| |
They took a taxi from the airport to the Bar Mamounia. Liam hobbled into the bar first, where he was assailed by a young Tunisian. “Liam! You come back to me!” the man said.
“Sorry, Mohammed,” Liam said, pushing him gently aside. He pointed to Aidan, toting his backpack and Liam’s duffle, and said something in Arabic.
“Maybe you like three,” Mohammed said. He looked at Aidan and smiled.
Aidan dropped the bags on the tiled floor and put his arm around Liam. “La,” he said. “No.”
Liam laughed, and said something more in Arabic. The Tunisian crossed his arms, pouted, then turned and stalked out of the bar. Aidan helped Liam through the courtyard and in through the back door of the little house. The bartender had repaired the broken front door, and assured Liam that nothing had been taken while he was gone.
Liam thanked him, then closed the courtyard door. “How about if we get you to bed,” Aidan said.
“Only if you come with me,” Liam said.
“I think I wore you out this morning in the shower,” Aidan said.
“You don’t know me, then.”
“We’ll see.”
Liam tried to walk to the bedroom, but his step faltered, and Aidan had to steady him. “Hold on, tiger,” Aidan said. They walked together into the bedroom, and Aidan slowly unbuttoned Liam’s shirt, then unbuckled his shorts. “You can’t walk, but you’ve got a hard on,” Aidan said. “Your body sure knows how to channel its energy.”
“What can I say? This body was built for action.”
“Yeah. Right.” Aidan pulled off Liam’s sandals, then tugged his boxers down. “Lie down, Romeo.”
Liam sat hard on the edge of the bed. He struggled to lift his leg, and Aidan had to help him get into a prone position. “You’re coming to join me?” Liam asked.
“I don’t know,” Aidan said. “I thought I might go out and walk around a little. See some more of the city.” He smiled.
“Get your clothes off, and get that cute ass over here,” Liam commanded.
“Yes, sir,” Aidan said, saluting. He pulled off his clothes in record time, then crawled into the bed next to Liam, nestling his naked body against Liam’s. “This is nice,” he murmured. “When was the last time we were actually in a bed together?”
Liam reached his arm around Aidan, and Aidan nestled into his chest. “The Hotel La Gazelle, in Tataouine,” he said.
“You’ve got a good memory,” Aidan said.
“I do. I remember that you like this.” He leaned over and took Aidan’s right nipple between his teeth. Aidan arched his back, inhaled and said, “Oh, yeah.”
They moved slowly, turning into each other and rubbing their bodies together. Aidan pushed Liam back onto his back, then mounted him, careful not to exert too much pressure. He rubbed his dick against Liam’s, lubricated by their precome, resting his hands on either side of Liam.
“I won’t break, you know,” Liam said.
“I’m not taking that chance.” Aidan leaned down and kissed his cheek. “You’re worth too much to me in good shape.”
Though his body wanted to move fast, Aidan forced himself to take his time. He arched his back like a cat, began to hump Liam, rubbing his dick against the bodyguard’s. They were well matched, even though Aidan was circumcised and Liam wasn’t. Aidan had always thought Liam’s dick was bigger than his own, because Liam’s body was so much bigger, but seeing them pressed against each other, he realized that his own dick was a little longer than Liam’s.
“What?” Liam asked, noticing Aidan’s smile.
“Nothing,” Aidan said. Both their dicks were slippery with precome, so they kept slipping apart. Aidan shifted a little, so that his dick was rubbing against Liam’s crotch, sliding through the dark, curly pubic hairs, and Liam’s dick rubbed against Aidan’s belly.
He clenched his ass and increased the speed and pressure, keeping his eyes focused on Liam’s. He’d never noticed how deep Liam’s eyes looked, the black pupil surrounded by green. They were eyes he could spend a lifetime falling into, he thought.
His dick throbbed until it was painful to continue, but impossible to stop. His groin began churning, his whole body shaking as the orgasm swept through him. He felt Liam’s body constrict beneath him, the bodyguard panting, then grimacing as come shot out of his dick. That pushed Aidan over the edge, and he threw his head back and howled.
“They’re going to hear you in the bar,” Liam said, laughing, as Aidan flopped down on the bed next to him.
“They’ll know I’m taking care of you,” Aidan said. “Keep that Mohammed guy at bay, at least.”
He snuggled against Liam, regardless of the come seeping into their pores and dripping down through their pubic hair, and both of them fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. They woke as darkness fell, and Aidan ran out to pick up food for dinner and breakfast. First, though, he wanted to make a small detour.
His former apartment building looked the same. He no longer had a key to the front door, though, so he stood outside staring at the façade. Then he felt the touch he had been hoping for, a wet nose sniffing the back of his knee.
“There you are, girl,” he said, leaning down and scratching the dog behind her ears. “Did you miss me?”
The dog sat on her haunches and looked up at him. “I guess we’ll have to give you a name,” Aidan said. “How about we leave that up to Liam?”
The dog wagged her tail, then followed Aidan to the small grocery, where she waited obediently outside as Aidan shopped. Then she was on his heels all the way back to Liam’s house.
“You just can’t resist the urge to domesticate, can you?” Liam asked, sitting at the kitchen table stroking the dog’s back as Aidan fixed dinner, a simple pasta primavera he’d made a hundred times in Philadelphia. He boiled water in a battered pot, then steamed some peas, carrots and squash.
As Aidan cooked, Liam ruffled the dog behind her ears, then scratched her belly as she lay on her back waving her paws in the air. “How about we call you Hayam,” he said to her. She looked up at him and panted. “Guess you like that.”
“What does that mean?” Aidan asked. “Hayam?”
“Madly in love,” Liam said. “Suits her, doesn’t it?”
Aidan thought it suited him, too. Then the pasta on the stove overflowed, and Liam began coughing.
When he went back to his old apartment building to retrieve the dog, Aidan knew he’d already made up his mind to stay in Tunis for a while, as long as that was OK with Liam. “What was it like, working with the SEALs again?” he asked as they ate.
“I can’t go back,” Liam said. “If that’s what you’re asking. But I did like it—that feeling of working with a team. It’s hard being a lone wolf.”
The question hung in the air. Aidan felt foolish suggesting that he and Liam could be a team. In the bedroom, no question. But Aidan wasn’t a bodyguard, and he had no training in whatever it was that Liam normally did, when he wasn’t chasing through the desert.
They had made a few wrong turns, though. The first had been letting Wahid Zubran and his thugs jump them in the souk. The second had been at the pharmacy in El Jem, when they hadn’t planned on Zubran getting to the pharmacy before they had. And the third? Probably taking off from Tataouine without preparing for the trip into the desert. That had been the most serious; Liam had been forced to leave Remada for the supplies he needed, and if he hadn’t been able to catch up with the caravan at the oasis, the whole operation could have fallen apart.
But they’d done a lot of things right, too. They’d both been resourceful, overcoming obstacles and doing what they set out to. Aidan smiled as he looked over at Liam.
“This is really good,” Liam said, holding up a forkful of pasta. “You ever think of a career as a chef?”
“I did,” Aidan said. “But it’s such an all-or-nothing job. I took a ton of cooking courses, but I couldn’t take a restaurant job because the hours were too long. Had to take care of Blake, you know.”
“How much did you give up to stay with that jerk?” Liam asked.
“He wasn’t always a jerk,” Aidan said. “He took care of me for a long time. I could never have had that life on my little salary.” He laid his fork down next to his plate. “Blake was attractive, and charming when he wanted to be, and he was generous with money when it was something he thought worthwhile. He liked to pick out my clothes and buy them for me. I wore designer labels, slept on high-thread-count sheets, drank good wine.”
A (former) friend had once accused Aidan of being a high-priced rent boy, living off Blake’s money, and he’d warned Aidan that he was a disposable asset, easily replaced by someone younger or better-looking. At the time, Aidan had dismissed the comment, believing there were much more complex threads tying him and Blake together. Looking back, now he wondered if his friend had come uncomfortably close to the truth.
“I’m just saying,” Liam said, holding his hands up. “I think Blake always undervalued you.”
Yes, Aidan wanted to say. But Blake wasn’t shy about taking what he wanted. Long ago, he had wanted Aidan, and made that very plain. Aidan wasn’t sure what Liam wanted.
After dinner, they took Hayam out for a short walk, and then began writing a report for Carlucci’s foundation. It took some time that evening, and then most of the next day, recounting in detail everything that had happened from the time Liam had been asked to serve as Carlucci’s bodyguard until their return from the army hospital, which Aidan had discovered was in Sicily.
“Wow,” Aidan said, when they finished proofreading the final draft. “This was pretty amazing, wasn’t it?”
“Not your typical bodyguard job,” Liam admitted. He leaned back in his desk chair, and Aidan looked at him and smiled.
Liam emailed the report to the foundation’s headquarters in New York, along with his bank information, as requested. Hayam got up from her place by the front door and padded over to them, sitting on the floor next to Aidan and resting her front paws on his knees. “Who’s a good girl?” Aidan asked, rubbing behind her ears. “You want to be a bodyguard dog? Can you bare your teeth and growl?” He mimicked the action, which set Liam laughing, though all the dog did was bob her head and stick her tongue out.
Liam’s laughter turned to coughing, and Aidan helped him stand up. “Damn this crap,” Liam said, between fits. “Can’t do anything like I used to.”
“It’ll come back,” Aidan said. “Give it time.” He reached down and ran his hand lightly over Liam’s groin, where his dick was already half hard. “There’s something you can still do.” He looked up at Liam’s eyes and grinned.
“There’s that,” Liam said. “Come here, you.”
He pulled Aidan close, Aidan resting his head on the bigger man’s shoulder. His own dick began to rise as he felt Liam’s body so close to his. The doctor had told them that Liam was no longer contagious, so when Liam leaned down to him, he turned his face up for a kiss. Liam responded with surprising ferocity, opening his mouth wide, his tongue reaching out to Aidan’s.
Aidan felt like he was being devoured, his body melting under Liam’s touch. But then he pulled back. “Easy, tiger,” he said. “You’re still not up to full strength.”
“Strong enough to do this.” Liam reached one hand under Aidan’s ass and scooped him up. Reflexively, Aidan wrapped his arms around the bodyguard’s neck and held on as Liam carried him through the living room to the bedroom, Hayam following behind.
By the time Liam laid Aidan down on the bed, he was panting for breath, but that only fed his ferocious desire. He unbuttoned Aidan’s shirt with fumbling fingers, snatched open the Velcro tab on Aidan’s shorts and tugged them down, then dropped his head to Aidan’s stiff dick.
“Slow down, baby, slow down,” Aidan said. “You’re going to kill yourself.”
“What a way to go, though,” Liam panted, pulling off Aidan’s dick for a quick breath.
Aidan couldn’t enjoy the blow job, because he was so worried about Liam. He summoned all his strength to pry the bigger man off him. “What?” Liam said. “I’m not an invalid. Don’t treat me like one. If I want to blow you I will.”
That’s what you get, Aidan thought, for loving men who always had to get their way. He laid back against the pillows and let the sensation to his body take over. Liam was right; Aidan had been treating him like a patient, when Liam wanted—needed—to be treated like a man.
Liam raked his teeth up and down Aidan’s dick, sending tremors through his body. Liam’s mouth was drier than usual, only a little saliva easing the passage of his lips, and Aidan caught his breath a few times at the roughness of Liam’s lips.
Liam pulled his head back from Aidan’s dick and howled, the sound transforming into a cough. He fell sideways onto the bed, and Aidan took control. “You want a testosterone battle, pal, you’ve got it,” he said. He jerked Liam’s shorts down, exposing his stiff dick, and without ceremony or preparation, Aidan sat down on it.
The pain nearly broke him in two, but he didn’t care. He began bouncing up and down on Liam, clenching and releasing his ass muscles, and the pain urged him forward, ratcheting through his body so he could hardly breathe, until Liam’s dick had lubed itself enough with precome, and Aidan’s ass opened.
Liam grabbed Aidan’s dick and began jerking it, and Aidan howled himself, just as Liam had done, ending with a little yip of pleasure as Liam’s dick pressed against his prostate. Liam laughed, then caught his breath, and Aidan was worried he’d start coughing again, but then he felt Liam shoot off in his ass, and he closed his eyes and focused on that rough hand on his dick, and he came a moment later.
“You really think you can boss me around?” Liam said, smiling, a little later, as they snuggled in bed together, Hayam on the floor next to them.
“Of course,” Aidan said. “And you’ll like it, buster.”
Liam laughed out loud, and this time the laugh didn’t lead to a cough. “You’re a handful, you know that?”
“You haven’t seen a handful yet,” Aidan yawned. He rested his head on Liam’s chest, curved one leg over one of Liam’s, and slid off to sleep.
The next morning, waking up in Liam’s bed, Aidan announced that he was going to stay in Tunis for a while. “You need someone to look after you,” he said. Liam didn’t say anything, just smiled. Later in the morning, Aidan hailed a cab so they could visit Liam’s doctor, who pronounced that he was healing as best he could.
He made appointments for Liam each week until the Cipro was due to run out. When they got back to the house, they both napped through the hot afternoon. Liam still tired easily, and the Cipro still upset his stomach, so he could only eat the blandest of food.
“I’m watching you, you know,” he said, as Aidan prepared rice and steamed vegetables for their dinner. “I remember that trick you played on Blake.”
“What trick was that?” Aidan asked, slicing broccoli into tiny florets.
“You said when you were mad at him, you made his food spicy.”
Aidan laughed. “You remember that?”
He reached out for Aidan’s waist, and pulled him close. “I remember everything.”
“I’m not sure I’m happy about that,” Aidan said. “God knows what I told you when I thought you weren’t paying attention.”
He had gotten accustomed to life with Liam. He’d begun studying Arabic, so that he could tell the shopkeepers what he wanted. He’d already cleaned the little house from top to bottom, and supervised the construction of a wooden fence around the shower.
Two days after Liam sent the report to The Counter-Terrorist Foundation, there was a substantial wire transfer, more than Liam would have made the entire year. He had Aidan set up an account with a US bank with a branch in Tunis, and transferred half the money there. “You can’t give me that much,” Aidan protested, when he looked over Liam’s shoulder at the computer screen and saw his new balance. “I was just along for the ride.”
Liam shook his head. “Nope. You came up with most of the ideas, and I carried them out. We were a team.”
Aidan couldn’t help hearing that use of the past tense. As a teacher, after all, he was accustomed to listening for nuances in word use. “You can always send some money to the desk clerk at the hotel in Tataouine, if you want, and something for his cousin, too,” Liam said.
“I’ll do that.”
“I’ll take care of Ifoudan,” Liam said. “I’ve got a buddy who says the camel caravan went as far as Ghadamis, on the Libya-Tunisia border, and they’re on their way back to Remada now.”
Hayam began to bark, jumping up from her place on the floor next to Liam, and rushing to the front door. A few seconds later there was a knock on the door. “Expecting someone?” Aidan asked.
Liam shook his head. “Stay there.” He pulled his Glock from the desk drawer crossed to the door.
Aidan worried that Liam hadn’t returned to his full strength. Who could it be at the door? They had been unable to find out what happened to Wahid Zubran or Hassan el-Masri after the attack at the Tagant School. Had one of the Tunisians tracked them down? Someone else unhappy with what had happened at the Tagant School?
Liam stood by the door and called out, “Who is it?”
The voice was so familiar to Aidan, and yet so out of place, that he was stunned. “I’m looking for Aidan Greene,” the voice said. “My name is Blake Chennault.”
Liam looked over at Aidan, who was already rising and walking toward the door, and he stepped back. Aidan crossed the room and opened the door.
Blake looked like he’d been traveling all night. His shirt was wrinkled, and he had a five o’clock shadow. “Aidan! Thank God you’re all right.” He stepped in and embraced Aidan.
That was even more startling. Blake wasn’t a physical man; in the eleven years they’d been together he’d hardly hugged or kissed Aidan, at least not without prompting. Aidan awkwardly put his arms around Blake’s back as his former partner began to cry.
“Come on now, it’s OK,” Aidan said. This was a Blake he didn’t know. Probably the long flight had unnerved him.
“I thought you were dead,” Blake said, pulling back from the hug and wiping his eyes. “After you left, I realized what an idiot I was and I wanted to tell you, I wanted you to come back. I got a buddy to check flight records and I found you came here, to Tunis.”
Aidan led Blake to the table and pulled out a chair for him. He saw Liam slip out the front door, but before he could say anything the big ex-SEAL was gone.
Aidan sighed as he sat down across from Blake. Here he was again, a place he thought he’d never go back to. Looking after Blake Chennault.
“I checked your activity on the computer,” Blake said. “I contacted that Abboud woman but she couldn’t tell me anything other than that you’d walked out of her office. And the place that rented you the apartment said you’d gone. There was no trace of you.”
“I had no idea you were looking,” Aidan said.
“You wouldn’t believe the strings I had to pull,” Blake said. “Finally somebody told me you’d been on a military transport from Sicily to Tunis, that you were with this bodyguard named McCullough. As soon as I could get McCullough’s address I got on a plane.”
Aidan reached down to stroke Hayam’s head. “Why all this trouble? You’re the one who kicked me out.”
“I told you, it was a mistake. I didn’t realize how much I missed you until you were gone.”
Again, Aidan caught the word choice. Missed, not loved. Had Blake missed him, or just all the things he did? And where had Liam gone?
“I came here straight from the airport,” Blake said. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be here or not. I’m just so glad to see you.”
“You want something to drink?” Aidan asked. “Some tea?”
“Tea would be great.”
Aidan got up and set the water boiling. “It’s Tunisian tea,” he said, as he poured some leaves into the strainer. “Not exactly what you’re used to.”
“You have no idea what you’ve put me through,” Blake said. “The sooner we get out of here and back to Philadelphia, the better.”
Aidan didn’t say anything, just waited for the water to just begin to boil, then poured it into the pot and lowered the strainer. There was honey in the cabinet; Blake liked honey with his tea. Aidan brought him the mug. “It’s still hot,” he said.
Blake looked around. “You’ve been staying here?” he asked. “Not in a hotel?”
“I’ve been staying with Liam.” Aidan saw the little house through Blake’s eyes, the rough walls, the simple furniture. But he didn’t miss the luxury of Blake’s apartment, the sofas upholstered in floral patterns, the crystal chandelier, or the glass-fronted china cabinet housing Blake’s late mother’s collection of china birds.
“Do you even get phone service here? We’ll need a cab back to the airport.”
“Blake, we need to talk,” Aidan said.
“I know I haven’t been as sensitive as I could be. But you’ve got to remember, I have a high-stress job. I can’t pay attention to every little mood you have.”
“Blake, I’m not going back to Philadelphia,” Aidan said, the words spilling out before he even knew he was saying them. “I’m staying here with Liam. I appreciate that you tracked me down—I’m flattered. But our relationship was on life support anyway. You just killed it quickly.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Blake said. “You can’t stay here in this hell hole. And this guy—McCullough. You’d be surprised at all the things I’ve learned about him. He’s some kind of mercenary, a soldier of fortune. He could be dangerous.”
“He is dangerous,” Aidan said. “I’ve seen him in action. And you know what, I think that’s sexy. He’s smart, and he’s gorgeous, and he’s dynamite in bed. And when I talk to him, he listens. I’m in love with him.”
Blake just stared at him. “But... but...”
Liam opened the front door and said, “I’ve got a cab waiting out here for Mr. Chennault,” he said. “Express trip to the airport.”
“Guess it’s time for you to go,” Aidan said, standing up. Hayam sat up, too, and barked once.
Aidan kissed Blake on the forehead, the way he had so many times back in Philadelphia. “Have a good trip. And keep in touch, all right?”
Blake stood up. “You’re making a mistake, Aidan. I won’t wait around for you to come to your senses.”
“Good,” Aidan said. “Get back into the dating pool. There are guys in Philly who’ll jump at the chance to join your world. It’s just not for me anymore.”
Blake stalked out, and Liam closed the door behind him. “You sure about that?” Liam asked. “You can still catch him, if you want.”
“I know what I want, and it’s right here, in Tunis, in this very room.” He crossed the room to Liam and they embraced, their mouths merging in a long, deep kiss. Then Liam’s cell phone rang.
Aidan started to laugh. “If I didn’t know better I’d say that your phone is jealous of me.”
“It’s probably one of Blake’s buddies, trying to pry you away from me.”
“Not going to happen. But you’d better answer it. Might be a new job.”
Liam frowned. “I’m not interested.”
Aidan picked up the phone from the desktop and flipped it open. “Liam McCullough’s office.”
Liam crossed his arms and frowned as Aidan listened to the caller on the other end. “Mr. McCullough’s not available at the moment, but if you’ll give me the details I’ll make sure he gets the message and gets back to you.”
“Aidan,” Liam said, but Aidan was busy listening and writing.
“My name is Aidan Greene, and I’m Mr. McCullough’s associate,” Aidan said into the phone. “Yes. OK. All right. I’ve got the information, and I’ll have Mr. McCullough get back to you ASAP.”
“I can’t take on any new jobs right now,” Liam said, when Aidan had finished the call. “I’m not back to full strength.”
“It’s a simple job,” Aidan said. “Meet this Spanish businessman at the airport, drive him to his appointment, wait around for him, then drive him back to catch a plane. He’s not even staying overnight.”
He hesitated, but knew he had to plunge on. “We’ll work together,” he said. “That is, if you want to?”
Liam smiled. “You think you can work with me?”
“I think so. Somebody’s got to keep you in line.”
Liam grabbed Aidan by the waist and pulled him close, kissing his cheek. Hayam jumped up, trying to get in on the action, and Aidan reached down to pet her. “I love her name,” he said. “Madly in love. Just like I am.”
Aidan closed his eyes and savored every place where his body and Liam’s touched. “You know, I’ll need some training,” Aidan said. “I’ve been reading about these bodyguard schools. Five-day programs—defensive driving, CPR, tactical skills. What I want most is to learn to move the way you do.”
“Oh, baby,” Liam said, nuzzling his cheek against Aidan’s. “Let me show you some moves.”
Want to see how Aidan and Liam work together? Check out the second book in the series, Dancing with the Tide. Here’s the first chapter:
