Lies of omission, p.19
Lies of Omission, page 19
“Right now, I feel older than time.”
“Come, come. You got to rest for a while after this afternoon’s lessons, ate a healthy dinner, and…” Warner paused, smiling, “you rectified things with Damien. You should be feeling on top of the world.”
“Tell that to my body, or mind I suppose. Holding my shields still drains me.”
“Good gods. You only need to keep the one created by your own magical energy up, and not even that one while you’re here.”
“Now you tell me.” Lyle dropped all but the one. “I don’t want to be entirely unprotected, in case something unexpected happens.”
“Meaning if Orsino appears, or sends one of his less powerful sorcerers to try to abduct you. They won’t be able to enter the house.”
“Orsino did, the night of the party.”
“True, because I hadn’t warded the house against him and his. I wanted to find out if he would have the gall to attempt to take you in my own home.”
“Uh-huh. You knew he would.”
Warner smiled. “You’re right, of course, and he failed miserably, and lost two of his people in the process.”
“You had them killed?” Lyle was very certain he didn’t like that idea, even though he knew Orsino would undoubtedly have done his best to kill anyone who stood in his way.
“Let’s say they have a new and different life than the one they had working for Orsino and leave it at that.”
Lyle nodded. “Message received—don’t ask questions I don’t want answers to.”
His father merely smiled before suggesting they move from where they’d ended that afternoon. “I think a few well-placed lightning bolts should stop all but the most shielded assassin or kidnapper.”
“Probably faster than fire bolts.”
“Indeed.”
Two hours later, feeling like a wrung out dishrag, which seemed to be how every lesson ended for him, Lyle still felt a great deal better about being able to defend himself against other magic workers. And normal people, too, if necessary, although I can’t quite see me tossing a fire bolt at someone if there’s anyone else around. That might raise more than a few eyebrows.
“Now let’s try—”
Lyle held up his hand to forestall whatever his father was going to suggest. “Let’s try taking a break until tomorrow.”
“Another hour and we will. You may have ten minutes to recuperate.”
“Gee, that’s big of you.”
His father laughed. “I thought so.”
By the end of the hour, Lyle was able to create a few simple illusions which could, his father told him, make it seem as if he had back-up should he be cornered in a dangerous situation. At the moment they consisted of a fierce dog or a pack of feral rats, but eventually, as his abilities grew, he’d be able to move on to making his attacker believe a man or two was coming to help him.
“Giving me time to get away rather than burning them to death?”
“Precisely.” Warner opened the door to let them out of the workroom. “Tomorrow, we’ll work on physical defense.”
“What?”
“Knives, staves. All right, not true staves, but any found items like a board or a stick that you can get your hands on.”
“Next you’ll be teaching me how to use a broadsword.” Lyle almost hoped he would.
“Sorry, but they’re rather hard to conceal and walking around with one strapped to your back would bring a cop running on the double.”
Lyle laughed. “No kidding.”
When they walked past the media room, Lyle paused to see if Damien was still there. He wasn’t, but Warner suggested he check the back yard. “He likes the quiet there.”
“As well as freezing his ass off?”
“He dresses warmly, which you should as well if you’re going out there.”
With a nod, Lyle hurried up to his room to get his jacket and scarf, having retrieved them earlier in the day from the basement room where the actors had prepared for the haunted house.
* * * *
Damien gave a tentative smile when he saw Lyle approach the bench where he was sitting. “I take it Radclyffe told you where to find me.”
“Not specifically, but he thought you might be out here.”
“Nice to know I’m so predictable in my habits that he can pinpoint where I am at any given moment.”
Lyle chuckled as he sat down next to him. When he did, Damien felt what he hadn’t noticed a few hours ago. Lyle radiated an aura of power similar to, although much weaker than Radclyffe’s. He wondered if everyone would notice it, especially Joseph and Elaine, when Lyle returned to work on Tuesday. Presuming he does, but I doubt he’d let his father keep him here. The shop is too important to him.
“I’m not sure I’d call you predictable. I think everyone has habits, though. Like I get tense if I’m not at the shop at least ten minutes before we open.”
“That’s always been your routine?”
“Nope. When I first bought the shop I was compulsive about being there by nine because I felt like I had to make certain everything was ready for the day, which was stupid. Nothing really changed because I was suddenly in charge. It took six months, and Joseph teasing me about my OCD as he called it, before I finally decided ten-to-ten was early enough except around Halloween.”
“When you return to going in at nine?”
Lyle laughed. “Not quite that bad. Nine-thirty.”
“Are you going to be able to get back to your normal routine, or is Radclyffe going to insist you stay here until you know everything about everything?”
“Good luck with that.” Lyle shook his head, looking amused. “I’m opening the shop Tuesday morning whether he likes it or not.”
“Kinda figured.”
“Maybe you can come by during the day sometimes, now that you’re not stuck having to make certain I’m safe in the evenings.”
“I might,” Damien replied, knowing it wouldn’t happen. “If, and it’s a big if, Radclyffe doesn’t need me, now that I’m back to my bodyguard duties for him.”
“Why the hell does he need a bodyguard? There’s no way someone can kill him. Not with the protections he’s got.”
“Appearances. He’s rich, powerful, and heads an international consortium. There’s no way anyone would believe he’d be foolhardy enough to walk around without at least a couple of us to keep him safe if someone tried to attack him.”
Lyle grinned. “So you get to be bored stiff during all his meetings and what have you?”
“Big time.” Damien smiled, wishing he didn’t have to trade one lie for why he couldn’t see Lyle during the day for another one. “Fair warning, it could happen in the evenings, too, though not too often.”
“Better not,” Lyle grumbled. “I want my time with you, damn it.”
“You’ll have it, I promise. Hell, I owe you a fancy dinner.”
Lyle cocked his head in question. “You do?”
“Yep. I promised I’d take you out, to celebrate how well the whole haunted house thing went.”
“Nope. What you promised, if I remember correctly, was that we’d celebrate in bed.”
Damien grinned slowly. “I do believe you’re right.”
Giving him a wide-eyed, innocent look, Lyle pointed to the mansion. “I have a nice warm bed in there just waiting for us. It would be a shame to disappoint it.”
Damien threw back his head in laughter before wrapping his arms around Lyle in a tight embrace. “We definitely do not want to disappoint it.” With that said, he kissed him passionately. He knew he shouldn’t—neither kissing him, filling it with all that he felt for Lyle, nor going to bed with him. I’m only asking for heartbreak. He couldn’t help it, however. Because, common sense withstanding, he loved Lyle, and he knew his feelings were returned. The way Lyle kissed him back proved that.
The kiss ended only because they needed to regain their breath. When they had, Damien stood, lifted Lyle into his arms, and they kissed again as he carried him into the mansion. It didn’t end until they were in Lyle’s bedroom.
“You’re sure…?” Damien didn’t want to ask, but he had to know. Everything to the contrary, he didn’t want Lyle to feel obligated to carry this through.
Lyle’s whispered “Yes,” followed by a much more emphatic, “You have to ask?” was all the answer either of them needed.
They tossed their outerwear on the chair in front of the window, which was followed moments later by their shirts. Shoes were kicked off next. Damien was about to remove his jeans when Lyle gripped his wrists.
“I want to slow down and savor each moment.” Lyle released his hold and then ran his hands slowly over Damien’s chest. For a moment he frowned. “You’re cold.”
“We were outside. It’s hardly summer out there.”
“True.” Lyle continued his tactile exploration, tracing the hard lines of muscle before teasing his fingers over Damien’s nipples until they hardened. He kissed Damien’s throat and slowly worked his way down to swirl his tongue over each nipple. “This would be easier if we were lying down.”
Not one to ignore such a suggestion, Damien picked him up, gently setting him on the bed before sprawling on his back so Lyle could continue. Lyle did, licking and lightly nipping each nipple, sending waves of need directly to Damien’s cock. They intensified when Lyle moved from there to lave his tongue over one ear, sucking the lobe, and then did the same to the other.
“My turn.” Damien rolled Lyle onto his back. Then he straddled him, playing his fingers lightly over his chest. He laughed when Lyle told him it tickled and changed tactics, leaning down kiss Lyle’s eyelids, his nose, and his lips. That resulted in a long, deep kiss involving the exploration of each other’s mouths. Pulling away, eventually, Damien nibbled Lyle’s nipples, feeling his cock harden under his tight jeans. Sitting back on his heels again, he unzipped them and slid his hand under Lyle’s briefs to stroke his erection. That resulted in a deep moan of need.
“Maybe…” Lyle gasped.
“We should finish undressing? I’m all for that.”
They did, quickly, kicking their jeans and underwear onto the floor and removing their socks. “Because,” as Lyle put it, “making love in socks is soooooo unsexy.”
Damien didn’t bother to reply as he had other things to do. He was about to take Lyle’s hard cock into his mouth when Lyle put his hands on his shoulders to stop him.
“We need protection.”
“And you don’t have anything with you, I take it.”
Lyle snorted. “I came here in a tux. My father must have sent someone to my place to get me something less formal to wear and somehow they forget to check my nightstand for condoms and lube.”
“How thoughtless of them. Okay, I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”
“As if. Wait, you live here?”
“Yeah. Bodyguard, remember? It’s easier that way.”
Damien grabbed his jeans, pulled them on, and made a mad dash to his room. While he didn’t need to use condoms, being what he was, he kept a few, along with a couple packets of lube, in his wallet for the times he went in search for a man for a one-night stand. Which I’ll never do again, as long as he’s in my life. He refused to consider how short a time that might be as he quickly returned to Lyle’s bedroom. Tossing the lube and one condom on the nightstand, he opened the other one, rolling it over Lyle’s now slightly soft erection. Then he began again, taking it into his mouth. It didn’t take more than a few sucks before it was rock hard. He worked to keep it that way, loving the deep moans that resulted.
“Enough, or I’ll come,” Lyle gasped.
“And?” But Damien heeded his request, moving off him then sprawling on his back, his legs spread.
“Do you want something?” Lyle obviously knew exactly what he wanted because he rolled a condom over Damien’s rampant cock and set to work to bring him as close to an orgasm as possible without letting him go over.
“Tease,” Damien rumbled when Lyle stopped and sat back.
“Takes one to know one,” Lyle countered. He took a deep breath appearing uncertain how to ask what Damien knew he wanted to.
“I am definitely a top.”
“Whew. I was afraid…I mean, you look and act like you would be, but…”
“You could have been wrong. You’re not. Why don’t you pull your legs up, unless you’d rather be on your hands and knees.”
Lyle’s reply was to lie back and lift his legs, his gaze locked in Damien’s cock as he lubed it and his fingers. Slowly, carefully, Damien eased two fingers through Lyle’s tight hole, and then a third one, gently stretching it. When he thought Lyle was ready he removed them, pressed the head of his cock to his entrance and through it. When Lyle gasped, he stopped, bending over to kiss him softly. “Breathe.”
“Hard when we’re kissing.”
“Is, isn’t it.” Damien chuckled, gripped Lyle’s hips, and inch by inch entered him, stopping whenever Lyle sucked in a breath, giving him time to get used to him before continuing until, finally, he was all the way in. “Ready?”
“More than.” Lyle moved his legs to rest them on Damien’s shoulders so he could pull him down to kiss him. “Much more than,” he whispered when the kiss ended.
Easing almost out, Damien thrust in, being certain the head of his cock brushed over Lyle’s sweet spot. He did it again, and again, each time moving faster and harder, savoring how tight Lyle was—and the moans and gasps from his lover as he reached his apex and flew over with cry of delight. Damien joined him moments later, his orgasm washing over him with an intensity he couldn’t remember ever feeling in his long life.
“That was…unbelievable.” Lyle’s smile was ecstatic. “You are an amazing lover, but I knew you would be.”
“You’re not so bad yourself.” Damien kissed his gently before, reluctantly, pulling out and easing back so Lyle could lower his legs. “In fact, you’re pretty damned fantastic. I think we’ll have to do this again sometime.”
“Think? There’s no thinking about it. We’re going to do it every chance we get. Got it?”
Damien laughed elatedly. “Got it.”
Chapter 16
Lyle bounced on the balls of his feet, suppressing a yawn at the same time as he waited for Warner to being down the shields and wards to the stairs and door at the bottom. He was bouncing because the previous night had been, without a doubt, the best one of his life. The yawn was because he barely gotten any sleep, not that he cared. If I died today, I’d still die happy.
“You look cheerful. Tired, but cheerful. You had a good night I take it.”
Lyle grinned at his father as they entered the workroom. “More than good. It was great.” He wondered why a frown darkened Warner’s expression momentarily before he smiled. Probably because he expected me to be in top shape for today’s lessons.
“Good. That means you should be ready to do a little dancing.”
“Huh?”
Warner produced a knife out of thin air, tossing it to him, and did the same again, keeping the second one.
“Show off.”
“You’ll be able to do that, in time. For now, you need to learn how to use one to defend yourself.” He picked up a thickly padded shirt from one of the chairs, which were now beside the wall, telling Lyle to put it on.
Two hours later, dripping with sweat, Lyle had finally fended off his father’s last two attacks. Taking off the padded shirt, he rubbed the sleeve of his turtleneck over his face. “Now…can we take a break?”
“Of course. It’s almost lunch time. Why don’t you go up, shower, and change into a clean shirt.”
“Why don’t you go lift the shields and wards so I can?” Lyle shot back. He knew he sounded petulant, but at the moment he didn’t care.
His father chuckled and did.
As soon as he got to his room, Lyle stripped, went into the bathroom, and stood under the hottest water he could stand until the aches in his muscles went away. Then he dressed and went downstairs. After a brief search, he found Warner and Felicia in the breakfast nook off the kitchen. The table was in front of the window, the bright sunlight coming through it making the room look warm and inviting.
“You survived.” Felicia patted the chair beside hers.
“Barely. I’ll be better when I’ve eaten. I’d better be. I’m sure he—” he shot a look at his father, “—has more torture waiting for me this afternoon.”
Warner laughed. “Indeed I do. Hand-to-hand, using whatever you can find to defend yourself.”
“Tell me we’re not going to some dark alley.”
“No, although now that you mention it.”
“Don’t you dare!” Felicia smacked her husband’s arm. Somewhat harder than necessary from the way he winced.
“Teasing, my dear.” He gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
The cook came in, carrying a tray holding plates with sandwiches, and bowls of soup. She passed them around, left, and returned to pour them coffee before disappearing again.
“You did very well this morning,” his father said as they ate.
Lyle dipped his head at the compliment. “Once I got the hang of it. Of course it took forever, but eventually what you showed me made sense.”
“As long as you don’t panic if some thug comes at you with a knife.”
“And as long as I have one of my own.”
“You will, before you leave tomorrow,” his father promised. “And a sheath to carry it in.”
Lyle smirked. “That would help.”
When lunch was finished, Warner told Lyle he had half an hour before his next lesson. Lyle took him at his word, dashing up to his room to get his jacket. He didn’t care if it was freezing outside, he wanted fresh air and sunshine.
It was brisk in the back garden, although not as bad as he’d expected. He wandered around the circular path, checking out the statuary in the center, then looked up at the tower. I swear, if I didn’t know better I’d think that one gargoyle was Damien frozen in stone. Maybe some ancestor posed for it?
