Part 7 (1/2)
”It's my turn,” Zach said with a slight challenge as he pulled out the cash.
”At least let me leave the tip,” Bull said. He knew Zach was trying to make ends meet and didn't have a lot of extra money. Zach agreed, and Bull pulled out some cash and placed it with Zach's. He still appeared uncomfortable. ”What is it?”
”Do you see me as the girl?” Zach asked.
Bull was taken aback for a moment. ”No. I don't date girls. Never have. Well, not since high school, and then they were only friends. There's nothing wrong with treating the person you're dating with care and respect.”
Zach nodded slowly. ”Do you always... go out with guys like me?”
”Are you asking me if you're my type?” Bull questioned.
”I guess so,” Zach said.
Bull sighed. This was a difficult question for him, because he'd never really given it much thought. ”Usually the guys I take home look more like me. They're big and tend to be tough looking. I think mostly because they're the ones who have the courage to actually approach me. Most guys don't.” Bull gazed into Zach's eyes, registering his confusion. ”You never seemed afraid of me.” Bull paused, afraid he wasn't making sense. ”To answer your question, yes, you're my type, if only because you had the courage to look past my intimidating exterior,” Bull said in what he hoped was a playful way.
Zach must have understood because he giggled slightly. ”You hide behind that tough facade, don't you?” Bull didn't answer. That question hit a little too close to home. ”I guess we all hide certain parts of ourselves in different ways.”
”Yeah, I guess we do,” Bull agreed. The server took the folder with the check and money, and they got up from the table. ”Would you like to come back to my house? My mother is out and won't be back until sometime this evening.” d.a.m.n, that sounded way too high school for someone in his thirties. ”What I mean is, we'll have some privacy.” Bull was a huge fan of privacy right now.
”That would be nice,” Zach agreed, and they left the restaurant. Unfortunately, the initially sunny morning had darkened, with thick clouds building in the west.
”I'd hoped we could sit outside, but I don't think that will happen,” Bull said.
As they approached the car, the hair on the back of Bull's neck stood straight up.
”Is something wrong?” Zach asked, picking up on his reaction.
”I feel like we're being watched,” Bull said. He walked around to his side of the car and unlocked the door, using the s.h.i.+ft in angle to peer around them. Movement at the far side of the parking lot caught his attention. He opened the door and waited for Zach to get inside.
”What's going on?”
”I'm not sure,” Bull said as he started the engine and backed out of the parking s.p.a.ce. He paid close attention to the other cars he could see. ”Did you notice someone watching us while we were in the restaurant? Someone who might have been trying to blend in, but was doing something out of the ordinary?”
”Like a guy ordering food, but not eating it?” Zach asked.
”Exactly,” Bull said, checking his mirror once again but knowing he wouldn't see anything. ”What did he look like?”
”Not as tall as you, with really dark hair, cut short. He wasn't really big, but strong-looking.” Zach looked around. ”Oh, there was a tattoo of something on his arm, but....”
”It's okay,” Bull said. He had a pretty good idea who it was. What he really needed to know was what in h.e.l.l he wanted. He slowed down and drove more normally. There would be no tail because the man had no need for one. ”You did a great job. Why'd he catch your attention?”
”He looked like someone who would make a great character for my comic,” Zach said.
”I'll be sure to tell him that when we see him,” Bull said. ”His name's Spook-at least that's the name I know him by.” He really should have spotted Spook earlier. He hadn't realized he was getting soft.
”If he's a friend, why didn't he stop by the table?” Zach asked.
”He isn't exactly a friend, more of an a.s.sociate from my former life,” Bull answered. ”I doubt we're in any danger, because if he'd wanted to hurt us, we'd already know it.” He reached over and patted Zach's leg. ”I know him only by reputation, and he won't show himself again until he's ready.”
”But what does he want?” Zach asked.
”I don't know,” Bull fibbed. He didn't know the details, but he had a pretty good idea what Spook wanted and what his answer would be. But he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. He was sure Spook meant them no harm, and that was all that mattered for now. ”But we're both fine.” Bull squeezed Zach's leg again, enjoying the way his leg bounced with pent-up excitement. ”Are you up for a gla.s.s of wine? If not, I have some beer,” Bull offered as he made the turn down his street and parked just outside his garage. He hadn't seen anyone or anything unusual, but Spook was aptly named and would remain nearly invisible until he was ready to talk.
The first drops of rain hit the winds.h.i.+eld as soon as Bull opened his car door-big, fat drops that made both him and Zach hurry toward the door to escape them. Once Bull had the back door open and they'd stepped inside, the sky opened up and sheets of water fell from the sky. Bull led them into the living room, and Zach sat on the sofa. Thunder rumbled around the house as Bull got them something to drink. He'd just returned and set down the gla.s.ses on the coffee table when a crack split the air. Zach threw his arms around Bull's neck and tried to climb him as the house shook and the lights went out.
”I take it you don't like storms,” Bull said calmly as he sat down on the sofa. Not that he minded in the least.
”Hate them. Always have,” Zach whispered, clutching Bull tighter as another clap of thunder rent the air. Zach shook in Bull's arms. Bull slowly rubbed Zach's back, and Zach closed his eyes, trying to calm as the storm raged on outside. As soon as the thunder dissipated, replaced by rain pelting the roof, Zach loosened his grip around Bull's neck. He tried to move away, but Bull held him in place.
”I like you like this,” Bull whispered and then leaned in. The kiss began gently but quickly deepened and intensified. Zach whimpered softly, and Bull settled him on the sofa, cupping his cheeks in his hands and taking charge of the kiss. What surprised him was the way Zach kissed back, battling him for control. He liked it. Few of the guys he'd been with had been fighters. With his size, the guys who approached him were usually submissives who wanted Bull to take charge. It seemed Zach wasn't like those other men. He should have known, because Zach was so different from anyone he'd been with before.
Deciding to press his luck, Bull tugged Zach's s.h.i.+rt out of his pants and slipped his hands underneath, stroking Zach's silky smooth skin. d.a.m.n, he felt amazing-warm and s.e.xy. Zach faltered when Bull stroked up his back. Bull s.h.i.+fted on the sofa, maneuvering Zach until he was on his back. Then he pushed Zach's s.h.i.+rt up his trembling belly before licking and kissing his skin. Zach gasped loudly and vibrated as Bull got his first taste. Bull was instantly addicted, and he pushed Zach's s.h.i.+rt up higher, then licked a small pink nipple. Zach groaned and shook beneath him.
”Bull,” Zach said between panting breaths.
”Just tasting,” Bull said and then captured Zach's pink lips in a near-bruising kiss that left them both breathless. He wanted to taste a h.e.l.l of a lot more, but he wasn't sure if Zach was ready. Once they broke their kiss, Bull tugged off Zach's s.h.i.+rt and dropped it to the floor. Zach squirmed slightly, like he was trying to hide. ”What? You're very handsome,” Bull told him with a smile, but he saw a touch of fear in Zach's eyes. He backed away, and Zach stood to retrieve his s.h.i.+rt. ”What happened?” Bull asked when he saw the marks on Zach's lower back.
Zach whirled around and held his s.h.i.+rt in front of him. ”Parts of my family felt very strongly that sparing the rod spoiled the child.”
”Your uncle?” Bull asked between clenched teeth. Zach nodded, and Bull saw red. ”If he comes around here again, he'll find out how it feels to have someone whip him. I know people who are very good at it.” He realized he was shaking and took a deep breath to try to calm himself. Then he reached out and tugged Zach to him. ”Don't be ashamed. You didn't do anything wrong. Your uncle did.” Bull kissed him again, and Zach hugged him, dropping his s.h.i.+rt.
”He did that when he found out I was gay,” Zach whispered.
Bull held him tighter. He knew it must have hurt like h.e.l.l, in more ways than one, to have been the subject of that kind of blind hatred. ”What about your parents? Didn't they stop him?” Bull asked, afraid of the answer.
”They didn't know. While he was. .h.i.tting me, he made it very clear that I was to get the h.e.l.l out, not be seen, and if I told my parents what happened, he'd make sure they felt some pain as well.” Zach was near tears. ”I can see now that he's deranged and drunk with power, but at the time I was so naive.” Zach wiped his eyes. ”I got accepted to college, and as soon as I had a place to go, I left.”
Bull released him and tugged off his own s.h.i.+rt before pulling Zach close once again-this time skin to skin. Zach wriggled in his embrace, rubbing against him like a cat. ”You have nothing to be ashamed of as far as I'm concerned. Wear those scars like a badge of honor; you earned them. You took the worst of what the old b.a.s.t.a.r.d had to offer and came out whole on the other side.”
”No, I didn't,” Zach said. ”I came out scared of my own shadow, living in a strange place with people I didn't know. I went to cla.s.s, did my homework, and hid myself away as best I could.”
”But you're not hiding now,” Bull said.
”No, I'm not,” Zach told him. ”And I don't want to talk about my uncle anymore.” He smiled. ”I think we can think of more pleasant things to talk about. Either that or you got me half naked for nothing.” Zach chuckled, and Bull sat stunned. How on earth could Zach be so pleasant after telling him what had happened?
”Don't you ever get angry?” Bull asked. ”You tell me about this stuff that happened to you and then act like it doesn't matter. I've had plenty of s.h.i.+t happen to me, and sometimes it's all I can think about.” He could hardly believe he was telling Zach this. He never talked about feelings and s.h.i.+t with anyone. It was a sign of weakness. Doubt, fear, worry-you pushed them all down deep and forgot about them to get the job done. That was what he'd been taught in the service, and Bull had always been a good study when it came to that portion of his life.
”I guess I figured I could either laugh or cry,” Zach explained. ”No one wanted to be around me when I was angry and sad all the time, so I did my best to let it go. It didn't always work, but I've accepted what happened. My uncle can't hurt me anymore, and my parents are gone, so he can't hurt them either.” Zach shrugged. ”In a way, I'm free, so why would I want to be miserable?”
Bull shook his head and kissed Zach. ”I think you might be the bravest person I've ever met.”
”Yeah, right,” Zach said playfully.
”I mean it. The men I was in the service with, the ones who could stare down death day after day, would rather die than talk about what they're feeling at any given moment. h.e.l.l, if someone hurt me like that, I'd wait for my revenge and then tear them limb from limb and make sure no one ever found the body.”
Zach stared at him. ”Sometimes you scare me.”
”I don't mean to. All I'm saying is I'd take a much more physical approach to the problem, and then once it was over, I'd bury it away and never talk about it again.”
”I'm starting to see a recurring theme here,” Zach told him. ”But, you know, it's okay to talk about stuff. I told you what happened, and you listened. You didn't judge me or think I was a bad person or that I somehow deserved what I got. You understood, or tried to. So why wouldn't you expect the same treatment from others?”