“It’s okay.” Michael leaned into him.
“No. It’s not. Especially not when you paid for such a swift turnaround.” He smiled a little and rested his cheek against those bright red curls. “Regardless, yes. Father is making his own maneuvers and I cannot even guess at what they are or why he is taking the steps he is.”
“Right.” Michael’s voice was thick, guttural, as his mind spread itself between the conversation and Frederick’s touch. “So how’re you gonna find out whether he did it? Killed your mom, I mean?”
“Ah.” Frederick withdrew with some reluctance so that he could make eye contact again. “A hitherto unforeseen factor has entered the playing field.”
Michael tipped his head back. His eyes flit back and forth as he searched Frederick’s face, then he inhaled quickly. “Laurence?”
“Laurence,” Frederick purred. “He is able to see the past and the future. His gift, among others, is that he can see events which have long passed.”
“Oh shit!”
A dozen ramifications hit Michael at once.
Oh fuck, he can see how your mom died.
And anything else.
Like everything I did to him.
“Laurence has to want to look,” Frederick murmured. “It is a gift he must use. Therefore if he is not given cause to go looking for something, he will not find it. But I do not wish to give him cause to see you here, or to discover any of our conversations. I certainly don’t wish for him to find out what it is that I can do outside of controlled circumstances.”
“Why?”
“Because once Icky finds out, it can never be undone. And if Father ever finds out, he will view me as a tool and do everything in his power to use me more than he already does. Plus if Father is willing and able to kill, what chance do I stand against him?” He frowned. “I’m not the heir apparent. I’m just the spare. I am eminently disposable so far as he is concerned.”
That news sent a spike of fear through Michael. The very idea that Frederick could be hurt caused genuine upset in the poor fellow.
“Did he try something the other day? Was that what caused your aura?”
He shook his head. “No, that was something unrelated. I pushed myself too hard. I thought I’d managed to stop before there would be repercussions, but I was wrong.”
Huh?
Frederick pursed his lips. “Invading minds around me is nothing difficult, nor wearying. I could do it all day, every day, and suffer no deleterious effects. But for longer distances it helps incredibly if I know the person I am reaching, and when I do not know that person I require some means of targeting them. The other day I used an international telephone connection to invade not one, but two different unknown minds, approximately a quarter of the entire planet away. Had I been in London it would have been considerably less strain and I would have been able to engage more finesse. If I had remained much longer I would have endured a full migraine. Thankfully all I had to deal with was the aura.”
Michael winced. “That wasn’t a full migraine? But you were down for hours!”
“A migraine would take me out for days,” Frederick muttered. “I cannot afford one at this juncture, but I had little choice to do what I had to.”
Michael narrowed his eyes at that. “What was so important that you’d do that to yourself? You could’ve been seriously hurt, or screwed up all your plans, and be totally defenseless for days!”
The flood of concern which came with Michael’s words was surprisingly touching. As much as Michael steering him safely up to bed once the worst of his aura had passed, if not more so.
Michael was genuinely worried for his well-being.
That was an event as unexpected as Frederick’s own feelings for the American. As though his life were not already complicated enough, he had to go get involved on an emotional level with someone who he should never even have met, and he had no one to blame but himself.
He pursed his lips, then sighed. “I wished to initiate the purchase of a house whose owner is in Russia. The house is in La Jolla.”
The look on Michael’s face was almost comical. Frederick waited while he tried to jam a house purchase into all the information Frederick had given him so far, but came up empty.
“How is that—”
“It isn’t. Well, no more than tangentially. You see, I told the truth when I said that things were complicated and required a considerable amount of time to explain.” He grinned and leaned in again to whisper against Michael’s ear. “Thank you for looking after me.”
Michael’s thoughts scattered like leaves on the wind. Excitement chased away confusion, and his chest rose quickly. “I couldn’t just leave you like that.”
“I appreciate it.” He allowed his lips to lightly press against Michael’s earlobe. “Would you like me to show you how much?”
Wait, we’re still in my head, right? Yeah. Yeah, we must be, or he wouldn’t be doing this, so it’s okay.
Michael cleared his throat, then affected a casual shrug which absolutely did not match his thoughts. “Sure.”
Frederick laughed and sucked the earlobe into his mouth, then drew on it gently as his tongue caressed the edge of the soft flesh. It was all in his head, of course, but the majority of the fun came from the fact that it was also in Michael’s head, and Michael’s responses were like little jolts of electricity as his synapses began to fire more enthusiastically.
Oh God, if this is what you call playing, go right ahead!
His hands curled into fists, taking up the material of Michael’s shirt, and he pulled it up until bare flesh was exposed. Every passing second, he absorbed Michael’s reactions and responded to them.
It was simplicity itself to ensure that any sexual partner had the most memorable sex of their lives, but Michael was — to his immediate recollection — the first who had earned such close attention to detail. Frederick ran imaginary fingers over illusory skin and resolved to do all of this for real as soon as possible.
But for now, this would do nicely.
30
MIKEY
It was impossible to figure out what was real any more. He tried for a while to determine whether Frederick’s hands were really on his flesh, because it really felt like they’d come out of his head and gone back to reality, but there came a point when it just didn’t matter any more, and that point was the second Frederick’s warm hand wrapped around his cock.
Mikey’s thighs trembled, but he couldn’t get into a better position with Frederick between them the way he was. All he could do to steady himself was drop his hands to the back of the couch his ass was propped against and hold on tight.
Frederick didn’t give him a whole lot of time to worry about it, though. Every little thing his hand did was amazing, like he knew exactly what Mikey liked.
Duh. Of course he does. He’s in my head.
While he’s jerking me off.
Shit that’s hot.
He whimpered and brought his head up, only to be caught like a deer in headlights before those cold gray eyes.
Frederick’s lips spread into a smile that bordered on cruel, and he brought his left hand up to place around Mikey’s throat. His fingers gripped without digging in, and his palm didn’t cut off Mikey’s air at all, but it felt so goddamn possessive.
He was held fast in Frederick’s hands, like the guy owned him, and his cock thrummed until it was so hard he thought it could burst.
“Oh fuck,” he gasped. “Oh fuck, I’m gonna go. I can’t hold it!”
“I don’t expect you to,” Frederick murmured. “I’m not going to all this effort for you to not come.”
Somehow that just shoved him closer to the edge. Frederick was handling him with expertise, but with a distance which made his message more than clear: I’m doing this to you. You’re at my mercy, but I am not at yours.
Mikey gasped like he was drowning, and Frederick’s expression softened as he nodded.
“Fuck!” He bucked in Freder
ick’s dual grip as the pressure flew right past the point of no return, then it was on him, crashing like a tidal wave, scraping through his veins and making his whole world white out.
He felt the jackhammer of his heartbeat in every fiber of his being. His cock jerked and spat and with every throb, the desperate need inside him was given just a bit more to soothe it. The fire in his gut was extinguished, and he sagged weakly, forgetting for that exact moment that there was nothing behind him to hold him in place.
And then there was.
Frederick released his throat and coiled an arm across his back. It was like being wrapped in steel, and it kept him from falling. Mikey gasped like a landed fish and tried to lift his hands to at least touch Frederick’s arms, but he was weak as hell, and it was all he could do to keep his eyes open.
The last thing he expected was for Frederick to kiss him. He didn’t know why. He figured somewhere in the back of his head Frederick wasn’t a kissy kinda guy, so when lips pressed against his own he half suspected he’d already dozed off and was dreaming the whole thing, but no.
His mouth was every bit as demanding as his hands, but that was okay. Hell, it was more than okay.
Mikey smiled weakly into the kiss and finally managed to lift his arms enough to wrap loosely around Frederick’s waist. “God,” he breathed. “You can do that again whenever you want.”
Frederick chuckled. “Yes. I can.”
“You’re such an asshole.”
“You wouldn’t have it any way.”
Mikey laughed a little, and finally gave in to the need to close his eyes. Just for a minute.
HE BLINKED HIS EYES OPEN.
How long had he been out? It was just a few seconds, right?
So why was he on the couch now?
Mikey rubbed his face and looked down at himself. There wasn’t any sign of mess. His clothes weren’t even out of place.
Frederick was back by the laptop, but looked over at him the moment Mikey looked in his direction.
“Are we…?”
“Still in your mind.” Frederick grinned. “You’ve only nodded off for a minute, you’re quite all right.”
“So really I’m still sitting over there in that chair next to you?” Mikey nodded to it.
“That’s correct. I could move you, but I see little point.”
Mikey licked his lips slowly. “Are you basically sitting in my mind pretending to use a fake computer to surf made-up internet?”
“No. I’m sitting in your mind and using a real computer to read documents that I’ve been emailed.”
He blinked and sat up. “You can do both?”
“I can. It would be foolish to pay no attention whatsoever to my body’s situation. Anything could happen.” Frederick shrugged. “Regardless, I felt it best to let you regain your senses here rather than in conscious control of your body lest you say anything incriminating.”
Mikey snorted. “Is my body covered in jizz?”
Frederick laughed at him. “No, thankfully. Although you most likely have something to attend to when you get back to it.”
Mikey tipped his head aside and tried to figure out what his cock was doing. The more he focused on it, the more it felt like there was this weird dissonance, like he’d had the best orgasm of his life and yet still hadn’t come yet. “Woah,” he said slowly. “That’s amazing! How’s that possible?”
“It’s entirely within the male orgasm’s power to not require ejaculation at the same time. For most it’s a learned skill, but with my aid you’ve saved yourself the mess of coming in your own underpants.” Freddy smiled lazily at him. “Are you ready to pop back to the real world?”
He rubbed his cheeks again, then got up and wandered back to the chair at Freddy’s side. “I guess it’ll be less weird if I’m here when it happens, right?”
“You are getting very good at this.” Frederick turned to face him. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
The room dimmed slowly. Mikey did his best not to react as his mind settled back into his physical form and adjusted to the differences between the two experiences. There was a weird moment where he felt like he was in two slightly different positions, but then it all ironed itself out, and he was left with a dull ache in his balls.
“You’ll want the laptop.” Frederick spoke dismissively, and he backed away from the desk before he stood. “I’m going to the gym.”
Mikey’s head spun while he tried to remember where they’d been before Frederick divulged what felt like the tip of the iceberg when it came to all the shit going on in his life, but he moved into the newly-vacant seat anyway while his brain filled in the blanks.
“Right,” he scoffed as he tapped his login details in. “Whatever, man.”
Yeah, he could do this. It was different, and challenging, but he hadn’t felt this alive ever. All this cloak and dagger shit was exciting. Sure, a little scary, but man was it more engaging than waiting for thugs to bust his door in and shoot him in his own bed.
Frederick left him to go get changed, and Mikey was left to face his email.
He’d made a freebie account just for this one thing, so when there was a new email there wasn’t anyone else it could be from, and the subject line agreed. The lab had sent him the test results.
Mikey stared at the screen and debated whether he should open it now or wait until Frederick had gone. How far away could or would Frederick read his mind? Did he wanna know right away, or was he giving Mikey time to absorb the results first? It could be that going to the gym was his way of giving Mikey some privacy.
Did he want that? If it was bad news, did he wanna be left alone for a while, or did he want Frederick to be there?
The thought of facing positive results alone in a hotel room was horribly hollow, so he reached out and tapped the email before Frederick was done getting into his gym gear. His eyes skimmed the attached document in search of the worst.
Name. Date of birth. Age. Jesus Christ where are the actual fucking results!
He scrolled down until he found a table. At first it didn’t make much sense, with results like non-reactive and <0.90, but there was a column after that which made way more sense.
Negative.
He held his breath as he scrolled down the table. Line by line, piece by piece, little by little, the weight rose from his shoulders and vanished into thin air. Each and every Negative felt like a presidential pardon, like he had permission to think about the future again.
And then he was out of table, and there were no more results.
Frederick drifted past him without so much as a glance, but Mikey knew if he wanted Frederick to stay all he had to do was think it. He just wasn’t sure he wanted the company right now, so Frederick left in silence and Mikey shut the laptop.
The ache remained.
31
FREDERICK
“Honestly, I feel fine!”
Frederick exchanged a glance with Laurence.
“Baby, the doctors said two weeks.” Laurence’s frustration was a background noise, but it bled into his words as he tried to convince Icky to get back into bed.
Frederick returned his attention to Icky. The bandage was gone, and there was color in his cheeks. After a week’s confinement he really did seem fully recovered, which wasn’t at all unexpected. Laurence knew it, too. Frederick could easily pick it out among the conflicted concern, but Laurence’s desire to protect Icky was winning out over the knowledge that Icky bounced back from injury like a toddler.
Laurence also wanted to delay the argument he knew was brewing. The thought which burned at the back of it all and refused to go out.
How could he not tell me he could control fire?
Frederick pursed his lips. Another week would be advantageous, despite his concerns over Father hunting them both down. It would give him time to build a better picture of Wilson’s activities, and it would allow him to finalize the transfer of the mansion’s deeds. While it was one thing to convince Sapozhni
kov to sell, he still preferred to have the documents in his hands before he was assured of victory.
Conveniently it also gave approximately the right amount of time required for Michael’s passport to arrive.
“Why not compromise?” he murmured. “How about you rest out in the living room instead of stuffed away in here all day? Look at the scenery, enjoy the sunshine, but rest. Laurence is quite right. If your doctor said two weeks, then two weeks it must be.”
Icky eyed the door, then looked between Frederick and Laurence. Frederick could all but see the cogs turning.
“Freddy, you know I don’t usually need as long as doctors think I should,” he opined.
“I do,” he agreed, “and I don’t give a rat’s arse. There’s a vast difference between running around with a broken arm that might not be fully healed and potentially irrevocable brain damage if you start using your head before it’s recovered. Err on the side of caution, just this once, hm? For Laurence. Because he’s the one who has to feed you through a straw for the rest of your life if you bugger this up.”
Laurence’s eyes grew wide in alarm.
Goddess, he’s right! Man, here I am not wanting to get into a fight, but it’s bigger than that, isn’t it? This could really do some damage.
Icky eyed Laurence, then sighed softly. “Very well. Better safe than sorry, I suppose.”
“Correct. Now, you get yourself settled, and I shall leave you to it.” Frederick issued his most beatific smile. “Call me if you need anything.”
“Yeah.” Laurence nodded quickly. “Thanks, man. I dunno what we’d have done without you.”
“Probably something foolish.” He chuckled and stepped aside. “After you.”
HE KNEW about Michael’s results, of course, but that was no cause to rush these things. Keeping the boy on tenterhooks for a couple of days amused him, and while Michael had attempted to keep himself busy with his passport application, that really took very little time at all.
Reeve of Veils (Inheritance Book 4) Page 19
