What used to be Jason’s apartment, Logan reminded himself, feeling a lump form in his throat again. Damn, going back in there is going to be hard.
Seti seemed to read Logan’s thoughts, because he slipped his hand into Logan’s, threading their fingers together reassuringly. Logan smiled up at him, grateful that he understood.
Chris and Leo were lost without their third wheel. They sat together on the coach, staring at the spot where Jason had died, their eyes red-rimmed. They looked almost surprised to see Logan and Seti when they walked in the door.
“Logan! Oh, thank God!” Chris cried, as they both jumped to their feet and threw themselves at Logan. “We thought you were dead, too!”
For the first time since Logan had known him, Leo was utterly silent. He pressed his face against Logan’s neck, shaking and holding on for dear life.
“It’s okay,” Logan said, although at the moment it felt like anything but okay. “Everything will be all right. Look, you probably won’t believe me, but I have it on excellent authority that Jason is happy. He’s…well, he’s a lot better off than any of us.”
“Authority? Whose authority? He’s dead, remember?” Chris snapped. Logan felt him tense, but just as quickly he slumped, as if someone had let the air out of him. “Oh, never mind. I’m sorry. I’m just…it’s just so fucking hard, you know?”
“Yeah, I know, bud. I know,” Logan said, although his heart ached anew.
Chris cleared his throat, backing away and swiping at his eyes with his sleeve. “What happened with Wilder? You did go to his office, right? Oh, my God, Logan…you’re black and blue all over!” Chris cried, reaching for Logan’s arm. He gingerly touched the red and blue bruises on Logan’s forearm and throat that were starting to deepen into dark purple.
“Yeah, I did. I’m okay, though. It’s a long story, and I’m really tired. Suffice it to say that Wilder won’t be bothering us anymore,” Logan said. He gave Leo another squeeze, before letting go and stepping back. His hand automatically searched behind him for Seti’s. Finding it, he linked their fingers again.
It was odd how just the touch of Seti’s hand calmed Logan. Reassured him. Logan wasn’t sure what that meant, but he knew enough to know that he was going to find out.
“The police took the bodies…Jason’s, too,” Chris said. “I gave them the letter Perry had written you, Logan.”
“Good. Then they know it was Wilder who caused all of this, although they’re going to think Perry was crazy with all the talk about mummies and immortality. What about the arrangements for Jason? You know the…the funeral?” The word stuck in Logan’s throat, coming out as a pained croak.
“Jason’s parents are taking care of it. They said someone will call us to let us know,” Chris said. He looked fragile, as if a tap on the shoulder would shatter him into a million pieces.
“Are you two going to be okay? We can stay awhile if you need us to…” Logan said, looking up at Seti and praying that he didn’t argue. He didn’t. He smiled at Logan and nodded, as if to say that he understood. He also hadn’t made the slightest fuss when Chris and Leo had thrown themselves at Logan, kissing his cheeks and hugging him.
Damn. Maybe Logan didn’t need to figure out what was going on between himself and Seti after all.
Maybe he already knew.
“Yeah,” Leo finally spoke, looking down at his beat-up sneakers, as if not looking anyone in the eye would hide the fact that he’d been crying. “We’re going to spend a couple of days at Wendy’s. She called, made the offer. You know, figure out what we’re going to do.”
“Okay. We’ll be at my place. I have my cell. Call me if you need anything, okay?” Logan said. “You two are welcome to stay there, too. Don’t even hesitate, okay?” He turned to lead Seti out the door, but froze as his eyes fell on the spot nearby where Jason had fallen.
Fuck. This was hard. It didn’t matter that Osiris had told him that Jason was happy and at peace. Logan knew without a doubt that every time he walked into that apartment – if Chris and Leo decided to keep it – he’d see Jason crumpled on the floor, his life ebbing out into a pool of crimson.
A strong arm draped over his shoulder, urging him out the door. He let himself be led outside, grateful again for Seti’s strength.
Chapter Twenty Two
One year later…
“Oh! Oh, fuck yes!”
Seti had Logan bent over the kitchen table, plates and glasses half filled with juice rattling as he pounded himself into Logan’s body. Again and again he thrust deeply, hitting what Logan called the “sweet spot” each and every time. Logan’s husky voice swore a blue streak, his vocal encouragement nearly enough to send Seti over the edge.
Logan’s body had never lost its appeal for Seti, even though they’d made love countless times over the last year. Not once in that time did Seti desire someone else. He doubted that he ever would. Every time with Logan was like the first time for him; he was continually finding new things about Logan, discovering new ways to please the man.
And luckily for Seti, Logan seemed to feel the same way. He was always ready for Seti, no matter what time of the day or night Seti decided to ravish him. This morning was a good example. The window in the kitchen had been cracked open, letting in a draft of chilly, fall air. They’d been in the middle of breakfast, enjoying the fluffy eggs and crisp bacon that Logan had made for them, along with large glasses of cold, fresh orange juice, when Seti had noticed that Logan’s nipples had peaked in the cool air.
That was all it had taken. He’d reached out over the breakfast table, unable – and unwilling – to stop himself from touching Logan. His finger had circled Logan’s nipple, rubbing and lightly tweaking the hardened bud. The next thing Seti knew, Logan’s pajama bottoms had been pushed down around his ankles and Seti was buried up to the hilt inside of him.
Not that it was always Seti who initiated things. No, Logan did an equally fine job of that, and usually picked the most inconvenient times for it, too. He’d once dragged Seti behind a display of hubcaps in a dark corner of the automotive aisle at Wal-Mart, dropping to his knees and giving Seti a blowjob that was the stuff of legends.
Seti had gotten even with Logan the following week in the Anthropological Studies aisle at the New York City Public Library. Seti remembered Logan having to bite down on the spine of a copy of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species to keep from screaming out loud when he’d come.
“Seti! Oh, God, Seti!”
“Not a god. Close, but not quite,” Seti chuckled, angling himself and pushing in deep. Logan’s hand was moving underneath his belly, the wet sounds of his hand on his cock sounding like the sweetest music Seti had ever heard. When he came, his entire body shuddered hard, contracting around Seti like a molten vise.
Seti threw his head back, howling his pleasure to the ceiling as he came, stars dancing in his peripheral vision. It was so good with Logan! No, it was better than good.
It was life, and Seti would never have enough of tasting it.
Breathing hard and still trembling from the strength of his orgasm, Seti turned Logan around and drew the man in close, kissing Logan soundly. “You are my heart,” he whispered. “Have I told you that yet?”
“Only about a million times. Not that I ever get tired of hearing it,” Logan laughed. He laid his head on Seti’s shoulder. “I love you, you know.”
“I know,” Seti said, feeling the lump form in his throat that always formed when Logan said those three powerful words to him. “But I never get tired of hearing it either.”
He helped Logan clean up the mess they’d made, then helped him scrape the cold remnants of their breakfast plates into the trash.
For a five-thousand-year-old former Egyptian king, Seti thought he’d adapted well to twenty-first century living. He’d learned what a refrigerator, a stove, and a dishwasher were, and how to use them. Logan had taught him how to operate the dvd player (although he still couldn’t set the clock on it – which Logan assured
him was not at all unusual), the alarm clock, the toaster, and a myriad other mystical, magical household appliances.
He’d learned the monetary system, and how to read and write in English. Logan had taught him how to hail a cab, and how to figure out which bus and subway train would take him where he needed to go. Although he’d grown adept at using public transportation, Seti still used the Seti Wind Express, as Logan referred to his power over the elements, whenever he had the opportunity.
Hey, Seti thought, mentally shrugging his shoulders, you could only teach so many new tricks to an old dog.
The year had flown by swiftly. Logan had accepted Perry’s old job as Curator of Relics, recently rechristened Antiquities and Curiosities at Logan’s request. He was the youngest Curator in the Museum’s history, and Seti was very proud of him.
Logan had published several papers over that time period, too, astounding theories – some quite controversial – about life in Ancient Egypt, and in particular, about a clan of nomads who called themselves the Children of Set. Try as they might, Logan’s older colleagues couldn’t discredit or dispute his findings.
Of course they couldn’t. Logan had gotten his facts directly from the horse’s mouth. His paper about the life and death of one King Seti had garnered him national prestige.
The first few weeks had been difficult for them. Logan had sunk into a black depression over Jason’s death. They’d attended the funeral, which only seemed to drive home the point that his friend was not coming back.
It was then, sitting on the back steps of the funeral home as Logan had wept in his arms, that Seti had told Logan the full story of his Ashai. He had told Logan that he understood how it felt to lose someone you loved.
“You would have liked him, Logan. He was much like you – younger than I, smart. There wasn’t an evil bone in his body,” Seti had said, holding Logan tightly, stroking his hair. “I once thought that you were he returned to me. Now I know you are not him. You are unique.”
“You loved him a lot, didn’t you?”
“Yes. He was my heart. But I am a very lucky man, Logan. Geb has seen fit to give me another to replace the one I lost when Ashai died. He gave me you. You are also my heart. And you I will keep close to me all the rest of my days.”
He’d kissed Logan then, his lips drying each of Logan’s tears. Seti held Logan until he’d stopped trembling, rocking him back and forth.
Seti smiled to himself, remembering that at Jason’s funeral there had been an enormous, beautiful bowl, carved with hieroglyphics and filled with blue and white Egyptian water lilies. The accompanying card had simply read, “O.”
They’d both known who’d sent the flowers. Osiris.
Logan seemed to get a little better every day after that. It had been shortly after Jason’s funeral that he’d first told Seti that he loved him.
Those three words never sounded sweeter than they had on Logan’s lips.
“Hey,” Logan said, snapping Seti’s ass with the kitchen towel, “Penny for your thoughts.”
“I was thinking of Osiris. And I worry that Setekh will seek revenge on us for shaming him as we did.”
“We didn’t shame him! He fucking shamed himself, Seti,” Logan said, frowning. “He pulled every ounce of shit down on his own head.”
“I know this. You know this. Osiris knows this. But somehow I doubt that Setekh knows this,” Seti said, offering Logan a half smile. “It matters not. If he comes, we will face him together, you and I.”
“Yeah,” Logan said, reaching out for him. “You and I. I like the sound of that.”
Seti smiled, enfolding Logan in his arms.
Outside the wind blew, kissing the window with frosty lips, as its master and his love raised the temperature inside.
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