Silverfall

by Raven de Hart

  Paolo showed us a table in the back corner. “Will this do?”

  Leon nodded and then pulled out my chair for me. I tried not to blush, but I could tell from the heat in my cheeks that I failed spectacularly. When Leon sat, Paolo pulled a couple of tiny, single page menus from the pocket on the front of his apron.

  “What can I get you to drink?”

  “Water.” Leon looked over at me. “You?”

  “Coffee.” I should have looked at the menu, but an Italian place had to have some kind of coffee. Right?

  Leon glanced over his menu for a couple of seconds and then set it back down. “I know what I’m getting. Go ahead and look over the menu. And I’m paying this time.”

  “What do you mean this time? You bought my drinks at Pointe, remember?”

  “I like paying. I make more than enough money to do this kind of thing, and I’m going to do it whether you argue with me or not.” He leaned over and kissed me straight on the lips. And again, longer. His fingers washed through my hair.

  “Gentlemen.” Paolo was back, a tiny smile on his face. We separated, and he set down a tall glass of ice water and a white ceramic mug. “Do you need any cream or sugar?”

  “Yes, please.” Damn it. Fate was just determined to have me red in the face today. “Sorry.”

  Paolo shrugged. “This is an Italian restaurant. I expect to have lovers. Which means I expect the occasional kiss.” He nodded. “So, do you know what you want, or do you need more time?”

  Leon handed his menu back. “Scallop scampi.”

  Paolo nodded. “And you?”

  Fuck. I hadn’t looked yet. Had to take a chance. I had to stick with something I was sure an Italian joint would have. “Chicken alfredo.”

  “Very good. I should have that out to you shortly.”

  Paolo walked back toward the kitchen, and I sniffed the coffee. It smelled damned good. The whole restaurant seemed pretty nice, actually. And completely fucking empty other than us. Leon and I sat there silent for a few seconds.

  Paolo came back and dropped off a box full of sugar packets and a tiny pitcher of cream. “Do you need anything else?”

  I shook my head. “No. Thank you.”

  He nodded and left us again. I relaxed as I poured cream into my coffee. “So, we didn’t get too much into anything on our first date.”

  Leon snorted and flashed me a big smile. “You got pretty deep into me.”

  “Aside from that.” No blush. Come on, damn it. Don’t blush. I tried. Maybe I succeeded. Leon didn’t make any faces, anyway. “I mean we didn’t talk, you dumb-ass.”

  “Dumb-ass? Well, someone’s getting cheeky.” He held a straight face for a couple of seconds, then collapsed, head on the table. “I’m sorry.” His voice came out muffled. “Apparently I’m turning British, now.”

  “Shouldn’t have called you a dumb-ass…” I was doing a great job with this date.

  He lifted his head and sighed. “I was kidding. Dumb-ass.” He fully righted himself and then leaned toward me. He still had that smell, the wet earth and grass clippings. I let it wash over me. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect scent.

  He took a sip of his water, cleared his throat, and said, “So, what do we talk about?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. First-date kind of stuff. Favorite color. Favorite animal. That sort of weird little shit.”

  He nodded. “Green.”

  “Mine’s orange.”

  “Orange. Daring.”

  I shook my head. “Hardly. It reminds me of home. We had this big field back behind the ranch when I was a kid, and the flowers back there were just this super bright orange. So it’s nothing special.”

  Leon reached over and grabbed my hand. “I think that’s pretty special. You’re sentimental.” Normally when I heard a guy say that, it sounded like an insult. Not this time. He sounded…impressed? Impressed was the best word I could give it. Maybe surprised, but mostly impressed. “And the most important thing is that you’re fine with being sentimental. That’s…well, it’s just not very common anymore. It’s refreshing.”

  For a few seconds, I was silent. How could I respond to that? Was refreshing even a good compliment to get from a date? I didn’t know. I’d called water refreshing before but never a person and certainly not a run-of-the-mill Joe like me.

  The quiet hung there a little too long. I was getting fidgety. “So, then, favorite animal?”

  Leon shook his head “Nope. You got a question, now I get a question. It’s only fair.”

  I nodded. “Okay.” As long as we were past that lovely awkward silence. “Ask away.”

  “Do you believe in anything out of the ordinary?”

  I waited for more explanation. But nothing. “You’ve got to give me more to go on.”

  My God. It took me a second to notice, but I’d made him blush. Just a little. Just in his ears and the slightest little splotch of pink on his cheeks. But there it was.

  “I mean things that not everyone believes in. Fairies and magic and shit.” He fixed his eyes on me, didn’t blink. Just long enough to say one word. One very important, very chilling word. “Unicorns?”

  “What?” It slipped out. I shouldn’t have said anything. But the word reached over and slapped me across my face. Did he know? How could he know? He couldn’t. He couldn’t know. Unicorns were, like, the mythical creature. What else would he have said? The only other thing could have been dragons, but that would have just been weird, right? Asking if I believe in dragons. It had to be a coincidence. Except that he’d looked right into me when he said it. “Why?”

  “Just making conversation. But if it makes you uncomfortable—”

  “No,” I snapped, cutting him off. Totally not suspicious. “It’s not that I’m uncomfortable. It’s just that I’ve never really had anyone ask about that on a date.”

  He nodded and looked down, stared at the table. His voice was soft when he spoke again. “Would it make you feel better if I told you I did?”

  Yes. Yes it would. “Do you?”

  He nodded, still not looking at me. “I’ve seen them. Unicorns. Big ones.”

  Holy shit. So I wasn’t crazy. But giant-ass unicorns were roaming the streets. Roaming and killing people. I couldn’t contain myself. “You’ve seen them too.”

  “Your food!” Paolo shouted. He set two plates on the table and then cleared his throat. “I apologize for yelling. I was very excited.” He lifted Leon’s face up by the chin. “Enjoy your food.” It wasn’t a sentiment. At least not a normal, professional one. Not employee to diner. It was too ominous, too threatening. I couldn’t have said what the threat was, but I heard it. I definitely heard it.

  Leon nodded. “I always do, Paolo. You’re the best.”

  Paolo nodded and then turned to look at me. “I hope everything is to your liking.”

  We were left alone again. Leon chuckled as he picked up his fork. “Sorry about him. Paolo doesn’t really like it when his customers talk about weird things. He thinks it drives off his regulars.”

  “Where are his regulars?”

  Leon jabbed a thumb at his chest. “Me.”

  I laughed. Not because it was funny but because something was up. I was too nervous to do anything else. Laugh and make small talk.

  “If you’re the only one, that doesn’t bode well for his food.”

  “I asked him if he could open up early for a special seating. He owed me a favor, anyway.”

  I nodded and jabbed up a forkful of chicken and pasta. It was good. Like, really good. But I couldn’t seem to enjoy it the way I should have been able to. Paolo was skulking around the whole rest of the meal. I wanted to say something, but Leon seemed to be ignoring him. Maybe it was normal, or Leon just wanted to leave Paolo to whatever he was doing. Either way, I did my best to focus on eating.

  The meal was mostly silent, though. Damn, I wanted to talk. Leon had seen the unicorns. He might have known more about them than I did. It wouldn’t have been hard.
He could have explained something. Anything, really. Maybe how to get Silver to quit stalking me around the city. I’d have settled for that.

  Once we finished our pasta, Paolo swooped in and cleared our dishes. “I have dessert ready for you. Compliments of the house.”

  “Thanks, Paolo,” said Leon. “Can you go ahead and make that to go, though? I’m sure Tony wants to get to bed soon.”

  I nodded, playing along. Maybe we could talk once we were away from all this. “Yeah. I need to get some rest in before work.”

  For a second, Paolo hesitated. Then he offered a curt nod. “Of course. I’ll bring your bill out with the tiramisu.”

  He walked off, and I couldn’t help laughing. Leon joined after a couple of seconds. “What’s so funny?”

  “The last time I went out for Italian, I came home with tiramisu too. Although this date is going much better than that one.”

  “Glad to hear it.” He leaned over and kissed the back of my hand. “I’ll walk you back to your place, so you can get to bed.”

  “What?” I shook my head. “Why aren’t you coming up? Did I do something wrong?”

  “No, of course not.” He held my hands in his and kissed them again. “It’s got nothing to do with you. I just don’t want to be responsible for you screwing up at your job.”

  “You won’t be. I mean, I won’t. I’m a stocker. A trained pigeon could probably do what I do.”

  “Not without sleep.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Look, I’m going to program in a reminder to come back over later today. We can have our dessert. Paolo makes an awesome tiramisu. But you need sleep, and I’m right there with you.”

  Of course. I forgot he probably had to work nights too. His job must have been a lot more strenuous than mine.

  “It’s a date.”

  He nodded and pulled out his wallet just as Paolo was coming over. Without even looking at the bill, he handed over a couple of twenties.

  “Take the rest as a tip. To keep me in your good graces.”

  “Thank you, Leon.” Again, Paolo hesitated a moment, then set down two take-out containers on the table. “Say hello to your aunt for me. It’s been some time since I’ve been to see her.”

  Leon nodded. “Sure thing. She’ll be happy to hear from you.” He rose and took my hand. “Let’s get going.” He scooped up the two containers under his other arm and led the way. Once we got out onto the sidewalk, he leaned down and whispered in my ear. “Make sure you’ve got condoms and lube. I’ll want to work off some calories before I can have the tiramisu.”

  Great. Now I had a hard-on. Bastard. Tall, gorgeous bastard. “Where do you live, anyway?” If there was a chance to get some action now, I’d take it.

  “Off on the other end of town.”

  “With no car?”

  He shrugged. “I’m used to walking. I’ve gotten pretty fast over the years.”

  I shook my head. “You can come up. I’ve got plenty of space in my bed.”

  “I really don’t know.”

  “You paid for a very sumptuous breakfast. So you’re coming up to my place to get some rest. I don’t want to hear anything else about it.” I really hoped it was convincing. I’ve never done the whole “assertive” thing well.

  After a little pause, Leon nodded. “All right. I guess you do owe me.” We turned the corner back into the creepy-ass alleyway, and he pinched my butt. “You’re adorable when you’re forceful.”

  “Yeah. That’s what I was going for. Adorable.”

  * * * *

  We hit the bed, wearing nothing but underwear. Well, Leon was naked, which was fine by me. My plan was working. We didn’t get right to sleeping. Before I really knew what was happening, Leon had me pinned with his lips pressed to mine. I felt his breathing and the press of his chest down onto me with each inhale. His heart thumped faster and faster as his lips worked against mine, his tongue against mine. Teeth grazed my earlobe, shooting icy lightning through my chest, down my spine, and into my gut. It sent the nervous butterflies into a flurry, banging around inside. Why? We’d already fucked. Why this, and why now of all times?

  I must not have been alone. Leon pulled away and rolled over. He kept his arm draped across my chest, but that was it. “It’s weird, isn’t it?”

  I nodded, even though he couldn’t see it. “But why is it weird?”

  “We’re not drunk. Maybe that’s the problem.”

  “No.” I refused to believe that. This wasn’t just some drunken hookup. You didn’t take your drunken hookups to nice Italian restaurants or pick them up from work. And you certainly didn’t tell them that you believed in unicorns.

  My breath hitched. “Unicorns.”

  It was hardly a whisper, more a breath, a word just for me. But Leon sat straight up. “Unicorns?”

  I sat up too and looked across at Leon. “That’s got to be it. You cut off the conversation. Or Paolo did. But…you believe. You know I’m not crazy.”

  Leon’s face scrunched. His body tensed. He leaned back just slightly away from me. “I really shouldn’t have ever brought it up, though. It was just… it was on my mind. Paolo was right to stop me.”

  Yeah. Because it was absolutely my favorite subject in the world. Because I really wouldn’t rather be making out and groping and feeling and fucking myself into exhaustion.

  The unicorns were standing in my way, though. I couldn’t even see Silver, but he was more than ready to cock block me.

  “I’m sorry. But it proves that I’m not nuts. Unless you’re nuts, I guess. But what are the odds of us both having the same delusion?”

  Leon sighed. But his muscles relaxed. “I see them around every now and then. So does Paolo. It’s sort of how we’re connected. That’s why he was trying to shut me up.”

  “But why can’t you talk about them?”

  Another sigh. Leon turned to stare out the window. “It’s not really normal. He was just trying to keep me from driving off another guy with my little secret.” He smiled at me. “But I guess you believe, so there’s not really much point in that.”

  I nodded. “I definitely believe.” Hard not to after what I saw. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing. It wasn’t enough. I wanted so much more. To know everything I could about the unicorns, starting with what he knew. But Leon was more important. I had to remember that, too. “I’m sorry.” I scooted over to him, pressed myself against his back, and felt his heat wash deep into my bones. No unicorns. Not now. Just this. The unicorns would have to wait. I pressed my thumbs into his back and worked the tough, hard muscles around his shoulder blades. “I shouldn’t have pressed. It was obvious you didn’t want to talk about it.”

  “Yeah, but it was obvious that you did.” I brought my hands lower, kneading ever closer to his hips. He just breathed for a few seconds before continuing. “I get it. I really do. And you’re not crazy. They are definitely real.”

  Damn. I had to stop myself from pressing, from continuing the conversation. At least for right now. Unicorns later. I would stick to that plan. For Leon’s sake.

  “Still, I was insensitive.” Down a little lower, my thumbs tracing the cleft of his ass, feeling the slight tickle of downy hair. “Let me make it up to you.” I was growing again, pressing against the cotton boxers. “I’ll do what it takes.”

  He turned around, pinned me again, and ground his crotch against mine. His hardness rubbed against my thigh, my balls, and made me shiver and groan into his mouth. Fuck the unicorns. I wanted Leon. I wanted this. No, I needed this. I needed it again. Not just the sex. The closeness. The warmth of another body. The embrace of strong arms. The constant perfume of grass and dirt. And now sweat. It dripped from his face onto me, down my chest and stomach, rivulets of cold coursing across my skin.

  I trailed my hands down to his crotch, but he grabbed my arms and held them firm to the bed. He lifted away from me and grinned that huge smile, all teeth. “Bedtime.”

  “What?” My dick protested
that idea. Hard. “Why now?”

  Another kiss, warm and slow and lingering against my lips. When he pulled back, it was just a hairbreadth. He still hovered so close I could feel every vibration, every tiny movement of his lips as he whispered to me.

  “Think about how good it’s going to be when we wake up, if we want it this badly now,” said Leon. His lips touched against my cheek. “Think of how powerful that’s going to be.” My chin. “We’ll wake up next to each other, and we’ll be free.” My other cheek. “We can explore each other fully awake.” He moved back up to my lips. When he pulled away, he let me go and curled up against my side. “I’ll see you when you wake up.”

  Bastard. He made it sound too good to resist, though, no matter how hard I was for him. “I’ll see you in my dreams.”

  He snorted a laugh. “Good answer.”

  Chapter Five

  I woke first. The gentle rumbling snore next to me told me as much. It had been so long since I’d heard that sound and felt that vibration run through me. Years. God, I missed it. I wasn’t built for waking up alone. I needed another person. A weight in the bed. Someone else under the blanket with me. For the moment, I had that.

  I walked my hand across the sheets and blankets and trailed my fingers down Leon’s chest. He groaned and rolled over, one eye open. “Morning.”

  “Not exactly.” I draped my arm over him and pressed a kiss into the nape of his neck. “But I’ll take it.”

  Leon sat up and stretched his arms high, yawning. I couldn’t fucking resist it. The target was fully exposed. I dug my finger into his armpit. He squirmed, giggled, and tried to shut his arm over my hand, but I held him in place by the forearm.

  “Nope,” I said. “Not a chance.”

  I knew he could have forced me off if he wanted to. I was just happy he didn’t. I dug in with more fervor. He shifted from giggling to laughing.

  “Stop, damn it.” He kicked the blanket to the floor and rolled again, pinning me. His laughter flowed past his lips and cascaded over me in warm, humid panting. Infectious panting. I couldn’t help but join in with him.