[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Tyler's voice faded as he moved away from the door. "Fuck, it's not like he's supposed to
be here. Why am I the one who has to behave..."
Lucas couldn't hear anything more that was said, which was good for both him and Tyler
because Lucas wanted to kick the other man's ass. Furious, he cleaned himself off with a T-shirt
from his duffel and adjusted his clothing. He took a good hard look at himself in the mirrored
closet doors. He didn't like what he saw. In fact, he hated it.
But he would live with it, because there was no way he was letting Tyler win.
He took a deep breath and unlocked the bedroom door. When he entered the living room,
Tyler and Adam were standing beneath the marlin, arguing. They both turned to look at him
when he entered, Adam's face unreadable, Tyler's instantly adopting a nasty sneer.
"All packed up, straight boy?"
Lucas ignored him and spoke to Adam. "Explain your policy about fighting within the
crew."
A corner of Adam's mouth twitched. "Fighting over stupid shit means someone gets beat
up for a stupid reason. I don't interfere, if that's what you're asking."
"No one gets kicked off for fighting?"
"Not unless it gets out of hand." Adam raised a dark eyebrow. "Is it going to?"
"If I stay it might, yeah." Lucas let his breath out slowly. "And I'm staying, so it's
something to worry about."
Tyler's eyes bulged. "You're staying? Are you fucking insane?"
Adam held up his hand, which Lucas loved because it clearly pissed off the other blond.
"Why?" Adam asked, watching Lucas intently. "Nothing will ever be easy for you. You'll
probably struggle with everything you're assigned to do. I'm not letting you stay on just to have
you quit two months later. You'll ruin my show."
"I'm not quitting," Lucas stated. The moment he said it he was sure of his decision. He'd
always resented bullies and Tyler was a gigantic one. No one was going to intimidate him out of
something he wanted. Sure, acting out of spite wasn't exactly smart, but Lucas did want to stay
and Tyler simply gave him the passion to fight for it. "You can try to scare me off all you want.
You both can. But I want this. I deserve to live here just as much as you do. I'm good at what I
do and this is my reward. I'm taking it."
Adam crossed his arms, making his huge biceps bulge even larger. "So you're going to
give us attitude."
"No, I'll obey everything my captain tells me to. I'm proud of being a good crewman. I
can follow orders. But outside of the shows I'm not going to let anyone push me around." He
glared at Tyler. "I don't have to act gay in this house. I'll be gay for your shows but not in my
private life. I don't owe you that." He switched his glare to Adam. "No more groping. No more
kissing. None of that."
"Jesus," Tyler whined, "will you listen to this sanctimonious asshole? He's telling us what
he will and won't do? Like he has any right to dictate--"
"He does have a right," Adam cut him off. "He's not an indentured servant. I'm not his
master. Not in this house."
Lucas heard the warning and tensed for what was coming next.
"But on my ship, in that show, you're everything I want you to be." Adam's eyes were
dark, maybe dark enough to be black. They were the kind of eyes you last saw before you got
your lights punched out. "Whatever I tell you to do you will do, Lucas. Whatever I say, goes.
The first time you resist me, the first time you say no -- you're on the next banana boat. No
second chances, no forgiveness."
Lucas started to nod but this time Adam held up the hand for him to keep quiet.
"Men are going to have sex in this show. You're going to see it, you're going to watch it,
and you're going to eventually participate in it. If I hear or see a single thing from you that
suggests you think we're disgusting or you believe what we're doing is wrong you're out. That
doesn't just go for the show; that goes for my home. Tyler is my lover. He's my partner. We're
going to kiss and we're going to fuck. You're going to live with that or you leave."
Lucas swallowed. "As long as you don't force me to join you--"
"I'll only force you if you make me," Adam replied. Something in the way he said that
made Lucas want to step back from him. "But I know men, and if that ever happens it'll be
because you want me to."
It might have been a threat but to Lucas' ears it was a reprieve. He couldn't imagine ever
wanting Adam to force him into something sexual, which meant it wouldn't happen.
He nodded, his shoulders relaxing. "Fair enough. I can live with that."
Beside Adam, Tyler seethed. Though Lucas disliked him, he could see what Adam
probably found attractive in him. Tyler's eyes turned practically silver in his anger. They all but
glowed. And the mottled state of his cheeks made him look both young and somewhat feminine.
If Lucas were gay and someone like Adam, he might be into Tyler too.
Too bad the moment Tyler opened his mouth he became ugly.
"Why are you letting him stay? Just because he's got a good ass? Just because you're into
blonds?" Tyler shoved Adam, who was solid enough that he didn't move an inch. "What the fuck
is this about? He's not one of us and he'll never be. You're destroying everything that's good
about our crew!"
"I know what makes our crew good," Adam replied calmly as if he'd fended off a
hundred Tyler temper tantrums before. His eyes flicked over Lucas before returning to Tyler.
"What makes our shows work is tension, Tyler. Sexual tension. It's in this room. You can feel it.
It's why you're pissed. But we can harness that and we can make it work for us. I have faith it'll
make our show and our crew even better."
"Oh, there's tension in this room, alright." The venom in Tyler's gaze actually made
Lucas flinch. He began to rethink his chances of coming out on top in a fight against Tyler. Tyler
would fight like a bitch. It would be bloody and nasty. It would hurt.
"There's a fucking pecking order around here," Tyler went on. "I'm First Mate and that
means he answers to me too. If you disagree then I'll know you're lying about all of this show
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
