23 - There dwells a spirit, waiting to be released

“Where exactly are you taking me?” Merlyn asked as Alan got into the car.

“Some place I think you’ll like. I hope.” He smiled before telling Merlyn to head onto the highway.

“If it’s special to you then I know I will.”

Alan leaned his head back, looking at Merlyn. “You’re very trusting, running off with me after only one meeting.”

“The same applies to you. After all I’m the one driving. I could kidnap you, take you to my hideaway and have my wicked way with you.”

Alan grinned. “Oh, would you. Please.”

“I don’t know. You sound awfully eager.”

“You have no idea.” Alan’s voice turned husky as he leaned over to place a kiss on Merlyn’s cheek. “I hate these things,” he grumbled, banging a fist down on the console that separated them. 

Merlyn chuckled. “If I’d known you planned on doing this I’d have taken my truck when I went shopping instead of the car.”

“You have a truck too? Oh, get off there.”

“Whoa, give me a bit more notice,” Merlyn grumbled as he swerved across two lanes of traffic to make it to the exit. “I think you just aged me a year.”

“Sorry.” Alan looked at him contritely.

“It’s alright.” Merlyn patted his thigh, leaving his hand there as they pulled up to a red light. “Now which way?”

Alan gave him instructions and a few minutes later they were pulling off the road onto an unpaved lane. Ahead of them Merlyn could see the bay, the wind stirring up the water into whitecaps. At Alan’s insistence he stopped just before the trees gave way to a low, rocky cliff. When they got out of the car Merlyn handed Alan the carrier bag with their supper, and then followed as the young man led him down the cliff to a tiny, sandy cove.

“I love this place. No one seems to have found it but me.” Alan put the bag down and then stripped off his T-shirt, that Merlyn suddenly realized was the same one he’d been wearing the night before. “Warm sun, cool breeze, water and solitude. It’s perfect isn’t it?”

“Incredibly so,” Merlyn agree as he watched the play of muscles across Alan’s chest.

“Now you.” Alan didn’t wait for Merlyn to act, instead reaching for the hem of his shirt, swiftly pulling it over his head and tossing it onto the bag. “I knew it,” he said as his eyes raked over Merlyn’s torso in admiration.

Merlyn laughed to cover his embarrassment at Alan’s scrutiny. “So you’re not going to throw me back and go fishing for someone else?”

“Not even,” Alan said very softly as he ran his hands slowly down Merlyn’s arms before gripping his hands, pulling him closer. “You’re a keeper for sure.”

“And you are totally crazy. You could find someone much…”

Merlyn didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence as Alan claimed his mouth with a long, slow kiss.