AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The result was Luca spinning on his heels, tumbling once again into the position that Artair had dubbed the Seattle Greeting.
“Oh?” said Artair, shuffling the paper. After a few moments his voice became heavy with understanding. “Oh...”
Luca grunted from the floor. There was no point stammering out some excuse—after all, the opening lines of the article were all about his meeting at the Gazette. Explaining exactly why he couldn’t write the spicy articles he really wanted. Explaining exactly why he’d taken a vow of celibacy. Explaining exactly what the stakes would be if he failed.
Bowie padded to Luca as he rolled himself out of doggy position. Luca sat on the floor, not meeting Artair’s eyes—one of his thighs was cross-legged on the old rug, the other was resting against the storm-chilled wood. He patted the fox’s head as he waited for Artair to speak again.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” the man whispered.
Luca sighed. There was no point lying anymore. “Lots of reasons? Because I didn’t want you to stop flirting with me? Because I thought I could control myself without you needing to know all this crap? Because I knew you’d turn hard and cold and distant, just like everyone else does?”
“I...” said Artair, stopping as soon as he started.
Because what was Artair going to say? That he wouldn’t have stopped flirting? That he would’ve kept being fun and playful and mischievous?
No, he couldn’t say that. Because that would be a lie. Because Artair would have dropped the flirting to zero percent if he’d know about this. He’d have turned as cold as the storm.
Just like Luca would have freaked out if Artair had told him about the tower when they’d first met. Because he’d have felt awful and insisted that Artair take the job instead of him.
Artair shuffled the papers, giving a sigh of his own. He met Luca’s gaze with a weak smile. “We’re idiots, aren’t we?”
“Yeah,” said Luca, softly. “And look, you can have this job back, if you want it. It’s not like I need to be out here anymore.”
Artair glanced at the wastepaper basket—now empty.
To Luca’s surprise, Artair didn’t grill him on why he’d thrown the story away. Why he’d given up rather than writing a lie and pretending that they’d never kissed. It was like the man instantly understood that it wasn’t an option.
Instead, he brought Luca up from the floor and into another hug. Luca accepted it gratefully, the man rubbing slow and warm against his upper back.
“You should keep the job,” said Artair. “Even if you aren’t going to write that article, maybe just take the time to be out here? To think of what you might do next?”
“But what about you?”
“Eh.” He shrugged, lifting Luca from the ground slightly. “The next food drop is in a couple of weeks, right? I can get Sandy to send me some supplies. Maybe I’ll do the same as you, just chill out in the forest and think about what’s next.”
“Sure, but everything in this tower is yours and?—”
“Luca?”
He took the hint. “Okay, okay. Thank you.”
Artair ran strong fingers over the back of Luca’s neck. “And for the record, if I’d known it would cost you your job, I’d have cut the flirting out completely. I hope you don’t think I’m some kind of fiend?”
“Oh, God no!” said Luca hurriedly, giving him a squeeze around the love handles. “I was right there with you. In any other situation I’d have pinned you down and ridden you dry by now.”
Artair paused at that comment, then broke the hug completely, sitting back hurriedly in the desk chair.
Luca wasn’t immediately sure why he’d done it.
And then, a few seconds later, it became fabric-strainingly obvious.
Beneath his sweatpants, Artair was rock hard. “Sorry! I swear I’m not trying to turn this into anything.”
“God, maybe you are a fiend,” said Luca, staring admiringly at the bulge.
Artair’s ability to go from serious conversation to rock hard, with only the faintest stimulus, was an incredibly sexy trait. It made Luca dwell on how easy it would be to heat him up whenever he liked. Teasing him at inopportune times. Giving him an embarrassing boner in the middle of a mall or out at dinner.
Luca had to remind himself that the man was half-starved as well. If this was Artair under those constraints, he could only imagine what his virility would be like at full strength.
