This story is all about gay love. If that offends your delicate sensibilities, or if it is illegal for you to view, take a hike. Characters and places are pure imagination (with a hefty dose of psychosis). Any resemblance to anyone or anything is just a coincidence. A hot coincidence. So very hot...
*
His life was chaos and madness. How did things get so out of control? Less than two weeks. Two stinking weeks and his life went from well-ordered and structured to-
"I'm having you put in the room next to mine. It's the most secure wing in the house."
Of course, there were compensations.
Seb said nothing. The compensation was the main problem. Seb couldn't think around Aurel. All he had to do was look at him, smell him, even hear him breathe and his brain turned into something resembling warm tapioca. When people were trying to make you dead this was a Very Bad Thing.
The death threat was just the tip of the iceberg too; a symptom of something more pervasive. Seb knew that Aurel was different. And Mych and his ilk were different-different. He knew this. Of course he did. A part of him dictated that he should be hauling ass, but an insidious portion of his psyche, a large one, lusted after Aurel, wanting to trust him.
But Seb couldn't trust himself to make that decision. His body was stupid and biased. It was why he held off when Aurel kissed him. As much as he wanted to kiss back, as much as he wanted to jump the man's bones and be jumped in return, he couldn't. Not until he figured out what was going on. That was going to make for a very difficult stay. Cold showers. Self-restraint. More marathon masturbation sessions. It was an unappetizing prospect.
Seb wasn't big on sadomasochism, except for the occasional spanking; maybe. That was the real reason that he didn't want to stay. It would be self-imposed torture.
"There's a connecting door between them, so if you need anything, I'm right there."
Did he say torture? He meant agony.
God did he wish things were different. A nice, normal Seb, a nice, normal Aurel. A nice normal meeting, maybe a coffee shop, maybe a library. They would see each other a few times; just enough so that they wouldn't feel like total sluts before having nice, normal,
explosive
sex and living happily ever after. No death threats. No politics. No psychic stuff. No weird fucking non-human things. Bliss.
And it would be, Seb realized with a start. It would be a blissful happily ever after. Aurel was...
"And either Ruvn or Mych will be near you at all times in case you have a problem."
...a jerk. A big, gorgeous jerk.
Seb wasn't into masochism, but he wasn't into dominance either. Aurel was choc full o' that. He took alpha male to the nth degree. Sebastian was magnanimous; he could understand where Aurel was coming from. As a little prince, a big fish, whatever you want to call it, Aurel was used to getting his own way in everything. That didn't mean that Seb had to put up with it though.
"You're ignoring me, aren't you?"
It wasn't as if he didn't have cause to be angry. He was his own man with a double-dose of Texas ornery. If Aurel had explained things and displayed the common courtesy of asking instead of telling, his outlook might be a bit peachier. Seb wanted Aurel, but not on those terms.
"He's ignoring you."
Damn straight Mikey. You get a fucking cookie. Seb didn't want to be rude, and he definitely didn't want to come off as a
recalcitrant child, but if he opened his mouth right now he knew he couldn't stem the tide of venom and vituperation that would spew forth. He could tear a person to shreds with disastrous results. He had even made a tenacious prospective date cry. He couldn't see Aurel crying; in fact, the thought was laughable, but the memory of that day always made him wary of repeating his mistake. You could never un-say something. Better to keep your mouth shut.
"It's the green room. I think you'll like it. It was my mother's room; her favorite color."
It was really hard to stay mad at him when he said things like that. It really was. And his grandma was probably rolling in her grave at his lack of manners. Seb sighed and decided to be gracious. It wouldn't kill him. He could concede the battle without losing the war. "I'm sure I'll like it."
"I noticed that you like green." Aurel looked at Sebastian's equipment case and his moss colored hiking boots. "And it matches your eyes."
Mych gave a pained groan that Aurel didn't react to.
Seb could be gracious all right, but he drew the line at flirting. Flirting would be bad ju-ju, flirting could make him careless. It was a hard stand to take. Aurel's voice was like lager, like bittersweet chocolate. Everything sounded vulgar in that accent. Vulgar and awesome. Flirting with that voice would be a quick start down a slippery slope.
Slippery.
Gak.
"Are you all right?" Aurel looked concerned and Mych sneered slightly as Seb choked a bit, which just made it worse. Seb's coughing fit was beginning to ease as-
He's just being a baby.
Sebastian's head whipped up, bugged eyes meeting Mych's gaze in shock. They studied each other for a moment before Mych wiped his face slate-clean. Seb had heard what Mych was thinking, and Mych knew it. Seb also knew that Mych didn't like it. Not at all. The knowledge made him slightly nauseous.
Aurel, luckily, had missed the brief exchange, but Seb knew it was only a matter of time before Mych gave him the low down.
Shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
He didn't like where this was going. He didn't like the idea of listening in on people's mental static and he definitely didn't like the crafty look that Mych had.
"I'm...fine," Sebastian said. Mych just raised a supercilious eyebrow at him.
"Are you sure? You sound odd." Oh, Mych was definitely like a cat with cream now.
"Just something in my throat."
Aurel was quick to help, offering Seb a drink.
"No, I'm fine. I can't drink it anyway. I have a bad caffeine allergy."
"No coffee? No tea?" Aurel looked both intrigued and slightly horrified.
"None."
Mych leaned over and offered him some water. He still had the same sick-making smile, and Seb was wary. Seb knew that look. That was an I'm-gonna-nail-your-ass-to-a-wall look, and not in a sexy, squishy way, either.
"Thanks."
"My pleasure."
Even Aurel, who had eyes and ears for very little other than Sebastian at the moment, caught the tense undercurrents teasing the car's occupants. He didn't comment on it, but made a note to discuss it later. He had more pressing issues.
Aurel was at a loose end. Now that he had Seb, he didn't know what to do with him. He knew what he wanted to do with him, in theory anyway, but the way Seb was acting made that highly unlikely. Aurel hadn't considered the ramifications of his recent actions, a more common a state of affairs than he would like at the moment. All he knew was that Sebastian was threatened and he had to keep Seb safe.
It was just too bad that Seb didn't feel the same way.
Aurel knew that he had been heavy handed with his demands. He had practically kidnapped Seb; but he wasn't penitent. He didn't regret it at all. He would protect Sebastian's life with his own, even if Seb ended up resenting him because of it.
He was such a beautiful man. He was staring out the window now, a slight sour look to his face. Aurel almost reached out to smooth the frown lines away, to reassure himself that Seb was real, to soothe, but caught himself just in time. Time was what Seb had asked for, and he hadn't wanted to push.
Not only had Aurel pushed; he had really put his foot in it. The least he could do was give Seb his space. He could tone down his physical demands, even though his body was practically screaming with Sebastian's nearness. This stay would be a gauntlet of unfulfilled desire.
