CHAPTER FOURTEEN #2
That voice that once bubbled over in pride was wounded, limping, and scared. It cut Raj down, and he placed his palm on the corn. “If I’d known they were going to throw those apples—”
“Don’t apologize for the actions of bigots,” Adam snapped. He gave a mournful chuckle. “You didn’t throw them.”
“But I should have stopped it.” Raj shook his head. Every time he replayed that moment in his head, he’d scream at himself to storm up there, to lift the lights, do anything other than watch Adam struggle like a moth in a spiderweb.
“You’re not exactly my biggest fan,” Adam said with a laugh.
“Adam,” the mayor called out over him. The corn shook where Adam stood. “How in the devil do you get out of here?”
“Haven’t a clue,” he said. “Maybe we’ll starve.”
“Don’t be so morbid,” the mayor chastised him before the sound of footsteps rose.
Raj peered up at the sun that’d already started sinking. It might be best if he made his way out. He could talk to Adam face to face instead of through the autumn foliage. Maybe they’d let bygones be bygones and end on an amicable acceptance.
His talking companion fell silent or took a path away from him. Either way, the two split, Raj’s harried walk turning into a sprint. He could see the huge skeletons towering before the entrance just a few yards away. Picking up speed, he followed the curve, and his heart stopped.
“Ah!”
A terrifying creature dangled off a wooden cross, its massive hat hiding the blackened eyes. Wind pulled at it, rustling the straw inside its overalls. The hands shifted as if reaching off the perch for him, and two crows landed on its shoulders.
Oh. It’s a scarecrow.
“I’m guessing you found one of old Mac’s surprises,” Adam called out from somewhere behind Raj.
“I think it’s that scarecrow from your story. Stitches.”
“It’s not my story,” he said. “But you best say hello, just in case.”
Bowing his head slightly, Raj said, “Hello, Stitches.” Then he turned to try to find his way to Adam and freedom. “Are they all so terrifying?”
“I’ve never seen a happy Stitches if that’s what you mean.”
Raj wiped his hands on his thighs, and he turned right—more corn. “I suppose you don’t tend to see a jolly version of vengeance.”
“Though…” Adam’s voice paused, and Raj did the same. “A man who’s laughing like a bowlful of jelly while he peels your skin off would be pants-wetting.”
Raj shivered and laughed at the idea when Adam asked, “Or is that too morbid for you?”
“I’d say it’s just the right amount.” Raj caught a hint of him on a path over. Was that one he’d just been on? Raj took off, trying to find him, while Adam seemed to have gone still. This time, Raj kept a hand on the corn, using the wall trick to guide him.
“I didn’t try to one-up you.”
Adam’s sudden plea froze Raj in his tracks. “What?”
“My haunted house. More like my haunted store basement.” The corn shifted in the distance.
Raj could just about see him now. All he had to do was make a few turns, then it was a straight shot.
“When you complimented my mummy, it made me think about all these old animatronics we have, props. Things we never use. I wanted to give them a purpose. And…”
Raj made a left, checked for no more surprise scarecrows, then he took off down the stretch. “And what?” he prompted, trying to locate him by his voice.
What Adam said next nearly threw him onto his ass.
“And I wanted to impress you.”
Impress him? By undermining him? By cutting him off at the knees? Raj froze, one foot in the air, his brain fighting with his body to put the pieces together. “Huh?”
“You were this mysterious movie man who knew all about animatronics and fake ghosts. I guess I just thought maybe you’d think more of me if you saw what I could put together.”
“But…the war. You called it a war, not me.”
“I don’t know if you’ve caught on yet, but I can be a little overdramatic.”
“You don’t say,” Raj managed with a straight face.
“I was wrong about that, too. You belong in Anoka, in the old hotel with the mysterious drowning cellar.” Adam played it off as a laugh, but Raj’s heart sank.
“It’s on thin ice.”
“The cellar?”
“The hotel. The haunt. All of it. I sunk everything I have into it, into making this foolish idea work. And when I saw your haunt, I…well, I lost it. Tried to set up my own store and, holy shit, those margins—”
“Razor thin?” Adam said.
“Pennies, at best.”
“You have to get it bulk outside the season or they’ll bleed you dry.” He offered advice without a second thought to the man who just confessed to being his competition.
That thought caused Raj to move again. Slowly—listening to the steady breath of the man just past the bend—he worked his way toward Adam. “About the cellar, the um, the kiss and the, uh…” Fact I almost sucked you off.
“Careful,” Adam said, freezing Raj. “The corn has ears.”
He tried to laugh it off, but his heart pounded. Just past that turn was Adam. Without seeing those mercury eyes, or smelling his cologne, it was easy to talk to him. But if he faced him, he might lose all nerve.
“I don’t regret it. The…kiss. The water damage, however…”
Adam went quiet. In a voice barely louder than the creak of stalks, he said, “Neither do I.” He coughed and called out loudly, “But I won’t play second fiddle. I’m sorry.”
“Fiddle?” Raj was lost. He dug his hands into the corn and started to peer around the corner.
“Whatever this is can’t happen.”
What? Pain clawed up his throat. His fingers crumbled, causing the stalks to snap back into place. Raj jerked his jaw back and forth, trying to find a way to speak without gasping. Turn back. Leave him in the corn. Forget any of this happened.
But as hard as he tried, he couldn’t stop a pathetic “Why?” from slipping out of his mouth.
For some reason, Adam sounded just as heartbroken. “It isn’t fair to your partner.”
“Partner? What partner?” Raj jerked around like a mythic boyfriend would suddenly appear on his arm.
“The blond, empty-headed one you keep around to look pretty and hopefully not make any decisions.”
“Logan?” Raj gasped. A laugh slipped past him at the idea. “Logan’s not my… He’s my business partner!”
Adam’s absolutely shocked, “What?” made Raj laugh even harder.
“I needed someone here to handle the demolition and construction on the hotel. He’s part owner, but. God, no. Logan is not my type.”
Adam thought that he and Logan were…? Raj wanted to laugh at the very idea, but the fact that Adam worried over it, maybe even felt jealous, lit a fire in Raj’s belly.
He didn’t want to laugh in Adam’s face. No, he wanted to look into those silvery-blue eyes, watch them widen in shock as he gripped the nape of Adam’s neck, then kiss him hard enough to set the whole field ablaze.
“What is?” Adam’s sharp tongue became a soft voice pleading for an answer.
Smiling in anticipation of showing him, Raj leaped around the corner.
Corn greeted him.
No!
Raj hunted around for Adam, certain he must be around another bend. But through the stalks, he spotted the shadow pacing beside the corn. Damn it. They were separated by only a couple of feet, which could also be a mile.
Placing his palm to the corn, Raj poured out his heart. “Someone acerbic with a tongue as sharp as a razor. Who adores the macabre even in spring. Understands the importance of old cheesy movies. And it’d be nice if he has a hot, tight ass.”
There was no answer.
Raj took a deep breath, trying to find the words to just blurt out his question. “How about you?” The corn shook as another cold wind cut through the field. “What are you into?”
A crack like someone snapping bamboo yanked Raj’s head up. The dark shadow erupted through the cornstalks right toward him. Hands curled around Raj’s face before he had a chance to blink. The light shifted, and he gazed into this shadow’s sparkling blue eyes.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Adam asked. He pulled Raj closer until Adam’s nose glanced against his. For a tick, Adam’s lips lifted in a wicked smile. He breathed, “You.”
Under the autumn sun, in a field of broken corn, Adam kissed him.
Without fear of imminent death, after the two of them apologized and begged for forgiveness—they touched.
Raj had a vague notion of technique, lips soft and glistening but not wet.
A tongue that teased without invading. But mostly he felt everything.
Every panicked heartbeat slowed to a calm joy.
Every held breath escaped as a rising pant.
“Adam…” he whispered, Raj’s lips forming the words over his.
He did the same, saying, “Raj,” in the middle of the kiss like it was his dying words in a desert.
A strange mix of giggling and gasping escaped from Raj. He cupped Adam’s cheek while Adam wound his fingers through Raj’s hair. Gazing into Adam’s eyes, Raj felt lighter than air—like if he didn’t hang on to Adam’s jaw, he might float away.
Then Adam tugged back on Raj’s hair. A tsunami of lust engulfed him, pulling him out of the clouds and into the filthy dirt. He barely cupped Adam’s hip before reaching for what he wanted, what he’d nearly had in the cellar.
Adam’s lips caressed Raj’s ear. The moment Raj brushed over Adam’s bulge, he gasped. That sound ricocheted through every nerve in Raj’s body. Then Adam had to go and rub his palm up Raj’s inner thigh that was barely hiding his trapped cock.
Swirling his finger around the head, Adam kept teasing Raj. Hot breath buffeted down Raj’s ear before a cold tone warned him, “If you think a little hay or dirt will stop me from fucking wrecking you right now...”
Leaning back enough for Raj to be able to look him in the eye, Adam gave a mischievous smile. “You’re in for a hell of a surprise, Mr. Choudhary.”
Right here. Now? In the middle of a field? Where anyone could see the corn thrashing as their bodies thrusted, sweated, glided, and strained until they were two panting souls in the dirt?
He met Adam in the eye and reached for his zipper.
“I did it!”
Both men jerked in shock. The real world crashed down around them. They hadn’t snuck off into some random farmer’s field but were standing in a maze where anyone could stumble upon them.
“I’m the first one out,” the mayor kept shouting, congratulating himself. “Everyone, come and find me. Then we can get back to business.”
The corn stalks began to wiggle as the rest of the council converged on the mayor’s cry. Adam and Raj both walked apart, though their eyes kept locked on each other.
“Scuse me,” one of the council members said as she hustled past the two of them.
“Does that idiot know he’s back at the entrance?” another woman commented before she looked over at them. “What are you doing? Let’s go before the sun drops and the crazies come out.”
Bowing his head, Raj followed the woman. Adam seemed to take his time, though he stared back at the hole he’d punched through the corn. A hole he made just to get to me.
“Mr. Choudhary,” Adam suddenly shouted, racing to catch up. Raj nearly reached back to take his hand, but Adam had both clasped behind his back. “What are your thoughts on coffee?”
“Good.”
“And dessert?”
“Even better.” Raj smiled.
Leaning closer, Adam nearly whispered in his ear, “Good.”
As one mass, the remaining stragglers emerged out of the maze. Adam shifted toward the front while Raj lingered at the back. Still, he couldn’t stop looking at him, even as he knew he should play it cool.
A few of the council members congratulated the mayor. “Yes, yes. Well, I’ve saved the bonfire. So let’s go. We have to discuss the Trick or Treat on Main and the parade. Chop chop.”
“There’s another parade?” Raj said.
Adam laughed. “Welcome to Anoka.” He pulled a ripped corn stalk out of his vest pocket and twisted it around before handing it to Raj.
“What the hell? Did someone run through my corn?”
The two men looked at each other and laughed.