Worlds Apart (8 page)

There was only one place he hadn’t checked.

Maybe two.

Taylor rolled off the bed and moved over to the window to draw the curtain. His hand froze on the material. Niall stood with his back toward him in the middle of the lawn, staring down toward the walled garden. Had he heard something? Seen something? Niall shrugged his shirt from his shoulders and kicked off his shoes. When he stepped out of his chinos and boxers, Taylor watched mesmerized.

What the fuck is he doing?

Taking his clothes off, you idiot.

Taylor’s pulse rocketed, blood rushing through his veins to fill his cock.
Oh Christ. What the—?
He’d never seen Niall without a shirt. Now he stared at broad shoulders tapering to a narrow waist and a perfect tight butt.
Oh fuck, I’m staring at his butt?
Then Taylor’s attention was drawn to a tattoo that ran down Niall’s back, crossing from his left shoulder to curve over his right hip and run down his leg. He’d caught a glimpse of it at Niall’s neck and been intrigued, but he was surprised how big it was.
It turns me on.
Taylor swallowed hard and rubbed the heel of his palm over the stiff outline of his shaft.
What the hell’s the matter with me?
He let out a strangled laugh.
Who I am trying to fool?

“Turn around, Niall,” he whispered.

The moon slid from behind a cloud and Niall stood bathed in light as if he were some perfect statue newly unveiled but already entwined by ivy. Niall couldn’t have heard him, but he turned. The tattoo continued down to his ankle and spread over his foot. But Taylor’s gaze was inexorably drawn higher to the flat plane of the guy’s stomach and a cock that rose long and thick and—
Oh fuck. What am I doing?

Taylor wrapped his fingers around the bulge in his chinos and squeezed. Did Niall suspect, guess, want him to watch? Taylor couldn’t bring himself to look Niall in the face. Niall
had
to hope Taylor would see him or he wouldn’t be standing naked in the middle of the lawn. Unless this was some bizarre religious celebration and Niall assumed Taylor was fast asleep in bed.

That wasn’t impossible. Taylor knew very little about Niall. Because he hadn’t wanted his own skeletons uncovered, it had been easy to leave Niall’s where they lay, so when Taylor pushed and got nowhere, he’d let it drop. If Niall wanted to confide in him, he’d do so. That was how Taylor felt. He didn’t know if his parents had told Niall about his sister, but regardless of whether they had or not, Taylor didn’t want to talk about Stephanie.

Now Taylor wished he knew what Niall was thinking, but then he didn’t know how he felt himself. He looked down at his hand, squeezing and stroking around his zipper.
Ah damn it, yes I do.
The idea of rubbing himself over Niall’s hot, silky skin, the thought of pushing his cock into the guy’s warm, wet mouth, shoving his whole length into his tight asshole made Taylor’s butt cheeks clench and he shuddered.
Where the hell did that come from?

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Stop looking.
But he couldn’t.

He’d known the moment he set eyes on Niall that the guy was trouble. If he’d had any sense, he’d have asked him to leave. Taylor stepped away from this sort of temptation. Maybe this was why he treated women as he did, never contemplating a long-term relationship, because he suspected ultimately, he wouldn’t be satisfied. Taylor released a shaky breath.

Taylor liked women, he liked sucking their breasts, playing with their clits, fucking them hard and fast, slow and gentle. He liked to fuck them in the ass too, though he didn’t find many who’d let him. Taylor liked what women did to him, the feel of soft, gentle fingers playing, but he’d always wondered what it would be like with a guy. And he’d wondered that more than was healthy since he’d moved back to Sutton Hall.

Sometimes Niall eyeballed him when he didn’t think Taylor was watching, and Taylor saw an expression on his face that forced him to leave the room. Need, longing—who the hell knew what it was? But it made Taylor’s cock stir. And he’d seen Niall’s stir too and the way Niall tried to hide that from him. They’d been tiptoeing around each other for weeks.

Taylor took the step forward to stand in the center of the window and he looked straight at Niall.
Maybe he won’t see me
. Taylor would take it as a sign. Niall lifted his head and stared back at him. No smile. No frown. Only some intangible sense of need.

Almost before he registered he was doing it, Taylor finished unbuttoning his shirt. He let it fall from his shoulders and his hands moved to the button on his chinos. He yanked pants and boxers down together and kicked off his shoes. Before thinking too hard stopped him in his tracks, Taylor walked out of his room and headed down the stairs.

What the hell are you doing?

What the hell do you think?

Turn round.

Keep going.

The internal conversation continued until his feet carried him out of the back door. Taylor was filled with a mixture of relief and concern to see Niall still stood in the middle of the lawn, his seductive, terrifying cock sliding in his hand. Taylor’s heart surged into his throat as he padded across the damp grass and came to a halt in front of Niall.

“You seem to be standing naked in the middle of the lawn,” Taylor said. “Waiting for something? A bus? A lunar eclipse? Coven of witches to dance with?” He took a deep breath. “Me?”

Niall stared at him. “What do you think?”

Taylor glanced up into the sky, his pulse racing. “Should be any minute now. Look out for broomsticks.”

Niall laughed and the sound wrapped around Taylor like a warm blanket. He could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times he’d heard Niall really laugh. Taylor watched as Niall continued to stroke his cock, his fingers dragging the foreskin over the crest then sliding down to caress his balls with his thumb before pulling up again. Taylor wanted those fingers on
his
cock, wanted to feel what it was like to be touched by a man. And that tattoo…a tree? A vine? Something very intricate, but it was hard to make out in the dim light.

Taylor knew, though he didn’t know how, that Niall wasn’t going to make the first move, and perversely felt annoyed.
I came to you,
he wanted to shout, but instead took a deep breath. Fuck it, this was just sex. What did it matter who started it? Hadn’t Niall done that when he’d stood there in full view and stripped? Taylor swallowed hard and then reached out to wrap shaking fingers over Niall’s where they held his cock. Niall’s tremulous sigh made Taylor’s balls tighten. Then their hands began to work together, fingers entwined as they grasped and squeezed the steel-hard shaft.

And again, though he didn’t understand why, Taylor knew Niall wouldn’t touch him, that he had to bring Niall’s hand to his cock. Taylor wanted it there, wanted to feel Niall’s fingers caress him. Niall’s breathing was noisy in the still of the night, his stuttered breaths punctuating Taylor’s every move.
Do it. Do it.
When Taylor pulled Niall’s other hand to his groin, Niall’s breathing grew noisier still. They stood maybe a foot apart, playing with each other’s dicks, guided by each other’s hands, fingers slipping and sliding, cocks preening and crying silent tears of delight. Taylor couldn’t look Niall in the face.

“I’ve dreamed of this,” Niall whispered.

Am
I
dreaming?

The strangeness and familiarity of touching another man’s cock, like his and yet not like his at all, buzzed in Taylor’s head where pressure grew as synapses snapped to link neurons. Explosion loomed lower down. Their hands moved faster, fingers tightened and their breathing became more ragged.

“Oh fuck,” Taylor panted.

Taylor’s hands were slippery with precome as he raced toward orgasm. He’d have been ashamed of coming so fast with a woman, but suspected Niall was as close as him. Taylor’s balls drew up to cup the base of his cock, white light flared in his head and he closed his eyes.
Yes, yes, yes.
His toes curled as he spurted into his hand and into Niall’s. Taylor sucked in a breath with each wrenching spasm, pleasure racing through his veins. Then Niall was coming, releasing warm, liquid silk onto Taylor’s fingers as he gasped into the night air, and somehow that moment was just as good.

As Taylor opened his eyes, he saw silver light shimmering just over Niall’s shoulders. For a moment, the light seemed solid enough for Taylor to touch and then it disappeared.
What the hell?
He blinked. Had to be some weird refraction of moonlight or alternatively a head rush brought on by an orgasm-fried brain.

Oh Christ. An orgasm-fried brain. What have I done?
He lifted his head to look into Niall’s eyes and saw everything he didn’t want to see. Pleasure. Desire. Expectation. Reality checked in. He stood naked in the middle of the lawn, jacking off with a guy. How could he have been so stupid?
I am
not
fucking gay.
Burning with embarrassment, he pulled free and walked away, come dripping from his hands until he stooped to wipe it on the grass. He’d gone no more than ten yards before he turned and stalked back.

“That’s never going to happen again,” Taylor snapped. “I like women.”

“I ask nothing of you,” Niall said.

Taylor scanned Niall’s face, but it was now empty of expression. He turned and walked back to the house.
Mistake, mistake, mistake,
said his brain.

No it wasn’t,
said his cock.

Chapter Six

Roo’s expectation that waking at 8:15 a.m. would give her time to get up, get ready and get to work had been a touch unrealistic, she thought as she took the chewing gum out of her mouth and used it to attach her heel to her shoe. She squirted paste on her toothbrush, sucked on it, fastened her blouse and slipped on her shoes at the same time.
Brilliant multitasking!
Then unzipped the tent and climbed out to pull on her skirt while she brushed a bit more vigorously. Roo threw the toothbrush back inside, and zipped the tent again. Then unzipped it to grab her purse. Zipped and unzipped it to get the water bottle so she could refill it. Roo wasted another minute staring at her spaceship trying to think if she’d remembered everything before she headed for the road.

In daylight she could see she wasn’t far from civilization. Roo bulldozed her way through the rhododendrons to reach the drive and brushed bits of foliage from her hips. Then she ran.

After a couple of yards, the heel fell off her shoe and she lurched to a halt. She went back to grab the wayward plastic cube, slipped it in her purse and set off again on an awkward lope.

Sleeping in the tent hadn’t been too bad, probably because she was so exhausted. The can of SpaghettiOs hadn’t appealed for breakfast, so she hoped Taylor was the sort of boss who provided donuts and pastries and freshly brewed coffee—and a shower. Though she needed to empty her bladder before she drank anything, and running wasn’t helping that requirement.

A motor bike roared up behind her and Roo squealed.
Darn it, stop panicking.
The guy—or maybe woman—in black leathers didn’t stop until they pulled up in front of the main entrance. Roo lollopped up the drive. By the time she reached the house, the biker had gone inside. No sign on the door on this occasion to tell her to walk in, so Roo pulled on the rusty metal rod that hung vertically on the left side of the door and heard a clangy echo inside.

Then she jigged on the spot.
I need to pee. Why didn’t I go in the woods?
She should have changed her shoes, but her only other pair of smart shoes were high heels and she couldn’t run in those. Roo really wanted to make a good first impression when she wasn’t dressed as a chicken. She pulled on the rod again. And again.
Hurry up. Hurry up.

It seemed hours before Taylor opened the door. “You should have—”

“Sorry.” Roo burst past him and rushed inside. She dashed through the entrance hall and careened in a lopsided gait down the corridor toward the office where she’d been interviewed. Commonsense told her the bathroom would be down here somewhere. She flung open a door—
Oh Christ, a jungle?
—and slammed it again. The next revealed the kitchen and a bemused Niall stared at her. Roo was too desperate to drool.

“Bathroom?”she gasped.

“Next on the right.”

Roo grunted her thanks, sighed when she found the Holy Grail, and locked herself in.

By the time she’d washed her hands and checked her face in the mirror to make sure she’d not come out in measles overnight, she’d calmed down, but what she saw in the mirror over her shoulder made her excited again.
A shower.
She’d have to be very quick, but since the shower in her bedsit produced hot water for only ninety-three seconds, Roo was used to washing at speed.

She whipped off her clothes and stood under twenty three seconds of arctic torture before the warmth kicked it. There was even shampoo and conditioner. Roo couldn’t resist. She should have. The top came off the shampoo when she upended it over her head and the entire bottle of viscous green liquid dripped down her face.
Shit.

The towel was minute but Roo managed and after briskly rubbing her hair, she finger combed it and emerged from the bathroom to find Niall in the hallway, leaning against the kitchen door.
He’s lovely.
Even though he wasn’t smiling, Roo fancied him. She didn’t usually go for blonds, but she liked his disheveled hair and the guarded look on his face as though he was determined to hide his feelings. It made him feel genuine, unlike Taylor with his perfect smile.