The Gravedigger's Brawl (16 page)

Ash blinked at him, his cheeks growing warmer. “Oh.” He and Wyatt looked at each other for a long moment, and Ash finally just laughed. “I'm sorry. I just . . . It's been a long week.”

Wyatt offered a tentative smile. “It's okay. Honestly, if you speak to me at all at this point, I consider it a victory.”

Ash frowned. “That's not what I wanted when I first met you.”

“Me either. It's what I deserve, though.”

Ash wasn't certain how to respond to the self-effacing honesty, so he looked away and released a bit of the leash so the dog could reach the grass.

He cleared his throat. “So how's the exhibition going?” he asked.

“It's going great,” Wyatt answered with what sounded like relief. “Noah and I did the heavy research and then put a bunch of undergrad interns on it. They're much more creative with the spooky stuff than we are.”

“That's good.” Ash smiled. “Spooky stuff, huh?”

Wyatt gave a long-suffering sigh. “Tasteful went out the window when the Board took over. I tried.”

“Well, I'm sure it'll bring in some new interest and offend some people who need to be offended. I guess I should come by and see it.”

“You should,” Wyatt said, his voice low and gruff, sending a thrill of pleasure down Ash's spine. “It was really your idea, you know.”

“That's because I'm a genius.”

Wyatt laughed, looking back over his shoulder at his car. Ash recognized him as a man with something else on his mind. It hurt a little, knowing his well-being wasn't the main reason Wyatt had sought him out.

They didn't fit in the same sphere; they'd never be able to parse the differences between the worlds of the museum and Gravedigger's. Ash sighed. “Wyatt?”

Wyatt turned back and blinked as if he were surprised Ash was still there.

Ash smiled. The absent-minded professor part of Wyatt was charming. “Was there something else besides witnessing my mental breakdown that you wanted?”

“Oh! Yeah, I . . . I was wondering if you'd . . .” He sighed and shook his head, looking at Ash in defeat. “Actually, no. I was going to ask you to have a look at some of the other documents I have about Gravedigger's, but that's just because I promised Noah that I wouldn't get near you unless it was about the exhibition and I couldn't think of another reason to come that wouldn't get my ass kicked.”

Ash stared at him, both dumbstruck and elated by the honesty. “Really?”

“I'm sorry.” Wyatt's cheeks colored and he looked out over the pond. “I just . . . I really wanted to see you.”

“Have you eaten?” Ash asked. The dog strained on the leash and Ash tugged back to calm him.

Wyatt smiled tentatively. “What did you have in mind?”

Ash grinned and shrugged. He nodded across the street in the direction of his building. Home was about eight blocks away, and there were several restaurants and cafés between the park and there. “I could probably scrounge up something at home,” he said, not mentioning any of those convenient eating establishments. “Have to get Bullseye here back to Katie before she thinks I ran off with him.”

“You sure?” Wyatt asked with a bigger smile.

“Just don't sneak out while I'm in the bathroom or something, and we're good.”

Wyatt had the good grace to look ashamed, but he nodded.

“Better go get your car,” Ash added. “The only people that park there for extended periods of time are hookers, dealers, or undercover cops.”

Wyatt raised an eyebrow as he extracted his keys from his pocket. “Extended periods of time?”

Ash just gave him a suggestive smirk and headed for Wyatt's car.

Wyatt had been determined to keep his word. Right up until he woke that morning already thinking about Ash and wondering how he was. He'd discussed it with himself while driving to work, and he knew in his heart that he could make it up to Ash and then some.

There was no reason to panic again. He'd seen what sort of person Ash was and he'd overcome the intimidating strangeness of Ash's lifestyle easier than he'd thought he could. The fact that Ash changed his tongue ring to match his outfit and exuded an odd Victorian charm and held almost rock star status among the denizens of the night didn't mean that Ash was scary. All that, in fact, just made him more intriguing. And on top of all that, Ash was interested in
him
.

Wyatt thought they at least deserved to give each other another chance.

The decision to be stand-up about it hadn't kept him from sneaking away from Noah, though. He'd begged off early, saying he had a dentist appointment. He knew Noah had an unnatural aversion to dentists and wouldn't ask any questions about the trip before or after.

Deciding to do things right also didn't keep him from feeling guilty as he followed Ash up the stairs to his door. It had the air of an illicit affair, right up to when Ash handed him the key and nodded at the door.

“I'll take him home,” Ash said as he gestured to the dog. “Be right there.” He turned and went to the door opposite his and knocked. The dog was sitting patiently, its tail wagging. Wyatt stood watching Ash as he tilted his ear to the door, as if listening for a call, and then reached out and opened it.

Wyatt looked down at the keys in his hand and waited.

Soon Ash emerged from the other door and raised an eyebrow at Wyatt as he strolled across the landing toward him. Wyatt handed the keys back to him, and Ash took Wyatt's entire hand in his. He looked from their joined hands to Wyatt's eyes with a crooked smile. Wyatt stared at him, mesmerized.

“Would it be inappropriate to kiss you right now?” Ash asked.

Wyatt licked his lips and inhaled deeply. “Depends, I guess.”

“On?”

“What color is it today?”

Ash's crooked smile grew and he opened his mouth to show Wyatt his tongue. The lime and black Koosh ball from the previous day was still in, and Wyatt raised one eyebrow dubiously. “No Saturday special?” he asked, trying to sound disapproving but failing spectacularly.

Ash took a step and laid his hand against the door behind Wyatt. Wyatt's back hit the door as Ash pressed against him. He reached for Wyatt's wrist and brought it up, pinning Wyatt. The kiss was almost chaste, if the presence of a French tickler could be classified as that. Ash slid Wyatt's hands up the door until he held them over their heads as they kissed, Ash brushing Wyatt's lips with the tip of his tongue but pressing their bodies together hard.

The odd dichotomy of the actions sent an instant pang of lust through Wyatt's body. When Ash eased away, Wyatt exhaled shakily and opened his eyes.

“I'll see what sort of special I can come up with,” Ash murmured before kissing him again and extracting the keys from his fist. He continued to kiss Wyatt as he unlocked the door, getting more heated as the door clicked open.

“I didn't come here for this,” Wyatt said breathlessly.

“No?” Ash pushed Wyatt through the door and nudged it shut with his foot. “You came for lunch?”

Wyatt stared at him, unable to answer honestly for fear of saying the wrong thing.

“We can do lunch, Wyatt,” Ash said with a smile. He reached out and hooked a finger through the belt loop of Wyatt's khaki pants and pulled him near. Their lips almost touched as Ash brought his head closer to Wyatt's, and then he moved away again and smirked as he backed up. Wyatt realized that the man was teasing him. Cruelly. Skillfully.

Wyatt met his eyes, frozen as he tried to decide how to react. Then he offered a rueful laugh. “I may need a minute if we're going to eat food.”

Ash laughed, the sound deep and rich and lovely. Wyatt cleared his throat.

“I don't make promises I don't plan to follow through on,” Ash said, voice low. “But you said you were hungry.”

“I forgot.”

Ash bit his lower lip and reached out to pull Wyatt near. Wyatt gripped his arms tightly and held him as they kissed. He got another tantalizing taste of that French tickler and groaned into Ash's mouth.

Ash's hands were sliding into his pockets as Wyatt guided him toward the bedroom. They missed the doorway and Ash slammed against the wall beside the doorjamb. Wyatt pulled back with a gasp and Ash moaned plaintively. The sound went straight to Wyatt's groin, and Ash tugged at him, twisting with him as they sidestepped into the bedroom and toppled onto the bed together.

Wyatt held Ash by his upper arms, and Ash arched his back and writhed under him, managing to wrap one leg over Wyatt's hip.

“What was this about vibrating tongue rings?” Wyatt asked.

“Vibrating tongue ring is a third-date device,” Ash said, giving Wyatt a breathy laugh as he tried unsuccessfully to move. “You've really got a kink about restraining, huh.”

Wyatt raised an eyebrow and loosened his grip.

“Don't hold back on me,” Ash said. He ran his teeth over his lower lip and grinned. “Might go faster with you holding me down, but I'm willing to risk my pride for it.”

Wyatt closed his eyes, letting new waves of lust pass through him as Ash's words sank in.

“Let me up first,” Ash whispered.

Wyatt rolled onto his back as Ash got up and hit a button on the iPod dock on the windowsill. Music began playing, just loud enough to fill the bedroom with dark, melancholy strains.

Ash tossed a condom and a small tube of KY on the bed, then disappeared into the bathroom.

It wasn't long before he appeared in the doorway again, and he slid his fingers into his mouth and twisted them around his tongue. Wyatt knew he was doing something to that ring, but he couldn't imagine what.

When he was done, Ash slid out of his shirt and tossed it to the ground. The music playing seemed to reach a crescendo as Ash undressed.

Wyatt had trouble catching his breath. “You are fascinating,” he said as he sat up on the bed.

Ash grinned and toed off his shoes, then pushed his track pants to the floor, stepping out of them and toward the bed. “You're clothed.” He undid the fly of Wyatt's khakis and pulled them off him. Wyatt unbuttoned his shirt, afraid to take his eyes off Ash.

Finally, Ash had him disrobed and pushed him back to the bed, hovering over him.

Wyatt watched in fascination as Ash bent and licked the head of his cock. He groaned, and his hips jerked when a vibrating piece of metal hit his skin. His toes curled and his fingers twisted in the bedcovers. The vibrations enhanced Ash's natural ability, and Wyatt fought against the curl of pleasure in his groin as Ash went down on him, lost in the warm slide of his cock into Ash's mouth.

He reached down and gripped Ash's hair, not wanting this to be over before it had begun. “I thought that was a third-date thing.”

Ash ran his tongue ring along the underside of Wyatt's cock one last time before he glanced up and smirked. “Turns out I'm sort of easy.”

Wyatt laughed and reached for him. He sat up as he pulled, desperately needing to taste that vibration. He groaned into Ash's mouth and gripped his hips, pulling him into his lap. Ash straddled him, hands resting on either side of Wyatt's face as he kissed him. He was warm and solid against Wyatt's body, all hard muscle and soft skin.

Wyatt could think of nothing but being inside him. Taking him for his own. Fucking him until he screamed. It was a more violent notion than his usual lustful thoughts, but it didn't disturb him. The way Ash moved his hips against Wyatt's groin and bit at his lip told Wyatt he was on the right track. He remembered the way Ash had cried out in pleasure when he'd yanked at his hair and left deep bruises on his shoulder. He wanted the same thing.

Ash's hand left Wyatt's face and reached behind him, grabbing for the condom he'd thrown on the bed. He broke their kiss long enough to tear the wrapper open with his teeth, and then the vibration returned to Wyatt's lips and tongue and Ash's hand was between them, sliding the condom on Wyatt's cock.

Wyatt dragged his fingers up Ash's back as Ash covered him with lube. The hand Ash placed on Wyatt's shoulder to steady himself was slick and warm. Wyatt could only stare into Ash's dark eyes as he raised and then lowered himself. Ash grinned evilly, shimmying his hips and rubbing against Wyatt's cock.

Wyatt dug his hand into Ash's shoulder and pulled him down. Ash fought against the pressure but still lowered himself slowly. Wyatt's cock pressed against him, and with a roll of his hips he was spreading Ash apart. Their eyes never left each other. Ash groaned wantonly and Wyatt slid further and further into him, staring almost desperately into the black depths of his eyes. They both gasped, Ash crying out and clutching hard at Wyatt's arms. He bent to kiss him, and as it grew more heated he began to rock back and forth, working Wyatt into him as Wyatt's fingers dug into his skin. He broke the kiss with a shout and threw his head back. Wyatt reached for him, his fingers on Ash's face. He could see that chip in Ash's canine as Ash bit his lip and whimpered. Ash put both hands on Wyatt's shoulders and rode him faster, his lithe body moving sinuously against Wyatt's.