Page 15 of Xtasy

CHAPTER FIVE

Atlas hadn’t been fully prepared to be swept off his feet on their first “official” date. As soon as he’d arrived at Hawk’s place, they’d had sex. No, they’d made love. Their first night together had been wild and filled with a wickedness Atlas hadn’t ever experienced in his life. Today had been something different and equally exciting. More fulfilling. Hawk had worshipped every inch of his body with tongue and touch. During sex, Hawk had kept his hands pinned to the bed, over his head, the entire time. His hands had itched to touch Hawk, but the man had forbidden it by keeping him trapped. Afterward they had showered together, gotten dressed again, and then hopped on Hawk’s Indian motorcycle. Atlas had been tender in places that the motorcycle ride made all the more obvious, but he’d smiled the entire time—loving the reminder of what they’d shared.

They’d ridden less than an hour when Hawk pulled the motorcycle into the nearly empty parking lot of another abandoned industrial plant. Atlas couldn’t help but chuckle. The dude really had a thing for abandoned manufacturing plants. Aside from the motorcycle, there were three Hummers, two Jeeps, and two Harley motorcycles in the parking lot. It screamed testosterone.

“I didn’t scare you, did I?” Hawk asked as he helped Atlas off the bike before gracefully sliding off himself. Hawk pulled off his helmet and shook his longish black hair wildly while he waited for his lover to answer.

“No! It was fabulous! I never understood the desire to ride a motorcycle before today. You feel so free!” Atlas answered excitedly, all the while struggling to remove his helmet. It would take some serious practice before he could make it look half as sexy as Hawk had. Atlas looked at the outside of the massive building. “You’ve really got a thing for abandoned workplaces, don’t you?”

Hawk laughed. “You nailed it, love. I love the old architecture and how sturdy the ancient bones are—they don’t make buildings like this anymore. Sadly, it’s hard to salvage much on the inside and make them livable, but we try to keep the outside as historically correct, as possible.”

“Plus, it looks like a dump and people will be less likely to try and rob you,” Atlas teased.

“Nailed it again!”

“So, what is this place? You said we were going to meet some of your friends and check out one of the businesses you own.” Atlas looked around again. “Friend hideout or business?”

Hawk grabbed Atlas’ hand and tugged him along toward the main entrance. “Both. You’ll love these guys but get ready for them to give both of us a hard time.” Once they were at the heavy metal doors, Hawk paused and turned back around to face Atlas. “Listen, I probably need to explain some things before we go inside and meet everybody. I’m not sure how much Ambrose told you about his parents and mine, their connection, and all that stuff?”

“Just that his parents died in a plane crash and for me not to feel sorry for them because they were never around anyway. It sounded like his childhood wasn’t awesome—like he had plenty of money but not love from his parents.” Atlas answered.

“That pretty much sums it up for poor Ambrose. His parents did suck at parenting. Our back story is that Ambrose’s father and my father started their own IT firm, launched it, and made millions. Lots of millions. My dad was the IT genius. Ambrose’s father brought the business brilliance.”

Sounds like everybody had to make a lot of sacrifices. I’m sorry, Hawk. Were your parents the same? Absent?” Atlas asked softly.

“No, not really. They managed their time differently. Of course, what my dad did could be done from about anywhere and he preferred to do it from home. Walter, Ambrose’s dad, was always out making the sale’s pitch to potential buyers. He and Anna, Ambrose’s mom, were the face of the company. My mom and dad preferred staying in the background.” Hawk pushed a hand through his shaggy hair. “That’s why what happened makes it so damn hard to accept and forget.”

Atlas had a feeling he was about to hear something that would break his heart for Hawk. “What happened?” He asked quietly. Part of him wanted to know but the other part didn’t want to hear it…didn’t want to witness what caused the pain on Hawk’s beautiful face.

“Like me…or me like her, I guess would be more like it, my mom loved photography. She had me holding a camera about as soon as I learned to hold a baby bottle,” Hawk joked, without humor. “It was her passion, and she was my dad’s passion. After the business took off and money started flowing and growing, when everything stabilized and it was obvious the company was going to be successful, my mom convinced dad to take her on a photo-taking expedition. They were going to travel the world. Dad could continue to handle his part of the business and mom’s dream could be cultivated.” His eyes stared past Atlas, like he was envisioning the past. “They wanted me to go…begged me to go.” He laughed bitterly. “They used all the guilt trip shit that parents are given as a gift from God when they have their first child, but I wouldn’t budge. It was in the middle of my Junior year of high school. I had a new boyfriend—my first serious…and by serious, I mean that we’d fucked more than once. In my head, the head of a stupid teenager, I thought that life would go on without me and I’d be the weird kid when we finally got back home. I didn’t want to stand out any more than I already did…so I didn’t go.”

“I can’t imagine you everstanding out, except in a really good way,” Atlas told him.

Hawk laughed. “I was tall, skinny, and had plenty of acne to go around. I truly looked like a nerdish vagabond. I didn’t start working out until…well, until after….”

“After what, Hawk? What happened to your parents?”

Hawk plopped down on the gravel in the parking lot. Atlas quickly joined him. Not knowing if Hawk would be open to it but refusing not to at least try, Atlas grabbed his hand and held it tight.

“They’d only been gone for less than a month. They called me every day, updating me on what they were doing and begging me to fly out and join them. I loved listening to the tales but still didn’t want to leave school.” Hawk looked past Atlas again. “They called every day until one day they didn’t. I missed talking to them but didn’t really think anything about it. Second day, no phone call. I knew then, I knew something bad was wrong. To call them overprotective would be quite an understatement.” Hawk said. “I was their pride and joy for some crazy reason.” On the morning of the third day, Ambrose and his father showed up at the house. There was a caravan of government agents that arrived as they did.” Hawk laughed—it was a harsh laugh, a disgusted laugh. “I locked the doors because I knew I didn’t want to hear what they had to say. I knew.” He shrugged. “Anyway, Ambrose knew how to get into the house, so my holdout didn’t last long.” Hawk took another deep breath and squeezed Atlas’ hand in return. “They were in the jungles of Nicaragua. I’m sure mom was going crazy with all the photos she was taking. Ambrose’s dad told me that they’d been abducted and were being held for ransom. Sure, it was a wicked amount of money, but I knew the company had it. That’s when Ambrose and the government officials told me that the United States doesn’t negotiate with terrorist. The ransom wasn’t going to be paid, but they felt confident that the abductors would release them when they realized no monies would be exchanged.” Hawk bumped the back of his head against the brick wall behind him. “They lied. The fuckers sent footage of them killing my parents. Beheading.” Hawk looked at Atlas. “That’s something I’ll never forget—something that’s always made me not to want to get close to people.” Hawk smiled softly…sadly. “Until you. With you, I want to drop all my guards and put my heart at risk.”

“Me too,” Atlas said as he gave Hawk a gentle kiss to his lips. Tears streaked down Atlas’ face. He couldn’t begin to imagine the horror a young Hawk had been forced to endure…the horror that Hawk still endured. “I’m falling and I’m falling fast. I don’t want to scare you. We’ll take things slow. I know you said relationship weren’t your thing. I can see why now. I’m so sorry this happened to you.” Tears kept dripping.

“Dad’s half of the business went to Wallace, Ambrose’s dad. The business documents had been drawn up that way in the beginning. My best friend’s family took me in and raised me. If it hadn’t been for them, I have no clue what would have become of me. After the plane accident that killed Ambrose’s parents, he inherited everything—gave me half of it, told me that’s the way it should have been in the beginning.”

“Wow. That’s…that’s friendship. No, that’s brothers, isn’t it?” Atlas asked, all the while the picture of the flowers and the note from Ambrose danced around in his head. There was no way Hawk would ever choose Atlas over Ambrose…and he shouldn’t want him to…but he still did.

“Yeah, he’s my brother.” Hawk waved his arm at the massive building around them. “As soon as I got money, I started investigating ways to help people when they are faced with the same problem I did with my family. I learned there were black ops teams, ex-military men, who did that kind of work already. I have no fucking clue why it wasn’t offered to me, but it wasn’t. I started this business, hired the people I trusted, and the rest is history. When we hear of abductions, we reach out, no waiting for financial negotiations or the government to get involved. Sometimes we get paid, sometimes we don’t. It’s always worth it, though.” Hawk stood up, dusted his pants off, and lifted Atlas to a standing position. “Come on, let’s meet the guys. Remember, photography is my passion, just like my mother, but this is my calling, too. Hawk punched in a code and then scanned his palm print. “No more sad talk for the day.”

“First of all, super technology for an old building. Second, why are they going to give us a hard time?” The door swung open, and Atlas followed Hawk inside. As they walked in, Atlas couldn’t help but gape at how thick the doors were. They looked like they belonged in a military bunker. Following that lead, the interior walls were coated with the same thick industrial steel as the door. Odd. Like with Hawk’s building, this one consisted of wide-open spaces but only two floors. There was a cluster of desks in the center of the room, a wall of security videos, and then a huge screen that was currently blank. All in all, some high-tech shit.

Hawk wrapped his arm around Atlas’ waist in a possessive manner. “Super technology because of the work these guys do. Why would they give us a hard time? Because I’ve never ever brought another man home to meet my adopted family. They are gonna give me hell.”

Warmth gushed through Atlas.So, he was a first?

“Well, look what the cat drug in!”

One of the men shouted as he made his way over to greet Hawk. Their huge bodies crashed together in a man hug. When they backed away, they did some sort of stupid handshake…which Hawk did with each man in the group. Atlas was beginning to think Hawk had forgotten he was there.

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