Both of our parents were out at work all day and we’d been left alone, trusted not to trash the house – which of course we’d never do. But I guess no one thought we’d start to find one another sexually attractive and would start experimenting with each other.
It had started out as just having a wank – competitive wanking I think we called it. Seeing which one of us could come first... Then we’d stepped it up a gear – I think it was Denny’s idea to come on each other.
When he’d said he’d like to lick mine off me and wanted me to come all over myself it was difficult not to come right there and then. The way he described what he wanted was so damned hot and I was so turned on by it, it didn’t even occur to me to think that it might be considered wrong.
It was only when Dad came home early from work on the Friday – which he always did and I can’t believe to this day that I didn’t realise it was already Friday – to find us both completely naked, and Denny licking the last of my come off my stomach that it occurred to me that it was very, very wrong and that I really wasn’t anything like a celebrity...
Dad walked in. He then calmly asked us to stop whatever it was that we were doing and to get some clothes on. Once Denny had finally gone home and I was certain I was going to get bollocked and grounded until I was about thirty-five, Dad knocked on my door.
He asked me once if Denny meant more to me than a friend.
I shook my head, terrified to admit that I really loved him and so afraid that I was some sort of weird pervert I promised that we were just friends. I was utterly terrified of admitting the truth – that he meant everything to me and that I wanted him to be my girlfriend – even if he was a boy.
After that, Dad never mentioned it again, but he’d made it clear that what we’d been doing wasn’t acceptable behaviour. I’d assumed that he meant being gay and had concentrated on girls since then.
Denny and I had never talked about it. Denny had been mortified when Dad walked in on us and had apologised over and over, hyperventilating until he nearly passed out and I had to do breathing exercises with him. “Count to seven on the way in, Denny,” I commanded, with my hands on his shoulders, “through your nose, that’s right... And then five on the way out. That’s really good mate, you’re doing great.”
He smiled up at me, his beautiful grey eyes so trusting. “Thanks, mate.” He muttered, “God. I thought he was gonna kill us – my dad would have definitely killed me.”
It was frightening to think that his dad would have been so mad that he might have got violent – but worse than that was being called ‘mate’ again after he’d called me baby... ‘Mate’ had never sounded quite so inadequate. I’d kind of gotten used to it again a couple of months later, when it became more than obvious that we were never going to experiment with each other again...
I guess we were both too embarrassed to bring it back up and we’d just continued on as we were before – just friends. The very best of friends of course – and possibly with a few lingering looks of longing every now and then – on my part at least – but just friends nevertheless...
Fuck it all to hell. We’d never only been friends. We’d been celibate lovers for years... and I for one was sick of it. I wanted us to be together properly. It was time to accept that I was in love with Denny – and hopefully, he was in love with me. I just had to summon the guts to tell him so...
Chapter 18 – The face in the window...
Denny
“Blaine!” I yelled, “I’ve got something.”
Blaine came running back in from the kitchen to listen to the conversation that was going on in the apartment, leaving his post where he’d been watching it.
“Fuck me!” Daryl’s voice came loud and clear through to our equipment, “Someone’s fucking spying on us up there.”
We looked at each other in horror, “Fuck!” Blaine hissed, “They’re onto us.”
“Go and find out who it is.” Lenny barked.
Daryl started to grumble but it was obvious that he was going to making his way up to take a look sooner or later. “Time for a sharp exit.” I murmured.
Blaine nodded, “Yeah, let’s get the fuck out of here.”
We went for a walk further up into the woods, taking the binoculars with us so we could watch the cabin and waited it out.
After a while we saw Daryl poking around. We’d done our best to hide the equipment from view and had stuffed everything away in cupboards so the cabin didn’t look occupied and hoped he’d assume he was mistaken.
Blaine had the binoculars trained on him all the way back down the valley, “He’s gone.” He said.
I sighed, “Are we safe, do you think?”
He shrugged, “I think we should tell Chief what’s gone down and let him decide what should happen, don’t you?”
I nodded, “Yeah, that sounds about the best plan.”
We made our way back to the cabin and got an email sent off to the chief. He replied almost immediately, “Sit tight, keep listening, at the first hint of them coming back, call me and we’ll get back up to you.”
Blaine looked at me, “Well, that’s clear enough, isn’t it?”
I nodded, “Definitely.”
Lenny was full of questions when Daryl got back home. We’d hoped that Daryl would have thought he was mistaken but he clearly wasn’t as stupid as he sounded. “It was empty but I’m gonna keep an eye on it.”
Lenny made some sort of noise that we assumed was reluctant agreement and they started talking about a shipment.
I drifted back into the kitchen to make us some lunch. I glanced to the window. Blaine was always forgetting to draw the damned curtains. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the outline of someone’s head, “Fuck!” I yelled, “Blaine!”
Blaine was immediately behind me, gun at the ready, “What?” he said urgently, “Where?”
“There’s someone outside the window,” I hissed, “Get down! Now!” I had visions of Blaine being blown away any second.
He hit the deck instantly, “get down yourself.” He hissed back at me, “I don’t want you getting hurt.”
My heart swelled with a rush of love for him. I didn’t know what the hell was going on between us apart from a lot of hot sex but that statement told me that he cared about me enough to want me not to get hurt. I didn’t want him getting hurt either.
We stayed there, staring at each other, chests heaving. “What the fuck do we do now?” I hissed.
Blaine crawled across the floor to me and wrapped his arms around me, “I’m going out there to see who the fuck it is spying on us.”
I stared at him in horror, “Not without me, you’re not.”
He looked at me in exasperation. I gazed back at him steadily, “Look – we’re partners in this – I have to watch your back just as much as you have to watch mine.”
He sighed, “But I’ve always watched your back.” he muttered, “It’s what I do.”
I smiled at him and nodded, “Well, I guess it’s time that I returned the favour, then.”
He nodded, “Fine, follow me.”
We crept through the cabin back to the lounge. It was the best place to view the valley but if someone was outside watching us, that wasn’t really much use – and we had no idea how many people were out there either – whether it was some random weirdo, or if it was just Daryl back to sniff around again. Although I was hoping against hope that it was the random weirdo, every last nerve in my body knew it was the latter. We’d been discovered – and now they wanted us as dead as they wanted Peyton dead...
Suddenly I had an idea. They had no concrete proof that we were anything other than a couple of guys with a penchant for using binoculars... We could totally be ornithologists...
“Blaine.” I whispered.
He grunted a reply from his position.
“If they ask, we’re birdwatchers.”
He looked at me as if I’d completely lost my mind, “Uh?”
I grinned, “Birdwatc
hers – you know, redstarts, blackbirds, thrushes.”
He nodded, rolling his eyes as if I’d completely lost my mind, “Okay. Fine. Whatever.”
Chapter 19 – All hell breaking loose...
Blaine
Just as predicted, less than a minute later there was a knock on the door.
“I’ll get it.” Denny said, “I look more the part.”
I looked at him in confusion. What are you talking about?” I hissed, “You look like you always do.”
He nodded, “Yeah, a glasses-wearing, boring old fart with weirdly blonde hair.”
He’d never looked sexier as far as I was concerned. Boring old fart? What the fuck planet was he on? He looked even sexier with his glasses on than off... “Fuck off. You look fucking beautiful.” I said gruffly.
Smiling at me, Denny opened the door, “Can I help you?” his voice held a hint of apprehension. He was playing the part of the camp ornithologist to a T.
I’d have rather done the talking since I had some sort of weird protective thing going on where Denny was concerned but he knew more about birds than I did – I had no idea he was a closet twitcher... however, he was doing a sterling job of it.
Daryl scowled at him, “Don’t come the innocent with me,” he growled, “you’ve been fucking spying on us and don’t even try to fucking deny it.”
Denny had put his glasses on this morning, by accident or by purpose I wasn’t sure, but he blinked owlishly, looking every inch the weirdo ornithologist he was pretending to be – not that I thought ornithologists were weird but like everyone, there were always weirdos – and he was playing the part to perfection. “I think you may have the wrong end of the stick,” he said, lisping slightly and making me want to laugh, “– we’re from the RSPB. He fished in his wallet and actually brought out an RSPB membership card, “We’re here to spot the dusky thrush – it’s been spotted nearby in Beeley – it’s Asian and it’s only the twelfth time it’s been spotted here in Britain.” He actually sounded excited. I wondered if this was all part of his acting or if the dusky thrush really was in Britain and he really was excited about it...
The scowl on Daryl’s face was a little unnerving as he looked Denny up and down, “Fuck me,” he sneered, “You’re a couple of fags – and don’t try to deny it – I saw the way you were curled around each other through the window.”
Denny straightened his shoulders, “Our sexual orientation is none of your goddamn business,” he snapped, “and you shouldn’t have been spying on us anyway.” He added indignantly. I wasn’t sure how much of his outburst was actually personal, and how much of it was him still playing the part of the bird spotter.
The guy narrowed his eyes, “Well, spot your fucking dusty robin then – and then fuck off – you’ve got no business being around here.”
Denny blinked again, “No right?” he spluttered, “No right? I’ll have you know we’ve hired this cabin through a very professional agency...”
The guy had lost interest in Denny’s ranting and was walking away.
I walked up behind him and looped my arms around his waist, resting my chin on his shoulder, “Do you think he bought it?” I murmured in his ear.
Denny shook his head, “Doubt it.” He said, “I think he was bluffing every bit as much as we were but he wasn’t bluffing about calling us fags – he was definitely a homophobic arsehole.”
“Yeah, I heard him. The wanker. And I just stood there and didn’t do anything,” I muttered, tightening my arms around his waist and giving him a hug, “But I was hovering around just waiting for him to make a move so I could fucking kill him.”
Denny nodded, “And I think he noticed that.” He sighed, “I reckon they must be onto us – we should probably contact HQ again and tell them it’s over – we’ve been rumbled.”
I nodded, “I’ll do that.” I reluctantly let go of him and made my way back through to the lounge, my heart heavy that we’d be moved onto another job and not be able to sleep together anymore.
Denny disappeared off into the bedroom and I heard him opening the wardrobe. He was packing.
I sent the email and followed him in, “Good idea.” I muttered as I started slinging clothes into my holdall, “So you’re a bit of a twitcher on the quiet, huh?” I smiled.
Denny looked up at me, his large eyes stopping me in my tracks. God, he was so damned beautiful. He nodded bashfully and huffed a laugh, “Yeah, kind of...”
We spent the rest of the day on tenterhooks just wondering when Daryl and Lenny were going to come back. We knew they were onto us now because we’d heard their conversations all day.
We also knew that they’d been in cahoots with Lionel Hessey who we’d successfully convicted of human trafficking and prostitution a few months before. We’d not been aware that he and Lenny had been acquaintances before now and were horrified to learn that the shipment they were talking about was actually a load of new young men – and that they were planning on selling their own cousin – Hendrix – along with the fifteen or so young guys that were being delivered.
“Oh, my God. We have to get him out of there – he’s only a kid.” I looked at Denny in horror.
He nodded, “And we will – I’ll inform the chief of this new development.”
He rattled off another email.
I looked around the cabin. It had become our lovely little home these last few weeks. I didn’t want it to end. What was going to happen now that we were going home?
*
The next morning came around far too quickly. I’d just got my gun into it’s holster and was about to go outside to check the area when Denny stopped me,
Blaine?”
I looked back at him, “What?”
He sighed, “I’ve had the best time.” He said quietly, “I don’t know what you want to do when we get back, but...”
Whatever he was about to say was lost as the biggest bang I’d ever heard shattered the peaceful silence of the morning. I stood there dumbstruck as I watched Denny run towards me. He shoved me sideways as the French doors smashed to the ground. As I got back to my feet to make sure he was okay, a thrill of horror went through me as I looked into Denny’s eyes. They widened with shock and pain, and then closed as he collapsed.
I heard a loud piercing scream and realised belatedly that it was me screaming as I watched helplessly as he crashed to the ground. He was already unconscious. His face hit the floor with a bang. There was blood everywhere and I was absolutely convinced that he was dead.
On autopilot I pulled out my gun. If they’d killed my Denny, they were going to fucking die – or I was going to die trying to kill them... He was everything... my love... my life...
I crawled past him on my belly to the window. I didn’t dare stop to see if he was breathing. I was completely focused on dealing with the problem. It was easier than knowing he was dead. I didn’t want to acknowledge that I might have lost everything...
I took a quick look out. Nothing but trees, but then, as my eyes adjusted to the brightness, I noticed three of them all hunkered down together. Well, they were either very confident of their abilities to overpower us – or they were stupid enough to think they were.
I aimed and fired. There was a grunt of pain and the muffled sound of outraged voices. That was one down...
I took aim again as Lenny and Daryl started to run towards the cabin. I easily shot the pair of them, Lenny in the shoulder, Daryl, like the kid, in the leg. Although I fired another one to his hand – I didn’t fancy him picking the gun back up. None of them were going anywhere...
I walked down to them, “How many others?” I asked the first one I got to – it was Hendrix and my God he looked ill. Thank God I’d only given him a minor leg wound – that would be enough when you were as weak as he was. It was bleeding pretty badly too which was quite worrying. I was a little shocked at how young he looked – not much older than a kid. How could they be planning to ship him abroad to be someone’s rent-boy? Disgusting creatures
.
“Fuck you.” He growled, squeezing his eyes shut, clearly in pain.
I shrugged, “You may as well tell me – there’s back-up on the way – you’re going down either way.”
He shook his head, “There’s only the three of us here – but they’re not alone – you need to warn Peyton McKenzie – they’ve got acquaintances everywhere and they’ll not stop until he’s dead.”
I shook my head, “What the hell have they got against Peyton?”
His lip curled, “Well, speaking personally, he killed my brother, so I won’t fucking miss him,” he spat, “well, his boyfriend did, anyway...”
I frowned. The boy had reason to dislike him I guess. It couldn’t be good to lose your brother this young – particularly when he was the only member of the family he had left – but Callum couldn’t have been any sort of role model for the boy, hell – he’d been into crystal meth and heroin probably Hendrix’s whole life. A total loser... “How old are you?” I asked him.
He sniffed, “I’m nineteen.”
I nodded, “Been in trouble with the law before?”
He shook his head, “Not really.” he muttered, “Couple of warnings for lewd behaviour in public...”
I nodded. I had a feeling. I’d never heard of Hendrix being in any sort of trouble like the rest of the clan. Colby and Harrison had reported that he was a rent-boy. Well, there were worse crimes... I looked at his leg wound, “You’re not gonna die, kid – we’ll get your leg patched up and then you’ll have to talk to us – but we can probably get you away from this lot if that’s what you want.”
He shrugged, he had a defeated look about him and that did something to me. He needed a chance at a better life... “Whatever,” he said wearily.
I sighed. “Look, I understand that you’re angry about your brother being killed – but he was going to kill a man too – a father of a little kid.”
“Yeah, maybe – but he was as queer as I am.” He said.
Stake Out... (Studs & Steel Book 5) Page 9
