Revealed - Masked 3 (3 page)

Bobby nodded and knelt down on one knee to wipe the come from the floor. When he was finished, Thor pointed out where the laundry room was and told Bobby to toss the towel in the wash. When he came back, he found Thor in the kitchen, leaning against one of the counters, a bottle of water in his hand. He motioned to a second bottle on the counter and Bobby gratefully grabbed for it. He was glad of anything to delay having a conversation while naked.

It wasn't something he'd done before and he wasn't sure he could do it now. Thor was at least partially dressed. He-

"Something wrong?" Thor asked, finishing off his water.

"Not really. Just a little uncomfortable."

"I'm sure. I like looking at you though. I like seeing the effect I have on you."

And that is why he would suffer through any kind of embarrassment or shyness. For Thor. When had he become so enamored? Bobby nodded and took a swallow from his bottle. "What did you want to talk about?"

"What I asked earlier. About you staring at me."

"Yes. I did."

"Why?"

"I know I would say I was lost in my own mind or staring off into space, but I was really staring at you because honestly, I couldn't help myself."

"How long have you wanted to be with me?"

"It started the night you were flogging Bailey. The way you looked at her, the concern in your eyes for her. You wanted to protect her and it was an all of a sudden thing for me. I wanted someone to feel that way about me. I wanted you to feel that way about me." He added the last quietly.

"No one knew I was bisexual."

Bobby smiled. "I didn't know, but that didn't stop me from wanting you. No one knew I was more than bisexual. No one knew anything, but I was still taken with you. After that I started watching you as covertly as I could. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. I told myself it was fascination, just pure fascination with you. I think even then I knew it was more than that though."

"So you donned a mask to trick me?"

Bobby shook his head. "I didn't set out to trick or deceive you. I know it must look that way now, but that wasn't it at all."

Thor studied him for so long, Bobby began to shift under the scrutiny. "I know you didn't. You were uncertain of how I'd react and you had every right to be. If you'd told me as Robert what you wanted a couple of weeks ago, I would have flat out told you no, but as Bobby, there was no history, no reputations, no anything. I get it."

And Bobby believed Thor did. "Thank you."

"Did you talk to Aidn?"

Bobby tried not to sigh. "Yes." It was a conversation he didn't ever want to have again with anyone either. Telling his parents was one thing. He'd expected their disappointment, their fear of what people would think. He'd been there before with them, but Aidn... "I think he's going to be pissed at me for a while."

Thor smiled in sympathy. "Yes, I think he is. He'll get over it though."

"Eventually. Did he talk to you?"

"Oh yeah. He called me the second you left his office, said you weren't even out of the parking lot. He was more surprised about you than he was about me, though he's not pleased with either of us for keeping him in the dark."

"Wonder why? He wasn't surprised, I mean."

"No idea, but it doesn't really matter. You've made your choice by coming here tonight. Did you bring a bag?"

Bobby nodded. "It's in the car. I didn't know whether I should or not, so..." He shrugged, relieved to not have to go through the entire conversation he'd had with Aidn, the man who'd been his best friend through college, law school, and beyond. It was painful at best to admit he'd been lying the whole time. In that, Thor had been correct. Bobby had lied. To himself, his friends, his family, to the women he dated. Though since he hadn't slept with any of the women in years and he hadn't ever promised anyone more than a date or two, he wasn't sure if it was lying or not. But to Aidn, yeah, he'd lied and coming clean after so long had been freeing as well as painful.

Aidn had a temper, that was no secret. That he hated lies, well, that was no secret either. It would take time to earn Aidn's trust again, on a personal, friendship level. Professionally, they would be fine. They worked too closely together and if there were any real fall-out in the law field from Bobby coming out and Aidn was around, Aidn would be the first to stand up for Bobby.

"He took it pretty hard, didn't he?"

Thor's voice was gentle as he asked the question. It hadn't been an easy thing, that confrontation during which Aide had yelled and ranted and paced. "Yeah."

"About you keeping the secret or that you're gay?"

"The secret. He could care less which sex I prefer. It's that I lied to him."

"And your family?"

"Disappointed. Tried to talk me out of it. My mom has a good girl at church she wants to fix me up with and my dad, well, he said things I'd rather not repeat. All in all, it went exactly as I imagined it would."

"I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"Telling people is a difficult thing and I told you you had to do it before coming to see me."

"Yes, but it was the right thing to do. They needed to know I'd be bringing a man home for Thanksgiving and Aidn needed to know in general. In truth, it was harder with him." Bobby cleared his throat around the uncomfortable topic. "Does anyone know about you? Your friends and family?"

"I don't have any family to speak of really. My mom passed when I was a kid and my dad, he's still living but we don't talk much. He wouldn't care one way or the other." Thor finished off his water and opened the bottom cabinet to his left. He pulled out a rolling tray that housed a trash can and a recycle can. He tossed the bottle in the recycle and held out his hand for Bobby's bottle.

Bobby would have preferred to keep holding it for a while, for the distraction, something to do with his hands, but he handed it over for Thor to dispose of.

"Mick knows. He figured it out on his own. Aidn thought it was bisexual and for a while it was. More and more though, privately, I chose to have sex with men and spank women. Like I told you before. I knew once I had a man under me, under my leather, that'd be it."

"No fall-out from last weekend at the club?"

"Nah. What's anyone going to say at a fetish club?"

Thor had a point. "What about the men you work with?"

"They don't need to know. Those that do, do. Those that don't, well, if they find out, I'll deal with it then."

"Are you the boss?"

"I'm the foreman."

"Does your boss know?"

"Yes. I told him. He was cool. Has a gay son. Look, I know I made you coming clean a condition to the start of this. It might not have been fair of me to force your hand like that, but I did it because one, I think you needed it. You were hiding behind a mask, behind a fake facade, a reputation based on mistruths and omissions. Before you could really give something like this a shot, with me or anyone, you couldn't have that hanging over your head. And two, I needed to know you were serious. If you couldn't bring yourself to come clean to those who were most important to you, how could I begin to trust that you'll always be truthful with me?"

"I know." Bobby understood. It was all hard. It was all difficult. But Thor had been right in his reasoning. Even if it was unfair, as Thor alluded to, Bobby understood and fair or unfair  had never crossed his mind.

Thor grinned suddenly. "Thanksgiving, huh?"

Bobby smiled uncertainly. "Sure."

"I haven't had a family Thanksgiving in years."

"This might be my last."

"You really think that?"

Did he? "No, I don't. My mom will come around. She'll pray for us, but she'll come around. My dad will, too. He just has to get used to the idea that you're a construction worker who happens to be gay."

Thor smirked. "So, we have sex once and you're already planning the holidays, huh?"

Shit. Bobby swallowed uncomfortably and faltered with what to say to that. He'd assumed if they entered into a relationship, it would be exclusive and they'd actually have a full on relationship, but... "I'm sorry. I thought..." Bobby shook his head and looked away. He wasn't sure what he'd been thinking. Whatever it was involved holidays and them together. Was he the girl in this relationship? Was it even a relationship?

He was so out of his element. He wasn't the one in control. He was trying to do the right thing, think and say the right things, but he wasn't sure at all what those things were. Thor was in charge. Bobby could say yes or no to certain play, he could say yes or no to play period. He'd already surrendered, submitted, shown up when he was supposed to, he just wasn't sure where to go from here.

"Hey."

Bobby looked up to find Thor walking toward him, determination written all over his face. He wrapped Bobby's neck in his hand and drug him forward for a kiss. It wasn't long or gentle. It was a simple, hard smacking kiss. "Don't say you're sorry. You want the holidays? Fine. Plan them. I don't care. I'll spend them wherever you are if that's what you want. I told you. If we do this, we do it full, not half-assed." Thor smacked Bobby's lips with another kiss and stepped back. "Where'd you put your keys?"

"My jeans."

"I'm gonna go get your bag and lock up. The room I set up for you is across the hall from mine on the left. You have your own bathroom as well."

Bobby listened and tried to keep his facial expression from falling and showing his disappointment. Again, Thor was choosing the direction, taking charge. It's what he wanted, right? For Thor to be the dominant? He did want to explore submission and find his place in the lifestyle, didn't he? He suddenly wasn't so sure. What he'd thought and built up in his mind was not the way things were working out.

Thor snapped a finger in front of his face. "Attention on me. Stop getting lost in your head. We'll talk more. Take a shower and get into bed. Wait for me."

He walked around Bobby and picked Bobby's discarded clothes up from the floor. Handing Bobby the shirt and underwear, Thor dug into Bobby's jeans for the keys. "I'll be right back."

Bobby watched Thor walk out, leaving him feeling vulnerable, uncertain, ready to bolt, but at the same time, feeling the need to dig in his heels and stick it out. He picked up his boots and socks and headed for the bedroom he was told he'd occupy.

*** *** ***

Thor stood outside the guest bedroom. Every so often he heard the bedsprings creak, but for the most part, there was silence. He knew Bobby's mind must be racing, must be fighting against itself. God knew, Thor wanted Bobby in his bed, but this was so new to the both of them and they needed time to really get to know one another. They needed to know they could actually partner up as dominant and submissive or if they were better suited to being lovers with a little kinky play to keep things spicy. He didn't know and neither did Bobby. The only thing he was sure of, was lover or submissive, Bobby was working his way under Thor's skin and he liked it.

That Bobby was already planning for them to spend the holidays together, that he was serious enough to want to take Thor home to meet the family spoke volumes about his seriousness. He wanted Thor. He'd made the efforts and he'd made gestures. He'd made the hard conversations happen with those he was closest to. Was Thor as serious? Did Bobby think he was?

Thor took a deep breath, let it out, took another and held it for a few seconds before exhaling. He'd never given a relationship with a man a chance. He'd had lovers, some for weeks or months, some just one night. He'd never had a male submissive. His relationships with women were much like Bobby's were. Surface. There'd been a few he'd wanted sexually, wanted to try for more with, but not with the exclusion of a male partner as well. Could he do this with a man? Much as he'd pushed the questions onto Bobby last weekend, Thor knew he needed to answer them as well. Bobby wasn't the only one who needed to put everything on the line to make it work. Thor had to do the same thing.

He couldn't keep Bobby waiting though. Not anymore.

Thor reached for the doorknob and turned it. The bedside lamp had been turned on and the room had a soft, calming feel. It's what he'd wanted when he chose the blue-gray for the walls. Midnight blue curtains hung over the two windows flanking the bed. All the furniture was a walnut finish adding warmth to the space. He hadn't decorated it with the intent to house a submissive. It had just been set up as a guest room. He'd wanted a finished room, not a space for storage.

"How do you like it?"

Some of the mystery was gone from their first private encounter of a few weeks ago, but Thor had decided pretty early on that night he wanted to pursue the chemistry, the feelings behind wanting more than just a casual fling. It flowed through Thor whenever he thought of Bobby, of their privacy, of things they could explore and experience together. Here, now, however, the mood was different, tentative. He wanted Bobby to feel comfortable, both here in Thor's house and out in public with him.

"It's nice."

Bobby was naked from the waist up. Thor wasn't sure about beneath the sheet, but something told him Bobby would be naked there as well. Thor walked closer and sat on the edge of the bed, his hip resting against Bobby's. Bobby started to scoot over, but Thor laid a hand around Bobby's other hip in an effort to stay his action. "Don't. I like being able to touch you."

"Then why am I in this room and not in yours with you?"

Thor had know the question would to come. He hadn't thought it would be accompanied by a twinge of hurt in the other man's voice, though. "Because I want to do this right."

"What's right?"

Thor was wondering that himself, but Bobby sleeping in his own room when staying overnight with Thor seemed to be the right thing for the time being. "Right is making sure there's no rushing, making sure we're both on the same page at all times, making sure when things aren't going well that we have separate corners to go to. I'd rather have somewhere in my home for you to escape to instead of you leaving altogether and driving away."

Bobby was silent for a few moments and Thor could see by the way his forehead was crinkled and his brows drawn down that he was thinking, mulling it over. Good. He didn't want Bobby jumping in, or jumping out rashly.