The Glasshouse (Lavender Shores Book 6)

by Rosalind Abel

  He was right. We were together. And I needed to get a grip. In that vein, I grabbed his hand. “Well, then, here goes nothing.” Doing my best to stifle my nerves, I opened the door and let him into Marilyn and Celestia’s.

  “Holy shit.” Adrian stood, slack-jawed, as he stared around the massive showroom. Like in the window display, mannequins were everywhere, though these were much more outlandishly garbed. Half of the space was wild and clashing patterns consisting of neon’s, metallics, and black. And most surfaces were coated in glitter and LED and miniature strobe lights. The floor space filled with the most outrageous clothing and contraptions I’d seen anywhere. The other half was split into what looked like a high-end women’s dress shop and a luxury men’s department. “Okay, not a sex club. I’m still not really sure what it is. But it’s a far cry from penis cookies.” Adrian finally turned toward me. “How did you discover this place?”

  I didn’t get a chance to answer before there was a high-pitched scream that made us both wince.

  Adrian jumped and whirled around like he was prepared to fight whatever was getting ready to attack us.

  From the far side of the shop, a nearly seven-foot-tall scarecrow-shaped figure rushed at us. She was clothed in skintight seafoam latex from neck to ankle. A fuchsia corset cinched her waist to a size that was barely larger than my biceps, and long ropes of black pearls dangled from it, forming a semblance of a skirt. Part of her height, most of it in fact, were her knee-high, canary-yellow leather boots with twelve-inch orange platform heels. Topping it all off and billowing as if it had its own life force as she ran, was a platinum tower of tendrils and curls, threaded with butterflies made from feathers.

  She crashed into me, whether out of excitement or an inability to slow down I wasn’t sure, but the force drove me back a couple of steps before I regained my footing, keeping us both upright. “Harrison! Harrison! Harrison!” She clutched a quick hug, and then pulled back enough so she could slap my chest and began squeezing my arms. “You Motherfucking sexy beast!” Her hands moved over my abs and grabbed my ass. “God you’re a sight for sore eyes.” Her jet-black, six-inch nails were reaching for my crotch when she froze, her white-contacted eyes rolling to see Adrian. She gasped and straightened. “And you brought me a sexy enchilada!” She began to help herself to Adrian’s body.

  Though he stiffened and cast a wide-eyed, possibly horror-filled stare at me, Adrian allowed his body to be inspected.

  She slipped her hand into the collar of his shirt, let out another ear-piercing screech, and with what had to be magic, considering her nails, unfastened the top three buttons of Adrian’s shirt before he could object. She turned those white eyes to me as she slid her fingers through his chest hair. “Oh. My. Bejesus.” With one hand she squeezed his chest muscles, and with the other yanked at the hair. “Harrison, tell me you’re fucking this sex god—and let me watch.” Her hands moved over his stomach and she gave an exaggerated shudder. “Never mind. Too late. I’ve already reached heaven.”

  With an orgasmic sigh, she relaxed, stroked Adrian’s chest as if smoothing a puppy, and then gave it a final smack. “Thank you, darling. I hope that was as good for you as it was for me.”

  “Adrian, I’d like you to meet my friend Celestia.” Unsure if I should laugh or be worried at the expression on Adrian’s face, I made a quick gesture between the two of them. “Celestia, this is my boyfriend, Adrian.”

  “Oh, so you are fucking him.” She shivered again and then allowed her voice to drop to a baritone. “Nice to meet you, Adrian, dahling. Trust me, the pleasure is all mine. And hopefully will be again before you leave my store. In fact—” She gasped again, this one sounded like what might be her actual voice. “Oh.” Her gaze traveled up and down Adrian’s body, more with curiosity than lust this time. “Oh….” Her ruby-red lips broke into a huge grin. “You’re the one.”

  She looked over at me. “I know it’s bad that I did it, and even worse to admit, but I’ve enjoyed watching you two countless times over the past few weeks. It was quite the video. Too bad for the rain, making it all blurry. But it’s made me very, very happy.” She shrugged. “Sorry ’bout it.”

  Finally, Adrian laughed, and he grinned over at me. “You don’t know where a sex club is, but you know this astounding creature?”

  “Astounding creature!” If she hadn’t already been captivated by him, Adrian had just won Celestia’s affection for the rest of his life. She dug her claws into his shoulders and pulled him into a loud smacking kiss on the lips, then pushed him away. “I love a man with good taste.”

  “We met when Marilyn and Celestia’s hosted a charity fundraiser for one of the gay youth homes in town. It was a very fun day.”

  “And you haven’t been back since.” Celestia turned her pouting lips toward me. “But you’ve obviously been busy, with lots of things, so I’ll forgive you. What brings you in today? Something specific or just trying to impress your new piece of man meat with all the glamorous people you know?”

  “Well, the second one for sure.” I winked at Adrian. “But I actually brought him here so we can do some shoe shopping.”

  She staggered back, giving another cry of orgasm as she clutched at her double-D bosoms. “That’s it, baby, talk dirty to Momma.”

  I checked on Adrian once more. He was grinning from ear to ear. Though he seemed like he wasn’t sure exactly what to do with the whole situation, he was clearly enjoying himself. Maybe I hadn’t messed up.

  “Tell me I can finally get you in a pair of hooker boots. Trust me, emerald green is your color.”

  During the fundraiser, I’d humored Celestia several times—going as far as doing photos with the guests wearing a variety of wigs and putting on a corset. I’d drawn the line at the torture device that she wanted to put on my feet. With the knee injury, there was even less of a chance of getting me into boots. “Actually, we’re here for tennis shoes.”

  She reared back, her tone dropping an octave. “Bitch, say what?”

  Adrian cast me a look that pretty much said the same thing.

  “You know, the light-up ones? Do you still have those?”

  “Oh.” She settled down, chuckled, and rolled her eyes. “Only you would call those tennis shoes, and you would pick the most boring thing in my favorite portion of the store. But whatever.” She whirled and waved, beckoning us to follow.

  I slipped my hand into Adrian’s and leaned close to his ear as we walked. “You doing okay?”

  He beamed. “This is seriously awesome. Like, for real.” He pressed a quick kiss to my lips, and I figured since Celestia had left some of her lipstick on him, I probably now wore a little bit of it myself. I buzzed with happiness at his enjoyment. When he pulled back, he continued to whisper. “I don’t get it. What is this store? One half is wild and crazy, and the other looks like somewhere my mother would shop.”

  “The Celestia’s side is for drag and club culture, obviously.” I motioned to the wild side, then toward the other. “And the Marilyn half provides a place for people who are transgender, or nonconforming, to have a comfortable place to shop for clothes and try them on without judgment. Even though it’s San Francisco, some places still aren’t a relaxing environment for all customers.”

  “Oh! That is pretty cool.” He chuckled. “I’ll have to tell Micah about this place. His mom and Robert would have a really good time shopping here.” He tilted his head. “Actually, my mom would too. Some of the clothes are great, and she’d like to support a place like this, as long as there are some designer labels.”

  We’d reached Celestia without realizing it until she let out another little shriek. “Baby. Marilyn and Celestia’s has nothing but designer labels.” She patted the red leather bench that sat in front of a wall of shoes—most of which barely resembled actual shoes. “You sure the only thing you want to consider are those ‘light-up tennis shoes’ as you call them? A good pair of thigh-high stilettos will do amazing things for your ass.”

  I
patted my knee. “It’s like walking on a tightrope with normal shoes these days. Sorry.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Likely story. Now give me your sizes, and I’ll come back with every color option we have of the most boring style we have.”

  We gave Celestia our sizes, and she disappeared into the back.

  Adrian turned to me again, this time his face was serious. “Thank you.”

  “For what? You don’t need to thank me.”

  “Really? Light-up shoes?” He cleared his throat, and when he spoke again, his voice was thick with emotion. “You’re making it where I can finally have my light-up shoes.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. You haven’t even seen them or tried them.”

  He cupped my face with his hand, holding my gaze. “None of that matters. Just… thank you.” He kissed me. It was so tender and sweet that I felt my throat constrict with the emotion. He pulled back, just a little. “I love you.”

  I froze. I hadn’t expected those words, not right then. But maybe that was silly. I’d felt them countless times over the weeks with Adrian. When he looked at me, when he was inside of me. God knew, I had felt it for him countless times but hadn’t wanted to scare him by saying the words.

  Not giving me a chance to reply, Adrian kissed me again.

  “No more of that! Unless you two are going to give me a show. And trust me, from the previews on YouTube, I’m more than willing to lock the front doors and miss some sales so I can see the real thing.” Celestia dropped what had to equate to the entire stock of the backroom’s worth of shoeboxes at our feet.

  Adrian didn’t even flinch, just kissed me for a few more seconds, pulled back slightly looking in my eyes, and said those three words again, without having to speak. Finally, he refocused on Celestia, and stuck out both of his long legs in her direction. “I’m all yours. Make me fabulous.”

  She shuddered again and made a show of staggering back, having to grip one of the spiked stilettos on the wall for support. “Honey, you haven’t even got me naked yet and you’ve provided multiple orgasms.” She pointed at me. “You’re lucky I love you, you big meathead. Otherwise I’d be trying to steal your man.” She sniffed. “Actually, I probably still will.” She lunged at Adrian’s outstretched legs. “Now give me that foot, baby. You know what they say about a man with big feet.”

  An hour later, Adrian and I stood on the sidewalk, our original shoes in bags, and both of our feet tucked in the brand-new tennis shoes, though Celestia insisted I stop calling them that. Mine were dark blue; Adrian had chosen white. Around the base, and affixed to every seam, were thin strips of pulsating rainbow lights.

  Adrian stuck out his left foot, admiring it in the fading light of dusk. “That is some seriously badass shit. Mom is going to flip.” He chuckled, then smiled at me seriously again. “Thank you. This is amazing.”

  “Well, we’re not done yet.” Even as I spoke, my nerves came back. “We still have dinner.”

  “Yeah? Is there a place that has drag queen dinners?”

  I shook my head. “No, but from what you said about your folks, I’m betting there was another thing you missed out on when you were a kid.”

  He considered for a minute and then shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  “Ever been to Chuck E. Cheese’s?”

  He burst out in a laugh. “Oh my God! You’re right. Mom never let us go there. Not that there was one in Lavender Shores, obviously. But she always said we weren’t wasting a trip to San Francisco with the place with robotic rodents.”

  Actually, she had a point. “We can go somewhere else.”

  “Are you serious? Of course we’re going there.” Adrian paused and held out a shoe again. “Do we get to wear these?”

  Twenty

  Adrian

  “I didn’t realize there were that many children in the entire country.” I shuddered at the memory as the elevator doors slid shut and Harrison tapped the button for the top floor. “Nor did I realize that when they all scream at once, they’re able to hit a decibel that makes you feel like blood is actually coming out of your ears.” I tilted my head toward him. “It still feels like that. Are you sure coming to the hotel first was the right idea? I may need a paramedic.”

  “I think you’re going to survive.” Harrison shifted his overnight bag to his other shoulder and grinned at me. “But I can’t disagree with you. Apparently, singing robotic rodents causes little humans to lose their mind.”

  I bugged my eyes at him. “There were robotic rodents? I couldn’t tell. Every time the music started, children started screaming, and my vision went blurry. There must’ve been six separate birthday parties going on at the exact same time.”

  “On the bright side, you didn’t get caught in the middle of a food fight.” Harrison puffed out his chest, and for the first time, the sight of it made me want to giggle instead of rip his clothes off. Though he’d tried to clean up in the bathroom, pizza sauce was still smeared from neck to waist. “At least Marilyn and Celestia’s was a hit. I could’ve done better on the dinner plans.”

  “I don’t know. We finally had the conversation about children. It’s kind of relaxing that we both only want to be uncles. That’s a good thing to be on the same page about, right?” I leaned in, pressed a quick kiss to his lips, and then took in an exaggerated sniff. “Plus, you smell delicious. If we have sex as soon as we get into the room, I might just develop a pizza fetish.”

  He shoved me off, laughing, as the elevator chimed and opened to the penthouse. “I didn’t know that it was possible for you to say something to make me not want to have sex with you. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt greasier or more disgusting in my life. And that’s including pregame training season workouts.”

  Harrison had already stepped through the elevator, but I paused in the doorway, letting out a groan. “Now there’s a thought—you sweaty after practice, showering up with an entire football team.”

  “You’re ridiculous.” He pulled a card out of its sleeve and paused by the door to our room, waiting for me to catch up.

  “No, actually, that’s a really great thought. Even better than pizza sex.”

  Harrison rolled his eyes, pressed the key card to the sensor, and then opened the door. “After you, boyfriend who apparently equates pungent odors to arousal.”

  “Pungent or not, the thought of you after hours on a football field, all sweaty, and—” I’d walked partway into the room, but forgot what I was saying as Harrison flicked the light switch behind me. I halted and stared.

  The room was spectacular—everything in shades of silver, soft gray, and dusty blue. The walls were covered in matte pewter-hued paper with embossed lavender swirls. With its wide expanse, and a modern chandelier dripping with teardrop crystals hanging from the towering vaulted ceiling, it was like stepping into a magical, shimmering cavern. The part that took it from exquisite to otherworldly was what I should’ve noticed the second I walked in. The far wall was nothing but windows, with a set of french doors that opened to an equally large balcony bordered by a glass railing. The Golden Gate Bridge marked the meeting of the bay and ocean, and in the distance the glittering shoreline of high-rises winked at us.

  When I finally managed to tear myself away from the view, I turned to find Harrison, hands in his pockets, looking pleased and nervous in equal measure. “Like it?”

  Like it? Having been raised in relative luxury, I wasn’t often impressed or concerned with extravagance. I left that for the rest of my family. But this… holy shit. “Somewhere between meeting the tallest drag queen in the world and avoiding three-year-old projectile vomiting, did I become a princess?”

  Harrison relaxed and then chuckled. “God, I hope so.”

  I slid my overnight bag off my shoulder and placed it on the dresser at my side before crossing the room to Harrison. “Did you have this planned? We didn’t even know we were leaving Lavender Shores until a few hours ago. How in the world did you get this room?”

  He shrugged,
a blush rising to his cheeks, blurring the line between handsome and pretty. “I am Harrison Getty. I don’t use that card very often, don’t like to. But I will for you. I wanted to give you something nice.”

  I placed my hand on his chest before realizing it was still covered in what remained of the pizza sauce but left it there. “You never need to do that for me.”

  Instantly, he seemed nervous again. “Do you like it?”

  “Yeah. I like it. How could I not?”

  “Then, that’s all that matters.”

  I stared into those beautiful brown eyes of his, overwhelmed by the care and thought he’d shown in our afternoon. Again, the words I hadn’t meant to say came back to my lips.

  My phone rang, and though its interruption was irritating, it was also a little bit of salvation. I wouldn’t actually answer it, but I’d take it out. With a step back, I wiped my hand on my jeans and slid the phone out of my pocket. Seeing the name on display, I changed my mind, and tilted the screen toward Harrison. “It’s Andre. Do you mind if I take it? Just to see if everything’s okay?”

  “Of course.” If I wasn’t mistaken, Harrison looked a little relieved as well, but maybe I was just projecting. He motioned over his shoulder. “Perfect timing, actually. While you’re on the phone, I’ll go take a shower. The last thing I want is for you to actually develop a pizza kink.”

  I pointed at him with my free hand. “Fine. But we’re still exploring that football locker room scenario at some point.” With a wink, I turned, walked toward the balcony, and hit Accept. “Hey, Andre. You okay?”

  Behind me, I heard the bathroom door click shut, and as Andre began to respond I unlatched the french doors and stepped out onto the balcony.

  “Yeah, sorry, didn’t mean to worry you. But I do have a favor to ask.”

  “Of course, anything you need.” Without really looking, I walked across the balcony and leaned against the railing.