“Work here?”
“Yeah. This is some kind of hospital or clinic, right? Where am I exactly? Is this Grady?”
Nicky asked, naming a huge emergency trauma center in Atlanta. Before the boy could do much more than gape at him, a tall, gorgeous man appeared in the doorway behind him. Marco! The name screamed into Nicky’s brain even as he experienced an almost overpowering need to run to him.
“Hi, sweetheart. I thought I could get back before you woke up. I moved you to my room last night while you slept. You weren’t frightened without me, were you?”
So it hadn’t been a dream after all. Even as his heart leaped at the sight of him, a part of him, the still very human, still very straight part of him, shrank away from him in fear. “But, but I thought you were just a dream. I…I don’t understand. God, I think I must be going crazy. ”
Marco came into the room and took his hand. Nicky wanted to pull away, but was absolutely incapable of moving though Marco’s touch brought a measure of calm back.
“I was hoping you’d remember more once you were out of heat, but sometimes this happens. It can’t be helped, but you don’t have to be frightened, honey. I only broke away for a few minutes, because I have to make preparations for tonight, and you have to be…um…prepared for the ceremony. I promise I’ll explain everything properly later this afternoon, when I have time. For now, you just have to trust me. ”
Marco took him by the arm, walked him to the side of the bed, sat him down, and sank down beside him. This close to him, Nicky couldn’t think straight. The almost irresistible attraction from the night before was still working. What the hell was that smell? Nicky leaned into him and sniffed at his throat.
Marco ruffled his hair. “Do you trust me, baby?”
Nicky nodded his head wordlessly. Putting his nose right up in the hollow of Marco’s throat, he kissed him softly, breathing in the wonderful, calming caramel smell.
“Good boy,” Marco said, smiling. He bent close and brushed his lips over Nicky’s cheek and what felt like an electric shock went straight to Nicky’s cock. “Okay, do whatever Rory tells you, and you’ll be fine. ”
He rose from the bed and turned to the young man by the door. “Take very good care of him for me, Rory. He’s still pretty confused. They’re waiting for him downstairs. Try to keep him calm, though—he’s very…um…excitable. ”
“You know I can hear you, right?” Nicky spoke up from the bed.
Marco turned around and smiled at him indulgently. “God, he’s adorable, isn’t he?” he said over his shoulder to the young man. The boy whose name, presumably, was Rory, looked down at him dubiously.
“We’ll talk later, beautiful, and I’ll try to explain everything. I’m sorry I can’t stay with you, but things are difficult right now. ”
With a smile he walked out the door, leaving Nicky alone with Rory, who stepped warily toward the bed holding a strap of some kind in his hand.
Nicky regarded him with suspicion. He was supposed to ‘take care of him’ for somebody who was waiting downstairs. “Stay back,” Nicky said as Rory approached with the strap. “What are you going to do with that? I won’t let you beat me with it. ”
Rory looked shocked. “Beat you? Why would I do such a thing? We don’t believe in beating our pets, not ever. ” His tone was indignant. “I was only going to attach it to your collar. ”
“My collar?” Nicky’s hands flew to his neck and felt the thin, leather strap Marco put on him the night before. “Is that what this thing is? And that’s a leash? Are you fuckin’ crazy?”
“It won’t hurt. ” Rory’s expression was very sincere. “Pets always walk on leashes. You’re can’t be allowed to run free. You could get hurt. ”
“Yeah, well, I’ve been walking on my own for some time now, thanks, and doing just fine. ”
“Except for the other night. ”
“What?”
“I said, except for the other night when you got hurt by those two guys with the box cutter. You didn’t do too well on your own then. ”
“Well, that was totally different. They were trying to take my money, and…hell, it was different. ”
Rory walked up to the bed and stared down at him. “I have to take you downstairs, and Marco will be angry at both of us if you’re hurt in any way. I’m taking no chances, and neither are you. So please don’t fight me on this, Nicky. Let me put on your leash. ”
Stubbornly, Nicky shook his head. “Not going to happen. I’ll walk with you downstairs if that’s what Marco wants me to do, but you can take your damn leash and stick it up your…”
“Nicky!” Marco’s strong, disappointed voice came from the doorway. Nicky turned to see his eyes flashing. “I forgot my notebook, and I come back to find my pet being unforgivably rude. You will apologize immediately to Rory and allow him to attach the leash. This is not the way I want my pet to behave. ”
Nicky was surprised and hurt by Marco’s sharp tone. Up to this point, Marco had only used a loving, tender voice with him, and the idea of Marco being displeased made him squirm with embarrassment and unhappiness. Why was that? Why couldn’t he tell them both to go to hell? He dropped his head and stared down at the floor.
“Nicky!”