A Bid For Love

him in the least, and to have this sort of love set his heart galloping and drove him to assure his lover wasn't an illusion.
    "God, I love it when you pop up a Texas drawl. It's sexy as hell off your lips." Scott grinned and squeezed his hand. "And if we weren't thirty thousand feet up in the middle of business class, I'd show you just how much."
    Thirty thousand feet, on a plane where no one really knew them. Asher chuckled and leaned to capture smiling lips. "Maybe you can't show me the full depth of your appreciation, but I don't mind the Reader's Digest version, either. I think it might be a very good way to spend the next several hours."
    Scott's grin could have kept the plane aloft even if the engines gave out. "Beats the hell out of the in-flight movie."

    * * * *
    The hustle of rushing travelers chilled Asher. So disconnected from everyone around them. So alone. He shuddered. As he'd be in just a moment. "Scott?"
    The other man turned from his contemplation of various directional signs.
    "You took the train in, right? So you didn't have to pay parking?" He barely waited for a nod before rushing on, afraid if he slowed his courage would desert him. "Come home with me? We can make this weekend last another night."
    The snap of Scott's head should have dislocated at least one vertebra, those beautiful blue eyes wide. "You...you're serious? Really?"
    Lord, that smile could power Dulles International for at least a year.
    "Aw, darlin'. But I don't have anything I can wear into the office tomorrow. I need to stop at my place for a few minutes."
    "I don't mind taking you by there. As long as you're with me tonight." Asher truly couldn't face the idea of sleeping alone. Not after he knew what it felt like to be held in loving arms. "Or I could stay with you, if you don't feel comfortable coming to my place." God, pathetic. Inviting himself to Scott's. Heat surged up, burning his face.
    Strong fingers twined with his for just a moment before Scott clapped him on the shoulder instead of the embrace no doubt hovering just below the surface. "Your gorgeous house or my crackerbox. No contest. I'd love to crash with you. Come on. Let's find our bags and get to it."
    Asher nodded, some of the fear in his gut unknotting, even though he longed to take Scott's hand again. "Yes. The sooner we can be alone, the better."
    A short drive out of Dulles, then down to Foggy Bottom with its former-barracks apartment buildings. Asher gazed out the windshield as they drove, taking in the mind-numbingly identical tenements. Scott deserved so much better. Asher pushed away the niggling thought that his house would be perfect with Scott in it, and the wide spaces would suit Scott better than these grocery-shelved sardine cans.
    Too much too fast. He concentrated on the feel of Scott's hand on his thigh instead. That felt perfect, too.
    Parking was the usual nightmare, but he found a place at last. The walk to the little apartment felt incomplete without Scott touching him. Two flights of stairs behind that glorious ass felt worse than Hostage Training. He just couldn't make his hands reach out. Not here. Not home. Not yet.
    "Here we are." Scott fished the keys out of his pocket and turned the lock. "Closet, sweet closet. Come on in, honey. I'll just grab a suit, tie, and dress shirt out of the bedroom. Everything else is in my bags in your trunk."
    Asher nodded, arms aching to hold Scott, lips hungry for a kiss. "I... Maybe you can leave a few things at my place. In case." Lord, he felt breathless.
    "You sure about that?" Scott moved toward the bedroom, but Asher caught the stiff set of those broad shoulders. "I mean, I want you to be sure."
    Asher followed, unable to remain even a few extra feet from his lover. "I'm sure. If you are. I mean, if it doesn't make you uncomfortable." He clasped his hands to stop them trembling. Dear God, he wanted this to work so badly, but he couldn't risk making Scott uncomfortable.
    Scott stared at him for the longest moments of his life. Then that smile glowed again and a solid form pressed him against the door, nearly slamming it closed. "We're being noble again, baby. I think we ought to stop right now."
    Asher's body came alive, electricity flowing through every synapse, sparking in every cell. "Right. Stopping. God!" His hands gripped broad shoulders and he welded his mouth to Scott's. "I need you. I want you. I don't know how the hell we're going to make this work, but I want to try."
    "Music to my