‘I could still use a few more shots of you.’
‘Tough.’ Zach rubbed his nose. ‘I’m going back to work.’ He stood, only for Ric to stand too.
‘Are you going to tell me what the problem is?’
‘Why did you interrupt, Ric? It’s not your usual way.’ Normally Ric let things develop naturally when he had a camera in his hand. He believed in fluidity and rarely got involved once the action was underway. Today, his direction had crossed that boundary and they both knew it.
‘Isn’t that what you wanted – me to show you some love?’
‘It wasn’t me you were loving.’
Ric flicked his hair away from his face. He lifted his beer and took a quick swig while watching Zach closely. ‘I must have imagined swallowing your come,’ he remarked.
‘You only did it in order to stop me having Kara, not because you wanted me. Couldn’t have me actually fucking her, could you? Not when she’s your precious new playmate.’
‘Zach. Hello.’ Ric snapped his fingers under Zach’s nose. ‘Are you suggesting what I think you are? That I acted out of jealousy? When have you ever known me to be jealous? It’s no skin off my nose if you want to fuck her.’
Just as well, since he already had, and he was going to make a point of doing so again at the first opportunity, like right after he left here.
‘I figured it wasn’t such a problem since you were quite happy to have her in front of me. That’s a bit of a turnaround from your position of yesterday, when you were demanding exclusivity. Would you prefer I’d left her wanting? You weren’t really in a position to satisfy her any more.’
‘Because of you,’ Zach growled. Prior to Ric stepping in, he’d been perfectly positioned to give Kara exactly what she’d been looking for. ‘You didn’t need to step in. You could have stayed back and kept taking pictures.’
Ric shook his head. ‘You’re talking such shit. I already told you that she’s angling for the three of us getting it on. I was just testing the waters, to see how you both reacted. I didn’t see any objections arising from either of you.’
‘I don’t want a threesome,’ Zach said. ‘I want you.’
‘And we’ve already had this discussion. I’m going back in.’ Ric turned around. He pushed open the stairwell door. ‘Follow when you’re finished being dumb.’
* * *
In the silence that followed Ric’s departure, Zach remained cocooned in his coat. Doubts still riddled his mind and brought a hint of bile to his tongue. What if Ric really was more interested in Kara than he was in him? What did he do then? Could he use that desire somehow, transform it into something else, so that he didn’t get left out? Maybe if he wasn’t asking Ric to come out as gay then he’d relax more of his guard. Then again maybe Ric was just fucking him about and he was allowing himself to be walked all over. Maybe what he ought to be doing was issuing ultimatums or proving to Ric that he really didn’t need to fuck anyone else.
The rage Zach had felt when he’d realised that Ric had sucked him purely to stop Kara having her way with him flared white-hot again. Agitated, he jumped up and began to pace. They needed to have this out properly. The problem was that Ric knew Zach’s threats were idle. He wouldn’t walk away. He couldn’t. He just didn’t want to.
There had to be some other way around the situation, but he was damned if he knew what it was.
Right now, he was going back to his van, where maybe, just maybe he’d find some clarity.
Zach got as far as the first turn in the stairs before he ran straight into Ric on his way back up. They glared hostilely at one another. ‘Why did you do it?’ Zach demanded. ‘Why did you need to rub it in my face that you fancy someone else?’
Ric mounted the next few steps so that they stood more on a level. ‘Why did you need to fuck her? That was never part of that shoot. What am I supposed to think, Zach? One minute your giving me the whole “let’s commit” spiel and then you’re all up for shagging Kara. Seems to me you’re not entirely sold on the notion of commitment yourself. It wasn’t the first time with her either, was it? When were you going to mention that? Fast work on your part, don’t you think, considering you only met a few hours after you told me we were done.’
Zach didn’t correct Ric’s assumption. Pinpointing the exact start of his relationship with Kara wasn’t relevant to the issues of the moment. He ran his tongue over his teeth instead. ‘Kara and I just happened to cross paths and hit it off.’
Ric’s blue-grey eyes narrowed, while his lips formed a thin line. ‘Doesn’t explain why you needed to make a repeat performance in front of me.’
‘Well, maybe I was trying to fucking provoke you.’ An irritating tingle filled Zach’s sinuses. He pinched the bridge of his nose hard. ‘Hell, it’d be nice to think you cared. It wasn’t why you stopped us, though. You proved that fast enough when you stuck your dick in her.’
‘She needed the release. It’d have been cruel not to oblige,’ Ric said.
‘Bullshit!’
‘Well, maybe if you hadn’t looked so irate, she might have stuck around and we all could have had some fun.’
That was it. He’d had enough. Ric just refused to see his point of view. It was like talking to one of the dopey Dalmatians that lay all day before the study hearth. Zach took a step forward, meaning to push past Ric and leave the building. Only Ric grabbed hold of him instead and shoved him up against the curved wall.
‘Do you want to know why I like Kara?’ he growled into Zach’s face. ‘It’s because she gets it, that’s why. She’s not constantly mithering me over whether I want to hold hands in public –’
‘I never –’
‘I don’t, OK. I don’t want to be your fucking boyfriend. I’m done with the whole partners routine. I’ve been there and still have the ring to prove it. I don’t see why we can’t be happy with things how they’ve been. What exactly is wrong with screwing each other senseless whenever we fancy, but not living in one another’s pockets?’
‘It’s not enough,’ Zach mumbled.
‘What?’
‘I said it’s not enough. I want more of a relationship than that. I want someone to be there for me.’
Ric’s eyes blazed with nervous intensity. His grip around Zach’s biceps relaxed a fraction. The smell and taste of wintergreen caught on Zach’s tongue, sharp and slightly minty, as if Ric had been gargling mouthwash. ‘In what way am I not there for you?’ Ric asked. ‘You know I’ll give you whatever you need.’ His lips closed on Zach’s mouth. ‘Whenever you need it.’
Damn, they were back on sex again. It was the bedrock of their relationship and, much as Zach cursed himself for it, he couldn’t resist. He really, really couldn’t resist. The tension in his muscles melted away as Ric’s soft lips moved against his. Slowly, steadily, the kiss became wetter. It incorporated a hint of tongue, grew deep and savage. All the while, Ric held Zach tight against the wall, their bodies pressed together from chest to thighs. He strained a little against the hold, but didn’t break it. In terms of pure brawn, he was more heavily built than Ric, though Ric was taller. The scrape of stubble caressed his chin.
Ric carefully released his grip on one arm. His hand moved down to Zach’s fly, though he hesitated before releasing the zip. ‘You really don’t need to be jealous.’
Maybe he did. Maybe he didn’t. The fact remained that he was. Even as Ric’s hand curled around Zach’s shaft, images of Ric and Kara fucking bled across his field of vision. It hurt. More than it ever had before.
Ric worked his cock with practised precision. He encompassed them both with one palm, so that their pricks were pressed together. It implied intimacy, but it was just an act. Zach couldn’t believe there was any heart behind it.
‘Turn around,’ Ric coaxed.
Zach did so. He fell on to his knees so that he was facing up the stairs and let Ric wrench his trousers down around his thighs. Within seconds Ric’s head lay on a level with Zach’s arse. His tongue nuzzled between Zach’s cheeks an
d performed a merry dance against his anus. Sweet! Such stimulation was always sweet and yet this time sour too. He groaned when Ric’s tongue delved inside a little way. There were too many nerve-endings in that region for him not to find pleasure in such exploration. Ric didn’t bother to prolong the warm-up by using his fingers first. They’d done this often enough that, in fairness, it probably wasn’t necessary. A little spit, a little lube and the promise of some fun were generally enough to relax him. Indeed, Ric slid inside him with minimal effort, right up to the hilt.
Zach pushed back, enjoying the sensation of having Ric’s balls pressed up tight to his perineum. This was the closest they ever got, both physically and emotionally. For several minutes, Ric held still and let Zach use him like he might a toy to work himself into a lather.
Nothing really felt the same as this, thought Zach. Fucking a woman was akin to being squeezed inside a hungry glove. It was fantastic but the focus of pleasure was all upon his cock. Being penetrated involved whole different sets of nerves. The apex wasn’t as acutely centred. His entire body seemed more involved in the act. Leastways it did until the pace built, and consequently so did the angle of assault. The shift was subtle but explosive. Red heat swam on the inside of his eyelids as the tip of Ric’s cock nudged up against Zach’s prostate. Sweat broke out across his body, and a keening wail rose from his throat.
‘Easy there.’ Ric shoved Zach’s jacket and shirt up towards his shoulders so that he could press his body tight to Zach’s bare skin. ‘Tell me when you’re almost there.’
Tell him because they were doing this bareback and Zach’s muscles would squeeze tight around Ric’s cock, milking him for all he was worth. Zach bit his lower lip, determined not to speak. Hell, yes! He wanted Ric to come inside him. He wanted Ric to lose control like that.
‘Zach,’ Ric purred. ‘Zach. Oh, God! You fucking stu– amazing fool.’ His words lapsed into a croon that Zach felt the vibrations of through his back. Just … another … thrust … or two and that was going to be it.
Hot streamers of joy flowed along the length of his cock. Zach jerked over and over as his seed shot from his body, while at the same time Ric came inside his arse. His orgasm lasted a good long while. When he was finally spent he rubbed his brow against his arm to dry the sweat. Ric continued to breathe sharply against his back for several seconds longer.
‘Don’t ever think that I want to give this up. Know that it isn’t true. Don’t let’s make Kara a wedge between us.’
Zach wondered how literally he meant it.
‘Come back to the studio. Let me take some more photographs. I love how you look just after sex.’
‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ Zach croaked with a parched voice. ‘It’s probably better if I leave.’
‘No. It’s not better if you leave. It’s better if you stay. Stay and we’ll do stuff together.’
Zach blinked back tears, afraid of what was being offered. He wasn’t going to be fooled into thinking Ric had somehow had a change of heart. He was just protecting his interests with a calculated show of compassion. Zach turned around, pulling his trousers up as he moved so that there was a layer of material between him and the stone steps. ‘I’m going to leave. I know when I’m being buttered up. Maybe we should spend some time apart and you can see if you really miss me.’
‘I miss you already.’
‘Prove that, by not shagging Kara.’
‘Zach, you know I’ll go stir crazy without sex.’
He gave Ric a cold, hard stare.
‘I promised I’d take some pictures round.’
Zach gave a sigh. ‘I’m gone. See you later.’
* * *
‘Shit!’ Ric knocked his head against the wall the moment he heard the front door slam. He didn’t want things to change. He liked the status quo, the freedom he had to do as he pleased without having to constantly attend to someone else’s feelings. He refused to be beholden to anybody. He’d been in that position before and didn’t want to go back. His life back then had been a mirage fuelled by alcohol and excess. He didn’t like to dwell on the type of excess. Suffice to say, if you named it he’d probably indulged in it.
Ric liked to believe he’d become a good deal smarter since Scarlett’s death. His old friends believed him grief-stricken, and humoured him as a recluse. They still bought his work, but, thank God, no longer considered him part of their set. For a while, he had wallowed in his loss; now it was altogether too easy to let people believe that’s what kept him on Liddell Island. It meant there was no pressure to return to the old ways.
Zach wasn’t exactly asking for that, but he was asking for more commitment than Ric cared to give. If he was as emotionally detached as Zach seemed to think, that wouldn’t have been a problem. He’d have simply cut Zach loose and found a new playmate. The truth was that he cared more than he liked to admit. Zach had been there for him since the dark days following the coroner’s report, when uncertainty had plagued him and caused his every act to be scrutinised. Death by misadventure might have been the final verdict, but folks had still questioned his involvement in his wife’s demise. Everyone except Zach, who never harangued him over his past.
Damn it, but he didn’t want to be shackled to someone in the way he’d been back then. Staying friends with benefits meant they skirted that pitfall.
There were other factors too. He didn’t want to be labelled as yet another gay photographer. His sexual preferences were irrelevant to his art. Besides, he wasn’t gay. He liked fucking both men and women.
Ric lifted his forehead out of the dint he felt he’d made in the stone wall. Visually, there was no appreciable difference in the stone. He guessed his head hurt more than the wall. So maybe he didn’t want them to officially hook up, but he didn’t want to completely piss Zach off either. He’d just have to consider it a challenge – the Stay Out Of Kara’s Pants Award. A week would involve a Herculean effort, but if it calmed things down … well, he could hope that it would stop Zach being so antsy. In the meantime, he’d stay home and work, so that he didn’t happen upon Kara by chance.
The dogs followed him as he padded into the kitchen. They wolfed down scraps of pork he threw to them as he made a sandwich. After he’d finished and wiped up all the crumbs, Ric made a fresh flask of coffee to take up to the studio. Loading the rest of the photographs on to his laptop took a matter of minutes; weeding them down to the usable images would take a whole lot longer.
He paused only a few shots into the task. So much for Zach swearing undying love, and all his damn accusations. The camera didn’t lie. Zach only had eyes for Kara, which meant his snit was definitely over the fact that he’d only gotten a hand job when he’d really wanted the full works.
Damn bastard had accused him of his own crime.
Ric clicked his way through more of the images as he mulled over that point. Had he been as possessive about Kara as Zach accused? No, of course not. He liked her; appreciated that she understood him. No strings, and fluid boundaries. He rarely encountered a woman like that. But that didn’t mean there had to be any depth to their relationship.
Ric stared at one particular shot of Zach and Kara. Zach’s head lay tilted back, his mouth partially open, though his expression was slightly out of focus. Kara leaned over him, lips plumped and equally hungry for a kiss. What she was doing with her hands wasn’t immediately apparent. Then again, it didn’t need to be. The chemistry leapt right off the screen. Any moment, Zach would reach up and slide his fingers into her blonde hair, then drag her on to his lap and envelop her in his embrace. For all its intensity, he might have captured that first moment of penetration, the one that always came as a shock no matter how many times you did it. The one that set the precedent for everything that came next. Damn, he needed them both back here so that he could try to capture that for real. Except they’d both left and he wasn’t about to see either of them again in a hurry.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The wind whipped Kar
a’s hair around her face as she scrambled over the seaweed-strewn rocks west of the Bunker. She’d come this way in order to avoid the main coastal path, where she’d recognised Robin from a distance by her flame-red hair.
Ever since she’d turned Robin away from her door, she’d sought to avoid another meeting. Robin had caught her off-guard that first day. Now, if there was one thing she wished to undo since landing on Liddell Island, it was encouraging that intimacy. Though she did wish she had someone to confide in who didn’t have quite such a salacious interest in the subject. Robin’s obsession with Ric crossed a whole lot of lines. The more she thought about it, the creepier it seemed.
Zach was avoiding her too. Although she’d trekked down to the Bunker daily to see him, Zach always contrived to be busy when she arrived. Three grunts she’d had out of him since Tuesday and that was it.
She had left Ric’s studio because she suspected the two men were going to row. Now she wished she’d stuck it out. At least then she’d have known the outcome, and what exactly the issue was.
She stopped to fish her phone out of the bottom of her bag. Maybe this wouldn’t be the wisest of moves, but she needed some answers. Within seconds she’d sent text messages to both Ric and Zach.
Do we need to talk? Drop round when you get a chance. Kxx
Much to her surprise, when she arrived home Ric’s two Dalmatians were tearing around her property and knocking over pots. Ric stood slouched under her porch, dressed in his ubiquitous black jeans and leather jacket combo. He’d pulled his long flaxen hair back into a ponytail today, which drew attention to the narrowness of his face.
‘That was quick,’ she said, walking up the path to greet him. The two dogs immediately bounded towards her.
Ric squinted uncertainly at her, using his expression to convey his unspoken ‘Huh?’
‘You got my text, I take it?’
He shook his head slowly only for his phone to beep inside his pocket. He pulled it out and hit ignore. ‘Horace, Toby, heel.’ The dogs changed direction mid-bounce and danced between Ric’s legs, almost knocking him over. ‘I was walking this way, so I brought you those pictures.’ He dug into the pocket of his tight jeans and pulled out a thumb drive. ‘Here … I picked out the best ones.’
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