Haven 1: How to Save a Life (5 page)

The door to the locker room opened, and the second guy stepped out. Shorter than Naked Guy, with thinning dark hair and a stockier build. Nice to finally get evidence the place didn’t discriminate against more average-looking men.

The guy stopped as soon as he spotted Walter. “Mr. Simon.” He placed a hand on the wall and leaned in.

No way
. Was it a club requirement everyone flirt this much with him?

The new guy said, “I don’t suppose you’ll be free later?”

“I already have plans tonight.”

“Damn. Well, had to try. It’s good to see you’re back.”

“I’m not back.”

“Maybe another night, then.” He hesitated as if he waited for Walter to offer a reply. Finally he strode off, moving with a smooth shift of his hips too fake to be real. Show-off.

Walter was watching Kevin again. And smirking.

Asshole.

That knowing, irritating smile drove Kevin crazy with a desire to grab him and kiss those teasing lips.

Another employee dressed like the servers in the dining room came toward them from the far end of the hall. He stopped when he neared Walter. “Mr. Simon. I’ll be getting off in fifteen minutes if you’re looking—”

“Seriously?” Kevin couldn’t hold back the laugh from bursting out.

Walter’s smile grew, and without taking his gaze off Kevin, he told the guy, “Thanks, but I’m busy tonight.”

The guy gave a nod. “Well, have a good one.” He headed back the way he’d come.

Kevin rolled his eyes. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re hot and all that, but
seriously
?” He pointed to where all the men had walked away. “That was ridiculous. Don’t they even bother to talk to you for five minutes first?”

“It’s not about me.” Walter’s expression changed to something more stoic, almost sad as he stared down the hall the way the employees had left. “I’ve become a game to them. Nothing more.”

“Oh, sorry.” Which was why clubs like this were disgusting. No one here meant anything to each other. “I have to go.” Kevin turned to leave.

A solid hand gripped him by the biceps and swung him toward the door leading into the locker room. Kevin didn’t fight Walter’s grip as Walter guided him into the room and spun him around. Walter had Kevin’s back to the closed door in a heartbeat.

“What is it you want?” Walter spoke the words softer than his actions implied, and in a controlled, measured tone, despite the rapid rise and fall of his chest as he waited for Kevin to answer.

“Want?”

“Yes. Why are you here? Everyone comes here looking for something. Are you hoping to suck someone off? To fuck? To have a hard, thick cock shoved in that tight ass of yours? Are you into pain? Whips? Chains?” He moved closer, their bodies almost touching. He lifted the arm he still had ahold of, then took the second one in his grip. He flattened Kevin’s wrists to the wall above his head. “Do you want to be tied up? Your cock and balls restrained so tightly they’re on fire and you’re begging to come?” He shifted a leg forward and pressed the top of his thigh against Kevin’s trapped cock. “What do you want?”

Swallowing proved an impossibility.

Were those the kinds of things Walter Simon was into? Kevin had a feeling the truth wasn’t anything close to whips and chains. Or pain. He’d always been good at reading people.

Walter loosened his grip on Kevin’s wrists and leaned in until they touched from that thigh pressing against Kevin’s cock all the way to his chest. Walter stared down at him. Then he let go and raked the fingers of one hand through Kevin’s hair, a soft caress, before he gently cupped the back of Kevin’s head and tilted him so his body arched away from the wall. Their gazes locked.

“Say it. What do you want?”

“A…a kiss.”

Kevin needed to shut up.

He needed to get away from this man and head for the club’s front door.

Too bad he couldn’t move.

He’d never had a kiss with a man. Even during that time with the stranger in the beat-up pickup truck.

He’d had the guy’s cock shoved in his mouth, but he hadn’t so much as brushed his lips against any other part of the man’s body. Not his balls, his chest, his neck, his lips. They’d barely touched. The guy had kept his shirt and pants on the entire time. When Kevin had heard the term
glory hole
, he’d known that’s exactly how he’d felt that night. His mouth had been a tight, hot hole for that guy’s pleasure. He’d been nothing more to him, and it had still been the hottest sexual experience of Kevin’s life.

Until this moment.

God, he wanted to know what it would feel like. Wanted to see how different it would be from kissing a woman.

He squirmed, trying to somehow get his body closer to Walter’s. Even without the tight grip of Walter’s hands on his wrists, Kevin kept his arms pinned to the wall above him. If he let himself touch, he wasn’t sure what he’d do. Or what he wouldn’t do.

“A kiss?” Walter raised his free hand and ran the pad of his forefinger over Kevin’s lower lip. “This mouth looks like it was made for kissing. And a few other things.”

Kevin’s skin tingled everywhere. He wanted to arch his groin against Walter’s body again, wanted more of that amazing contact. He forced his back to the wall.

That didn’t stop Walter. He shifted his thigh, a slight movement forward and back, and it drove Kevin closer and closer to the edge.

Walter lowered his head until their lips almost touched. The look in his eyes wasn’t the serious, confident man Kevin had seen when he’d first entered the club. This look was uninhibited, wild, alive. Walter massaged the skin at the nape of Kevin’s neck.

That stroking sent a shiver down Kevin’s spine, and this time he did arch his back, his body riding up Walter’s thigh. He let his eyes fall shut and gave himself over to the moment.

Walter’s breath hitched right before he pressed his warm lips to Kevin’s mouth, adding in a soft, wet swipe of his tongue as he dug his fingers into Kevin’s hair. Kevin spread his lips to the sweet assault of that touch. Their tongues came together. He shifted so his erection rubbed along Walter’s hip again and again.

He wanted more.

He dropped his arms from where they’d been pinned earlier and grabbed Walter by the back of the neck with both hands. He opened his mouth wider, let his tongue explore and taste and practically fuck Walter’s mouth.

God, it felt so good. To let go. To take what he wanted and not think so much.

Walter made a sound, a long, low groan. The press of his thigh was gone, and he adjusted his stance so they were lined up body to body. Kevin felt a hard bulge against him.

Fuck.

He pulled back, his breath surging out of him in heavy pants. What the hell was he doing? And here? In this club, of all places.

Walter raised a finger to his own lips, brushing the flesh Kevin had just been kissing. “I was right.”

For a moment Kevin thought he’d get his second kiss with a man. Then Walter stepped back. Maybe he figured this was a bad idea too. He looked conflicted. Then his expression returned to the concentrated curiosity—and maybe lust—he’d been directing at Kevin all night.

One long stare between them and everything shifted for Kevin. Every thought he’d forced through his mind since he’d made the plan to come to the Haven, every denial and every lie he’d ever told himself no longer mattered. Not right then. He didn’t want to hold back any longer. Didn’t want to miss this one chance to take something he’d been denying himself for so long. He didn’t want to give up seeing that look. Not yet.

“We could go upstairs.”

Walter watched him for another moment. “That would be a very bad idea.” Then that confident smirk was back. “You’re lucky that kiss has me feeling like being bad tonight.” He opened the door and paused before stepping into the hall. “You coming?”

Another of those kisses and Kevin would be coming for sure. He hurried for the door and followed Walter Simon down the hall.

What the hell was he doing?

Did it matter?

For the first time since that night eight years ago, he was pretty sure he would not stop.

Chapter Five

Walter opened the door to a room on the third floor and gestured for Kevin to enter first. No matter what he’d been telling himself about this guy being too young, he couldn’t deny his actions were driven by the simple fact that he wanted to catch another glimpse of that ass encased in leather.

Kevin took a step inside and halted, just how Walter had found the man when he’d first arrived at the Haven.

He pressed his chest to Kevin’s back and leaned down to whisper in his ear. “Nice, isn’t it?”

Walter had used the room only a handful of times over the years. A four-poster bed sat in the center of the space, a gas fireplace along one wall, and a two-person luxury tub on the tiled floor in the far corner. Nothing dark or sinister. The most romantic room in the club. He’d gone with his instincts when he’d requested it. Kevin Dennison wasn’t into the rough shit.

“It’s…”

“Not what you expected?”

Kevin shrugged, crossed the room, then continued moving when he reached the other side, pacing along the opposite wall. He waved a hand in the air. “Nothing new for me.” He tugged out a phone from his front pocket, swaying his hips when his hand got stuck inside the pants for a second. He scrolled and clicked on the phone as he kept moving around the room.

This guy was so far in the closet he’d probably had himself convinced of his straightness for a long time.

It had to be hard to live a lie for so long you weren’t sure how to tell yourself the truth, let alone anyone else.

In Walter’s own life, he’d only had one person to tell. The father he hadn’t known until he’d turned fifteen, and that had been the first thing out of his mouth when he’d met him. Well, second thing.
I’m your son
had been the first. He hadn’t wanted to step into his dad’s life without the man knowing his son was gay, especially after what had happened the first time someone found that out.

“So,” Kevin said without giving up on the phone, “how long have you worked here?”

“Are we talking? You seemed anxious to get to… How did you say it? Get to the good stuff.”

Kevin waved his hand through the air again. “Just making small talk. You don’t want to talk? Fine.” He clicked on his phone more. In an agitated stride, he moved to the window, his back to the room.

Walter stepped up behind him and ran a hand over his shoulder. Kevin jumped at the touch. The phone slid from his hand and fell to the floor.

“Fuck.” He bent to pick it up, but Walter held on to his arm.

“Why don’t you leave it for now?” He caressed Kevin’s biceps, letting his other hand join in on the opposite arm. “You curse a lot.”

“I just get frustrated sometimes.”

“Sounds about right. You’re sure wound up tight.”

“I am not.” Kevin sucked in a long breath and slowly, like it took effort, leaned back against Walter’s chest. “It’s just…I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Finally
. “That’s the first honest thing you’ve said.”

Kevin nodded, then said, “No. I-I wanted that kiss.”

“Come here.” Walter drew him around until they faced each other.

He raised Kevin’s head with a finger under his chin. He took his time, gradually inching forward, watching Kevin’s reactions, those expressive eyes taking in the sight of him until their lips met.

This kiss was unlike the one they’d shared downstairs. Slower, Kevin’s reactions less frantic. Like he wanted to savor the contact, enjoy every moment, every touch as he skimmed his hands up Walter’s arms, as their lips and tongues swept across each other’s.

Then in an instant, the urgency was back. Kevin wrapped his arms around Walter’s neck and deepened the kiss. He thrust his body against him.

Walter couldn’t help himself. He swung them around and backed Kevin toward the bed. He broke the kiss and swept his lips down the skin of Kevin’s neck. “What do you want?”

Kevin arched into him and held Walter’s head as Walter made his way down Kevin’s skin with lips and tongue.

“I want— Oh God.” In a rush, Kevin let go and dropped to the edge of the bed. “I can’t do this.” He sat there for several seconds before he jumped up beside Walter like the bed had caught fire. He spun around and glared at it. “This isn’t me.”

“Sitting on that bed is not what makes you a fag.”

Kevin scowled at him. “Shut the hell up.”

“Frustrated again?” Walter stepped closer. He couldn’t stop staring at Kevin’s mouth. He really needed to get laid more often if a couple of kisses had him this desperate. He dropped his gaze to Kevin’s crotch, then slowly ran it up that beautiful body to his eyes. The most honest eyes he’d ever seen. “Wanting to fuck guys makes you gay.”

“You don’t know what I want.”

Walter brushed the back of his index finger over Kevin’s lips. He’d always loved kissing. Even in his youth, when most of the guys wanted nothing more than the fucking or the sucking, he’d loved the kissing and touching and exploring. Kevin liked it too. He was sure of that. He’d felt it in the first kiss. And the second.

“I know what you want. And so do you.” Walter gave up on the touching and offered Kevin a little distance. “You’ve never been with a man, have you?”

“Yes. No. Yes.” Kevin blew the hair out of his eyes. “Yes, I have.”

“What? You get stroked off by another boy in junior high school?”

“No.”

“You did more than a teenage experiment?”

“Yes. Sort of.”

Walter moved in close once more. “I’m guessing it’s been a very long time, and you’ve been denying yourself what you really wanted most of your life—what you still want.”

It took a moment, as if he had to force his body to comply, and then Kevin nodded.

“You’re not out?” Walter asked. Without giving it much thought, the tone of his voice had shifted to something softer.

“No.”

“Do you have a wife?”

“No. I wouldn’t…” Kevin gestured with his hand between them.

“A girlfriend?”

“Yes. I mean, no.”

“Which is it? If you can’t remember if you have a girlfriend, then trust me, you don’t have one anymore.”