“Let’s maybe let that one go,” Alex suggested with a smile.
“Gladly. Would you like another beer?”
“No, I’m okay. Thanks.” He shivered as Jago stroked his fingertips on the back of the couch. “I should go.”
“Why?”
“I just… I want to focus on the show right now.”
Jago lifted his chin, sinking dejectedly into the couch. “You’re not going to show your audience anything honest if you start by lying to me.”
“I’m not lying. I want the show to be…” He allowed the words to float into nothingness, instead resuming the conversation he’d wanted to finish with Jago outside the Teatro Español. One no less expressive for its lack of words. Bloody hell, Jago knew how to kiss. Even after the beers, his lips were sweet with red wine and the soft flesh of his hands as they brushed Alex’s temples made him shiver.
“I trust your ability to multitask.” Jago caught Alex’s lips with his once more in a way that made Alex only want to hold Jago close and kiss him for as long as breath would allow. He smelled like the sun; like home, only Jago tasted like the man Alex wished he’d been at home but never could. When they finally broke, Jago smiled with uncharacteristic shyness. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just don’t want to rush things.”
“Things?”
Jago’s smile widened. “Going to make me work for it, aren’t you? Bitch.”
“Work for what?”
Jago tilted his head, staring at Alex as if he were a puzzle in need of solving. True, he was playing up the obtuse act with insufferable cuteness, but only because he was trying to avoid the lingering question that thickened the sexual energy between them.
“I want to give you a massage.”
Alex blinked twice. This was not the offer he’d expected. “You mean, like…”
“My hands on you, pressing your skin, working out knots in your muscles and hopefully relaxing you. Yes, that’s what I mean. Is that okay?”
“I… I suppose.”
“You’ve never had one, have you?”
Alex shook his head, his naivety no longer an act. The playful glint returned to Jago’s eye as he got up from the couch, crossed to the hidden door on which Alex had intruded, pressed it into the wall to open it, and beckoned Alex inside.
“You’re sure?” Alex asked. “You seemed pretty adamant last time.”
“Get in here before I change my mind,” Jago purred.
The door shut behind them, plunging the room into darkness. Yet no sooner had it clicked shut than the walls took on a luminescence of their own, glowing with gentle, warm orange light, which crept across them like a rapidly growing vine. Alex watched in awe as the light created by this effect wrapped itself around the room, lightening the space around Jago’s desk, and beyond it, a red and black carpet surrounded by pillows. The books, the skull, the birds, the symbols… every piece he’d seen on his last visit remained in place, but the warm light made this seem like the domain of a scholar, not someone embarrassed about his strange hobbies.
“I’m sorry, I lied to you earlier.” Jago pushed his chair beneath the desk, removed his belt and trousers, and kneeled down on the carpet. He peeled off his socks before unbuttoning his shirt. “I mean, I have done taxidermy, but just the once.This room? It’s my sacred space and sanctuary. I wasn’t ready to share that with you yet. I hope you understand.” He extended a hand toward Alex, who approached with far more caution.
“Are you sure?” Alex asked. “I don’t want to intrude.”
“Stop being so damned English.”
“There’s no need to be rude.”
“You’re here because I desire it, and I hope you do too. The type of massage I do is a sacred interaction, not just between bodies but between souls. I like you, Alex. I’m not only ready to show you this room, I’m ready to share it with you. Do you understand the difference?”
Alex shuffled his feet. “Youaregay, right?”
“Yes.”
“So you mean sex?”
