Calisto

I awoke to an empty bed, Asher predictably not letting a little thing like sex mess up his routine. Was that annoying? I decided it wasn’t as I rolled onto my back. There was something reassuring about a man who carried on exactly the way he always had. I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to wake to Asher mooning over me. Now, that would have been awkward.

“So sex happened,” I said quietly, just to hear the words. Sitting up against the headboard, I let the events of the previous evening run through my head at speed while I asked myself some pertinent questions. Do you regret it? No, I didn’t. We were two adult males who’d enjoyed ourselves. What was there to regret?

What if your family heard? Well, if they had, they had. There was nothing to be done about it now. What if one of them asks you a direct question? Will you deny it? The answer to that probably depended on who it was. It would look rather odd after denying there was anything going on between me and Asher, though. But… at the end of the day, what happened between us behind closed doors was no one’s business but ours.

What’s going to happen now with Asher? I pondered the biggest and most important question while I pulled on sweatpants and a T-shirt. I didn’t bother with shoes, the underfloor heating in Asher’s house rendering them unnecessary unless I wanted to wear them. I couldn’t say how I was going to react to Asher in the cold light of day, but there was an eagerness in my chest to find out.

With that in mind, I went in search of him. There was no one else up, the house jarringly silent when my family was usually anything but quiet. I found Asher in the first place I looked, déjà vu hitting as I watched him do Tai Chi just as I had on that first day. At least this time, I knew he’d see me as I leaned against the doorjamb with my arms crossed and admired the lithe body being put through its paces.

Unlike that first day, Asher stopped as soon as he caught sight of me watching and turned to face me, his gaze searching and his expression cautious. “Are you okay?”

Just as I had the previous night, I decided not to overthink things. It would be easy to drown under the weight of a million what-ifs. Or I could shrug them off and see what happened. “I am,” I said, the slight relaxation of Asher’s shoulders when I said it pleasing me.

If he liked that, how would he like this? Stepping forward, I hooked an arm around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. It was brief. Far briefer than any of the kisses we’d shared previously, but I felt satisfied it had gotten the message across: that I wasn’t going to pretend nothing had happened, and that we had something. I just didn’t know what that something was yet. I backed off, but kept my hand on Asher’s chest, his skin warm and satiny. “Any tanks or rocket launchers turned up yet?”

Asher’s lips curled into a smile, and he covered my hand with his, keeping it pressed to his chest when I might have decided it had lingered enough and removed it. “Not yet. Although”—his smile grew wider—“I will confess to being remiss in checking the security feed in the last hour, so O’Reilly could be on the doorstep.”

“Well, if she is, she’s learned some patience.”

“Doubtful, then,” Asher said smoothly. He let go of my hand and I reluctantly let it drop back to my side. Asher cleared his throat. “About last night—”

“Oh no,” I said. “Not a sentence anyone ever wants to hear.” I was only half joking, my heart rate immediately picking up. Was Asher going to say it had been a mistake?

Asher’s gaze remained fixed on my face, never faltering. “I was simply going to say it was a lot for you.”

“The sex?”

“Not just the sex. The entire thing, including the conversation we had prior to that.”

“Right…”

“It’s understandable if you feel a little out of sorts today.”

“I’m fine.”

A slight narrowing of Asher’s eyes said, “are you?” without him having to put it into words.

“I am,” I said more definitively. “A problem shared is a problem halved, and all that.” I let out a sigh. “And I guess by that reasoning, I’ll feel even better once you’ve told Cade.”

Asher slipped his thumbs into the waistband of his sweatpants, the weight dragging them dangerously low and filling me with the urge to drop to my knees and pull them down further until his cock popped out. “I don’t have to tell him today, if you don’t want me to?”

I considered the offer for a few seconds before shaking my head. “You might as well get it over with.”

“If you’re sure?”

“I am. Anyway…” I waved a deliberately casual hand. “I’ll let you get on with your…”

“Tai Chi,” Asher provided.

It hadn’t been the phrase I was going to use. Mine would have been something far more provocative to match the semi-clothed state he did it in. “Yeah, that. I just didn’t want you to think I might avoid you today.”

“And I appreciate that. More than I can ever put into words.”

Asher was always so damn sincere. Couldn’t he be a bit more…? I didn’t even know what I wanted him to be. Just less bone-achingly perfect in every single way. All the things that John seemed to see as flaws in Asher—his steadfastness, his ability to keep his emotions tightly under control, and his forthright honesty, I saw as big pluses. And on top of that and his sizzling good looks, he just had to be good in bed as well. I backed off a few steps, jerking my head toward the kitchen. “Breakfast,” I said. “Mine, I mean. Me eat. You Tai Chi.” Christ! Now I sounded like a caveman. And I’d been doing so well at remaining cool, calm, and collected after baring my soul to him and then virtually demanding he bed me. At least, I managed not to trip over my own feet as I beat a hasty retreat.

The house was its usual mixture of Dominguez chaos when the doorbell rang mid-afternoon. My mother had taken up residence in the kitchen again. Lola was having a conversation so loudly on the phone we could all hear every word. Felipe and Vicente had produced a pair of remote control cars from somewhere and were making the most of Asher’s absurdly long hallway by racing them up and down its length, and my grandparents were watching something on TV that had them constantly guffawing.

My morning up to press had been low key, and largely spent ignoring people so they wouldn’t take one look at my face and know what I’d gotten up to in the twilight hours. There’d been no hiding it from Baxter, my ‘friend’ gloating so much when I confessed what had happened, that it was all I could do not to tell him to leave again. Somehow, though, probably because I didn’t want to return to the in-between any time soon if I could help it, I held my tongue and put up with his knowing looks and the interrogatory questions I had no intention of answering.

As for Asher, he’d surprised me by only working in the morning and returning home just after lunch. All he’d said about his conversation with Cade was that Cade would want to talk to me once he’d had time to process what he’d been told. I guess finding out one of your employees had been harboring secrets took some time to work through. Once he’d relayed that, Asher had gone to ground in his office and I hadn’t seen him since.

The sound of the doorbell had him leaving his private space to view the security feed. Putting down the book I’d been reading, very few words making it into my brain, anyway, I followed, lounging against the doorjamb so I could watch him.

I’d been trying to come up with an excuse to barge into his office all afternoon, everything from offering him a herbal tea to thinking up some bizarre question he might know the answer to, presenting themselves as possibilities. Did I even need an excuse? Or would he just be pleased to see me? As yet, I hadn’t come up with a definitive answer to that conundrum. So I wasn’t about to turn down the opportunity to intercept him before he disappeared back behind a closed door.

“What do you want?” was Asher’s opening gambit on viewing the feed from the street.

I was too far away to hear what the other person said, but something familiar about the timbre of their voice had me stepping out from the doorway and joining Asher in front of the screen. “Is that John?”

There was no need for Asher to answer, the blond man in his familiar leather jacket requiring no introduction. John crossed his arms over his chest and eyeballed the camera. “I’m not here to see you. You’re supposed to be at work. That’s why I picked this time.”

“Surprise,” Asher said, without a hint of emotion in his voice. “I presume I am allowed to reside in my own house at any hour I wish?”

“I suppose,” John said, sounding extremely unconvincing. “Some warning would have been nice, though.” He cast a quick glance back over his shoulder. “Are you going to let me in? Or are you worried I might discover you’ve got Calisto tied to a bed in there?”

“I’m here,” I said quickly before Asher could respond, and the two of them launched into their usual battle of wits, from which there never seemed to be any victor. Just constant needling.

“Hey, you,” John said with a warm smile. “Up for a visitor? Or doesn’t General Glacier allow it without three days’ notice and a written request?”

“Calisto can see whomever he wishes to see,” Asher said coolly. “Whether that includes you is entirely up to him.”

“Let him in,” I urged. “We shouldn’t leave him standing out on the street.”

“He shouldn’t be out on the street,” Asher pointed out as he pressed the button to open the gate. “He and Bellamy are supposed to be lying low. But then, this is John, so it’s probably extremely na?ve of me to expect him to do as he’s told. It would serve him right if O’Reilly got her hands on him.”

Rather than debating that, I jerked my head toward Asher’s office. “I’ve got this. Go and work, or whatever it is you’re doing.”

“If you were curious, you could have come and asked.”

“I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“ You can always disturb me.”

The rush of emotion was instantaneous, clogging up my throat and making it difficult to breathe, never mind speak. I stood and stared at Asher without saying a word, the constant background noise of my family subsiding to a dull roar.

A knock sounded on the door and I spun round in response to the sound, my addled brain carrying out an extensive program of mental gymnastics before I pieced things together and remembered I’d spoken to John not two minutes ago, and invited him in. I cleared my throat. “I should get that.”

“You should. Before he takes up residence in the garden. If you need anything, call.”

“We’ll be fine.”

“ Anything ,” Asher said, the emphasis he put on the word, igniting a spark in my gut that spread through my entire body.

“Thank you.”

“No thanks needed. And I mean it. You can ask me for anything, and if it’s in my power to grant it, I’ll give it to you.”

The second knock at the front door spoke of less patience.

“Is anyone getting that?” Lola shouted at an unnecessarily loud volume. “I can’t. I’ve just put polish on my toenails. It’ll smudge. Henry, can you get it?”

“I’d get it,” my grandma shouted over the noise of the TV, “but it’d take me too long to get there with my arthritis. Chances are that whoever it is will already have left. And then I’ll have gotten up for no reason. At my age, you don’t want to be doing that. You want to save your energy for more fun things, if you know what I mean.”

My mother popped her head out of the kitchen. “Whoever it is, ask them if they want some freshly baked scones. I’ve just taken them out of the oven.” Spotting Asher, she smiled and tucked a flour-covered strand of hair back behind her ear in such a flirtatious manner that it had me frowning. How long had that been a thing, and why hadn’t I noticed it before? “Don’t worry,” she said to Asher. “I won’t try to make you eat them. There are far too many carbs in them. I’ve got a far healthier surprise in the oven for you.”

Asher colored slightly, my mother able to do what no one else could and ruffle him. Although, he’d been fairly ruffled last night when he came. “That’s very sweet, but it’s really not necessary, Mrs. Dominguez.”

“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Mariana?”

“A few more, apparently,” he said with a sheepish smile.

“Oh, you,” she said teasingly. “If I were a few years younger, and not married, and didn’t have a hundred children, you’d have to watch yourself.”

“I think Asher being gay might be a slight obstacle to that,” I said drily.

The third knock sounded like John had abandoned any attempts at politeness. If he had to go for a fourth, he’d probably use a battering ram. “I’ll get it,” I shouted, just in case anyone was in danger of stopping what they were doing and walking the few steps required.

John was frowning when I opened the door. “Sorry,” I blurted. “It’s a bit mad round here.”

Any cynicism he might have had at that excuse withered away to nothing as he stepped over the threshold and into the wall of noise. “It’s very different from the last time I was here,” he said with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah… Prepare yourself for a trial by fire courtesy of the Dominguez family.”

“How’s Frosty Fred dealing with it?”

I didn’t have time to answer before the man himself appeared in front of me, dangling a key. “ Asher is getting used to it,” he said. “When this is over and I have my house back, I might have to get a dog. One that barks a lot.”

John smirked. “You’re comparing Calisto’s family to a dog. Bit rude.”

“But valid,” I admitted, too preoccupied by the key and why Asher was offering it to me to fully ponder the comparison. If I had, I probably would have said a dog would be less trouble. Dogs didn’t take over the kitchen, watch TV from dusk till dawn, drink too much, shag loudly at inappropriate times, or in the case of my brothers treat the place like it was a university hall of residence where anything goes. “What’s this?” I asked.

“The key to the summerhouse,” Asher said, giving it a shake. “I figured you might want a bit of privacy for your chat.”

“That’s not necessary. We can go…” I came to a grinding halt with that thought. Where could we go that wasn’t already occupied? Nowhere except for Asher’s bedroom, and there was no way in hell I was taking John in there. I doubted he’d take one look at the bed and know what we’d gotten up to the previous night, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I accepted the key. “Thank you. That’s very thoughtful of you.”

“What kind of dog?” John asked as Asher walked away. “No, don’t tell me…” He cocked his head to one side and pretended to think about it. “Something used to the cold, so probably a husky. Why not just get a polar bear?” The slight hesitation in Asher’s stride said the temptation to respond was there, but he’d thought better of it. He stepped into his office and closed the door. “Disappointing,” John muttered. “He’s usually more fun than that.”

“He’s probably not allowed to ignore you at work.”

“Probably,” John admitted.

It took some time to reach the summerhouse, my family acting like they hadn’t seen a human being they weren’t related to by blood or marriage for months, rather than the few days it had been. We could barely take a step without them spilling out from the cracks like spiders from an egg sac. Even my grandparents separated themselves from the sofa.

John took it in his stride, handling their attention with his usual blend of good humor and quips. He stopped to eat one of my mum’s scones, labelling it as one of the ten most delicious things he’d ever eaten, and chatted with my grandparents about the best reality TV programs. He even had a brief discussion about gardening with my dad, despite barely knowing one end of a spade from the other.

The summerhouse wasn’t what I expected once we were inside, its interior more rustic than anything inside the house, the furniture made from recycled wood, if I wasn’t mistaken.

While I collapsed on the large and extremely comfortable black sofa—what had happened to the cream and white of the house?—John availed himself of the tiny kitchenette area, opening up cupboards and peering into the small fridge. “Milk,” he said, holding it aloft like he’d found buried treasure. “That man may be a massive pain in the arse, but you can’t deny he’s prepared for any eventuality. Even with his completely unnecessary house only a few meters away from his actual house, which is already far too big for one man.”

“Perhaps he knew he’d need a retreat one day.” I didn’t point out the obvious, that if anyone knew what would be required in the future, it was Asher. Keen to steer the conversation away from him, I focused on John as he set about making mugs of tea for both of us, just as he did at work sometimes. “How are you and Bellamy doing? I forgot to ask about your arrangements because I was so wrapped up in myself. I wish there’d been room here.”

John snorted. “Jeez! Can you imagine me and Asher under the same roof? Wouldn’t that be fun? Either I’d have killed him, him me, or someone else would have killed us both by now.”

“Maybe not. Maybe you’d have found some common ground.”

John turned and leaned against the counter. “Nah! I don’t think so. We’re too different. Anyway, how are you two getting on after his big revelation? I heard you were sharing a room. That must be awkward.”

“You and Bellamy?” I prompted. “I asked first.”

John inclined his head in recognition of my point, a lock of blond hair falling over his brow. “Seeing as there was no room at the inn, and the boys in blue are already stretched to capacity, we’ve been hotel hopping. Cade thinks we’ll be safe as long as we don’t stay in one place for too long.”

“Sounds fun.” I accepted the mug as John finished making the tea and passed it across.

“Trust me, it isn’t,” he said as he joined me on the sofa with his own mug. “Maybe if it was for longer, but not for one or two nights at most before you have to move to the other side of London. It’s draining. You end up missing all kinds of stupid stuff, like the washing machine and the sandwich toaster. And I can’t tell you the last time I even used the damn sandwich toaster, but as soon as you can’t use something, it’s all you can think about.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“The thing is,” John said, putting his mug down so he could communicate his frustration through hand movements. “It all seems pointless. O’Reilly was back in London for weeks before she ever made a move on you. If she had an axe to grind with me and Bellamy, she had ample opportunity to come for us.” He shrugged. “And she didn’t. So I reckon we’re just annoying bugs to her. Something she wouldn’t think twice about stepping on if we crossed her path, but not interesting enough to expend any energy in searching for us. We might have been responsible for her losing a few men, but I bet she replaced them within days, if not hours.”

“You stopped her from getting her hands on the mask,” I pointed out.

John shrugged again. “That was just plan A. She seems to have them all the way to Z. Anyway, Bel, and I have been talking and we’re going home tomorrow. Back to our own bed. Back to where we can cook food and don’t have to eat takeaways every night. Back to the sandwich toaster, so I can use it once and then remember that it’s not worth the effort.”

“Have you spoken to Cade?”

John rolled his eyes. “Cade’s my boss at work. He doesn’t get to dictate my every waking hour. Besides, it’s our risk to take. If we’re wrong, you have my permission to say ‘I told you so,’ at my funeral.”

“I don’t want to attend your funeral.”

John reached over to squeeze my shoulder. “You won’t have to.”

“What’s she like?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

“O’Reilly?”

When I nodded, John took a large swallow of his tea. “You met her.”

“I think ‘met’ is a rather strong word for it. I cowered behind a statue in the dark. I didn’t even see her.”

“Not what you’d expect.”

“What does that mean?”

“She looks like a damn librarian. And she talks like one, as well.”

Now, I came to think about it, she had been ineffably polite. My preoccupation with the armed men she’d brought, and the resulting panic, had prevented rational thought. And for the past few days, I’d been doing my best to keep myself distracted. Like if I didn’t give her any space in my brain, she’d cease to exist.

“Don’t let the pleasant exterior fool you,” John continued. “She might not pull the trigger, but she’ll happily give the order for someone else to do it.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said. “I guess it makes sense now why I had to sit in on all those meetings. Asher knew she’d come for me, eventually.”

“Guess so,” John said with a slight eyebrow lift. “If only Cade and Asher had let us minions in on their little whisper club sooner.”

“I suppose it was a complicated situation.”

John’s strangled laugh and the angry way he drank his tea said he wasn’t buying that. He was much less inclined to forgive for being left out of the loop than I was. I’d never been good at bearing a grudge, or working myself up into a frenzy about anything. The jury was still out on whether that was a strength or a weakness. I picked up my tea and took a sip.

“So,” John said, peering at me over the rim of his mug. “Do you want to tell me how you went from wanting nothing to do with Asher to sleeping with him in the space of just a few nights?”

The tea I’d just drunk went down the wrong way, John leaning forward to thump me on the back when my coughing fit went on for too long. By the time I could breathe again, my cheeks were flaming. At least, I could pretend it was from choking rather than just embarrassment at being so transparent. “How did you know?”

John gave me a lopsided smile. “The way you looked at each other when he handed the key over. You may as well have taken out a full page spread in The Times . That, and I know both of you.”

If it had only taken John seconds to know we’d been intimate, then at least a few members of my family had to know as well. Were they just being polite by not mentioning it? It seemed unlikely, but wasn’t impossible.

“Was it that awful?” John deadpanned. “Let me guess, it was like having sex with a snowman.”

An uncharacteristic wave of irritation rose in me, the likes of which I usually only displayed toward Baxter. “Don’t!”

John tipped his head to one side and eyed me curiously. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t say horrible things about Asher. Not to me, anyway. He might have more quirks than the average man. I’m not blind. I can see that. But he’s a good man.”

John couldn’t have looked any more surprised if I’d slapped him. I was pretty surprised myself. “So no more comparing him to ice in front of me,” I clarified. “I don’t want to hear it. He has feelings and emotions, just like any man. It’s not a terrible trait that he doesn’t choose to wear them on his sleeve. He and you are very different people, but it doesn’t make either of you lesser. It just makes you what you are. And I like both of you.”

Confronting John had my heart tripping in my chest, the wait to see how he’d react feeling like an age.

“Well,” he finally said, with a thread of amusement in his voice. “That told me.”

“It needed saying.”

“Maybe,” he admitted. “I just didn’t dream it would come from you, of all people. I always figured Cade would pull me up on it one day, but he never did. Which is weird when he pulled me up on everything else.” He shrugged. “I didn’t exactly lose sleep over it.” A smile hovered on his lips. “And I’m all for it, if he’s brought out a feisty side to you. There were times I worried that if someone balked at stepping in a puddle, you’d offer to lie down in it, so they could walk over you.”

“You exaggerate a lot.”

John’s smile grew wider. He interlocked his fingers and propped his chin on the top. “Tell me more about my shortcomings. Go on. I can take it.”

The look in his eyes said I wouldn’t. “You’re sarcastic,” I pointed out.

“Well, duh. Don’t think that comes naturally. I’ve practiced long and hard at it over the years. I don’t think I’ve quite perfected it yet, but I’m going to keep working on it, so hopefully, one day…”

“You’re impatient.”

He tipped his head to one side and thought about it. “You say impatient… I say I admire efficiency in others and I’m not afraid to tell people when they don’t meet my expectations.”

“You bear a grudge.”

“Undoubtedly. But nine times out of ten they’re deserved, like Cade sending me into a viper’s pit without the courtesy of a heads-up about what waited for me at the other end.”

“You’re…” I narrowed my eyes at him, John simply fluttering his eyelashes at me in a way that urged me not to hold back.

“You’re judgmental. You judged Asher without making any effort to get to know him.”

John smirked. “I wondered how long it would take us to circle back to Asher. He’s obviously on your mind.”

“Of course he’s on my mind. This is his house.”

John tipped his head to one side. “So… is he your fated mate?”

“I don’t know.”

“Interesting.”

“What is?”

“A few days ago, it was a no. Now, it’s a maybe. At this rate, you’ll be getting married by the end of the month.”

“Hardly.” The heat in my cheeks was back. To change the subject, I levelled John with a stare. “There’s probably some stuff I should tell you before Cade does. And then you should tell Bellamy, Griffin, and Ben.”

John frowned. “Okay.”

I told him the entire story, about Baxter’s consistent presence in my life, and my ability to visit the world between worlds. The latter was easier to tell John than it had been Asher. John might not go there, but he regularly spoke to its spirits to request a loan of someone’s soul, so it wasn’t an entirely novel concept to him. I finished by admitting what had happened when I was a kid. John was unusually quiet throughout and asked few questions.

“So…” I said once I’d finished. “There you have it. All my deep, dark secrets.” He continued to stare at me. “Say something,” I urged. “Have a go at me for not telling anyone, or call me an idiot. Something.”

“I’m trying to decide,” John said slowly, “whether you’ve gone stark raving mad, which”—he gave a little laugh—” would explain why you’ve suddenly become Asher’s biggest fan.” At the look on my face, he held both hands up. “Sorry. It’s going to be a hard habit to break, but I promise I’ll try.”

“Or?” I prompted.

“Or,” he continued with a thoughtful look. “You’re just that special.”

“I don’t know about special,” I said, “but I’m definitely different.”