Marie Harte - Flight of Fancy

“Yeah.” He sipped his black brew and just stared at his lover.

“So what’s up for today?”

Aidan didn’t know what to do. “A write-up for Jack, I guess.”

“I did it the day after we got back. You were pretty messed up.”

Aidan drank more coffee, wondering how to bring up what he dreaded talking about.

Gavin beat him to it. “Just so you know, I didn’t say anything about what you did to those guys. You know, when they were trying to kill me.”

“Oh?”

“I know you did something to their minds. But you never talked about being able to do that, so I didn’t mention it. I think it’s fair for me to ask you, though. Exactly what did you do?”

“Hell if I know.” He wished he did; then maybe he’d have better luck not doing it again.

Gavin blinked and said nothing. Aidan had been good about staying out of Gavin’s head lately, but he wanted to know what Gavin thought. When he tried to look, to his surprise, he found himself blocked. The little geek had learned something after all.

Gavin grinned. “I felt that. Thank yourself for teaching me that nifty trick.”

“Christ, Gavin. I can’t tell you the last time I heard the word ‘nifty.’ Maybe in a forties flick?”

“Yeah, well, I grew up with my grandfather. He lived with us after my dad died. And he used words like nifty and hell’s bells and golly a lot.” Gavin’s dimple made him seem so much younger than he was. “Get used to it, Blondie.”

“Idiot.” Aidan snorted but couldn’t help his grin. He liked Gavin’s verve. For someone who used to feel bullied, Gavin seemed to have adapted to Aidan pretty quickly. Then again, he’d put his trust in Aidan not too long ago. It was probably still fresh. “Gavin, I have to say something.”

“Speak, freak, and speak freely.”

He frowned. “You’re a lot cuter with your mouth closed.” Or around my cock immediately came to mind. “About what happened in Mendocino. I’m sorry you walked in on that. I should have been there for you, not the other way around.”

“Huh?”

“It’s just, I was supposed to be in charge, and they took me by surprise. Then you had to deal with Kerr and his dickheads while my sorry ass was chained to a fucking wall.”

“It could as easily been my sorry ass.” Gavin shrugged, playing off his part in their rescue with a maturity and ease that surprised him. After all the shit Gavin had taken about screwing up, he should have been rubbing Aidan’s nose in his success.

“But it wasn’t. You saved the day. You didn’t screw up. I did.”

“Actually, Jack screwed up. The bad guys followed the money, because our financial data wasn’t secured the way it should have been. But Jack’s cleaned that up already.”

Aidan stared at him with new respect. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”

“Say what?”

“I’m sorry for thinking what I did about you. You’re a stand-up guy, Gavin.”

Gavin flushed.

My boy needs praise. Gavin looked damn good getting it. “So I was thinking,” Aidan continued.

“Big mistake.”

He glared. “I was thinking we should continue your self-defense training. You did well against Kerr, but the other two had you by the balls. You just need to know where to hit them hardest.”

“The other two…the ones you took care of for me. Are we ever going to talk about that?”

Aidan sighed. “Yeah. Just not now, okay? Let me drink my coffee and get used to the fact I have time off. All those movies I was going to see and books I wanted to read—now I have time for them. I don’t know what to get to first.”

“You mean, while we wait for a psychotic killer who wants to drill you to show up,” Gavin added drily.

“Yeah. Exactly.”

“Great. I vote for the Shaolin collection you have in your cabinet.”

“I’ve seen those.” Aidan blinked. “But I suppose I could see them again.” Who knew Gavin liked martial-arts flicks?

They started talking entertainment. Movies, television, books, and before Aidan knew it, half the day had passed. They’d watched two movies back-to-back, then critiqued fighting styles. Which got Aidan thinking about a workout.

Gavin shook his head. “No way. Doc Cannon made me promise you wouldn’t be too active for a few days. You need to heal, Aidan. No training.”

Aidan fumed. “You’re not my nursemaid.”

“And I’m not your sub either. So quit bossing me around.”

That took Aidan aback. Had he been pushing Gavin in that way? “Sorry.”

Gavin shrugged. “Um, sure. You’re a domineering kind of guy. I get it. And it’s got to be killing you not to work out. You train every day, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” Even when he’d been working with Gavin before the mission, he’d spent at least a few hours lifting, running on the treadmill, or working on the heavy bag in his basement in the section not dedicated to his dungeon.

“You can’t do any of what you want to do.”

“How do you know what I want to do? You read minds, boy ?” Aidan tacked on to tease. He loved watching Gavin’s cheeks turn red. And that thought brought his attention to Gavin’s tight ass.

“I don’t have to read yours to know what you’re thinking about right now. Not with that hard-on staring at me.”

Aidan chuckled. “You’ve gotten pretty good at shielding. What do you think about to hold it firm?” He’d been dying to know what Gavin used as a positive block to mental penetration. He had a feeling it wasn’t his mother.

“My secret. Just like you have secrets.”

Again with the veiled references to Aidan’s secret talent—scrambling people’s brains. “Come on, genius. Why don’t you do something constructive? Help me look over my financial portfolio.”

Gavin opened his mouth and closed it, like a fish out of water. “Oh man, I’d love to.”

They spent the next few days feeling each other out. There were no repeat performances of that morning in bed. All of Aidan’s hard-ons went untouched by Gavin’s delightful mouth. Gavin, for his part, had a blast with Aidan’s financials and made several recommendations to expand his investment strategy that Aidan found useful. He also proved to be an entertaining houseguest. He cleaned up after himself and generally kept out of Aidan’s way. After warning him just once more to go easy, Gavin agreed to work out with Aidan.

Aidan scaled it down but returned to his fighting stances and practiced strikes. He didn’t lift weights or box, though. Too much strain on his core too soon.

He watched Gavin fight, saw his boy’s—partner’s—weaknesses, and tried to correct them, which wasn’t easy without putting his hands on Gavin. But if he did, Aidan worried he’d fuck the shit out of his little sub.

No matter how many times he told himself that part of his relationship with Gavin had come to an end, his body refused to believe it. When Gavin bent over, when he opened his mouth, when he gripped a bottle in a tight fist, Aidan wanted to fuck him. Any way, anyhow. He had a constant erection that thankfully Gavin ignored.

A few hours after they’d finished training and had showered and dressed, he growled, “I’ll be back,” and left the couch. Gavin didn’t acknowledge him, engrossed in one of the newest spy movies streaming on the television.

Aidan cursed a blue streak under his breath and found his cell phone in his bedroom. He called Avery, skipping Jack altogether.

“Yeah?” Nathan, Avery’s lover, picked up. Damn. Aidan heard laughter and noise behind Nathan.

“I need to talk to Avery.”

“Is it important?”

“Of course it’s important, or I wouldn’t be calling.” Asshole. “Put Avery on. It’s Aidan.”