Page 2 of Hummingbird and Kraken

God, those arms. They bulged with the muscles of hard labor, sparkling with pale hair that Declan wanted to rub up against like a cat. The man was breathtakingly handsome, in that craggy, authoritative way that always got Declan going. And that scowl… Declan was such a sucker for a good scowl.

He should have probably felt scared, and maybe he did a bit. But his cock was interpreting it as the good type of scared that ended in handcuffs, spankings, and mutual orgasms.

He reminded himself that this wasn’t a gay bar. The man was probably straight. He probably beat up little gay boys. Especially the ones who liked to wear provocative t-shirts and looked better in makeup than their sisters ever could.

“Hi!” Declan said with a flounce. Which was totally not the plan. He wasn’t even sure he knew what to say to a big scowling man like that if he wasn’t flirting.

He deepened his voice and tried again. “Er, um, hello.” He hoped he had a scowl on his own face, but he didn’t think he was pulling it off. The sparkly silver paint outlining his eyes probably didn’t help. He should have washed it off before he got out of the car. And changed his shirt.

He crossed his arms over his chest, even though it was certainly too late. Maybe he looked at least a little bit serious?

Something twitched on the man’s face, but he didn’t smile. “What are you doing here?” He had the faintest trace of an accent, but not one that Declan could place. Something Scandinavian, maybe?

“My, um, car broke? And there’s smoke coming out of it. Like, big old towers of smoke. And I don’t even know where I am, except that there are a lot of trees. Which, like, I suppose local people might know which trees are which, but I can’t just say that on the phone. Because I don’t even know what state I’m in. Oh, and my phone doesn’t work. Like, the batteries are charged, but there’s no signal? So I couldn’t call a tow truck. And that’s this whole other thing because I don’t even know if the insurance on the car is still good. Or even how much money I have. Shit! I should have taken out some cash at an ATM. That’s what you’re supposed to do, right? Take out cash? Sorry… what was the question?”

The man stared a little longer, and then blinked slowly. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I thought I just told you.”

“That was the question. You asked what the question was.”

“Oh, right. So um… can you help me?” Declan stuck out his hip in that way that always got him admiring glances. Then he remembered that he was talking to Mr. Straight and pulled it back in.

The man scrutinized him again, his face impassive. “I can call a tow truck.”

“Oh, good! Thank you! And then I’ll definitely figure out where I am. And take out cash before Mike can close my part of the account. I wonder how much of it is supposed to be mine. Or maybe it’s too late? How much do car repairs cost anyway?”

Instead of answering, the man grunted and turned toward the little house. Well, it looked like he wasn’t going to get beat up for being gay, so that was good.

Declan scrambled after the man. “I’ve never been out here before. Wherever this is. It’s different from New York. With all of this… nature. And trees. I like the trees, though. They sound like a river.”

“Ohio.”

“Huh?”

“You’re in Ohio.”

“Oh! That makes sense. I kept seeing signs for Cleveland, and Cleveland’s in Ohio, right? I think I passed it, though. I probably should have stopped there. But I like the trees here. The river trees.”

The stranger grunted again, still walking.

Declan realized he didn’t even know his name. Not that it really mattered, but it seemed like he should at least introduce himself. “Oh, I’m Declan,” he called after the man’s back.

The man swung around and put out his hand. “Geir.”

The name wasn’t made out of any sounds that Declan was used to in English or the more common languages in NYC like Chinese, Spanish, and Russian. The first part sounded like guy, but the sound was wider, leaning into the transformation of an ah and an ee. And the rolled r at the end got swallowed up in a flutter that dispersed on a breath.

Declan knew he was going to mangle it, but he tried his best to repeat it as he shook the man’s hand.

And then he wasn’t thinking of anything except the place where their skin touched, the strong muscles and heated flesh of that firm hand as it wrapped around his own. The simple touch raced through his nerves and he wanted those hands all over him.

Declan only realized he’d closed his eyes when he opened them to find the man staring down at him, with a strange but unreadable look on his face. Declan quickly pulled away, already missing the man’s warmth.

Well, at least a hopeless crush would help to pass the time while he got his car fixed. Maybe things were looking up.

Chapter 2

Geir