Just a Sketch (8 page)

“Are you trying to flatter me while my back is turned?” Concinta appeared beside Aud.

“Nothing I haven’t told you as you were getting set up.” Aud pulled Leo around so he faced the woman. “Concinta, I’d like to introduce you to Leo. He’s new to the world of art.”

She beamed at the two of them. “Then you’ve picked a great event to get your feet wet. Aud sets up a wonderful opening. He’s always the talk of the artist community for his galas.”

Aud chuckled. “Now who’s flattering?”

“Concinta, tell us something about this piece,” said a stately man in a gray suit that matched his hair. The woman on his arm was easily half his age. She didn’t say anything but stood there with a spaced-out smile on her face.

“This is actually one of the more controversial pieces I’ve done recently.” The artist gestured to the painting. “You’ll notice that the mission is actually a bit darker than how I normally depict them. It reflects some of the changes I’ve seen happening in the church of late. The yellow car is fleeing from the darkness, like so many open-minded people are doing right now. I decided a Beetle was the perfect car to use, since the Germans are more about thought than superstition. At least in my opinion.”

“That’s very deep.” The man patted the woman’s arm. “Don’t you think so, my dear?

“Yeah.” She never quite focused on the painting. “Deep.”

Rolling his eyes, Leo looked at Aud with a slight plea to escape them.

Aud smiled at him. “Concinta, we’re going to look at some of the other pieces. If you need anything, please let Heather or me know.”

She nodded but was already engaging another fan.

Leo let Aud steer him toward one of the pieces on a nearby pedestal.

Aud leaned in close to Leo’s ear. “Sorry about that,” he whispered. “We get all kinds in here. The old man, I think he finds a different ornament every couple of weeks. He’s got more money than most of the others in here, so they just flock to him.”

“Are they all like that?” Leo looked at the painting in front of them without really seeing it.

“No, this one must really not want to be here.” Aud kissed Leo’s cheek. “I hope you’re not feeling that way.”

Looking from the painting to Aud, a soft grin spread across Leo’s face. “No. As long as you’re here, I’m happy to be here. Actually, some of her art is fairly interesting, even if it isn’t like anything I’ve ever seen before.”

“She was the one who started this style of Southwest art, but there are several other people doing similar things now. Concinta works hard to stay ahead of them.”

“Aud!” a man shouted from behind them.

With his hand still in Leo’s, Aud tensed before he let go and turned toward the voice. “Randal.” A dark and dangerous tone, unfamiliar to Leo, tinted Aud’s voice. “What are you doing here?”

The handsome man graced both of them with a wide smile. “I heard you were throwing a party and thought I’d stop by. You did a great job promoting this shindig.”

Aud didn’t visibly relax, but his tone softened. “Thank you. Have you seen anything you can’t live without?”

Randal’s smile widened. “Nothing that I think is available tonight. You look occupied.” His gaze rested on Leo. “Aud’s being rude and hasn’t introduced us.” He thrust his hand in Leo’s direction. “I’m Randal Hudspeth.”

Not knowing what else to do and wanting to be polite, Leo accepted the handshake. It was strong, almost overwhelming. “Leo.”

Dropping his voice, Randal added. “Aud and I have a past. I bet he didn’t tell you that.”

“Randal.” The dangerous tone returned to Aud’s voice. “I think it’s time for you to leave.”

“Leave?” Randal cocked a bushy eyebrow. “I just got here.”

Aud took him by the arm and started toward the door. He paused and looked back at Leo. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” Leo stood there, bewildered, as patrons stopped their conversations to watch Aud escort Randal out.

“Oh, that’s right. Try to ignore your baser instincts, Aud. Does that make you better than me?” Randal continued to talk loudly, but after a few feet, Leo couldn’t make out the words.

“Was that Randal?” Heather appeared at Leo’s side, a bottle of wine in her hand.

“Yeah.” Leo was thankful to turn away and focus on her.

“What did he want?”

“He said he heard about the party and thought he’d stop by.”

She shook her head and struggled to open the wine. “He’s trouble. I told Aud to file a police report. I think he’s stalking Aud.”

Leo glanced toward the front of the gallery where Aud and Randal had disappeared. “Stalking?” A shiver went through him. “That’s not good. So he and Aud actually have a history?”

Around them the conversations resumed after Aud and Randal walked out.

“If you count doing something in the steam room at the gym a history.” She strained to pull out the cork.

Gesturing to take the bottle and give it a try, Leo asked, “Does he do that sort of thing a lot?” He’d known a fair number of guys who spent tons of time turning tricks. It wasn’t something that made him feel good, and it cast a shadow on his growing feelings toward Aud. He yanked and freed the cork from the wine bottle.

“Nope.” Heather accepted the bottle back from him. “I think once in a while. He’s such a workaholic that he doesn’t go out much. If you ask me, it was probably just a quick release during a moment of stress or something. I don’t know all the details. I just know Randal came in the other day looking for Aud and said something about the two of them being the hottest guys at the gym.”

“Conceited, huh?”

“Yeah. I mean, he’s not bad to look at, but attitude counts for a lot in my book.”

Leo gave her a slow nod.

“Aud told him he wasn’t interested.”

“That’s good.” Leo relaxed a bit.
I wonder if that was after our first date.

Aud walked back into the room. The remnants of a scowl distorted his rugged face. “I’m sorry about that,” he said softly as he returned to Leo. “It was a mistake.”

“Heather filled me in.” Leo kept his voice low. “Do you think he could be a stalker too?”

Broad shoulders dropping, Aud walked toward the refreshment table near the center of the room. “I don’t know. I’ve known he was pushy and a bit unstable for a while, but this behavior is new. I can’t say I like it.”

Heather offered him a glass of wine, freshly poured from the bottle Leo had opened for her. “I still think you need to call the police and get something on record with them. Maybe he’ll stop this shit.”

“It wouldn’t be that hard.” One of the patrons walked up to Aud and handed him a card. “I’m a lawyer. If that man has been disrupting other things around here, it wouldn’t be difficult to get a restraining order against him, at the very least. Call me if your lawyer doesn’t handle things like that. I could get something done fairly quickly, especially if you know his name and address.”

“Name, yes. Address, no.” Aud slipped the card in his pants pocket. “I’ll keep you in mind.”

“Thanks. This is a wonderful event.” The lawyer glanced around them. “So do I talk to you or someone else about purchasing a couple of paintings?”

“I’d be happy to help you with that.” Aud took a long drink of his wine. “Which pieces were you interested in?” He glanced at Leo and flashed a sad smile.

Leo patted his hand and stayed at the refreshment table as Aud walked with the lawyer to see the items he wanted.

“At least Randal didn’t disrupt things here too much.” Heather filled several fancy-looking plastic flute glasses with wine.

“Yeah, that would’ve been bad.” Leo didn’t feel like going back to looking at paintings without Aud on his arm. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Heather handed him a corkscrew. “We’ve got another dozen bottles of wine that need to be opened. If you pop the corks, I’ll pour.”

“I can do that.” Leo felt better with something to do, so he set to work opening bottles and trying to get Randal out of his mind.
I wonder if he was the one who knocked over the grill that night and not a raccoon. Do I want to get involved with Aud if he’s going to be hanging around? I don’t need the drama of a stalker in my life.
He glanced up as Aud talked with the lawyer. The dark look on his features that had been there earlier was gone and he was relaxed, almost happy.
Aud’s a really great guy, the nicest I’ve ever managed to go out with. So what if they had a fling in the steam room? I’ve had a few similar encounters over the years. I really want to see if Aud and I can make something special. I like him a lot.

AUD SIGHED
as he locked the door to the gallery. A chilly wind whipped around him. He pulled up the collar of his lightweight blue jacket and smiled at Leo. “So, what did you think of your first gallery opening?”

“It had its moments,” Leo replied.

“That doesn’t sound very enthusiastic.” Aud walked down the sidewalk. “What do you say we go relax a bit?”

Leo cocked an eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?”

Aud took Leo’s hand as they strolled along. “We were interrupted the other night. Maybe we can pick up where we left off.”

A warm, sexy smile spread across Leo’s handsome face. “That sounds interesting. My place or yours?”

“If you feel safe, we could go to my place again. It’s closer.”

Leo stopped at his car. “That’s fine.”

“Do you mind if I ride with you?”

“Sure. Is this going to be an all-nighter?” Leo opened the car door for him. The move looked awkward on him.

“It could be.” Aud smiled as Leo closed the door.

Leo hurried around to the driver’s side door. “Then I can drive you back in the morning.”

“That would be great.” Aud’s heart picked up its beat in anticipation.

AS SOON
as they walked into Aud’s house and he closed the door, he caught Leo in his arms. The lust that welled up in him was stronger than any he’d ever felt. He kissed Leo’s sweet lips. His heart beat faster. Leo felt so good in his arms and on his lips that he was tempted to stand there in the entryway and kiss him for hours, but he wanted more.

Leo sighed as their lips parted. “I’ve been wanting to do that all night.”

“Me too.” Aud took his hand and led him farther into the house. “So are we ready to go get comfortable?”

“I am if you are.” There was a slightly shy note in Leo’s voice. It brought a huge smile to Aud.

“Up to you: couch or bed?”

“If I’m going to spend the night, I think we can forego the couch and head straight to the bed.”

“Good.” Aud paused and swung Leo back into his arms for another passionate kiss. “A great opening always gets me turned on.”

Leo laughed. “Then you need to have more great openings. Okay, that didn’t exactly come out right. I’m sure all your openings are great…. That was worse.”

Aud joined him in laughing. It felt so good to have someone around he could laugh with. “I know what you’re saying.” A wicked grin spread over his face. “Although I’m happy you think my openings are great, and you haven’t even seen all of them… yet.” He kissed Leo again and pulled him into the bedroom.

Pausing at the foot of the bed, Aud pressed his lips to Leo’s again. “Another choice for you: lights or no lights?”

Leo caressed Aud’s arm. “Is candlelight or soft lights an option? I really want to see you, all of you, but don’t want to completely blow the mood by having things too bright.”

“Then luckily my lights are all on dimmers.” Aud let go of Leo and strolled over to the switch by the door. He pulled it up to quarter power. It provided enough light to make out the details in his four-poster bed and the starburst quilt that served as his bedspread. “How’s that?”

As he removed his glasses and set them on the nearby dresser, Leo’s brown eyes sparkled in the subdued lighting. “That will be great.” He stepped back into Aud’s embrace.

Aud carefully angled them toward the bed. They stopped kissing long enough to stretch out next to each other. Aud ran his fingers along Leo’s jawline. There was a hint of stubble that tickled his fingertips. They kissed again and Aud lost track of time.

It didn’t take them long to pull each other’s shirts off. The urgency of their interrupted night was strong. Leo’s body was sleek with just a hint of bulge at the waist. A thin trail of hair ran from his diaphragm to disappear into his pants. It was surprisingly thin compared to the thick brown hair that covered his chest.

Focusing his attention on Leo’s large, nearly brown nipples, Aud started sucking and nipping. It elicited moans of pleasure from Leo. With each utterance, he put more effort into pleasuring Leo.

Leo massaged Aud’s back and shoulders as Aud worked his chest. His hands on Aud’s muscles sent tingles of joy through Aud. The way Leo kept the pressure up, it felt like he was enjoying Aud’s attention.

Licking swirls around Leo’s luscious left nipple, Aud suddenly sucked on it as hard as he could. Leo arched his back and groaned. “Wow. Are you trying to get milk out of me?”

With a soft chuckle, Aud took his mouth off Leo. “No, should I? You taste really good. But when I go to get fluids out of you, I know where to suck.”

“If you’re this good on my nipples, what are you going to feel like on my cock?” Leo combed his fingers through Aud’s hair and smiled at him.

Aud undid Leo’s pants and slid his hand into his underwear to squeeze Leo’s hard dick. It was a comfortable handful. “Let’s find out.” He pushed Leo’s pants down, freeing his cock from the confining fabric.

Leo didn’t say a word but quivered as Aud’s mouth found his cockhead. There was already a large drop of precum. Aud licked it off and swallowed Leo’s cock. He’d blown bigger, but Leo fit in his mouth perfectly, and the salty, musky taste was delicious.

“Oh God.” Leo moaned again and thrust his hips up to Aud.

Lifting his mouth free of Leo’s dick, Aud smiled at him. “Yeah, nice and tasty. I think you like that.”

“It feels amazing.” Leo’s voice was soft and husky.

“You taste amazing.” Aud swallowed Leo’s cock again. He gently pulled on Leo’s balls, surprised by their size.

Leo’s breathing quickened. “I don’t know if I can take that very long.”