“If I can have the tiger play room.” Thorne kissed Linton’s shoulder. “You don’t have to say anything now but I want you to think about it. Will you?”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Next question. Why did Budak try to kill you?”
Linton groaned. “You think I wouldn’t notice if you slipped that in?”
“It’s the only thing we haven’t talked about.”
“Promise you won’t blame yourself?”
“Shit. Now you have to tell me.”
“You called me a coward for not following through with the police when I was attacked. You were right. Budak shouldn’t be on the streets, shouldn’t be supplying drugs and pimping out vulnerable people, not my brother, not anyone else’s relative or friend, and beating up those who get in his way. This all started when Dirk told me he owed him ten thousand pounds and it turned out to be twelve thousand and going up every week. That was all my savings gone to get Dirk out of debt which left me nothing for rehab.”
“Shit, Linton.”
“I was nervous when I went to meet Budak. I recorded the two conversations I had with him. I suppose I had it in the back of my mind I might be able to tell the police at some point. Though after he beat me up, I rethought that. Then you made your point about me lacking the guts to…well, I went to the police and told them everything.”
“Oh fuck. How can I not blame myself?”
“Because you were right. I was trying to save Dirk, not thinking about some kid who’d take his place. Budak needed stopping.” Linton slipped his arm around Thorne. “I don’t know how he discovered I’d been to see the police. I hope it wasn’t a bent copper. Dirk’s going to have to be a witness too, though he doesn’t know it yet. It’ll all go to trial and the press will follow. Sure you want to be associated with me?”
“I think you have that the wrong way around. I couldn’t be more proud of you.” Thorne exhaled. “I feel like I need to spend the rest of my life saying sorry.”
“That’s going to piss me off, unless you actually piss me off and really need to say sorry.”
“That’s clear as mud.”
Linton took a deep breath. Maybe there was one thing left to talk about. One secret left. “Did Owen tell you what happened to us when we were boys?”
He felt Thorne tense. “He told me some of it.”
How much? “We were on a geography field trip and got lost. We both knew better than to accept a lift from strangers but stupidly we thought we’d be safe because we were together. We were running away from them when Owen fell. I’d told him I wouldn’t leave him, but I knew what would happen if they caught us. I thought maybe I could get help because I was a faster runner, but they still caught me. Raped me.”
Thorne choked off a sob.
Linton stroked his face. “I lied to the police. I said I hadn’t been touched. I thought it would make my life easier and maybe it did, but it still messed up my head. That was the night I was hit by lightning. They’d just fucked me in the middle of a field, and crazy as it sounds, being hit by a bolt of lightning saved my life because I reckon the men thought I was dead.”
“Were they caught?”
“No.”
“Shit.”
“I told Owen a couple of days ago that they raped me too. I should have told him before. But he’s the only one who knows apart from you.”
“You and Owen, you couldn’t be more different.”
“We were different before it happened. Owen was always desperate to be loved, would do anything to be loved, and I was the opposite. I’m not sure I ever believed in it. When I saw Dirk in rehab, he told me that while I was in the States, he’d found our father and been to see him. Turns out he’s not my father, though he is Dirk’s. But the guy fucked off and left us when we were kids. Where was the love there? My mother lavished attention on me, but I suspect that was only to hurt Dirk. She…she…”
Linton screwed his eyes shut and clenched his fists. His heart jolted as if lightning had hit again. Maybe there had to be one secret, one part of his past that he’d never tell. He swallowed it down.
“She was a bitch,” he whispered.
“How did she react to discovering you were gay?”
“Wouldn’t believe it. Said it was Dirk’s fault. I left home shortly after to go to university and never saw her again. Dirk found out that she’s dead. No one knows who my father is. But I don’t care.” Not quite true.
“Maybe he didn’t know your mother had you. Are you sure no one knows who he is? Her friends? Relatives?”
“I don’t care. It’s too late. I don’t need a father now.”
“You can have mine.”
Linton laughed.
Thorne could still barely believe he had Linton here with him in his bed, that they were talking, that Linton was giving him another chance.
“Are we going to be okay?” Thorne whispered, his heart thumping hard.
“You can be very irritating, but you did build quite a nice nest. Until you touched it.”
Thorne pressed his face into Linton’s hair as he smiled. “Thank you. It’s not finished, of course.” He didn’t ever want to finish it.
“What’s your name again?”
Thorne nipped his ear. “Pingu.”
“I have something I need help with.” Linton nudged his rigid cock into Thorne’s thigh.
Thorne groaned. “Go to sleep.”
“After I’ve spurted all over your sheets.”
“Linton, you were knocked off your feet by a car a few hours ago.”
“Shit. Was I?”
Thorne laughed. He felt bad that he did but happy that he could. “You need to rest.”
“The one thing I didn’t damage was my cock. First thing I checked. I hope no one saw me feeling my crotch. Well, I can always say I was confused.”
“I don’t know how you can joke about it.”
“Because I’m still alive and still in working order, I think, but remember you need to keep me awake. Maybe try sex while I attempt to remember what it is. Might work.”
“Doesn’t fucking make you sleepy?”
“Yes, but I don’t usually fall asleep until afterwards.”
“You really should take it easy,” Thorne whispered.
Linton pushed up on one elbow. “Are we going to fight so soon? Anyway I wasn’t going to do anything but lie here.”
Thorne leaned over and licked his cheek. “One whimper of pain and I’ll stop.”
“Stop, and I’ll make you whimper.”
Linton lay down again and Thorne pushed back the covers but he hesitated when he saw the state of Linton’s body. “I’m frightened of hurting you.”
Linton wrapped his hand around the back of Thorne’s neck and entwined his fingers in his hair. “You’ll hurt me if you don’t do this. Prove to me I’m still alive, that you still want me. Tomorrow I’m going to be an aching mess but tonight I’m full of painkillers. I’m good to go. Honestly. Well at least for the next five minutes. You don’t normally last as long as that.”
You make me so happy. Thorne kissed him and when Linton’s lips parted and their tongues touched, Thorne’s heart swelled with joy. Not only his heart. He’d been thinking that at least his cock had more sense than he did and had taken in Linton’s injured state and decided to stay limp, but now he was as hard as Linton. The kiss went on and on and all Thorne dared touch of Linton’s body apart from his mouth was his left hand, their fingers linked as they kissed. When they finally broke apart and Linton smiled at him, something inside Thorne changed, a sensation growing until it overwhelmed him, and he didn’t know what it was or why it was happening until he registered it had to do with the way Linton looked at him, as if Thorne were the reason the sun came up in the morning.
He loves me. Linton might not say it, might never say it, but Thorne knew. They stared at each other, their breathing matched, as if they were one organism. I love him.
This is love.
T
horne slowly licked and kissed his way down the undamaged side of Linton’s body until he reached his cock and as he took it in his mouth, Linton released a loud groan. Thorne wanted to show Linton how much he meant to him. He wanted to worship his body and he took his time, pausing to give Linton long passionate kisses, but as right as this felt, something was still missing. That something inside him was pushing its way up his throat, hurting, yet a good hurt. I want to tell him I love him and I can’t. I want to ask him if he could ever love me and I can’t.
“Hey.” Linton brushed his hand across Thorne’s face, licked his fingers then let Thorne taste.
I’m crying?
I’m crying.
“It’s okay.” Linton pulled Thorne in close so they were plastered together, cocks side by side. “Everything is going to be okay. I have you. You have me.”
Tears poured down Thorne’s face and Linton licked them away. It was Linton who had his hand around their cocks, Linton taking control, Linton making love to him.
And Thorne let himself fall.
Epilogue
Thorne straightened Linton’s bowtie. Linton looked good enough to eat but they didn’t have time. “Nervous?” Thorne asked.
“I can face Max and Pascal without spitting at them. I think.”
Thorne smiled.
“You have your pebble?” Linton asked. “I don’t want any punches thrown.”
Thorne patted his pocket, then tugged Linton down onto the couch. “I have something I need to tell you.”
Linton’s face fell.
“Hey, it’s okay.”
“Something bad?” Linton asked. “You’ve waited until now to tell me? After we’ve been together nine months, three weeks and two days? Not counting the days you were away filming Underneath.”
“It has to do with Max.”
“Ah.” Linton stared at him.
Every day that Thorne spent with Linton, they grew closer and closer. He felt as if he’d told Linton everything, every secret, every worry, every fear. Almost every secret.
“You weren’t Max’s only weapon,” Thorne said. “I was set up to look a twat in publicity shots for a watch called a Reknaw.”
Linton frowned. “Wanker?”
Thorne glared. “How come you got it straight away?”
“I used to write things backwards for fun.”
“Of course you did. Well, Orlando’s persistent digging revealed Max was behind it. None of the photos came to light because none of them showed me as looking stupid or pissed off, just cold. But the other thing he did was a lot worse.”
“What?”
Thorne chewed his lip. “The night I found Dirk in the doorway, I’d just left a party. Another actor asked me if I wanted to fuck and I said yes. He spiked my drink and by the time I was naked in the hotel room, I wasn’t thinking straight. Turned out there were two of them in the room. I hadn’t and didn’t agree to that but I was too out of my skull to do anything about it.”
“They raped you?” Linton whispered. “Oh God. Did you tell the police?”
“No, I told Orlando. Pictures had been taken.”
“Jesus.” Linton grabbed his hand.
“He sorted it all out. Orlando threatened the actor’s agent and the pictures disappeared. He also uncovered the identity of the third man, a friend of Max’s. A guy called William Cooper.”
“Oh shit. I know him. Max has done a lot of work for him.”
“Orlando persuaded all three guys to pay a lot of money to the bike charity I support in return for my silence. Though I can’t imagine they thought I was ever going to tell the press.”
“Fucking Max Devere,” Linton hissed. “I want to rip his fucking head off.”
Thorne patted his knee. “Down, tiger.”
A horn tooted.
“That’s the car.” Thorne pulled Linton to his feet. “Win tonight and that’s my revenge.”
Linton sagged. “I’m not going to win.”
“Of course you are.”
They left the house and Linton didn’t let go of his hand.
“I need your pebble,” Linton muttered as they climbed in the back of the car.
“You told me to throw it away.”
Linton held out his hand. Thorne took it out of his pocket and gave it to him.
Linton slipped it into his own pocket and took a deep breath. “I’ll keep it in my hand when I thump him.”
Thorne laughed.
He was in love. He couldn’t imagine life without Linton. He was the best thing that had ever happened to him. But Linton still had a problem with the concept of love, or at least with professing it, and while Thorne had said it plenty of times, Linton hadn’t yet said it back. That was okay. Thorne could wait. Anyway, he knew Linton loved him, he was just being a prick about saying it.
Thorne pulled Linton close and put his mouth to his ear. “I love you.”
“I like you. A lot.”
Thorne laughed and elbowed him. “Good.”
Thorne took a firm hold of Linton’s hand as they entered the hotel. Shit, it’s cold. At least the car had brought them to the door. The press were out in force. He knew Linton still wasn’t comfortable with the cameras and missile-like questions. While Owen had relished the attention, Thorne could almost feel Linton’s urge to walk backwards—fast.
“Strong and silent, remember?” Thorne whispered.
“And I thought you liked me submissive and chatty.”
Thorne chuckled. They’d been to several events together including the Pedal to the Metal Charity Gala. Once Linton had recovered from his injuries, and on days when Thorne wasn’t working, they’d gone out into the countryside and cycled for miles. Training for Thorne and recuperation for Linton. Thorne had wanted to buy him a bike but Linton got shirty when Thorne offered to pay for things, so when River offered his bike for Linton to use that seemed a perfect solution. On the day of the race, they’d cycled together and crossed the line side by side which was as it should be. Orlando moaned because Thorne hadn’t won but Thorne had won. Just not in the way Orlando wanted.
They were shown to their table in the ballroom but Linton stumbled to a halt before they reached it.
Dirk leapt to his feet and hugged his brother. “Surprise!”
“You told me you couldn’t come,” Linton said.
“Thorne had me flown me down and he’s flying me back tomorrow morning.”
Linton turned and gave Thorne one of those wide-eyed smiles that made most of Thorne melt and one part go hard as iron.
Thorne and Linton introduced themselves to the others at the table and sat down, with Dirk at Linton’s side. He and Thorne had been to see Dirk in rehab and pressed by Dirk, Linton had finally agreed to meet his father in Thurso. He wasn’t sure Linton would go again. The guy was besotted with his new family of which Dirk was firmly part and Thorne could see that Linton felt an outsider. Selfishly, Thorne didn’t care. He was Linton’s family now.
“How are things going?” Linton asked his brother.
“Great. I’ve met a guy. I was out walking and he shouted at me when he thought I’d left a gate open but I hadn’t. Luckily he believed me.”
“You glad you have someone.”
“Matthew’s come down with me. He’s back at the hotel. He’s a shepherd. He calls me his lost sheep.” Dirk laughed. “I’ve been helping him and playing the guitar in the pub to earn some cash. And no I haven’t had a drink. I really like it up there. It’s slow and quiet, the exact opposite of what I thought I wanted but I’m happy. I’ve signed on to start college. I’m going to train to be a primary school teacher.”
Linton put his hand on Dirk’s forehead. Dirk rolled his eyes and shrugged him off.
“Seriously, what have you done with my brother?”
“Hey, you were the one who went on and on about making something of myself.”
“But you never listened.”
“Yeah I did. I just didn’t hear you.”
Linton squeeze
d Dirk’s shoulder. “Thanks for coming. I’m not going to win but I’m glad you’re here.”
“Who says you’re not going to win?” Thorne asked.
“I don’t stand a chance, but I’m thrilled I got this far.”
Without Linton’s knowledge, Thorne had entered him for three architecture awards for the house he’d designed and built for him. Thorne had been astounded how fast the structure had gone up, though he’d thrown money at it to make it happen in as short a time as possible. The house had to be finished before the judging took place and there was no way Thorne was going to let Linton miss out on this opportunity. They planned to move in when he’d finished filming Dirty Angel in Ireland.
Linton was the only person who’d been shortlisted in three categories: Individual House Architect, Sustainability Architect and Young Architect of the Year. With Thorne’s support, Linton had set up his own company and now employed three architects including Amadeo. They’d won some lucrative contracts and had already made a name for themselves for their innovative, exciting designs.
None of that had gone down well with Max who currently sat two tables away with Pascal. Thorne glanced their way, caught Max’s eye and gave him a wide smile. He received a scowl in return and chuckled.
“What?” Linton asked.
“Max and your ex are a couple of tables away throwing imaginary daggers.”
Linton sighed. “Promise you’ll clap if they win.”
“What happened to the thump you were planning? Anyway, they’re not going to win. You are.”
Linton huffed. “Right.”
Max was on the shortlist for Individual House Architect and Pascal for Sustainability Architect. Thorne really hoped neither of them won. He could still hardly believe that it was a competition that had driven Max to play so dirty all those months ago. Amadeo had told Linton that after Thorne and Owen had split up, Max had been beyond furious he’d lost his chance to design Thorne’s house because he’d also lost the opportunity to enter for a prestigious international architecture award. So furious that he’d been prepared to hijack his brother’s distress to get even with Thorne.
Dirty Games Page 33
