoke about herself, and he’d been too afraid to ask, Carl always hovering over them, needing to be placated. He’d finally grown old enough to take the beatings for her, but until he was eight, he’d had to stand by and watch. He learned quickly not to ask questions.

  A gasp escaped him when she gently took the locket from his hand, but he didn’t protest. He watched her face as she studied the ornate design on the cover.

  “This does seem familiar,” she mused and then set it beside the computer and typed on the keyboard. After a few minutes, his attention wandered. The cute guy at the back of room had gone. Laughter from a nearby table brought a smile to his lips. A woman sat reading with two small children.

  Dani remembered an afternoon when he was very young, a day that had grown so hot they’d abandoned the corner where they’d set up their blanket and come to the library. With the candles tucked protectively beside him, his mother had read him fairy tales for hours, and then afterwards, with a mischievous, conspiratorial grin, she’d bought him ice cream from next door. They made sure to finish the single cone before reaching the apartment, but it had been a perfect day. Mother assured him the next morning that the bruises on her face were for something else.

  “I’m sorry,” the woman said, startling him from his memories. “I’m not getting anywher
e. Can you take a picture of it on your phone? I could scan it into the computer and see what pops up.”

  “It’s okay,” Dani said hurriedly, ashamed to admit he didn’t have money for a phone. “I’ll come back with a picture tomorrow.”

  “We’ll be closed the next few days for New Years, but will open again on Monday, if you’d like to come back. I start work at nine,” she added, handing him the locket. Her fingers lingered on his. Was she flirting? God, he didn’t even know what to do with that.

  “Thanks,” he mumbled, slipping the necklace into a pocket. With a self-conscious nod, he headed for the exit. An idea was forming in his mind, terrifying and tantalizing at the same time. Christian would help him find his family, and then Dani would be somebody, a man Christian might want to be with. But did he dare ask? What if Christian wasn’t as interested in him as he believed?

  Squaring his shoulders, he stepped into the cold daylight. The library would be open only a few more hours. If he wanted to do this, he’d better get going. He took a moment to retrieve the bag of candles and then headed back the way he’d come, only this time taking the main streets. Dressed as he was, no one took undue notice of him.

  That gave him courage. Even if he didn’t find his family, maybe Christian could help him find a job. The thought made him light-headed. He would never again have to sell himself to survive. The nights had become too cold to sleep outside, and he had dreaded going home to the icy apartment, praying Carl was too drunk to notice him.

  The summer before had come with its own set of problems. Not many people wanted a candle when it was over ninety degrees out. And though the nights had been pleasant in the park, he’d had to go to sleep hungry more than once. But there had been that one time Dani had made more than two hundred bucks for an hour of humiliation. The group of college boys had paid well, taking Dani to a secluded corner of the park.