Chapter Four
P eter found an empty table and sat, watching Minho sit opposite. With better lighting, Peter could see Minho properly, and if he thought he was attractive before, it paled into what he faced now. Minho was gorgeous. His tanned skin glowed, his hazel eyes shined, and being virtually the same height as well meant neither had to look down or up, which Peter found he liked. It was clear Minho worked out, Peter knew that already, having touched and held Minho when they’d had sex.
On the table. In his cafe.
He hadn’t done anything like that…ever. He’d met Diane, dated her, fell in love and married. He’d been certain she would be the only woman in his life, and when she’d passed, devastated didn’t even begin to cover how he’d felt. The person he loved more than anything had gone, leaving him and the two boys feeling rudderless. Now Minho was here, and even though Peter had never had any inclination where men were concerned, he couldn’t deny the attraction he felt to Minho. They’d had sex, so it was clear there was a sexual attraction.
Moving on the chair, Peter was reminded of the fact that they’d slept together by the dull ache in his ass. He’d never had anything in his ass, and had expected it to remain that way until the necessary colonoscopy he had scheduled soon. Something he was trying to avoid thinking about.
Minho held the menu and Peter stared at his hands. Strong and capable, with long fingers and short trimmed nails. They’d touched him, caressed him, and made him feel fantastic. His eyes moved from Minho’s hands and up his arms, seeing the flex of muscle as he moved, and now he knew he wasn’t as straight as he’d thought. Not like the sex hadn’t already clued him in to that.
Clearing his throat, he asked, “Seeing anything you’d like?”
“You can’t go wrong with moussaka, can you? I’ll also have the keftedes. I missed dinner earlier.”
“I think I’ll have the stifado with beef. Maybe some olives and some cured meats as well.”
“Wine or beer?” Minho picked up the wine menu and scanned the list. “Beer for me.”
“Me too. Not much of a wine drinker. Diane liked…” Peter winced. He shouldn’t talk about Diane with Minho. It didn’t seem appropriate. “Sorry.”
“No, don’t. Please talk about her. She was your wife, the mother of your children, and you loved her. She seemed like a warm, genuine person whenever I saw you together.”
“We were happy. Sure, we had our arguments like all couples do, but for the most part, we were very happy together.”
“You miss her.”
Peter nodded. “I do. She was a huge part of my life, the mother of my children.” Peter paused when a waiter came over and took their order. “I don’t want to make you feel—”
“I want you to talk about her. She was a huge part of your life. I saw how you both were together. I was happy for you to have someone like Diane in your life. All I wanted was for you to be happy and loved. You had that with her.”
“If we’re… what you say we are,” Peter changed what he was going to say, conscious of where they were. “It must have caused you some pain to see us together.”
Minho stared at the table, then lifted his head. “It did, yes, but I would never have forced my way between the two of you. I made my decision when I saw you both together and it has hurt at times, but it isn’t a decision I regret. I wanted you to be happy, and you were.”
“I feel like I should apologize.” Peter fiddled with his cutlery; his chest tight. Breathing deeply, he watched the staff move between the tables. It didn’t sit right with him knowing this man or vampire had been hurt, even if Peter hadn’t known he existed. “Where does this leave us now?”
“I want to get to know you.”
“I think we did some of that earlier.” Peter chuckled softly, shaking his head. He’d never done anything like that before and it still surprised him how one kiss had led to him having sex with a man he barely knew, on a table in his cafe. Vampire, not man. He had to remember that.
“As I said, that wasn’t part of my plan when I came in to see you. I wanted us to talk and date, then maybe go from there.”
“Do you date?” Peter tilted his head, watching Minho. Minho snorted, then shook his head. “No?”
“When it’s two of us,” Minho pointed to his chest, “we know. We feel the connection between us, so things tend to move at a faster pace.”
“You have to be slower because of me.”
“You seem to like this to go at a slower pace.” You, as in humans.
“We can’t feel this connection the same as you. I can sense something. A knowing? I don’t think that’s the right word.” Peter closed his eyes and went inside himself. Yes, there was something there, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Opening his eyes, he placed his hand on his chest. “I feel something, but I don’t know how to describe it.”
Nodding, Minho smiled at the waiter when he placed their beers in front of them. “It is hard to describe.” He shifted, the shirt pulling taut across his chest, and Peter wanted them both naked. Blinking, he shook his head, a small move that Minho picked up. “What?”
“I’ve never been attracted to a man before. I can find a man attractive, acknowledge he is, but not want to act on it because I’ve never had that desire. With you… it’s strange.” Straightening in his chair, Peter looked Minho in the eyes. “I want you again. We could leave here right now and I’d go where you wanted as long as we both knew what was going to happen when we arrived.”
Minho’s nostrils flared, his eyes glowed briefly until he looked away. “Peter,” his name sounded more like a caress, whispered over his skin. “Keep that thought until after we’ve eaten. What kind of partner would I be if I didn’t feed you?”
“An aroused one,” Peter murmured. “Like me.”
The food arrived and Peter considered asking it to be bagged up to go so he and Minho could be somewhere more private. Minho licked his lips and began to eat, but he made it obvious he wanted to be gone as much as Peter, by the frequent hot looks he sent Peter’s way.
“Eat up, Peter. We have somewhere to go after this.”
“Rex is staying at a friend’s tonight and Sammy is at college.”
Minho inhaled, then released it slowly. “Good to know.” After eating a few mouthfuls of food, Minho told him, “I came to the opening of your cafe.”
“I never saw you.” Peter was certain he would have remembered seeing Minho there. He wasn’t a man you forgot unless you’d been in a car crash.
“I stayed outside. I was proud of you. Proud of you both. I know you saved as much as you could so you could open your own place.”
“Diane’s parents gave us something toward it before they passed.” Diane’s parents had had her later in life so had given them help when starting the cafe. “Then what they left us in the will helped as well.”
“You’re doing well.”
“We hit a rough patch at one point, but things are good now.” There was a time when Peter had been certain the cafe would have to close, but they’d survived and were in a much better place now.
“Ever thought about expanding?”
“God no. One place is enough for me. I’m happy running it, and I know Sammy wants to be more involved once he’s completed his business degree.”
“Is that why he decided on that degree?”
“Yes. He’s always been interested in business and I let him see how the cafe operates, showed him how to do accounts, and stock taking and place orders. He has a head for it. As for Rex…” Peter pursed his lips. “Just when I think I have him figured out, he throws me off by behaving in a way I would have never expected.”
“He’s still young. Just eighteen. Sammy is older so has his head screwed on better.”
“I forget you know them. You probably watched them grow up.”
“They’re your children. You’re important to me, so they are as well. If things go the way I want them to, I’ll technically be their stepfather.”
Peter snorted then laughed. “Oh, that’s—that’s funny. I can see their faces as I sit them down and introduce you.”
“I’ll wait until you tell me it’s safe.” Minho grinned, his white teeth flashing. The skin glowed under the light, and Peter felt his body tighten in response. Minho inhaled, his eyes hooding. “Tell me we can leave.”
Peter leaned back, a sly grin on his face. “Not just yet.”
Minho groaned then carried on eating. “Tease.”
“Not really. We both know I’m going to put out later, but you can explain the dynamics of this to me.”
“How so?”
“Will you be the…what do you call it? Top?”
Minho’s eyes widened. “I hope not.”
“You prefer to, er, bottom?” Here he was, a man who was almost fifty, and he had no idea what terminology to use. He needed to catch up.
“I switch, so I like to both bottom and top.”
“We’ll do both, then.” Peter fidgeted in his chair and tried to remember the last time he’d felt this level of arousal. Probably when he and Diane first met. They’d had a lot of sex back then. They still had, right up until she became too ill, but it had changed over the course of the years. Familiarity and love had changed the burning passion to something long lasting. Smiling softly, he remembered their last anniversary before the cancer took over, Diane in her red dress. That had been a good night.
“You seem distracted.”
“Not distracted as such. Just memories.”
Minho leaned forward, his eyes focused on Peter. “Will you tell me?”
“I was thinking about my last anniversary with Diane.”
“I wish you’d had more of them.”
“Even though it means we wouldn’t be here now?” How could someone like Minho exist? Wishing Peter happiness, even if it meant he never experienced it with him.
“As long as you were happy and loved, then yes. I made that decision when I first saw you two together, and it isn’t one I regret. There was nothing stopping me from having relationships during your marriage and I have slept with people during that time. I haven’t been celibate, pining away. It hurt, I’ll admit, but I would never break up your marriage.”
“You’re one of those good men.”
“I wouldn’t say that. I’ve done things you may not agree with.”
Peter glanced around the room, seeing the customers either eating or talking. “Like?”
“I’m part of the team that protects our kind. I’ve killed to do that.”
“Were they necessary deaths?” Peter had a strong sense of right and wrong. If Minho had to kill to keep his kind safe…Peter didn’t really know enough about vampires and their politics to know how to react. He only understood the human world.
“They were, in that others would have died if I hadn’t intervened.”
Others. Did he mean humans? Peter pointed to his chest, and Minho nodded. “So you protect us, and you as well.”
“It’s necessary. I know I may be placed in a position that I might have to take lives if it means keeping others safe. One day we won’t be needed, but it seems that day is a long way from here.”
“This other group?”
“Yes. As I said, we have a difference of opinion when it comes to how others should be treated.” Minho ate the last few bites of his meal and pushed his plate away. “I can talk more about this in an area better suited for the discussion.”
“More private.”
“Yes.” Minho sipped his beer and sighed. “This is good beer.”
“It is.” Peter leaned back and patted his belly. Not flat like it had been when he was younger, but still solid. He worked hard at the cafe and still went to the gym, so he hadn’t let his body go like some his age had. He would never look as good as Minho, and he exhaled softly. He might not be older, but he certainly looked and felt it.
“I’ll pay then I’ll take us to your place. Is that okay with you?”
Peter nodded his body reacting to the thought of being alone with Minho. “Yeah, it is.”