by G. R. Lyons
“Fuck, babe,” Ryley breathed. He smiled up at Asher and slowly shook his head. “I've never said this to anyone, but…Gods, you have no idea how much I wish we could be doing this bare right now.”
Asher blinked, trying to get his head back into reality. “Bare?”
“No condom,” Ryley clarified, then grinned at him. “It would mean being totally exclusive.” Asher frowned, puzzled, and Ryley added, “Just us. No one else.”
Asher stared at him. “Do you mean that?”
Ryley laughed and nodded. “Yeah, I do. I really do. I've never wanted it so bad before. I'm not even sure why.” He paused, then smirked again. “Maybe I'll go get tested tomorrow.”
Asher moaned, Ryley's words almost making him hard again. Having Ryley bare? He didn't have the experience to know how much of a physical difference it would make, but just knowing what it would mean—having Ryley all to himself—was everything he wanted.
Ryley laughed, and nodded with his chin at where their bodies were still connected. “But for now, you're gonna need another condom if you're gonna fuck me again.”
Asher blushed and slowly pulled out, holding the condom the way Ryley had taught him as he did so. He stripped the thing off and went to slide off the bed to throw it in the trash, wincing at the lingering ache in his knee as he stood.
He came back from his washroom to find Ryley propped up on his elbows, watching him with a frown on his face.
“What's wrong?” Asher asked.
Ryley's frown deepened. “You've been in pain every time we've had sex so far.”
Asher waved it off. “It's probably nothing.”
“It doesn't look like nothing.”
Asher shrugged. “I had a full scan at the hospital yesterday. They said everything was fine.”
“Yeah, but…” Ryley sat up. “Did you tell them you're having pain?”
Asher sat beside him, blushing. “No,” he mumbled. There was no way he could talk to a doctor about sex. Hells, he felt awkward talking to Ryley about sex, so a perfect stranger was out of the question.
“Ash, if it happens again–”
“I'm fine, I promise,” he insisted.
Ryley huffed out a sigh through his nose, looking like he wanted to argue the point but was resisting. “Alright, fine. Just…I don't want you to hurt.”
Asher looked at him, seeing the concern in his eyes, and gave a nod. “If it happens again, I'll go see a doctor.” He shrugged. “Maybe they missed something in the scan.”
Ryley leaned forward and kissed him. “Thank you. Now.” He reached down and grabbed Asher's cock, still hard after hearing Ryley talk about having him bare. “What are we going to do about this?” Ryley smirked and slid off the bed, dropping to his knees.
Asher gasped out a cry, lost to heavenly sensation once again.
Chapter 15
RYLEY COULDN'T stop smiling, even in the midst of examining the most grotesque corpse he'd ever encountered. He and Asher had spent almost every night together over the past few weeks, and the sex just kept getting better each time, leaving Ryley feeling like he was constantly floating on air. Even when they weren't in bed, Ryley found himself happier than he'd ever been in his life. The more time he spent with Asher, the more he found himself falling for the man.
Asher was still adjusting to life back on Agoran, having to take things day by day. He couldn't yet make himself go out in public much on his own, but he could usually manage it as long as he had either Ryley or his uncle there with him. Still, there were bad days. After sitting in a crowded theater to see the latest blockbuster film, Asher had spent the next few days pretty much hiding out in his room, needing the solitude to which he'd become accustomed over the past several years.
The darkest moment came when Ryley and Asher had been trying a leisurely walk downtown, only for them to come across Asher's father's office. They hadn't even seen Silas Arden himself, but just the sight of the building had sent Asher sprinting back for the car, desperate to get as far away as possible.
Over time, the good moments began to outweigh the bad. Ryley got to witness Asher experiencing books, music, and shows that he'd missed out on during his time on the island, as well as discovering—or simply rediscovering—certain foods that the nutritionist slowly allowed back into Asher's diet.
Good gods, the way his man had moaned over that first spoonful of ice cream! The way his eyes had lit up at the sight of a litter of puppies out in front of the pet store!
His man. Ryley grinned again. To think he'd been so sure Vic was The One. Vic was definitely an incredible guy, and so damned good, but he'd never made Ryley feel quite as complete as Asher did. Ryley couldn't explain it. All he knew was that he was utterly happy.
Now if only Vic could be happy. He'd done as promised and gotten his own apartment, moving out of Ryley's house that very next day, but he hadn't immediately come back to work. He'd taken another week off to get moved in and settled, then stayed at home an additional week, working on contracts remotely since he didn't have any new rescue cases to come in for. Finally, the boss insisted he actually show his face or lose his job.
Vic spent the first hour of his return in Parker's office, then went to his desk, telling Ryley he was on probation for the next two weeks. As long as he showed up on time and did his work, he could stay. Otherwise, he'd be fired.
After that, the man buried himself in his work and barely said a word. To anyone else, Vic looked like he always did—neat hair, clean-shaven, polished and poised in a three-piece suit, focused on his job—but Ryley saw the emptiness behind it all, the persistent grief in Vic's eyes.
What the man needed was a case. And fast.
And a case finally came a few weeks later, but when it first walked in the door, before Ryley knew what it was about, he was sure it was only going to make matters worse.
Athan. Ryley's old hookup.
What the hells is he doing here?
Ryley stood, his eyes wide as he automatically reached out to shake Athan's hand. “You're back. I thought you were leaving for good.” That's what Athan had said when they'd run into each other on Libertas II, after all.
Athan shrugged. “Leaving was a mistake.”
“Ah. Well.” Ryley offered him a smile, then noticed Athan's aunt and uncle. He shook their hands and offered them a seat. “So, what can I do for you?”
Athan seemed to hesitate a moment, then cleared his throat. “That contract we brought here last time…”
Ryley nodded slowly, frowning. “Yeah. Hard thing to forget.” A mentally-challenged girl contracting herself under her brother's control? That couldn't make for a pretty situation, and Ryley had been curious as to whether it had ever gotten resolved.
Athan gave a tight nod. “The brother is dead, and it sounds like her insurance company has her convinced that they own her now, and they've got her locked up in a mental hospital.”
“Technically,” Athan's aunt interjected, “she checked herself in.” She paused, then added, “But you're right, they are influencing her to stay there.”
Ryley sat back in his chair, his eyes wide. “Wow. Alright. So…”
“So, I want to get her out of there,” Athan said. “The hospital. The contract with the other company. Whatever it takes to get her free of all of it.”
Ryley nodded slowly, then spread his hands and gave them an apologetic smile. “Again, this really isn't my area. I can handle part of it—I deal with death cases and inheritance issues all the time—but as for the rest of it…”
“I'll do it,” Vic cut in.
Ryley looked over at him, eyes wide as he watched Vic slowly rise from his chair to join them. Was Vic ready for this? Yes, Ryley thought a case would do the man good, but now that they'd been presented with one, he wasn't entirely convinced Vic was in the right mindset to handle it. Especially since Athan was involved.
“Vic…are you sure…after Cam–”
Vic held up a hand, cutting him off, and closed his eyes f
or a moment, a look of pain flashing across his face. He seemed to wrestle the look away and paste on a blank expression instead, turning his attention to Athan. “I'd like to help.”
Ryley shook his head. Here was Vic, still mired in grief, and facing the prospect of helping a guy with whom Ryley had engaged in an affair. Why did the man have to be so damned good all the time?
Vic looked at Ryley, all business as he rattled off instructions. Ryley grabbed a pen and started taking notes as he listened, marveling at the transformation. This was the Vic he knew. This was the man who did everything it took to find or help someone, the man who got down to business and made things happen. Vic pulled his chair over, and they got a contract written up that would allow them to help Athan in his situation, working to get the woman out of the mental hospital and free of the contract that Stronghold Insurance was holding over her head. When they were finished, Vic scrutinized every single word and punctuation mark, making sure there were no mistakes or loopholes the other company could use against them.
“Perfect,” Vic declared.
Ryley grinned at Athan. “See? Told you. Best in the business.”
Vic gave him a tight, indulgent smile, then turned his attention back to Athan. “Let me just go find another agent to join us as witness, and then we can go?” he suggested.
Athan frowned. “Can't Ryley…”
Before Vic could say anything, Ryley held up his hands and shook his head. “I deal with dead bodies. Like I said, this isn't really my area. Besides, since Vic and I were…together, we're not considered impartial witnesses for each other's cases. The boss won't allow it.”
Athan seemed to consider the situation for a moment, and Ryley couldn't blame him. Ryley was the one Athan knew, so Ryley was the one Athan would be most likely to trust, but they couldn't break protocol. Finally, Athan agreed, and Vic went off to find another agent—unconnected to both the case and Vic's personal life—who could join them.
Ryley watched the whole party get up to leave, smiling when he saw Vic's firm posture and steady gait. Yes, just what he needed. Maybe this case would get Vic's head back in the game.
Anything that gave Vic purpose again and lessened the awkwardness between the two of them was music to Ryley's ears.
* * *
ASHER LET himself into Ryley's house with the key Ryley had given him. Ryley had been working a lot that week, and Asher was missing the man like crazy.
But first, he needed a few minutes of quiet rest.
The pain was getting worse. Asher limped across the living room and eased himself down onto the couch. He'd been able to hide it all from Ryley so far, masking the pain and trying to walk as normally as he could whenever Ryley was around, and though he'd promised Ryley to go to the doctor if it got worse, he had yet to do so.
He just didn't want to think about it. Hells, he'd been stuck on an island all by himself for thirteen years, and survived. And it was just pain, after all. No big deal, really. Besides, the last thing he wanted was to be confined to a bed again like he had been after the car had hit him when he was eleven years old, shattering his pelvis and breaking both his legs. He'd lived through that, then lived through complete isolation. A little pain should be nothing.
At that moment, though, sitting still felt so damned good.
Ryley got home, but before Asher could find the motivation to stand up and greet him, Ryley gestured at him to stay put, shuffling across the living room and then throwing himself down on the couch, stretched out on his back with his head in Asher's lap.
Asher couldn't help smiling at that.
“Hey.”
“Mmmm, hey,” Ryley groaned, closing his eyes and letting out a sigh.
“Long day?”
Ryley nodded. “Weird day.” He shook his head. “Vic's been working on this case with Athan all week. I thought it was gonna be totally awkward, you know? But it isn't. Which…is even more awkward, somehow.” Ryley shook his head again and sighed. “If it had been anyone else, he probably would have fought Athan, right there in the office. But not Vic. Nope, he had to go be all noble like he is and actually help the guy without showing even a hint of discomfort at the whole situation.”
“Is that…bad?” Asher asked.
“It's just weird. Vic is just so damned good, you know? But at least he's working again, thank gods. I was seriously worried about him there for a while.” He scoffed and shook his head. “But he's back to his old self now.”
“Oh?” Asher asked. By Ryley's tone, that didn't seem like a good thing.
Ryley rolled his eyes. “Apparently, he and Athan were talking about me. Comparing notes about what went on in the bedroom.”
Asher's eyebrows went up. “Seriously?”
Ryley nodded. “Vic's even more convinced now that I'm–” He broke off and looked away.
“That you're what?”
Ryley hesitated, then sighed. “That I'm a mage.” He barked a laugh. “Which is totally stupid. So what if the lights flickered every time we had sex? Big deal. Just a stupid coincidence, you know?”
Asher frowned. Coincidence? He wasn't entirely sure. He'd noticed the flashing lights, too. If Vic and Athan had noticed the same, Ryley was the common denominator. Maybe there really was something to Vic's theory, after all.
Plus, there was that guy—Fynn—who'd said he recognized Ryley was a mage.
“Said he did all this research,” Ryley went on, rolling his eyes again. “Apparently, heightened emotions—or orgasms—can create an uncontrolled burst of magic, even for a highly-trained mage. And since magic affects electricity, Vic is convinced that's what's happening with me.” He shook his head once more. “Stupid.”
Ryley fell silent, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath and slowly let it out again.
They clearly needed a subject change, and fast.
Asher brushed a hand through Ryley's hair, pulling it free of the elastic band he used to tie it back. “I missed you.”
“Mmmm, missed you, too.” Ryley nuzzled Asher's belly, his frown giving way to a smile. “You can totally surprise me like this more often.”
Asher grinned. “I might just do that.”
Ryley took a deep breath and sighed, then sat up, gave Asher a peck on the lips, and stood. “I should go shower. I probably smell like the morgue.”
Asher shivered. How the man could stand to work around dead bodies all the time was beyond him. Purely out of necessity, Asher had long ago gotten over his squeamishness of killing, skinning, and eating small animals on the island, but humans were a different story. He wasn't sure he could actually view a dead body without completely losing it.
Ryley slipped off his jacket, draped it over a dining chair, tossed his wallet down on the mess of files scattered over the table, then headed to the master bedroom. Asher watched him go, then braced himself before he slowly stood, wincing as a sharp pain shot through his hip.
He stood there for a moment, waiting for the pain to subside, then started for the kitchen to pour them each a glass of wine, something Asher had discovered he enjoyed once the nutritionist said his diet had transitioned sufficiently for him to try. Now Ryley always kept a bottle on hand for them to share.
Before he could reach the kitchen, though, a stack of files shifted on the dining table, a few of them slipping off and falling to the floor. Asher crouched down and gathered them up, setting them back on the table, farther back from the edge. He spotted Ryley's wallet on the floor and picked that up as well.
The wallet had fallen open, leaving Ryley's work ID visible. Asher smiled as he studied the picture. Then he noticed Ryley's date of birth.
The hells? Ryley's birthday was in just a few weeks, and the man hadn't said a word about it.
Maybe Ryley didn't want Asher to feel pressured to do anything. He hadn't even been back in civilization for a couple of months, after all, and he was still adjusting. Ryley had been so good to him so far, not putting any pressure on him to make a complete transition overnigh
t, even if Asher really ought to get back to a normal life as quickly as possible. But a birthday? Surely Asher could handle that, no problem.
Then again, what could he possibly do for the man? Sure, they'd been together a couple months already, but they still had a lot to learn about each other. He hadn't the slightest idea what to get him, or if there was anything special he could do to celebrate the day.
Maybe he should ask Vic. That might make for an awkward conversation, but if anyone would have an answer, Vic was it.
Asher set the wallet back on the table and continued toward the kitchen. He got a bottle opened and two glasses poured just in time before Ryley appeared, hair damp from the shower and wearing only a pair of loose-fitting pajama pants, the drawstring waist riding low on his hips.
Asher growled at the sight.
“Mmmm, thanks, babe,” Ryley said, taking the glass of wine Asher offered him. He took a sip. “Oh, that's good.” Ryley slipped an arm around Asher's waist and stretched up for a kiss. “That's good, too,” he said with a grin.
Asher grinned back.
“Hungry?” Ryley asked.
“Starving.”
Ryley took another sip of his wine, then set the glass aside and hunted through the refrigerator, giving Asher an idea.
“Hey, do you think I could take you to lunch tomorrow?” he asked.
Ryley closed the refrigerator and looked at him. “Awww, babe, that's sweet.” He frowned, thinking. “Yeah, I think so. I've gotta run through a crime scene again first thing in the morning, but I'm sure I'll be done by lunch time.”
Ryley would be out of the office all morning? Perfect. Just what Asher needed.
After Ryley headed for work the next morning, Asher waited a couple hours—psyching himself up for being in public—before he called for a taxi and went downtown himself, stopping at Ryley's office. He asked for Vic and was shown straight to the man's desk. Ryley's desk, right beside Vic's, was empty. Asher let out a sigh and dropped the effort of hiding his pain.