Henri - 22

Henri - 22

 

Taegan showed up at five-thirty the next morning, as promised. The moment Henri got into the SUV, Taegan kissed him. "For luck," he explained, before commenting, "You look classy."

 

Henri had promised himself he wouldn't overreact to positive comments, the way he had last night—so he said "Thank you," and left it at that.

 

He was nervous at the idea of being on television. Surprisingly, in his opinion, it turned out it wasn't nearly as bad as he'd expected. Of course I didn't do anything after the initial introductions except hang around in the background while the reporter interviewed Taegan and Williams. God, Williams thinks a lot of himself. He's a good artist, I guess, but jeez.

 

After the segment was over, the TV crew left, promising it would air again on the nine o'clock news that evening. Once they were gone, Henri stripped off his jacket, leaving it in the closet in Taegan's office next to his tux.

 

"Now, what are you going to do to kill the rest of the day?" Taegan asked, when Henri returned to the showroom.

 

"Find somewhere not too far from the apartment where I can buy groceries and dishes."

 

"Give me a minute and we'll run a search first. It'll save you time." Taegan brought up a map site, entering Henri's address. "You're in luck."

 

"Great," Henri said, noting there were two groceries and a dollar store within walking distance, as well as a Laundromat. After Taegan shut down the site, Henri asked him, "If I find decent food, do you… Would you like to stop by for dinner?"

 

"I'd love to. It won't be until sometime after seven though." Taegan chuckled. "I sort of owe it to my poor, belabored employees to actually put in a few hours of work."

 

"You have been absent a lot, no thanks to me," Henri said, feeling guilty.

 

"By my choice, so don't worry about it." Taegan kissed him lightly. "I'll see you this evening. And, be careful."

 

"I will be. Besides which, it's too soon for Xavier to do anything, even if he did see or hear about the interview, unless he's here in the city."

 

"True, I suppose, still…"

 

"Honest. I'll be watching for anyone who seems too interested in me."

 

As he left the store, he heard Taegan mutter, "Better be."

 

Even though he was very aware of anyone near him, Henri felt a sense of freedom when he got off the bus a block from the apartment and made his way to the dollar store. He spent half an hour picking out pots, pans, dishes, towels and wash clothes from the rather mundane selection they had. From there, he walked to the grocery store a block from the apartment. He ended up buying some steaks and fresh vegetables, as well as staples—condiments, butter, milk, tea and instant coffee. Next thing on my to-do list, get a coffeemaker. And a microwave, he added, after walking past the frozen food section.

 

Juggling bags, glad he was stronger than the average human, Henri walked home to the apartment.

 

Henri – 21

 

Laughing, Taegan replied. "Probably not. It's still the truth. You're very handsome bait to boot, and I'm not going to let him get his hands on you again, no matter what."

 

"Handsome?"

 

"Figured you might latch onto that," Taegan said, kissing his temple. "From my perspective, yes."

 

"I'm not, you know. Not compared to you."

 

"What is it they say? It's all in the eye of the beholder. To me, you're quite handsome and charming and sexy…and quit blushing."

 

"I can't help it. No one's ever told me that before."

 

"Then you haven't found the right man. Or, I suppose, woman, considering you're admittedly bi."

 

"I thought I had, a long time ago. A girlfriend. But, as I told you before, she couldn't handle the fact she was aging while I wasn't." Henri chuckled. "And she never said I was charming and sexy."

 

"It's nice to know I'm the first one to see it—or at least to say it to you."

 

"Of course, if I said the same to you—" Henri grinned, "—you'd shrug and reply, 'I know.'"

 

"I wouldn't!" When Henri arched an eyebrow, Taegan admitted, "Okay, let's say I wouldn't be that blasé about it—I hope. I do know I have a certain…charisma. It comes in handy in my business. But that's it. I don't… Okay, I try not to flaunt it."

 

Henri smiled, kissing Taegan's cheek. "You don't." He pulled away quickly, looking flustered.

 

Taegan understood immediately why. Trying to defuse Henri's discomposure, Taegan joked, "You missed my lips by at least an inch."

 

"I wasn't… I didn't… Oh, what the hell."

 

Much to Taegan's surprise, Henri kissed him firmly—on the lips.

 

"Better?" Henri asked, pulling away.

 

"Much." Taegan gazed at him for a brief moment. "But…" Wrapping both arms around Henri, Taegan kissed him soundly. Far from resisting, Henri returned it in kind. When they broke apart, Taegan smiled at the slightly dazed expression on Henri's face. "I guess," Taegan said softly, "we've just proved we are a bit more than attracted to each other."

 

"I think that goes without saying at this point." Henri laughed suddenly, pointing. "And we have an audience."

 

"We what?" Taegan turned and grinned. "I suspect the geese have seen more than a few people kissing in their day."

 

"Undoubtedly," Henri agreed. "Still, I'd rather not be their entertainment de nuit."

 

"Which we will be if we don't get moving." Taegan gave Henri a swift kiss before gathering up the remains of their meal. Standing, he went to the nearest trashcan to dispose of the bags. Henri joined him and they strolled slowly through the Quarter to the rear entrance of Taegan's place.

 

"Do you want me to catch a bus home so you can get to bed? You have an early morning appointment." Henri asked.

 

"We have one," Taegan replied. "So, I'll take you home and pick you up around, ugh," he wrinkled his nose. "Five-thirty, I guess."

 

"People get up at that hour?"

 

"Apparently TV people do." Taegan unlocked the SUV. "Hop in."

Henri - 20

 

 

"God save me from shopping," Henri said as soon as he joined Taegan in the gallery. He had a clothing bag slung over his shoulder. "I have a tux and all the accoutrements, including shoes."

 

Taegan laughed. "Allyn strikes again? Why don't you drop the bag in my office? I should be free in twenty minutes and we can go feed you."

 

Taegan was as good as his word, telling his employees he was going for supper. "I'm going to make an early night of it," he told his manager, "since I have to be up at the crack of dawn for the people from the TV show."

 

She nodded. "I'll make sure the place is spic-and-span before I lock up for the night."

 

"Thank you." Turning to Henri, Taegan said, "I hope you don't mind a bit of a walk. The place we're going is on the edge of the Quarter."

 

"Fresh air and sunshine is fine with me."

 

A few minutes later Taegan said, "It doesn't look like much, but the food is good and if you want, we can get it to go across the street and sit in Armstrong Park." When Henri agreed, they ordered po' boys and chicory coffee, then went over to the park.

 

"No benches, for some reason," Taegan pointed out. "At least not by the water."

 

"So we sit under a tree and rough it."

 

That worked just fine as far as Taegan was concerned. They settled, shoulder to shoulder, leaning against the trunk of a very large tree. For a while, they ate in silence, enjoying the food and the ambiance.

 

When he was finished with his po' boy, Henri sighed.

 

"Something wrong?" Taegan asked with concern.

 

"Not at all. I don't think I've been this relaxed in a long time."

 

"Good. That was sort of the idea." Taegan smiled, studying him. He is relaxed. No worry lines, no frown, no tension. I wish he was like this more often. When we were down by the river, he managed to unwind some, but it came back when we got to his place and I insisted I had to go up with him to make certain it was safe. That thought made him glance around, being careful not to let Henri know what he was doing.

 

Apparently he wasn't careful enough, because Henri asked, barely whispering, "Do you see something?"

 

"Yep. A good looking man I'm becoming rather fond of." He bit back a grin when Henri turned red. "It's true, and damn the fact it's only been a short time. I'm not saying I'm in love with you. That remains to be seen. But as we've already established, I'm attracted to, and fond of, you."

 

"I feel the same, but I have to wonder…" Henri went silent, staring down at the ground.

 

"Wonder what?" Taegan asked, although he though he knew what Henri would reply.

 

"Is it really…real? Or is it the situation? Me, needing someone strong to help me feel safe. You…umm—" he glanced up, "—having a white knight complex."

  

"I'm sure that plays into it to some extent at the moment. But if I needed to go off saving somebody, I could find a lot of weak people who needed it. You, Henri, are far from that—no matter how you might feel about yourself." He put his arm around Henri, pulling him close. "You managed to survive what the bastard tried to do to you, by taking advantage of his…ego, I guess. His belief that he had you so weakened and so cowed, you wouldn't even think of trying to escape. He was dead wrong. You were cleverer than him and incredibly strong to have withstood what he was doing and make it out of there in one piece…and sane."

 

"And scared shitless," Henri murmured.

 

"Anyone would be in your position. It hasn't stopped you from being willing to become bait in our trap."

 

Henri grimaced. "I'm not so certain being called bait makes me feel all warm and fuzzy."

Henri – 19

 

Henri – 19

 

Henri shivered. "What if he does know I'm here and is just biding his time until I'm alone somewhere?"

 

"No one was with you at the apartment last night," Taegan pointed out. "He'd have tried to grab you then, if that was the case. We weren't exactly secretive about moving you in. And now, no one can get in without you knowing."

 

"I guess you're right."

 

"Okay,' Ransom interjected. "We have a plan we hope will work. Is there anything else we have to talk about?"

 

"Not that I can think of," Taegan replied, getting nods of agreement from the others.

 

"Then let's head out. Henri, Allyn and I will take you home."

 

"I can do that," Taegan said.

 

"Can, yes. But I want to double check the security on his place. Not that I don't trust whoever did it, if you do, Taegan."

 

"I understand."

 

As Ransom and the others started toward the front door, Taegan caught Henri's arm to stop him. "Call me, as soon as they're gone."

 

Henri nodded. "Now that I have a phone, I will."

 

* * * *

 

He did call, assuring Taegan that Ransom had stated the apartment was as secure as Fort Knox. "Allyn's picking me up around noon to go shopping," Henri added. "This is becoming somewhat of a habit—first for the barbecue, now this."

 

"Pretty soon you'll be the best dressed man in the city," Taegan replied in amusement.

 

Henri just snorted. "Not even close."

 

"When you're finished, why don't you come by the gallery? We can have an early supper."

 

"Sure. I'd like that."

 

"All right. I'll see you then." There was a moment of silence before Taegan said quietly, "Be careful."

 

"I plan on it. I don't have any desire to end up back in Xavier's clutches."

 

"If you did, I'd ride to the rescue."

 

Henri chuckled. "On your noble white steed?"

 

"Yep. Wearing silver armor and carrying a long sword. Now I just have to remember where I stored the damned thing."

 

"Don't tell me you actually own some armor."

 

"I do. Unfortunately it's only for display, so I doubt it's wearable. I got it a few years ago as a prop for some exhibit at the gallery. I can't remember which one. Oh, well. It doesn't matter. The main thing is, I would do my best to save you, if anything happened."

 

"I know you would," Henri said softly.

 

"Now off to bed with you," Taegan told him.

 

"I'm going. I'm going. You, as well."

 

"I am. Night, Henri."

 

"Night, Taegan."

 

When Henri hung up he was smiling. "I think—no, I know—I like him. And I'm pretty sure he likes me, too. More than as just a friend."

Henri – 18

 

"It could work," Miranda said that evening, looking at the men seated in Taegan's living room.

 

"We'd have to come up with a theme that will excite people. Something like…" Allyn frowned. "What hasn't been done is the question."

 

"A vampire ball?" Henri suggested.

 

"Done to death, unfortunately," Taegan told him.

 

"Ghosts," John put in. "Come as your favorite ghost, or dead person I guess."

 

"That could be fun," Miranda said excitedly. "We could turn the parlor into—"

 

"You want to hold it on the estate?" John asked in dismay.

 

"Yes! If we want to pull this off as fast as possible. Poor Henri has been on tenterhooks since forever. Let's do this, get his photo in the newspaper and on TV and see if we can draw Xavier into our net."

 

"Hang on a minute," Ransom said. "Why go through all this hassle just to get him in the news?"

 

"Because a ball would be fun," Miranda replied.

 

Ransom snorted. "You can party every weekend if that's what you want to do. God only knows there are enough of them going on around the city. You don't have to throw your own. Just take Henri along with you to one of them. Also, pulling something like that together would take much too long."

 

Miranda sighed. "And it was going to be such a wonderful ball."

 

"You can do it for your birthday," John consoled her. "In six months."

 

"Even though this whole party idea was mine to begin with, I think you're right, Ransom," Taegan said. "There's an easier and faster way to achieve our ends."

 

"What do you have in mind?"

 

"I have a new artist whose exhibit opens this Friday. There's going to be a pre-opening party Thursday evening for invited guests and the press. Semi-formal, hors d'oeuvres, wine, the usual. Henri will be with me, which should guarantee his face ends up in the Arts section of the paper, at the very least."

 

"I don't own any formal wear," Henri said quietly, even though he liked this idea much more than the party one. I'd have been like a fish out of water at some gala. Doing this and have Taegan right there with me… He smiled, glancing at Taegan.

 

Taegan chuckled. "I suspect we can find something that'll work in the next couple of days. Right, Allyn?"

 

Allyn grinned. "And a shopping we will go."

 

"You are all on the guest list, as of now," Taegan stated.

 

"Great, but why?" Miranda asked. "The reception photos won't be on the paper's social page until Friday."

 

"True…" Taegan paused, looking thoughtful. "However, one of the news stations is doing a special about the artist—Mr. Williams—and the exhibit on their Wednesday early show. It will repeat on the nine o'clock news. Henri will be with me, as my assistant, when they're filming."

 

"I've been upgraded," Henri said, chuckling. When Allyn asked, Henri told him about the rental application for his apartment, where he listed his job as a clerk at the gallery. "At Taegan's suggestion."

 

"Now," Ransom said, "it all comes down to whether Xavier, or one of his people, actually watches the news and sees Henri."

 

Taegan nodded. "Given that he tried to abduct Henri here in the city, and captured him not all that far from New Orleans proper, I suspect he's at least keeping an eye on the area for sightings of him."

 

"They probably are since, as I told you, he knows what I look like in my human form—from the last day at the lab before I escaped."

 

"If he hasn't already figured out you're still here, Henri, this should do the trick," Ransom said.