Broken Bones Read online

  “Ah, that’s what I want to see. Look at that smile.”

  He couldn’t be sure of the expression he wore, but it was apparently enough to satisfy the mother of his heart.

  “Well, go get him, then, Danny. Let no one stop you, including yourself. It is time you had some happiness. What is that song that is plaguing the radio every second? That young man with the hat he cannot get enough of?” She looked up in thought. “‘Happy.’ That is it.” Her little body undulated for a moment as she tried out a few of her own moves. Pulling Dan up with her, she danced with him to a bit of the notes she remembered. Stopping, Mrs. Dunham reached soft hands up to caress his brow as she gazed into his eyes meaningfully. “You’ve enough pain to last a lifetime. Time for some happy, my boy. He could stand to have a bit of that too. You make him see that.”

  Dan would never question how she knew the things she did. It was more Branna Dunham’s home than theirs sometimes, and taking care of them was to her more than a duty; it was a calling. So as Dan prepared to go on a date with the man of his dreams, literally, he blasted Pharrell’s “Happy” as ordered, careful not to deafen others as he waited. Maybe the song meant a place without limits. He wanted that. No limitations, and that was just how he planned to look at life. Why be limited? He could have any view he wanted, any view Aiden wanted. He just had to take the initiative to get them there. He would get to know Aiden as he insisted, he would claim him for his, and neither of them would have any limitations between them or from outside, including that bastard Keith. Dan wouldn’t think about him for now. For now, this day would be about getting to know Aiden, whom he intended to love and call his own.

  AGAIN DAN found himself riding behind Aiden on a bike. This one was a Ducati, and Dan was beginning to wonder if Aiden even owned a car in that garage of his. Dan had yet to see it if he did.

  Thankful for his crazily decorated helmet, Dan dismounted, Aiden’s hand at the ready to assist. When he stood before him, Dan was sure to slide his body along Aiden’s, draw his fingers along his ribs. The shocked sigh Aiden made was its own reward.

  The ride through downtown Louisville hadn’t been an unpleasant one. Dan had learned that if he propped his legs open wide enough, he could actually grind himself very well against his desired target. Aiden’s little gasps as he aimed just so were priceless. Dan didn’t see himself as being unfair. He was only trying to get to second base just like any other dater would, right? All’s fair in claiming your mate, or something to that effect. He had to hide the little giggle that wanted to explode from him at the rigidness behind Aiden’s zipper. He would be too pleased to help him get rid of that problem.

  “Focus, Tolliver.”

  “I am.”

  Aiden’s lip lifted at the corner, smirk at the ready. Drawing Dan into his arms, he held him close, his arms solid and strong. Aiden inhaled him, drank him in. After a few of those breaths, Dan calmed, his libido taking a step back, enabling him to enjoy the sounds of the birds nearby and their view of the Ohio River. The Belle of Louisville hadn’t made its journey yet, but there were still a few smaller vessels crossing that they could watch before they entered the center. It was a warm day, would be warmer yet, with the temperature expected to be in the 80s by noon.

  “Are you doing something to me, Aiden?”

  “Just allowing you to focus, Daniel. Our bond is growing, and our closeness causes us to become more interested in the physical.”

  “And we are learning each other, so the physical is out for now. I’m good. I could have done this on my own without your mojo.”

  “Glad to hear it, and I appreciated your efforts to drill me on the bike. Were I human, we could have both died from my inability to concentrate.”

  Dan wrapped his arms tighter around Aiden’s waist. “So, you did a little bippity boppity, and saved our lives. Okay. Got it.”

  Aiden’s harrumph was loud and not sexy at all. “Well, I am not your fairy godmother, and you’re not Cinderella, but give me some time and we can create the magic you’re wanting.”

  The lowered octave of his voice did shivery things to Dan’s body. The tongue drawn along his neck made him tremble. He looked around, adjusted himself discreetly, and gave Aiden a final squeeze, drawing his finger along his trapped length.

  “Okay, well. Let’s get on with the dating, shall we?”

  “SO, THIS would definitely be my favorite part here.”

  Dan watched his “overgrown kid” in a tiny water jacket as he created flowing pipes, making boats speed down the waterway. There were so many activities to do. So far they had loved the puzzle room, where together they recreated the puzzles the diagrams, using little wooden blocks, using the miniature “grocery cart” that was supplied in the room to select their pieces, which were much more appropriate for children than two grown men. Aiden was not unlike an eight-year-old in his quest to find all of the objects and build more. Then there had been the weightlifting and the sword fight with the huge Styrofoam jigsaw pieces. Dan gave as good as he got, and they even managed to leave the area before the guardian of the puzzle room coughed yet again at the two six-foot-plus eight-year-olds pummeling each other. The science center should have considered hiring them after the show they gave.

  Next it was pretending to be spies as they moved over and under colorful cords following the rope course, only to have Aiden cheat by wrapping his long legs around Dan’s before he could get to the other side. Then car races, experiments, and some disgusting bugs that confirmed for Dan that teaching English was definitely his calling, because if someone told him to hold one of those in his hand, he would tell them it was so not happening. He didn’t even go near the spiders, and when he told Aiden why, that he was afraid of them, the big guy didn’t laugh or tease him. He held his hand tightly, and they walked on, Dan’s head against his shoulder as Aiden told him about a few of his own fears. Jell-O? Well, Aiden would have to forgive Dan for the snicker, the snort, and then the outright guffaw that thundered through the building when he revealed that one.

  They had not even made it through the other exhibits, with Aiden entrenched in water play. No, when they got to the water tables? Well, the real children would obviously have to wait until Dr. Kavanagh was finished, wouldn’t they?

  “Aiden, babe.”

  “Yes, Daniel.”

  “You’ve been here for a long time.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Well, we won’t get any closer to that magic if you don’t move over and let the real kids have a go at the tables.”

  The exhibits were fun. Nanos. Earthquakes. The wind machine. Oh, and the air travel machine. They almost didn’t make it past that one either. Too many wispy-colored cloths and not enough holes to send them through. It was a wonder what a text message could do. God bless technology and Dan’s creativity with written or typed words. It certainly helped to get Aiden moving.

  Much later found them at Panera for lunch. Dan missed their barbecue chicken salad, but he was willing to make do with the Thai one, plus a strawberry smoothie. Aiden chose a veggie sandwich and a Danish pastry for dessert.

  “I’m going to wash my hands again, just to be sure.” Aiden had a great idea. After all, playing at the Science Center, where lots of germy little hands had played, was sure to get someone sick. “By that time our meal should be ready, and I’ll pick it up,” Aiden said as he made his way to the restroom.

  “Great. I’ll get the napkins and grab us a table.”

  Dan loved Panera. It was too bad they didn’t make it there earlier. He would have snatched up one of their spinach and artichoke soufflés. Was it greedy to want to order two?

  He felt the rise in temperature before he even heard the words. “Enjoy the time you have, Daniel.”

  Shit! Dan dropped everything in his hands and looked around for Keith. His head whipped to the right, then the left. He hadn’t imagined him, hadn’t imagined the venom in his words.

  A young woman stood next to him, reaching to fill her drink.
“I’m everywhere, Daniel,” she said with Keith’s despicable timbre as she placed the lid on the cup and turned to face him. “You can’t run anywhere—” She snarled, then turned away from him and headed back to her table, never looking back.

  “—that I can’t find you,” a little boy wearing a Spiderman costume continued while standing next to his mother, his face forward, not at all aware of the words leaving his lips. “The watcher can’t always be there.”

  “But I can,” several diners shouted, still focused on their companions, unaware of the words Keith spoke through them. “I can. Come home, Daniel,” they said, the chant as loud, as uniform and as equally terrifying as the one that filled the air that night at Play.

  Dan heard steps running his way and Aiden’s worried calls. “Daniel,” Aiden cried. “Come here, baby. Come to me.”

  Oh, gods. Keith was here. Keith was everywhere. Who was Dan trying to fool, thinking that he could get away from him, that there was somewhere safe? No wonder the man had known every place he had been. If he had the power to do this, what did that mean for him, for anyone connected to him? Could he stop it?

  Dan didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t hungry. He was terrified. But, amazingly, that fear, that bone-deep terror turned to white-hot rage. Who the fuck did Keith think he was, controlling others, using his sandman powers to hurt?

  Aiden’s arms wrapped around him from behind, anchoring him and his sanity. He was angry, but he was safe. He could face any dream that Keith tried to make a nightmare as he attempted to steal away his happiness. He took in Aiden’s scent, breathed in sanctuary.

  “Stop him, Aiden. Make him leave,” he whispered against the solid body holding him. “I’m fine, but Keith doesn’t have the right to play in someone else’s mind. We’re not puppets. Make the fucker stop.”

  Aiden nodded. He closed his eyes while Dan watched with a new appreciation as he radiated light from within. Wings exploded from his body, and he erupted into one huge blue-to-white-hot flame. A blast both harsh and awesomely violent tore from within and coursed through the restaurant, torching through Keith’s insidious presence.

  “It is done, coimeádaí.” The light had not faded from Aiden’s body. His eyes gleamed, that dance between honeyed amber, icy blue, and green jade. While he didn’t flicker, he did sort of dim just a little until Dan reached out to him and drew him closer. He embraced his sandman, petting him until the light leeched out into the atmosphere, until all that was left was the human version of Aiden Kavanagh and not the angel-like being that had overtaken his body. There was a struggle of some sort underneath the flesh that Dan touched before Aiden truly became himself again. His stance became less rigid, less warrior, and more doctor with swagger, and then it was Aiden who stood before him once more.

  “Wow, that was…. Wow” was all Dan could say.

  AIDEN VACUUMED in the food before him. The sandwich he’d ordered, the bagel, even Dan’s own salad, the pastry—all had suffered the wrath of Aiden’s appetite, one that hadn’t been vanquished by what was no longer on the table or even what he might order from the menu. Aiden looked up sharply, surveyed Dan, physically dragging his eyes over him, and of course, Dan’s body reacted. It couldn’t be helped.

  Damn. His dick could cut glass from that look alone.

  “Down, boy. We’re going to leave here and go back to your… baile? Then you can do what your eyes have already started. Just calm down for right now.”

  “No.”

  “No, we’re not going home, or no, you don’t want me?”

  “No, we’re not going home yet, and I must have you now. I am on fire inside. I need you now, coimeádaí. Your light will help to slow the darkness, soothe this furnace inside of me.” Aiden rose and pulled Dan away from the table.

  Dan had little choice in the matter. His only option was to keep up with Aiden’s long strides as they ate up the distance from their table to the restroom.

  Once inside, Aiden gestured, barring the door. His breathing was harsh gasps. His eyes, when they lit upon Dan again, held a fierce radiance, nearly sparkling. “Need,” he growled.

  “Take what you need, Aiden.” He wasn’t afraid of Aiden’s stares, the way his gaze peeled the clothing he wore away like he was a sweet navel orange, ready and ripe. He looked at him with heat, fire. Dan felt his underwear dampen with evidence of his lust. Aiden needed something, needed him, and Dan was more than happy to provide. He didn’t have to know what made Aiden so hungry to just give and allow him to take.

  In a flash he was closer, nearly on top of Dan. “I’m sorry, Dan. I can’t wait.”

  Blades pierced his, shoved forward deeply into his neck. That’s what they had to be. Sharp and angry, they tore into his flesh, opening up vessels of smoldering fresh blood, which were greedily gulped by his mate. Dan grew weak at the onslaught, his body commanded by Aiden’s claws as they held him still, his lips sucking from him as if he fed from a fount. He continued to flow, felt his life force blaze between those sweet lips as Aiden swallowed him in.

  When at last soothing licks swiped across his skin, Dan’s vision shadowed. Then his awareness sputtered out.

  CHAPTER 19

  LIGHT TRICKLED through Dan’s eyelashes. He was tired, so his pupils tried to play hide-and-seek with the unforgiving rays. But finally he had to surrender and open them. When he looked up, he was in Aiden’s room.

  He could hear soft breaths in the silence. In a chair near the bed, Aiden sat, keeping vigil.

  Dan felt worn, drained, and as he started remembering, he could understand why. Aiden’s coloring was normal again, his eyes warm and full. He appeared to be relaxed, sated, like he had just finished eating Thanksgiving dinner and was ready for a long nap.

  “You drank from me.” Dan’s throat was a little scratchy, his swallows pained.

  “Yes.” There was no apology in Aiden’s voice, no trace of regret.

  “Why?”

  “I was hungry. Ravenous, actually.” The words fell flat, lacking the nonchalant sarcasm he was probably going for.

  “A hamburger extra juicy wouldn’t do?”

  “No, only you. I’m better now.” Aiden drew his wet tongue against shiny lips.

  Dan rose from his pillow and stretched his arms above his head. “Come over here. You’re too far away,” he groused.

  Aiden’s gaze, which had been focused somewhere above his head, finally settled on Dan’s face. The regret absent in Aiden’s voice could be found shadowed in his cloudy eyes. Did his eyes ever settle on one color? Had to be hell to file a police report. No, Officer. His eyes were blue as the sky. Nope, green as freshly dewed grass. No, sir, they had an amber glow that burned right through you, piercing your very soul. Dan eased himself up farther in the bed, opening his arms to him.

  Aiden didn’t move at first, but Dan could see how the tremor ran through him, how tight he held the arms of the chair, as if struggling against his own need to be closer to Dan. “Are you sure, Daniel? I find it hard to resist you.” His words were heavy, doubtful, as he absorbed his lover. “Shouldn’t you be afraid of me, wary of me? What kind of human are you that you would accept me, a man, a monster who just drank from you?”

  “The kind that is to be mated to you, Aiden,” he said, giving him one of his own smirks. “Get your ass over here. I’m too tired to get up and come over there. You could at least make it easy on me.” Swifter than a beam of light, Aiden was next to Dan, his body corded around Dan’s, his soft hair against Dan’s flesh. Was he trembling? Goddess bless, he was, and he smelled good, edible.

  “What is it, Aiden? Talk to me, love.” Love. It was the first time Dan could remember saying that to the big guy twined around his body, but it felt right. The awareness that warmed him, that made him scintillate inside, was beginning to feel like love. He liked it—needed it, really. He couldn’t allow this man, this being, to believe he should feel regret for taking what he obviously found so vital. “I am here for you, just as you are for me.”

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nbsp; “This can’t be okay with you, Daniel.” The words were hushed, barely audible, the pain evident in each syllable.

  “And why wouldn’t it, Aiden? I was made for you. You, for me. A part of that is learning what the other needs, accepting it. Look at me.”

  Wet eyes found his own.

  Dan bent and licked away the tears that slid across Aiden’s cheeks. They were tangy, rather than the saltiness Dan expected. Mmmm, Aiden tasted good. His skin was better than any expensive chocolate that Dan hoarded away when he was ready to do his Golden Girls thing. His body awakened in degrees, a flower’s tender bloom when its petals were kissed by the sun. Oh, Goddess, he wanted more.

  “Why do you taste so good to me now, Aiden? Like, so fucking good? More,” he nearly growled. “Want to taste more of you.” Suddenly Dan was on top, rutting against his doctor, his sandman. He buried his nose into warm flesh, skin that teased him further. Vanilla. Cinnamon. The tingling Dan felt, like energy crawling over his skin, heightened in its intensity, driving him just this side of crazy.

  “Why do you smell so good to me, Aiden? Like cinnamon. Spicy. You make my mouth water.” Dan craved him, was desperate to have more of Aiden, taste him, feel him between his canines. The anticipation was so great he could feel himself beginning to salivate like Pavlov’s dogs. He pressed his leg between Aiden’s knees, forcing them apart, and heard Aiden’s wanton gasp when his thigh connected with Aiden’s hard flesh, his cock bouncing against his lips. “Not enough, Aiden. Never enough of you.” Is this what Aiden felt earlier? This scorching urgency?

  “Whatever you need, Daniel. Take it from me. Whatever, I… oh, gods!” Aiden’s garbled cry was loud and aching when Dan attacked his neck viciously, biting deeply.

  Ah, this was what he needed so damned bad.