CHAPTER 1

“Mmm, that was heavenly.” Bart purred seductively, stretching with feline grace under the blanket, a sated smile on his full, sexy lips. “A penny for your thoughts,” he continued, tracing the contour of Brian’s face.

“I was thinking about us, our children, the wonderful life we have together and the years to come, which I want to spend by your side.” The other man replied, his unique eyes shining with affection. “After the nasty number Cole played on my self-esteem and feelings, I saw myself unworthy of love, and still, I found you, who didn’t think like the others.”

“Well, I think we have to thank that moron Cole, and the other stupid ass, my crush from high school.” Bart grinned, trying to brighten the atmosphere, which became a bit gloomy. “If that guy gave me attention and affection, and that pathetic ex of yours treated you better, none of this would have been possible.” The blond gestured around the room.

Brian didn’t answer right away, but the smile that lingered on his face the whole time, became brighter. After a few more seconds, he broke the silence. “You’re right as always, my smol bean.” After another, shorter break, he continued. “Your words made me think, for the first time in years, about Albert Finkel.”

“Who’s that?” Curiosity and a tinge of jealousy mixed in Bart’s voice, as a frown creased his forehead. He playfully nudged his husband in the side. “Come on, spill the beans, I want to know everything about the competition.”

“You have no competition, babe.” Brian accompanied his words with a tender, but also passionate kiss on the other man’s lips, making him writhe and beg for more. “Albert was my best childhood friend, the strong, silent, protective type, and considered me and Edward his younger brothers.”

Bart propped up on an elbow, visibly interested in the story. “He sounds like a really nice guy, the kind I’d have loved to have as a friend, too.”The frown reappeared. “What happened? You said earlier you didn’t think about…Albert in years, did you two have a falling out?”

Brian sighed heavily. “I wish it was that; at least, I would have seen him on the bus taking us to and from school, and knew he was safe and sound.” A heavy silence overtook the room for a couple of seconds, then the man continued in a somewhat broken voice. “One day, he left, without leaving a letter or a note for me. I haven't heard from him since.”

Bart shrugged with a philosophical expression. “Maybe his folks owed money to loan sharks, and they had to move, so the bad guys didn’t get them. There are a lot of cases when the debtors can’t pay the loan on time, and…” He left the sentence unfinished. “Or maybe it was something else.”

Brian rolled on one side, facing the other, and, after a few moments of searching through the memories of his distant past, he spoke. “I never thought about it, but there was something mysterious about them, I mean Albert and Miss Julia, his mom. Rumors had it that she wasn’t even my friend’s mother, but an aunt, who adopted and raised him as her own, after his parents died. She was either unmarried, or widowed, because neither us kids, nor our parents saw a man living there.”

Bart let out a long yawn and stretched again, then shifted, getting closer and closer to Brian, until he pressed his body into the other’s. “I guess we’ll never know, there’s no point in finding answers to mysteries meant to remain unsolved.” He put his head on the broad chest of the man next to him, his voice turning to the seductive purr from earlier. “Better go to sleep, husband, tomorrow is another busy day for us both.”

“Again, you’re right, my smol bean.” Brian protectively wrapped an arm around Bart’s waist, capturing his mouth in another kiss, a mixture of sweet and hot. “Good night, sleep well.”

“Good night, babe.” The other man’s answer was accompanied by a flickering of his tongue’s tip over his lips. “And you better sleep tight, too, or else.”

With those words and a wide grin, Bart rolled on the other side, and, in less than two minutes, he was sound asleep, much to Brian’s amusement.On one hand, he was slightly envious of this ability of sliding into the land of dreams as soon as the head hit the pillow, but on the other hand, he was grateful Bart passed it down to their children.

A radiant smile spread on Brian’s face; it happened every time he thought about the seven wonders, like his best friend at The Base and brother-in-law, Julien, affectionately called his and Bart’s children. And wonders they were, not only because they were brought into the world via male pregnancy, but also because all of them, even the younger ones, were intelligent and mature way above their age.

Brian shifted in bed and let out a heavy sigh. Usually, when he couldn’t sleep, counting his blessings was enough to make him relax and welcome Morpheus’s embrace. However, this night was different, as, in spite of the efforts he made, his thoughts kept going back to Albert and the questions meant to remain unanswered, as Bart put it earlier.

With another long sigh, Brian sat up on the edge of the bed, stood, walked to the closet, grabbed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, then went into the bathroom and put them on, after getting out of his pajamas. All the time, he moved around noiselessly, a skill he honed during the years of an abusive relationship with his ex, Cole, when waking him up equaled a harsh punishment.

Don’t go there, Brian said to himself as he left the room, knowing that freeing the bad memories from where he locked them would make his emotions spiral out of control, leading to a panic attack, and it would take many days, even weeks, for him to get over it. Instead, with great efforts, the man managed to pull himself together, walk out of the room, get downstairs and leave the house.

Once outside, Brian took a long, sharp inhale, filling his lungs with the cool night air, then started walking at a fast pace, the warm-up routine of a track runner. Back when he just came to The Base, and the guilt crushing him kept him from sleeping, covering the distance between his house and the gates of the sanctuary really helped him.

And it was, of course, Lawrence. Former member of a special US Army division in charge with rescuing troops from enemy territory, honorably discharged and decorated for acts of heroism, the tall, muscular, tattooed guard, member of the Steel Raiders MC was Brian’s first friend at The Base, and shortly after he became the closest.

Well, Ardan, Elias, Fergus, principal Peyton, Leon, Serge Mills, Xavier, his son, and Mister Parker also welcomed him with open arms, but Lawrence was the only one the then-new librarian let into his heart and told all his secrets. His words of wisdom helped Brian many times, offering him a completely new perspective on his painful past and helping him free of the guilt he was carrying on his shoulders for so many years.

As Brian sped up the pace, heading to the gates of The Base, a frown of concentration appeared on his face. It was Thursday night, which meant Lawrence should be on patrolling duty outside the walls that kept children safe and predators out. Unless, of course, Lothier, the chief of security, hadn’t done some last minute changes, which happened quite frequently.

However, with each step Brian got closer to the sanctuary, his facial expression softened, relief replacing the frown from earlier when he recognized the silhouette of his friend Lawrence among the men guarding its entrance. It seems the benevolent deities favored me again, he thought amused, responding to the biker friendly waving his hand.

“What’s up, guardian of the books?” Lawrence asked in a voice laced with concern when the running man got close enough to hear him. “Trouble sleeping, again?”

“Yeah.” Brian slowed down and started in a hesitant voice, casting an almost pleading look in the other guards’ direction. “Well, have a good evening and an uneventful shift, guys,” he continued after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence.

“Hey, Digger, why don’t you keep our resident librarian here company for a while?” One of the men at The Base’s entrance suggested. “There’s enough of us to cover the perimeter, it’s not the first time one of us had an emergency and had to leave for a while.”

Another one nodded. “Wheeler’s right, it won’t be the end of the world if you go for a run with your friend for an hour or more. Besides, you had our asses covered too many times to count.”

“Thanks, guys, you are the best comrades a man can wish for.” Lawrence gave the other guards a warm smile. “Always happy to return the favor.”

“I really appreciate it.” Brian bowed in the direction of the bikers. “I owe you big time.”

“I don’t know why, but from the very first second I saw you, ten years ago, I had this feeling that you are going to be someone big one day. Don’t forget me when you get to the top.” The biker nicknamed Wheeler grinned and winked, then shooed the librarian and his friend away with a gesture of his hand.

For a while, the two men walked besides one another in silence, gradually speeding up the pace. Lawrence, whose left leg was badly injured during the last rescue mission he took part in back when he was in the army, needed more time to warm up than his librarian friend. However, the ex-soldier didn’t let anything stay in his way, and, on quite a few occasions, he gave Brian a good run for his money.

From the corner of his eye, Lawrence examined his friend, and what he saw worried him a lot. Something was weighing the librarian down, a secret or a feeling that was stealing his peace of mind and sleep. It wasn’t just because of the hot weather, although the temperatures from the last few days played nasty tricks on all The Base’s residents’ health and mood, from the oldest to the youngest.

It was almost like when Brian came to the sanctuary, ten years earlier, eaten alive by the guilt of not being fast enough when his younger brother Edward desperately called for his help, but still very different. Unlike back then, when the man was, in his mind at least, sure that everything happened because of him, this time it seemed he was rather searching for some answers to questions he pushed in the back of his mind.

He is trying to read me, Brian thought, slightly amused at the concentrated expression on his friend’s face, just like a shrink. I bet he’s taking notes mentally, too, he continued his trail of thought. They didn’t nickname him Digger for nothing; the guy digs into your mind and finds out things you didn’t know were there.

Indeed, Lawrence possessed a fine intuition and the ability to understand the feelings of those around him and resonate with them. These qualities came in stark contrast with the man’s solidly built body, thick beard and long hair, but made him a magnet for children of all ages who were rescued from dangerous and dire situations, found shelter and safety at The Base.

They say eyes are the windows of the soul, and Lawrence’s, of a deep, rich, warm brown, gave up his true nature, caring, nurturing, and protective, winning over even the most scared, distrustful kid, soothing their pain and silencing the fears that gripped their heart like a ruthless, iron claw. Those eyes were now gazing over Brian with a mix of brotherly affection and concern, making him feel guilty for keeping his friend in suspense for so long.

He cleared his throat and was about to start talking, when the other man’s slightly worried, slightly amused voice cut his tentative short.