Bulletproof Heart

by David Horne

  That brought a smile to Alex’s face. “I do,” he agreed.

  “And I’d think you’d be the perfect poker player with a face like that.”

  Alex raised his eyebrows. “Is there something wrong with my face?”

  “Not at all,” Connor said quickly. “I was making an observation. You’re always so serious.”

  “I don’t think poker is about reading the other player as much as getting dealt better playing hands.”

  “That’s probably true.” Connor pressed the button on the chair to lower his legs. Alex stood up before Connor got up. “I can do it,” he said of Alex trying to steady him. “I’m not an invalid.”

  “Where are you going?” Jeanette asked him when he walked in front of Alex out of the study. She escorted the captain to the front doors. She hovered close to Connor but stared at Alex.

  “I’m going upstairs.”

  “The doctor said you shouldn’t be walking on stairs so soon.”

  He looked at Jeanette. “Did she say that?” he asked. “Is that what you heard?”

  “Don’t be insolent to me, Connor Albert Haynes.” Jeanette stormed away toward the kitchen.

  At the landing, halfway up the stairwell, Connor looked down at Alex waiting at the base of the stairs. “What are you looking at?”

  Alex cocked an eyebrow. “Nothing, Albert.”

  Connor smiled. “My grandfather’s name.”

  “I see.”

  He made the slow ascent up the second set of stairs. “Are you coming?” he called to Alex.

  “Sure, where are you going?”

  “I want to change the dressing on this,” he said pointing to his back. “Maybe if you did it, you wouldn’t be feeling sorry for yourself.”

  ***

  He’d seen Connor without a shirt a few times. He helped the man get dressed before he left the hospital. Connor was fit but lacked defining muscle tones. He was forty-three and solid. He had chest hair but no gray hair on the sprouts that grew across his pectoral muscles.

  Connor unbuttoned the shirt and let it fall away from his shoulders. The master bedroom had a lot of space. The marble tiled floor went all the way into the substantial stand-up shower that had enough room on the other side of the glass enclosure to fit five strapping men. There was a built-in seat that protruded from the marble walls.

  “This looks a lot better today.” Alex sat on the toilet seat while Connor stood in front of him. The bathroom had a lot of light. The surgery dressings, gauze, and ointments were laid out on the small table beside the sink. With deliberate slowness, Alex redressed the wound. Connor had seventeen stitches. The knife wound had sliced him along the torso instead of stabbing.

  In Alex’s observation, he considered the assailant either had second-thoughts about the attack or didn’t intend to murder Connor. Anyone with prior experience would have stabbed Connor repeatedly and used his fall to slip away in the crowd. If Alex had the assignment, that’s the way he’d do it.

  When the wound was covered again, Connor turned around. Alex’s face was level with the man’s stomach. The subtle brown hair that spread across Connor’s chest cumulated into a line that went over his stomach and trailed into the waistband of his cotton pajama bottoms. Alex’s face hovered close to Connor’s stomach. He breathed deep before standing up, clearing his throat.

  Connor didn’t back up, forcing Alex to come face to face with him. In the few days he’d been housebound, Connor hadn’t shaved. The new beard growth was gray. Alex looked from Connor’s lips to his eyes. Before he could step out of close space, Connor kissed him.

  It was a test, a taste, an attempt to bridge what they both felt but hadn’t tried before that moment.

  His lips were soft like silk and warm. There was a hint of tea Alex tasted from Connor’s mouth. Jeanette kept his teacup replenished while they lounged in the study.

  “I don’t know if this is a good idea,” Alex said. Eyes closed, he felt Connor’s body heat radiating from the bare flesh of his chest. He felt Connor’s hand in his again. Opening his eyes, Connor was so close. His eyes appeared as one. Their lips met again.

  “I know you think I’m just using you for your body,” he whispered. Alex’s face broke into a smile.

  “You’re incorrigible.”

  “Good word,” Connor said and kissed Alex again. That stirring he’d felt when they first met exploded in his chest. He felt flush, and his palms dampened. “I can hear your heartbeat.” Alex felt Connor’s free hand press against his chest.

  Wearing loose pajamas, it was impossible for Alex to not notice the pressure of Connor’s erection against his thigh. Hindered only by the material, Alex shifted, so the back of his hand grazed against the outline of Connor’s thick cock under the cloth.

  He breathed deep, taking in Connor’s exhaled breath. “I don’t know if this is a good idea.”

  “You said that.” Connor pressed his right leg between Alex’s legs, leaning into him. Alex’s hand came from Connor’s groin and touched the bearded cheek. “Do you think it’s not a good idea because you’re still feeling sorry for yourself or because I’m sexually assaulting you?”

  It was impossible for Alex not to laugh. Connor grinned at him. “I’m not worried about that at all. I’m concerned about your stitches. He felt Connor’s hand moved down his front from his hammering heart.

  “I just want to feel your body against mine.” Honesty was like water between them, they both needed it to survive. “I’ve thought about you since the moment we met.”

  “They say stressful situations make people react in ways that they normally wouldn’t in regular scenarios.” Alex felt Connor kissing him. Lips against lips, and then chin and cheek, then soft brushes against his neck, the right amount of pressure that caused his flesh to erupt in goosebumps.

  “Is that what they say?” Connor whispered in Alex’s ear. Another wave of chills passed over him. He felt Connor’s hand press against the front of his jeans. Fingers traced the outline of his cock as it thickened against his groin. “So it wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that you are one of the most beautiful men I’ve ever seen. That when I saw you, I wanted to kiss you, that I’ve watched you swim in the pool and fantasized about you living in this house,” Connor said in a stream of words that washed over Alex’s skin along with his hot breath.

  “You’ve fantasized about me?” Alex asked.

  “Oh yes,” he sighed. “I’ve lain in my bed at night stroking my cock, thinking about you naked. I’ve thought about what you look like when you’re down in the weight room working out, what your flesh tastes like while you’re sweaty on the treadmill. I’ve wanted to swim naked with you and feel your cock in my hands and especially in my mouth.”

  The only way Alex could think of to stop Connor from driving him crazy with words was to kiss him and slip his tongue into the man’s mouth.

  Chapter Eleven

  When Connor and Alex moved from the master bathroom into the bedroom, Alex had no intention of making love. It wasn’t something he hadn’t imagined. Like Connor’s open confession, he’d thought about the man. But so close to surgery, still recovering from a violent attack, Connor needed to heal, and that wasn’t going to happen if he was busy doing other things that were counterintuitive to medicinal applications.

  Connor’s bedroom was more significant than Alex’s living room space and kitchen put together. He had a king-sized bed but not four posters, just a simple bed frame that had a wrought iron curled frame at the top. Either Connor had decorative powers beyond mortal men, or he had hired a decorating team to dress the room in earthy tones that balanced between masculine and feminine. There was an armoire and matching nightstands. He had an enormous flat screen television and patted the mattress when he crawled on the bed.

  “Come sit with me.”

  “Just to watch a movie, nothing more,” Alex suggested. But he wanted more, much more. He knew it wasn’t a good idea on too many levels to count.

 
; “Sure,” Connor agreed. Shirtless, still wearing the pajama bottoms, he slid under the duvet and relaxed. Several down pillows propped up his shoulders. He patted the bed again.

  Before Alex climbed on the bed, he removed his sneakers. Still wearing the jeans, he put his knee on the mattress.

  “You know you’ll be more comfortable if you take off those jeans.”

  “Mr. Haynes, are you trying to get fresh with me?” But undeniably, Connor spoke truth, and he watched Alex unbutton and slip out of the pants one leg at a time. Still, in a t-shirt and underwear, he got into bed next to Connor.

  “See, feels better, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes, it does.”

  Connor turned off the bedside light, and they watched a movie with minimal words between them. After the film, when the credits rolled, Alex saw Connor had fallen asleep. He turned off the TV and got out of bed.

  Quietly he pulled on the pants and crept from the bedroom carrying the sneakers in his hands. It was after eleven at night, and the rest of the house was dark.

  Over the short time Alex stayed at Connor’s house, he learned to move around in the dark. It was to his advantage to know all the pitfalls and potential trip hazards. In the dark of the house, if he knew his way around, if someone got inside again, Alex would have the edge.

  He walked downstairs and listened to the settling house. The hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen was the only audible noise downstairs. Walking along the hallway between the foyer and the kitchen, Alex saw the light from under the door to Jeanette’s room. If she was still up, she wasn’t making any noise. But the closer he got to the door the more he thought she was in her room watching television. He didn’t stay to listen, but when he passed by her room, he heard her talking to someone. He assumed she spoke to someone on the telephone and wasn’t having a fit of dementia.

  In the vestibule to the back door, Alex stopped to put on the sneakers. He deactivated the lock and went through the door. He had keys to the house and checked the doorknob to make sure he locked it. Outside the night air had a crisp bite. It cooled his skin and helped Alex’s mind refocus on security instead of the ideas of kissing Connor and touching his skin. Alex groped the flaccid penis, resituating it, so it wasn’t uncomfortable in his shorts. He made a slow arc around the outside of the house.

  Nighttime in Virginia is nothing short of pure darkness. Local governments didn’t spend any money on street lights. Unlike the metropolis of Washington DC, no lights lined the roadways. Even in the dense gated community of Fawn Lake, there were very few street lights. Some four-way stop intersections had amber lights shining dimly over the stop signs. But near Connor’s house, it was pitch black. The landscape around the house had high manicured bushes that blocked neighboring homes on either side of the property. Behind the house was a thick patch of thin oak trees.

  During the day several landscaping companies occupied the streets. There was never a shortage of workers cleaning leaves, trimming hedges, or mowing lawns. It occurred to Alex as he stood in the quiet backyard of Connor’s house, looking up at the constellations that if someone wanted to get into the community unnoticed, all they had to do was come in with the gardening crew. Or they could park on Orange Plank road near the entrances and walk through the tree line that separated the rural community from the passing traffic. It wasn’t a fully secured place.

  Despite what the captain told them, Alex had yet to see Sheriff’s cruisers inside the community. There were two white SUV security vehicles employed by the housing association that patrolled the streets. But the rent-a-cops were as about as useful as the entry gates. For a place like that, where rich people lived in minimal isolation, it was a false sense of security and Alex knew if someone wanted to wreak havoc on the place, it was a simple plan to execute.

  Chapter Twelve

  After making a few rounds the property, Alex returned to the house. He secured the back door. The light inside Jeanette’s bedroom was off. Alex removed his sneakers and carried them back upstairs.

  He meant to check on Connor, to pop open the door to see if the man was resting peacefully. Instead, when Alex opened the door, in the limited light of the bedroom, a meager glow from the digital bedside clock, he saw the silhouette of Connor lying in bed.

  The sheet was down to his knees. The duvet hung off the bed. Connor lay on his back. He’d removed the pajama bottoms and was naked. He stroked his stiff cock and Alex heard the rhythm of the motion from the bed.

  Alex swallowed because his mouth watered. He crept to the bedside. The glint of electric light flashed in Connor’s eyes when he looked at Alex. Watching him in the dark, Alex dropped the sneakers on the floor. He pulled off the t-shirt in one motion and unbuttoned his pants. The jeans slipped off his hips, and he stepped from the leg holes and climbed onto the bed.

  Connor’s masturbating slowed to a stop, and Alex felt his warm hands gently touching his naked thigh. Alex worked off the underwear and slid his knees closer to Connor. He leaned over and kissed him gently. Connor’s mouth tasted of peppermint toothpaste. While Alex was outside, he’d gotten up and brushed his teeth. Did he expect Alex back in the bedroom? Or was he just in the middle of a fantasy when Alex interrupted? Whatever the case, Alex was there, and it was impossible for him to break away now that he was touching the man and kissing him passionately.

  His hand trailed over Connor’s chest, down his stomach. When his fingers slipped around Connor’s grip on his stiff cock, Alex sighed. Feeling another man after so many years alone, it was a sensation that rocked his body and made his head swoon. Connor was an exquisite male. Smart, sassy, and quick-witted. It was impossible to not be attracted to him. When Alex’s hand coaxed Connor’s cock, feeling Connor’s hand glide up his arm, Alex knew in his heart that he’d fallen for the man. There was something between them, something undeniable. He’d seen it in Connor’s eyes. A man never short of words, always sure of himself, he wasn’t bashful with his feelings.

  Alex had a duty to protect him. It wasn’t just because he’d been hired to do it. What he hadn’t told Connor was the fact he didn’t cash the check. Alex felt a kinetic connection to the man that brought them together in the strangest of circumstances, and he wasn’t going to let go now they were here and now.

  He heard Connor moan. He felt Connor’s hands on his chest, trailing down to hold his cock. Alex pressed against Connor’s side. He pulled the sheet over them and held onto his cock, feeling it pulse in his grip. Alex didn’t want to push Connor too hard. Still recovering from his wound, he was more vulnerable than he realized. But pressed body to body, Alex kissed him and helped Connor over the edge that he’d been working toward before Alex came back into the room.

  “Oh Alex,” Connor whispered when he ejaculated. His body tensed and shuddered against Alex. The stiff cock pulsed in his grip. Alex kissed his neck and chin. Connor slipped his tongue into Alex’s mouth. They’d come so far in a few months. It was more than Alex hoped for and nothing of what he’d expected.

  Connor slipped from the sheet and limped to the bathroom. Alex saw the master bathroom light spill out into the bedroom. The shower started. Connor called to him.

  “Come join me,” he said. Impossible to say no, Alex went into the bathroom naked. Connor was already in the shower. The rolling steam fogged the glass. Alex joined him, and they embraced under the hot water jets. Alex thought of the wound dressing. But Connor concentrated on Alex, lathering body wash over his chest. He kissed him and washed his body and erect penis.

  When Connor lathered Alex’s cock, it didn’t take any time at all to cum in the shower. It’d been so long since he’d been with another man. After all that time, he couldn’t hold back when Connor put his hands on him.

  They washed each other. They kissed each other. And at that moment, Alex realized he’d done more than accepted a job protecting this man. He’d fallen in love with him. It was a feeling that was familiar and burned a little in his chest. He knew love before. But years had dulled the sens
ation. Now he had someone who wanted him as much as he wanted Connor. Was it wrong? Did he have some moral duty not to have an intimate relationship with his charge? Alex only knew when he was near Connor. He didn’t want to let go.

  “Are you crying?” Connor asked him. Alex felt the man’s hands pressed against his cheeks.

  Alex gave a weak smile. “No,” he lied. “I have soap in my eyes.”

  But Connor tilted Alex’s head and kissed away the mist and tears. Alex was a man who took care of himself, had an appearance of someone people could rely on. Sometimes people overlooked that he had a heart under the solid exterior.

  “You’re here.” Connor’s voice caressed Alex’s heart. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

  “I know.” They were in new territory. It was alien and wonderful and frightening all at once.

  Chapter Thirteen

  There was an awkward moment when Alex had a flashback to his high school days, and his mother walked into his room when he had a friend sleeping over. She reacted with mild shock, finding her son and his friend huddled together in a single bed. But her response was considerably less judgmental than Jeanette’s scowling face.

  “What’s the meaning of this?” Alex heard the shrill of her voice when she’d entered Connor’s bedroom.

  “What can I do for you, Jeanette?” Connor asked from the crook of Alex’s arm.

  “I came in to see if your wound needed redressing this morning. I didn’t expect you to be with the hired help.”

  Alex opened his eyes to look at the old woman looming in the doorway like a withered stick with a glowering face and bony fists.

  “Jeanette,” Connor started. Alex remained quiet. He propped up on his elbows. There wasn’t a secret pact between them, but his budding relationship with Connor was out there now. At least in the eyes of an old woman who had values that were outdated and unimportant. “I will not have you speak to my guests like that. Alex has already attended to my wound. And he will take care of it from this point forward.