Landon's Desire (Book Three of The Pulse Series 3) (13 page)

Landon reached out and touched his cheek, a heartwarming smile in his eyes. “Babes, relax, you put way too much pressure on yourself. All I’m asking for is today and the possibility of a tomorrow. I’m not asking for forever…not yet anyway,” he winked.

There was that wink, the one that melted Carl’s fears away for the moment and put him in a good place…for now.

They drove into a fenced area. Landon followed the tar mac to a large plain unmarked building surrounded by small aircraft.

“We’re here,” Landon announced and jumped out of the truck.

“I thought we were going to dinner?” Carl asked.

“We are.” Landon took his hand and lead him through a door into an empty bunker. “We’re going to this great little diner in Manhatten that has the most amazing burgers.”

“New York?”

“That’s the plan.”

“So let me get this straight,” Carl said, as they walked through the building, the sound of their steps echoing around them as the plane’s engine starting, “we’re going to New York city for a burger?”

“Yes.”

Landon made it sound as if it were like crossing the street to a hotdog stand, like walking to the corner store, like it was an everyday thing.

“You’re out of your fucking mind…this must be costing you a fortune.”

“You let me worry about that.”

A pilot stood at the side of the small jet and held out his hand. “Good evening Mr. Kyle, everything is all set, we will be taking off shortly.”

“Thanks Jake,” Landon said, and led Carl inside.

The interior was all white leather, with a small amount of dark wood added for detail. Nothing overly fancy or pretentious, but Carl still felt like a pauper in a king’s world, out of place.

“You like flying?” Landon asked, as they sat.

“I’ve never flown,” Carl said. He had a sudden nervous feeling in his gut.

“Well you’re going to love it, there’s nothing like it.”

“Landon.”

“Yeah?”

“How the fuck can you afford all this?” Carl asked. “You’re a bouncer in a night club, you can’t be making much more than I do and there’s no fucking way I could afford going to McDonald’s much less flying to New York for a burger and fries.”

Landon didn’t usually share that part of his life with others in fear he’d be treated differently for what he had and not who he was. He lived with little to nothing, a paltry existence that he liked, where everything he had could be carried in a duffle bag. It made his life easier to merely fit into the lifestyle of others.

“My old man had money, he died a few years back and left it all to me,” he said. “Not too many people are aware of who I am, I like it that way and want to keep it that way. You have to keep my secret, Carl.”

“Call me a moron, but I don’t know what you’re talking about, who are you?” Carl laughed.

Landon blew out a breath between puckered lips, it was now or never, let the guy know and place the ball in his court.

“My full name is Roberto Landon Liberatore, I use my mother’s maiden name Kyle, my father owned Liberator Industries.”

Carl’s brows shot to the sky, his mouth fell open and all that came out was, “Whoa.”

Liberator Industries was one of the largest, if not
the
largest car import company in the world. They imported and exported luxury vehicles, one-of-a-kind creations only the wealthiest of wealthy could afford. Kings and such owned cars specially customized and delivered by Liberator.

“See that’s exactly why I don’t tell anyone,” Landon said, turning his head to look out the window. “I shouldn’t have told you.”

“Ace?”

“What?”

“Ace, look at me.”

Landon slowly looked over with a deep crease in his brow.

“It’s impressive, what can I say? But it’s still not going to get me in your bed. All the money in the world isn’t going to change my mind about you,” Carl said. “I like you, not your money, not this fancy ass plane or the race track, it’s you I like.”

“It’s a practice track.” Landon corrected for the umpteenth time, not sure why at this very moment it mattered. Carl was admitting he liked him without hesitation.

“Okay, so I really fucking like the
practice track
,” Carl declared, making quotations in the air. “It’s still not going to get you a blowjob, Ace.”

Landon roared with laughter. “Wait until you try the burger, you may just change your mind about that blowjob after that.”

He was relieved that Carl was truly disinterested in the fact that he was worth a small fortune. It was refreshing that when the name Liberatore was said, it changed nothing.

The captain announced they would be taxiing to the runway in a few minutes. Landon helped buckle Carl in and held his hand.

Carl didn’t say he was nervous in so many words, but when the color drained from his face and his hold tightened into a death grip during takeoff, Landon was pretty sure Carl wouldn’t be suggesting any overseas vacations. He held Carl’s hand and talked to him calmly the entire time about nothing in particular. Carl probably wasn’t listening anyway.

***

“You win,” Carl announced, wiping his chin with a paper napkin. “That was the best burger ever.”

“Did I lie?” Landon grinned. “Well worth the flight, right?”

“Almost.” Carl eyed Landon, dipped a fry into Landon’s gravy and taking a bite.

He double dipped the remaining half into the gravy and held it to Landon’s mouth, watching as his lips parted and he bit into the fry, his tongue swept over his lips licking off the gravy.

“Can I ask you something personal?” Carl asked.

“Sure you can.”

“How did your dad feel about your being gay?”

Landon smirked. “My family accepted my coming out, not one of them has ever said a negative thing, not to my face anyway. I was very young, fourteen when I confessed that I was attracted to boys. My dad told me to stand proud, but be careful who I shared with because people in general were ignorant. He was my biggest supporter. I got picked on and beat up on more than one occasion and he cleaned me up, brushed me off and made sure I was good again…and then he enrolled me in defense classes.”

“When you talk about your father’s business though, something seems off,”

“My dad assumed that me being his only son, I would take over the family business and step in where he left off,” Landon said, offering a fry and watching Carl bite into it, popping the other half into his own mouth. This sharing food thing was sexy as hell, he could gladly sit there feeding Carl all day.

“You had other ideas?”

“Law enforcement,” Landon said, stealing a pickle from the side of Carl’s plate. “When I was fifteen, my friend Willy used to get himself in trouble at least once a week, his parents finally had enough and sent him to this prevention program. My mom thought it would be a good thing to send me along too.”

Landon laughed at the memory and took a bite out of his burger.

“We sat in a courtroom and watched as prisoners were sentenced, that was kinda cool, then we toured jail cells. They locked us in for about a half hour while convicts strolled passed the cells and told us their story. That was cool too.”

Landon picked another pickle from Carl’s plate and Carl dipped a fry into Landon’s gravy and Landon smiled, he’d have to take him for food more often. The idea of ordering in and sharing the food and something more for desert had him growing hard. He swallowed and got back to the conversation before he lost control.

“Then we toured the police station, got finger printed and our mug shots taken, I still have mine, and we sat in the briefing room and listened to the cops stories,” Landon held out a fry smothered in gravy to Carl’s mouth, his tongue darted out and licked off the gravy before he bit it. Landon nearly ignited at the sight. He cleared his throat and took a gulp from his beer glass.

“Anyway…there was this one cop, he kept watching me the whole time, he pulled me to the side told me I didn’t fit into the group, that I had the potential to be something great. He took me to his office and showed me his diplomas, pictures of him and the Mayor, stuff like that. He let me hold his gun, that was the coolest fucking thing, and gave me a badge to keep. I went back to school on Monday and all I wanted was to be a police officer. He’s the reason I joined the force.”

“So why are you a bouncer in a night club, what happened to your dream of being a cop?” Carl asked, taking a sip of beer.

“I was a cop, I left the force a few years after my partner was killed.” Landon pushed his plate to the side and wiped his mouth with a paper napkin, balling it up and tossing it onto his half eaten burger. “I went into private eye work and a year later my old man died. I take care of Liberator now…in the end he got what he wanted.”

The conversation was getting far too melancholy for Landon’s liking. “When you’re done we should take a walk around time square, before heading back. The entertainment value of just watching people in this town is incredible, you’ll love it.”

“I’m game,” Carl said, wiping his mouth and laying his napkin over his plate.

Carl took his wallet from his back pocket, a wonderful gesture but Landon wouldn’t let it happen, he put his hand over Carl’s and grinned. “I asked you on this date, I’ll get this.”

“You don’t think you’ve done enough?”

“No,” Landon said, honestly. “There’s so much more I want to do.”

Carl wasn’t sure if he meant while in New York or in general. The smile in Landon’s eyes could have been taken either way. He was a breath of fresh air. Landon had no hidden agenda, he merely wanted to spend time with him and Carl was starting to get used to the idea.

“Such as?” he asked.

“All in good time,” Landon said, “It’s a great big world out there Mr. Ward and I’d like to show you some of my favorite parts, if you’ll let me,”

“Will it involve much flying?” Carl joked.

“We’ll get you sedatives, to help you relax,” Landon laughed.

“So yeah,” Carl concluded, with a less than happy look on his face.

Landon stood and held out his hand, “Let’s get outta here.” Carl hesitated, looking around the crowded restaurant. “Are you still not sure about this, Babes?”

Carl placed his hand in Landon’s and stood beside him. “Sorry, it’s just all so new.”

“I can live with that answer,” Landon said. “We’re in New York, no one knows us here…we fit perfectly in this crazy town.”

Time Square was like a neon nightmare, with colored billboards, lights beaming from all directions and people scurrying about, a mix-match of cultures and cosmopolitan styles that made no sense. Music in a variety of genres collided unpleasantly together, mingling with car horns, street advertisers offering every kind of entertainment imaginable, from strippers, to tattoos, to hookers, mixed into nothing but pure noise.

There was no sense trying to carry on a conversation, screaming at each other wasn’t Carl’s idea of fun and Landon sensed it with the grip he had on his hand. New York certainly wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

“Home?” Landon yelled over the crowd.

“Please,” Carl hollered, while nodding.

Landon hailed a cab, which Carl noted took great skill, and less than an hour later they were on their way back home.

Carl lifted Landon’s hand to his mouth and kissed his knuckles. Landon smiled and tilted his head in question.

“Thanks, I had a really great time.”

“I’m glad. I’d do anything to see that look on your face, Babes.”

“What look?”

“Sexy as fuck pleasure.”

He was sure he was doing some very unmanly blushing, Carl could feel the heat in his cheeks. He laid his head back and closed his eyes trying to appear unflustered and Landon grinned at the affect he was having on him.

Arriving home, the club was in full swing. The dance area and bar were packed like sardines as they walked through to get to the elevator to Carl’s apartment.

“I guess this is good night,” Landon said.

“I’m not tired,” Carl said, catching Landon by surprise.

Not sure he heard him right, or was making his comment out to be something more he said, “Neither am I,” and waited.

“We could watch some TV or a movie,” Carl suggested.

“Your place or mine?” Landon asked.

“Mine,” Carl said. “Mine’s bigger.”

Landon raised his brows and chuckled. “Think so, eh?”

Catching the innuendo Carl scowled, “You want to go upstairs or not?”

Good old Carl was back, Landon shook his head. “You know I do, I’m just fucking with you…like usual.”

“I know, sorry.”

His stomach was practically doing flip-flops, he was as nervous as could be standing waiting for the elevator. Carl watched Landon from the corner of his eye, he was so sexy as he stood fiddling with his keys. Who knew watching Landon’s fingers sort through a keychain could make him hard.

“I’m going to change and I’ll be up in a few,” Landon announced, and then leaned forward kissing his lips gently to Carl’s. “I’ll bring up a nice bottle of wine for us.”

Carl nodded and watched Landon dart up the stairs two at a time. The elevator door opened, Carl stepped inside and let out the breath he’d been holding, touching his fingertips to his lips. His heart was pounding like a steel drum and he was sporting a healthy hard-on.

He jumped into the shower before throwing on a pair of black plaid flannel pajama bottoms and a snug fitting white t-shirt. He splashed on a bit of cologne and rubbed a few drops of the orange oil Landon liked into his palms, and ran his hands through his hair and into his sparse amount of pubic hair and laughed at himself after.

The knock at the door wasn’t unexpected but still his heart jumped when he heard it. As usual he waited for a second knock before answering.

“What took you so long?” Landon asked, leaning in the doorway in his usual sultry John Wayne style. “Nice jammies, Babes.”

“In or out,” Carl barked, breaking his thoughts of tearing Landon apart with his bare teeth. The naughty smirk on Landon’s face stirred feelings inside him he hadn’t been aware of, but was absolutely aware of now.

“Are you being snippy with me?” Landon asked, shouldering by him with a chilled bottle of wine. “Masi red, where do I find glasses?”