“You have a cell?”
“Yes.”
“Call 9-1-1 and report a fight in this alley. We’ll let the police take care of them while I take you for a glass of brandy. I’m sure you could use one right about now. You’re still a little shaky.”
“Thank you. Uh…I’ll need my hand back to make the call.”
“Of course.” Carlos released Chris’ hand with seeming reluctance. “My apologies.”
“No, don’t apologise.” Chris smiled shyly. “It felt very nice.”
Later, as they walked together along Santa Monica Boulevard, Carlos asked, “Why do you work in that less than wholesome place?”
Chris chuckled. “You mean that dump? I need the money. In case you haven’t noticed, LA is expensive. I’m studying for my MBA and I need to cover the rent and my car payment—so a little moonlighting on the side helps out. Lonnie, the owner, pays pretty well.”
“I understand.” He put his hand on Chris’ arm as they approached a neon-lit sign that flashed the words,
Blue Moon
. “May I buy you a drink here?”
“That’d be great,” Chris said, smiling up at the taller man. “But I should be buying after what you did for me back there.
”
BOUND IN BLOOD
J. P. Bowie
16
They made their way into the noisy but warm and friendly atmosphere of the
Blue
Moon
, and Chris waved to a couple of guys whose faces he recognised. One looked like he was about to come over to say hi, but then as he stared at Carlos, he seemed to change his mind and hung back, watching Chris and Carlos as they approached the bar.
“Is that a friend of yours?” Carlos asked.
“Not really—just a guy I kibitz with now and then when we run into one another.”
“Would you like a brandy, or do you prefer something else?”
“Brandy’s fine, thanks.” Chris gazed with admiration at the man by his side as he ordered their drinks.
What a great looking guy
, he thought,
and he seems so nice
. He shuddered as he thought back to that moment in the alley when he’d been confronted by those redneck jerks. He’d most likely be a pile of broken and bloody flesh lying in the dark if Carlos hadn’t intervened. As the tall man turned to hand Chris his drink, Chris noticed for the first time that the eyes that gazed at him with such warmth were a dark brown, flecked with gold, and framed by long thick lashes. When Carlos smiled, he had a dimple on each cheek, and he was younger than Chris had first thought, his face smooth and unlined. Chris found he couldn’t resist reaching up to kiss his defender on the lips.
“Thank you,” Chris murmured. “Thanks for saving my life tonight.”
Carlos smiled into the Chris’ eyes. “It is not your destiny to die at the hands of cowardly thugs,” he said huskily. “Fate has set aside a life of love and adventure for you.”
Chris resisted the temptation to laugh. What Carlos had just said sounded like it belonged in a fortune cookie—except Carlos seemed dead serious.
“You can see into the future?”
“No.” Carlos handed Chris his drink. “
Salud
.” He clinked Chris’ glass with his. “But sometimes I can tell if a person’s life is to be lively or humdrum.”
“Well, I certainly like the idea of love and adventure.” Chris smiled at Carlos. “I’ve never been in love, and the most adventurous thing I’ve ever done was get on the Ride of Death at Magic Mountain.”
Carlos chuckled. “I understand that particular ride is on the scary side.”
“Scared the crap outta me,” Chris said then took a long swig of his drink. “So, what on earth were you doing in a dump like the Xtasy Club? I wouldn’t think a dive like that is your style at all.”
BOUND IN BLOOD
J. P. Bowie
17
“It’s not, but I saw you go in and followed you.”
“Oh, really?” Chris felt himself blush at the obvious inference.
“Yes. I didn’t realise you actually worked there until I saw you enter the office. I had imagined you were merely going in for a drink, and I thought I might engage you in conversation, buy you a drink—that kind of thing.”
Chris grinned up at him. “Engage me in conversation? You’re not from around here, are you?”
“No, I am Spanish—from Madrid.”
“You’re on vacation?”
“Yes. I’m staying with friends in the hills of Hollywood.”
Chris chuckled. “It’s Hollywood Hills, but I like it better the way you say it.”
“May I ask what Chris is short for?” Carlos asked. “Christian or Christopher?”
“Christopher.” Chris smiled. “But only my mother calls me that.”
“It is a beautiful name—Christopher.” Carlos pronounced it by accenting the first syllable.
“Again, I like the way
you
say it,” Chris said, his smile widening. “It must be that sexy accent.”
“Then you won’t mind if I call you Christopher?”
“Not at all.”
“And what does your mother think of you working in that less-than-stellar establishment?” Carlos asked with a teasing tone.
Chris grimaced. “She’d have a fit if she knew—so I haven’t told her or my dad. They’d offer to help out with the rent, and I really want to be independent. They live in Santa Barbara, so they don’t need to know everything I do. Besides,” he added almost defensively,
“I’m not a kid. I’ve been living on my own for two years. I can take care of myself.” He sighed ruefully. “At least, I thought I could until tonight.”
Carlos smiled and gently squeezed Chris’ shoulder. “Well, you couldn’t be expected to take on three mindless bullies at once. I’m sure that under normal circumstances you could take care of yourself very well.”
BOUND IN BLOOD
J. P. Bowie
18
“Tell my folks that—they hate the fact I live in LA. They’re convinced this city’s full of degenerates.” Chris laughed lightly. “I mean, there are some of those around, but there’re some really cool people here, too.”
Carlos eyed two empty stools at a nearby table.
“Would you care to sit for a while?”
Carlos was anxious to find out more about this charmingly unaffected young man.
Innately, he knew that it was not just by accident that he had seen him earlier entering the Xtasy Club. Fate, destiny, rather than mere chance had guided his footsteps towards a place he would not normally have dreamed of entering. He could have assumed that perhaps fate had simply wanted him to be there to save the young man from a vicious beating, but no, there was more to it than that. He could already feel the beginning of a bond between them, stronger even than that of protector, although Carlos knew that he would go to any lengths to protect Christopher.
BOUND IN BLOOD
J. P. Bowie
19
As they settled themselves at the table, Chris looked up at Carlos with a shy smile, drinking in the man’s strong features, getting ready to pinch himself.
“What?” Carlos asked gently.
“I’m beginning to feel as though this is some kind of dream,” Chris said, his eyes meeting Carlos’ steady gaze. “I mean, a few minutes ago you were saving me from being beaten up by a bunch of jerks. I really felt at that moment I’d had it then there you were like some avenging angel beating the crap out of them—and now here I am, having a quiet drink with the handsome stranger who came along in the nick o’ time. Not many people could claim to have had this happen to them. I bet most people who get mugged in the street get stepped on or totally ignored.”
Carlos chuckled. “Let’s just say I was in the right place at the right time.”
“Yeah, but you took on all three at once. Where did you learn to fight like that?”
“Uh, while I was at the university in Madrid, I took some self-defence classes. But I only took care of two of them. You managed the third coward all by yourself.”
“Well, only because you were there.” He touched Carlos’ hand gently. “Thanks again.”
Carlos took Chris’ hand in his and raised it to his lips. He lingered over the warm skin, inhaling the fresh scent. His eyes met Chris’, and for a moment, both men remained very still while the atmosphere between them crackled with intensity.
“You are a very beautiful young man,” Carlos murmured, still holding Chris’ hand near his lips.
“Th-thanks,” Chris stuttered. “And you are…you are
more
than that.” He blushed. “I just don’t have the words to describe you. I’ve never met anyone quite like you in my life. I still think this is some kind of dream.”
Carlos’ smile deepened the dimples on his cheeks. “A pleasant one, I hope.”
“Pleasant is hardly the word—fantastic is more like it.”
“This is
fantastic
for me also.”
BOUND IN BLOOD
J. P. Bowie
20
“Would you like to get out of here?” Chris faltered for a moment, praying that Carlos wouldn’t think him too pushy. “I…uh, my place is quite near, just a ten minute walk from here.”
Carlos kissed Chris’ hand and winked at him. “But only five, if we run.”
“Like the wind,” Chris whispered. “Let’s go.”
They didn’t exactly run, but there was definitely some brisk walking involved, and Chris was a bit breathless by the time they’d hurried up the steps to his apartment. He was glad he’d tidied the place up before he’d left for work. He didn’t want Carlos to think he was a slob.
“Come on in,” he said, unlocking the apartment door. “It’s not much, but I call it home.”
“Thank you for inviting me into your home,” Carlos said, looking around at the tasteful furnishings. “It’s charming.”
“Let me take your coat. Aren’t you a little warm with that on?”
“Not really.” Carlos slipped his coat from his shoulders. “I’m a little cold-blooded at the best of times. California is sunny, but I find the nights quite cool.”
“Madrid is warmer?” Chris asked, laying the coat over an armchair.
“At night, yes,” Carlos replied.
His eyes met Chris’ and held them locked to his. Chris shivered with anticipation as he moved into Carlos’ arms, tilting his head back to meet the kiss he longed for. Their lips met and meshed, soft moist flesh bonding, binding them together in a moment of complete rapture. The tip of Chris’ tongue moved across Carlos’ lower lip seeking entrance, and as the other man’s mouth opened to give him access, he felt as if he were melting into Carlos’ very being. So intensely erotic was the sensation that all he wanted to see, feel and smell was the man who now held him, caressed him and stole his breath in that long searing kiss.
Carlos’ tongue was everywhere inside Chris’ mouth, probing, teasing, bringing him a tumult of sensation that caused him to moan and move even deeper into the bigger man’s embrace. Hands that tugged at his shirt and peeled it from his body stroked and caressed his BOUND IN BLOOD
J. P. Bowie
21
torso, lips moved over his jaw, his throat, leaving a searing sensuous trail of fire on his skin.
Chris, even in his limited experience, knew instinctively that what was happening between Carlos and himself was extraordinary. He had never been made love to like this in his entire life. He had never anticipated that anyone could bring him the kind of passion or desire that this man created within him. It was almost too much, almost unbearable. He wanted to shout with joy, but all that escaped his lips was a whimper, a plea to be taken, to be consumed, to be
owned
by Carlos.
He felt himself being lifted into Carlos’ arms without any seeming effort. He wrapped his legs around Carlos’ narrow waist while Carlos buried his face in Chris’ chest, licking and nibbling at his nipples. Chris suddenly realised they were both naked—when had that happened?
But who cares
? Chris thought, revelling in the pleasure of Carlos’ bare flesh pressed to his. He wound his arms about Carlos’ neck and found his mouth again in another long and rapturous kiss. Then they were in his bedroom, and Chris wasn’t quite sure how that had happened either, but again his senses were blurred by the sensations of the kiss he never wanted to end.
Carlos lowered him onto the bed and lay over him. Chris felt the heat and pulse of the man’s erection as it slid over his own eagerly throbbing cock. The pre-cum that spilled from both their cocks mingled on Chris’ stomach, and Carlos lowered his head to lick at it before taking Chris’ hard shaft into his mouth, bearing down on it all the way to the base. Chris gasped as yet another new sensation swept over him, the sure knowledge that Carlos too was completely caught up in the rapture they were sharing. Sensation and emotion mixed with his feelings of sheer physical elation at being made love to by this incredible man.
Chris didn’t know how he could be so sure of what Carlos was feeling—he just knew. It was as though Carlos had somehow touched his mind, to let him know that this was much more than merely physical—that their minds as well as their bodies were as one. Chris felt a slow tingling in his spine as that thought enveloped him. Never had he experienced a feeling as
intimate
as this. With a moan of total surrender, he gave himself up to the exquisite pleasure Carlos brought him as his lips and tongue worked their own brand of magic on Chris’ hard, pulsing flesh. He wanted to do the same for Carlos, if he could. He found himself wishing he was more experienced, that he had more expertise in bringing pleasure to BOUND IN BLOOD
J. P. Bowie
22
another man. The total number of times he’d actually gone this far with any one man he could count on his left hand—and truth to tell, he’d never felt this undeniable need before.
Carlos gently released Chris’ cock from his mouth and leant over him, kissing his lips tenderly. His eyes met Chris’, and he smiled as he murmured, “You are bringing me more pleasure than you can ever know. Just lie there and let me love you.”
Chris gazed up into the dark, golden brown eyes locked on his. He reached up to stroke Carlos’ smooth jaw then let his hand glide over a wide shoulder, down across Carlos’ hard, sculpted chest. “I want you to feel as good as I do,” he whispered. “I’ve never met anyone like you—never experienced anything like this.”