Stories for Lovers, page 48
A pirate. A real live pirate. “And what if something happens to you?” No thrilling adventure could be worth Ian’s life.
“Then I just wrap my fingers around this little gem, and bam! I’m home.”
This whole idea was ridiculous. A pirate? Really?
But looking at Ian sprawled in the chair, wine-filled glass in hand and boot heels resting on the window sill, David could easily imagine him sailing under the Jolly Roger.
Did they dare?
They stayed up late into the night.
“The Lady Claire disappeared on November 4, 1816, off the coast of Ireland. What if I got there on the third?” Ian’s face had to hurt from grinning so much.
It was up to David to be the voice of reason. “How can we be sure you’ll escape her fate? We know how you get there, but how do you get back?”
“That’s easy.” A blush crept up Ian’s fair skin. “I just think of you.”
Their eyes met. Something clicked. David didn’t know who moved first. One moment they sat on opposite sides of the room, the next moment they were both naked, rutting against each other on David’s bed.
Ian lit fires along David’s jawline with his mouth until at last their lips met. David plunged his tongue into Ian’s mouth with desperation unlike any before. Groaning into the kiss, Ian grabbed David’s ass and pulled, sealing their bodies together. A pitiful excuse for a breezed swept over them from outside. Sweat slicked both their bodies, easing the slide of cock against cock.
A thousand reasons why they shouldn’t churned in David’s brain. When Ian crawled down the bed and took David’s cock into his mouth, conscious thought fled.
David looked down and fell into green eyes so full of promise. Ian worshipped David’s cock with his lips, tongue and, very lightly, his teeth. All the while he rolled David’s balls with just the right amount of pressure.
When Ian released him, David nearly screamed. What the hell? Get back here!
Ian returned so quickly David wondered if he’d used the stone. He sheathed David’s erection, added a few dribbles of lube, and sat down, eyes squinched shut.
He splayed his hands on David’s chest and held his ground, chest heaving with his breaths.
“Are you okay?” David ran his hands up the corded muscles of Ian’s taut arms.
Eyes popping open and grinned framed by twin dimples, Ian replied, “Preserving the moment.”
That instant, the image of the Ian’s blissful face, seared into David’s memory.
And now, years after that fateful night, David closed his eyes and envisioned his first time with Ian again.
“Now, let’s not be hasty.” Ian stared at his former quartermaster, or rather, the sword Willie held inches from his nose.
The sword blade wavered. “If it were up to the lads, I’d gut you right here, but seeing how you made us rich and all…” Willie’s eyes shimmered. Damn. The man really had cared.
Ian climbed into the dinghy and let Willie lower him over the side. One glimpse of his cigarette lighter in action brought the charge of sorcery, and a quick decision to abandon him on an atoll. No problem. Once the Naughty Maid sailed out of sight, Ian would merely conjure his way back home.
At least they’d allowed him to live, so he wouldn’t have to vanish before their eyes. And not a minute too soon. Tomorrow the Maid was due in Kingston. She’d never be seen again.
Ian rowed to the atoll, watching the ship he’d once commanded drifting closer and closer to her doom. Dark clouds covered the sun by the time he’d climbed from the boat and pulled it up onto sand.
When the Maid appeared but a mere speck on the horizon, Ian closed his fist over the amulet around his neck. The stone remained cool. What? He closed his eyes and focused on his heart’s desire. White house. Inviting porch. David waiting. The scent of flowers and ocean breezes. Boom! The ground shook under his feet. He opened his eyes to lightning splitting the sky—exactly where he’d last seen his ship.
He still stood on the atoll.
Alone.
Once more Ian wrapped his hands around the amulet, but it remained what it appeared to be—just a dull gray stone. Damn it! The atoll held little protection against the sun’s harsh rays. He was in serious trouble if he lost the gamble he’d made.
Why wouldn’t the stone work? Ian’s fondest desire was to return to David’s arms. David. He’d told David goodbye. Said they were through. His lover didn’t expect his return and may not even want him back. The stone had glowed and grew warm when they’d both touched it. Had it somehow imprinted on, not just Ian’s will, but David’s too?
David loved him, of that he was sure, but if the man didn’t admit it to himself and soon, then all was lost. Ian’s body would never even be found.
Surely, if David had found the statue, he’d noticed something familiar about the two men cast in gold.
“What have I done?” A tear slid down his cheek. Please let me see David again. We’re good together. Well fix what’s wrong. We’ll compromise. This can’t be the end.
He sighed. This was it then. He’d gambled and lost. No need to plan for the future; he might as well have stayed aboard the ship. “Here’s to you, my love,” he toasted, and drank the last of his carefully rationed water. With an anguished cry he threw himself to his knees on the gritty sand. “Why, David, why?” he screamed into the wind.
Would anyone ever find his body? Would David, his parents, his grandfather, ever discover what happened to him? Ian sagged down onto damp sand and brushed his hair away from his face. His fingertip grazed the amulet.
The stone glowed brighter than it ever had before, and the uninhabitable atoll was once more uninhabited.
David avoided the caves, afraid of what he’d find, but Ian had never been gone so long before.
Making his way down the familiar beach path, he scrambled into the cavern he’d played in as a child. He’d made love to Ian here during the early days of their relationship.
He knelt down beside a stone, picturing Ian, head thrown back and all that glorious hair flowing over his back as David loved him with his mouth. Ian. His Ian. Where was he? Would he come back? Could he come back?
David reached behind the stone and closed his hand over a cloth-covered object. He shut his eyes and huffed out a breath. Ian’s parting gift. Did that mean Ian had escaped the Maid’s fate and was safe somewhere? His heart clenched. Why hadn’t he realized how much he loved the man while there was still time to work things out?
Ian could be anywhere. Anywhen. And David powerless to find him.
He pulled the object from behind the outcropping, wrapped in the same odd fabric that had preserved the box and the stone they’d used to create the amulet.
With gentle fingers he peeled back the cloth. Gold. Jewels. The figure of two men, joined together for all eternity at the groin. His heart skipped a beat.
Ian had told the truth. The statue was real. But wait. Incas weren’t so long of limb, nor did they have such angular noses. The man lying back with his legs spread appeared European, with a fall of long hair pooling under his shoulders, and a familiar-looking amulet around his neck. And the man’s lover! Bald head, broad shoulders… Oh God…
A scrap of paper rustled to the floor of the cave and David stooped to pick it up. There, in Ian’s barely legible scrawl, was the only note he’d ever included with any of his packages. “To be with you is my greatest desire,” it said simply. “For all time, in any time.”
David whipped his gaze from the note to the statue and back again. It couldn’t be, and yet… A love story. Between two men, so important that some bygone artist had captured their love in a stunning creation—the celebration of love. Love that knew no boundaries, no excuses. No time. Timeless. “For all eternity,” David said.
Tears sprang to his eyes. Yes, despite his earlier protests, his greatest desire was his auburn-haired, green-eyed pirate. If and when he ever saw his lover again, he’d gladly announce on the rooftops that he loved Ian—and deal with the consequences later. A flash of bright light illuminated the mouth of the cave. Fear tightened his heart as another brilliant bolt of lightning lit the summer sky, followed by a rolling boom of thunder that shook the ground beneath his feet and showered him with loose sand from the cave walls. That was close! Heavy drops of rain pelted from the sky. David ran up the beach, wrapping the statue in the cloth for safekeeping as he did.
He stopped in his tracks on his porch, staring at the open front door and the wet footprints that led into the hall. “Who’s there?” he called. No answer.
Brandishing the statue like a weapon, he crept through the entrance, following the prints up the stairs to his bedroom. He flung open the door. A filthy intruder sprawled face down on the pristine covers of his bed. The mosquito netting lay in a heap on the floor.
Still clutching the prize his beloved had sacrificed himself for, David eased silently forward. He lowered the statue to the dresser, slowly pulled his cell phone from his hip pocket, and dialed emergency services. Oh dear God.
Fear of one kind was replaced by another. “Ian!” Badly sunburned, hair-matted, and dressed in rags, Ian lay unconscious upon his bed. “Send an ambulance!” David yelled to the dispatcher who answered the phone. He muttered his address while searching for a pulse. There! It was weak, but Ian was alive.
What had happened to the man? For the first time in his life, David didn’t care that Ian was dirty or possibly harboring vermin. As gently as possible, he moved his lover up higher on the bed, afraid to turn him over due to the vicious burns on his bare back.
“Oh, Ian, you can’t leave me now.” David choked on his own hot tears. He brought a pan of warm water to the bed and tenderly cleaned Ian’s body as best he could while he waited for help.
“He’s lucky to be alive,” the doctor announced some time later. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’d been shipwrecked for at least a few weeks.”
“Will he be all right?” It was David’s fault Ian hovered so close to death’s door. If he’d only listened to reason none of this would have happened.
“Well, he was in excellent condition during his last physical a few weeks ago, but now he’s malnourished and dehydrated. Those are second degree burns on his back. It’ll take some time, but he should make a full recovery.” Eyes full of compassion, the doctor who’d treated both David and Ian for years lowered his voice and placed a comforting hand on David’s shoulder. “David, he’s going to be fine. We’ve treated the burns and are getting fluids into him now. You’ll need to continue after he’s discharged. I’m leaving a list of instructions for his care, and if you have any questions, feel free to call me. He’s awake now and asking for you. If all goes well, you can take him home by the end of the week.”
David stiffened involuntarily, years of defensive subterfuge kicking in. The doctor acted as though… The doctor clapped him on the shoulder and winked. “I know you’ll take good care of him.”
They stared at each other for a long moment, understanding passing between them. David smiled. “Thank you, Doctor, I will.”
He knew! The doctor knew and hadn’t turned away in disgust! Heartened by that small bit of positive reinforcement, David hurried into the room to see his lover, with a weight lifted from his shoulders.
Lying on his stomach on the hospital bed, Ian turned his head toward the door when David entered.
“Hello, David.” The voice was weak and hoarse, but unmistakably Ian’s.
“How are you feeling?” David winced at how cold and impersonal he sounded, even to himself. When the nurse left the room a moment later, he dropped into the chair beside the bed and took a frail hand in his own, pointedly ignoring the dirt under the fingernails and avoiding the needle embedded into the back, held in place by two strips of crisscrossed tape.
Though he looked like hell, Ian’s eyes twinkled. “I’ve been better. There were times I would have traded all I owned for a SPF 75 sunblock.” He chuckled, then winced.
“What happened to you? I was so worried that you went down with the Maid and her crew.”
“Oh, she went down all right, but not before I parted company with her. The men found my lighter and threw me off the boat. They thought I was in league with the devil. Her sinking probably only proved it for them, poor bastards. Thankfully, they feared me just enough not to throw me over the side or gut me.” His expression turned grave. “Thanks for bringing me back. I was starting to think you’d given up on me.”
“Bring you back? I had nothing to do with that. We both know the stone only works for you.”
Ian chuckled. “You mean you deciphered the rest of the inscriptions and didn’t understand their meaning?”
Thinking back to the journal he kept locked in his safe, David rolled the translated words over in his mind, but could find no evidence that he’d had any impact on the stone whatsoever.
Ian twisted his mouth into a grimace. “Remember how the stone glowed when we both touched it?”
“No.” David shook his head. “It glows when you touch it, not me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, babe. You see, when I was alone I tried many times to get back. I’m guessing here, but right before you found me you came to a decision, didn’t you?”
How could Ian possibly know that? “Yes, I did.”
“And?”
With a heavy sigh David said, “I love you with all my heart, want to live with you openly, and let those who matter to us know your place in my life.”
“You love me?”
“Of course I do! How could I not?”
Ian’s broad grin had to hurt his face. Or maybe the doctor had given him pretty good pain killers. “Good thing too. ‘Cause the stone says you’re stuck with me.”
“Not that I’m ready to stroll hand in hand down the street, mind you.”
“No, that’s not your way. But your decision saved my life.” Ian settled his dry, cracked lips into a satisfied smile. “And that’s how you control the stone.”
“I what? I don’t understand. I don’t control anything.” David had years of practice tamping down his jealousy of Ian’s witnessing history firsthand, while having to satisfy himself with retellings.
“Even though we weren’t lovers at the time, we imprinted the stone as a couple when we touched it together. Remember how hot it got? I’ve had a lot of time to think about this, and as near as I can tell, it was designed to be used by two people, one to travel, one to remain behind as the focus so the first could get home. My desire sends me back in time, but it’s you who brings me back.”
No, that couldn’t be. Ian came back once he’d accomplished his goals. He controlled the stone. “If that’s the case, why couldn’t you return? I wanted you to come home, why didn’t you?”
Ian stared over David’s shoulder for a few moments, and then his expression brightened. Those grass green eyes lit with excitement. “That’s it! Neither one of us control the stone separately. Unless our desires are the same, nothing happens!”
Furrowing his brow, David stared at his lover. Ian’s poor physical condition must be affecting his mind.
“David, when I leave what is your desire?”
“For you to be successful on your trip.”
“And when I come home?”
“For you to return safely.”
“Well, normally my desire is for adventure and to recover a treasure, which coincides with your own and, like you, I wish for a safe return.”
“What went wrong then?” David asked.
“I’d broken off our relationship before I left, so you didn’t really expect me to return, did you?”
David gave Ian’s hand a light squeeze. “I’d hoped, but wasn’t sure.”
“That’s what I figured. And this time I didn’t merely want to come home, I wanted to come to our home. Until you wanted that, too, I was stuck. In fact, I wasn’t even holding the stone when I returned—you summoned me. It must be some sort of safety mechanism so the traveler won’t return at a bad time, like if the house was on fire or someone else was there.”
Things finally started to fall into place. It all made perfect sense. Unfortunately, it also served to underscore David’s guilt. “So, if you’d never come home it would have been my fault.” He shook his head. The gauze across Ian’s back accused him. What had the man endured during his time stranded?
“No, babe.” Ian’s voice rose scarcely above a whisper. “It would have been our fault for not acting like what we are—a committed couple. I’m just thankful that didn’t happen.”
“So am I, so am I.” David brushed his lips over Ian’s.
Those adorable dimples appeared, even covered by copper-colored scruff. “Did you see the statue?”
“I did.”
“It’s us. I don’t know how or why, but it’s us.”
“How do you suppose…?”
Ian locked his gaze with David’s. “One day, once we figure out how, you go with me. But one question.”
“Yes?”
“If we turn the statue over to the museum, reckon they’ll see the resemblance?”
David sat alone in his study, amid boxes of books and other of his lover’s possessions that he’d yet to unpack. Ian had given up his apartment and was now permanently ensconced in David’s house and no one seemed in the least surprised. All that worry for nothing. David chuckled. How foolish he’d been. He could have saved them both a lot of grief if he’d just done the right thing to begin with. Better late than never.
He studied Ian’s collection of magazines as he arranged them on the new set of shelves he’d had built for that purpose. Ian, who was very photogenic, graced many of the covers, but several pictures within the periodicals included David as well. One particular cover caught his eye, and he picked up the magazine for a better look. Flipping through to find the article, he spotted a very candid shot from an excavation in Peru in which Ian gazed at the camera, but David, always a bit camera-shy, had focused his attention on… Ian.
“Then I just wrap my fingers around this little gem, and bam! I’m home.”
This whole idea was ridiculous. A pirate? Really?
But looking at Ian sprawled in the chair, wine-filled glass in hand and boot heels resting on the window sill, David could easily imagine him sailing under the Jolly Roger.
Did they dare?
They stayed up late into the night.
“The Lady Claire disappeared on November 4, 1816, off the coast of Ireland. What if I got there on the third?” Ian’s face had to hurt from grinning so much.
It was up to David to be the voice of reason. “How can we be sure you’ll escape her fate? We know how you get there, but how do you get back?”
“That’s easy.” A blush crept up Ian’s fair skin. “I just think of you.”
Their eyes met. Something clicked. David didn’t know who moved first. One moment they sat on opposite sides of the room, the next moment they were both naked, rutting against each other on David’s bed.
Ian lit fires along David’s jawline with his mouth until at last their lips met. David plunged his tongue into Ian’s mouth with desperation unlike any before. Groaning into the kiss, Ian grabbed David’s ass and pulled, sealing their bodies together. A pitiful excuse for a breezed swept over them from outside. Sweat slicked both their bodies, easing the slide of cock against cock.
A thousand reasons why they shouldn’t churned in David’s brain. When Ian crawled down the bed and took David’s cock into his mouth, conscious thought fled.
David looked down and fell into green eyes so full of promise. Ian worshipped David’s cock with his lips, tongue and, very lightly, his teeth. All the while he rolled David’s balls with just the right amount of pressure.
When Ian released him, David nearly screamed. What the hell? Get back here!
Ian returned so quickly David wondered if he’d used the stone. He sheathed David’s erection, added a few dribbles of lube, and sat down, eyes squinched shut.
He splayed his hands on David’s chest and held his ground, chest heaving with his breaths.
“Are you okay?” David ran his hands up the corded muscles of Ian’s taut arms.
Eyes popping open and grinned framed by twin dimples, Ian replied, “Preserving the moment.”
That instant, the image of the Ian’s blissful face, seared into David’s memory.
And now, years after that fateful night, David closed his eyes and envisioned his first time with Ian again.
“Now, let’s not be hasty.” Ian stared at his former quartermaster, or rather, the sword Willie held inches from his nose.
The sword blade wavered. “If it were up to the lads, I’d gut you right here, but seeing how you made us rich and all…” Willie’s eyes shimmered. Damn. The man really had cared.
Ian climbed into the dinghy and let Willie lower him over the side. One glimpse of his cigarette lighter in action brought the charge of sorcery, and a quick decision to abandon him on an atoll. No problem. Once the Naughty Maid sailed out of sight, Ian would merely conjure his way back home.
At least they’d allowed him to live, so he wouldn’t have to vanish before their eyes. And not a minute too soon. Tomorrow the Maid was due in Kingston. She’d never be seen again.
Ian rowed to the atoll, watching the ship he’d once commanded drifting closer and closer to her doom. Dark clouds covered the sun by the time he’d climbed from the boat and pulled it up onto sand.
When the Maid appeared but a mere speck on the horizon, Ian closed his fist over the amulet around his neck. The stone remained cool. What? He closed his eyes and focused on his heart’s desire. White house. Inviting porch. David waiting. The scent of flowers and ocean breezes. Boom! The ground shook under his feet. He opened his eyes to lightning splitting the sky—exactly where he’d last seen his ship.
He still stood on the atoll.
Alone.
Once more Ian wrapped his hands around the amulet, but it remained what it appeared to be—just a dull gray stone. Damn it! The atoll held little protection against the sun’s harsh rays. He was in serious trouble if he lost the gamble he’d made.
Why wouldn’t the stone work? Ian’s fondest desire was to return to David’s arms. David. He’d told David goodbye. Said they were through. His lover didn’t expect his return and may not even want him back. The stone had glowed and grew warm when they’d both touched it. Had it somehow imprinted on, not just Ian’s will, but David’s too?
David loved him, of that he was sure, but if the man didn’t admit it to himself and soon, then all was lost. Ian’s body would never even be found.
Surely, if David had found the statue, he’d noticed something familiar about the two men cast in gold.
“What have I done?” A tear slid down his cheek. Please let me see David again. We’re good together. Well fix what’s wrong. We’ll compromise. This can’t be the end.
He sighed. This was it then. He’d gambled and lost. No need to plan for the future; he might as well have stayed aboard the ship. “Here’s to you, my love,” he toasted, and drank the last of his carefully rationed water. With an anguished cry he threw himself to his knees on the gritty sand. “Why, David, why?” he screamed into the wind.
Would anyone ever find his body? Would David, his parents, his grandfather, ever discover what happened to him? Ian sagged down onto damp sand and brushed his hair away from his face. His fingertip grazed the amulet.
The stone glowed brighter than it ever had before, and the uninhabitable atoll was once more uninhabited.
David avoided the caves, afraid of what he’d find, but Ian had never been gone so long before.
Making his way down the familiar beach path, he scrambled into the cavern he’d played in as a child. He’d made love to Ian here during the early days of their relationship.
He knelt down beside a stone, picturing Ian, head thrown back and all that glorious hair flowing over his back as David loved him with his mouth. Ian. His Ian. Where was he? Would he come back? Could he come back?
David reached behind the stone and closed his hand over a cloth-covered object. He shut his eyes and huffed out a breath. Ian’s parting gift. Did that mean Ian had escaped the Maid’s fate and was safe somewhere? His heart clenched. Why hadn’t he realized how much he loved the man while there was still time to work things out?
Ian could be anywhere. Anywhen. And David powerless to find him.
He pulled the object from behind the outcropping, wrapped in the same odd fabric that had preserved the box and the stone they’d used to create the amulet.
With gentle fingers he peeled back the cloth. Gold. Jewels. The figure of two men, joined together for all eternity at the groin. His heart skipped a beat.
Ian had told the truth. The statue was real. But wait. Incas weren’t so long of limb, nor did they have such angular noses. The man lying back with his legs spread appeared European, with a fall of long hair pooling under his shoulders, and a familiar-looking amulet around his neck. And the man’s lover! Bald head, broad shoulders… Oh God…
A scrap of paper rustled to the floor of the cave and David stooped to pick it up. There, in Ian’s barely legible scrawl, was the only note he’d ever included with any of his packages. “To be with you is my greatest desire,” it said simply. “For all time, in any time.”
David whipped his gaze from the note to the statue and back again. It couldn’t be, and yet… A love story. Between two men, so important that some bygone artist had captured their love in a stunning creation—the celebration of love. Love that knew no boundaries, no excuses. No time. Timeless. “For all eternity,” David said.
Tears sprang to his eyes. Yes, despite his earlier protests, his greatest desire was his auburn-haired, green-eyed pirate. If and when he ever saw his lover again, he’d gladly announce on the rooftops that he loved Ian—and deal with the consequences later. A flash of bright light illuminated the mouth of the cave. Fear tightened his heart as another brilliant bolt of lightning lit the summer sky, followed by a rolling boom of thunder that shook the ground beneath his feet and showered him with loose sand from the cave walls. That was close! Heavy drops of rain pelted from the sky. David ran up the beach, wrapping the statue in the cloth for safekeeping as he did.
He stopped in his tracks on his porch, staring at the open front door and the wet footprints that led into the hall. “Who’s there?” he called. No answer.
Brandishing the statue like a weapon, he crept through the entrance, following the prints up the stairs to his bedroom. He flung open the door. A filthy intruder sprawled face down on the pristine covers of his bed. The mosquito netting lay in a heap on the floor.
Still clutching the prize his beloved had sacrificed himself for, David eased silently forward. He lowered the statue to the dresser, slowly pulled his cell phone from his hip pocket, and dialed emergency services. Oh dear God.
Fear of one kind was replaced by another. “Ian!” Badly sunburned, hair-matted, and dressed in rags, Ian lay unconscious upon his bed. “Send an ambulance!” David yelled to the dispatcher who answered the phone. He muttered his address while searching for a pulse. There! It was weak, but Ian was alive.
What had happened to the man? For the first time in his life, David didn’t care that Ian was dirty or possibly harboring vermin. As gently as possible, he moved his lover up higher on the bed, afraid to turn him over due to the vicious burns on his bare back.
“Oh, Ian, you can’t leave me now.” David choked on his own hot tears. He brought a pan of warm water to the bed and tenderly cleaned Ian’s body as best he could while he waited for help.
“He’s lucky to be alive,” the doctor announced some time later. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’d been shipwrecked for at least a few weeks.”
“Will he be all right?” It was David’s fault Ian hovered so close to death’s door. If he’d only listened to reason none of this would have happened.
“Well, he was in excellent condition during his last physical a few weeks ago, but now he’s malnourished and dehydrated. Those are second degree burns on his back. It’ll take some time, but he should make a full recovery.” Eyes full of compassion, the doctor who’d treated both David and Ian for years lowered his voice and placed a comforting hand on David’s shoulder. “David, he’s going to be fine. We’ve treated the burns and are getting fluids into him now. You’ll need to continue after he’s discharged. I’m leaving a list of instructions for his care, and if you have any questions, feel free to call me. He’s awake now and asking for you. If all goes well, you can take him home by the end of the week.”
David stiffened involuntarily, years of defensive subterfuge kicking in. The doctor acted as though… The doctor clapped him on the shoulder and winked. “I know you’ll take good care of him.”
They stared at each other for a long moment, understanding passing between them. David smiled. “Thank you, Doctor, I will.”
He knew! The doctor knew and hadn’t turned away in disgust! Heartened by that small bit of positive reinforcement, David hurried into the room to see his lover, with a weight lifted from his shoulders.
Lying on his stomach on the hospital bed, Ian turned his head toward the door when David entered.
“Hello, David.” The voice was weak and hoarse, but unmistakably Ian’s.
“How are you feeling?” David winced at how cold and impersonal he sounded, even to himself. When the nurse left the room a moment later, he dropped into the chair beside the bed and took a frail hand in his own, pointedly ignoring the dirt under the fingernails and avoiding the needle embedded into the back, held in place by two strips of crisscrossed tape.
Though he looked like hell, Ian’s eyes twinkled. “I’ve been better. There were times I would have traded all I owned for a SPF 75 sunblock.” He chuckled, then winced.
“What happened to you? I was so worried that you went down with the Maid and her crew.”
“Oh, she went down all right, but not before I parted company with her. The men found my lighter and threw me off the boat. They thought I was in league with the devil. Her sinking probably only proved it for them, poor bastards. Thankfully, they feared me just enough not to throw me over the side or gut me.” His expression turned grave. “Thanks for bringing me back. I was starting to think you’d given up on me.”
“Bring you back? I had nothing to do with that. We both know the stone only works for you.”
Ian chuckled. “You mean you deciphered the rest of the inscriptions and didn’t understand their meaning?”
Thinking back to the journal he kept locked in his safe, David rolled the translated words over in his mind, but could find no evidence that he’d had any impact on the stone whatsoever.
Ian twisted his mouth into a grimace. “Remember how the stone glowed when we both touched it?”
“No.” David shook his head. “It glows when you touch it, not me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, babe. You see, when I was alone I tried many times to get back. I’m guessing here, but right before you found me you came to a decision, didn’t you?”
How could Ian possibly know that? “Yes, I did.”
“And?”
With a heavy sigh David said, “I love you with all my heart, want to live with you openly, and let those who matter to us know your place in my life.”
“You love me?”
“Of course I do! How could I not?”
Ian’s broad grin had to hurt his face. Or maybe the doctor had given him pretty good pain killers. “Good thing too. ‘Cause the stone says you’re stuck with me.”
“Not that I’m ready to stroll hand in hand down the street, mind you.”
“No, that’s not your way. But your decision saved my life.” Ian settled his dry, cracked lips into a satisfied smile. “And that’s how you control the stone.”
“I what? I don’t understand. I don’t control anything.” David had years of practice tamping down his jealousy of Ian’s witnessing history firsthand, while having to satisfy himself with retellings.
“Even though we weren’t lovers at the time, we imprinted the stone as a couple when we touched it together. Remember how hot it got? I’ve had a lot of time to think about this, and as near as I can tell, it was designed to be used by two people, one to travel, one to remain behind as the focus so the first could get home. My desire sends me back in time, but it’s you who brings me back.”
No, that couldn’t be. Ian came back once he’d accomplished his goals. He controlled the stone. “If that’s the case, why couldn’t you return? I wanted you to come home, why didn’t you?”
Ian stared over David’s shoulder for a few moments, and then his expression brightened. Those grass green eyes lit with excitement. “That’s it! Neither one of us control the stone separately. Unless our desires are the same, nothing happens!”
Furrowing his brow, David stared at his lover. Ian’s poor physical condition must be affecting his mind.
“David, when I leave what is your desire?”
“For you to be successful on your trip.”
“And when I come home?”
“For you to return safely.”
“Well, normally my desire is for adventure and to recover a treasure, which coincides with your own and, like you, I wish for a safe return.”
“What went wrong then?” David asked.
“I’d broken off our relationship before I left, so you didn’t really expect me to return, did you?”
David gave Ian’s hand a light squeeze. “I’d hoped, but wasn’t sure.”
“That’s what I figured. And this time I didn’t merely want to come home, I wanted to come to our home. Until you wanted that, too, I was stuck. In fact, I wasn’t even holding the stone when I returned—you summoned me. It must be some sort of safety mechanism so the traveler won’t return at a bad time, like if the house was on fire or someone else was there.”
Things finally started to fall into place. It all made perfect sense. Unfortunately, it also served to underscore David’s guilt. “So, if you’d never come home it would have been my fault.” He shook his head. The gauze across Ian’s back accused him. What had the man endured during his time stranded?
“No, babe.” Ian’s voice rose scarcely above a whisper. “It would have been our fault for not acting like what we are—a committed couple. I’m just thankful that didn’t happen.”
“So am I, so am I.” David brushed his lips over Ian’s.
Those adorable dimples appeared, even covered by copper-colored scruff. “Did you see the statue?”
“I did.”
“It’s us. I don’t know how or why, but it’s us.”
“How do you suppose…?”
Ian locked his gaze with David’s. “One day, once we figure out how, you go with me. But one question.”
“Yes?”
“If we turn the statue over to the museum, reckon they’ll see the resemblance?”
David sat alone in his study, amid boxes of books and other of his lover’s possessions that he’d yet to unpack. Ian had given up his apartment and was now permanently ensconced in David’s house and no one seemed in the least surprised. All that worry for nothing. David chuckled. How foolish he’d been. He could have saved them both a lot of grief if he’d just done the right thing to begin with. Better late than never.
He studied Ian’s collection of magazines as he arranged them on the new set of shelves he’d had built for that purpose. Ian, who was very photogenic, graced many of the covers, but several pictures within the periodicals included David as well. One particular cover caught his eye, and he picked up the magazine for a better look. Flipping through to find the article, he spotted a very candid shot from an excavation in Peru in which Ian gazed at the camera, but David, always a bit camera-shy, had focused his attention on… Ian.
