Page 8 of Demented

Noir couldn’t stop smiling. “I see you’re awake too.”

A sexy chuckle vibrated against his skin. “Theory disproven then.” Lazarus circled the loveseat and joined him. He crowded Noir’s space and eyed the drawing. “I’m awed by you. How did you get into this, anyhow?”

Noir shrugged. “I’m the youngest and there’s quite an age gap between my older brothers and me, so I was always alone. Obviously, I didn’t attend public school, so there was literally no one but me. I had to have a big imagination. Thankfully, there were books and art. My parents were more than happy to hire whoever was needed to hone whatever skills I have. As long as they didn’t have to interact with me, they were good.”

“Sounds lonely.”

Noir shrugged again. “I’m a pretty big introvert anyhow, so it’s whatever. What about you? What was your childhood like?”

Lazarus didn’t answer right away. Noir continued drawing while silence swelled. He didn’t want to look at Lazarus and make him feel uncomfortable or judged. Either he answered or he didn’t. It truly didn’t matter. Finally, Lazarus cleared his throat. “It was a lot of what happened to me earlier until my parents gave up and dumped me in the woods. I mean, that didn’t stop the meltdowns, but I was no longer their problem.”

Noir focused on Lazarus. “Your parents abandoned you for being autistic.”

Lazarus blinked. He looked confused.

The truth washed over Noir. He didn’t recognize he was autistic. Noir scrambled to fix it. “Don’t listen to me. It’s not like I’m a doctor. I shouldn’t have assumed.”

Lazarus shook his head. “You’re good. I just hadn’t considered that, but that makes sense. In fact, it makes a lot of things clearer. Huh.” Lazarus looked thoughtful for a moment. “Oh, well. I guess I figured out how to cope on my own.” A smile exploded across his face. “Maybe not healthily.”

Noir chuckled. He genuinely enjoyed just being with Lazarus. That never happened to him. “So, what happened after your parents dumped you in the woods? Were you raised by wolves?”

“In a manner of speaking. Turned out I wasn’t as much in the middle of nowhere as my parents thought. There was a cabin owned by a rowdy bunch of bikers nearby. It didn’t take long for one to find me when he stumbled into the bushes to take a leak.”

“That’s wild.”

Lazarus shrugged. “It was a long time ago, obviously. I’m old now,” he added with a chuckle.

Noir smiled. He never smiled, but he swore he never stopped with Lazarus. “You don’t look old to me.”

“Mmm. I know flattery when I hear it.”

Noir set his tablet aside and straddled Lazarus’ lap. He ran his hands down Lazarus’ bare chest. “You don’t feel old to me.”

The heat and humor in Lazarus’ eyes had something stirring in Noir’s chest. Lazarus wrapped his arms around Noir and stood, leaving Noir no other choice but to wrap his legs around him. Lazarus headed back to bed. “It’s time to sleep. You need rest.”

Noir wanted to argue, but it felt too good in Lazarus’ arms. He had no idea where all this was headed, but he wanted as much as he could get. Noir had never been this happy. He didn’t even know what to do with it.

Chapter Five

Noir:I think this is by far the most tedious meeting with solicitors I’ve ever endured.

Lazarus:Want me to send you nudes?

Noir:Always.

Lazarus:Leaving the doctor’s office now. See you soon.

Noir:I’m an impatient child. What did you learn?

Noir:Did you get everything from the beach house?

Lazarus:Yeah. I didn’t have much left. Mostly toiletries I just threw those away. Unfortunately, I had to do that dumbass list of chores these short-term rentals leave. I don’t know why they charge an outrageous cleaning fee if I’m the one doing the goddamn cleaning.

Noir:They charge cleaning fees? Leave it for them then. Fuck them.

Lazarus:I’m upstairs in the gym. Come join me.

Noir:Eww. Why?

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