Fifth Vision of Destiny - Brett (2 page)

“Yeah. I’m really doing this.”

The ride back to Haventown was uneventful, if
long. Brett could have bought the rings in town, but he had first
noticed the vintage matching wedding bands in Daisy’s store a
couple years back, and they had remained at the back of his mind
the entire time, resurfacing sometimes when he kissed ruby-red lips
or entwined his fingers with a hand that matched his own perfectly.
A month earlier, he had popped in at the store unannounced and had
been both delighted and a little relieved to discover that the
rings were still there. To make his decision even easier, only the
man’s ring had needed to be resized.

It was a silly idea, of course, a ridiculous
idea, a completely insane idea. But he couldn’t help but hope that
the rings would be taken in the same spirit they were offered: as
inadequate yet tangible proof of his love, tokens that would endure
much longer than he would himself. Not that he intended to say as
much; there was no need to remind anyone that he was human and
therefore mortal.

Night was still an hour or so away when he
reached Haventown, but the sky was already turning orange and red
in the west, without a single cloud to mar the horizon. It was
going to be a beautiful, clear night. Maybe they would go to their
spot on the cliff, after dinner, and share a glass of champagne
under the stars.

Rather than going straight back to On The
Edge, the club Lisa had helped him open years earlier, Brett
stopped by their favorite restaurant and ordered from the menu. The
restaurant usually didn’t do take-out, but it helped that he was a
regular customer, and a more-than-generous tipper. Having served
his fair share of tables during high school and college, Brett
didn’t mind paying good service what it was worth.

The club was already open when Brett walked
in, although there were only a few people at the bar, and the music
rising from the dance floor on the lower level was nowhere near as
loud as it would be as the night grew older. He waved at the
barmaid as he passed by, stopped to share two words with the
security manager, then finally made his way to the back of the
club, where a discreet door led to the apartments above the club.
He had a bag full of food in each hand, but somehow the two small
boxes in his inside jacket pocket seemed to weigh a lot more with
each step up the staircase.

He opened the front door with his elbow,
closed it with his foot, and made a beeline for the kitchen. They
didn’t have a proper dining room or a dining table, the apartment
had never been meant to host formal dinners, but the kitchen table
would do well enough. He dropped the bags on the counter before
setting up the table, even lighting a couple candles he placed in
the center of the table.

“Pretty,” Lisa said behind him, and Brett
turned to watch her enter the kitchen. Even barefoot, she was as
tall as most men, and the curves squeezed into her skin-tight
bustier dress were all feminine. She had to have just taken a
shower because her short blonde hair was still a little damp.
“What’s the occasion?” she asked as she put on an earring.

Brett had to stop himself from patting his
jacket to check that the rings were still there. “Do we need an
occasion?”

He walked over to her and took the second
earring from her, delicately sliding the stem through the hole and
fastening it. Her arms slid around him, and she pulled him in for a
chaste thank-you kiss.

“Let’s see… you switched Leo’s schedule so he
wouldn’t work tonight, and unless I’m mistaken those bags are from
Antonio’s. So yeah, there’s definitely an occasion.”

Chuckling, Brett kissed her cheek. “You were
always the smart one, but you’ll have to wait. Where’s Leo?”

Her interest was definitely piqued, and Brett
was suddenly worried she would notice the way his pocket bulged
over the jewelry boxes. Her eyes remained on his face, though, her
face tilted to one side, like she always did whenever she was
puzzled or trying to figure out something.

“He went back to bed after helping me
shower,” she said in the end. “Why don’t you go wake him, and I’ll
finish preparing here?”

He chuckled quietly as he pressed a kiss to
her cheek. No doubt she hoped to find a clue about what was going
on. Too bad for her, he was taking the clues with him.

He toed his shoes off in the entrance hall
and shrugged off his jacket as well, hanging it in the entryway
closet. Hidden from the kitchen behind the closet door, he
transferred the rings to his pants pocket, quickly disguising the
bulge by tugging his shirt out of his pants. Only then did he go
over to the bedroom. He stood by the door for a few seconds, fully
appreciating the view. The room was dark, but with the light that
fell from the living room through the doorway, Brett could see Leo
quite well. He was sprawled on his back in the center of the bed,
one arm raised near his face and the other lying across the pillow.
His chest seemed even paler than it really was against the dark
green sheets, and Brett rubbed his fingertips together, wanting to
touch that smooth and perfect expanse of skin, from the dusky
nipples to the flat stomach where a thin trail of pale hair led
down to an even nicer view. The sheet was riding low enough that it
kept Leo barely decent, while making it completely obvious that he
was naked.

Before Brett had begun to tire of the lovely
sight, Leo curled one arm behind his head, his slight smile
revealing that he was awake. “You gonna watch all night or you’re
gonna come and ravage me now?”

Laughing, Brett came forward to the foot of
the bed and tugged at the sheet, sliding it down to reveal more of
Leo, one inch at a time. Leo’s cock lay dormant when it first
appeared, but it started filling up and lengthening as it was
slowly exposed. Brett’s own dick began to harden at the sight, and
he had to adjust himself.

“Nice,” Brett murmured, desire filling his
voice. “Were you waiting for me?”

Leo still didn’t open his eyes, but his smile
widened a little, and his cock bobbed up in its nest of short
curls. “What if I was?” he drawled. “You going to do something
about it?”

Brett was tempted,
really
tempted, but the rings in his pocket seemed
heavier suddenly, and he was all too aware of Lisa waiting for them
in the kitchen.

“I will,” he said as he walked over to the
dresser. “But later. For now, I need you to put on some underwear
and come to the kitchen.”

He threw a pair of his own silky boxers at
Leo. They landed on his chest, and Leo frowned down at them, then
turned the same look at Brett.

“You want me to get dressed?” He was
practically pouting now. “What for?”

Brett chuckled. “Because there’s no way I can
have dinner without choking on my food if you’re sitting naked next
to me. Come on, the food’s getting cold.”

Without listening to Leo’s protests that
he was a vampire and didn’t actually
need
food and that Brett was just mean and enjoyed torture too
much, Brett coaxed Leo out of bed and helped him slide the boxers
on, although not without adding in some groping and a kiss or two.
As a result, they were both hard when they finally left the
bedroom. Brett’s untucked shirt more or less disguised his
erection, but the silky boxers made Leo’s that much more obvious.
When they entered the kitchen, Lisa was just finishing pouring wine
into three glasses. She looked at them, her eyes immediately
focusing on both their crotches, and she grinned.

“No appetizers, then?” she teased as she held
out a glass to Leo.

He took it and threw a grimace at Brett.
“Believe me, I was up for it.”

Lisa laughed aloud and handed a second glass
to Brett. “This had better be worth it,” she said. “Or you’ll have
to make it up to us.”

For the first time that day, Brett’s
conviction that he was doing the right thing wavered. He had awoken
that morning wrapped around Lisa and with Leo wrapped around him,
and after having hesitated for almost a month, he had
known
, deep
down, that he had made the right decision when buying those rings
and asking for the man’s one to be resized for Leo. All his
hesitations that they might not want to wear such rings had
vanished, leaving behind the certainty that they loved him just as
much as he loved them and would understand what the rings
symbolized. Now, he was wondering again. What if he was making a
mistake?

The light clink of two glasses against his
own brought him back to the present. He looked at them, first Lisa
then Leo, and faced with both their smiles his fears disappeared
again. He had planned to have dinner first and pull out the rings
for dessert, but he couldn’t wait any longer. He had to show them,
tell them, and he had to do it now.

After taking a sip of wine to give himself
courage, he put down the glass on the table and slipped a hand in
his pocket.

“There’s something I want to give each of
you,” he said as he pulled out the boxes. They seemed so small
suddenly in his hand. “I’ve been thinking for a long time about how
I could ever show you how grateful I am for having you two in my
life. How much I love you.” He looked up at Lisa at that, met her
eyes and gave her an apologetic grin. “I know you don’t like that
word, and I don’t expect you to say it back.” She never had said
it, not in close to ten years, but Brett didn’t need to hear it; he
knew she loved him, they both did, and that was enough. He turned
to Leo now, and his grin softened a little. “But I do. I really do.
And… these are for you. I hope you’ll like them.”

He held out the
square box to Leo, the round one to Lisa, and held his breath as he
waited for their reactions.

Leo picked up the jewelry box first and
opened it at once. His face split up on a wide smile and before
Brett could even blink he had tugged the ring free and slipped it
on the ring finger of his left hand.

“Not only is it gorgeous, but it fits just
right!”

Bringing his hand in front of his face, he
turned it around and peered at the ring closely before grabbing the
back of Brett’s neck with that same hand and pulling him close
enough that their cocks found each other despite the layers of
clothing that separated them.

A jolt of need ran through Brett, and a
bubble of relieved laughter burst on his lips when Leo’s mouth
pressed against his. The kiss was as deep as it was brief. When Leo
pulled back, he was smiling as warmly and brightly as Brett
was.

Comforted that he hadn’t made a mistake as he
had so feared, Brett looked back at Lisa. His smile started
wavering at once. She was still staring at the round jewelry box in
her hand, her thumb brushing back and forth against the velvet top,
turning the blue fabric lighter or darker every time it caught the
light at a different angle. She still hadn’t opened the box.

“Lisa?” he said softly, pushing the words
past the growing knot tightening his throat. “Do you—”

“I’m famished,” she said abruptly. Her fist
closed over the box for a second, then she reached down and set it
on the table near one of the untouched plates. She didn’t look at
either of them when she said, “I’ll go down and find something to
eat. You two have fun.”

She started turning away, and it was as
though she were taking all of Brett’s hopes right with her along
with his breath.

“Wait, don’t…”

Brett caught her hand before she could leave
the kitchen. He could feel it trembling between his fingers, and
that surprised him enough that he let go almost at once.

Lisa didn’t look back at him, merely gave a
quick shake of her head and murmured a quiet, “I’m sorry,” before
she left.

Her voice had been shaking, too, he realized
with a pang, and didn’t know what to make of it. For years, all he
had ever received when he let words of love slip had been
exasperated sighs or indulgent looks, depending on her mood. He
knew she didn’t like to hear them expressed aloud, but she didn’t
begrudge him his feelings. She had never been so emotional,
however, not since the death of her Sire.

Feeling suddenly very cold, Brett watched
her go. The open space above the breakfast bar offered a clear view
to the entryway, and he could see her putting on her shoes before
she left the apartment without a look back. He could have sworn an
icy draft slipped into the apartment when she opened the door. A
little numb, he started reaching for the wine bottle on the table,
but his hand seemed to have a mind of its own and picked up the
jewelry box instead. He turned it over between his fingers,
wondering how he could have ever thought that this was a good idea.
He should have known Lisa better than that by now. No, he
did
know her better than that, and
it was why he had been so hesitant. He should have listened to his
instincts.

Leo took the box from him and flipped the lid
open with his thumb, whistling quietly at what he saw. “It’s
beautiful,” he said, and looked at the ring more closely. “She’s
gonna love it.”

Something twisted painfully in Brett’s chest.
“I thought she would, yes. But she’d need to at least look at it
for that.”

He tried to inject a bit of humor into his
words, but judging from the understanding look Leo gave him, he
missed by a mile.

“You really wanted her to wear it, huh?” Leo
said, a half smile tugging at his lips.

Brett shrugged. “As much as I wanted—”
Stopping short, he shook his head. “As much as I
want
you to wear yours.”

Snapping the box shut, Leo dropped it on the
table and at the same time grabbed Brett’s belt with his other
hand.

“What are you doing?” Brett sighed, even
though he could guess all too well what Leo had in mind when Leo
pulled him toward the bedroom.