Nine-tenths of the Law

Chapter Sixteen

After Nathan was off work, he came by the theatre. We only had matinee showings that day, so shortly after he showed up, it was closing time. By six thirty, the last of my employees clocked out and left the two of us alone in the silent, empty lobby.

“I finally get to see the place,” he said with a smirk as I locked the door.

“You’ve seen it before,” I said.

He laughed. “Well, I haven’t exactly seen it behind the scenes. Or quite so empty.”

I rolled my eyes. “Trust me, it’s been empty like this more times than I care to admit.”

“Nature of the beast, I guess,” he said.

“Such is business. So, want to see everything behind the scenes?”

“Why not?”

“It’s boring as hell,” I said.

He grinned, and his hand snaked around to my lower back. “I don’t know about that. Might give me a chance to map the place out for dark corners and shadowy hiding places.”

I kissed him. “It’s a theatre, Nathan. It’s full of dark corners and shadowy hiding places.”

His lips brushed mine as he said, “In that case, do show me around.”

“I need to go through the auditoriums anyway,” I said, freeing myself from his arms but lacing my fingers between his. As we started toward Auditorium Three, I added over my shoulder, “My employees don’t seem to understand the meaning of the word ‘thoroughly’ when I ask them to clean at the end of the day.”

“Those bastards,” he said with mock disapproval. “How dare they give us a reason to go into an empty auditorium.” I gave him a playful glare, and he grinned back.

“Dirty bastard,” I said.

“You wouldn’t want anything to do with me if I wasn’t.”

“You’ve got me there.” I winked at him. As we headed down the short hall that led to the seating area, it occurred to me that this was the same place we’d shared that smoky mint-flavored I never thought I’d see you again kiss. Oh, the things I’d have done to him then if there hadn’t been anyone else in the room.

If we’d been alone.

Like we were now.

I swallowed hard and willed myself to get my job done. There would be time for everything I wanted to do to Nathan later. For now, there were things I had to do, no matter how much his presence made me trip over my own feet.

Nathan leaned against one of the seats in the front and watched me walk row by row to make sure there wasn’t any trash or anything left to attract vermin.

“I can see why this place is so much cleaner now than it was back in The Looking Glass days,” he said.

I nodded. “That’s exactly why I do this. It took us months to get rid of the mice. I am not going through that again.”

“Don’t blame you.” He paused. “You guys really did an amazing job on this place. Hard to believe it’s the same theatre.”

I smiled. “Glad you like it.” I stooped to pick up a couple half-empty soda cups and a tray of nachos. “Though I swear sometimes my employees are trying to turn it back into the dump it was before.” I shoved the trash into the garage bin.

He laughed. “I think you’ve got a ways to go before that’s an issue. My friends and I used to wonder when the building would get condemned, but…” He looked around the dimly lit auditorium, nodding as if with approval. “I don’t think that’s a problem now.”

“One would hope.”

“So where did you come up with the name, anyway?” he asked.

“The Epidauran?” I smiled. “There’s an old theatre in Greece. In Epidaurus. I visited it while I was traveling Europe, and when Dylan and I were trying to think of a name for this place, it just fit.” Then I smirked and gestured at the walls of the auditorium. “Pity our acoustics are nowhere near as good.”

His eyebrows jumped. “I didn’t think the acoustics here were that bad.”

“They’re not bad,” I said. “But nowhere near as incredible as Epidaurus.”

“Can’t imagine their sound systems were that great back then, were they?”

I laughed. “It’s more to do with the construction, I guess. They’re not really sure if it’s the type of stone, the location, or just the way it was designed-and hell if anyone knows if it was deliberate or not-but the acoustics are unbelievable.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. When I was there, the tour guide told everyone in the group to go stand somewhere in the seating area. Anywhere.” I rested my hip against a seat. “Spread us out, all over the place. Then she went onto the stage and lit a match.” The scritch of the match being struck still echoed in my mind and raised goose bumps on my arms. “Even from where I was standing, I heard it like she was right there.”

He blinked. “Wow, and that place is how old?”

“Very,” I said. “Ancient Greece, so, centuries at least.”

“I have got to see that place.” He looked at me and, maybe it was just wishful thinking, but I was sure there was an unspoken with you right on the tip of his tongue.

Don’t get your hopes up. This isn’t anything serious. It’s just a-

“Zach?”

I cleared my throat. “Sorry. Was just-” Thinking about things I have no business thinking about. “Why don’t I show you the projector room?”

His eyes darted up to the window above the seats at the back of the auditorium, then back to me. There was something in his expression, some unspoken thought just beneath the surface, but all he said was, “Lead on.”

I held his gaze for a second, trying to decide if it was amusement or mischievousness that crinkled the corners of his eyes, then gestured for him to follow me. We walked in silence down the dark hall. The air in the hallway was cooler than in the seating area, so when I shivered, he didn’t question me. He didn’t need to know that the air temperature had nothing to do with it. The chill was anything but unpleasant, and a direct result of my mind jumping back to the afternoon he’d appeared at The Epidauran. When I stood in this very hallway, my flashlight illuminating his business card as the taste of his kiss lingered on my tongue.

I shivered again just before we stepped into the lobby, but either he didn’t notice or just didn’t say. From the lobby, I keyed us into a door marked Employees Only, and we went up the stairs to the projector room.

I shut the door behind us and gestured at the dormant projectors. “This is where all the bullshit and cursing happen.”

He eyed me and laughed. “I thought this was where the magic happened.”

“You would think. But really there’s just a lot of cursing and bullshit. Especially,” I said, stabbing a finger at the center projector, “because of that piece of shit.”

He chuckled. “That’s the one that keeps breaking down?”

I nodded. “I swear to God, if I develop a drinking problem in the near future, that thing will be directly responsible for it.”

“Ever thought about replacing it?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Ever seen how much one of these fuckers costs?”

“Point taken.” He laughed. He glanced around the room. “So do you ever catch your employees using this room for things that aren’t outlined in their job descriptions?”

“From time to time,” I said, trying not to grin.

The mischievousness in his expression was unmistakable when he turned to me. “Ever used it that way yourself?”

I swallowed hard. “A time or two.” Or ten. Or maybe a few more.

“Is that right? Do tell.”

I shrugged, trying to look innocent. “Oh, you know…”

“No,” he said, putting his hands on my waist. “I don’t.” He kissed me lightly. “Come on, tell me. What sorts of evil things have you done in here?”

“I once subjected an entire audience of unsuspecting people to a series of films by beginning film-school students.”

He grimaced. “Ouch, that is evil.” His hands went from my waist to my back, and he pulled me to him. “But that’s not the kind of evil I was referring to.”

“It’s the only kind of evil I know,” I said, trying to keep my tone playful even as he tilted his head and came a little closer. He didn’t make me nervous, per se, but damn if I didn’t start losing my mind at the mere thought of his kiss.

“Somehow I doubt that,” he said, letting our lips just barely touch. “I think you’ve done all kinds of things in here.” Then he kissed me full-on, parting my lips with his tongue and gently but insistently exploring my mouth as if he thought he could find the real answer to his question that way. He wasn’t that far from the truth. With the way his kiss short-circuited my mind, there wasn’t much I would hold back if he asked.

Keep kissing me like that, Nathan, and I’ll tell you everything I’ve ever done in this room and give you the PIN to my debit card.

But when he broke the kiss, he seemed more interested in the present than the past.

“Aren’t you afraid you’ll get in trouble if you get caught?” he teased, kissing just below my jaw.

“Oh, yes,” I said. “Whatever would I do if the boss walked in and caught me?” He laughed, his hot breath on my neck making me bite my lip.

“Depends,” he murmured. “Is he hot?”

I sucked in a breath as he nipped my earlobe. “I’ll leave that up to you,” I said.

“In that case…” His hand drifted down my side, then followed my belt toward the buckle. “I’d say your boss is smoking hot…” He nudged me back. “…and probably not the type to protest if a guy like me wanted to do something in here that I probably shouldn’t.”

I put a hand on the windowsill behind me for balance as he breathed against my neck. Swallowing hard, I managed to find my voice and whisper, “Such as?”

He said nothing, but he smiled against my skin when his fingers found my zipper pull. I shuddered, my eyes rolling back as his fingertips drifted over my cock through my jeans. When skin met skin and he stroked me slowly, I exhaled, my lips and tongue forming a whispered string of profanity.

“If I could,” he said, “I’d fuck you right here, right now.”

I bit my lip, trying to stay on my feet in spite of the way my knees shook. “Then maybe we should-” I gasped as his hand squeezed gently, then released. Wetting my lips, I tried again. “Maybe we should go someplace where you can fuck me.”

“We will,” he said, pausing to kiss the side of my neck. “Soon.” Another kiss, lower this time. “But not yet.”

“Nathan…”

“I can’t fuck you here,” he growled against my collarbone. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t make you come.”

A shiver rippled all the way down my spine, but Nathan was faster. Just before that shiver reached the base of my spine, he was on his knees and his mouth was around my cock.

Exhaling, I let my head fall back against the window and closed my eyes. One hand rested in his hair, passively following his slow, steady motions, my fingers twitching each time his tongue ran the length of my cock.

“Oh, fuck, oh, fuck…” The words came from somewhere else, some deep reserve of quiet awareness that could still form words and phrases. The rest of my consciousness was too caught up in trying to comprehend the electric pulses Nathan’s touch ignited.

With my free hand, I fumbled blindly for something-anything-that I could hold on to and keep myself anchored. Upright. Here. I found something solid, something metal, and held on for dear life as my back arched against the window. A sharp edge bit into my finger, bringing me back into reality for a fleeting second. When I looked up, I realized I’d gripped the projector.

At least you’re good for something. But that thought was gone as quickly as it had come, because I looked down just in time to see Nathan run his tongue around the head of my cock just before taking it into his mouth again.

“Oh, God, Nathan,” I moaned. As if they had a mind of their own, my hips mirrored his strokes, moving in time with his hands and mouth. The projector creaked in protest as I held on tighter, as my entire body responded to every flick of his tongue and squeeze of his fingers.

A deep groan vibrated against my cock and resonated through every nerve ending all the way up my spine, the sound so low I couldn’t actually hear it, but I felt it. I felt it loud and clear, and all it took was that subtle confirmation that he was just as turned on as I was to make my knees buckle, my breath catch and my vision turn completely white.

“Oh, God, oh, God, oh. My. God…” I managed one last gasp before my spine lifted off the window and I came, and even then he didn’t stop, still stroking, still sucking, still drawing it out until I was sure the room was actually spinning, until I didn’t even know what room I was in anymore and oh, fuck keep doing that, don’t stop don’t stop…

Half a heartbeat before it all became too much, he stopped.

“Oh, my God,” I half-moaned, half-whispered. “That-” His kiss stopped me, and as soon as I tasted myself on his tongue, I forgot whatever it was I was about to say. I released the projector and the windowsill and held on to him instead, gripping his shoulders as much for closeness as for balance.

“We should get out of here.” His voice shook as much as my knees did. Our eyes met, and it didn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out where he wanted to go and what he had in mind.

I still had a few things I needed to take care of here before I left, but didn’t care. I had paperwork to square away, two more auditoriums to look over, e-mails to read, but Nathan was looking at me like that, so I just didn’t fucking care.

As I straightened my clothes, I glanced around the room. Around this room I’d been in thousands of times before.

In the space of minutes, the place had changed. In some way I couldn’t quite put my finger on, it seemed different.

Nothing had visibly changed, nothing had moved, but the air was different. The atmosphere was different.

“Ready to go?” Nathan asked, and the sound of his voice made the connection in my mind.

The room was different because he’d been here.

It didn’t matter how many times I’d fooled around in this room in the past. This wasn’t the first time, but it was the only time that mattered. Nathan erased my history here, just as he had everywhere else. He stopped just short of writing Nathan was here across every surface upon which we’d fucked. Not that he needed to. I didn’t need any kind of graffiti to remind me.

“Zach?”

“Yeah,” I said quickly. “Let’s go.” On the way out, he rested his hand on the small of my back.

I’ve been here now, he said every time we touched. Nothing else matters.