The Brotherhood 10: The Salt of the ... Earth?

by Willa Okati

  “The day I believe you get your information from the grapevine is the day they can bury me toes to the ceiling.” Alex waved over the bartender, a short and square man. “Let me have a beer. Something nice and dark. Full-bodied.”

  The man gave a grunt, reached for a glass, and pulled a tap. Alex rolled his eyes. Whoever this was, he had absolutely none of Dylan’s charm. Which, Alex supposed, was a good thing. One charmer per night was enough. The thought startled him. Was he losing his touch? Normally he’d dance the night away, flitting from one man to the next.

  Had being with Dylan changed him somehow?

  With his beverage in hand, Alex turned back to Liam. “All right, Mr. Special. I think you know down to the last detail ‑‑ am I blushing yet? ‑‑ about what happened tonight. You have your ways.” He gently tapped the side of Liam’s head, fiddling with a curl. Couldn’t help himself. “So, what do you think? Did I do the wrong thing, or have I completely screwed up? You choose.”

  “You have gotten yourself into a fine twist. And a pickle.” Liam looked thoughtful. “I wonder, where did such an expression come from? I shall have to look it up sometime.”

  “Focus, Liam. You, with your magic boogedy-boo and all-seeing eyes, are no doubt one hundred percent aware of what went down between me and Dylan. A good time was had by all, but then kaboom! I think I ...”

  “Perhaps you went too far?” Liam pushed gently. “From what I know of him, Dylan is a proud man, and it is a man he has chosen to be. Your attack on him was not something he needed or deserved.”

  “So you do think it was an attack.”

  “It was certainly not your average lover’s spat.” Liam took another sip of his drink. Even he grimaced at the saccharine sweetness. “I am not going to solve your problems for you, Alex. Be aware of that. However, I can offer advice.”

  Alex folded his hands. “I’m queer, I’m here, and I’m all ears. Now there’s a picture for you. One great big giant ear sitting next to you. Ready to listen.”

  “You may not wish to hear.”

  “Are you going to tongue-lash me?” Alex batted his eyelids. “This could be fun.”

  “Oh, stop it, you incorrigible flirt. There will be no more teasing me, even if I have let you twine around my ankles tonight, foolish cat. The portal brought you to me for a reason, I am certain, but I will not be a statue you can hide behind. If you desire my help, then you must drop the gamin ways and listen to me seriously. Can you do so, for once in your life?”

  Alex sighed. Honestly, some men. How could you please everyone? “Fine. I’m listening.”

  “Good, then. To begin with, you were wrong to attack Dylan.” Liam took another sip, this time drinking deeper. “I am, you might say, well-informed about the staff of Amour Magique. Knowledge I cannot help but pick up the longer I remain inside these walls, with ...” His glance flicked to a side and upwards.

  Alex followed Liam’s look to the main entrance doors of Amour Magique’s dance floor. A blue crystal, barely noticeable, hung on a string halfway up the wall. Looked an awful lot like the necklace Liam wore. “You traded something to get us all in?”

  “A small price to pay for a chance at true love for my dear friends. And, yet, as time goes by, the toll becomes heavier.” Liam rubbed his head. “But where was I? Oh, yes. Dylan. His story is his alone to tell; you must respect the man’s pride and realize when it is time to stop playing, and when to act as it befits a man grown enough for body shots and a night out on the town. Everything has consequences, Alex. Realize this and your life will be much smoother.”

  “So you think I should apologize to Dylan?” Alex looked glumly down at the bar. “It’s my temper, you know? I get an idea in my head and if it doesn’t go my way, then look out. I think I blew it with him, Liam. I tried to make him ‑‑”

  “Hush, hush, I know what you tried to do. What you failed to succeed at. Other things you have failed in. But I think that this is an overreaction from both parties involved. You insisted, he said no, and you ran away in a fit of pique. This does not make matters irreconcilable. However, a reunion is for the two of you to work out.”

  “Damned good grapevine, Liam.” Alex traced his finger through a condensation ring on the bar. He lowered his head to the wooden surface and began to bang carefully. “God, what a mess.”

  “I was wrong indeed. You are proving most difficult to handle. Come, listen to me. I can advise you well, and here is what I suggest: swallow your pride and return to him.”

  “I don’t know if he’ll even let me near him again, Liam. I should have known better. I did, but still I pushed him too far. There was magic in his room, in the paintings. I’m pretty sure I don’t have to tell you about the paintings. Seals and selkies, and him asking if he could trust me. And I let him down. Fuck, I’m an idiot.” Alex snatched Liam’s drink back for a sip, although he still grimaced at the overly sugary taste.

  “Here, stop stealing my beverage. That has always been the way with you, no? You take what you please.”

  “I wasn’t the only one enjoying myself tonight.”

  “Ah, and now we come to the crux of the question.”

  “The what?”

  “The heart of the matter.” Liam tented his fingertips. “Do you wish for things to continue as they have begun with Dylan? You have a choice, and there is a chance to make amends. However, you must conquer your fears.”

  “Fears? Me?”

  “I meant what I said. I rarely dissemble; only when it is necessary. You are afraid, Alex. When you are not hiding behind my skirts, so to speak, you put on a brave mask and go wandering the halls of Amour Magique like the curious kitten you are. You find a tasty treat and play with it. But the moment that mouse shows its teeth, back you go. Fears, as I have said.”

  Alex felt his temper heating. “I’m not scared of Dylan.”

  “No? Then perhaps there is hope. However, he may be frightened of you.”

  “A big man like him?”

  “Big men often have big secrets. You would do well to remember as much. I expect that you, with your knowledge of Irish fairy tales, know the legends of the selkies. He has chosen to leave that life. Now, you must move on as well. You can go forward with Dylan, or backward by yourself. But you must move. Do not forget that.” Liam finished his drink. “Be on your way. If you are willing, I will summon the portal again and have it take you to where Dylan is. If not, you will end up in the middle of the dance floor. The choice is yours. However, choose now. There will be no more lurking about with me.”

  “I’m-I’m not ‑‑”

  “Alex, Alex.” Liam gently touched Alex’s cheek, his thumb wiping off a smear of something. Probably that damned pineapple juice. God, I must look a mess. Come stains on my pants, fruit syrup all over my face ... hickeys popping out like Rudolph’s red nose ...

  Alex swallowed. All his charm, his ruses, his games, everything he cloaked himself with ‑‑ the disguises felt fragile. One crack widened into a fissure and words came spilling out. “I am afraid,” he admitted in a low voice. “I don’t know if I’m ready for what I felt with Dylan.”

  “The chance at a happy-ever-after can be a frightening thing. However, Alex, if you find the one ‑‑ the very one ‑‑ it is best if you can settle down with him. I should know, for I wasted my own chance.”

  “You ‑‑”

  “Hush. That story belongs to me, and I will tell no man the details. If you think that Dylan may be the one in all the world who can make you happy, then your decision is made. You must go to him and make your amends.”

  Alex closed his eyes, running over scenarios in his head. He really had behaved like a man-bitch, hadn’t he? He’d deserved every angry word flung at him ... although there hadn’t been too many.

  “All right,” he agreed, lifting his lids to look at Liam’s open, good-natured face. “I’ll see what I can do. But I will miss you, cutie.”

  “Go on with you and your flirting. Use it to win back the man whom f
ate has chosen for you.” Liam reached out with his hand curled, as if he were about to open a doorknob.

  Alex put a hand on his arm. “You really believe that? That fate brought Dylan and me together?”

  Liam smiled, the glow reaching all the way to his eyes. “What else could it be? Now, go, Alex, go, and remember what I have told you. It is time.” He turned the unseen knob, and Alex’s old friend, the portal, reappeared in front of them.

  “Turn that shit off!” an irate TV-hound yelled.

  “Oh, do be quiet!” Liam shouted back. “We sit in one of the most magical places on this continent and you are content to stay put and vegetate in front of a televised sport? Have some courage, man, and do more than tilt a glass.”

  Alex regarded Liam with admiration. “As they say, you go, girl!”

  “The day I am a girl is the day you can bury me, as well. Into the portal, Alex. It will take you to where you should be. Dylan’s side. Are you prepared?”

  Squaring his shoulders, Alex nodded. “Just about ready, mostly willing, and possibly able.”

  Liam sighed. “Good enough.” He shoved Alex hard in the small of his back, forcing him forward into the opening. Alex’s last sight was of Liam grinning at him, wicked as a little devil.

  Then it was shrieking-rush time again, almost like plummeting down a unbelievably steep rollercoaster in the dark. In the wild void, Alex focused his mind on Dylan, only Dylan, and found that he did regret acting like such a child, after all.

  “Grow up!” he shouted at himself, his voice silent and yet carried away by the nothingness.

  Then the portal closed and deposited him in a vast room that smelled of sunny summer afternoons spent by the briny ocean.

  Well, damn. I’m definitely not in Kansas anymore, am I? Alex took a step forward, slipped in a shallow pool of water, and landed on his ass. One more time ... damn!

  This had better be worth the effort.

  Chapter Seven

  The first thing Alex heard was laughter, soft and low, like a peal of thunder off in the distance. He shook his head to clear away the lingering aftereffects of traveling by portal, and turned in the direction of what looked like an Olympic-sized pool ... in the middle of a freakin’ forest.

  “Damn. Amour Magique should be fined for defying the laws of time and space,” he grumbled. “Who’s making fun of me?”

  “Look to your left, and you’ll know,” a familiar voice said.

  Alex stood up, shaking water off his already ruined pants, and pivoted to face the speaker. His heart positively went pit-a-pat and his loins started to throb. Dylan was in the pool, arms propped on one cement, faux-woodsy edge, looking at him in a way that made his liver quiver. Part anger, part pure amusement, and all sex.

  “You can’t say I don’t know how to make an entrance,” Alex announced, striking a pose with one hand on his hip. “Dylan. How have you been?”

  “Working off some tension. I don’t use the seal skin anymore, but I love swimming. Lucky for me Amour Magique has this big pool. They use it for when the mermen decide to come by, or even for other outcast selkies, but when it’s wide open ... then I swim.” Dylan propelled himself away from the edge and began doing a fast breaststroke to the opposite side of the pool.

  Alex watched him go. His hands curled into fists out of pure nerves, then uncurled. Dylan might sound good-natured, but only a fool would think the man wasn’t still majorly pissed at him.

  And much as it pained him to admit, Dylan had every right.

  With a sigh, Alex rolled up the legs of his pants and sat down on the wet edge of the concrete, dangling his feet in the water. The liquid felt cool and soft, no sharp chemical edges. Curious, he dipped a finger in and tasted.

  Salt. Of course.

  Watching Dylan flash in and out of the water, quick as a ‑‑ well, a seal ‑‑ was a sight to behold. Alex shook his head. What in the hell had possessed him to be such a devil-may-care fool? This was a big, strong, powerful guy, every inch a man, and not one to be pushed around. Alex knew he’d let his urge to play get the better of him.

  Well, he saw it now. The question was ‑‑ could he convince Dylan of how sorry he’d become?

  At the far edge of the pool, Dylan turned around and began the lap back. Alex’s heart sped up even as Dylan swam a little slower, as if he, too, were dreading the coming confrontation ... but he did keep coming, drawing closer and closer.

  When he reached a spot about five feet away from where Alex was seated, he pulled to a stop, treading water. “So, you have something to say?”

  “I did. Now, I’m not sure that anything I have on my mind is going to cut it. Especially when I realize what a natural you are in the water. But then, you were born to it.”

  “Decades before you ever took your first step,” Dylan rumbled in that edible voice of his. “While I lived in the skin, I didn’t age like humans do. I’ve put on a few years since I decided to go ashore.”

  Alex bit back his curiosity. “I won’t ask why.”

  “Really?” Dylan made a face. “And here I thought you were going to be just full of questions. Why this and why that.”

  “I don’t want you to be more angry at me than you already are.”

  “It’s a little late for that, Alex. I should get out of the water and take a portal back to my room, lock the door, and sleep until you’re gone.” Dylan paused. “I don’t know why I’m not.”

  Alex hesitated. “Maybe because you feel what I do?”

  “And what would that be?”

  “A link. A tie.” Alex put his hand to his heart. “I don’t know how or why, because this most definitely has never happened to me, but I keep sensing there’s a connection between us.”

  “Body shots will do that to a man.”

  “Bullshit. I’ve had men licking more than crème liqueur off my body before; we kissed in the morning and never saw one another again.” Alex bit his lip. “I don’t want that to be the way things go between you and me.”

  “Is that a fact?” Dylan paddled nearer. “So tell me more about this ‘tie.’ Is it striped or paisley? After all, you’re the valet.”

  “Not fair. I could ask you if the water tasted like your margaritas.”

  “What?” Dylan was apparently surprised into a laugh. “You really don’t do well when you’re backed into a corner, do you?”

  Alex raised one shoulder with a half-laugh. “I’m trying my best here, Dylan. This isn’t something I’m used to. Want to cut me a piece of slack?”

  “I can bet this isn’t part of your routine. Love ’em and leave ’em.”

  “Or part by mutual agreement.”

  “You’re not used to actually making a connection to someone that goes beyond dick into ass ...” Dylan paddled a few inches closer still. “Am I right?”

  Alex sighed. “No, I’m not. And this scares the ever-loving shit out of me, okay? I don’t like feeling vulnerable, and you make me ten kinds of uncertain. This bond freaks me out, even if it does feel right. It did when I was back in your room, and saw the pictures on the walls.”

  “You looked at my pictures, too? What did you see?”

  Dylan didn’t seem angry, only curious, so Alex figured it was safe to answer. “Weird things. One was a picture of a seal sunning itself on the beach. I looked at the painting, and it turned into one of those Magic Eye things. Sucked me right in like a portal, and there I was on the sand with you.”

  “Those paintings aren’t what you might call ordinary.” Dylan was almost up against the side of the pool now. “What happened?”

  “Well, we didn’t exactly whip out a silver cart and have a high tea, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

  “I don’t know. You made a pretty good meal earlier.”

  A glimmer of hope flickered to life in Alex’s chest. “I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed fine food more,” he admitted. “And we both know it’s not the first time someone’s eaten off my body.”

  “What made it differen
t?”

  “The man that the mouth belonged to. Like I said, there’s a link between us, Dylan. I was high on the sex rush, but when I came down I realized the connection was there. Had been there from the moment I saw you, nailed into place when we just couldn’t wait that first time. And when you accepted me for what I am ‑‑ a silly little flirt.”

  “A flirt with issues. A blind man could tell you that.”

  “Yeah, well ....you didn’t laugh at me, not once. You took me for who I am.” Alex inhaled deeply. “And I should have accepted you at face value, not pushed you to be something you aren’t.”

  “So you’re saying you were wrong to insist I put that skin on?” Dylan was close enough at this point that he reached out and put a hand on Alex’s knee. His skin felt cool from being immersed in the water, but still good. An absolutely great working man’s hand. “You’re sorry you tried to make me change for you?”

  “Yes, and more. I acted like a jackass.”

  “Hee haw,” Dylan said, although his voice was not unkind. “How about you pin on a pair of ears and a tail? You were an ass, Alex. And if I didn’t feel this tie myself, I’d have walked out of this pool room a long time ago. There is something between us, a piece of magic I’ve never felt before. I’m not about to spill my guts and write ‘I love you’ all over the walls in purple crayon, but I think we could have something special together. Now that you’ve apologized, I’m almost sure of it.”

  “Good. I don’t think I could handle the crayon. Do you mind if I come in?”

  “Take off your clothes first. No need to put on a show. Just get naked, enter, and join me.” Dylan stroked backward a little. “And, hey, don’t splash me, will you? Even if I am already soaked, I don’t like getting splattered.”

  Alex tilted his head, but swallowed the questions that remained in his mind. He still had to be on his best behavior. Scrambling up on the pool edge, he undid his shirt buttons and shrugged the fabric off, letting it spill to the ground.