Stripped Bare (37 page)

Shane laughed. His head was really hurting again. “You’ve never bothered before, so why is this any different?” His tone was bitter. Ray Templar winced.

“Because I haven’t seen my son nearly beaten to death before and almost lost him,” Ray said. “Are you going to let me in?”

“Shay, was that someone at the door-” Matty came out, freshly showered and dressed and saw the two men facing each other down in the open doorway.

“Ray. I didn’t know you were coming over.” He sounded surprised.

“Yeah, right, of course you didn’t,” Shane said sarcastically as he moved away from the door and went into the kitchen. He needed coffee, preferably something stronger. He made black coffee, added a hefty shot of whiskey and ignored Matthew’s slightly disapproving look at the fact he was taking alcohol while he was still on medication.

He was fairly irritated at the thought there’d been some conspiracy between his lover and his father to engineer a meeting. The pressure in his brain built and he felt nauseous.

“Shay, I had no idea your father even knew where you lived,” Matthew said as Shane grunted in disbelief. He gestured to Ray to come in. The man stepped over the threshold and Matthew closed the door behind him.

“Matthew had nothing to do with this visit.” Ray informed his son. “I’ve always known where you lived, son.”

Shane cocked at eyebrow at him in query. “Really? I shall have to move now then, won’t I?” He wanted to ask his father how he knew but his innate stubbornness wouldn’t give his father that satisfaction of showing he was itching to know. He busied himself topping up his coffee, ignoring extending the invite to either his lover or his dad. Matthew sighed.

“Ignore the prima donna, Ray. Can I offer you something to drink?”

Ray shook his head. “No thank you. I just wanted to talk to my son.”

“What do you want, Dad?” Shane voice was uncompromising. “Say what you have to say and then you can leave.”

“Jesus, Shane!” Matthew exclaimed. “Have some common courtesy, won’t you?”

Shane felt his temper prickle deeply in his chest. “Stay out of this, Matty. It’s none of your fucking business.” Even as he said the words, he wanted to take them back. The flicker in Matthew’s eyes and the faint shadow on his face told Shane he’d just hurt his boyfriend. But his head was pounding, his mouth was dry, his chest tight with seeing the man he’d been avoiding for nearly eleven years. He was tired and he wanted to crawl into a dark space and sleep.

“It’s all right, Matthew. Shane has every right to be upset.” Ray Templar took a deep breath. “I can see I need to make this quick. I’ll give you a quick summary, then, shall I?”

Shane stared at him. He didn’t want to compromise. He wanted nothing more than to raise a hand to his temple and rub it, try and massage the pain away as he waited for his father to speak. But he wasn’t going to show that weakness in front of his father. Instead he gripped the side of the kitchen island tightly, willing the pain away. He saw Matthew’s eyes glance at his white knuckles.

“Do you need painkillers, baby? I can get you some.”

“No, for God’s sake, just stop fussing and leave me alone.” His words were harsh, his tone curt. Matthew regarded him silently for a moment then compressed his lips and turned to the coffee machine as he poured himself some.

Ray spoke quietly. “Shane, I’ve been keeping tabs on you since you left home. I know you took that money from my offshore company account, I know what you do for a living, I’ve known where you live and quite a lot else about you. That day we argued—”

“You mean that day you hit me across a room and told me I was a worthless faggot and a queer and that you were disgusted? You mean that day?” Shane’s voice was cold and the memory of that night came surging back like toxic waste seeping out of an oil drum. His father’s eyes closed and Shane was taken aback to see a look of sheer shame on Ray Templar’s face.

“Yes. The day I destroyed any relationship I had with my son and acted like a homophobic bastard. The day I am the most ashamed of in my whole life. The day I would give anything in my life to go and take back.”

“You can’t. It’s too late for that.” Shane moved away from the tabletop then clutched at the edge as dizziness overcame him. “So thanks for the sermon, but honestly, you should go.”

“Christ, Shane, give the man a chance.” Matthew’s harsh tone cut through Shane’s head like a red-hot knife. “Stop being so fucking stubborn and let the man have his say.” It was a measure of just how much Matthew was mad with him that he actually swore in front of Ray Templar. “I’d give anything to have my father back. Here you have the chance to make amends with yours and you’re throwing it away. I know he hurt you. He was an arsehole. But he’s here now.”

Shane felt a blackness descend on him. “You don’t know anything, Matthew. How it feels to have your dad despise you. Your father loved you.”

Ray Templar’s face was white and drawn as he moved toward his son.

“I’ve always loved you, Shane. That day I said those things, I wasn’t myself. I have no excuses but I’d just lost twenty million dollars in an investment that went wrong, I had stockholders wanting me to resign as a result, and the newspapers hadn’t stopped hounding me all day. I was at a low ebb then the thing with you happened and I just lashed out.” His voice was full of pain. “I wish I hadn’t but I did. I just kept thinking, ‘What if the Board found out my son was gay?’ I knew they’d use everything against me that they could, to discredit me and that would mean discrediting you as well. I was scared, and I overreacted, God help me. I’ve spent my life trying to make it up. I left you with your money. I asked your mother to feedback everything about your conversations, any photos you had. I tried to contact you, but you ignored every effort I made. You made it quite clear you couldn’t forgive me and finally, I stopped. I didn’t have the strength anymore. I needed to focus on the business and get it back on an even keel.”

He stopped, out of breath and Shane watched his father out of eyes that were getting blurrier. He was having trouble focusing.

“Then you nearly died, and I just knew there was no way I could let you go again. Not without telling you how sorry I was.” He drew a deep breath.” Your mother wasn’t the only one that was ill when she heard what had happened to you. The other reason we only got down here late to see you was that I had a heart attack. It took me a while to recover. The doctor didn’t want me travelling as he thought I was a candidate for another one. I told your mother not to mention it.” Ray was slightly out of breath and Matthew moved over to him and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“You need to sit down yourself. Come in here.” He drew Ray gently into the lounge as Shane watched them go. At the words “heart attack” a sudden memory had just risen in his head. The memory of lying on a cold, damp pavement with his head split open and the taunting voice of Roy Parsons telling him how he’d watched Matthew’s father die.

“Matty,” he gasped as the kitchen floor rose up to meet up him. “I think Roy Parsons killed your dad.”

Matthew heard the words his lover uttered and saw his body collapse as he felt boneless to the floor. He felt a sweep of panic as he bounded over to Shane’s side. His boyfriend’s face was pale, his lashes dark against the pallor of his cheeks. Not only had his last words been utterly horrifying, Shane was motionless. His chest rose and fell evenly. Matthew looked up at the stricken face of Ray Templar.

“Call 999, Ray. Get an ambulance here.” Shane’s father nodded as he pulled out his mobile, his eyes never leaving his son’s face.

Matthew cradled Shane in his arms, willing him to wake him. His heart was pounding.
He couldn’t lose him again. God, please, not again.
His boyfriend’s last cryptic words were still swirling in his head but at this point, all he wanted was Shane well.

“Baby, wake up. Shay, it’s Matty. Can you hear me?”

Shane groaned and Matthew felt a surge of relief as his eyes opened.

“Matty?” he croaked. Matthew pulled him closer, kissing his cheek, his eyes, anything else he could just to feel Shane.

“I’m here. You passed out. The ambulance is on its way.”

Shane struggled to sit up. “Ambulance? I don’t need an ambulance. I’m not going back to the hospital—”

Matthew could see the panic in Shane’s eyes as he tried to calm him down. “Shay, we need to have you checked out. Let the paramedics take a look at you. I won’t let them take you to the hospital unless it’s vital. I promise.”

“I don’t want to go back there, Matty.” Shane whispered. Hot tears fell from his eyes and Matthew’s heart broke at seeing his normally confident, brash young man in such pain. “I might not come back next time.”

“Oh, baby,” Matthew hugged him closer. “I’ll make sure you always come back to me.”

Shane snuffled and burrowed deeper into Matthew’s chest. Ray Templar watched with an unfathomable expression in his face.

“God, you two are incredible together,” he whispered, his face pale. “How could I ever think this wasn’t right?” Shane’s eyes flicked toward his father and Matthew saw something in them that said perhaps the two men might meet halfway after all.

Ten minutes later the paramedics had come and gone, pronouncing Shane physically fit. They’d said gently it was simply a faint and that his headaches were debilitating him, making him weaker and the stress he’d had that morning hadn’t helped. Ray looked guilty at contributing to his son’s collapse.

But the paramedics had suggested a hospital checkup might not be amiss. Shane had point blank refused it at this time and as he had a checkup in a few days, Matthew didn’t press him. He sat now, with Shane nestled across his legs, half asleep from the strong pain killers Matthew had forced down him. Ray Templar sat now and watched the two men. Shane lay stretched out with his head pillowed on a cushion on Matthew’s thighs, Shane’s hands curled possessively in his lover’s.

“What did you think he meant about Roy Parsons having killed your father?” he asked Matthew. “What was the story there?”

Matthew quietly explained what had happened to his father, and his heart attack. Ray already knew most of the story about the events preceding his father’s heart attack.

“I don’t know why Shane would say something like that, what bearing it could have on anything. My dad had a heart attack. That was a given.”

Ray reached out and softly stroked his son’s cheek. Shane opened his eyes, his blue eyes gazing at his father then slowly closed them again. But Matthew could see a faint smile on his face at the gesture. He held a sudden hope that perhaps Shane and his dad might be reunited in some small way after all.

“I’ll wait until he’s feeling better and then ask him. I don’t want to upset him again.”

Matthew felt Shane stir in his arms, his warm body pushing closer to his. He smiled and kissed his forehead, wrapping protective arms more tightly around the man he held.

“You truly love my son.” Ray looked at Matthew with a soft glance. Matthew nodded.

“He’s my world.” He hesitated. “I lost a man once, my husband. I was married to him for three years, but two years ago he was killed in a car accident.”

“I’m so sorry, Matthew. That must have been dreadful. I can’t imagine what that’s like.”

“I thought I’d never be able to find another person I could love again. And then along comes this one, all mouth and no manners.” Matthew smiled as his hands caressed Shane’s soft hair. “And then nearly losing him as well—I never want to go through that again.”

“He adores you. I can tell. He always wore his heart on his sleeve, Shane. He was easy to read, even as a child. That night—” his voice choked and Matthew saw the wet sheen of tears in his eyes. “I destroyed him, took away any sense of decency or acceptance he might have felt about being different. I can never forgive myself for that. I was a different man then.”

“I think you might have a chance of getting him back, but it won’t be easy. He’s as stubborn as hell.”

“I have time.” Ray stood up. “I’m going to leave you now. Please tell Shane when he wakes up that I hope we can continue where we left off. He picked up his jacket. “I’ll let myself out so you don’t disturb him.” He leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on Shane’s head. “Tell him I love him.”

“I will.” Matthew watched as Ray left. Once the door had swung shut he lay back against the couch and closed his eyes. Shane still slept, his breathing even and his hands now curled into Matthew’s sweatshirt. Matthew smiled. There was nowhere he’d rather be.

Shane awoke some hours later, a little stiff, his body slightly chilled. He shivered as he sat up. He smiled as he saw Matthew snoring softly, his head at an awkward angle against the back of the couch. Shane looked at his watch. It was almost eleven p.m. He disentangled himself from the comfortable warmth of his lover’s body and leaned over to tickle Matthew’s nose. It twitched. He grinned and did it again, watching as Matthew’s eyes opened blearily then focused on him. They cleared and Shane felt sudden warmth at the loving expression he saw there.

“You’re awake. How do you feel?” Matthew reached up and pulled Shane close to him, his mouth searching for his.

“Better. My headache’s more manageable.”

Shane leaned in, meeting his boyfriend’s mouth with his own, and they kissed, lips warm, starting out tender and turning into much more. Shane could feel Matthew’s desperation in each swift dart of his tongue, each nip of his lip and with the ferocity that he ground their mouths together.

“Wow, someone’s pretty needy,” Shane whispered as he moved onto Matthew’s lap, his knees either side of his lover’s body, feeling the heat and hardness in Matthew’s groin as he pulled Shane down on him. Shane’s own dick was rock hard, pressing against Matthew’s taut stomach.

“You scared me to death,” Matthew whispered as his hands slid under Shane’s tee shirt, finding the warm skin beneath and making Shane gasp. “You say strange things, then pass out and leave me to wonder what the hell happened.” His mouth took Shane’s again in a mouth-opening wet kiss, and Shane thought he was about to be swallowed. He relished the feel of his lover’s tongue on his, the hands that were slowly caressing his hips and the insistent push of Matthew’s hardness against his backside and his groin.