Joshua smiled and pressed his face to Colin’s shoulder. “Now, where have I heardthatbefore?”
Colin released him and glanced around the room. “Jesus!” Every surface was covered with the clothing and household goods they’d considered indispensable. Joshua had organized the contents into ‘Colin’ piles, ‘Joshua’ piles, and ‘us’ piles. “I see you’ve been busy,” Colin noted with a snicker. He peeled off his suit jacket, tie, and dress shirt and tossed them to the bed.
Joshua laughed, gave Colin’s arm a fake punch, and pointed to the clothing he had just deposited. “Don’t add.Subtract!” He pointed to the chest of drawers. “We each have three big drawers and plenty of space in the closet. Let’s do this.”
Within a half hour, much of their clothing and belongings were stored. As Colin rolled several ties into neat, round parcelsand placed them in a drawer, he could hear Joshua opening and closing cupboards, storing various items as he explored the six hundred square feet of living space provided by the hotel.
“The bathroom’s the size of a goddamn football field,” Joshua grumbled. “But nokitchen!”
“We have akitchenette,” Colin observed.
Joshua wrinkled his nose in distaste. “One counter, a two-cup coffeemaker, a tiny microwave, and an itty-bitty fridge.”
“Better than nothing.”
Joshua humphed in disgust. “Notmuchbetter.”
“We’ll have to get our meals from the hotel’s kitchen,” Colin told Joshua, following him into the living area. “I heard the food’s good, and the city is picking up the tab.”
“Ilikecooking our dinner.”
“Well, that would bemypreference as well,” Colin told him. “But for right now,” he shrugged, then picked up a menu from the dresser and offered it to his husband, “this is what we’ve got.”
After dinner,they sprawled on the comfortable couch, Joshua’s head resting on Colin’s shoulder, his thigh stretched across Colin’s thighs, nestling against his side. They lounged without speaking for a long time, eyes closed, breathing in the scent of each other’s skin, letting the quiet of shared breath and the healing of their soul-deep connection wrap around them.
Joshua inched closer and breathed out a soft, contented moan. Colin smiled and tightened his arms, drawing him even more deeply into the warmth of their shared intimacy. But their restorative moment was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door, and seconds later, Sarah Mitchell stuck her head into theroom. “Do you know a Mr. David Gardener-Reese? Um, and a Mr. Nathanial Gardener-Reese?”
“Yeah,” Colin said. “They’re our best friends.”
“We haven’t set up a list of cleared visitors yet,” Sarah told him. “So the hotel wouldn’t let them up. Did you tell them you were staying here?”
Colin husked out a sigh and got to his feet. He moved to stand in the doorway, holding the door open as he spoke to Sarah. “Yeah. I told David earlier today. Please put them at the top of the list.”
“I will, once they’ve been properly identified.” She spoke into her radio. “OK. You can let them up.” Then she turned back to Colin. “Get back in there. I’ll let them in once I check their ID.”
“Sarah…”
She pointed into the suite. “Colin? Getinthere! And do me a favor. Don’t tell anyone else where you’re staying.”
He snarled out a disgusted noise and closed the door. Scowling, he stared at it for a moment, then wandered back to the couch, flopped onto it, and turned to face his husband. “This. Fucking.SUCKS!”
Joshua arched his brows and nodded. “Yeah. I’ve had happier days, myself.”
Several minutes later, the door opened, admitting David and Nate. “Oh my god, you guys!” Nate said, rounding the corner of the couch to collapse onto the floor at Joshua’s feet. “This is nuts! I was afraid they were going to ask me to pee in a cup!”
Joshua shook his head in weary annoyance. “I’m sure they’ll get around to it.”
David trailed Nate into the living area and collapsed onto a chair. For a long moment, he stared into Colin’s eyes, and then he leaned closer. “Are you two OK?” he asked, his voice low.
Colin exhaled a long, weary breath. “David,nothingabout this is OK.” He reached for Joshua’s hand and laced their fingerstogether. “But I don’t know what else to do at this point except follow instructions.”
“They warned us ten times not to tellanyonewhere you guys were staying,” Nate told them. “This is all pretty goddamn spooky if you ask me.”
Colin shrugged and reached to ruffle Nate’s hair. “Well, not much point in paying for an expensive hotel suite and an equally expensive protection detail if you’re going to blab out your location to everyone you see.” He leaned toward Nate and whispered. “It’s supposed to be asecret!” Then he shook his head. “I’m not sure you guys shouldn’t have yourownsecurity detail. The whole world knows we spend a lot of time together, and right now, I’m radioactive.”
“Yeah, that occurred to me too, Colin, but I’m not going to take any kind of action quite yet,” David told him. “If the situation gets worse or I’m given any reason to suspect we’re being targeted, I’ll hire private security.” He reached across and patted Colin’s hand. “We’ll be fine.”
There was a brief knock, and the door opened again, admitting Esther Jackson to the room. All four men rose, but Esther waved them back into their seats. “Sit, gentlemen.” She turned to Colin. “I’m going to assume your permission for David and Nate to be privy to this briefing since none of the information is confidential in nature.”
