Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
When he’d finally gotten up, he’d had to exercise to get those images out of his head.
The door off the kitchen opened, and Ajax stepped outside carrying two mugs of coffee. He walked to Finn and held one of the mugs out. He was in a pair of black silk pajama pants, his tattooed chest bare.
“You started early today,” Finn said as he took the hot beverage and forced himself not to look at all that bare skin.
“Did I wake you? I tried to be really quiet.” Ajax sat on the ground next to him, his gaze slowly moving down Finn’s chest.
“I’m tuned in to you during this job just as I am to the whole property. Preternatural perk. I didn’t mind. You have to work when the inspiration strikes, right?”
“Right.”
Ajax was still staring at Finn’s chest. Did he realize he’d licked his lips? Inwardly, Finn groaned in complete frustration, and he made himself look away again. Fuck, this was hard. He cast about his mind for a safe subject. “So, tell me about your childhood. When did you first get into music?”
“I don’t actually remember exactly, but I could play guitar, keyboard, and drums by the time I was twelve.”
“You play drums, too?” That was a sexy image—Ajax sweating and moving that sinewy body about as he played.
Ajax grinned. “I’ll play for you sometime. Here I’ve just been using the computer for that part, but when I record these songs, I plan to have a band.”
“Not your band? Not even just as musicians?”
“No. They’re good, but that just wouldn’t work.” He brushed his hands over his thighs. “My parents said I made drums out of different things in the house, so they got me my first set at nine. I, uh, also play a few wind instruments. Learned in high school.”
He couldn’t help but look back at Ajax, grinning. “You were in the band, weren’t you?”
“Yep. I was definitely a band geek. It was good for me. Kept me in music, and since I never was interested in dating, it kept me social.”
“So no dating in high school?”
He shook his head. “My first boyfriend was when I was twenty. A long-time friend.”
“Why didn’t you stay together?”
“The band took off, and he couldn’t handle it. Couldn’t take the lack of privacy. I had one other boyfriend before Alan. Same story. I think that’s why I ended up turning the friendship with Alan romantic. With him, I knew he wouldn’t dump me for that reason. He loved everything about fame. Started touring with us, as you know. But you also know what happened after that.” He sipped his coffee. “You’ve never really been in a relationship? You told me how old you are. That’s such a long time to not have even one.”
“There were a few guys I slept with for a few months, but it was never serious.”
“Ever slept with a woman?”
He nodded. “I did. I like women but more as friends rather than lovers. I’m gay.”
“What was it like to be gay three hundred years ago?”
“Private. There were places to go and find company, but we had to be careful. The magical world was more accepting, so a lot of my lovers were preternaturals. The first male I slept with was an incubus.”
“Like Ivor.”
“They’re hard to resist. I was actually a little worried leaving him with you.”
“I’m not attracted to him at all.” Ajax pinned that green gaze on Finn. “Just you.”
Finn swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. “So, was it a new song that got you out of bed so early?”
“More words to one already in progress. It’s called “Smoke Moves” and, well, at some point, I want to play it for you. Not yet, though. It’s different.” He sipped from his mug again.
He looked kind of…cuddly. Disheveled brown hair, soft sleep pants—and despite having been up for hours, he still looked like he’d just crawled out of bed. It was so easy to imagine being in that bed and seeing his eyes first open, still glazed and sleepy. Finn would tug him into his arms and bury his nose in his neck to find that scent past the vanilla. Though he was now becoming quite addicted to the vanilla itself.
Then he would roll on top of him, spread those long, lean legs and…
“Finn?”
He blinked at Ajax. “Sorry, checked out for a moment there.”
“Is there someone climbing the fence again?”
“No, they’re all just sort of hovering in one spot, though there is one who seems particularly anxious to see you. I watched him yesterday. He ignores everyone around him and just stares through the gate while holding onto a thick envelope. Wonder if he’s trying to serve you.”
Ajax scowled. “It’s probably that one fan I told you about. Every time I’ve encountered him, he’s carrying one of those envelopes.”