Dirty Angel-BarbaraElsborg (26 page)

Aden wondered if he’d come on too strong. He’d hardly been able to believe he’d said all that. Wasn’t as if he’d ever been a source of useful advice to anyone, especially not to himself.
Ha!
But it sort of shocked him that a well-educated guy like Brody could be so fucking…dense. Aden got that everyone made mistakes. Some made more than others and Aden had done more than his fair share of stupid things, but if Brody couldn’t see this guy Matt was trouble, what the fuck could Aden do?

Make him see.

Whose voice was that?

He stared out of the window as Brody drove through London. Was this the type of thing Raphael had in mind? Aden becoming a better man by helping Brody get rid of that fuckwit? Before whatever the hell had happened at the Octoplex, Aden wouldn’t have given a shit about Brody’s issues.

But…

Aden had walked away from every encounter, sexual or not, because that way he avoided emotional involvement, getting entangled in anyone else’s life, fucking up his own more than it already was.

But…

Fucking
but…

He
was
involved. He hadn’t changed, but he liked Brody. He hadn’t even fucked the guy yet, though he’d let Brody fuck him.
And Aden had enjoyed it. Which had been another shock. Not that he was desperate for it to happen again, well not with anyone else but Brody. Aden had just somehow known it was the right way round that first time. That Brody needed it to be that way. Aden gritted his teeth.
What’s happening to me?
Interference from Raphael? Since Dante had stuck his oar in, why not Raphael too?

There was no way Aden could sort out Brody’s messed up life in the time he had left. If Brody hadn’t straightened himself out in all these years, what chance did Aden have of making him see the truth? But he could do something. Helping Brody get rid of Matt seemed achievable. Aden
could give up on the love thing. He just had to make sure the guy didn’t fall for him.

Brody pulled into a car park in South Kensington. Not an area of London Aden knew well.

Once the engine was off, Brody turned to face him. “Give me a hand with the stuff in the boot?”

“Okay.”

When Aden saw two large bags, he frowned. “What are we going to do?”

“Wait and see.”

He handed Aden the smaller bag and took the larger one.

“We’re staying the night in London?” Aden asked.

“Yep.”

“I think you over-packed.”

“You’ll thank me for what’s in these bags.”

Aden felt a slight niggle of worry he might bump into someone he knew, but when Brody led him through the gates of the Natural History Museum, he relaxed. No one in his circle would go there.

“Disappointed?” Brody asked.

“I dunno. I’ve never been here before.”

Brody turned to him with shock written all over his face. “Really?”

“I didn’t come to London until I was sixteen. Museums were way down on my list of things to do.” That was, not on his list at all.

“We’re spending the night here. I told Des not to expect you to help tomorrow.” Brody walked up the steps into the floodlit building and registered at the desk.

Aden’s eyes widened as they entered a huge cathedral-like, brick-built hall, the skeleton of a big dinosaur looming right in front of them. People were milling around, arranging sleeping bags on the floor.

“No bed?” Aden asked.

“In the bag.”

“Impressive. Got a bath tub and bedside lights in there as well, Mary Poppins?”

Brody smiled. “Toilet bags and flashlight.”

“What’s the dinosaur?” Aden nodded toward the skeleton.

“Diplodocus. I used to come here all the time with my grandparents. I had my photo taken in front of Dippy more times than I can remember.”

“They still alive?”

“No. What about yours?”

“I never knew any of them.” Aden was fairly sure his tone of voice would warn Brody to drop it. This was the fucking problem with asking questions, you got asked them back.

Brody made his way to one of the alcoves at the side of the hall. “Sure you’re okay with staying the night here? I’ve wanted to do this for ages, but I didn’t want to come on my own. When I checked, I couldn’t believe they still had tickets. Maybe someone cancelled.”

Or maybe Raphael fixed it. Aden glanced at the cross-eyed stuffed tiger sharing their sleeping area. “Just reassure me nothing with four legs or more comes alive at midnight. Maybe you ought to sleep that side, next to the tiger, since you’re the animal expert.” He hesitated. “There aren’t any live animals are there?”

“Museum remember? Everything’s dead. They don’t even take animals and stuff them anymore.”

“Just display newly discovered ancient bones.”

“That dinosaur’s not real.”

Aden gaped at him. “What the fuck? The first thing you see when you walk in and it’s not real?”

“It’s made of plaster. Probably why they’re replacing it with the skeleton of a blue whale. More appropriate to display an endangered species.”

“Right. So what’s going to happen tonight? Strippers? Pole dancing for beginners? Demonstration of rimming?”

Brody rolled his eyes. “We get something to drink and a meal. There’s various planned activities and we can go exploring.”

“Activities?” Aden raised his eyebrows.

“The sort you’re thinking of aren’t allowed.”

Didn’t usually stop Aden.

Brody took an inflatable mattress and a foot pump from his bag, and Aden sighed.

“Better than the floor, believe me.” Brody began to pump up the mattress.

When Aden looked in the other bag, he found bottles of water, fruit, snacks and a large blanket. Toiletries, but no lube or condoms.

He’d never done anything like this. He’d never wanted to do anything like this. He wasn’t sure he did now, but Brody seemed so excited that for once, Aden thought of someone other than himself and kept quiet.

Once they’d set up a sleeping area, a thick towel over the bags serving as a double pillow, they approached a guy who was handing out glasses of wine. Aden read the list of the evening’s events and pressed his lips together at the idea of getting into teams. He was
not
a team player.

“You don’t like this, do you?” Brody said quietly. “Sorry. I should have picked something like the cinema. I just wanted…”

“What?”

“To go on a normal date.”

“This is a normal date?” Aden’s lips twitched in a smile. His heart had thumped at the word. Sometimes after he’d fucked someone, they’d ask to see him again and he always said no. He’d never asked anyone out.

“It’s an expensive date,” Brody said.

“I should hope so.” Aden nudged him hard enough to make Brody stagger and almost spill his drink. “I’m worth it. Later, I’ll show you how grateful I am.”

Brody looked around. “We can’t.”

“Have I told you how much I like the word can’t?”

Brody groaned. “I’m worried now.”

“All these places to go and things to see and I haven’t been there, haven’t seen them,” Aden said. Bit late to regret that now but there was nothing like dealing with his own mortality to put things into perspective. “This place is special to you and I’m glad you wanted me to come along.”

He didn’t actually mean that, he didn’t think. He sounded like a little boy who’d practiced saying thank you, but Brody looked happy. Anyway, how hard had it been to show some pleasure and gratitude? Brody’s smile was his reward and the earlier version of Aden who would have walked away as soon as he saw the museum gates looming would have missed that.

“What do you fancy doing?” Brody asked.

Apart from fucking you in the bathroom?
“I really don’t mind.” Unless Brody had hidden lube and a condom somewhere that wasn’t going to happen. And was that really all Aden wanted? A guy to fuck around with? Maybe it had been, but something had changed.

“Life drawing?” Brody suggested.

“Are you going to strip?”

“No.”

“Then no.”

Maybe Aden already had a way to stop Brody falling in love. If Aden acted as if all he cared about was sex, getting off without much regard for anything more or for Brody getting off as well, Brody would eventually see him as the shallow guy he was and it would make it easier on him when Aden walked away.

“Listening to ghost stories? Watching horror films?” Brody asked.

“If you hold my hand.”

Why was Aden even hanging around at all? Why not leave Brody now before he made everything worse?

Matt.
Sometimes Aden felt as if the same things kept rolling back and forward in his head.

“How about going to a talk about the filthy and disgusting sex life of insects? Or there’s a standup comedian who’s supposed to be really good.”

“Whatever you want to do tonight, I’ll do. But one way or another I’m getting a blow job.”

Aden had thought that would piss him off, but Brody rolled his eyes and smiled.

The three course dinner was pretty good, though neither of them won prizes in the raffle. Brody had bought tickets for Aden as well as himself, though Aden would rather have had the ten quid to add to the twenty Des had given him. But when Brody told him the money went to charity, Aden felt guilty, though not guilty enough to add in the twenty.

The talk about insects was far more fascinating than Aden had thought it would be. Brody knew the answer to every single fucking question. Aden knew the answer to none.

“Christ,” Aden muttered as they headed for another part of the museum. “Apart from you, you freak, who’d have guessed that fourteen percent of a bush cricket’s bodyweight is its testicles?”

“The equivalent would be a human male having balls that weighed eleven pounds.”

Aden winced. “Great. I think I could have lived without knowing that or that fleas have telescopic double dicks.”

“Koalas have two penises.”

“Christ.”

“Echidnas have four-headed cocks. Sea-turtles have five-headed ones and kangaroos have three vaginas. And each time a blue whale fucks, it releases thirty or forty pints of sperm. Enough for some critters to drown in.”

Aden laughed and almost without realizing he was doing it, reached for Brody’s hand. Before he could let go, Brody tightened his grip, though Aden knew Brody would have detected his slight pull back.

I don’t hold hands.

Brody exhaled. “Worried you’ll get lost?”

“I’ve been lost all my life,” Aden replied quietly.

“Not lost.” Brody squeezed his fingers. “Just undiscovered.”

The pang in Aden’s heart took him by surprise. He turned to see Brody staring at him.

“Didn’t have to dig you up though.” Brody gave a quick smile. “Just knock you down.”

In more ways than one.

“Want to let go?” Brody asked.

For a moment Aden didn’t get what he was talking about.
Fuck, the holding hands.
He didn’t want to say yes. He just kept holding on. “I can’t remember the last time I held anyone’s hand.”

“Your mum didn’t let you cross the road on your own when you were a toddler, did she?”

“Probably.”

“Oh God.” Brody paled. “Sorry.”

Shit. Did I say that out loud?
Aden put a smile on his face. “Okay. So you’re the animal expert. Put your guide hat on and show me everything.”

“It’ll be a long night. This place has over seventy million botanical items, fifty-five million animal exhibits, nine million artefacts from archeological digs, half a million rocks and minerals and two horny gay guys. Well, I suppose there might be more horny gay guys than the elderly couple I spotted by the giant squid.”

“Thank you, talking guide book.” But Aden liked listening to Brody. He was endearingly enthusiastic, knew endless facts about the exhibits and he was funny. Aden found himself laughing out loud at some of Brody’s descriptions, particularly about how the hippo attracted a mate by spinning its tail and taking a shit at the same time to spread the apparently irresistible odor.

Though Aden was less amused when Brody led him into one of the scheduled activities which involved eating insects.

“You’re not serious,” Aden whispered. He put his mouth to Brody’s ear. “Wouldn’t you rather have something much tastier in your mouth? Something long and hot and hard with a tangy but deliciously rewarding aftertaste?”

Brody spluttered. “Can’t I have both?”

“Maybe. But you can forget having a kiss if you’re eating any of these bugs.”

“I seem to remember you saying—whatever you want to do tonight, I’ll do.”

“Yeah but…” Aden swallowed hard as he sat next to Brody. No way could he eat an insect.

The first so-called treat was a bamboo worm and watching Brody bite into it made Aden gag. He took one when the plate was offered, and lifted it to his mouth. Even holding it was difficult.

“Wow, that thing’s salty,” Brody said.

Aden nodded. Then followed weaver ants, a toasted silkworm, a giant mole cricket and a weevil.
Christ in a campervan.

“The cricket’s nasty.” Brody winced.

Aden nodded again. He chewed with his lips pressed tightly together.

“But the weevil tastes like crispy bacon.” Brody turned to him. “You okay? You’re pale.”

“From watching you.” Aden opened his hand and revealed all the insects he’d been given and not eaten. “Want some more?”

Brody’s eyes widened. “How the hell did you manage that? I saw you put them in your mouth. You chewed and swallowed. Well, obviously you didn’t. You cheat.” He laughed.

“I’m an expert in not eating what I don’t fancy. You seemed to enjoy the weevil so much I saved mine you for.”

“I’ll pass.”

Aden rose to his feet and brushed the insects onto an empty plate. “You need to take the taste out of your mouth. I have just the thing. Find a bathroom.”

A quiet groan slipped from Brody’s mouth. “If we get caught.”

“I’ll blame you.”

“Thanks.”

“It’s your fault my cock’s trying to break my zipper. The least you can do is sort that out for me.”

Aden followed Brody’s arse down darkened corridors past exhibits he took no notice of, and into a restroom, his cock hardening with every step. Need was on the rampage, his entire body desperate for Brody. There weren’t many people around, but there were plenty of museum guards and though Aden didn’t give a fuck about getting caught, he didn’t want Brody to get into trouble.
That’s a new one.