34 - There dwells a spirit, waiting to be released

Merlyn felt the hands release him and turned as he had at the club to look at the man—or god perhaps. And as had happened then, there was no one behind him. “He’s got to stop doing that,” he grumbled before breaking into a smile that lit up his face. “You’re mine, forever, just as you are now.”

Alan’s smile matched his. “I am, if you’ll have me.”

“Always.” Embracing Alan, Merlyn kissed him gently. And then again with rising passion. Suddenly he broke away to look at him. “The roses, they were from him?”

“Yes, a message for me. Not that I needed it. I was supposed to find them before you,” Alan snickered softly, “before you woke up with what I presume was the hangover from hell. The problem was, it was the first time I was actually human and, well it took a bit of getting used to. He told me to go down and take a look at you. By the time I got to the top of the stairs you were coming to. I saw the roses and later I heard you when you read the message.”

“And you wondered if you really wanted to choose me considering I was hardly in the best of shape right then.”

“Choosing you was a no-brainer, I’d already done that.”

“Even though you were a statue you could do that?”

“Yes.” Alan smiled. “Even then I knew I loved you.” He tapped his chest. “Somewhere deep inside was all the passion that you invoked when you made me. That allowed me to feel—or he did. I suppose we’ll never know which. But from the moment you finished I knew that you were all that I wanted but couldn’t have—ever.”

“Apparently you were wrong about that,” Merlyn told him, kissing him softly. “You have me now, and I have you. We have each other and by all that’s holy,” he glanced over his shoulder for a second to where the god had stood, hoping he wasn’t tempting fate, “nothing and no one will keep us apart.”

“Will you two stop taking this to death,” a deep voice growled, “and seal your union. Merlyn, you are decidedly over-dressed.”

“Oh hell, I hope he’s not going to be doing that often,” Merlyn muttered.

Alan laughed happily as he reached for Merlyn’s shirt, pulling it off over his head. “Even if he’s watching that’s not going to stop me. You and I, my love, are going to do exactly what he ordered and seal our union as he put it. Several times if I have my way. Here, at home, maybe on the way home as far as that goes.”

“I think I can handle that, even at my age.” Merlyn grinned, embracing Alan the moment he was as naked as his lover.

And he did handle it. Several times in fact.

The End

33 - There dwells a spirit, waiting to be released

“It’s not a dream; a miracle perhaps, the work of a god who understands love and need and the human heart.”

“I don’t believe in miracles," Merlyn protested weakly.

“Then believe in me. You created me, Merlyn. A dream, an unobtainable dream. That’s what you told Alton that day when you first showed me to him.” Alan stepped closer to Merlyn in the way one would approach a wary animal. “I’m not a dream and I am not unobtainable. I’m real and I’m yours if you will accept me.” He held out his hands.

Merlyn reached for them then stopped. “If I don’t, if this is so beyond everything I believe is possible that I can’t, what then?”

Alan smiled slightly. “Then you have a statue standing in your studio to remind you of what could have been if you had dared to face the impossible and taken hold of your dream.”

Merlyn nodded. “He talked to me, this god of yours. Twice. He knew that I dreamed of you. Were they dreams?” He searched Alan’s face for the answer.

“Yes and no. He gave them to you but he allowed me to be there, to feel them as deeply as you did, the passion, the desire. Those we shared even then.”

“And then he allowed you to become… human.”

“No Merlyn, you did that. He assisted I suppose you could say, but it was your need for someone to love that convinced him to turn stone to flesh, at least for a time.”

“But not… forever,” Merlyn replied, feeling deep despair. “Only for a few hours when it amused him to do so.” He turned away, staring out across the bay although he didn’t really see it. “You said you loved me. Are those just words he put into your mind, into your mouth, as part of his game?”

Taking hold of Merlyn’s shoulders Alan turned him around to face him. “They are my words, said from my heart. I do love you. Not because I have to, not because he is manipulating me, but because you are you and I am me and I can say with all that is in me, I, Ailín, love you, Merlyn.”

“And I love you, Ailín.” Merlyn touched his lips, feeling their warm softness under his fingertips. “But…” He closed his eyes, unable to look at Alan as he asked, “how long before you are forced to become the statue I created until he decides to let you return to me again for a few hours?”

Strong hands gripped Merlyn’s shoulders from behind and a deep voice said with a trace of amusement, “Do you think I would deny you your need for him, or his for you? Your love brought you here, his love for you allowed him to find you here. That is all it took. From this moment on he will remain human, with all that that encompasses.” There was a soft chuckle. “He’ll be just as you created him, and that includes the scar on his thigh, a reminder of the pain that anger and distrust can inflict.”

32 - There dwells a spirit, waiting to be released

Leaving his car parked by the side of the road, Merlyn made his way down the rocky cliff to the cove. A warm breeze ruffled his hair as he stared out over the sparkling water, his thoughts traveling back to the last time he’d been here.

“Where are you?” he murmured. “Have you given up on us so easily and moved on? Was I just a passing fancy, perhaps the first of many in your life? The older man to be toyed with before being cast away?”

“Never.”

Merlyn stiffened, starting to turn, but strong arms wrapped around him, soft lips kissing the nape of his neck as Alan whispered, “I would never cast you away.”

“I was so afraid I would never see you again,” Merlyn replied, his voice trembling with emotion.

Releasing his hold, Alan moved to stand before Merlyn, his eyes filled with remorse. “I had no choice. I couldn’t come back to you until now.”

Puzzled, Merlyn asked, “How did you know where to find me?”

“Instinct?” Alan smiled. “I’ll always know where you are. As they say ‘it comes with the territory’. It's a part of loving you.”

“If that were true then by the same token I should have been able to find you.” Merlyn searched Alan’s face. “But I couldn’t.”

“But you did, you know. You came here.”

“Alan this makes no sense at all,” Merlyn said almost angrily as he stepped back to put some distance between them.

“Someone told you once that you have to accept the unacceptable if you want your dreams to come true.” Alan reached out to touch Merlyn’s cheek with a gentle caress. “Now is that time.”

As Merlyn watched Alan slowly undressed until he was standing naked in front of him. He shifted his pose, the fingers of one hand touching his thigh, his hips canted as he bent one knee slightly.

“No,” Merlyn whispered softly and then more emphatically, “No!” when he saw a long thin gash along Alan’s thigh. “This is… insane. I’m insane. You’re not here. This is all a dream.”

31 - There dwells a spirit, waiting to be released

Three days had passed since Merlyn and the detective came up with a logical motive for the murders that didn’t involve him. She had called at one point to say the police had indeed found the names of three persons who had shown an interest in buying the okimono figures from Alton and were checking them out. She told him they were still a long way from tying any one of them to the murders but she wasn’t giving up hope.

Other than her call, the only ones he’d received were from potential clients wanting him to create something for them. If he took every order he’d be busy for months if not for the next year. Somewhere along the line he knew he’d have to go in search of another agent but he still wasn’t ready to do that.

The one call he really wanted to get he didn’t. There was no word from Alan. It was as if he’d dropped off the face of the earth. As morning slid into afternoon of the third day Merlyn was nearly frantic with worry. He couldn’t believe that the man who had said with such sincerity that he loved him would just walk away from what had seemed to be becoming a serious if still tentative relationship.

“Damn it Alan,” he growled as he threw himself into the beginnings of a new, life-sized sculpture of a nymph for one of his clients. He was so focused on his feelings of betrayal and loss that he brought the mallet down too hard and at the wrong angle on the pitching tool. A large sliver of marble flew off, striking his bare forearm. Swearing vehemently at the damage he’d done to the block of marble, more so than about the blood dripping from his arm, he hurled the tools across the studio. He heard the mallet hit the floor but the pitching tool struck something before it bounced off the far wall to land in a corner of the room.

By then his arm was bleeding freely so he barely took in the fact that the tool had cut through the canvas covering the statue Alton had so admired a few long weeks ago, hitting in the area of  the statue's thigh.

Hurrying downstairs he went into the bathroom to clean and bandage his arm. By the time he finished he was royally pissed at himself for being so upset that he’d made the stupid mistake that he had and then had a childish tantrum as a result.

“I need to get out of here. Away from… everything, at least for a few hours,” he admonished himself.

That decision made, he stripped out of his work clothes while trying to decide where to go and what to do. Suddenly an idea hit him. Quickly he pulled on jeans and a T-shirt, knowing he could just be compounding the emotional mess he was in at the moment but still needing to do this.

Grabbing his wallet, cell and keys he left the house, locking up and setting the security alarm as he did. Moments later he was in his car, heading toward the highway out of town.

30 - There dwells a spirit, waiting to be released

Merlyn paused at the office door and felt a wave of loss flood him. He’d been here so many times to visit Alton. He knew the room like the back of his hand. It had been designed with Alton’s flair for the dramatic with plush carpets and antique furnishings, accented with bright flashes of color in the paintings on the wall and the pieces on the glass-fronted shelves of the long display case that took up one full wall.

As he started across to the file cabinets he stopped, frowning. “Did your people take anything from the shelves for some reason?”

The detective shook her head. “No. Why?”

“Because there are some pieces missing from the display case.”

“Are you certain?”

“Very, yes.” He walked over, pointing. “One was there where the Forster dog is now, the other, a set, was here between those two. THey've been moved, I’d presume to disguise the fact that something’s missing.” He chuckled as he remembered what had been there, eliciting a questioning look from the detective. “One was a Japanese okimono of two men practicing lovemaking on a barrel while sharing a Kama Sutra kiss called the ‘fighting of the tongue’. Very erotic and extremely expensive. Actually the other missing pieces were also okimono. Three male figures, one kneeling with his mouth open and his ass exposed, the other two with very large cocks that could be placed… Well you get the picture I’m sure. They were small, between two and three inches tall I’d say, dating from the nineteenth century.”

“So the thief was apparently after those specific pieces unless either Mr Weber or Mr Hunt moved them for some reason.”

“Alton wouldn’t have. He loved all of these,” Merlyn swept his hand out to encompass the display case. “They’re part of his private collection. He enjoyed being able to sit as his desk and look at them. As for Brian, I rather doubt he’d have touched them. He respected Alton’s wishes in everything. That's what made him a good manager in Alton’s estimation.”

“Would they be worth killing a man, or two men, over?”

“Under the right circumstances, perhaps. An avid collector might have fixated on obtaining them. Or someone knew their worth, and that they could find a buyer for them who wouldn’t ask questions about how he or she obtained them.”

“There’s a large market for stolen art?”

“Not large like say for guns or whatever, but there are buyers as I said who are willing to turn a blind eye in order to have a painting, a sculpture or what have you in their very private collection.”

“I presume that Mr. Weber didn’t deal in or buy stolen art for the gallery or for himself,” Detective Jonas said.

Merlyn replied vehemently, “Hell no. Alton may have had his faults but that was not one of them. In his business he was scrupulous to a fault.”

“Then this definitely bears looking into. Not that it lets you off the hook just yet but it is certainly an interesting and logical motive for murder that covers most of the facts.”

He nodded. “At least maybe I can start breathing regularly again and stop looking over my shoulder for a potential killer.”

“Speaking of which have you heard anything more for the person who left the roses?”

“Nope, thank goodness. I hope whatever that was about is past history now.”

“Just be very careful for a while yet. Personally I wouldn’t count out your ex as the perp. Especially now that you’ve got a new man in your life.”

“Elliot’s not like that. Even during our last epic battle he was all verbal, nothing physical at all.”

“That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t threaten you to try to scare you into coming back.”

Merlyn thought about that then shook his head. “I wasn’t even seeing Alan when the roses were left. I met him later that evening actually.”

“Either way, just be careful.” She glanced at the office door. “And unless you see any reason to go through the files at this point, it’s time for you to leave so I can get on with what I have to do.”

“No. The files were just a wild idea and I’d say useless under the circumstances, though your people might want to check them to see if there are any inquiry letters about the okimono.”

“Oh believe me we will, and we just might get lucky.”

“I hope so. I want to see the murderer caught and as Alton once said about someone, castrated and de-cocked among other things.”

The detective chuckled. “An interesting idea although I doubt the courts would go for that. Anyway, I’ll keep you updated on what we find out.”

“Thank you, and thanks for believing in me.”

“Welcome,” she replied even as she took out her phone, an obvious sign of dismissal that Merlyn took to heart.

29 - There dwells a spirit, waiting to be released

“I’m sorry sir but the gallery is closed.”

Merlyn nodded at the cop’s words. “I’m aware of that but I need to go inside anyway. Is Detective Jonas here?”

“That depends. Who are you?”

“Merlyn Knight. I’m… I was a client of Mr. Weber’s. There are several pieces of mine on display that I would like to retrieve if possible.”

“This is a crime scene as I’m sure you’re aware, Mr. Knight, so it won’t be possible.” The sneering look of distrust on the cop’s face said it all. There was no way he would let Detective Jonas know he was here.

“You sir are an ass,” Merlyn grumbled in his best Alton impression as he took out his cell. Scanning through his caller ID list he found the detective’s phone number and called her. “I’m outside and the… nice… cop here is unwilling to let me in. Can you do something about that please?”

He could almost see her debating on the wisdom of allowing him entrance but in the end she agreed to. As he hung up he could see her coming into the gallery from the back. She unlocked the front door and told the cop it was alright to let him pass.

“Is there a reason you’re here?” the detective asked as she locked up again.

“Yes. I want to go through the gallery’s files.”

“What are you looking for?”

“That’s a good question. I’m not really sure but I’ll know when I find it.”

“Mr. Knight, I can’t just let you rifle through them. You really don’t have any right to. We can’t even access them until we get a warrant.”

Merlyn smiled. “Even if I’m looking for my contract with the gallery because I want to retrieve the pieces of my work on display and in storage here? I need to see when I can legally do that you know.”

She tapped a finger on her lips and then grinned slightly. “Well I suppose I could be convinced that you have a legitimate reason to get into the files. But I’ll be watching you every second.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

She led him back to the office, cautioning him not to touch anything other than the file cabinets. “The crime scene techs have been over the place with a fine-toothed comb of course but I still don’t want anything disturbed.”

“Understood.”

28 - There dwells a spirit, waiting to be released

“I know you are not a killer. My heart tells me so. And, if you want the truth, you are the first man I have ever made love to.”

Merlyn pulled back to stare at Alan, shaking his head. “How can I believe that when you’re so… such a fantastic lover?”

“You think I would lie to you? I was…” He stopped, gazing at Merlyn. “It’s true. You are the first. The only one. I think perhaps this is fated, that I was created to show you that you have worth, that someone can love you and care for you the way you deserve.” He dropped his eyes from Merlyn’s, saying softly, “Does that sound insane?”

“It sounds crazy and poetic and just what I needed to hear right now. I’m not quite sure how you manage it but you make me feel glad to be alive for the first time in forever.”

“Good,” Alan replied before drawing him back so that he could kiss him gently. “Alive is very good, and you are very alive and make me feel as if I was too.” He smiled somewhat grimly then. “And we have to do something to make certain you stay alive. Like find the killer before he completes his agenda.”

 “Alan,” Merlyn said, suddenly realizing something. “Is it alright that you’re here and not with the man you work for?”

“Damn, what time is it?” Alan looked around for a clock. “I could be in deep trouble. I told him I was going shopping to get some things the housekeeper needed.” He didn’t look at Merlyn as he said that, crossing the room instead to pick up his jacket from where he’d dropped it after showing the detective the sketch.

“Do you want me to drive you?”

Alan thought for a moment then nodded. “I could use a ride to the store.”

“And home after that?”

“No. The chauffeur will pick me up. He’s probably wondering what’s been taking me so long as it is.”

“Let’s get a move on then. I don’t want you loosing your job even though it does keep you on a tight leash.” Merlyn grabbed his keys off the side table. “How far are we going?”

“Just a few blocks.”

Ten minutes later they were pulling up behind one of the shops in the center of the city. Before getting out of the car Alan leaned in to kiss Merlyn and get one in return. “I’ll call you,” he said as he slid out of the passenger seat. “Soon, if I can figure out how to get some more time for myself again.”

“I’ll be waiting. I hope your boss doesn’t ground you for being late today.”

Alan grinned. “I’ll come up with a good excuse. Now I’d better get. I’m sure the chauffeur has been here for a while. I just hope he hasn’t decided to search the shop for me. That could be a problem.”

“Go then, and hurry.” Merlyn bit his lip before pronouncing suddenly, “Love you.”

If Alan’s grin could have gotten any wider it would have as he declared, “I love you too.” Then he closed the car door and quickly vanished through the back door of the shop.

It wasn’t until he’d pulled back into traffic that Merlyn realized he’d never found out how Alan had managed to get into the house and up to the studio without his being aware of it. He would have to ask the next time they were together. But for now he had something he wanted to do, if he could gain access to the gallery.

27 - There dwells a spirit, waiting to be released

The moment the door closed behind the detective Merlyn pulled away from Alan. “How did you get in here and why did you lie to her about being here with me last night?”

Ignoring the first part of the question Alan stated emphatically, “I lied to keep her from arresting you. Is that such a bad thing? I know you didn’t kill that man.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence but actually you don’t know that, do you? I could have dropped you off and gone straight there to murder him.” Merlyn’s face was etched with despair. “That’s what the detective was thinking. I’m the prime suspect in three murders now despite your vouching for my whereabouts last night.”

“So it would seem.” Alan took a step back to study him. “Someone doesn’t like you very much.”

“No shit. I wish I knew if this was aimed at me or if I’m in line to be the next victim.”

“The two aren’t mutually exclusive you know.”

“Depends,” Merlyn replied with a frown. “Two of the three murders took place at the gallery, and the third one was just to eliminate a witness. A smart cop, and I think Detective Jonas is just that, could wonder if I killed the waiter to make my story about him delivering a message to Alt seem more plausible.”

“That would make you a very evil man and you’re not. Even she has to see that.”

“She sees what’s being presented to her, which is three men dead and my knowing at least two of them. And then there’s Alt’s will that leaves me with a small fortune. I have to wonder who gets the gallery now that Brian’s dead. If it’s me then I’m really up the creek.”

“Merlyn, who gets everything of Alton’s if you die too?”

“I suppose it depends on whether I die before of after the will is probated. If it’s before then probably Alt’s mother. But come on Alan, she’s almost seventy and well-to-do in her own right. I don’t see her coming half way across the country to kill first her son, and then Brian and me just to get all of Alt’s holdings.” He twisted a strand of his beard as he thought about it. “No, her I’d definitely eliminate.”

“Probably, although she could have hired someone. So, who else stands to profit or hates you so much they want to see you in jail or possibly dead?”

“No one. Not even Elliot.”

“Whoa. Who is this Elliot?”

Merlyn took a deep breath. “He’s my ex and we didn’t exactly part as friends.”

Alan’s face was a study in contradictions, worry, anger and pain. “You were in love with someone else?”

“I thought I was, yes. We lived together for quite a while. Then I began to realize it wasn’t me he was interested in as much as my ability to keep him in the life-style he’d come to expect. The final straw came when he wanted me to buy him a particularly expensive car, that he didn’t need because he already had one. I put my foot down and told him I wouldn’t. That in point of fact I wasn’t buying him anything more or giving him any more money. I let him know it was about time he stood on his own two feet.” Merlyn sighed deeply. “It was a vicious argument during which things were said on both our parts that couldn’t be taken back. By the time it was over I felt worthless both as a man and a lover.”

“And you believed that,” Alan said softly, moving swiftly to Merlyn to embrace him.

Merlyn smiled wanly. “I did. Perhaps I still do.”

“No! You are a wonderful lover and the perfect man.”

Merlyn looked at him, chuckling softly. “You base this on what, the two times we’ve been together? I’m not certain that’s enough time to find out much about me, Alan. I’m quite certain you’ve been with men who are much more skilled than I, and given that as far as you know I just might be a multiple murderer, that doesn’t say much about me as a man either.”

26 - There dwells a spirit, waiting to be released

“Where were you last night?” Detective Jonas asked without preamble when Merlyn opened the front door.

“Tell me why you want to know,” he replied, leaning against the doorjamb, one eyebrow cocked quizzically.

“Because Mr Hunt was shot last night.”

“Brian?” Merlyn felt as if he’d been sucker punched. Brian Hunt was the manager and soon to be new owner of the gallery. “When? Where?”

“Approximately ten-thirty, inside the gallery.”

“I… hell…” Merlyn backed away from the door, shaking his head. “What’s going on, why is this happening?”

“That is precisely what I want to know, sir. Now answer the question. Where were you?” Detective Jonas stepped into the room, watching him with distrustful eyes.

“I was here. I went out earlier but I was back by then, before then.”

“Any witnesses?”

“To my being here? Of course not…” he started to say.

“Just me,” a voice said from the top of the stairs.

Merlyn spun around, looking up at Alan in shock. “What are you..?”

“Doing?” Alan finished his sentence with a tight smile. “Letting the cop know someone saw you here.” He walked down the stairs to Merlyn, putting an arm around his waist as he stared defiantly at the detective. “I was here all night. Trust me he never left because I was keeping him very busy. Wasn’t I lover?” He kissed Merlyn’s cheek.

“Is this true Mr Knight? You seem a bit, may I say surprised to see him here.”

“That’s because he thought I’d left, which I was going to but I forgot something in the studio.” Alan reached into his jacket pocket and took out the sketch Merlyn had given him the night they’d met. “When I heard the doorbell I decided to wait and see who it was. I’m not quite as trusting as he is and with a murderer on the loose, well,” he shrugged, “I didn’t want him to be the next victim.”

“So you’re ready to swear that you’ve been with him since before ten-thirty last evening?”

“I am. He picked me up at the library around what?” Alan glanced at Merlyn. “Five-thirty wasn’t it?”

Merlyn nodded. “About then I think.” He looked at the detective. “Yes, that would be right.” He could hold his glance steady because at least that much was the truth.

Detective Jonas tapped a finger against her lips as she studied the two men. “I’ll need you to sign a statement vouching to the fact that you were with him last night as you said,” she told Alan.

“Write it out and I’ll do it now.”

With a nod she asked him to repeat his story, writing it down verbatim as he did. When he’d finished let him read it and then sign it. When he had she looked at his signature and frowned. “I need your last name too, sir.”

“I don’t have one,” he replied tightly. “Ailín is all the name I have.”

“May I see some identification, please?”

Alan took his wallet from his back pocket, handing it to her.

“Open it please, sir, and hand me just the ID.”

 He did as she asked, giving her a folded piece of paper.

“This is a birth certificate, sir. I need some form of photo ID.”

“I don’t have any. Just that and…” he handed her another piece of paper, “my Social Security card.”

“This is highly unusual. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who didn’t have either a driver’s license or a state-issued ID card. How have you managed to get by so far without one?”

“I don’t drive and, well I really don’t believe that the government has the right to keep track of me that way if you want to know the truth.”

She chuckled. “I think the government believes otherwise. For your own sake I’d suggest you get proper ID as soon as possible. For now I’ll accept these, but I will check them out to make certain they’re legitimate.”

Alan nodded his head. “Be my guest.”

By this time Merlyn had managed to regain enough of his composure, such as it was, to ask the detective for details on Hunt’s murder. She told him that the alarm at the gallery had gone off at ten-twenty five p.m. The security company had immediately sent a man out to investigate when they couldn’t get hold of Hunt. He’d arrived at ten-forty, found the back door ajar and upon entering had discovered Hunt in his office, dead.

“One shot to the head just like Mr Weber, which suggests he knew his assailant,” she said in conclusion.

“It wasn’t me,” Merlyn said emphatically, running his hands through his hair in angry frustration.

“Of course it wasn’t,” Alan stated with a gentle hug.

“Apparently not,” the detective agreed, “since Ailín here vouches for your whereabouts.” She snapped her notebook closed. “Thank you both for your help. Mr Knight I’ll be in touch.”

25 - There dwells a spirit, waiting to be released

“I have sand in places no man should,” Merlyn grumbled. But he was smiling as he patted Alan’s fine ass and then reached for their discarded clothing.

“Next time we bring a blanket, but for now we just rinse off.” Alan got up and raced to the water’s edge.

“No way are you getting me in this,” Merlyn said, joining him and testing the water with his foot. “I’ll freeze my dick off.”

Alan laughed cheerfully. “Can’t have that now can we. I like it right where it is.”

“Me too, so you can take the plunge but me, I’ll just watch thanks. And for heaven’s sake be careful. It’s really too dark for swimming.”

“Aww, you do care.” Alan cupped Merlyn’s face in his hands, giving him a quick kiss, and then without warning put his arms around him and walked him into the water, dunking him under as soon as it hit mid-thigh.

“You… you…” Merlyn sputtered seconds later as he grabbed Alan’s offered hand, yanking him down into the water beside him.

“It got you rinsed off,” Alan said, grinning.

“And frozen to the bone.” Merlyn was on his feet and back on shore seconds later, Alan right behind him.

They dressed quickly, shivering the whole time, and then Alan snagged the carrier bag and they ran to the car. As Merlyn pulled out, heading back up the lane, he turned on the car’s heater. By the time they reached the highway they were warmed up enough that their teeth stopped chattering.

“If you ever do that again,” Merlyn growled.

“I won’t, I promise. Blue is not a good color on you when it's your lips. At least you didn’t actually freeze your dick off.”

Merlyn chuckled. “I was worried for a minute there. Now, where do you live so I can drop you off home before your boss actually misses you and throws a fit?”

“Just leave me at the library.”

“Alan, come on.”

“Please, don’t argue.”

Alan looked so somber that Merlyn didn’t have the heart to press the issue. “Alright, but someday you’re going to have to let me take you back to your place. When you trust me enough.”

“I trust you, I swear I do. It’s just... Like I told you, it’s complicated.”

Merlyn nodded, resting his hand on Alan’s thigh. He smiled slightly when Alan covered it with his to keep it there. Too soon they were back in the city. Merlyn was tempted to try one more time to get Alan to let him drive him home but decided he didn’t want to end what had been a wonderful night by arguing the point. Instead he drove to the library, turning off the car. Then he ran his knuckles along Alan’s jaw as he asked, “When will I see you again?”

“Soon, I promise,” the young man replied before tugging Merlyn’s beard with a grin, pulling him close enough that they could kiss. “I’ll miss you,” he whispered against Merlyn’s lips. “Be careful, please.”

“I intend to be. I’m not going to do anything that will keep us apart if I can help it.”

Alan nodded, kissing him one more time before getting out of the car. “I’ll call you.”

“You had better, because I have no clue how to get hold of you.”

“I will.” Alan crossed his heart. “I swear.”

24 - There dwells a spirit, waiting to be released

“If I wasn’t hungry before I’m more than starving now,” Merlyn said, tracing one finger down the center of Alan’s chest to the base of his now soft cock. “Sated and starving.”

“Isn’t that what they call an oxymoron or something?” Alan replied, looking up at Merlyn with twinkling eyes.

“Probably, but it’s still the truth.” He leaned in to kiss Alan yet again before sitting up. Reaching back he found the bag of food, dragging it to them. “We have…” he opened it to check, “sandwiches, potato salad, somewhat warm sodas and fruit.”

“Are you going to feed me?”

Merlyn rolled his eyes. “I think I did that already, rascal.”

“I’d consider that hors d'oeuvres. Now I need real food. Wait a minute. Rascal?”

“Rascal, as in someone who’s playful and mischievous.”

“I’ll accept that.” Alan sat up and dug into the bag for a couple of sandwiches, handing one to Merlyn before leaning against his shoulder. They ate in companionable silence, their free arms around each other.

As the sun began to set, the water in the bay turned crimson and slowly darkened to match the night sky. The two men lay back, watching the stars appear.

“I could stay here forever,” Merlyn murmured. “No cares, no worries.”

Alan turned in his arms to look at him. “What worries?” he asked as he scanned Merlyn’s face.

“Just… things.”

“Merlyn, tell me, please. I want to know everything about you.”

“I doubt that you do, really.”

Alan smacked Merlyn’s shoulder angrily. “Do not tell me what I want and don’t want. I’m not a child that you have to keep things from, even if you still think I’m too young for you. So out with it, what’s going on that you don’t think I should know?”

Merlyn smiled wanly, rubbing his shoulder. “There seems to be a distinct possibility that I’ll be arrested for the murder of my best friend.”

“You have to be kidding me! No way! Why would anyone…” Alan paused, frowning. “Best friend as in lover?”

“No, a real, honest to god friend who meant the world to me. Someone shot him and it’s beginning to look like I have both the motive and the opportunity, as the cops would put it.” When Alan asked Merlyn told him the whole story.

As soon as he’d finished Alan said, “Then we just have to find this mysterious man don’t we?”

“’We’ are doing nothing of the sort. I’m leaving it to the police. At least the detective in charge of the case seems to believe me and she’s doing the best she can to find the real killer.”

“But…”

“No ‘buts’, Alan, I’m leaving it in her capable hands.”

“They had better be capable because I don’t want to loose you now that I can be with you.”

“If I have my way you can always be with me. At least when your boss gives you time off,” Merlyn added when he remembered the restrictions on Alan’s life. “How did you manage that today?”

“He was busy with other things so, well, I sort of snuck away.”

Merlyn looked at him, worry in his eyes. “Are you going to be in trouble for doing that?” 

“Nothing I can’t handle,” Alan replied as he quickly changed the focus of the conversation by playfully pushing Merlyn back down on the sand, straddling him before he could sit up again. “Now I’m going to have my wicked way with you.”