Page 8 of Soft Bronze

Chapter Four

Camden folded his arms and sat on one of the crates near the garage door. He’d come back to the stock room to think. Everything he’d been told shouldn’t make sense. Statues weren’t able to come to life. Yet, that’s what Zelus had done. Camden had fallen in lust with the statue version of Zelus because the man’s sensuality had called to him. Now the actual man claimed to love him. How was it possible for Zelus to love him so fast? They didn’t know each other. He sighed. Logic dictated Zelus’s story had to be bogus and the love wasn’t real, but part of Camden believed. He had to be losing his mind, right?

Camden spotted Andy across the room. He didn’t really want the company, but he respected Andy and appreciated Andy’s concern.

“There you are.” Andy strode up to him. “Are you okay? You look blindsided.”

“Gee … wonder why?” He shouldn’t be terse with his boss, but the words tumbled out before he could take them back.

“What’s going through your mind?” Andy asked. “I’ve been in your place. Ask me anything. I’ll do my best to help.”

Cam sighed. Too many thoughts were stuck on shuffle in his brain. “I feel like I’ve been swatted across the skull with a chunk of rebar.” He stared at his folded arms. “One minute I’m talking to a statue and the next, there’s a guy who looks like the statue. The guy says he’s in love with me and I should believe he’s a god. It makes no sense.” He noticed a shadow moving along the garage door windows. “What’s that?”

“Christ. That’s Gus. The man won’t leave.” Andy pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Let’s go to the apartment. We can talk there while Kratos comes in here to deal with our former employee.”

He followed Andy out of the stockroom and up the stairs to the apartment. He’d been up there a hundred times while on patrol around the building, but he’d never taken the time to appreciate the details in the apartment. The custom curtains, thick carpeting in rich maroon, and old furniture had probably come from the antiquities shop. He loved the details and lushness surrounding him.

Andy closed the apartment door and blew out a ragged breath. “Okay, that’s better. Now, where were we?”

“You’re going to convince me I shouldn’t be fazed by Zelus coming to life.” He flopped onto the couch. “I’m guessing you’re going to try to talk me out of my shock over the whole thing.”

“I won’t try to talk you out of anything,” Andy said. “Seeing a statue come to life is crazy. I remember when KG showed up. I didn’t believe him.” He sat beside Camden and rested his elbows on his knees. “All I’m saying is there was a curse and it was broken for a reason. You crave this man. I can see it in your eyes. Don’t run away. You could be left again, sure. KG could step out on me, but at least we tried. We gave one hundred percent. Who’s to say he’s not your forever person?”

Having someone be his forever sounded good. Too good. Physically, Zelus was all he’d ever wanted. So far emotionally he fit the bill, too, but lives and loves changed. He couldn’t get the what-ifs out of his head. “You’re throwing us together anyway, aren’t you? I’m not doing anything in your apartment.”

“Like you’d be the first to have sex up here? Not exactly. I thought you knew this was our home away from home,” Andy said. “As for you and Zelus, you never know what could happen until you fuck a few times.” He grinned. “Sex is a great way to get to know someone.”

“Nice.”

“The thought of being with Zelus hasn’t run through your head at least a hundred times? You did a lot of talking to him when he was still in the metal. I heard some of your one-sided conversations. You’ve got it bad for Zelus.”

“I might.” He’d whacked off to the notion that he and Zelus could actually be lovers. “But my words are just that—words. I’m attracted to him and I’d love to be fucked by him, but he says he’s in love. I don’t know.”

“No one says you have to love him right now. If you’re meant to love him, it’ll happen, but it might take time. My suggestion? Wear a rubber, ride him to Canada, then rinse and repeat until you’re sure.” Andy grinned. “Do it. You know you want to.”

“You used to be much more reserved.”

“Hey, when you find exactly what you want in the last place you expected, you learn to get out of yourself.”

The door opened and Zelus stepped into the room, followed by his brother. KG strode up to Andy, who stood. “Are we interrupting something?” KG asked.

“Not at all.” Andy wound his arm around KG’s waist. “Didn’t we have some inventory to deal with? A couple of calls to make? Something like that?”

“The police are here to speak to us about our former employee. The man won’t leave the premises.” He kissed Andy on the temple. “Why don’t we talk to the cops and get the Gus thing sorted out?”

“Yes.” Andy’s brow crinkled, but he smiled and turned to Camden. “You two have fun and remember what I said.”

“We will,” Camden said. He waited until Andy and KG left before speaking. He didn’t like Gus hanging around and didn’t trust him. He believed his bosses had the situation under control, but still. He faced Zelus. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Zelus stuck his hands in his pants pockets.

Camden blew out a long breath. “It appears I broke your curse. How?”

“With your kiss.” Zelus nodded to the couch. “What do we do?”

“According to your brother and his partner, we screw and you get to stick around. I’ll fall in love with you in time.” He patted the cushion. “Sit. I’m still sorting this all out.”

“I understand.” Zelus kept space between them, but ended up on the couch. “First, let’s kiss. We need to be sure we want to do this.” He inched closer to Camden. “I know I’m fascinated with you, but I don’t want you to be unsure about me.”

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