Could they do it? Could they jump together?
Aleksey wanted to jokewe’re saving the world, Ben. In this, we save the world.
Another shot. They were driven further from the cliff, but it was still there. They could still make it.
The group were split now both sides of the light, some of them peering over the drop like tourists, finding it interesting.
They got backed up the steps, their escape route being cut off.
Aleksey suddenly felt the enormous solidarity of the stone behind his back.
Ben began to press into him, and they were as one.
Austin began to mount the stairs, a wide grin on his face, the smile of a man who was seeing his dreams of human extinction finally come to fruition.
Without warning, Aleksey felt the hardness at his back change, a shift in the universe.
Then what felt like a tiny ghostly finger plucked at the back of his shirt.
Something yanked him.
Instinctively, he grabbed Ben, and they fell back into darkness together.
* * *
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Their saviour clanged the door shut and calmly slid the bolts home. They could hear muffled screams of fury and banging and the occasional shot as their pursuers attempted to get in after them, and Aleksey thoughtgood luck with that.
They were on their backs where they’d fallen into a dark passageway.
A tiny figure in a sou’wester, oilskin and huge fishing boots finished securing the door then turned and began to trudge silently up the steps.
Aleksey swallowed hard.
He lay back, his head spinning from relief on the cold concrete. He remembered to breathe.
Ben seemed similarly stunned. Suddenly, Aleksey sat up and pulled Ben’s shirt up. They studied the wound together. A bullet had clipped his waist. It was bleeding a little, but not much worse than a tumble from his bike had given him only a few weeks before. He’d live.
They’d both live.
At the same time they began to laugh, the shock and relief hitting them. Ben got to his feet, and shouted towards the door, ‘Fuck off, wankers.’
Aleksey was shocked by his boyfriend’s profanity, but added something worse in Russian. It was a much better language to curse in.
The glee evident in their voices only increased the fury and the banging.
Chuckling together, Aleksey accepted a hand to rise, and they stood taking in their surroundings. He laid down the spear and put his fingertips on the smooth stone. It was as cold as the inside of a fridge. The walls must have been thicker than he was tall.
‘Benjamin, there’s a small person living in our lighthouse.’
It only set them off again.
Slowly, and very painfully, Aleksey made a start on the stone stairs which spiralled up into the tower around the inside of the walls.
Ben laid down his weapons and snagged him back. ‘They can’t leave the island. They won’t find the canister. They can’t get into the lighthouse.’ Aleksey nodded, puzzled. He’d worked all that out for himself. Ben cupped his face, extremely gently, and pulled their foreheads close. ‘I think we can spare a few minutes.’
He kissed him, and Aleksey felt an immediate swell of desire at the familiarity of the soft lips seeking entry from his, which pleased him immensely. He assumed it was adrenalin, or the realisation that they had escaped death by a moment’s hesitation, a moment’s indecision. Whatever it was, he went with it. Since he’d made his fateful decision to visit the barracks in Topsham, it had been nothing but flight and fury, pain and fear. And yet this was love. This was the feel of a man he loved pressed against him, the one who was his light, who took all the pain away, who was his joy and his peace. And Ben wantedhim. There was no doubt about that. He could feel Ben’s erection grinding against his as they kissed in the tiny space. Another shot rang out. Ben eased back, disengaging his hand, which came away tacky with blood, and stared into his eyes. They did not need to say anything.
