Legal Artistry (15 page)

"You zoned out for a few seconds,” Gerald explained before smiling. “It's okay. It happens sometimes."

"Oh,” Dieter said, letting Gerald hold him. “I didn't freak out, did I?"

Gerald chuckled a little. “No. You were amazingly gorgeous and sexy. I've never had that happen before. You were perfect.” Gerald kissed him, and Dieter realized that Gerald was still wearing his underwear.

"What about you?” Dieter asked, shifting so he could look at Gerald.

"Honey, you don't have to do anything you aren't ready for."

"But what if I want to?” Dieter said with a smile before kneeling on the bed and launching himself at Gerald. They fell backward, laughing, with Gerald holding him close, and Dieter kissed the nearest patch of skin, then he did it again, and Gerald relaxed back on the mattress. Dieter felt as though he'd been given a plate at the Gerald buffet.

"I'm all yours,” Gerald told him, his voice deep. At first, Dieter wasn't sure what to do, but then he figured Gerald had done to him what he liked, so Dieter mimicked the way Gerald had touched him. Soon Gerald was whimpering, and Dieter was smiling. Tapping Gerald's hip, he tugged away Gerald's briefs, throwing them onto the floor and taking Gerald's length into his mouth. Gerald's flavor burst on his tongue, like when they kissed, only more intense. Being careful, Dieter took what he could, holding and caressing as he licked the length. Gerald made these little noises that drove Dieter wild because he knew he was the cause, that he was making Gerald happy. “Dieter, I'm gonna come.” Dieter stroked harder, watching the most incredibly blissful look come over Gerald's face as he came with a small cry.

Hurrying to the bathroom, Dieter returned with a towel, wiping Gerald quickly before turning off the light, scooting into bed, and hugging Gerald close. “Will you stay?” Dieter asked, angling for a kiss and getting two.

"How could I possibly say no?” Gerald answered, kissing him yet again as they settled together. Dieter held Gerald as tight as he was held, not wanting to let him go. “Good night and thank you for meeting my family. It meant a lot,” Gerald said, obviously pleased, and Dieter kissed his new lover, letting warmth and sleep wash over him.

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Gerald woke with a smile, Dieter's warm body curled right next to him in the air conditioned room. It didn't seem to matter if the room was warm or cold, Gerald had quickly discovered that when they spent the night together, Dieter spent the entire night curled as close to him as possible. It almost seemed like he was expecting Gerald to disappear in the middle of the night. Actually, Gerald thought it nice that Dieter wanted to be close to him. He'd had previous boyfriends who never spent the night with anyone, and those who, after sex, rolled over and went right to sleep without so much as a hug. Selfish pricks.

Two, no, three weeks had passed, Gerald realized, since he'd taken Dieter to meet his family, and unfortunately, he'd been so busy most days that he'd gone home and fallen right into bed. Gerald made a point, no matter how tired he was, to spend at least one evening a week with Dieter, and they got together on the weekends, but he wanted more, and Gerald could sense that Dieter did as well. But in order to make sure Dieter's case progressed, at as little cost as possible, Gerald would do his normal work during the day, and almost every evening he'd work for a few hours on strategies and research for Dieter. He'd made excellent progress and had even begun the outlines and ideas for a basic brief, but as they expected, the information Gerald needed now was in Austria, hopefully in the archives of the Belvedere Museum.

"Gerry,” Dieter mumbled softly, burrowing closer, “go back to sleep."

"I'd like nothing better, but we need to get ready to go to the airport,” Gerald explained, holding Dieter to him. “I'd love to stay in bed with you, but we need to be at the airport in less than an hour.” Gerald kissed his adorable lover before slipping out of bed, figuring he'd get cleaned up and let Dieter sleep for a few more minutes. Padding to the bathroom as quietly as he could, Gerald shaved and brushed his teeth before turning on the shower. Stepping in, Gerald pulled the shower curtain closed and let the hot water wash over him. At five thirty on a Saturday morning, his body and mind wanted nothing more than to go back to bed with Dieter.

The bathroom door opened, and Gerald heard Dieter moving around outside, and then the curtain opened slightly and Dieter slipped in behind him. Gerald was now instantly awake in more ways than one as Dieter pressed to his back, hands gliding over Gerald's chest. Over the past few weeks, a lot of Dieter's reticence had slipped away, and it showed when Dieter's hands moved lower before encircling Gerald's hard cock. “Feels good,” Gerald said quietly, stifling a groan when the hand disappeared only to return a few seconds later all slippery and soapy as Dieter washed his back for him. When they stayed over, a morning togetherness shower was one of the highlights. Sometimes they had sex, but more often than not, their morning showers were an exercise in quiet, luxurious intimacy that Gerald had never had with anyone before.

"Do we have time?” Dieter asked, his voice deep as his fingers lightly caressed Gerald's balls.

Gerald groaned in a mixture of pleasure and frustration. “I wish, but we have to be at the airport to catch our shuttle in less than an hour, and the cab will be here soon.” Dieter's hand slipped away. “Turn around and I'll wash your back,” Gerald told Dieter and let his soapy hands roam over Dieter's back and down to his butt before both of them rinsed off.

After stepping out of the shower, Gerald dried quickly before leaving the bathroom and pulling on his clothes. He knew if he stuck around, he'd get distracted by Dieter, and there were things that had to be done. Once he was dressed, Gerald packed the very last things before hauling his suitcase into the entry. “Dieter, the cab will be here anytime,” he reminded him lightly before making a pass through the house, verifying that all the doors were locked. When Dieter was ready, Gerald took his suitcase to the hall as well, and as the cab pulled up, they were hauling their suitcases to the curb.

The ride to the airport took ten minutes, and they waited another ten minutes for the shuttle to O'Hare, and less than two hours later, they were in line at the international terminal for their flight to Vienna. Dieter could barely stand still, jumping from side to side to see what was happening around them. “You have your passport?” Dieter nodded, still bouncing with excitement as they approached the desk.

"Is this your first trip to Europe?” the ticket agent asked Dieter when she saw his excitement.

"You never told me that,” Gerald said, and the agent smiled at them as she typed before checking and taking their bags. Handing them their boarding passes, she told them their gate and wished them a pleasant flight.

Security was a nightmare, with a line snaking down the hall for what seemed like half a mile, and it moved as slow as molasses. Thankfully, they had time, and eventually made it through and down the concourse to their gate with only a quick stop so Gerald could buy a snack for the flight: Garrett's caramel corn and cheese popcorn. “I can't stop in Chicago without getting some,” Gerald explained to Dieter as they stood in line. “You'll love it."

They made it to the gate, and their flight began boarding a half hour later. At the end of the Jetway, Gerald showed the flight attendant their seating stubs, and she directed them toward the front of the plane where they found themselves seated in the wide seats of business class. In order to help save money, Gerald had booked economy-class seats, and all he could figure was the ticket agent had decided to give Dieter a special flight.

Dieter could barely settle next to him, and thankfully, the flight attendant brought around champagne and Gerald handed Dieter a glass. “Drink this. It'll calm you down a little,” Gerald said with a wink and a smile.

"I'm okay,” Dieter protested.

"You're so excited that the plane could take off on your energy alone,” Gerald said before leaning closer to whisper, “Not that I really mind, but you'll be more comfortable when you're calm, because it's going to be a very long flight, and if you can sleep, you'll be better off."

Dieter drained his glass and smiled at Gerald. “Happy?” Gerald laughed, and the flight attendant took away the glasses as the doors were closed and announcements began. Then the plane began to move, and Gerald watched as Dieter's excitement ramped up again as the plane picked up speed and they lifted off the ground. Once the plane leveled off, Dieter settled down somewhat. “Okay,” Gerald said quietly after he'd gotten out his laptop, “here's the plan. We'll arrive on Sunday morning, and we're expected at the museum at nine Monday. I was able to secure us most of the day, which probably won't give us enough time, but we'll have to find what we can. They wouldn't commit to more time than that because, they claimed, of the availability of people to retrieve the materials."

"Do they have a catalog online?” Dieter asked as he leaned over to look at what Gerald had already.

"Some things are online, but they aren't what we need. I was able to find some documents a few days ago,” Gerald said before pulling printouts out of his case and handing them to Dieter. “But I'm not sure these will help us.” Gerald watched as Dieter scanned the documents, handing back two of them quickly, but he gasped when he read the third. “What is it?"

"This appears to be the documentation regarding an appeal Gram made twenty-five years ago.” Dieter flipped the page as he continued reading. “They found that there was insufficient proof that the paintings belong to my family. It also says that the paintings were left to the museum by Anna Meinauer. There's a copy of a letter that my great-grandmother wrote saying that she wanted her portrait to go to the Belvedere, and they consider the matter closed.” Dieter turned, all the wind gone from his sails, the excitement from earlier gone.

"Is it a letter or a will?” Gerald said as he looked at the document, kicking himself that he hadn't researched these documents earlier, but he'd just found them yesterday and had only printed them on the chance that they were meaningful. He felt like such a newbie. He should have checked everything.

Dieter showed him a copy that was attached to the report. “It looks like a handwritten letter."

Gerald breathed a sigh of relief. “First thing, it isn't a will, so that argument should be easy to dispel, and from what we understand, the painting wasn't hers to give away, anyway. It belonged to your great-grandfather. It was his money that paid for it, regardless of whether Anna commissioned it, and hopefully we'll be able to prove that. But this is better than I thought because it gives us a clue as to what they will argue, and we'll need to be able to refute that."

The flight attendant asked if they wanted more champagne, and Gerald motioned for a glass for both of them. “We need to keep our heads cool and our brains engaged. I know this is very emotional for you, but if we're going to do a good job, we need to leave those emotions behind so we can think clearly. That's the only way we're going to find what we need.” Gerald watched closely as a lot of different emotions flashed behind Dieter's eyes.

"I guess this is going to be more emotional than I thought,” Dieter explained.

"There's nothing wrong with that. I just don't want you riding a roller-coaster. The chances are that we're going to find things that will help us and hurt us. The important thing is to know what can hurt us so we can minimize it."

"So this doesn't hurt us?” Dieter asked, still holding the document.

"Actually, it may help us, because it could help show a pattern of disregard for their own laws as well as international property rights, because this is very plainly not a will and yet they have used it as such. Hopefully we can find something within their own records that disputes this, and then we can paint them as putting their own interests ahead of the rightful owners. Courts really hate that.” Gerald could feel himself getting excited now.

Dieter smiled at him. “You really are a total lawyer. You take everything and change it to suit what you want it to."

"That's what we do, and hopefully the end result is justice."

The flight attendants came around with warm towels and began serving fruit and nut appetizers to everyone. Dieter got out his book and began to read while Gerald continued making notes and getting his thoughts on paper. After dinner, the lights in the cabin dimmed, and Gerald continued working for a while before reclining his seat and covering himself with a blanket to try to get some sleep. The seat was comfortable, but thoughts of the case and Dieter kept running through his mind. Eventually Dieter turned out his light and tried to sleep as well.

Gerald must have slept because when he woke, the cabin was still dark and quiet. Dieter's eyes were closed in the seat next to him, and he snuffled lightly, the way he always did when they slept together. Gerald closed his eyes again, and thankfully, the next time he opened his eyes, the flight attendants were serving breakfast. Reaching over, Gerald gently woke Dieter. He wanted to wake him with a kiss, but refrained and woke him with a gentle caress instead. Dieter blinked at him a few times before pulling the blanket up over his head. A few seconds later the blanket slipped down again, and Gerald was treated to one of the most beautiful sights he knew, Dieter's sleepy eyes blinking up at him.

"Would you like an omelet or a fruit plate for breakfast?” the flight attendant asked, and they ordered one of each, figuring they could share. By the time they'd eaten and their trays were taken away, the tone of the plane engines had changed and Gerald felt the telltale pressure in his ears as the plane began to descend.

Tray tables were stowed and seats returned to their upright positions, and they landed half an hour later and deplaned. Going through immigration and then customs, they moved through the airport to the train station. They could have taken a taxi, but Dieter wanted to ride a train and Gerald had already researched the route and knew how easy it would be to take the City Airport Train right into Vienna. The best part was seeing Dieter's excited bouncing again. Exiting at their station, they walked to their hotel, looking at the buildings. “I picked this hotel because it was one of the few non-chain hotels that had air conditioning,” Gerald explained as they walked, but Dieter wasn't paying attention, which didn't bother Gerald at all.