Month: October 2015

**Happy Halloween!  Play safe and enjoy the hell out of it.  And in the meantime, enjoy this fic about former lovers meeting again in a haunted house.**

Every year it was the same thing; cheesy theatrics, unimaginative soundtrack, and lame monsters.  But I couldn’t resist the draw of the haunted house.  It had been a staple of my October since I was a small child, when those kind of things scared the fuck out of me.  I loved being scared, and despite the fact that this place no longer did it for me, it still popped up in the same place every October and I still went with the same giddy anticipation I once had.

This year I was by myself.  It was the first time I hadn’t had a parent, friend, or boyfriend with me. Last year it had been Liam, and it had been my favorite year ever.  We’d gone in squealing and screaming, pretending we were terrified just so we could hang onto each other.  The sex when we finally got back to his place had been off the charts hot. But then only a week later, there’d been the big fight over the accidental tattoo and we’d parted ways.

There was a part of me that still hurt over that.

But a year had gone by and I was determined to put it behind me.  I bought my ticket and stood in line behind a gaggle of teenage girls.  It only took a few minutes for the line to move forward and I was left just outside, listening to the screams, howls, and squeals.  I couldn’t help the smile.  Though Halloween technically wasn’t until the next day, this was what the holiday was all about.

At least for me.

The bored looking teenager managing the door finally motioned me in and I crept over the threshold.  A familiar sense of anticipation warred with just a tiny bit of fear in my gut.  Things were going to be jumping out at me and I knew I would startle.  I just hoped I didn’t laugh.  That had gotten me kicked out two years ago.  Or was it three?

I shook my head.  It didn’t matter. The fun of it was in the getting scared, and I slowly walked down the dimly lit hallway, the fake fog rolling at my feet as creaks, bangs, and howling wind played.  A wisp of cobweb stroke along my arm and made me shiver.  I couldn’t help jerking back from the sensation.  A nervous chuckle as the cobweb clung, and a cold draft skittered up my spine.  I took a deep breath, but I only made it three steps before a low, sinister sounding voice spoke near my ear.

“I knew you’d come.”

My scream was cut off by a hand clapping against my mouth as another grabbed my bicep and yanked. I hand no choice but to stumble sideways through a hidden door, my heart pounding so hard I was sure it would break free from my chest.  I fought off my captor, anger welling up, and whirled to face him.

He pushed back the hood on his grim reaper cloak the moment I turned. Liam.  Looking as edible as ever despite the white and black makeup on his face.  It might have hidden who he was, but I knew those features intimately, had mapped them with fingers, lips, and tongue.  I knew that proud stubborn chin, and that silky black hair that fell to his collar. For a moment, I was swept away in nostalgia, of remembering how it had been between us.

A teenage scream broke me out of my reverie and I scowled even as I leaned against the wall.

“You have an explanation for accosting me in the haunted house?” I asked.  I kept my voice low in deference to what was happening on the other side of the door, but with each passing second my anger grew.

Liam shrugged, and by the tilt of his head, I knew he was blushing even though I couldn’t see it through the makeup.  “You wouldn’t take my calls.  And then you changed your number.  I didn’t want to show up and be all creepy at your apartment. But we never ran into each other and so, when I saw they were hiring for the haunted house, I figured it was my last chance.”

“Because that’s not creepy at all.”  My voice was full of sarcasm.

Liam gave a chuckle, and his expression said I was right. He took a step closer anyway, but I was glad he thought better of reaching out to touch.

“Yeah, well.  I knew you’d eventually show up here.  I thought maybe we could at least talk.”

Despite the makeup, he was still my Liam.  And despite the setting, despite the bangs, clangs, howls, just looking at him, being in the same space as him, relaxed something in me.  The six months before the “incident” had been so good.  I knew then we’d both walked away too quickly.  But was ambushing me in a haunted house the way to start again?

“Cy?” Liam’s voice was tentative, questioning.  Suddenly he sounded young, like the night we’d first kissed, and I couldn’t help the grin.

“I’ll meet you on the other side,” I said softly, and a horrific scream cut the air.  I grinned uncontrollably. “I’ll wait for you to be done for the night.”

“Fuck the job,” he whispered fervently.  He leaned forward to kiss me, and only remembered at the last second that his face was covered in grease paint.  “I only took it so I’d have a chance of seeing you.  I don’t need it.”

He grabbed my hand and started tugging.  But he was going in the opposite direction, away from the haunted out and out through a side door.  I planted my feet.  Liam looked back at me with a question in those deep brown eyes.

I took a step back toward the screaming and howling, and Liam immediately understood what I wanted. He pulled the hood back up, once again obscuring his face, then took my hand and led me back into the hall.

I screamed.  I jumped.  I clung to Liam with my entire body, pressing closer every change I got, whenever something grabbed at me.  I’d been right.  This was what Halloween was all about.

He was big.  All broad shouldered and long legged and barrel chested.  He was built like a defensive lineman, and the way he powered toward me, his face dark with anger, should have scared me.  I should have screamed or turned and ran in the other direction, weaving through the bodies and counting on my much smaller size to help me get away.  He was murderously, thunderously, angry and I should have been terrified of what he would do to me once he got his hands on me.

I wasn’t.  There was never a time I was afraid of that man, and when he got close enough, I opened my arms to receive him.  Because I knew the truth behind his expression.  He was angry, yes, but not at me.  He was ready to kill the  guy who had hit me.  I was safe.  I was always safe in his arms.

His big hands swept the length of my body, checking for injuries that his gaze could not discern.  I’d have a bruise from the seat belt, as well as other aches and pains I was sure, and though the car was pretty well dented, the air bag hadn’t even deployed.  I was barely hurt.  It wasn’t even worth talking about.

“You’re okay?” he finally asked.

I nodded and snuggled in when he pulled me close, loving the way he immediately put his face down against my neck and inhaled.  Standing on the side of the road where the accident had occurred, I was relieved that he gotten there so quickly.  I’d just gotten the all clear from the EMTs when he showed up.

Suddenly he lifted his head and squinted past my head. “That him?” He motioned with his chin.

I craned my neck to see the police putting the cuffed man in the back of the squad car.  One of the officers had told me earlier that the other driver had been texting, and that alcohol appeared to be involved as well.   At the time, the words hadn’t met much.  I think I was still in shock.  But seeing the man getting arrested, that made things all the more real.  It could have been so much worse.  Fatally worse.

“Take me home,” I breathed, clutching at his shoulders.  I would have climbed him if I could have.  “Please, honey.  I need to be home.”

He nodded, and kissed my temple.  Then he left me shivering on the sidewalk while he went to go talk to the police officer.  I could tell by the way his eyes narrowed and how he pulled himself up to his full height that he didn’t like whatever the man had said, but eventually, he turned and walked back to me.  He wrapped his arms around me with a defiant tilt of his head.  I didn’t care if he was making a statement of some sort. He was warm and he kept me safe.  That was all that mattered.

Eventually, my car was towed and we got to go home.  He helped me shower, made sure I ate some soup, and then he tucked me into bed.  It only took him a few minutes to join me, and I was quick to push into his arm.

“Not ever going to lose you.”  His voice was gruff.  He said it like a vow.

I smiled.  “No,” I agreed.  I yawned.  “I love you.”

“Me too, baby,” he said, rolling to squash me under him because he knew that’s what I needed.  I fell asleep a few minutes later, safe, warm, and loved.

**A quick word from Aaron and Lucas…**

“There’s something going on with your friend.”

I looked up from my phone, where a game I’d never admit to liking had my complete attention, and into Aaron’s beautiful gray eyes.  I didn’t often admit it out loud, but I loved looking at him.  He was just gorgeous, and everything about him just worked for me.  He didn’t even have to try to capture my attention and hold it.

“Lucas,” he chastised, a scowl creasing his features. “Are you listening to me?”

“Of course I am.” I said, even though I hadn’t been.  I tossed the phone onto the end table and spread out.  I was trying for enticing, hoping he’d forgive me for my distraction while at the same time taking me up on the offer I was presenting.  When he just continued to stare, I sighed and settled back against the arm of the couch.  “Which friend?”

“Dan,” Aaron said like it was just so obvious.  He sat with a huff on the end of the couch farthest from me.  But when I dropped one leg over the edge, Aaron immediately crawled between my thighs and leaned against my chest.  I wrapped him up tightly and kissed his temple. He was agitated, and I didn’t know why.

“There’s nothing wrong with Dan,” I assured him soothingly.  “He’s exactly the same as he’s always been.”

Aaron did the slow pan to look at me like I was crazy.

I grunted.  “What?”

“Some best friend you are,” he muttered, the scowl once again marring his features.

“You’re my best friend.”

He rolled his eyes, but at least I finally got a grin out of him. “Don’t be cute. You know what I mean.  I’m worried about Dan.”

Truth was I had noticed that Dan was acting differently the past few months.  It wasn’t anything big, and nothing that the casual observer would notice.  But I knew he’d been putting in some heavy thinking, because he always had a little V between his brows when he wasn’t in front of the camera.  He’d been keeping to himself more than was customary.  He usually invited us over to his little house for dinner at least once a week.  I actually had to put some thought into remembering when the last time we’d gone had been.

But Dan hadn’t shared whatever he was going through.  And if he hadn’t talked to me about things, then I knew he wasn’t ready to talk to anyone.  He needed time to work things out in his own mind, to get it right in his head, before he had any sort of conversations or made any declarations.

Given the direction of some of his lingering stares, I thought I might know what was going on in his thick skull.  But I wasn’t going to be presumptuous enough to guess.

“He’ll talk to us when he’s ready,” I told Aaron, pulling the man in tighter.  My man had a huge heart, and he was sensitive to others when they were in need.  I knew he and Dan had a great rapport, even if they were still working on becoming close.  Dan welcomed him in a way that I never had.  It was why Dan got the first kiss instead of me, albeit in front of the camera.

Aaron released a sigh and settled down, relaxing against me.  He was always so warm, and I relished it.

“I know,” he said softly.  “I just worry.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it until he’s ready to talk,” I said practically.  “But in the meantime, you can totally suck my cock.”

Aaron burst out laughing at the non sequitur, just like I’d wanted.  I couldn’t help but grinning in response.  He was just so dang pretty, and I loved seeing him so happy. My breath caught when he wiggled out of my embrace and landed on his knees on the floor, his hands immediately going to the button and zipper on my jeans.

“I love you,” he murmured, reaching in to stroke me.

I held back the moan long enough to say, “Love you back,” and then I was spreading my legs so he had more room to work. All thoughts of Dan, and everything else, fled in favor of my boyfriend’s warm, wet mouth.

**Are you curious to find out what’s going on with Dan? You’re in luck!  Coming December 13^th from Amber Allure, Something Like Peace!**

**Having just finished writing a novella, and taking some time off, and with the Admiral occupied with things that are other at the moment, I was told to write something that interested me.  But I couldn’t think of anything, and so, was going to take this Friday off.  Figured it wouldn’t hurt, and we’d all survive one week without a flash fic.  But well…then this happened.  So, for your enjoyment, a short little scene.**

It was a dark and stormy night.

I didn’t much care for the dark to begin with, and I fucking hated storms.  So despite having seen my thirty-third birthday, I was huddled under the covers like a four-year-old girl.  Every flash of lightning that penetrated my blanket armor made me cringe, and the ensuing boom of thunder happening at practically the same time was enough to make me shudder.  The fear might be irrational, but it was real.

The worst of storm only lasted twenty-seven minutes (I’d been keeping track) and the flashes and horrible crashes started to taper off.  No longer a constant barrage, there were whole seconds between the lightning strike and the rumble of thunder.  The interval drew farther apart, and now there were stretches of thirty or sixty seconds where all I could hear was the pouring rain. I stayed where I was, unable to relax until the storm had well and truly moved on.

The sudden ringing of my phone scared me badly enough that I shrieked.  And then I scrambled out of the safety of my blankets to answer it.

“Hey,” he said as soon as I’d answered.  “You okay?”

I was going to say yes. I was going to lie and play it up like I was fine.  He didn’t need to know how badly I was affected.  I was going to do it, and then another loud crash echoed and I couldn’t suppress the tiny whimper in time. He heard it, like he always did, and I knew lying was futile.

“Nope,” I said, releasing a shaky breath.  “Nope, nope, nope.”

His chuckle was warm, and it did a fair bit to relax me enough though he was laughing at me.  I loved his laugh.  It was the first thing that drew me to him.

“Come let me in,” he said, his voice a deep rumble far better than any thunder.  I was up and moving almost before the words registered.  It took me seconds to run to the door.  I fumbled a little as I tried to get the deadbolt unlocked, and then managed to work it and pull the door open.

He was a bit bedraggled, but none too worse for the wear.  When he saw me, he smiled, his entire face lighting up.  I took an easy breath for the first time in more than an hour, and practically threw myself into his arms the moment he crossed the threshold.  I didn’t care that he was wet, only that his strength wrapped around me and shored me up.

“You shouldn’t have come out in this,” I murmured meaning it.  The thought of him driving in that storm made my stomach twist painfully.  “But I’m so glad you’re here.”

He leaned back, and then pushed my hair back from my face so he could cup my head and tilt it back so he could really look at me.

“You needed me.  Where else was I going to be?”

I sighed, grabbing onto his wrists and locking my gaze on his.  “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he said, and I heard how much he meant it. He bent and kissed me, and then tugged me toward the bedroom.  “I need to get out of these clothes.  And while I’m naked, perhaps we could do something about getting you relaxed and sleepy, and nothing thinking about the storm at all.”

I followed him quickly, helping to pull off his wet shirt.  I nearly swallowed my tongue as his defined chest emerged.  The sight of him never failed to get my motor running.  I swallowed hard.

“What storm?”

He just grinned and pulled me into the bedroom.