Into The Light

by Wolfe, H. M.

  "Get inside, Alastair, I don't want you to embarrass me in front of my neighbors more than you already have," Joraan hissed between the teeth, letting the older redhead into the house.

  "Thank you. I appreciate your kindness very much. I was delighted when I heard you were alive," Alastair spoke, extending his hand.

  "Come on, Stark, I don't buy any of that bullshit," Joraan spoke, cutting the other man short and ignoring the extended hand. "The only reason I let you in is that I don't want my neighbors to see my dirty laundry. In case you didn't realize it until now, my answer is no.”

  Alastair was utterly shocked. ”What are you talking about? I just found out you are alive, from one of your employers, Mallory Ashburn. I don't want anything from you, I just...”

  ”Of course you don't want anything from me,” Joraan abruptly interrupted Alastair again, his voice laced with sarcasm. ”What could I possibly give you, when you took everything away from me? Everything my family owned. The jewelry design company, the stores, the mines, the properties...you grabbed them all, holding them tight in your clutches!”

  ”Joraan, I...you don't understand. Nothing belongs to me anymore. The properties and everything, they have been in their rightful owner's possession for more than two years. I waited five years before taking any measures regarding your and Sebastian's estate. Looking for your son was everything I did all those years.”

  The despair in Alastair's eyes was so profound, so real, that Joraan almost felt sorry for the man. He almost believed him. Almost, because in the next second he remembered what a manipulative bastard Stark was. How much he liked to lure unsuspecting people into his web of lies and deceit. How much he enjoyed to poison their minds and souls, to turn them one against the other.

  ”Cut the crap, Alastair. You wouldn't be here if you didn't need me for one of your twisted plans. I know exactly, what it is, I'm not the grieving, innocent kid I was all those years ago. I saw you as you are, you can't touch me or use me anymore.”

  Alastair's heart ached when he heard Joraan speaking like that. Of course, everything he said was valid, but it was the venom in the younger man's voice that caused the pain in his chest. ”And why do you think I'm here?” he asked calmly.

  ”To use me, like you use everyone else, of course. You want me to intervene between Sebastian and Vincent, to break them up, don't you? You want your nephew to suffer and be miserable again, don't you? Don't count on me for that,” Joraan hatefully spat.

  ”Daniel is alive,” Alastair said gently. ”He's happily married. Father of three beautiful, intelligent, healthy, affectionate and spoiled boys. One black-haired, two blonds. The blonds are twins.”

  All of a sudden, Joraan's posture changed, becoming less rigid by the second. The look in his eyes was much softer, a melancholic smile playing on his lips. With just a few words, Alastair brought him to his knees, Shattered the walls he'd built around his poor broken heart, leaving him exposed and defeated.

  ”Do you intend to use our son in this sick, twisted game of yours? Because if you do, I swear I will kill you without the slightest remorse. Before that, I will expose you to the world, the real you. The one who abandoned his son and never wanted to know of him again.” Joraan's voice was low and flat, his eyes glossy.

  ”What are you talking about? Calm down, nobody's using anyone,” Alastair said, in the same calm voice as before "What's all this nonsense about me wanting to use you to break up Sebastian and Vincent? Your husband is dead, as for his former lover...We are on good terms now. It's a long story, but that is the truth.”

  Joraan's eyes widened in shock. ”Are you trying to say you didn't know Sebastian was alive and happy with Vincent? That you only found out about it now, from me?”

  Alastair nodded. ”Yes, this is what I'm trying to say, but you were too busy attacking me and didn't listen. Joraan, believe me, nothing would make me happier than to know that my nephew is alive, well and reunited with Vincent, but...I have strong reasons to believe that you mistook someone else as your husband.”

  ”What about Tyler? What's your explanation for the way you treated your son?” Joraan gave Alastair a cold look, his body going rigid again.

  ”Who is this guy you keep mentioning? I only have one son, who...” The redhead stopped, realization hitting him full force. ”My son...is he here, in the US? Did he look for me, did he want us to meet?”

  Alastair was devastated at the possibility that he'd rejected his son, without knowing. But then again, the boy he turned over to the British social services was named Arthur, not Tyler. The people who adopted him must have changed his name, removing the last vestige of the bond between father and son.

  Alastair turned to Joraan, ready to find out everything, even if that meant that he would have to endure another bath of venom the other man would throw at him. ”When was this? When did my son try to get in touch with me?”

  Joraan let out a heavy breath, closing his eyes. ”About five years ago, after Pamela, his beloved wife, died, in a hit and run accident. Tyler started to look for his birth family and found out that you were his father. I didn't discourage his pursuit, although I knew what kind of man you were, and probably still are.”

  ”Did Tyler find out that I was the head of the CIA? How did he react at the news?” Alastair also became tense, waiting for Joraan's answer.

  The other redhead smiled. ”He wasn't intimidated by that, not at all. Your son is a very talented architect, but with the heart of a warrior, nothing scares him, nothing brings him down. Except...”

  ”Except what?” Judging by the painful look in Joraan's eyes, Alastair suspected that something terrible had happened with Tyler.

  ”He went three times to Washington, and the people there refused to allow him to see you every time. They told him that they had their orders directly from you. The last time he returned, Tyler was utterly defeated. That last try broke his spirit, but he had to put on a happy face, for the sake of his kids. Although the little spitfire sensed something was wrong.”

  ”The Spitfire?” Alastair asked, the little smile playing on Joraan's lips making him curious who was he speaking about.

  ”His younger son, an intelligent, mischievous, considerate, respectful child. The older one is cold, secretive, calculated, a younger version of you, I guess. But Alasdair, he's entirely another story.”

  The patriarch of the Stark clan had tears in his eyes when he looked at Joraan. A storm of emotions unleashed in his soul, sweeping everything in its way. Tyler, the boy he fought so hard to raise, gave his son an older version of his name. That was the most significant appreciation a father could hope for.

  ”Joraan, please, could you talk to Tyler, to convince him to give me another chance? Please, I need to talk to him, to meet my grandsons, to spend time with them...You, of all people, should understand me.”

  The other redhead let out a massive, long sigh, nodding. ”I'll get in touch with Tyler one of these days, but it will be up to him if he meets you or not. However, you have to promise me something.” Joraan's voice, calm until then, had an edge when he said the last few words.

  ”Anything, and I mean it,” Alastair said, waiting for the other man to state his conditions.

  ”Daniel. You leave him alone. I don't want the smallest interference on your part into his life. And never use me as a pawn in your twisted little games again,” Joraan spoke coldly.

  ”I promise you,” Alastair said solemnly. ”No more secrets, no more dirty games, nothing of that kind. As for Daniel...You can see for yourself how I'm going to keep this part of the promise. Because you and he will be reunited, the way things were supposed to be.

  **********

  Daniel thrust deep and long into Tarquin, making the blond let out another low moan, while he wrapped his legs around his husband's waist. He dug his heels into the raven-haired man's back, demanding more of him. Smirking, he happily obliged, hitting Tarquin's sweet spot and making him arch his back, in a frenzy of lust and pleasure.
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  Feeling his orgasm getting closer; Daniel leaned over the blond, capturing his lips in a greedy, hungry kiss. He explored his sweet mouth, sucking and tasting the sweetness of his husband's tongue. He brought Tarquin near the edge two times before finally allowing him to fall over into the abyss of sweet abandonment.

  For a while, the two men lay next to each other, still lost in the aftermath of their orgasm. They were exhausted, freed, and thrilled, waiting for their breath and heartbeats to slow down. Then, with feline grace, Daniel left the bed, going to the adjoining bathroom. He returned in no time, delicately washing off Tarquin's cum from the blond's stomach with a warm, damp cloth.

  ”Thank you for being with me, for loving me and for letting me love you back," the raven-haired man said, pulling his husband close and hugging him tightly.

  ”I promise not to let you long for my presence as long as I'm alive,” Tarquin replied, tears welling in his eyes. "Your despair, the emptiness in your heart... I felt all these things in my dreams. You were so devastated, calling my name as you stood on the edge of my grave.”

  Daniel looked at Tarquin's face as he spoke. He saw the pain in those clear sky blue eyes. Listening to his small, broken voice, anger was boiling inside him at the thought that the woman who gave birth to his husband. The one who, of all people, should have loved and protected him, had turned the blond, even for a short time, into a shadow of the man he once was.

  ”She said horrible things to me that day, but I was not affected by them. I’ve become immune to that kind of poison. However, she found a way to bring me down,” Tarquin whispered, his eyes empty.

  ”What did the bitch say, to make you suffer like that?” Daniel raised his voice, hands balled into fists. ”I'm sorry, my angel, but I can't help myself,” he growled out his apology.

  ”It's OK, I'm not mad at you,” Tarquin smiled reassuringly. ”I guess she deserves to be called names. After everything she did, not to me, but to the other baby she gave birth to,” he continued, saddened.

  ”The other baby? You had a sibling?” Daniel couldn't believe what he just heard. ”Bloody bitch!”

  Tarquin nodded. ”I had a twin brother she abandoned at birth, without telling my father, who was infiltrating a terrorist organization at the time the two of us were born. He only returned home when I was six months old.”

  ”How could she do something like that? To leave her child behind like he was an unwanted puppy or kitty?” For Daniel, who loved all his children immensely, Antonia Ballard's actions were inexcusable.

  ”Before she left, my mother told me how wrong she was — believing that the other child was cursed, when in fact, I was the one. She told me her biggest regret is that she didn't leave me there and take him instead. From that second, something broke inside me, and it still pains me, when I think about those words.”

  Daniel muttered a curse under his breath while taking Tarquin in his arms and comforting him. He couldn't do a thing against Antonia, protected as she was by the love of her husband and the affection between the son and his father. However, Daniel could, and would be there for Tarquin. He'd keep him safe from harm and give him strength and hope.

  ”What about your twin brother? Wouldn't you like to find him and know each other better? Maybe get together with his family, if he's married? It would be the best revenge against that bloody woman,” Daniel said.

  ”Yeah, it would be a great idea, especially since I have my suspicions regarding my brother's identity,” Tarquin grinned widely. ”All I need is a DNA test that would confirm it,” he added.

  ”So, you’ve known all the time who he is, but you haven't said anything to anyone?” Daniel propped in an elbow, giving his husband a surprised look. ”OK, who’s your brother?”

  ”I have strong reasons to think that Elliott is my twin,” Tarquin answered. ”When I saw him for the first time, at Eugene's, I was shocked by how much he looked like my father when he was the same age. Then, after talking to Christine and Mallory, the two people who knew him best, I became even more suspicious.”

  ”Why didn't you tell me anything?” Daniel gently ran his fingers through Tarquin's hair. ”I could've helped you. I could've tried to do more, dig deeper, or at least take some of the weight from your shoulders.”

  ”I don't know, I wasn't ready to have this discussion, I think,” the blond spoke softly. ”Rayne promised me he would help me with the blood sample so that Elliott won't suspect anything. Which reminds me, is everything ready for...?”

  ”Yes, my angel, everything is set, Eugene will come back from Detroit this morning. It seems that he managed to convince Don Antonio that his grandson Luca is more useful here, in New York. Also, I spoke to Christine, and everything is set at Elliott's house, no need to worry. Hungry?” Daniel winked, slightly nudging Tarquin in the side.

  The blond nodded, his eyes shining like those of a wolf, as his husband liked to say. One of the things the raven-haired man learned about his life partner was that, sometimes, he had an enormous appetite. On these occasions, Tarquin ate impressive portions of food, to the others' amusement.

  It was still dark when the two of them entered the kitchen after taking a short, refreshing shower, and wrapped in their silk bathrobes. Daniel went to turn on the light, while Tarquin was rummaging through one of the large fridges. He took out the eggs, cheese and the other ingredients necessary for cooking a hearty breakfast.

  Suddenly, a shifting of air and a noise similar to a sob, that seemed to come from the living room, got their attention. Once in there, they could see Rayne in one of the armchairs, hugging himself, half curled into a ball. The man's breath was hitching, while he blankly stared ahead of him.

  ”Rayne, what happened? Who called?” Daniel asked, seeing the doctor's phone on one of the coffee tables.

  ”Conroy did. He asked me if I'm happy now that I have Gerrard, and threatened me, saying that he will win the custody battle and I'm not going to see my boy ever again. Then he hung up on me.”

  ”That man is delusional, you said it yourself,” Tarquin tried to comfort the redhead, to no avail.

  ”You don't understand,” Rayne said, sheer desperation in his voice. ”I called Gerrard's school, asked to talk to him, and they told me my son wasn't there anymore. Someone took him about a week ago.”

  CHAPTER 30

  "What do you mean, someone took him? There must be some misunderstanding. Probably one of your ex's doing. Most likely, he instructed those people to prevent you from getting in touch with Gerrard," Daniel put his hands on Rayne's shoulders, in an attempt to calm him down.

  "No, they are nice people. They know about the real situation between Conroy and me. From time to time, they did let me know how my son was doing at school, how his health was, and so on. According to them, the guys who took Gerrard brought a court order with them."

  "And what did it say?" Tarquin asked, starting to tap at his phone, while Rayne stared at him irritated. It seemed that every time a significant crisis struck, all the blond did was play on his goddamn phone.

  "That Gerrard was to stay with me until the court hearing in his custody case," the doctor said, shaking his head.

  Daniel's phone started to beep just as the other two men were speaking to each other, so he gestured to them to hold on for a moment. "Yes," he answered. "Perfect, we'll meet you there in about ten minutes or so. Things are a little...disturbed around here, but it's nothing that can't be sorted out. Thanks a lot, cousin, I owe you, big time."

  "Who were you speaking to?" Tarquin cast him a half-questioning, half-relieved look, putting his phone near Rayne's, on the coffee table.

  "Eugene," Daniel said, squeezing his eyes shut. "He wants the three of us at Elliott's place," he continued with a great effort, darting to the bathroom before he could finish the sentence.

  Rayne, who had managed to calm down a bit, cast a suspicious look in the direction Daniel had gone. This morning was not the first morning he'd taken a run to the bathroom, to empty the conte
nt of his stomach or just dry heave, like he was doing at that moment.

  Usually, Tarquin followed him instantly, but at that moment he seemed lost in thought. Rayne was glad because he could speak with him about his husband's condition.

  "I want to ask you something, and I want a sincere answer," he said, turning to face the blond.

  "Sure thing, doc. I would like to have a word with you afterward," Tarquin answered, smiling.

  "Did you ever top Daniel? And if yes, did you use protection?" Rayne asked without further introduction.

  "Yes and yes. I top more often, but lately, Daniel hasn't felt very well, so we’ve changed roles. And we don't use condoms, but I buy lube that also has a spermicide in it. The product is not available on the market, the spermicide is incorporated courtesy of Van der Meerwe Pharmaceuticals," Tarquin grinned widely.