Kate stared at Dom in surprise for a moment and then nodded before turning her attention to Trent. “Sorry about interrupting your dinner. And just a heads up, I think we’re going to start soon.”
“Wife?” Trent asked.
“That’s what it sounds like,” Kate added in a low voice. She gave Dom and Abe a last smile and waved at them before walking over to an area that looked set up for hair and makeup.
“She’s interesting,” Dom ventured when they were alone again.
Trent nodded. “Kate’s great. This is our third movie together, and she’s so easy to work with.”
When people started hustling around them, Trent sighed and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I’ve enjoyed this a lot. Maybe you two can hit the town with me once we wrap.”
Dom chuckled. “Sure. I know a few fun bars. Like to dance, Elrige?”
“I do, but I rarely do it in public. My lack of rhythm makes me look like a T-Rex doing the pee-pee dance.”
Dom snorted. “Thanks for that visual.”
Trent was quiet for a few moments as he stared hard at Abe. “I’m about to step over a boundary here, but I have some experience and I can tell you do, too.”
His serious tone made the hair on Abe’s neck stand up. “I do. Married my high school sweetheart who turned out to be not so sweet.”
The nod and smile on Trent’s face let him know the man got it more than he wanted to say. There was a twist of longing he understood. He wondered if he was bisexual, too. Wondered what that was like for someone like him. A lot of younger actors were coming out, but Trent looked around forty. He bet it was harder for those who’d been on the big screen so long.
Of course, he could have been reading what he wanted into the situation.
Trent cleared his throat and leaned over the table. “I’ve met a lot of people in this job. Been all over the world and seen a lot of couples. Met several with age differences larger than yours.” Something faint flitted through his expression, something a lot like sadness or loneliness. “Finding someone you really click with is rare. I’m of the opinion you grab on to something like that and hang on.”
Startled by his frankness, Abe couldn’t help but frown.
“I know. I’m being nosy.”
“Hella nosy,” Dom muttered.
The awkward conversation was thankfully thwarted by a frantic young man in a headset running up to their table. “You need to get to makeup now. Derek is on the warpath. Seems wifey number four was spotted somewhere not so…wifely.”
“You’re such a gossip, Fred,” Trent muttered, sounding truly annoyed. “I’m sure Derek appreciates you spreading that around so casually.” He waved his hand at Dom and Abe. “I have guests.”
The guy looked at Dom and gasped. “You’re the one from the video!” He dug his phone out of his pocket and clicked on the screen a few times, then held it out.
Abe read the title.
Who’s the Hot Ginger with Trent Elrige?
Dom’s startled gaze met Abe’s as the video played, and something in his expression sent alarm through Abe. He tore his gaze away to watch Dom kick a guy through a window in a crazy impressive move.
Trent grabbed the phone and held it up to his assistant. “Who the fuck took this?”
The poor guy paled. “I think it was the person who was going to interview you.”
Trent turned back to Abe and Dom. “I’m sorry about this. People will do anything for a buck these days, and my life is never left private. It’s the price of this job. But I’m sorry you got dragged into it, Dom.”
“I should have been more diligent,” Dom said, half under his breath.
“You were a little busy saving my life and showing off some sweet kickboxing moves. Did you see my expression in that video? I had no idea I’d hired Van Damme.” He laughed and waved off Fred, who seemed happy to escape. “I’ve got to run, but the part we’re filming in this city should be wrapped up soon. It’s going to be longer than I thought, but I’ll call when it’s done. Want to take me out and show me your fair city, gentlemen?”
Dom stood and held out his hand. “Will do.”
Abe shook his hand, too, still surprised how easy and fun the whole experience had been. As he and Dom headed back for their car, he was surprised by Dom’s somewhat grim mood. He remained quiet outside of asking Abe to come to his house for a beer. He had a feeling it was for a drink and a talk.
Dom seemed particularly vigilant as he parked in his driveway and led Abe into his house, his head swinging right and left. He also alarmed his security system fast, his hands shaking faintly, like he vibrated with some kind of nervous energy.
Prickles rushed along Abe’s skin because he got the distinct feeling Dom was protecting him and if that was the case, then something had him spooked.
“Beer?” Dom asked as he swept past him.
“Sure,” Abe murmured, following him into the kitchen, which Dom had remodeled with dark gray cabinets and black appliances. He stared hard until those pretty green eyes met his over the open refrigerator door. He tried to read what was wrong because he had the strongest feeling it had nothing to do with the personal situation between them. “You okay, Dominic?”
His shoulders deflated for a moment before he gave Abe one of the sweetest smiles he’d seen on that face. “Yeah, I’m fine. I have some things on my mind. Tell you what, with that slight cool front that moved in tonight, why don’t we enjoy these outside?” Dom asked as he shut the door, two bottles in his hand. “I have something really special to show you.”
Abe rolled his eyes at the slight return of innuendo as he let himself onto Dom’s back deck. Dom had told him before that the house had actually been built in the early 1900s, and he’d kept all the original white brick, including this archway that led to the modern deck. He smiled when he spotted chaise lounge chairs at the back of the property past some trees.
Dom followed as he walked down the stairs to the grass. Abe looked around with appreciation at the midsized backyard. “You have a lot of nice, old trees back here,” Abe murmured, stroking his hand down the bark of a sycamore. “This one is massive. Does the bark turn white in winter?”
“It does. These offer great shade in the summer, but keep walking underneath to the chaises.”
When they reached that spot in the yard, Dom pointed up.
Abe lifted his gaze and sucked in a breath at the clear spot of sky with hundreds of twinkling stars.
“I have no idea why this particular patch of sky is this flawless, why none of the pollution or city lights seem to affect it, but it was a nice surprise after I bought the place. I come out here at night all the time. It’s my favorite spot to relax.”
“I wondered why these lounge chairs were set so far from your house, but now I get it.” Abe took a beer and settled in one of the chairs, his large chest dwarfing it. “Join me?” He waved his hand at the other chaise.
Dom stretched out, and they were silent for a few moments.
Abe took a deep breath of the air, which was still warm but carried a faint coolness now that felt good in his lungs. He relaxed and let himself soak in the stars.
“Abe?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re frustrating me to death.”
“I know,” Abe answered, his voice hushed. He rolled his head on the chaise to stare at the man who had taken up so much space in his head. Moonlight sharpened the lighter strands in his auburn hair and shone on his face. The need in his gaze did what it always did to Abe—made his breath catch and his heart pound.
Dom looked away, taking a swig of his beer and looking back up at the stars. “I don’t understand, to tell you the truth. I don’t know what to ask. What to say. I can tell you want me.”
“I do.”
“And?” He sat up and swung his legs to the side of the chaise to face Abe. “It can’t be all about the age thing, Abe. What has you so spooked? Can’t you tell there’s something big here? Is it because I’m male?”
>
“Are you asking if I have a problem being attracted to a man? Because that’s not it. I’ve known I was bisexual since middle school.”
“Oh.” He looked down at his beer.
Fuck. He needed to just open his mouth because he was hurting the man when all he wanted was to not get hurt himself. Patricia did a number on his heart and it may have been years ago, but that kind of soul-deep pain left a mark, one he wasn’t ready to share yet. And the other reason was humiliating, but Dom deserved more.
Abe took another deep breath and this one didn’t feel as good, because his stomach started to churn. “I’ve never been with a man, Dom. Never even kissed one.”
That made Dom’s head whip up. “What? At all? I mean, I suspected your experience was limited, but nothing?”
“You heard me,” Abe said quietly, closing his fingers tight around the cool beer bottle. “I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing when it comes to men.” He sat up. “I met Patricia when I was young, and it was so hot with us, I never looked at anyone else. After she left me, I hooked up a few times, but that was always with women. Each time, I was left feeling empty…and I don’t know. I just didn’t like how I felt afterward. I figured out casual sex wasn’t for me.”
“I’ve never said I was interested in just a hookup.”
“No, but you like to have a good time, and you like it with variety. You told me that yourself the first weekend we met.”
“That was true then,” Dom said with a little groan. “But things change. People change. I really like you.”
Abe sighed. “Dom, I really like you, too and love having you as a friend. Hell, I don’t have a lot of friends outside of my son and Quinn. I don’t want to fuck this up. So not only do I have trouble having casual sex, and especially with someone I like so much, I’m…” He cleared his throat and chuckled. “I have no idea what the fuck to do.”
Dom looked…flummoxed. Abe didn’t blame him.
“I know, crazy, huh?” Abe set his beer down on the ground and ran both hands through his hair. “I’m forty-nine years old, and I feel like a bumbling teenage virgin.”
“But you…” Dom released a nervous laugh. “You split up with her twenty years ago. You’re saying in all that time, you never even tried anything with a man?”
“Not even a kiss. I’ve had sex with women, but it wasn’t a priority. Some of my hesitance was due to how I let things go with my ex, but some was because of the financial crash in 2008. I spent years focused on digging myself out of a hole. Sex just wasn’t something I felt I needed to focus on. When I got the itch, I went with what I knew.”
“Why?”
“I love the expression on your face.” Abe laughed. “Women are great, Dom. But you’re attracted to only men, so you can’t see how I resisted, right?”
“Pretty much.”
He stared, his palms sweaty again because this had suddenly become so important. Dom wasn’t some hookup to experiment with, and he needed to be honest. Needed to make sure Dom didn’t think that was what he was doing here. “Ever avoid doing something because you don’t know how to do it?”
“You have a dick, Abe. You know what feels good.” Dom stood.
“Yeah, I do,” he breathed as he got out of the chair. This was it. Maybe Dom wouldn’t end up being the permanent partner he was interested in, but he was tired of fighting this.
Anticipation and nerves buzzed inside every inch of his body, and he suddenly didn’t care about the difference in their ages or whether Dom’s body was eons better than his own. He just wanted his fucking hands on him. He pulled Dom close, noting that the man had started to slightly pant already as Dom’s eyes roamed his face.
“Fucking finally,” Dom muttered as Abe took his mouth. He also grabbed the back of Abe’s neck with one hand and held him so tight, Abe couldn’t have pulled away even if he wanted to.
And he certainly did not want to.
His dick grew rock hard with the first touch of Dom’s lips, and all worries about knowledge or fumbling instantly evaporated because all he could think about was how Dom felt. How he tasted. His lips, softer than Abe had expected, felt so damn good on his and he ran his tongue along the seam between them. Dom opened immediately to let him in, but he was no passive participant on this ride. He brought his tongue out to play, and the sensual glide of it made Abe groan in the back of his throat.
That noise seemed to do something to Dom, because he gasped and let go of Abe’s neck to grab his hips, yanking him close.
His blood rushed so fast through his veins, he felt dizzy. Need clawed at him and he cupped the sides of Dom’s face and deepened the kiss, greedy for every taste he could find in the man’s mouth. The whiskers were a new sensation, prickly around his mouth, and he loved it. As much as he loved the hard body pressing to his. Dom’s cock felt like a pipe against him, and he couldn’t stop himself from shifting just enough to rub his own against it.
Dom gasped into his mouth again. “Yes,” he breathed, digging his fingers into Abe’s hips, grinding into him.
He’d only meant to kiss him—to see if the spark he’d felt from the beginning translated through actual touch. But this? This was insane. He hadn’t felt desire like this in longer than he could remember. Had possibly never felt anything like this—and his relationship with his wife had been passionate. But he didn’t want to think about her. He and Dominic had been dancing around this elephant for months.
He needed to touch his skin and didn’t think as he ran his hands up under Dom’s T-shirt.
With the first touch of skin on skin, Dom lifted his mouth and turned his face so their cheeks were together, panting so hard, his words came out more as puffs of air. “I. Knew. It. Had a feeling.”
Abe couldn’t talk. He moved his lips down to softly bite Dom’s jaw, then brought up one hand to thread his fingers through Dom’s hair, pulling him back and baring his neck. He kissed and licked his neck, while he ran his fingertips over Dom’s side, exploring muscles and silky skin.
If he’d ever wondered if a man would turn him on fully, he did no more. He was burning up and just touching the smooth, warm flesh of Dom’s abdomen made him shake.
“Damn. There’s not an ounce of fat on your body.” He brought his mouth up to kiss Dom again. “I like your skin, Dominic.”
“I like your everything,” Dom growled, taking over the kiss with a strong thrust of his tongue.
Abe had never been kissed quite like this, and the power of it went to his head again. When he had to pull back to breathe, he whispered. “You haven’t seen my everything.”
“I’ve looked at you enough to know what’s under those clothes, and I love everything I’ve imagined. I also know it won’t compare to the real thing.” He bit Abe’s bottom lip, sucked it into his mouth, then let it go with a tiny pop. Then he wrapped his arms tight around Abe and just held on. He buried his face in Abe’s neck. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, and I’m positive I’ve lost my mind, but we need to slow this down.”
Shock zipped through him. “You’ve been pushing for this for months.” Dom squeezed him tighter. God, the man felt good against him.
“I know. Now I’m scared. So, we’re going to have to take this slow. Fuck, Abe, what if we have sex and you find you hate it? I think maybe…I think maybe I wouldn’t handle that so well.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen. Trust me. I’ll more than likely embarrass myself with how long I’ve been holding this in, but I’ll like it. I’ll like everything.”
“Don’t worry. We are definitely not done yet.” Dom kissed his neck, pulled back and pressed a long, soft kiss to his lips. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.”
“I’ll just grab a cab.”
“Nah, I want to take you home and kiss you on your doorstep like a proper date.”
Abe held his breath because it felt like he was standing on the edge of a cliff that was so tall, he couldn’t see the ground. Was he really going to do this? It wouldn’t be pe
rmanent—couldn’t be—but what if he did ride this out? Enjoy Dom’s company as a friend and a lover and maybe…just maybe some of the wild restlessness that had been tearing him up lately would ease.
He threaded his fingers with Dom’s and didn’t let go as Dom walked them back through the house and grabbed his keys off a hardback book on Russell Square on the table next to his front door. He turned off his security system to reset it.
They walked out onto the front porch and Abe let go when Dom went perfectly still, perfectly stiff. Abe followed his gaze to find something on Dom’s front door. Chalk figures had been drawn across the surface.
Dom moved behind him to the edge of the front deck, his body coiled with tension and alert as he looked around his front yard and driveway. “Let’s get you home, Abe.” His voice was so tight, the words came out clipped.
“What the hell?” Abe pulled out his cell to snap a picture, but before he could Dom came back and smeared his hand across the chalk. “Why’d you do that?”
“Neighborhood kids think they’re funny.” Dom shrugged, but it was anything but casual. “I’ll clean it off when I get home.”
Dom was lying. And lying wasn’t something he did—Abe knew this on a fundamental level he couldn’t explain. But he decided to let it go for now. When Dom looked away, he snapped a quick picture with his phone of what remained. He had the strongest feeling that message or whatever it was had nothing to do with kids, because it had Dom spooked.
And a spooked Dom worried him.
Chapter Five
Lightning streaked across the dark sky, followed by a deep roll of thunder. Dom picked up his pace down the sidewalk, hands fisted at his sides. He wanted to get inside this next club before the rain broke free. The summer air had been thick and humid earlier in the day; then it had cooled before a brisk wind had picked up. A storm was about to dump buckets of water on the city.
Red neon lit the night, shining the name Jubilee. It would make his third club of the night, but he had a feeling that he’d get lucky with this one. Jubilee had opened a little more than a year ago, but the owner refused to pay for a decent security staff. The place had turned into a gun and knife club in a matter of weeks. Fights broke out regularly, and the place had been featured on the news several times due to violence that occurred in or around it.
Sadistic Sherlock (Ward Security Book 4) Page 5
