Chapter 13
Dinner had been mostly quiet, with them all eating in the kitchen, too uncomfortable to move into the dining hall where there was an entire wall of glass. They’d had to walk by it just to exit to the rest of the lodge, and even that minute it’d taken had made Rue’s skin crawl.
The Black Harts had agreed on taking guard duty shifts, as though there was a chance someone might attempt to go outside in the dead of night. Despite the implication they didn’t trust any of them, no one spoke up against them, everyone clearly too drained from the day’s events to bother.
Uriel was taking first shift and had waited downstairs while the rest of them headed up to bed. He’d been closing the doors to the lounge area, and the kitchen when Rue last spotted him, sealing off the areas where there were windows and opting to stake out behind the check-in desk.
The workers who were present totaled six, including Cosima, and that was only because they had room and board at the lodge.
Everyone had joined them for dinner aside for the coordinator, and they’d each arrived with a packed bag, planning on relocating to the upper level along with the rest of them.
There were plenty of rooms, so there was no worry about running out, even with Rhys and his two missing board members having taken the keys to their own rooms with them.
Bowie and Lenore had agreed to spend the night together, and Rue had been planning on going with them.
He should have known better.
“Come here.” Ryker didn’t have to shout or call him by name for Rue to know he was talking to him.
They’d already made it halfway down the hall, past the Black Hart’s door, Bowie having selected a room far from the stairwell. When Rue paused and then turned on his heels to look back, Ryker was staring at him.
Bowie stepped up to his side and grabbed onto his wrist. “Hey. Ignore him. Let’s go.”
Even though he had to have heard, Ryker made no moves to stop him. His expression remained blank, his spine straight. He merely stood there, imposingly, and waited for Rue to come to a decision on his own.
He knew what it would mean if he didn’t obey though.
The message he’d be sending. No one knew what tomorrow would bring, whether they’d wake to find the fog had miraculously lifted, or if they’d be trapped here another day.
If Rue went with Bowie and Lenore, it’d be the same as giving Ryker the middle finger.
Telling him he was breaking their agreement, and no longer wanted his help to keep them safe.
It wasn’t like Rue was opposed to spending the night with the Black Hart…But…His intentions were still unclear, and that made him nervous. Today had already been a lot, and he didn’t think he could handle any more disappointment.
His friends were also scared. They needed him…
Ryker’s patience wore out, and he turned away and slid his key into the doorknob.
“You two stick together,” Rue told Bowie and Lenore before he could change his mind, stepping away. “I’ll be with Ryk.”
“Rue—” Bowie was held back by Lenore, but Rue didn’t wait to listen to what she said to him, picking up the pace.
He reached the room just as Ryker stepped inside, slamming a palm against the door before the Black Hart could shut it on him.
Ryker stared at him wordlessly for a beat, and then finally moved aside, leaving Rue space to enter.
He tore his shirt over his head and tossed it into a corner, and then slipped out of his shoes, seemingly uncaring how quickly or not Rue closed the door, even though Ishleen and Esti were still slowly making their way down the hall.
Ishleen noticed too. Rue caught her pausing, leaning her head to try and get a better look—
He shut the door and flicked the lock into place, coming up short when he spun and found Ryker completely naked.
Ryker didn’t spare him a glance, going straight for the bathroom. He left that door open as well, the sound of the shower coming a moment later.
Did he…want Rue to join him?
Maybe not?
Did Rue want to join him?
The deal had been for Rue’s body, right? Since he was already nervous about where this was going, could he take the initiative? Would Ryker reject him?
Light.
Rue didn’t think he could handle it if he did.
Didn’t know if that was even something he really wanted at a time like this.
What if Ryker planned on fucking him with another object?
A shiver raced through him, and before he knew what he was doing, Rue was stripping out of his clothing, on his way to the other side of the room.
He was in nothing but his boxers by the time he made it to the doorway, standing beneath the threshold as the air caught in his lungs at the sight before him.
Ryker had his head tipped back, water sluicing down his ripped abs, trailing down powerful thighs. He was a player on the hypovolley team, and his muscular form attested to as much, all that strength and grace on full display.
His ass was a work of art. Firm. Round. And when he shifted, angling his hips more in Rue’s direction, his cock became visible. It was flaccid at the moment, but still impressive, the size making Rue question whether or not he could take something that big when it was hard.
“Quit staring and get in here,” Ryker’s barked command had Rue jumping, then rushing to discard his boxers and move to the open stall.
As soon as he entered, the Black Hart caught him by the arms and spun him around, so he was facing the wall.
There was a brief moment where nothing happened, then Ryker’s hands were back, slick palms smoothing down the lengths of Rue’s arms. He soaped him up everywhere he touched, firm, yet gentle in his ministrations.
It wasn’t long before Rue’s eyes slipped shut, his mind emptying. Ryker massaged him as he went, from the knots on his shoulders, to the ones on his back and lower. His thumbs were pressing against the tight places above his hips when he finally broke the silence.
“Tell me about the time you fucked my brother.” Ryker’s hands slammed on his shoulders when he tried turning, forcing him to remain still.
“What?” Rue shook his head. “Why?”
“Because I want to hear about it.” The massage started up again. “Tell me. I’m not asking.”
“I…” He cleared his throat. “I thought it was you.”
“Yeah, you’ve mentioned that part already. I want to know the rest. You found him in the east gardens among the roses. Then what?”
The moon had been mostly shrouded by clouds, creating a dark, almost dreamy atmosphere. Rue recalled thinking at the time that the universe was working in his favor, setting the scene.
“I went there to seduce you,” he confessed, words spoken so low, it was a wonder Ryker could catch them over the sound of the shower spray.
“You’d been drinking.”
“On purpose.” Rue had needed to rely on liquid courage. “I called him by your name. He didn’t correct me.”
“You called for me,” he stepped in closer, his front brushing against Rue’s back, “in the darkness.”
“Ryker.”
“Yes, just like that.”
“He responded. That’s why I thought…” Rue closed his eyes again when Ryker’s hands landed on his hips and held. “He made me believe he was you.”
“Blaming Ryder now? You climbed into his lap and later sunk down onto his dick, and it’s all his fault, that it?”
“It is, because if I’d known it was him I would have never—” Rue gasped as he was violently spun around and slammed against the wall.
Ryker pressed against him, wet body sealing him in place, eyes searching Rue’s gaze. The corner of his lips turned upward at what he found. “Green.”
Rue gulped, embarrassingly aware of his dick lengthening between them.
“You could never hide it, you know?” Ryker placed a finger beneath Rue’s chin and tipped his head back.
“Your desire for me. When I heard you were with Ryder, I doubted it. Doubted myself and everything I believed. But I shouldn’t have.
You don’t have any other choice but to be honest when I hold you like this. ”
“Nobody else ever really notices.” Rue got his color changing eyes from his birth father, but they weren’t true mood-eyes.
His father’s kind shifted through several different colors, a range of emotions from obvious to complex, whereas Rue’s mixed genetics had only given him the ability to filter through three, and not very clearly.
The base color was always a light brown, so when they turned green or blue, a person needed to be standing close enough to make out the overlapping shades.
Ryker always had.
Ever since they were kids, he’d unabashedly lean in, just like this, and check him out.
“I’ll change my line of questioning,” the Black Hart stated, “since you don’t feel like talking about that night in the garden. You’ve wanted me since puberty. Yes or no, sweetheart?”
There was no point in denying it. What little pride he had was long gone.
“Yes.” For as long as Rue could remember, he’d wanted the other man in one capacity or another.
“You want me now. Yes or no?”
“Yes.”
“That day in the library was good for you.”
“Yes.” Maybe Rue should have hesitated there, but he didn’t have it in him, was too mesmerized by the aroused look on Ryker’s face.
The feel of his cock trapped between their stomachs.
He’d been right to be fearful of its size.
Didn’t make him want it any less.
“That time in the garden was good too.”
“Yes.” He inhaled sharply. “Wait.”
Ryker hushed him. “Relax. I’m not mad. You can be honest about this. I won’t take it out on you. You thought it was me, right?”
“…Yes.” But it hadn’t been. It hadn’t been him, and Rue had just admitted the sex with his brother had been good. Knowing the man as well as he did, Ryker should be spitting mad right now, not…whatever the hell this was. “Do you…not care?”
It was the only thing he could think of. That, despite his hard cock, Ryker didn’t actually want him.
“I care,” Ryker corrected. “I just plan on giving it to you even better than you had it that night.” He brushed his thumb against Rue’s bottom lip and sighed. “But not now.”