Sure enough, a streak of red flew by the window before circling back. A second later, Ignite landed on his balcony. He was in his bright red suit so he must have been out patrolling. Nick Lin, otherwise known as Ignite, strolled in from the balcony, pushing the half-mask he wore back into his thick, wind-ruffled black hair.
“I have a front door,” Jordan said.
“If you wanted me to use it you wouldn’t have opened the balcony,” Nick shot back with barely a glance at Jordan. He was too busy smiling down at Danny. “Hi there, Sunshine. I’m Ignite.”
“I’m Danny. Nice to meet you, Ignite.”
Jordan knew that Nick was a tease and would never actually disrespect a friend by hitting on their partner. That didn’t stop him from bristling as the other man flirted with his Danny. “Don’t try to dazzle him Flame Boy. He’s taken.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Nick said. But he grasped Danny’s fingers and leaned down to drop a kiss on the back of his hand. “How can I help?”
“Danny is an artist and he has an overzealous fan who’s obsessed with you. He’s harassing Danny on his social media, insisting that he draw more Ignite artwork.”
“Really? Let me see.”
Danny held his phone out to show Ignite the latest tweets. After giving Ignite time to read them, he pulled the phone back and tapped the screen a few more times. “And this is his feed.”
Ignite’s eyebrows shot up. “Wow. He is obsessed.” He took the phone from Danny and scrolled himself. “Damn near every tweet is about me.”
“Yeah. He’s starting to scare Danny, and you know how fast these things can go south. Can you shut him down before it gets any worse? You’ve got an official Ignite account, right?”
“I do. Some of us don’t brood twenty-four-seven and actually like interacting with the people we help.”
“Hey,” Danny piped up. “Leave him alone. I like that he’s private and broody.”
Ignite looked down at Danny. “You know I can fry you to a crisp by snapping my fingers, right?”
Danny popped both hands on his hips and glared up at Ignite. “I know Blaze would be on you before you even raised your hand.”
Ignite threw back his head and laughed. “I like you.” He turned to Jordan, still smiling. “Give me your phone. It’s secure, right?”
“Locked down tighter than Fort Knox.”
“Which Agent Cryo has broken into twice but I’ll ignore that,” Ignite murmured as he typed with both thumbs. After a moment, he stopped, looked over whatever he’d typed, tapped a few more times, then hit the screen once with his thumb. “Done. I replied to one of his tweets to you so you should be getting a notification right about...” Danny’s phone dinged. “Now.”
Danny raised his phone to read aloud. “Hey, Chuck this is Ignite but of course you already know that because you can see that little blue check next to my name. I’m glad you like Danny’s art of me so much, but cut the kid some slack. As awesome as I am, I understand that he might want to give the other superheroes a chance to shine too. Be cool, admire his art but ease up on the pressure okay? Appreciate it, Chuck. Your fave superhero, Ignite.”
“Sounds good,” Jordan said with a nod. “He should listen to you since he likes you so damn much. I don’t want to get involved in this if I don’t have to.”
“I’m sure your method to get him to back off would include more than a few tweets.”
Jordan looked at Danny. He was biting his thumb nail, stressed and worried over some fucker harassing him online. “There’d definitely be a few broken bones involved.”
He looked back at Ignite to see the superhero watching him with a speculative grin.
“What?” he growled.
“Nothing.”
Jordan glared, until both Danny and Ignite’s phones dinged simultaneously, drawing everyone’s attention.
Danny closed his eyes, the strained frown lines deepening on his forehead. “I hope it worked.” He opened his eyes and checked the notification. The tenseness almost immediately went out of his shoulders as he read the tweet aloud to Jordan and Ignite. “Sure thing, Ignite! I’m sorry I got too excited. I just love you so much. Thank you for noticing me and replying. Then there’s a bunch of flame and heart emojis.” He looked up, the frown lines gone from his forehead and dark eyes shining with relief. “It worked!” Danny sprang forward and gave Ignite a quick hug. “Thank you!”
“No problem. Happy to help.”
Ignite had barely returned the hug when Danny spun away and leaped up to throw his arms around Jordan’s neck. Jordan caught him, holding on as Danny’s legs wrapped around his waist.
“Thank you so much,” he said as he dropped kisses all over Jordan’s face.
“You’re welcome.”
Ignite cleared his throat. “Well, I can see that my presence is no longer necessary.” He drifted up into the air and flew across the living room. At the French doors he turned back. “Let me know if they renege on their word.” Ignite saluted them both with a little wave. He floated backward through the balcony doors then took off into the night sky.
“That was so awesome of him to come and help,” Danny said once Ignite was gone.
Still holding Danny, Jordan went over and closed the glass paned doors. “He’s a smart ass but a good guy.”
“He smells like cinnamon. Or Big Red gum. Do all you superheroes have a unique scent?”
“I never thought about it. What do I smell like?” he asked with genuine curiosity.
“Like leather and sex.”
“Sex?” Jordan asked with a raised brow. “I don’t think anyone likes the smell of dried jizz.”
Danny laughed, the sound pure and happy and relaxed now that the problem with his cyber harasser had been resolved. “Not dried jizz, silly. You know, that warm smell when you’re hot and aroused and just a little bit sweaty.”
“I don’t think anyone else is going to smell that on me.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not aroused around them.”
Danny pointed at his chest, a coy smile teasing his lips. “Only me?”
“Only you.”
“You know, the apartment hasn’t warmed up yet. Are you still going to keep me warm?”
Jordan was already carrying him back to the bedroom when he answered. “Absolutely.”
***
When Danny returned to his place the next day, he was still buzzing with happiness that the Ignite stan had been taken care of. He’d been so full of positive energy, he’d dragged Scott into his work room, sat him down, and helped him with a task the other man had been avoiding, setting up a website to showcase his cosplay and list of services. Scott had offered to make him a custom fetish piece as a thank you. Excited, Danny had quickly sketched out what he wanted.
Now, the house was quiet and he had the latest episode of his favorite true crime podcast playing on his phone while he worked. When the story ended and the hosts signed off, he picked up his phone to check his notifications. There was nothing out of the ordinary in his mentions. Ignite’s super fan had apparently taken the warning to heart.
The past few days, he hadn’t done much more than like the sketches Danny posted of various superheroes and retweet some of his old Ignite art. The guy had been an absolute asshole and Danny was glad Ignite had been able to turn him around before the thing between them turned into an ugly pile on and flame war.
He’d started scrolling for a new podcast episode to listen to for the rest of his work night when someone knocked at the window. Danny looked up in surprise. His room was on the second floor, and although the little balcony outside his window could bear weight, there was no way to access it from the ground. Then he remembered. He was dating a superhero who could literally leap onto buildings.
Smiling, he got up and went over to the window. He could just make out Blaze crouched on the railing of the stone balcony. Danny raised the window, leaning out on the sill. “Hello.”
Blaze’s low
, growly voice floated across the warm night air.
“Hey, baby.” Blaze stepped down from the railing, as big and graceful as a mountain lion. “Wanted to see you for a few minutes before I went to work.”
“I’m glad you did. I missed you today.”
“Yeah?”
“Mmm-hmmm.”
“Come out here and show me how much.”
Danny climbed through the window onto the small balcony. There was just enough room for him to stand toe to toe with Jordan. He braced his hands on the lightning logo on his hero’s chest and raised up on his tiptoes. Jordan took care of the rest. A leather gloved hand wrapped around the back of Danny’s neck and Jordan leaned down, taking his mouth in a deep, passionate kiss. Jordan shifted, causing Danny to tilt off balance but he didn’t worry for even a second, trusting his boyfriend to keep him steady. Sure enough, Jordan’s other arm went around his waist, pulling him in tight and keeping him from falling over.
The kiss gentled before gradually ending. Danny settled on his feet and leaned back to look up at Jordan. Reminiscent of the first time they’d met, he couldn’t see his lover’s eyes. But he didn’t need to see them to know they were a clear golden brown and filled with passion for him. “I can’t believe I’m kissing my very own superhero, on my balcony, in the moonlight. No one would believe me if I told them.”
“Does it bother you that you can’t tell anyone?”
“Nope,” Danny answered shaking his head. “I love sharing this secret with you.” He smoothed his hands over leather covered shoulders. “And I’d love to be with you in this suit.”
“Is that right?”
Danny nodded. “Mmm-hmmm.”
“I might be able to arrange it. I know a guy.”
Danny snorted a laugh. “You are the guy.”
“True,” Blaze answered with a slight grin.
“My guy.”
Jordan growled in that possessive way that made Danny blush and press close against him. He lifted his chin and Jordan honored his silent request for more toe-curling kisses. This time Jordan cupped his cheek and brushed a thumb over his lips when the kiss ended. Danny brought both hands up to wrap around his lover’s thick wrist, leaning into the touch.
“I hate to leave but-.”
“But you’ve got to go and kick criminal ass.” He pressed a kiss to Jordan’s thumb then let him go. “Be safe.”
“I will.”
They shared one last quick kiss before Blaze hopped up onto the railing and leaped away into the darkness. Danny saw a shadow, darker than the others, moving swiftly across the side lawn before it disappeared from sight. With a content sigh, he climbed back into his room, closed the window and went back to his desk, feeling giddy and happy and in love.
Wait.
Love? Danny stopped and turned back to the window as if the darkness outside had answers for him. Love? Did he love Jordan? He hadn’t really thought about it before. He knew that he loved spending time with him. And loved when he made him smile. And he loved their intimacy. And he loved the way Jordan took care of him as his boyfriend and as his Dom. Well, then, maybe... maybe he did love Jordan. He tried saying it out loud.
“I love Jordan.” Hearing it set a thousand butterflies loose in his stomach. He squeezed his arms around his middle and repeated the words. “I love Jordan.” More happy butterflies. “Oh my god, I do. I love Jordan!”
Danny needed an outlet for all of the happy flooding his heart. Since Jordan wasn’t there for him to tell him how he felt, he grabbed his tablet and plopped down into his desk chair to draw out his feelings. He drew them as they’d been at the window when Blaze first arrived. Blaze crouched on the balcony, him leaning on the window sill, smiling up at the hero.
Too giddy to care that he was being silly, he drew hearts floating over his head, and a speech bubble with I love you inside. He didn’t give Blaze a speech bubble because he didn’t know how the other man felt, and he didn’t want to put words in his mouth. Besides, the first time he experienced those three little words coming from him he wanted it to be Jordan speaking them, not black lines on a screen.
He finished off the doodle with moonlight and sparkling stars and doves flying, although he was pretty sure doves didn’t fly at night. Danny put the pen down to admire his work. It was perfect. Never to be shared of course. He saved it to the cloud in his private art file where it would be safe. Then too keyed up to sleep, he picked a documentary from his Netflix que and settled back in bed to watch.
Chapter Fourteen
A
few nights later, Danny was on the exercise bike, pedaling his heart out to an old school pop playlist playing on his phone, when a beep momentarily interrupted the music. He glanced down at the cell. There was a text message but it wasn’t from a number he recognized. In fact, it didn’t even look like a phone number. Danny frowned down at his phone, trying to figure out what the random mix of symbols on his screen meant. He slowed down and opened the text, half expecting it to be a message claiming he’d won money in a foreign sweepstakes. The actual message surprised him but didn’t clear up his confusion.
Tonight. Corner of 8th and Pine. 8:30. Don’t be late.
Who the heck was this from? He didn’t have plans with anyone tonight. He’d started typing, wrong number, when another message popped up.
Blaze wants to see you.
Oh! This was it. Jordan was going to give him what he’d asked for. A night with Blaze. He quickly erased his initial response and texted back that he would be there. Then he jumped off the bike and rushed around to get ready. Showered, prepped his body, brushed his hair, moisturized. When it came time to pick out his clothes, he quickly decided on a pair of tight black jeans and a crop top t-shirt.
He was debating the best way to get down to the address Jordan gave — drive, train or Uber — when his phone pinged again. An Uber had been ordered for him and would be arriving in twenty minutes. Danny smiled. His Dom thought of everything.
On the drive down, his driver was chatty, which worked for Danny and his nervous energy. When they reached the address Jordan had entered into the Uber app, the driver looked at him over her shoulder with a frown.
“Are you sure you want to be let out here? Looks kind of rough.”
“I’m sure. I’m meeting someone.”
She still looked hesitant.
“Do you want me to wait and make sure they show up?”
At that moment, headlights flared bright at the other end of the street. Danny recognized the distinctive shape of Blaze’s Challenger. “No. They’re right on time.” Danny thanked the driver for the ride and her concern, and stepped out onto the sidewalk.
The Uber pulled off and Danny started walking in the opposite direction of the idling car. Tires screeched on pavement and a second later, the Challenger roared up beside him in a billow of smoke. Danny’s startled reaction wasn’t fake when he jumped back from the curb.
Blaze got out of the car. He left it running, walking around the hood to join Danny on the sidewalk. Danny stopped and watched him approach. Damn, he was hot. His leathers looked soft and clean, stretched tight over firm muscles.
“You shouldn’t be out here alone,” Blaze said.
Danny slowly licked his lips. “Why not?”
“It’s dangerous.”
He moved in close, his wide shoulders eclipsing the glow of the streetlight behind him, forcing Danny to tilt his head back in order to keep looking at him. Blaze was so big. At the reminder of the vast size difference between them, primal lust pooled low in Danny’s belly, tingling in his fingertips.
“A gorgeous thing like you would tempt anybody to snatch you off the streets to keep for themselves.”
“I don’t want to be kidnapped,” Danny whispered softly.
“Come with me then. I’ll keep you safe.”
Danny was nodding before Blaze finished talking. He hoped he wouldn’t have been this easy if Blaze had told him to come with him that first night. “Okay.”
Blaze walked back to his car, heading to the passenger side. Danny followed, his lust rising even higher as he watched that big body move so fluidly in all that leather.
Blaze held the door open. “Get in,” he growled dark and low.
Danny dropped down into the seat. He knew it was Jordan behind the mask but right now it was Blaze growling at him, ordering him around. And that was so hot, it had him hard behind his tight jeans. He shifted in the seat, spreading his legs a little to give his dick some breathing room.
Blaze leaned into the car to buckle him in. His hand brushed high on Danny’s thigh, nearly touching his erection. The zip of the seat belt should have covered Danny’s quiet gasp. But Blaze was so close, he heard him. He turned his head and their eyes locked in the small space.
His heart pounding, Danny waited for Blaze to say something, or touch him, or kiss him. But he didn’t do any of those things. He only ran his eyes from Danny’s still parted lips down to his lap where his hard-on was plainly visible behind his jeans, before straightening from the car and closing the door.
They didn’t talk on the ride to Blaze’s lair. He’d made this trip once before but he still gasped in surprise when the street opened up for them to go below ground, and his toes clenched in his Chucks as they rocketed toward the steel door.
Inside the lair, Blaze stopped the car and got out. Danny sat there, heart pounding from both the adrenaline of that wild car ride, and in anticipation for what was to come next. He stepped out when Blaze opened the door for him.
Danny had been down here a few times but he stayed in character, wandering around as if he’d never seen it before. “What’s this?” he asked as he walked up to the long, L-shaped desk holding multiple computers, TV screens, and police scanners.
“That’s where I track criminal activity.”
“I thought you just drove around until you saw a crime happening.”
“I do that too.”
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