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mangacat201Crash Site
Author: Mangacat
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: R
Parts: 1/1
Word Count: ~ 6k
Warnings: not going to be pretty, and you’ll probably die from tension, sooooo, yeah and I’m not putting in the Character Death warning for real, because it really depends on your definition. AU-Real-world. Oh, and there’s a little bit of language.
Summary: Sometimes you meet a stranger and it might change your whole life. Sometimes it just might kill you.
insane_songbird Thank you so much babe! You're the best.
A/N: This is a tribute to the so called writing spree, bunny bit me and wouldn’t let go… and then tapered off to not be seen again for a long time. But then I offered it up for charity and look how fast it went. I work better under the threat of a deadline. Thanking ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
candygramme too for her generous beta-work, I don't do that often enough. This is for yellowwolf5 because she won me *g* I hope you didn’t bite off more than you can chew. Kidding, have fun!
Point zero Jared steered his car through the morning traffic that was just winding down following a rush hour with everyone hurrying to work. He had more important things on his mind right now. Jamie had send him out on a last minute errand before the wedding that involved demented florists and roses that were cream coloured instead of peach. He was completely baffled about why one was so much worse than the other. Jamie had frequently accused him of being the least gay man that ever lusted after cock, speaking in terms of stereotypes. He’d taken it as a compliment then, but now he regretted ever coming out, because the bunch of marriage-crazed females that had commandeered the future Welling household for the past - oh maybe five months - totally HAD to get his advice on just about anything that was of importance to a ceremony or reception. Finally he had managed to train them to just send him to fetch this bouquet or drag around those six dozen yards of silk wrapping for chairs and altogether just rely on his giant, nicely muscled frame in the most chauvinistic sense. So, with the wedding less than 48 hours away, and so much to do yet, he was glad to be downgraded to errand boy, because that meant less responsibility. He drummed his fingers on the wheel in time with the cheesy pop music that tingled out of the radio and fixed his eyes on the backlights of the van rolling down the road in front of him. There was only a split second for him to perceive the man stumbled backwards down the curb and onto the street just a few feet from his car. Jared immediately wrenched the wheel to the side to avoid him, and then everything seemed to slow down as his ears picked up the sickening thud against the right-hand rear quarter of the jeep, and his lungs constricted with fear. There was an agonized scream, and a car emerged in his line of sight from the oncoming traffic. He felt the impact that bent and twisted through the frame of his car like a wave, the force throwing him around like a rag doll. The momentum spun the car around and across the line and white hot pain shot through all his limbs. His last conscious moments were directed at the crumpled form lying on the street, and he uttered one word, before his world went dark. “Jensen.” T minus ten minutes Jensen and Chris were walking down the street on their way to the store, intend on fetching their tuxes even when they both would much rather show up in jeans and cowboy boots, like a good Texan should. Still, a wedding called for appropriate clothes, and the groom had impressed the dress code on them. Jensen had wanted to roll his eyes at the way Tom was totally compelled to carry out every whim his precious wife-to-be and her cronies came up with, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to complain about it and crash Tom’s brilliant mood – much. Besides, he had more important things to keep his mind on… like the ribbing Chris was giving him about the stag night earlier. “So, you’re telling me this is some… love at first sight thing you got going there? I mean, you met him like… not even twenty-four hours ago?” “No, of course not… much. I mean, yeah we really don’t know each other, but you know, it seems to be something like chemistry.” “Still, doesn’t mean you absolutely needed to spend the whole evening glowingly reflecting his instant smile.” “It wasn’t like that!” “Yeah, you hung on each others lips like you hung the moon, respectively.” Jensen shoved Chris away from him when he started making kissy faces, but chuckled good-naturedly. “Stop it. And you know, after we woke up together this morning…” “You WHAT?” Jensen had just started laughing at Chris’ incredulous face, when a bicycle rushed by between them. He twisted away to avoid getting hit, but in turn lost his footing and felt his ankle twisting as he slipped down the curb. He didn’t even have time to realize the pain when he saw a vehicle come up from the edge of his vision, and all he felt was the bone-crunching impact, before, moments later, the lights went out. T minus one hour Jared patiently sat there and let No thank you. Plus hanging out with the girls like that would totally out him to any straight stripper in the vicinity, and that would take the whole fun out of the game. Jared said as much, and a little extra that hadn’t yet wormed its way through “… Actually, I kinda… met someone, yesterday, today... on stag night.” The delicate brunette gaped at him, speechless for the first time in about half an hour. “What do you mean you met someone, like… really “Come on, my love life isn’t that pathetic, I date!” “Yeah, like once in a leap year.” “If you don’t shut up, I’m not going to tell you about it.” “Ok, ok, so you met him… how did you meet him?” “He’s one of Tom’s co-workers, his name’s Jensen, and he’s got the most skilful mouth on the planet.” “And you found that out HOW?” “Well, after getting pretty smashed and ending up back at Tom’s place we engaged in some activities that are…” He got interrupted by his cell phone ringing with the wedding march, which he’d set up for the soon-to-be newlyweds, so he knew instantly it was some pre-marital crisis demanding his attention. He flipped it open while “Hello, Jamie? Yeah, I’m up and functional… well, at least I will be in about ten minutes… No that’s no problem… yeah, I know were it is, I’ll be ready to go in about half an hour… of course you don’t have to apologize, you need all the help you can get… ok, see you in two then, bye.” He turned back to Sandy while tucking into his breakfast with gusto – thank God hangovers didn’t affect his stomach one bit – and after a few more bites took his leave for a quick shower and to avert whatever had happened at the florist. T minus two hours Jensen frowned at the piercing beam of light that crept under his eyelids and point blank refused to open his eyes to the morning sun. He felt the remnants of a night out drinking in the back of his brain, but he was surprised to note that his headache wasn’t as full-on forceful as he expected it to be. Thankful for small favours, he started to take stock of anything that went beyond the pounding in his temples and actually found himself cocooned inside an electric blanket… or at least some very warm, very solid presence pressed firmly against his back. He also noticed that one of his hands was trapped by a much bigger one that splayed out over the smooth skin of his stomach where his shirt had been hiked up. He used his free hand to wriggle the covers down a bit, so he could peek over and turn his head slightly for his gaze to fall on the mop of wavy chestnut hair that was sticking out all over the place. He was also cataloguing for any strange or familiar aches that would tell him about the previous night’s activities, when he felt the hand on his stomach tighten and a nose nuzzle the back of his neck. The big hunk of a man behind him began to stretch like a cat, until he obviously realized there was another person in bed, which made him freeze for a moment, until he finally emerged from under the covers. “Erm… hi.” “Erm… hi back.” Jensen turned to his other side so he could look the stranger in the eyes, gorgeous hazel eyes blinking back at him owlishly. “I… we… we didn’t actually…?” “No, not on my back.” The man cracked up, with an infectious laugh that filled the room with sound, until both of them groaned and held their heads, voices down to whispers. “That’s good, ‘cause I really wouldn’t have wanted to meet you in the church in little more than twenty-four hours like that. I mean, not that I wouldn’t have… if we were, but… we were totally smashed and… you know what I mean?” Jensen smiled shyly back at Jared, the name filtering into his brain slowly with the vague recollection of the late evening they had spent in the company of some seriously inebriated straight dudes. Jensen let his eyes trail back down over the naked skin before him and appreciated the view immensely, until he looked up to meet Jared’s eyes again, blushing under the reversed scrutiny. “Sooo… is this going to be awkward? Or are we just…” “I think we should definitely engage into some non-smashed, non-horny conversation sometime soon. I mean there’s the wedding coming up, but I’d like…” “… a proper date.” “Yes, exactly!” The both grinned at each other and went to roll out of bed. T minus seven hours There was a whole cheering squad catcalling around him, or at least it felt like there was, even if it really was just a roaring stag crowd. He didn’t really care either way, because his lips were locked with what had to be the most gorgeous mouth on the planet. And that applied not due to, but in spite of the fact that he’d had spend the evening imbibing copious amounts of alcohol with all the grooms straight friends. Well, this one was definitely not straight, and Jared was quite glad to have discovered that on a dare. How the pack of loose fellas had got the idea of playing truth or dare so far into the night was beyond him, especially since most of the men had had enough of the stronger spirits to make it difficult to string words together into a sentence, let alone understand it. They had started the evening frequenting as many bars as they could possibly find in short order and had now ended up back at Tom’s place to basically squeeze the last out of this night or pass out where they stood. Somehow about a dozen guys had ended up in a circle, making up ridiculous questions that no one was willing to tell the truth about, so they had mostly resorted to taking the dares. T minus twelve hours Jensen had seriously debated whether he should skip stag night altogether, since there was mostly likely going to be spontaneous off-key karaoke, booze and women. Of the three only one appealed marginally to him, and he knew he shouldn’t get drunk really, since he had best man duties to think about. But that was actually the problem, being the best man made all the pre-nuptial events obligatory, and he really wouldn’t be able to weasel his way out of this one. So he resigned himself to a marginally entertaining evening of keeping the straight guys together, alive and preferably out of jail. Not to mention faithful. But at least he wouldn’t let his sour face show, that much he’d resolved, after all, it was supposed to be Tom’s night out, and it should turn out great. So far so good. He’d managed to have a few nice chats catching up with his long-time-no-see friends while they all slowly trickled into Tom’s place to meet up for the night, when something happened he had absolutely not counted on. The male section of the bride’s guests arrived, and all of a sudden he found himself in front of a gigantic hunk of a man that emanated feline grace in a way that dispatched all his higher brain functions – including coherent speech – down to the basement to take a comfortable backseat, while his libido rang in round one. Loudly. Then the guy did the unbelievable – he smiled, met his eyes and introduced himself with ‘Hi, I’m Jared.’ and raised his hand in greeting. Jensen took it automatically, mumbling, ‘uhm.. ah. Jensen,’ under his breath and at the same time took notice of the blush that started out around his knees and slowly but steadily worked its way upwards. Before he could embarrass himself any further, he let go of the hand (a big fucking hand that had all but dwarfed his even though he was no fricking twink of five foot, who weighed a hundred pounds.) and stuttered out the words: “I’m… uh… I… gotta..” And then he’d already turned around and all but run away, leaving a befuddled man in his wake – a man whose mouth slowly twisted into the ghost of a smile when he looked down at his hand. T plus thirty minutes Lights flickered over his head, and he vaguely perceived the shadows of people-shaped lumps passing before his eyes. Someone shouted right next to his ear, and in the back of his brain something shook loose, until there was only the feeling of blinding white hot – out. He felt like he was swimming in the murky depths of his mind; the only things to be seen where greys and blacks and more greys that sometimes moved around but never took shape. Pleasant numbness made his limbs heavy, and though a slight unease accompanied the feeling, he couldn’t grasp the reason why it should, before it dragged him under. T plus an hour Jared opened his eyes abruptly, and everything was thrown into stark relief, even though the contrasts looked too harsh to his eyes, and all the colours seemed to be muted. Probably the glaring hospital light, because he was in a hospital, there was no doubt about it. When he thought about what he might be doing in an ER though, it was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on him. The crash… Jensen, he’d hit Jensen with his car, and, oh my god, he had to find him and make sure he would be all right. The room was awash in a flurry of activity, nurses running around, and voices filling the air, but nobody seemed to be in their right minds to answer his questions, so he wandered through the emergency room somewhat aimlessly, until a swinging door let him catch a glimpse of familiar features. He was over by the door instantly and looked through the wired glass to make sure he was right. In the room behind it he saw a squadron of white-coated people swarming around a stretcher that held the unmoving form of Jensen. He couldn’t make out much besides the other man’s face, littered with bruises, and the tube that was leading down his throat, pumping precious oxygen into his apparently battered lungs. His eyes were closed, and his features completely slack, devoid of any awareness, but the monitor beside him was emitting frantic signals that grew at an alarming rate. Jared could not understand what was being said between the doctors inside, but he heard snippets of words thrown through the room. “… bleeding … roken … thorax … surge … right now!” Jared held his breath, but didn’t avert his eyes with the need not to miss anything, but only moments after he’d arrived and taken everything in, the frantic beep of the monitor increased another notch or two, before plummeting to nothing between one second and the next, and he was left with the horrible realisation that this meant that Jensen’s heart had stopped beating, and he couldn’t… it wasn’t supposed to… “Can I help you?” T plus sixty minutes Jensen leaned against the wall beside him and held his head, while the coils of his brain apparently fought an impromptu wrestling match without any security clearance from the higher brain functions. In short, it hurt like a right bitch. The glaring lights of the hospital didn’t really help one bit, but after he cautiously opened his eyes, blinking a little, they adjusted, and it became only half as bad. In fact suddenly the light felt rather muted and comfortable, as if someone had thrown in a dimmer. He mentally thanked whoever it was for their kindness and set out to get his rather jumbled thoughts in order. He’d been talking to Chris on their way to one of the daily wedding-crisis meetings that had been going on for about a month now, and then something had happened, something… he remembered a rush of air, screeching tyres, and the disturbing crunch of bending metal and… oh God. Jared. Jared had been in that car, and he had probably veered into oncoming traffic trying not to hit him as he stumbled off the curb. The blood in Jensen’s veins suddenly seemed to turn into ice, and he had to find the man now and make sure he was ok. What if Jared had… it was city traffic; he hadn’t been going fast, but if he’d hit the oncoming vehicles head-on, there was a chance… Before Jensen had even consciously finished that thought he found himself in front of the trauma section of the emergency room, striding along the row of doors with small windows, peeking in to see if he might catch a lucky break and recognize Jared somewhere. No one seemed inclined to answer to his inquiries, but he wasn’t really surprised, since they were all busy saving lives and couldn’t be held up to answer to someone who should probably be in one of those rooms after all, being looked over. So Jensen decided it was better not to draw attention to himself, lest he should end up stuck in some examination room while Jared fought for his life. When he took another step in front of the next room he had to stop dead in his tracks since the flurry of doctors and paramedics inside revealed a glimpse of tanned, broad shoulders, huge hands and a shock of chestnut hair, all things that he’d had under his very fingertips that very morning. Now there was only severely bruised skin, ripped open knuckles, blood matting the fine hair, and the doctors barking out orders around him sounded frantic. That didn’t bode well. Someone rattled out a few medical measurements, and then the guy that seemed to be in charge bellowed for more help, stating facts to the newcomer, which only partially arrived at Jensen’s ears: “Legs… head trauma… contusions… internal…” Jensen covered his mouth with his hand and held back a sob that threatened to rise at the things he’d just got to know. Even without another good look he knew that it was bad, really bad, and he tried to make his body and mind move to find something he could do, like maybe call someone or just… There was this incessant beeping that rolled around in his head like a nagging alarm and shot his concentration to hell. And from one second to the other it got even louder and faster, like a drummer jumbling all the rhythms over each other, and he just wanted it to hold off for a few seconds, so that he could actually think. “Are you alright there, son?” Jensen whirled around and tried to identify the source of the voice that had suddenly penetrated his awareness. After a few moments, he was surprised to see an older man leaning against the wall on the other side of the corridor, heedless of the incessant hospital-bustle and looking directly at him with piercing dark eyes. They were set in a thought-lined face that was dominated by the nose, a rather high forehead, and an altogether haggard appearance surrounded by a shock of shoulder-length, wavy salt-n-pepper hair. The man’s frame was smaller than his, and seemingly much more delicate, but the slender built belied that kind of wiry strength you’d be able to find in hardened outdoor workers. He leaned against the wall in a relaxed posture, arms and feet crossed, and a slight smirk quirking the side of his mouth. Also, he was the only one in the whole floor that had looked at Jensen directly, since he’d woken up, but that observation took a backseat to the anguish that washed back over him at the rather simple question. “I… uh… I’m… I, no, I don’t think so.” The man nodded slightly and pushed himself away from the wall, stepping over to Jensen to grab his elbow and steer him down the corridor, away from the door to the trauma room. “You don’t look like it, either. Let’s get you somewhere quiet where you can sit and wind down a bit; I know just the place.” Jensen turned his head back over his shoulder to look at the door to the room that held Jared and ordered his body to shake off the grip and turn back to keep watch. “I… that’s a.. friend in there; he’s badly hurt, and I can’t just…” “Son, do you know anything about resuscitation or emergency surgery and stuff?” Jensen started and shook his head miserably. “Then, I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do for him right now, except not run yourself to the ground. Just follow me.” Jensen had to concede to the man’s point and let himself be led further down the corridor. Somehow he was grateful that somebody cared enough to worry about his welfare, but he couldn’t shake the unease, the slow burn of dread settling in his gut at the man’s presence, which he had no idea how to explain. T plus Jared stood at the window of what he assumed to be a waiting room for family and friends and looked out through the rain-washed glass and onto the thunderous sky. The weather had been splendid when he’d rolled out of bed this morning, but when he’d started his errand run, there’d been quite a few clouds chasing over the sun, and they had clumped together to create a nice little thunderstorm, that was now raging all over the city, or so it seemed. He thought the weather to be rather fitting for his mood, worrying about Jensen and unable to settle down enough to sit on one of the comfy looking leather couches scattered throughout the room. He was grateful for the man – a counsellor of some sort he presumed – that he’d taken care to give him a place to have some peace with his thoughts so he could actually get over his frantic worry, but so far he’d only had marginal success. Jared kept staring out of the window without so much as blinking an eye while, inside his heart, a thunderstorm of emotions mirrored the outside forces of nature. Some people started moving in situations like this, pacing and rocking. Jared was different; he went completely still. Until the door clicked open behind him, and a sharp gasp of breath accompanied with a ‘What the hell?!’ uttered in a familiar voice had him whirling around where he stood to gape at the door in disbelief. Jensen followed the creepy guy – he didn’t have a name for him after all – through the door and promptly forgot all about him, since there was another person in the room already. The other person was looking out of the window with his back turned to the door, but Jensen drew in a sharp breath when he recognized the big and handsome frame. “What the hell?!” The man turned around in a flurry of motion, and there stood Jared, whole and healthy, nothing like he had looked in that emergency room just a couple of minutes ago. “Is this supposed to be a joke, or something? This is seriously the most macabre and tasteless…!” “Jensen? What the heck… you’re… just, you were…” “Dying?” interjected the older man from the sidelines, “yes, gentlemen, quite right. Fitting as well, considering the fact that you are in fact dead. Both of you.” The two young men gaped at him in the way a lot of people had gaped before them. Most of his colleagues regarded his methods with distaste, but the older man had learned from experience that they went over faster, and with less fuss, if you just put the truth out for them to deal with in one go, instead of pussyfooting around it for half of eternity. Not the way to get things done for sure. He counted out the seconds from three to one and wondered who’d be first of the two boys in front of him to protest. Jensen didn’t disappoint him; he was right on time. “What do you mean, dead? Excuse me, but are you crazy, we’re standing here whole and healthy! There’s nothing wrong with us…,” even though there should be – the unspoken words rang true no matter what, “So we can’t be dead. What are you on about, huh? If this is a joke, you’re really overdoing it! I’m not dead, I don’t believe it.” “I’m sorry, son, but denying it doesn’t make it any less true.” Jared interjected at that: “How Dare You! You can’t just play a trick like that on us, like… like picking us up and throwing us together like that and then just… What are you thinking? We just survived a terrible crash, and we could still be in shock, and we should inform our families, and… fuck you, who are you anyway that you can just come here and…?” The man leaning calmly against the wall saw the young man ball his hands into fists and use his height to loom over him as if that kind of intimidation would have any effect on him. “You can rage all you want, Jared, but that still doesn’t change the fact that you didn’t. Survive that is. And the only thing they will tell your families is that they did everything in their power, but you succumbed to your injuries, because they were too severe, and your system couldn’t take it. Happens all the time, it’s not like you’re anything special. And I didn’t just pick you up like that. Did you speak to anyone, or get an answer to your inquiries since you’ve been here? There’s a reason you trusted me to lead you here, you know, despite not knowing me at all.” “But… but…” Jensen overrode Jared, before he could form a more coherent response: “But that can’t be… there’s the wedding, Tom and Jamie will be devastated, and we can’t just ruin their big day like that. Hell, I’m the best man. I HAVE to be there at the ceremony. You have to let us go, so they can marry, just you know, give us a little more time to get through this. Just, for this day, so they can have their dream, they’ve been working so hard for it! How can you just destroy that?” The older man pinched his lips in a thin line and shook his head slightly. “This is not a matter of choice, Jensen. It’s not like I took you from somewhere, so I can actually put you back. You’re gone already, and I’m just here to lead you to the next step, that’s all. You just have to take the leap.” “So, this is it…?” Jared took a slow step backwards, and another one, until his back hit the opposite wall. “We’re just… done here, ‘s that right? Like, no second chance, no rewind, just, the end, like that?” The tall young man held his eyes, staring numbly, unblinking and slid down the wall slowly as his legs gave out. He watched the spark vanish from the lively hazel eyes from one second to the next, until only a glazed, blunt edge remained as the truth sank in. Frankly, he pitied the loss of such an exuberant and friendly personality, but nothing could be done about that now. The older man refocused his attention back to Jensen, who stood stock still, his arm half extended towards the younger man as if he’d wanted to hold him up, but never quite got over the last couple of feet to breech the distance. He could see the mind working behind the bright green eyes though, and he knew that Jensen would be the first to work it out and give him the in he needed to get both boys safely to where they were supposed to end up. “Maybe… well, maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be, Jared. Who knows? It’s not like people normally get to choose when they… when they… Look, maybe it’s not our fate to grow old and wrinkly, right?” Jensen had tried to keep his tone light and chipper, but he couldn’t erase the tremble out of his voice completely. Nevertheless, he seemed rather secure and his decision regarding the next step had been made. He offered the tall man on the floor his hand to help him up. Jared looked at him numbly for a few seconds and then slowly raised his hand to grab the offered one. When they touched, a jolt ran visibly through him, and he rose to his feet fluidly with one graceful motion, eyes brightening slightly even though his face stayed impassive and serene. He watched keenly as the younger man looked down onto their clasped hands and then up and across the room – directly at him. “But… maybe it is,” mused Jared. “What? What do you mean?” “Our fate! Maybe we are supposed to grow old and wrinkly. We’re still here, aren’t we? So this is not yet finished, it IS a choice, but it’s ours! We have to want it enough. I want to live; I want to get to know you properly; I want to see my family again.” “I’m afraid, it doesn’t work like that, boys,” the older man pushed himself away from the wall and took slow steps in their direction. He was a little bit surprised at the resilience these boys showed after they’d advanced so fast in the first place. His confusion however cleared up the moment he looked more closely at their entwined hands and saw the little spark winking in there. He quirked an eyebrow and met Jared’s eyes again, noticed a defiant edge in them and saw the fingers tightening as Jensen’s reacted in kind. He nodded slightly and looked down at their hands, to where the light was slowly spreading, accelerating each second. “I see, gentlemen, you seem to found the loophole. Well then, see you on the other side.” …… … beep……… beep ……beep …… beep … beep … beep… …………… beep……… beep …… beep …… beep………beep… T plus 58 years The man turned his head slightly and exhaled softly. “Oh, it’s you…” “Of course, I told you I’d see you, didn’t I? He’s waiting for you.” “Is that so? Well, better not keep him any longer then, right?” “Right.” The end. RIP Kim, great work, our compliments.
Then this guy – this gorgeous man with the big eyes and the plush lips – had been dared to choose a partner out of the crowd and make out. He had expected the guy to get a straight-flush freak-out and blow the others off, despite the occasional glowing smiles he had received over the course of the night, but instead the man had blushed and glanced around shyly, making a little light bulb go off in his head. He couldn’t believe his luck though, when the beautiful eyes stopped on his face and drew him in so that he moved forward of his own accord. They met in the middle of the circle, and there was a bit of awkward fumbling with hands and noses, but then their lips met, and suddenly he couldn’t even hear the cheers any more. They seemed to fit together perfectly, and he felt skin like silk gliding lusciously against his, until a little hint of tongue made him find the courage to dive more aggressively into the kiss. He sneaked his own tongue in through the backdoor in a way, caressing the corner of the luscious mouth for a second, then meeting a row of teeth, gliding along playfully as if he was looking for an opening. The other man got the hint and opened his mouth wider, practically sucking his tongue all the way in, twining his own around the invading one. Jared tasted cinnamon and nuts from some snacks they’d had earlier, and, then underlying, that a heavier, darker taste of man that sent a spark of arousal through his whole body. He could barely hold in the groan that rumbled deep inside his belly, striving to be heard.
He was so wholly immersed in the task of mapping out his new territory that the counter-strike leading them back into his own mouth took him wholly by surprise,and quite a pleasant surprise at that. Finally the other man rubbed his nose lightly against his own and withdrew with a brief touch of their brows, opening the startlingly green eyes that displayed a torrent of emotions all at once. The world tilted slightly on its axis, and he blinked, his focus returning to a circle of faces that ranged from slack shock to complete awe. He licked his lips to catch the lingering intoxicating taste and made the decision in a split second. Before any of their buddies could get a grip on what they’d just witnessed, he grabbed the arm of the gorgeous man in front of him and hauled them up and out of the circle in two steps, aiming down the hall. He noted with great pleasure and a little trepidation that the man did not hesitate one bit before following him.
