Page 57 of Broken Halos
“You need—” Warm, firm lips cut off my words and robbed me of the ability to argue.
“All Ineedis you. The rest is just extra.”
Ryder cleared his throat to regain our attention.
“Are you still here?” Ollie asked without taking his eyes off mine. I grinned at his display of irritation.
“Archie, can I talk to you in private for a minute?” Ryder asked testily.
“No,” I told him. I finally tore my gaze away from Ollie’s warm eyes to look into Ryder’s artic ones. “Anything you want to say to me can and should be said in front of Ollie.”
“Fine,” Ryder said haughtily. “I have something to say to him too.” He tilted his head to the left then the right, stretching out his neck then straightened his already perfectly aligned bow tie. These were signs he was nervous which was pretty rare. “I owe you both an apology for my behavior.” I would’ve been less stunned if he told me Elvis Presley was his lab partner. “I was wrong to try to create trouble in your relationship. I’ve been observing the two of you since you arrived, and it’s obvious to see how much you love one another. I’m a big enough man to admit my mistakes and wish both of you the very best.”
I narrowed my eyes and scrutinized him closely. “Is this a trick?”
Ryder chuckled and put his hands up in front of him like he was surrendering, his pale eyes twinkling with mirth. “No trick, Archie. I just need to put my energies into finding a man who will look at me the way you two look at each other.”
“Apology accepted.” Ollie extended his hand toward Ryder. “I hope you find him too,” Ollie added when Ryder shook his hand.
“Take care of yourself, Archie,” Ryder said, offering me a reserved smile before he left us alone once more.
“That was an interesting turn of events,” I told Ollie. “Not at all what I expected.”
“Me either,” Ollie said, sounding distracted. I turned to follow his line of vision and saw he was looking at a tall, dark-haired man who’d opted to wear a black, V-neck sweater and charcoal gray pants instead of a formal suit like the rest of us. There was an aura about the man which spoke of power and privilege, and it was doubtful anyone would approach him and ask he leave. The man wasn’t looking in our direction, so I was unable to tell the color of his eyes, but I guessed they would be dark to match his inky hair and swarthy skin.
“Do you know that man?” I asked Ollie.
“I don’t, but it would seem Ryder has picked up the intense focus of a man after all.”
I turned and saw the mystery man was indeed watching Ryder circulate around the room greeting attendees. “So it seems. Should we tip him off?”
“Heck no,” Ollie said. “There’s a lot of fun to be found in the chase.”
I pulled him against me and pressed my lips to his ear. “What do you say we finish checking out the other pieces so we can get out of here? The way you look in your tux makes me want to do very naughty things to you, and I don’t need an audience.”
“And if I assured you I knew of a secluded place we could go? I’m not sure I can wait much longer to find out what you’re wearing beneath your tux.”
My eyes widened in surprise, but oh, how I loved this side of Ollie. I offered my hand to him and said, “Show me the way, Golden Boy.”
IDIDN’T JUST TAKEARCHIEoff to a dark corner and ravish him, no matter how tempting it was. I wanted to seduce more than just his body. I wanted to engage all his senses until all he could hear over the pounding of his heart was the sound of my voice, the only thing he tasted was me, the only thing he felt was my hands touching and teasing him, and the only smell to tickle his nose was our combined arousal when we finally came together.
I’d been coming to the museum since I was a little kid and knew the permanent collections like the back of my hand. In the African Art section, I slid my hand beneath his jacket to feel the swell of his ass while looking at the various pieces of art collected by Carl Steckelmann during the 1880s and 1890s. While touring the Contemporary Art, I licked the shell of his ear and purred when a shiver worked its way through his body. Archie loved the robot made entirely of old televisions and radios, he loved the way I tugged his earlobe between my teeth more.
“You’re really bad,” he whispered choppily. “Aren’t you afraid we’ll get picked up on camera?”
“Have you noticed I’ve angled my body to hide my roaming hands, and I really don’t care if the security guard is up there cowering in the corner because one gay man licked the ear of another.” I ran my hand down the length of his arm until I reached his hand then linked our fingers. “Would you like to see more of my favorite pieces?”
“This does end well for me, right? Is this payback for me teasing you during bingo?”
I tilted my head to the side as I was considering it. “I would be justified to get even, don’t you think?”
“Maybe a little.”
“It’s not what I’m doing, baby. I’m just a man who’s enjoying spending time in one of his favorite places with his absolute favorite man. If I could strip you bare and ride you in the middle of the American drawings, I would do it.”
“Oh God,” he whispered. “I’d love it too. How much money do you think we’d need to donate to have the museum to ourselves for a night?”
“More than either of us will ever have,” I replied dryly. “We’ll settle for the next best thing.”