Chapter Six

Rick had to admit that it was a relief to hand over control to Kim. Having someone make decisions for him, even for a short while, was what he needed right then. Kim called his locksmith friend as they drove, and the man promised to come round that afternoon and to leave the new keys with the doorman. Some of the tension across Rick’s shoulders loosened. He closed his eyes, listening to Kim chatter on about nothing in particular, lulled almost back to sleep, but then they were pulling over.

“Here?” Rick blinked out the window at the Koffee & Kicks cafe.

“Naturally,” Kim said with a grin. “Your sister said they had jambalaya on today.”

Kim climbed out but Rick grabbed Kim’s elbow before he could cross the road. “I think we should go somewhere else.”

“I’m sure the Swansons are otherwise engaged—”

“It’s not that.”

Kim’s expression fell. “You don’t want me to meet your family?”

Rick fidgeted, suddenly uncomfortable. “No. I do want you to…perhaps too much.”

Kim raised his eyebrows. “Too much?”

Rick rubbed the back of his neck, feeling himself blush. “I like you, Kim. A lot. I really want to—” He broke off with an impatient noise, fought his feelings and thoughts back into order with an effort. The knowing smile Kim was wearing wasn’t helping. “I think I like you too much for someone I barely know,” Rick admitted.

Kim held out his hand. “Well, let’s do something about that, shall we?”

Rick hesitated then took Kim’s hand and allowed himself to be led across the road.

“Rick!” Ella came out from behind the counter and hurried to meet them. She hugged him then pulled away, examining his face with a crease of concern between her black brows. “Everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine,” he managed then indicated Kim. “This is Kim.”

Ella’s face twisted with a mixture of excitement and suspicion. “You’re Kim?”

“Guilty as charged,” Kim said with a half-smile and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“And you,” Ella said, though she took his hand. She glanced at her colleague who was gesturing at the lengthening queue. “I’m sorry, bruv. I gotta get back. Did you need anything?”

“We’ve come for lunch,” Kim said with another disarming smile. “I told your brother he needs to eat.”

Ella’s face warmed with approval. “Damn straight. Sit right here. I’ll sort you out.”

She hurried away, and Rick lowered himself into a seat. Kim shed his coat and sat opposite, leant his elbows on the table and smiled at him.

“Your sister’s quite something.”

Rick let out a nervous laugh, pausing when a waitress appeared with a tray loaded with two brimming pint glasses and two bowls of fragrant, steaming jambalaya, stuffed with prawns and chorizo. He took a huge mouthful of each, suddenly ravenous. Kim did the same and raised his eyebrows.

“It’s good,” he said. “Really good.”

“Ella’s an amazing cook. Mum taught her.”

“This is easily restaurant quality.”

“She’s interviewed for a few positions over the years. It never worked out.”

“Why?”

Rick shrugged. “Same reason I struck out basically anywhere that does background checks.”

Kim didn’t reply and tucked into his food. Rick followed suit, enjoying the ease between them, the comfort of his sister’s cooking and the warm, friendly bustle of the cafe. When their bowls were scraped clean, Kim downed the last of his beer and levelled a heavy glance at him.

“I believe we have some unfinished business?”

“Huh?” Rick flushed, thinking of his words in bed that morning, and Kim laughed.

“Not that. Or at least”—his grin turned wolfish—“not yet. You wanted to know more about me. I’m at your disposal. What would you like to know?”

Rick finished his beer and signalled to Ella for two more before replying. “This is all just to distract me, isn’t it?”

“Is it working?”

Rick waited until the waitress had brought over their drinks before asking, “Who do you work for?”

Kim raised his eyebrows. “I confess I didn’t think that would be the first thing you’d want to know.”

“You know a lot about me,” Rick heard himself repeat, allowing himself to acknowledge his uncertainty squarely for the first time, “and about my employer. And the man that was killed. I need to know how you fit in to it all.”

Kim’s face had gone very still. “You think I had something to do with what happened?”

Rick blinked. “Of course not. That’s… No.” He shook his head, relieved that the absurdity of the idea felt genuine. “But there’s so much I don’t understand. I’d at least like to be able to understand you.”

Kim examined him for a long moment then brought out his wallet and held out a business card. “I work for myself. Private Consultancy, like I said.” Rick took the card. It was navy blue with gold and white lettering—Clearfinity Finance Consultancy. Rick frowned, trying to remember if he’d heard of it. “I’m not on social media because I don’t find it helpful. I get my clients via word of mouth. I didn’t talk about it because it’s painfully dull. But there’s a website if you want to check.”

Rick flushed. “I didn’t think—”

“It’s fine,” Kim said, though his smile was a little thin. “You’re right to be careful. Especially after what’s happened.”

Rick nodded, tapping the card off the table. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” Kim said, covering Rick’s hand with his own. “Don’t be sorry. What else do you want to know?”

Rick sipped his beer. “Where’d you grow up?”

“London. Next.”

“Where’d you got to uni?”

“Cambridge. Next.”

Rick laughed, finding himself relaxing despite everything. “If I’m not asking the interesting questions, just give me the interesting answers.”

Kim raised an eyebrow. “How interesting are we talking?”

“Not so interesting that they compromise public decency.”

“I can’t make any promises,” Kim grinned, drank more beer and began to talk. Rick drank and listened. A cultured, cut-glass accent like his would normally leave Rick feeling scornful and alienated but, with Kim, it made him feel accepted and assured. That, combined with Kim’s ready humour, sharp wit and expressive, open face had Rick smiling and laughing with an ease he would never have thought possible, given the previous night’s events. Kim talked about how he liked to cook and run. He liked cars, high-end sound systems and good wine. He liked hiking in Scotland and mountaineering in Europe.

It was all stuff Rick could have guessed within ten minutes of meeting him and was no different to the interests of the many other rich, privileged men he’d met during his time at LSE and through his attempts to claw into the finance sector. But with Kim there was something under it all, a real-life grounding and a down-to-earth perspective that he hadn’t encountered before. Kim talked about his fancy townhouse, his holiday home in Italy and trips around the Far East in a way that made it sound like he didn’t quite believe in his own luck. The fact that he thought of it as luck at all was both unusual and endearing.

Rick was already aware that he was dangerously attracted to Kim. Every time he thought about the sex, his skin pickled and his cock stirred. Remembering Kim’s words to him that morning, it was all he could do not to grab the younger man and drag him into the cafe toilets. Combining that powerful physical desire with the way just talking with Kim made him feel, Rick had the very frightening realisation that he was falling for this man…and falling hard. And the timing couldn’t be worse.

When Rick brought himself back to the present, Kim was looking at him with a thoughtful expression.

“I know we didn’t want to talk about work, but I think we’ve put it off long enough.”

“Put what off?” Rick asked with a sinking feeling.

“How’s it really going at S&G?”

Rick stared at his half-empty glass, the taste of the beer turning sour in his mouth. “Why?”

“The situation I saw at The Savoy was…complicated?”

“Kim—”

“You don’t have to tell me everything,” Kim said. “It’s none of my business. But even putting the whole murder thing aside, assuming, for now, that its unrelated…anyone who was in that bar could tell she has plans for you that aren’t wholly businesslike.”

Rick made himself smile even if his feet had gone cold. “Jealous?”

Kim looked startled then laughed. “Should I be?”

Rick shook his head a little helplessly. “No. I mean…” Rick juggled with the painful truth for a moment but then, taking in Kim’s earnest look, sighed. “Yes, I think she fancies me.” Kim snorted in a ‘that’s-putting-it-mildly’ way, but Rick continued like he hadn’t. “But I’m handling it.”

“And how long do you think you can handle if before she tries to handle you?”

Rick detected the spark of amusement in his eyes was mixed with a darker emotion. “She’s getting married.”

“I don’t get the impression that will make a big difference to her.”

“Maybe not. But if I can just put her off until after the wedding, I’m sure she’ll be far too busy then to think about me. Or maybe someone else will catch her eye before it becomes a problem. She’s not a bad person,” he heard himself adding. “I think she’s just lonely.”

Kim raised his eyebrows at that but didn’t speak.

“It’ll be fine,” he went on assertively. “I’ll go to the wedding, and after that—”

Kim lowered his glass, blinking. “You’re attending the wedding?”

“Yeah. She invited me last week.”

“And you’re going?”

Rick shrugged. “It’s what’s expected. And it’s important to act as expected, especially now.”

“Are you sure she still wants you there, after what’s happened?”

“The company are supporting me. They’re getting me a lawyer. Cecily wants to help.”

Kim looked thoughtful for moment then nodded. “Well, that’s good news at least.”

“How are you boys doing?” Ella said as she joined them and started loading their empty plates and glasses onto a tray.

“Grand. Great food, as always.”

“It really was,” Kim said. “Seriously good. Did I detect some Sriracha and saffron in there?”

She raised her eyebrows. “I’m impressed.”

“It gave it that little something extra. Lovely touch.”

“Thanks,” she said her smile now genuine then waved it away when Kim withdrew his wallet. “It’s on the house.”

“I’m afraid I must insist,” Kim said. “Your brother paid on our first date, so it’s only fair.”

Rick flushed deeply, and Ella shot him a glance. “So this is the second date?”

Rick blushed even harder. “I didn’t think it was—”

“Like hell you didn’t,” Ella chided, giving him her best mock-glare. “Now get out here, both of you. I need this table for paying customers.”

Kim chuckled after she’d gone and laid twice the cost of the meal in cash on the table.

“So,” Kim said when they were back out in the cold street, “the cleaners and locksmith should be done by now.”

“I don’t want to go back there.”

“No?”

Rick shook his head. “No.”

“Well, that works out quite well, as it happens,” Kim said, unlocking the car. “You like music, right?”

“Yeah…?”

“I know just the thing.”

A short drive later and Rick was following Kim through the front door of a building in Soho with excitement buzzing in his veins. He’d heard of Hunter Jones’ Music Club, of course, but had never been able to afford to go. Kim exchanged banter with the security guard like they were the oldest of friends, but Rick wasn’t sure he liked or understood the way the big man’s questioning glance kept sliding to him. Still, he let them through and Rick stared around the long, dimly lit room, crowded with tables which were in turn crowded with well-dressed and well-liquored people bobbing their heads and tapping their feet along to the energetic jazz ensemble on the stage.

“That’s the Cellar Jazz Band…”

“What?” Kim had to yell to be heard. Rick repeated his awed statement, louder and Kim grinned. “It’s a Jazz and Soul festival. As soon as I heard it was on, I thought of you. I was gonna tell you yesterday but then—”

“You fellas want a table?” They nodded to the waitress who had appeared at their side and followed her through the crowded room to a table near the front. The music was so loud that it precluded any further conversation, but the energy, the exuberance, the sheer joy that it pumped into the room, along with the buzz created by the very good bottle of bourbon Kim ordered, pushed everything else out of Rick’s mind.

He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten how good it was to watch live music. Couldn’t believe he’d allowed himself to forget. He spent a troubled moment wondering why he’d let that happen but then the band blasted into their next number and he allowed himself to be swept away again.

The afternoon slipped into evening. The Cellar Jazz Band were followed by the Chicago Sinners, a blues group he’d long been hoping to see, who in turn were followed by The Mississippi Aces. Before he knew it, he was more than comfortably drunk, the festival was over, and they were stepping out of the stuffy club and into the crisp, cold night. There were several missed calls on his mobile and one clipped voicemail from DC Walsh asking him to call, but the potent mix of alcohol, music-induced euphoria and mounting physical need for Kim was more than enough to distract his thoughts from the unpleasant events of the night before.

“I’ll get a car,” Kim broke off their hungry kiss to say in a slightly slurred voice. His pupils were large, arousal darkening the blue of his eyes, but he moved out of reach when Rick tried to pull him close again. “Not here.”

“Okay, where?” Rick said, stepping up behind him, mouthing at his neck and running his hands over his ass.

“Christ,” Kim swore, shivering at the touch and jabbing at his phone. “Anywhere. Fucking anywhere, so long as it’s close.”

A green tick appeared on his phone screen and Kim made a satisfied noise, wrapped one arm round Rick’s neck and ran his free hand over his chest and thigh. By the time the car arrived, Rick was so hard that it almost hurt.

“What about your car?” he mumbled as they climbed in.

“I’ll get it tomorrow,” Kim replied then pulled Rick back in for more burning kisses, making the driver focus pointedly out of the windscreen.

The car journey then the stumble through a hotel lobby then up to a luxuriously furnished room went by in a blur. They only stopped long enough to strip then they were tumbling into the cool, anonymous hotel sheets. Kim’s skin and mouth were hot and tasted like sharp fruit and smoky bourbon. He rolled Rick on top and Rick sank his weight onto him with a low, long moan. It was so good to let go, and Kim was so heated and so willing that Rick almost came just feeling his hands roaming all over his flesh and his body moving under him.

“Fuck me, Rick,” he said, an edge of desperation in his voice so sharp that Rick wondered if he heard a slip in his accent. “I want you to fuck me. Hard.”

Rick made a helpless noise and hooked a hand under Kim’s knee, lifted his leg to the side so he could push against the intimate space between them. When Kim started to whimper, he backed off long enough to force out, his voice tight with regret, “I haven’t got anything with me.”

“Coat,” Kim managed, gesturing at the floor. “Coat pocket.”

Rick stumbled off the bed and rooted around amongst their discarded clothing for Kim’s overcoat. He fumbled through the pockets and returned with a condom and sachet of lube.

“I knew you liked to be prepared, but this is something else,” Rick said, kneeling on the bed and recapturing Kim’s mouth.

“Well,” Kim slurred between kisses, “I was in the Scouts, so—”

Rick chuckled, kissed him harder and thrust his trembling erection against the inside of his warm, firm thigh, so desperate for friction that he almost forgot everything else.

Kim reached for the condom where Rick had dropped it on the pillow and broke the kiss to open the packet and, carefully—if hurriedly—rolled the sheath onto Rick’s aching length. He opened the sachet of lube with his teeth and squeezed some onto his hand and leant in, kissed Rick deeply and smeared the liquid—cool, even through the condom—on his cock.

“Fuck,” Rick swore into Kim’s mouth and felt him grin.

“That’s the general idea,” he said before pulling away to look him in the eye, face suddenly serious. “But only if you want to.”

“I want to,” Rick said, sitting up and pulling him into his lap. He gazed into Kim’s flushed face, his mouth wet and open, his eyes hot like a tropical sea. Kim blinked at him, breathing heavily, and Rick tried to speak but couldn’t.

“What is it?”

“You’re not too drunk, right?”

Kim grinned. “No such thing.”

“You know what I mean,” Rick insisted, fighting through the haze of alcohol and arousal for the strength to hold back. Kim regarded him for a long moment and, for one instant, unease flickered in his eyes. The sight was so completely unfamiliar that Rick went cold, but then the younger man leant forward and brushed kisses across his lips, along his jaw and neck while pumping his lubed cock, slowly and steadily.

“I’m certain I want this,” he said, his hot breath brushing Rick’s shoulder. “Certain I want you.”

“Why?” Rick hadn’t meant to ask it, but the drink, the desire, the events of the day and the night before had left his inhibitions in shattered heaps.

“Why what?”

“Why all of it?” he forced out. “Agreeing to hiding from my work. Travelling all over London to see me. The music festival, everything. Why are you doing all this?”

Kim took Rick’s chin in his hand, tilted his face so he was looking right into his eyes. “I’ve never met anyone like you. You’re amazing, Rick.”

“You don’t know me.”

“I know you better than you think,” Kim said in his ear then took Rick’s earlobe between his lips and and increased the pace on his aching cock. “And I know more than anything I want you to fuck me.”

Everything in his mind crumbled away and Rick kissed him savagely. Their teeth knocked together, and their hot breath came in gasps. Rick arched into Kim’s hand and fumbled blindly for the lube and emptied what remained onto his fingers.

He reached round, and Kim lifted himself so Rick could slide a finger towards his entrance. Rick started to rub his lubricated finger over the tight band of muscle, and Kim shivered and groaned. It took all of Rick’s fast-eroding strength to take his time as he listened to Kim’s increasingly desperate noises as he rubbed faster then finally pushed in. Kim’s lithe frame stiffened. He pressed his forehead against Rick’s, crushing his eyes shut. Rick closed his own eyes and felt his way forward, pushing his finger deeper until he found the spot that made Kim jerk in his arms.

“Fuck,” Kim said between clenched teeth, and Rick pushed another finger in, repeating the action and drawing an almost-pained cry from the younger man.

“You’re so beautiful,” Rick said as he opened his eyes and panted as he watched Kim’s mouth open and his cheeks redden. Kim blinked his eyes open, hot and blue, met Rick’s gaze and started to move against his fingers. Rick added a third finger and massaged and rolled them, making Kim’s grasp tighten on his shoulders.

“Now, Rick,” he said, voice, in that moment, harsh and unfamiliar. “Now.”

Rick withdrew his fingers, took a firm grip of Kim’s hips and guided him forward and down. Kim lowered himself onto Rick’s cock with a helpless noise. The tight heat engulfed him and Rick let out a shuddering breath, lightning shooting along his nerves and fire flaring in his belly, balls and along his spine.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Kim swore. He spent a long moment sitting there and breathing deep, then started to move. He leant farther back, one hand gripping Rick’s shoulder tight enough to bruise, the other clutched his shin. He took Rick in deeper, harder and with increasing speed. Rick grasped his hips like a drowning man would cling to a life raft and thrust upward, driving himself into the, tight, delicious heat over and over.

Rick’s breath left him. His muscles burned. His nerves sparked and sung. The feel of a truly seismic orgasm building under his belly threatened for one beautifully terrifying moment to overwhelm him. Then Kim was crying out his name and plunging Rick’s cock deep into himself one last time and he came, hot and hard, against Rick’s belly.

Rick let out a sound somewhere between a prayer and Kim’s name and arched, forcing himself deep as thunder, lightning, snow, ice and fire coursed through his flesh. The sensation was chased with electricity and the taste and smell of fruit and sweat and an almost-unbearable sweetness.

They clung to each other, each breathing heavily. Kim kissed him, chastely, tenderly and a little desperately, like, again, he was trying to say something he couldn’t find words for. When Rick opened his mouth to ask, Kim shook his head, disentangled himself and drew him towards the bathroom.

They showered, Kim soaping and rinsing him as though he were paying reverence to every inch of his skin. The fire faded, but a steady, bright flicker remained, only partially fuelled by the alcohol still thrumming in Rick’s veins. When they were clean and dry, Kim guided him into bed, pulled the covers over both of them and turned the light off. Rick started to ask how he should get home but Kim shushed him, drew his head onto his shoulder and wrapped his arms around him. Rick allowed himself to be drawn in, snaked his arms around the lean, warm body and, after a brief internal debate, let himself relax.

He was teetering on the edge of oblivion when Kim murmured something. He frowned, trying to decide if he had said what Rick thought he’d said. But the combination of sated desire, booze and the pleasantness of feeling safe, warm and needed stole him away before he could come to a conclusion.

 

* * * *

 

He woke, groggy, with a foul taste in his mouth and a pounding head before the grey of morning had started to blur the edges of the hotel curtains. He fumbled for his phone and blinked blearily at the numbers until he was able to determine it was a little before eight a.m.

He groaned and dropped back into the pillows, throwing an arm over his eyes. A low moan next to him told him Kim wasn’t feeling much better. Though when the warm mouth found his in the dark then moved down his body to see to his morning wood, he was able to forget about his hangover for a little while longer.

When Rick finally managed to tear himself from Kim’s arms and start to gather his clothing another hour had disappeared.

“I really have to go,” he said, even though Kim hadn’t spoken. He lay on his side with his head propped on his hand, looking so tantalising, dishevelled and languid that Rick’s over-sensitised cock stirred yet again and he had to make himself turn away. “I must. That lawyer’s coming over today.”

“Yeah,” Kim said, sitting up with a wince. “Yeah, you’re right. I can’t hide you here forever, as much as I’d like to.” That was said in a quiet, contemplative tone, almost like he hadn’t meant to say it out loud. But then he sighed, pushed the covers back and smiled. “How you doing?”

“Fine,” Rick lied. “Why?”

“Lawyers. Cops. Heading back to that flat.” Kim shrugged while pulling on a sock. “Not the nicest way to spend a Sunday.”

“No, I can think of better,” Rick said, tilting Kim’s surprised face up and stealing another kiss.

Kim pushed him away. “Go on, dickhead. If you start me off again, we’ll never leave. Then I’ll have to pay for a second night.”

Rick retrieved his coat from the back of a chair. “What is this place, anyway?”

“I dunno,” Kim said, grabbing his T-shirt. “A Radisson?”

“You didn’t want to take me to your place?” He swore to himself silently. He hadn’t meant to ask it, certainly hadn’t meant to ask it and sound so needy.

“Traffic at that time of night is insane. This was the closest place with a room on Booking.com.” He stood slowly from the bed and stepped forward, took hold of the corner of Rick’s coat and drew him close. “I didn’t want to wait,” he said, smiling against his lips.

Rick allowed himself one last, lingering kiss, drinking in Kim’s complex taste and smell then pulled away. “I really have to go. But…” He hesitated, pretended to search for his other shoe for a long moment, “Can I see you again? Soon?”

“Didn’t think you were getting away that easy, right?” Kim said. Rick smiled a relieved smile, which Kim returned but his face shifted. Something changed in his eyes then he looked away. “How’s next week?” he said, looking at his phone. “Tuesday?”

“That’s great,” Rick said fastening his coat. “Not sure what time I’ll be free, though. It depends on work…” Rick trailed off, assaulted by sudden and unwelcome thoughts about what might await him at the office. Cecily had been nice on the phone, but the firm surely couldn’t ignore what had happened…

“Text me later, okay?” Kim added, pocketing his phone and smiling, his face back to normal and Rick shelved the unpleasant train of thought. “Let me know how it goes with that lawyer.”

“I will.”

“And what the police say.”

Rick blinked. “The police?”

“Yeah. They’ll want to speak to you again.”

“Why?”

“Forensics will be back soon,” he said calmly. “And background checks.”

Rick blanched. “What does that mean?”

“Well,” Kim said, with a shrug, “I’m sure they will all prove you had nothing to do with it. But they’ll probably need a few more facts to eliminate you. Just make sure you don’t speak to them without the lawyer.”

“Okay,” Rick said, not liking the crawling sensation under his belly. “Have you been involved in something like this before?”

“What makes you say that?”

“You seem to know a lot about it.”

Kim frowned. “Aren’t we beyond this now?”

“Beyond what?”

“You not trusting me.”

“I do trust you,” he insisted. “Of course I do. This is all just…confusing. And new. To me, anyway.”

Kim’s face softened. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry. I guess I just—” He made a noise somewhere between a snort and laugh and flashed Rick a surprisingly vulnerable smile. “Some of this is new to me too.”

“Yeah?”

Kim shrugged. “Sure. I don’t book five-star hotel rooms at a moment’s notice for just anyone, you know.”

Rick let himself smile and attempted to clamp down on the strength of the emotion that surged in his chest. “Glad to hear it,” he said, kissed Kim one more time and left, ordering an Uber as he hurried to the lift.