by JC Holly
As Delilah had suggested, he decided to use the early rise to his benefit, and began work on a couple of articles while the TV played a breakfast show in the background. Spike kept him company by alternately lying on the couch and trying to stand on the keyboard. Both were quite welcome, though, as it only made Brandon grin more.
By the time twelve rolled around, both articles had been sent off to his very appreciative editor, and he’d made a start on a third that wasn’t due for a month. As he realized the time, he saved his work and turned his attention back to his phone as he pulled Luke’s number from his back pocket.
“Here we go, then,” he muttered.
Suddenly his optimism took a little dive. His good mood had been built upon the thought that he had the number of a cute guy who was interested in him. But what if Luke had changed his mind? What if the call ended in rejection? Bye-bye good mood, hello ice cream in the freezer.
He took a breath and steeled himself, then dialed. Luke picked up on the first ring, his deep voice sending chills through Brandon. The man sounded a little pissed off.
“Hey Luke, it’s Brandon, from yesterday.”
“Oh, hi,” Luke said, his voice perking immediately. “I was thinking about you this morning in the shower. Uh, I mean I was thinking about seeing you yesterday,” he added quickly.
Brandon chuckled, though he felt his cheeks redden. “Both sound good to me.”
Luke laughed, too. “Well, let’s at least pretend to date first.”
“Works for me. Got anywhere in mind?”
“I do, actually. You like pasta?”
“Definitely,” Brandon said. “Love it.”
“I’m glad to hear it. There’s a place down in the south end of town. Great food, and I know the owner so we can get in tonight if you’re interested.”
“Just tell me where and when.”
Luke told him the address and time, and Brandon made a note on his laptop, then called Delilah back. She sounded considerably more awake this time.
“That’s great!” she said, after hearing the news. “I expect thank you gifts afterwards.”
“Assuming it all goes well, I’ll think about it.”
“Oh, ye of little faith. My meddling has a one hundred percent success rate.”
Brandon raised an eyebrow at the telephone. “In that case you should set up a website. You’d make a killing.”
“Eh. I’d have even less time to find my own man, then. Unfortunately the success rate is a little lower in those cases.”
“If I find anyone, I’ll send ’em your way.” He glanced at the time on his laptop. “Now, though, I need to eat, then stress for a few hours before I have to get ready.”
“Don’t forget to take protection.”
“Dee!” Brandon felt the color rush back to his face. “It’s a first date.”
“Honey, not only do I know your history, I know his. Take protection, and make sure it’s large. I hear he’s a big boy.”
“Oh, he is,” he muttered, then bit his lip.
“What? Have you two already—”
“Big guy with big hands and big feet,” Brandon said, quickly. “Doesn’t take a scientist.”
“That’s old wives’ tales,” she replied. “Though in this case you’re right. Hope you like ’em big.”
“I’m not having this talk with you, Dee.”
“Aww, go on! I need vicarious smut, since lord knows I’m not seeing any of my own.”
“I’m hanging up now,” he said, grinning. “Call you after.”
As soon as he was off the phone, he headed for the kitchen for something to eat. Spike joined him, and sat on the countertop as Brandon whipped up some tuna mayo. The cat purred louder and louder until Brandon relented and dumped a little plain tuna on a separate plate and slid it over.
“You only like me for my can opener,” he said as he scratched the cat’s back.
Once the incredibly complex culinary recipe was complete, he sat at the table and tried not to dance a jig. It was hard going, but he managed it, save for some foot tapping.
He was dating Luke tonight. Luke. The cute guy from the bar who, as well as being prodigiously hung, also turned out to be a great guy, from everything he’d seen and Delilah had told him. According to Delilah, he had a similar history to Brandon, too, in regards to dating, and she’d know. Any information that was remotely sexual had a way of making it into Delilah’s knowledge. She had a knack for prying dirt from even the tightest lips.
It was true what she’d said about himself, too. His first dates often ended up in the bedroom, rather than with a kiss in a doorway. He’d come up with an excuse for it, but frankly he just really liked sex. And it sounded like Luke did, too.
Of course, there was the issue of the bar, and he resolved to get that over and done with almost the second they sat down to eat. He didn’t want any secrets getting in the way of a good night.
* * * *
On hearing that Luke had a date that night, Chris and Carl were more than happy to keep an eye on the garage and let him leave early. He arrived back at his place with a good few hours before he had to be at the restaurant, so he decided to take a bath instead of his usual shower.
While many shifters didn’t feel heat and cold as acutely as regular people, hot water was still soothing, and that’s what he needed to work out some of the tension from the day. As he leant over the tub and switched on the hot tap, he considered calling Delilah first, to ask more about Brandon. In the end he decided to do it the old fashioned way and just ask the guy later.
He pulled off his work clothes and tossed them into the hamper, then climbed into the bath as it filled. Strong scents irritated his heightened sense of smell, so he opted for nothing other than water.
His hunt for Johnny last night had been a bust, and by the morning he’d had no calls from the guy, or from the man who had apparently also dumped him. To add insult to injury, once he’d got into work he’d had to deal with an irate customer who refused to leave his office until his car was ready, and no amount of glaring would move him. It had taken all of Luke’s resolve to not put the guy through a wall, and instead he’d offered him a coffee, then told the boys to hurry up. The last thing his garage needed was more bad press. Johnny’s stunt had been enough for a couple of months. No doubt they’d see a downturn in business as a result.
Luke growled softly and tried to relax again. Dragging all his pent up anger and negativity to a date would be an easy way to make sure Brandon would never want a second date.
Once again as he thought of Brandon, something in the back of his mind told him the guy was familiar. He couldn’t place it, but the feeling stayed, refusing to go away. Since he had nothing else to do for the time being, he tried to figure it out.
He’d never been in the garage before, or he’d have mentioned it, and Delilah would have reminded them if they’d met at one of her parties. Brandon was a writer, not a mechanic, so he definitely hadn’t met him at an auto parts trade show.
He wasn’t a shifter either. Shifters could always spot each other through an innate sense, even if they only saw each other in a crowd.
That, of course, brought up another issue. If the relationship went anywhere, they would eventually have to have “the talk.” Luke splashed water on his face, then scrubbed at his short hair. Always a fun conversation, regardless of how it turned out.
That was something that could wait, though, certainly.
An unintended, but welcome, consequence of thinking about Brandon was that part of his body was no longer submerged in water. His cock stood tall above the hot water, hard and ready for what may come later, depending on how things went.
He told himself he wouldn’t try for sex, but if it happened organically, he wouldn’t turn it down. After all, he and Brandon were both consenting adults. If he hadn’t just broken up with someone, he wouldn’t think twice about it, so he shouldn’t now.
“Besides,” he muttered, as he gripped his cock an
d began to stroke. “How am I supposed to know if he’s my kind of guy if I don’t?”
* * * *
The address Luke had given Brandon led him to a small trendy restaurant that had a reputation for being impossible to get into. The date hadn’t started yet and he was already impressed.
Inside, the head waiter stood by a small podium, a book lying open on top of it. He looked up as Brandon neared and smiled.
“Your name, sir?”
“Brandon Main.” He suddenly realized that he didn’t know Luke’s surname. “Uh, I’m meeting with Luke. From the garage?”
The man raised an eyebrow. “His last name?”
Brandon blushed. He hadn’t a damn clue. He put his hand in his pocket to grab his phone, and was about to call Delilah when a deep voice came from behind him.
“Clarke. Luke Clarke. We have a reservation for two, for seven thirty.”
Brandon turned to find Luke a foot behind him, a smile on his lips.
“Probably should have told you that,” Luke said as they were led to their table. “Sorry.”
“No big deal,” Brandon replied. “You look great.”
He really did, too. Luke wore a dark blue shirt, open at the neck, matched with a pair of black pants and a belt. Instead of the heavy boots the guy had worn at work, he wore a pair of black dress shoes with fine laces. He smelled vaguely of aftershave, but it was only the lightest of hints. Brandon hadn’t expected him to clean up so well.
“Thanks,” Luke said, as they sat. “You look pretty damn good yourself.”
Brandon smiled and sipped at a glass of water that the waiter placed in front of him. “So, come here much?”
Luke shook his head. “I’m not that fancy a person, most of the time.”
“Then why this time?”
He smiled. “It just felt right.”
They spent a little time staring at the menus before ordering. It all sounded incredible, and Luke had already ordered while Brandon was still making up his mind. In the end he gave up and went with the classic, “I’ll have the same.”
The waiter nodded once, then disappeared, only to return a minute later with the wine.
“So,” Brandon said, when they were alone once more. “I have something to say before we go any further.”
Luke frowned. “Oh?”
Brandon took a breath to try and settle the butterflies in his stomach. It didn’t work. His glass clinked as he put it down too close to the water pitcher.
“We’ve met before.”
Luke nodded. “I thought so. Your voice is familiar, but I can’t place your face. I’m usually good at that, too.”
“That’s because you never saw my face.” Suddenly the room felt warmer. “Manzone.” He leant in and lowered his voice. “The bathroom.”
Chapter Seven
Luke began to laugh.
No wonder he couldn’t recognize the man! Back in the club, he hadn’t known who had followed him into the bathroom, and by the time he’d left his stall Brandon had already gone. All he’d had to go on was the few words the man had said during the act.
His laugh increased in volume, and it took him a while to calm again. What were the chances that Delilah had both known the guy and set Luke up with him? It explained the moment of shock in the garage, when Brandon had first seen him, too.
He glanced at Brandon, who was clearly confused.
“I’m sorry,” Luke said, wiping a tear from his eye. “It’s just so bizarre.”
“No, I understand,” Brandon said, his smile returning. “And for the record, I didn’t know. Delilah didn’t show me a picture of you or anything. When I came to the garage I almost had a heart attack.”
Brandon shook his head. “Small world, huh?”
“Apparently so.”
All of a sudden Luke remembered that Brandon had given him his number that night.
“About the card,” he started.
Brandon held up a hand. “No, I totally understand not calling. I mean, I could have been anybody. You didn’t know it was my first, and last, time doing that.”
“I’d like to say the same.” Luke shrugged. “First time in years, though.”
They sat in silence for a minute, apparently both unable to continue the conversation due, in Luke’s case at least, to embarrassment. In the end he decided to tackle it head-on.
“So technically we fooled around before our first date. Think that’s a first for me.”
Brandon colored and took a nervous sip of wine. “I guess so.”
Luke leant forward. “If it helps, you were pretty damn good.”
Brandon glanced around the room, then back to Luke. “Yeah?”
“I swear, if I hadn’t lost that card of yours, I would have eventually given in and called.”
He smiled. “You lost it? That implies you kept it.”
“Yup. Put it in my drawer, telling myself ‘just in case.’”
“Funny how things turn out.”
Luke grinned and took a healthy swig of his wine. Thanks to his shifter blood it wouldn’t have much of an effect, so he could indulge a little.
“All right, let’s get this date back on track,” he said. “Tell me about yourself.”
“Well, I was born in this city, and lived here for most of my life, and like I said in the garage, I write articles freelance for a living. It doesn’t exactly bring the money flooding in, but it pays the bills and lets me work from home.”
“I can see the attraction there,” Luke said. “Hell, I could spend the day naked.”
Brandon raised an eyebrow. “Given what I’ve already seen, I can imagine that’s quite the sight.”
Luke smirked. It appeared that Brandon’s attempts to calm his nerves with wine had worked. “Play your cards right, and you’ll be seeing for yourself.”
“Yeah? Think this bathroom has holes in the stalls?”
Luke snorted a laugh. “I’d imagine the washroom attendant wouldn’t take kindly to that.”
“True. So, lived here long?”
The conversation swerved back onto safer topics for a while, as Luke told Brandon about himself, avoiding the parts that would either give him away as being older or a shifter. After that they discussed Delilah, then came back to the topic of Brandon’s writing. The more Luke talked with the man, the more he liked him. He was smart, kind, and had a great sense of humor, once the nerves had gone.
The first course appeared shortly after, and they ate while discussing Luke’s work. Brandon seemed genuinely interested, and admitted that he had a love for old cars. They entirely avoided the topic of Johnny, much to Luke’s relief. He didn’t want anything negative to disrupt the evening.
The main course arrived and was devoured, and it seemed like only minutes before the desserts were served, followed by coffees. Luke glanced down at his watch and was surprised to find that they had been talking almost nonstop for two hours.
“Crazy, isn’t it,” Brandon said, nodding at Luke’s watch. “Feels like we only arrived a little while ago.”
“I think it’s safe to say we get on well, don’t you?”
He met Luke’s eyes and held the gaze for a moment. “Oh, I think so.”
The look created a stir in Luke’s crotch, and he shifted position. It was bad enough that the guy was gorgeous, but knowing what he could do with his mouth made it almost impossible not to ask the guy back to his place. Judging by the way Brandon looked at him, he was having similar thoughts.
“So,” Luke said, his hands on his coffee cup to distract them.
“So,” Brandon said.
He licked his lips and Luke remembered the sensation of sliding his cock into the man’s warm mouth. He took in a sharp breath. No. It’s too soon. He let go of the cup and tapped a finger on the table distractedly. On the other hand, I’m a grown man, and he’s fucking hot.
In the end Brandon made the decision for him. Luke gasped as the man leant forward and grabbed Luke’s crotch under the table.
> “How about we go somewhere and you see just how far you can fit this thing up my ass?”
* * * *
As they quickly headed toward Luke’s car, Brandon tried to blame his impulsiveness on the wine. It didn’t stick, given that he’d taken his last drink as soon as his nerves had faded, over an hour ago. No, it was nothing more than regular lust, he told himself as they climbed into the black car and pulled into traffic.
As soon as he’d suggested it, Luke’s expression had shifted to one of pure animal need, and that had only turned Brandon on further. The idea of the man throwing him down and taking what he needed had Brandon harder than he’d ever been. His cock literally ached inside his pants, and the urge to pull it out in the car was almost too much to bear.
They drove in silence at first, nothing more than heavy breathing for the first mile, before Luke glanced at him.
“What do you like?” Luke looked back at the road. “In the bedroom. Tell me what turns you on.”
Brandon shifted in his seat, turning to better see Luke. “I like a strong man who’s in charge.”
“Yeah?” The bulge in his pants was noticeable.
“Mm hmm,” Brandon continued. “I like a man who knows what he wants, and takes it.”
“Takes it,” Luke muttered, his eyes still on the road.
“I like to be thrown onto the bed and have my pants ripped away. I like to be held down while a big cock stretches my ass wide and makes me cry out in ecstasy.” Brandon reached over and ran a finger down the bulge in Luke’s pants. “And when he’s done I like him to flip me over and come in my face. To show me he’s completely in control.”
Luke nodded, his breathing ragged already. “I can do that.”
They pulled up to a house soon after, and Luke was out of the car and pulling open the passenger door before Brandon realized they had stopped. He climbed out of the car and followed Luke to the front door of the well-kept home, then stepped in behind him.
Luke was on him the moment the door closed again, his lips hard against Brandon’s as he tore at any clothing in the way of his questing hands. Brandon opened his mouth and let Luke’s tongue slip in, returning the kiss with equal force and lust.
