Tally jumped up onto the stage. Felix dropped down gracefully from the pole to stand and stare at him. Sam held his breath, his mind whirling through ways to comfort Tally when this was all over.
“Teach me!” demanded Tally.
Sam flinched and fought the urge to abandon Tally and hide. Merely ducking behind the bar, felt like it wouldn’t offer enough protection. But, out of loyalty, Sam stayed rooted to the spot. He couldn’t see Felix’s expression from this far away, but he watched him tilt his head to one side, like he was regarding an interesting specimen. Then, to Sam’s utter astonishment, Felix nodded curtly and gestured at Tally to take hold of the pole.
Sam let out his breath and turned back to his stock taking, still not quite believing what he had seen. Maybe Tally’s talk of hell and past lives wasn’t that unbelievable, now that he had seen stranger things happen.
A little while later, Sam heard a giggle followed by a rich musical laugh that he realized with shock was Felix’s. He looked over. Tally had stripped down to his underwear. Dimly, Sam recalled something about bare skin being easier to grip the pole with. The practically naked young man was slowly spinning around the pole in a graceful move that looked extremely elegant and extremely hot. His giggling made it more endearing than downright sexy, but Sam couldn’t tear his eyes away. Felix was looking on with a proud grin.
Tally’s wounds were healing remarkably well and most were now faint pink lines. Sam was happy to see that and was touched that Felix seemed to have not commented on them.
Sam realized he had drifted up to the stage. Helplessly drawn to it as if he had been hypnotized.
“Your boyfriend has natural talent. Increase my cut of the bar takings on my night from ten to twenty percent and I’ll train him when I come to practice.”
Tally let go of the pole and stood staring at Sam with wide, imploring puppy eyes. Acting like he had never wanted anything more.
“Fine.” said Sam with a chuckle, powerless to resist and strangely thrilled at Tally being referred to as his boyfriend. There is no need to correct Felix, he told himself. It didn’t matter.
Tally squealed and jumped up and down. Felix smiled indulgently at him. “Now piss off for today, I still need to practice.”
Tally nodded enthusiastically, clearly showing his eagerness to please. He snatched up his discarded clothes from the floor and jumped down from the stage.
“Now you won’t be able to resist me!” Tally said with a pleased grin. His blue eyes full of glee.
Sam shook his head in wry amusement. He should feel dismayed. He had just promised a lot of money to pay for pole dancing lessons for someone who was not actually his boyfriend. Someone who he didn’t even know was going to stick around for long. All because he wanted to see them happy.
He told himself it was a good business decision. If Tally was good at it, he could do shows on the other nights of the week. When Felix wasn’t performing. Tally was quite likely to want the work. It was a sound investment.
That’s what it was, strictly business. He wasn’t a big softy. He wasn’t trying to get Tally to stay and he certainly wasn’t excited by the thought of watching Tally pole dance. Everything was fine. Sam almost believed his own lie.
That night, he slept with Tally in his arms again. Tally asked if he was ready to have sex yet, but only gave an exasperated, resigned sigh when Sam had said no.
Then they curled up together with no awkwardness or resentment between them. Sam liked that. He really liked it. It made him blissfully happy.
He fell asleep imagining Tally recovering from his delusion and still wanting him. It was a beautiful dream, one that could come true if he was lucky. The dream had snuck its way into Sam’s mind, until it had become something he was longing for with all his heart and soul.
Chapter 12
TallyheardSam’slovelybaritone voice before he was fully awake, so he wasn’t alarmed to find himself alone in the bed. Sam was only in the kitchen, talking to someone.
Tally yawned and rolled out of bed. He was about to walk out of the bedroom when he remembered that Sam was weird about nudity. Tally glanced down at his boxers. Sam would be uncomfortable if he wandered in wearing only these. Especially as Sam seemed to have a guest.
Tally pulled Sam’s tee shirt out of the laundry basket and put it on. It smelled of Sam and was delicious. Happy that Sam would be pleased, Tally went to join him.
Deirdre, Roger and John were all sitting around the kitchen table with Sam, drinking coffee. As soon as he walked in, Sam looked up. Tally watched Sam’s beautiful brown eyes widen and felt a moment of doubt. The tee shirt was big on him, it covered everything. Sam couldn’t be annoyed, could he?
Tally dismissed that idea and skipped over to the table. There were no more chairs left, so he happily climbed onto Sam’s lap, draped his arms around Sam’s neck and rested his head against his shoulder. He was still sleepy and Sam smelled good.
He felt Sam’s body tense for a long moment before he finally relaxed. Poor Sam wasn’t used to physical touch. Tally was determined to remedy that.
After a short pause, the conversation resumed. Tally let it drift over him. He wasn’t interested, and he was too sleepy to take part. He just wanted to snuggle Sam. Tally wriggled a little, getting comfortable, and nearly squeaked in delight when he felt Sam’s cock harden under his ass.
Maybe Sam would finally give it to him. Images started to play of Sam taking him, filling him, and the ecstasy that would be. He wanted Sam so very much, craved the closeness, the connection. Two thousand years had been an awfully long time and his new body was young, with needs. Waiting for Sam to be ready was torture.
“Tally,” said Sam.
Tally blinked and realized Sam had been trying to get his attention for a while.
