Used, Rare, and Limited Editions 1: Meet and Greet Read online

  "I just.” Wyatt crossed his arms over his chest and looked exactly the same way Archie did when he was trying to work his way through a tricky puzzle. “Mr. Chase was very clear with me that he knew Mr. McBain from the scene. I guess it just confuses me that he doesn't play with you. Unless...” He trailed off and blushed. “Never mind, I'm sorry. It's obviously none of my business, and it just dawned on me that I was making a whole series of assumptions."

  "Yeah?” Dave looked around the room. “Assumptions can cause some trouble.” He was probably making a few of his own. Everyone did. “It looks like we're going to be spending a week or more together, so maybe we should get them out of the way. If they're going to be weighing on you, I mean."

  But Wyatt shook his head and held out his hand. “Wyatt Cole, starting over. It's nice to meet you."

  "Dave Allen.” Dave shook Wyatt's hand and grinned. “So, Wyatt. Let's measure some stuff and see if we played football in the same stages of life. High school and college."

  "What makes you think I played football?” Wyatt was smiling at him, though, his eyes twinkling.

  "I know football players when I see them.” Dave held his arms out from his sides. “I can name every injury I've got and tell you that you likely have some damage, too—tendons take a hell of a long time to heal, don't they?"

  "Especially when the tendon injury was coupled with a knee blowing out."

  Dave winced and just like that they were bonding over injuries and games of glory. Dave figured that would keep them out of trouble until lunch, at least, and by then Archie would have arrived and he could vent a little frustration and discomfort.

  Wyatt turned out to be really helpful with both measuring and making practical suggestions for the shelves themselves. He knew which books were fragile, which ones really should be stored lying flat or were actually better stood up and alongside others.

  "Mr. Chase does have two or three volumes that are very, very valuable, but they're not kept in the house,” Wyatt explained. “To best preserve them and to make sure the manuscripts are treated with care—and to meet the needs of the insurance company—they are on permanent loan at my university. The books here are special, but none of them would devastate us if they were lost. We'd be upset, of course, but there are at least other copies in the world."

  "Your university?"

  "I teach philosophy. Sorry, Dr. Wyatt Cole. I tend to leave off the doctorate part when I'm here—it's a whole different mind set."

  "I bet.” He had no real idea, but he was willing to bet that kneeling for a guy would make you forget your PhD.

  "There they are. Wow, that really is a lot of books, Des."

  Dave looked up from where he and Wyatt were sitting on the floor and regretted it at once. Archie and Mr. Chase were standing far above them, smiling down, and the perspective wasn't one Dave really liked, given the circumstances. Not that Archie ever really lorded over him, and certainly never dominated him, but it was very unsettling to see Archie's unruly curls and smooth, handsome face next to that of Mr. Chase.

  Mr. Chase nodded. “That's more or less what your Mr. Allen said."

  "I bet he did. I'm surprised he didn't start reading them instead of measuring.” Archie peered at the nearest shelf. “Biographies of English monarchs. Just his speed."

  Dave snorted and got to his feet. “Wyatt and I have some preliminary drawings ready, Mr. Chase. Perhaps you can look them over while Archie and I have lunch, and then this afternoon we can come up with a plan of action.” He held his clipboard out to Mr. Chase, keeping the sheets that he'd used to note measurements on in neat lines.

  "Thank you.” Mr. Chase didn't even glance at the sketches. “I owe you an apology, Mr. Allen. I made very strong assumptions about you from things Archer had said, and I presumed far too far.” He offered his hand and smiled. “Thank you for not calling me on it, and for being kind enough to stay and work."

  Dave, to his intense surprise, blushed. “It's not a problem, Mr. Chase. You were hardly rude, just mistaken."

  "Des. Please. And while I may not have been rude, I was certainly condescending, given the now correct context of our relationship. Wyatt, kitchen, please. We have an hour or so, is that correct, Archer?"

  Dave looked at Archie and smirked. “How long do you think it's going to take for you to tell me what it was that you said?"

  Archie looked slightly uncomfortable. “We'll be back as soon as we can be, Des."

  "Good luck.” Desmond Chase laughed as he followed Wyatt from the room. “You can show yourselves out?"

  "Sure thing.” Dave grinned at Archie. “Lunch is totally on you."

  "I figured.” Archie looked at his shoes and Dave realized that neither of them had worn boots. Maybe they were dressing up a bit. “Come on, babe. I'll take you out and you can tell me what a horrible position I put you in."

  Dave realized with a flash of surprise that Archie actually felt guilty. “Oh, for...” Dave rolled his eyes and reached for Archie's hand. “Don't be a dick. Do I look pissed? They're nice people. I am, however, going to drag out of you whatever it is you said that made Mr. Chase—Des—think I'm a sub."

  Archie squeezed his hand. “This is going to be a lunch that ends in a promise for supper, I can tell."

  Dave grinned. “I know exactly where we're going, too. Come on, let's at least get out of their home for an hour.” Still holding Archie's hand Dave dragged him down the stairs and through the sunny entry, coming out in a fenced in backyard.

  "Huh. I expected a driveway.” Dave looked around and spotted a gate. “Oh, okay. The street's right there; that'll be all right for unloading. Now all we have to do is figure out which way to go to get to your truck."

  "This is why I'm the boss.” Archie tugged him to the left and around the corner of the house. “Ta da!"

  "Get in the truck, Arch. Tell me why you're the boss.” Oh, this was too fun. He was going to get Archie either pissed beyond belief with the teasing or he was going to get to the bottom of this shared past with Des Chase.

  "I'm the boss because I pay you, dipshit.” Archie hauled the driver's side door open and climbed in.

  Laughing, Dave got in the passenger side. “Okay, that much is true. I work for you. I fuck around with you. You drink my beer, I eat your chips, we're in some sort of holding pattern where we at least have the courtesy to tell each other if we fuck someone else. But that guy in there—not the totally hot halfback, the smaller, tightly controlled one—thought I have a tendency toward calling you ‘sir.’ So what's that about, mister man?"

  "It was just a conversation that had some crossed wires.” Archie sighed and put the key in the ignition but didn't turn it. “We were talking about work—his and ours—and I said I had a guy who loved books; I thought you'd like to see them, right? And you're a damn good carpenter. He asked some questions. My mind was on selling you as a carpenter and employee; he was listening with different thoughts in mind. Given that I used to play, he assumed. You might not have noticed, taken as you are with your body double in there, but Des isn't exactly shy. He liked what he saw and acted in a way he thought you'd understand. He was preening for you, babe."

  Dave laughed. “Don't be ridiculous. I know flirting when I see it. That wasn't flirting."

  "Des is a special guy; he flirts in his own way. How did his boy treat you? What's his name, Wyatt?"

  Dave nodded. “Wyatt's cool. Wanted to know a lot about you and me and being ... Normal."

  "Vanilla."

  "We ain't vanilla, Arch."

  "You are.” Archie grinned at him. “You're so straight laced I almost fell off the couch when you went for my dick."

  "I am not!” Dave laughed and made a grab for Archie, kissing him hard. “I might not want to be spanked or to call you sir, but I'm not vanilla."

  "That sounds like a challenge.” Archie was laughing right back at him. “Prove it to me. We'll start slow."

  Dave snorted. “Damn right we will. Come on, take me to lunch
. I want to talk to you about these books."

  Archie rolled his eyes. “Books. I suppose there's no chance at all we can have sex in the truck instead of lunch?"

  Dave considered. “What kind of sex?"

  The implied agreement was worth it just to see the look on Archie's face. He blinked twice and Dave almost saw the thoughts tumbling through his head, especially the ones about not asking if Dave was serious. Don't give him a way out was plainly on the top of the heap. “Uh, it's daytime, we're not in a garage, I'm thinking a bit of head?"

  Dave grinned and undid his own belt. “Okay."

  "I meant me,” Archie said with a sigh.

  "I'll do you after you do me. Then you can take us through a drive through for lunch. Best offer, man. You want to come in my mouth, you suck me off first."

  Archie rolled his eyes, but he also flipped the lever to tilt the steering wheel. “And this is why I don't bother trying to top you. You're too damn pushy and I'm too damn easy."

  "Don't think we're not going to be talking about this later on.” Dave got his fly open and shoved at his boxer briefs until they slid over his hip bones.

  "Later.” Archie leaned over and helped, tugging the elastic of the waistband down under Dave's balls. “Much later."

  Dave shook his head, bemused, and was about to tell Archie to shut up and get on with it, but Archie did just that, his mouth and nose hitting all the highlights Dave's crotch had to offer. “Oh.” There was something to be said for enthusiasm, but all Dave could manage was “oh.” He hoped Archie didn't hold it against him.

  He watched Archie's head move in his lap, the light colored curls sliding and tangling slightly at the back where Archie's bad habit of rubbing his head tended to make them frizzy. It was weird.

  Then it was really wild. A group of people walked past the back of the truck and Dave glanced in the side mirror. His cock, wet and warm in Archie's mouth stopped lazily stretching and started getting really hard, really fast. The angle of Archie's head, coming at him from the side instead of straight on was suddenly a huge turn on.

  This was dirty. Nasty, hot and dirty. Dave could feel the elastic around his balls and the waistband of his jeans was riding down too low; he wasn't exposed to anything but Archie's mouth, but there were people walking out there, and one of them could look back and see him there, in the truck.

  It happened. A man in a hoodie and new looking jeans glanced back as he laughed, and Dave lifted a hand as their eyes met. Cock throbbing hard, he didn't look away until the man did.

  Archie's tongue pressed against him and Dave looked down at Archie's head. “Not vanilla,” he whispered as he pet the curls. “I just waved to some guy. I bet that if Des or Wyatt looked down, they'd see your head in my lap, see me fucking your mouth."

  Archie moaned and came right off him, like he was showing off Dave's prick to anyone who wanted to look. “You want them to see?” he asked before he started licking Dave's balls. “Or are you too vanilla for that?"

  "Just wanna come, Arch.” Dave closed his eyes and rocked his hips, his hand pulling Archie's face to him. “Come on, suck me."

  Laughing softly, Archie opened up and took him back in, sucking hard. That was better, that was right, that was just perfect, the way Archie sucked and played. His head bobbed in Dave's lap and with a gasp Dave was right there on the very brink. He humped Archie's mouth and opened his eyes to look out the front window of the truck.

  Archie's fingers played with his balls and Dave came, staring sightlessly at the fence in front of them. “Oh, fuck me,” he said in a rush, the words ending in a decidedly rutting sounding grunt.

  Archie licked him clean and sat up, his hands already tearing at his own button fly. “Nice one. Come on, babe. You promised."

  "God, can't I even catch my breath?” Dave shook his head to clear the ringing out of his ears. “Damn. That earned you a nice hard fuck later, baby doll."

  "What about now?” Archie was stroking his erection, his chest already heaving—either from excitement or simply because he hadn't been able to breathe while Dave was shooting his load.

  "I don't think you can keep it together long enough for much more than a handjob.” Dave grinned and leaned way over, his mouth open. He put himself away at the same time, something that wasn't terribly easy to do given the angles he was trying to navigate, but he managed it.

  He was right, too, Archie was pretty far gone. His cock was stiff and ruddy, the smell of sex strong. Salty and hot, the flavor of his skin grew with every second and Dave knew that he wasn't going to finesse anything, not this time. He let Archie grip the steering wheel over his head, but he wasn't at all surprised to hear Archie's hands moving restlessly on it, skin moving on leather.

  Maybe Archie liked leather. Apparently Archie liked a lot of things that Dave didn't know about.

  He'd have to think about that when Archie wasn't drilling his throat. One of those big hands had given up on the steering wheel and was cupped around the back of Dave's head, holding him still as Archie chased his orgasm. Dave concentrated on breathing and let him go, knowing it wouldn't take long. He couldn't remember the last time Archie had been so frantic, so hard, so absolutely desperate to get off.

  Dave lifted one of his hands and pointed to the house, aiming up.

  Archie came with a grunt that was just as filthy as Dave's had been.

  Smug, Dave swallowed and let Archie stop twitching before he sat up. “So there."

  Archie didn't say anything at all until he'd stopped panting and had himself put back together. “So you don't mind a bit of oral in a parked truck off the street. It's not quite the same thing, babe."

  Dave shrugged and sat back. “Whatever. You've never asked me for anything more, so I assume you're happy. Come on, let's go. Buy me a burger."

  "Buy you two, babe. Gotta keep your strength up.” Archie grinned and backed out of the drive, then headed for the nearest fast food place.

  They skipped the drive through and went inside to eat. Dave filled Archie in about the books and the shelves, even going so far as to steal a few napkins and make some fast sketches of what he wanted to do. Between finishing off a bacon burger and starting in on a double cheeseburger, he outlined a glass topped case for the finest of the volumes he'd seen.

  "Did you talk to Des about this?” Archie was looking at him curiously. “Because he doesn't seem to think he needs anything this fancy."

  Dave shrugged one shoulder and kept on going, creating beveled edges and inlaid details along with dovetailed corners. “It's just an idea."

  "Do you want to make something like this, babe?” Archie's voice was low. “It's real nice."

  Again, Dave shrugged. “Let's go see what Des thinks about the plans Wyatt and I came up with. The regular shelving is first."

  "He wants hardwood, right?"

  "Of course, yeah. Even if he didn't, I'd go through the whole lesson about how pine wouldn't be strong enough without a lot of support and braces, etcetera. It's not a worry, though—he knows what he wants, it's just a matter of picking the wood."

  "He'll go with you.” Archie sounded sure as he piled up their food wrappers on the tray. “He's a bit of a control freak."

  "You don't say.” Dave laughed as they headed out. “So are you, now that I really think about it."

  "You're just saying that.” Archie dumped the tray and held the door open, smacking Dave on the ass as he went by.

  "Yeah, pretty much.” He quickened his pace to avoid another swat. “Hey, none of that, now. Not my kink."

  "Yet."

  Dave rolled his eyes and got in the truck. They were totally going to have a very long talk, later on.

  Archie drove them back to the shop and parked on the street. “I can't stay long, babe. I need to get back to the Watson site. Even if I'm the boss I can't take two hours for lunch."

  Dave nodded and leaned over to kiss him. “We're cool, yeah?"

  "Yeah, of course we are. Want me to come up?"

&n
bsp; Dave shook his head. “I got it. If I need to clear anything with you, I'll call your cell. Today is just about drawing up plans and figuring out supplies; tomorrow I'll start cutting wood and building. I'll see you after work, okay?"

  Archie held his face, his hand curling along Dave's jaw as he took another kiss. “Your place or mine?"

  "It doesn't matter. Call me when you're done for the day.” Dave kissed him again.

  "Okay.” Archie's hand slid toward the back of Dave's head and his tongue licked delicately at the corner of Dave's mouth. “Thanks for the blowjob."

  Dave found himself moving closer instead of getting out of the truck. “Same.” He let Archie kiss him again and opened up for Archie's tongue. “Hey, do we have a bit of time for—"

  A rap on the window had them jumping apart and Archie banging his knee on the steering wheel. Dave let out a long breath when he saw Wyatt peering apologetically at them through the passenger window.

  "I'm sorry,” Wyatt said as Dave got out. “Really, I apologize.” He was dressed in trousers and a light gray shirt, a leather backpack over one shoulder.

  "It's okay,” Dave told him. “He's got to go, anyway. Don't you, Arch?"

  "Yeah. It looks like my time is up.” He was laughing, though, and he didn't start the truck up. “Hey, Wyatt."

  "Hi, Mr. McBain. I have to go, too.” Wyatt rolled his eyes. “That's why I had to interrupt. I'm on my way to school for the afternoon and we saw you pull up. Mr. Chase asked me to tell you that he's down in the shop, and that he'd like to see you there if it's okay. He was closed this morning to deal with a buyer for some of the rare books, but he can't really stay closed much longer. I have to go; it was good to meet you, and I'll be there tomorrow morning to move books."

  "Thanks, Wyatt.” Dave shook his hand and Wyatt headed off with a wave toward a small car parked across the street.

  Archie started the truck. “Okay, Dave. Call me when you're done if you haven't heard from me. We'll order in."

  Dave nodded and closed the door. “Talk to you later, Arch.” He waited until both Archie and Wyatt had driven off, then walked around to the shop door and went in.