Chapter One

“D

R

. M

ARKHAM

. ”

The voice called across the

university campus, and Aidan turned to find Senior
Detective William S. Walters from the Queensland
Criminal Investigations Branch barreling toward
him. He moved much more easily than Aidan
thought such a large man would, like an athlete,
and Aidan stopped to admire the view even though
most of it was hidden beneath the voluminous
clothes billowing around the detective. Aidan’s
cheeks stretched from the wide smile that seeing
the other man always brought to his face. He
couldn’t help it. The man was always cheerful and
had a great sense of humor. Aidan spent every
minute of their time together either grinning or
laughing, even when the conversation was about
something serious.

He held out his hand and laughed as

Walters’s own hand swallowed his slim one,
secretly loving the feel of being engulfed and

protected. “Senior Detective Walters. This is the
last place I expected to see you.”

“You’re surprised?”

“Pleasantly.”

“Good.” The detective nodded toward the

student restaurant precinct. “Do you have time for
a coffee? I have something I want to run by you.”

Aidan glanced at his watch. “Sure. My next

class isn’t until three.” He nodded to the tables full
of busily talking students. “Is this okay for you?
We can go to the staff lounge if you like.”

Walters laughed. “All those academic types

intimidate me. This is fine.”

“I’m an academic type,” Aidan reminded him.

“Yeah, but you have a personality.”

Aidan laughed, even though he knew a

number of people would disagree with the big
detective.

Once they bought coffee and were seated,

Walters seemed to lose his need for an urgent

discussion. Oddly enough, they talked about
Australian history.

“I just think it’s interesting the way the

government has a history of using handouts to
solve problems in society when it’s patently clear
to anyone that it couldn’t work.” Walters gestured
as he spoke, and Aidan was glad there was no one
moving around them. They’d probably end up with
their coffee splattered all over them.

“Which particular handout are you talking

about, Detective?”

“Call me Sam. In 1920, the Australian

government began a process of giving small
parcels of land to ex-soldiers. Of course, almost
none of the soldiers knew anything about farming,
and most of the land given to them was either too
small for the farm to be economically viable or the
land wasn’t arable. More than one-third of the
soldier-farmers went broke and had to leave their
farms behind.”

“Sam?” Aidan looked around furtively. “Are

you undercover?”

Sam laughed. “No. Why would you think

that?”

“Your name’s William. It says so on your

office door.”

“No one’s called me anything but Sam or

Walters since a kid at school decided calling me
‘little Willy’ was funny.”

Aidan snickered and flicked a curious look at

Sam’s groin. Even under the voluminous clothing
he could see there was nothing little about that
“willy.” He burst out laughing.

“Careful, Dr. Markham, or you’ll find out

exactly how I stopped Nathan Barnett from calling
me that.”

Aidan suppressed his laughter, but the grin

remained, along with an occasional chuckle. “No
need to threaten me, Detective. I’ll be good.” He
couldn’t resist another glance downward and
snickered again.

“Aidan,” Sam warned.

“Okay, okay.” Aidan held his hands up in

surrender and gamely suppressed his laughter.
“What made you so interested in that part of
Australian history? Most people are interested in
one or the other of the world wars or in the
depression era, but very few are concerned with
what life was like in the years immediately after a
war.” Aidan smiled. He could quite happily spend
most of the day watching Senior Detective
Walters, little willy or not.

Sam hmphed, clearly aware that the laughter

over “little willy” might have been suppressed but
wasn’t over yet. “My grandfather grew up on one
of those farms, during the depression. It was run as
a dairy farm through most of his childhood, so
while they never had much money, they never went
short of food. They always had milk and cheese
and butter, and they had chickens for eggs and
some pigs for meat. Of course, there was a
vegetable patch as well. Compared to many of
their neighbors, they did very well. It was still a
hard life, though.”

This discussion continued and Aidan barely

noticed the changes in the crowd around them. It
seemed they’d only been sitting there a few
minutes, but suddenly the lunchtime crowd had
disappeared and Aidan looked at his watch. He
surged to his feet, dismayed that this wonderful
interlude had to come to an end. “I’m late for my
lecture. They’ll all be there waiting for me.” He
took a few steps, then turned back. “What was it
you wanted to talk to me about?”

The detective shrugged as he joined Aidan

and walked with him. “There’s a case I thought
you might like to help me with, that’s all. My boss
will call your boss if you think you’d be
interested.”

“Is it another murder?”

Walters shook his head. “No.”

“Good. I don’t think I could handle another

one so soon. I’m still having nightmares from the
last one.”

“You should have said something. We have

access to all sorts of people who help us with that
kind of trauma. I could have put you onto

someone.”

“It’s okay.” Aidan didn’t want the man to fuss

over him.

“Nonsense. Seeing a dead body and thinking

about the type of person who would kill someone
else puts a stain on your soul. It’s important you
get the right help so you can deal with it.” He
stopped and pulled Aidan to a stop, too, with a
gentle hand on his forearm. “It’s not just you,
Aidan, and it’s not a weakness. Being a cop is
hard. We see a lot of things nobody should ever
have to see. We all need that sort of help
sometimes, and we’ve been trained for it. You
haven’t. Let me give you the name of someone you
can contact.”

When Sam explained it like that, it all made

sense. “Okay. I guess I could talk to someone.”

“Good. I’ll bring you the details later, okay?”

“Thanks.”

“When?”

“What?”

“When are you free? I’ll meet you and give

you the contact details of the fellow I see when I
need to talk with someone.”

Aidan’s heart beat faster. It was just an offer

of help, so why did it feel like he was arranging a
date? “I’ll be finished here by six.”

Sam nodded. “I’ll be finished with work

about the same time.” His hazel eyes stared
intently at Aidan. “We could meet somewhere and
have dinner, if you like.”

“Dinner?” Was it a date? Aidan looked

closely at the big man in front of him. The intense
stare was still there, but otherwise Sam looked the
same as he always did: relaxed and friendly. It
couldn’t be a date; Aidan was reading too much
into it. Before he could respond, Sam’s phone
rang.

“Walters,” Sam answered his phone.

Aidan stood and waited, painfully aware he

was going to be unforgivably late for his lecture
but unable to just walk away from this man.

“Right. I’ll be there in twenty.” Sam

disconnected the call and looked at Aidan. “Sorry.
I have to go. If I get finished early enough, I’ll call
and we can arrange where we’ll meet.” He ran a
big hand through his hair, the tight curls clinging to
his fingers before bouncing back to sit close to his
skull. “Look, I’ll call anyway, okay. Let you know
what’s happening?”

Aidan’s heart continued to pound in his chest.

Dinner might be on or it might be off, but Sam was
going to ring him and talk to him later. Was it a
date? Aidan didn’t know and couldn’t tell one way
or the other. Sam didn’t give off any “gay” vibes at
all. Maybe he just wanted to be friends. Aidan
hauled in a deep breath, telling himself to stop
fantasizing and just answer the man’s question.
“Yeah. Let me know if you have time to meet.
Otherwise we can make it another time.”

Sam grinned. “Perfect.” He stepped away,

clearly in a hurry to go where he needed to be, but
waved before he turned and strode down the path
toward the visitors’ car park.

“W

HAT

about him?”

Aidan looked toward the dance floor. “Which

one?” He really wasn’t in the mood tonight. He
checked his phone again. It was after nine, and he
still hadn’t heard from Sam. The man had said he
would call when he could, and Aidan had to
believe he meant what he said. That meant that
something bad had happened and Sam was still on
the job. Aidan sighed and turned back to his friend,
not at all sure why Baxter needed to drag him here
on a Wednesday. Ah. That’s why. Right on the
edge of the dance floor, clearly visible to half the
patrons in the club, must be what Baxter wanted
him to see. Aidan glanced at his best friend. Baxter
was a solicitor and he only ever went for cops,
firemen, or soldiers. Aidan had become expert in
picking them over the years. This guy was
different. He was big and beefy but didn’t stand
with the same control police or army personnel
did. He didn’t look like someone used to

mindlessly following orders.

“Okay, I’ll play. He’s not your usual.” Aidan

tilted his head, trying to hide the fact he really
didn’t have a clue. As he stared at the man from
behind, he let his gaze wander slowly downward
as the crowd ebbed and flowed, giving him
glimpses of more of his body. He spied what
looked like a ragged tuft of grass sticking out from
under the leather work boots, and the man’s hands
were broad and sturdy. His watch was expensive
and he wore a T-shirt with what looked like a
university motto on the back. “He works outdoors
a lot at physical labor, but he earns a reasonable
income and is probably well-educated.” He
shrugged, going with his best guess. “I’d say
something with natural resources or forestry.”

“How do you do that?” Baxter thumped

Aidan’s arm, making the drink cradled in his hand
slosh. “It doesn’t matter who I show you, you
know what they do.”

“How well do you know him?” His idiot

friend had no gaydar to speak of, and Aidan often

spent his nights off rescuing him from homophobic
bastards who knew how to fight. Aidan’s gaydar
wasn’t much better, but he was more cautious than
Baxter. Aidan checked Baxter’s face carefully. No
new bruises tonight. There hadn’t been for a while,
and Aidan hoped that meant his friend was
becoming more discerning when choosing pickups.

Baxter shrugged. “We’ve shagged a few times

over the last few months.”

At least he’s gay. Baxter was still staring at

the man near the dance floor. It was obvious he
was going to try to hook up with the guy again, and
Aidan didn’t want to hang around and watch it
happen.

“I’m only going to stay for another drink or

so, Bax, so don’t worry about me.” Aidan patted
his friend’s shoulder. “Go have fun.”

Baxter turned to him and dragged him into a

hug. “Thanks, Aidan.”

Aidan made sure he smiled as Baxter wove

his way toward the dance floor and sidled up next
to the outdoor guy. The crowd still hid more than it

showed of the man, but he seemed accepting of
Bax’s presence. Once Aidan had made sure Baxter
wasn’t likely to get hit, he turned back to the bar,
set his warm drink down and signaled to the
bartender for another, then checked his silent
phone again. The wistful yearning he was feeling
would soon drown in the beer.

“You get abandoned?” The voice beside him

was deep and resonated within Aidan, but he
nearly snorted his new drink when he turned to
look at the man. His nose was long and pointed,
casting a shadow on a thick, dark-blond
moustache. Large protruding eyes focused on
Aidan and reminded him so much of a rat he’d
owned as a teenager, he had to bite back a laugh.
Aidan shook his head. “Nah. He’s cool.”

“He certainly is.”

Aidan rolled his eyes. Some days it really

was too much to hope that anyone would find
Aidan’s slim physique and unassuming looks more
appealing than Baxter’s classic beauty. “Don’t
worry about the Neanderthal with him—try him if

you like.”

“You reckon?” Aidan had to swallow a laugh

at the liquid hopefulness in the man’s voice. Poor
guy must be desperate but not even realize it yet.

“Go for it.” He thumped him on the shoulder.

“What’s the worst that can happen, hey?”

The goggle-eyes widened in alarm, but Aidan

didn’t stay to see what he did. He moved quickly,
weaving in amongst the patrons to make sure he
left goggle-eyes, the outdoorsman, and Baxter all
far behind.

The air outside was fresh and cool after the

afternoon storm. Aidan breathed deeply, shoved
his hands into his pockets, and sauntered out into
the car park. His comfortable stroll was
interrupted by his phone ringing. He quickly fished
it out of his pocket, an unexpected sigh of relief
escaping him when he realized it was Sam.

“Aidan, I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier.”

Sam’s voice was quiet and apologetic. Aidan
could hear the din of a busy bullpen in the
background, even though it was clear Sam had

moved away from it.

“I figured whatever made you leave in such a

hurry was worse than you thought it would be. It’s
a murder?” Aidan had worked cases with the
police before. He knew how important the first
seventy-two hours in a murder investigation were.

“Yeah. A bad one. We have some solid leads,

but it’s still going to take time to track them all
down.”

Aidan decided to jump in with both feet. “So

are you telling me instead of dinner, you’re more
likely to turn up at my place for breakfast?”

Sam’s breath left him in a swoosh clearly

audible over Aidan’s phone. “Can I take a rain
check on dinner?” was all the detective said.

At least the big man wasn’t blowing Aidan

off completely, although the almost nonresponse
had Aidan backpedaling a bit. “Of course. Call
when you’re free.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry, Aidan.” Then the call was

disconnected and Aidan was left wondering

exactly what Sam was sorry about.

The relative silence in the car park washed

Aidan’s tension away, and he was smiling gently
by the time he reached his car and started for
home. If Sam said he would call, he would.

The traffic was easy, too late for the workers

and too early for the clubs. Aidan parked in his
driveway, whistling softly as he locked the car and
walked up the path. The evening wasn’t as bad as
he thought it would be. Sam had rung and said he’d
call again, he’d only had to stay an hour with
Baxter, and he wasn’t going to have to deal with a
hangover.

“D

R

. M

ARKHAM

,

if I could have a word.”

Aidan stopped and turned in the corridor,

repressing his irritation at the interruption. He
hated being late for class. “Of course, Director;
how can I help?”

The director gestured down the hallway. “I

know you’re on your way to class. I’ll walk with
you.”

They were both silent for a few minutes,

Aidan wondering what was so urgent it had caused
the director to seek him out personally. When they
were within sight of the lecture hall, the director
stopped.

“There’s another request from the police.” He

all but whispered the statement, his eyes darting
suspiciously around them. Aidan always wondered
why the man didn’t just call Aidan to his office if
he wanted it kept secret. “Apparently their
profilers are busy with other cases and they’d like
you to become involved with one.”

Aidan’s heartbeat increased. Sam hadn’t

wasted any time getting things moving. A flutter
low in Aidan’s belly told him exactly how excited
he was at the prospect of working with the man
again. The detective had the worst dress sense
Aidan had ever seen, but there was something
about him that brought out every adolescent fantasy
Aidan had ever had. Sam exuded an appealing

mixture of rough sex and gentle caring that almost
brought Aidan to his knees every time the man
smiled. He took a deep breath and forced himself
to think past the man to the case.

The nightmares caused by the last murder had

only just faded from Aidan’s memories. He hoped
this case wouldn’t bring more, particularly since
he didn’t even have the counseling information
Sam had promised him yet. He would never refuse
to help, though. It was the most practical use of his
qualifications and knowledge he would ever find,
and he felt good knowing he was working to bring
criminals to justice. In his own small way, Aidan
was a superhero, just like Batman or the Phantom.
He swiftly swallowed the giggle that imagining
himself in purple tights brought out. “Of course,
Director. Do you have the number of the officer in
charge of the case? I’ll call as soon as I finish my
lecture.”

The director pursed his lips, obviously

thinking the giggle was frivolous or a sign of
madness, but handed over the slip of paper with

the details. “Try not to let this case interrupt your
responsibilities with the university, Markham. I
remember last time, several lectures had to be
rescheduled.”

“Of course not, sir, although this will add to

the research I’ve been doing for my next paper.”

The director brightened at that. “Excellent.

Excellent. Carry on then, Dr. Markham.” He strode
away, leaving Aidan shaking his head at the idea
that publication in a dusty academic journal could
be more important than helping to keep people
safe.

Aidan grinned as the director turned a corner

and disappeared from sight. He wasn’t sure if the
grin was at the thought of working with Sam again,
or if he simply loved the challenge of using his
skills and knowledge, proving that theory had a
practical application in society. It took him a few
minutes to reorient his head and bring his focus
back to the first year university students battling to
understand how identity is formed. He slipped the
director’s paper into his pocket and entered the

lecture hall.

Chapter Two

T

HE

next morning grew warm before breakfast,

but that was fine. Hot days were good. Aidan
skipped down the few stairs from his porch to his
front path and flew straight into an exuberant jog
down the tree-lined street. In three hours he’d be at
the police station, meeting Sam again. Aidan
wondered if his handshake would feel the same as
before. Would the detective’s large, square hand
engulf his own slender one with warmth and
comfort, like it did last time? Would Aidan still be
as affected by it, ready to melt into an adoring
puddle at the man’s feet? He hoped Sam hadn’t
noticed his reaction. That would be way beyond
embarrassing.

An hour later, Aidan returned, swinging the

gate open and slamming it behind him.

And froze.

Shit. It was staring at him. He was sure of it.

Aidan moved his foot back a few centimeters

but froze again when it moved.

What the fuck was it? A snake, obviously. But

was it poisonous? If he moved, would it attack
him?

He slid his hand around behind him. Good, it

stayed still. Gingerly he lifted his phone from his
pocket and dialed information. Within seconds he
had a number and was listening to it ring.

And ring.

And ring.

“Fuck, will you pick up the fucking phone.”

“Excuse me?”

Aidan gulped. “Sorry. It’s just there’s a

fucking snake right in front of me that’s following
every move I make.”

“What sort of snake is it?” The voice was

dark and rough. Drowsy. That didn’t help Aidan’s
patience.

“How the fucking hell do I know? There’s a

bloody great snake curled up on my doorstep in the
middle of the fucking day, watching every move I
make.”

“What color is it?” The sounds of clothing

rustling carried over the line.

“It’s green, or brown. Sort of greenish-

brown.”

“And it’s in a coil? Going round and round?”

“Mostly, yeah.”

“Mostly. Okay. Here’s what we’re going to

do.”

Thank God. Aidan sighed. Anything would be

better than just standing there trying not to piss his
pants.

“Stay perfectly still for the moment and tell

me where you are.”

“I told you. It’s right on my front doorstep,

and I’m stuck in front of it.”

“What’s your address?”

“Oh, right.” Aidan gave the man his address.

“I’m only a little way from there. It’ll take me

less than five minutes, although it might be gone by
then.”

“Gone? Where the hell is it going to go? I’m

right in front of it.” Over the phone, Aidan heard a
door close, then a short click.

“I have to hang up now. I’m on my bike and

can’t talk on the phone while I’m riding. I’ll be
there soon.”

“Soon. Yeah, soon is good.” Aidan was

talking to air. The man was gone, and even though
he seemed less than helpful, he’d at least been a
contact. Aidan stared balefully at the snake on his
doorstep. It stared right back. He took a careful
breath and settled himself to wait, hoping like hell
the bloody snake didn’t get it into its head to do
anything other than just sit there.

A minute later the rumble of a motorbike

became audible from a few blocks away and grew
louder every second. The man was right. He
wasn’t far away at all. A few minutes later the
bike pulled into Aidan’s driveway, the rumble so

loud Aidan felt the vibration through his running
shoes. As he watched, the snake hissed and slid
over the edge of the step toward him.

He screamed.

Like a girl.

And kept screaming, even though the snake

changed direction and disappeared under his
porch.

A hand clapped over his mouth, shutting the

scream off midstream.

“Hey now, there’s no need for all that noise.”

The voice rumbled in his ear, dark and heavy like
the bike he’d ridden in on. “The snake’s gone
now.” The voice was so calm, Aidan began to
relax. Sweat broke out on his forehead and all his
muscles trembled under the effort to hold himself
still. “You okay now?” Aidan nodded slightly and
the hand slid away.

It was a relief, but there was loss there as

well. The warmth and strength in that large hand
over his mouth had been all that was holding

Aidan up. His knees gave out and he sank to the
ground. Before he landed, hands caught him under
his arms and hoisted him up again, holding him
upright and leaning back on a warm, strong body.
He panted, desperately trying to get his breath
back.

“It’s okay now. The snake’s gone. Just relax.

You’ll be fine.”

Aidan waved an arm in the direction of the

house. “It… it….” He sucked in a breath and tried
again. “It went under the house.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. She probably has a

nest there or it’s a cool space to rest during the
day.”

“It’s under my house.” He clamped his lips

closed over the building hysteria. He’d already
made enough of a fool of himself. Belatedly, he
realized he was still leaning back on the man,
relying on his strength to keep upright. He pushed
himself away and stumbled back, propping his hip
against the fence for support while trying to look
like he didn’t need it.

He looked at the man who’d arrived and

scared him half to death. No, the snake had done
that. But the man had caused it.

“G’day.” A bright smile accompanied the

casual greeting. “You the guy with the snake?”

What the fuck? I’m standing here trembling

on my front path at the address you were given,
you moron. Aidan rolled his eyes. “Can you get
rid of it?” His voice was raspy after the
screaming.

The man shrugged. “Going under the house

after it isn’t a very clever thing to do. Between you
disturbing it and the bike scaring it, it’d probably
strike first and run later.” The smile flashed again.
“It could come back tomorrow about the same
time, or it could find somewhere quieter to go.”

“So, what? You’re just going to leave it

there?” Did the man not realize there was a fucking
snake under Aidan’s house? A snake? A real live
snake that bites and… and… eats things? Aidan
grabbed hold of the fence as his head swam. “It
could have killed me.” Aidan flicked a nervous

look to his porch in time to see the snake slither
through a gap in the floorboards and slide under
his front door. He gasped. “It just went inside,” he
screeched, pointing dramatically toward the door.

The man turned in time to see the tail

disappear into the house. His resigned sigh made
his shoulders shrug. “Well, we can’t leave her in
there, can we?” he murmured before sauntering
over to his bike. “She might get hurt.”

Hurt? “You’re worried about the snake?”

Aidan’s voice was still far too high, and he was
just calm enough to be embarrassed about it. He
was usually in control. Clips and locks snapped
and Aidan focused on the bike just long enough to
realize it was large and black. The man muttered
as he dug around in a solid container on the side.

“You’ve got a beauty there, mate. Good thing

you called me. The name’s Doug.” Doug had
returned from the bike and was standing so close
in front of Aidan that he felt the heat of the other
man’s body. The spicy warmth was the same as
Baxter’s cologne.

“You wear DG?”

“What?”

“Cologne.”

“Nah, not me, mate. Don’t like to let the

critters know I’m coming if I can avoid it.” He
coughed a little as if embarrassed and then turned
to the house. “You just stay exactly where you are
for now,” he said over his shoulder as he walked
up the stairs to the door, “and we’ll see about
getting this beauty out of your house and into the
bush where she belongs.” In his hands, the snake
catcher had a long metal pole with a forked end
and a burlap bag.

“She?” Aidan needed to keep talking. The

wait for help had stretched his nerves so much
every muscle trembled. He didn’t know how long
he’d last before collapsing in a screaming heap,
but he was damned if he’d be left out here like
some damsel in distress, no matter what he
sounded like when he screamed.

“Sure. In the wild, the girls are always sleek

and beautiful but not showy, you know.” Doug

turned back, surprise flaring in his eyes at finding
Aidan right behind him. He patted Aidan on his
shoulder. “You just wait there nice and easy while
I go in and see if I can find her.”

“Wait.” Aidan’s lungs heaved with the effort

to breathe through the panicked feeling of being
abandoned. “You have to get rid of the snake.”

The weight of Doug’s hand returned to

Aidan’s shoulder, and he could breathe again. “I’m
not going anywhere until we have that beauty taken
care of.” Aidan’s shoulder felt cold as the hand
lifted away.

He focused back on the door and Doug’s hand

resting on the handle. “Wait.” He dug into the
pocket in the side of his running shorts and pulled
out his key. “The door’s locked.” He held the key
out in his hand. “You’ll need this.”

Doug flashed his smile again as he jogged

back down the steps and reached for the key.
“Thanks, mate. You just wait here. I won’t be
long.”

The click of the key in the lock snapped

Aidan into action. No way was he waiting out here
where the snake could come back and ambush him
without Doug there to rescue him. He scurried up
the steps and stopped behind Doug as he pushed
open the door. Doug turned to speak to Aidan
before he stepped inside and started at finding him
so close again.

“Christ, mate, you move quick.” The grin

appeared again. “You’d be better to wait out here,
you know.”

Aidan could feel his eyes bugging in his head;

his mouth dried out, and his throat ached with
tension. He nodded reluctantly and gripped the
doorjamb.

Doug patted his shoulder again. “Good man. I

shouldn’t be too long,” he promised before he
turned back and slipped from the light into the
darkness of the hallway.

To Aidan’s light-blinded eyes, it seemed

Doug was swallowed by the house, and Aidan was
left alone with only the snake looming in his

thoughts. Christ, there was a snake in his house and
he was standing on a porch that had gaps so big the
snake had been able to slither through them. Aidan
scrambled onto the path again, then backed up until
he was standing beside the bike Doug had arrived
on.

Needing the distraction, he turned and

inspected the bike. Aidan gasped. He didn’t know
much about motorbikes, but this one was gorgeous.
The throaty rumble of it still echoed in his mind. It
was a big, black, shiny Ducati with sleek
saddlebags on either side of the pillion seat.
Gingerly, he ran the tip of his finger over the fuel
tank, needing to touch but unwilling to leave
fingerprints on the glossy surface. The smooth
warmth of the bike sent delicious shivers through
him. He pressed his other hand firmly onto the
seat, burrowing into the warm, soft leather. He
breathed deeply of the mixture of leather and
smoky hot metal.

He was in love.

Aidan desperately wanted to sit on the bike,

to feel the leather and the heat under him, between
his legs, but he was still sweaty from his run and
trembling from the rush of adrenaline the snake had
caused; he refused to call it fear. He contented
himself with sinking to the ground and sitting as
close as he could to the front tire. The smell of
warm rubber was faint, and Aidan remembered
he’d heard the bike start up just a few blocks
away. Doug must live close.

A smile tugged at Aidan’s lips. Living so

close could be a good thing. He could drop in
when jogging and Doug could join him, just like
Baxter did on the mornings he was alone. Maybe
Doug would take him for a ride on the bike one
day. Aidan hadn’t bothered knocking on Baxter's
door this morning, because he knew his friend was
going to pick up his outdoorsman again. Aidan
wondered how that had gone.

The sun was becoming just a bit too warm,

beating relentlessly onto Aidan’s head, when Doug
finally came out of the house. The bag hanging
beside his leg was limp. Empty.

Aidan shot to his feet. “Where’s the snake?”

His gaze remained on the bag.

Doug shrugged. “Who knows? She’s found a

quiet spot to hide for now.”

“Hide?” Aidan could hear his voice rising

and was powerless to stop it. “Inside?” He
flapped his hand in the direction of his door. “In
my house?”

Doug shrugged again. “Seems like.”

“Seems like? What do you mean ‘seems

like’? It’s either in there or not.” Aidan shifted
nervously from one foot to the other. “Oh shit,
there’s a snake in my house.” He grabbed Doug’s
forearms in a tight grip. “I have an appointment. I
have to go. How am I going to do that when there’s
a snake in my house?”

Doug blinked at him and eased his arms out of

Aidan’s grasp. “I guess you’ll just go to the
appointment,” he said tentatively.

“I can’t go dressed like this. I’ve just come

back from my run. I have to shower and iron a shirt

and… and….” Aidan grabbed Doug’s arms again.
“There’s a snake in my house.”

“Sssh,” Doug whispered, his hand sliding

smoothly over Aidan’s shoulder. “She’s settled for
the day now. She won’t bother you.”

“Won’t bother me? What if I bother it?”

Doug nodded, his hand gripping Aidan’s

shoulder comfortingly. “Do you want me to come
in and check things before you go in?”

Aidan was nodding before Doug finished

speaking. He swallowed and forced himself to
stand straight, pulling away from Doug’s warm
hand. He wasn’t a wimp; he was just scared
shitless at having a snake in his house. “Yes.” He
took a deep breath, trying to still the quaver in his
voice. He was an eminent sociologist who
consulted with the police force. He was used to
pressure of all kinds. He lifted his chin and
clenched his jaw. He could do this. “If you could
just check the rooms I need to use, that would be
good.” He looked at the gaping front door. “I’ll
pack some clothes, just in case you can’t get the

snake out today.”

“Today?” Doug’s hand, the warm, soothing

one, landed on his hip, fingers splayed so the index
finger pointed to his groin and the others down his
denim-encased leg. Aidan swallowed a sudden
rush of saliva at the masculine image and
reluctantly raised his gaze back to Doug’s eyes.

“Yes, today. I need that snake out of my house

or I’m not going to be able to live there.” Aidan
stood straighter, feeling much more in control as he
organized his day. “This appointment will take a
few hours, but this afternoon friends are coming
over. The snake has to be gone by the time I get
home.”

Doug sighed. “I know how snakes work,

mate.”

“Aidan.”

“What?”

“I’m not ‘mate’, I’m Aidan.”

“Hmm. Anyway, that snake isn’t going to be

found now she’s gone to ground. All that’ll happen

if I keep looking for her is she’ll take longer to
come out and be damned angry when she does.
You won’t want her angry, mate, that’s for sure.”

Aidan clamped his jaw shut against the

irritation that Doug wouldn’t use his name; then he
mentally shrugged it off. With luck, Doug would
get rid of the snake and Aidan wouldn’t have to
remind the man to use his name. “So what do you
suggest?” He hated the sarcastic tone in his voice,
but it was better than the high-pitched fear from
before. “I can’t go in there with a snake.”

Doug sighed. “Okay, here’s what we’re going

to do.” Aidan’s face heated when Doug said “we.”
“I’m going to come inside with you. You show me
where you want to stick your hands or feet, and I’ll
check that the snake isn’t there before you get your
clothes or whatever out. Then you can change and
go to work.”

Aidan took a breath and reminded himself he

was an adult and had to stop acting like a
frightened child. “Okay, that’s good. I have to
shower, though.”

“What?”

“I’ve been running. I need to shower before I

change.”

The look Doug leveled at Aidan made him

want to squirm. He wasn’t sure if it was
impatience, disbelief, or something totally in
Aidan’s imagination. Doug flicked a look at his
watch and sighed again, the sound irritating Aidan.
It was the man’s job to find the damned snake and
take it away. If he couldn’t do that, he could
damned well make sure Aidan didn’t get attacked
while he was in there. Aidan huffed and stalked
toward his house, stopping suddenly as the gaps
between the stairs gaped darkly at him. He turned
tentatively to Doug and asked, “Are you coming?”
He wished his voice sounded stronger, more sure,
like it had a few minutes before, but already his
heart was pounding and the terror was threatening
to take over again.

Another sigh gusted from Doug, and he

stomped past Aidan and back into the house. Aidan
followed, gaze darting into the shadows as he

went. He jumped across the gap the snake had slid
through as it went under the door, a small whimper
escaping him as he did so.

Doug spun around at the sound. “What?”

Aidan shrugged as he tiptoed down the

hallway toward the man. “I really don’t like
snakes.”

Doug humphed and turned back to move

deeper into the house. “Where’s your room?”

“Just here.” Aidan pointed to the door at his

left. It was closed but, like all the others, had a
sizeable gap underneath. When he’d pulled the old
carpets up and polished the floors, he hadn’t
thought the gap would be a problem. Now it
loomed like the gaping maws of a monster.

Doug returned and put his hand on the door

handle before looking at Aidan. Aidan stared back,
feeling like every nightmare he’d ever had was
imprinted on his face. Doug’s large, warm hand
landed on Aidan’s shoulder. “It’ll be all right,
mate. She’s frightened and just wants to stay in a
safe place for a while.”

Aidan shook his head. “If she’s frightened and

I disturb her, she’ll attack. I know that much.”

Doug nodded. “You ready to do this?”

Aidan’s head shook again but he stopped it,

took a deep breath, and changed the shake to a nod.

Doug eased the door open, and Aidan noticed

for the first time he still held the stick and bag he’d
retrieved from his bike earlier. Doug pushed the
end of the stick into the room, then followed it in.
Aidan, close enough to be Doug’s shadow,
followed. He bumped lightly into Doug’s back
when the larger man stopped but didn’t pull back
any more than was required to not have himself
physically plastered to the man’s warm body.

“Okay, mate, what’s first?”

First. “Oh. Um.” Aidan’s brain fumbled for

the tiny sliver of logic hiding behind all the panic.
“Clothes. I’ll need clothes.” He stepped out from
behind Doug and took two steps toward his walk-
in closet, then stopped.

Behind him, Doug chuckled. “Just tell me

what sections you want to get to and I’ll clear them
first, okay?”

He was being very gentle, really, considering

Aidan was behaving like the biggest wimp in the
southern hemisphere. A small part of Aidan’s
brain, the part still functioning normally, knew
he’d be mortified when he finally calmed down,
but the specter of the snake pushed that concern
into the tiny section in his mind Aidan had labeled
unimportant. Aidan reached a hand out and
clutched a fistful of the man’s T-shirt as Doug took
a step toward the closet, staying as close as he
could without actually climbing his body and
clinging like a limpet.

“It’s okay, mate. I won’t leave you in here

alone with the big, bad snake.”

“I know you won’t,” replied Aidan, but he

didn’t release his hold on Doug’s T-shirt.

It took only a few minutes for Aidan to gather

the clothes he needed, including a couple of days’
changes in case Doug couldn’t get rid of the snake.
Aidan strode toward the bed, arms piled high with

clothing.

“Hang on a minute, mate. Don’t get too close

to the bed yet. I haven’t checked it.”

Aidan gasped. He hadn’t forgotten about the

snake, but the mundane activity of choosing
clothing had calmed him enough he’d begun to
relax and forget the very real danger. He froze in
the middle of the room and watched as Doug
moved to the bed and gently pushed his pronged
stick under the edge of the crumpled covers. Shit,
Doug bending over made bits of Aidan’s body
twitch.

Doug pushed the end of his stick further under

the covers, swishing it slowly from side to side.
Suddenly he stopped. “Ah, there you are, my
beauty.”

Aidan squeaked. There was no other word for

the sound that burbled through his throat and out of
his mouth.

“Aidan,” Doug said very quietly. “I want you

to slowly move toward the door. Don’t drag your
feet.” Carefully, Doug lowered himself into a

squat, powerful thighs braced to push his body into
motion as soon as it was needed. Aidan gasped.
Doug had used his name. Aidan swallowed a
whimper and slid his left foot out to the side and
then dragged his right to it. He heard the soft
squeak of his running shoes on the floorboards and
winced.

“Shit,” Doug whispered.

Aidan stopped. “What?” He tried to keep his

voice as quiet as Doug’s but failed miserably. It
was once again high-pitched and breathy with fear.

“It’s fine, babe, keep moving. I’ll get her.”

Babe? What happened to “mate?” “Oh

Christ, we’re going to die, aren’t we?” Aidan
whispered.

Doug grunted. “Got you,” he hissed. “Now

come to papa.” Doug reached a hand out blindly
even as he crouched lower to look under the quilt.
“That’s it, beautiful. Stay just that calm until I get
the bag ready.”

Aidan slid sideways again, this time away

from the door, and used his foot to push Doug’s
abandoned burlap bag toward his seeking hand.

“Thanks, babe,” Doug said, his tone the same

soothing rasp he used with the snake.

Babe again. Aidan didn’t know how he knew,

but as long as Doug called him “babe” or “Aidan,”
Aidan knew they were in trouble. His heartbeat
thundered in his ears, and Aidan realized he’d
stopped breathing. He gasped in deep breaths until
the dizziness faded and then tried to calm himself
so he’d be able to hear Doug’s instructions. He
didn’t want to miss something and end up being a
meal.

Gradually, Doug’s arm pulled back on the

stick. At the same time, he flipped the bag back so
that it wound around his free hand, forming a thick
binding. “You’d better back up, babe. We’re
coming out and we’re not happy.”

Aidan scampered out into the hall, then turned

back and peeked inside. A smooth green-brown
rope, entwined around Doug’s stick, emerged from
under his bed linen. Doug pounced, pressing his

burlap-wrapped hand down onto it and pushing the
stick with the other. Like magic, the stick folded in
upon itself and, in front of Aidan’s eyes, formed a
pronged triangle shape that Doug used to press on
another part of the snake. Then he shook out the
bag and carefully fed the snake into the opening.
Once the bag was knotted closed, Doug folded the
stick up so it formed a tight bundle of metal. He
rose to his feet, and Aidan couldn’t help imagining
him the emerging victor in some ancient war.

Doug grinned at him. “There you go, mate,

easy as pie.”

“That’s it?” Aidan still had difficulty

breathing properly. His limbs trembled and he kept
darting glances around the room, sure Doug had
missed something. Perhaps there was another
snake.

Doug strode toward him and Aidan backed

up, wide eyes now focused on the wriggling bag
hanging negligently from the large man’s fist. “Sure
is, mate. I’ll just put this beauty in my bike and
then write out an invoice for you.”

“Oh, oh of course.” An invoice. Aidan had

been so caught up in the panic of having a snake in
his house and the wonder that was Doug that he’d
forgotten he’d have to pay to have it removed. He
was just a job to the other man, and whatever
fantasies Aidan’s mind had been weaving, even in
his panic, were just that.

He followed Doug outside and watched as he

carefully lowered the snake into one of the
saddlebags and then opened the other and removed
a book. Within a few short minutes, Aidan had
been handed an invoice for an amount that made
his jaw drop. “Three hundred dollars? That much
to catch a snake?”

Doug looked at his watch. “I’ve been here

nearly two hours, mate. And it wasn’t exactly an
easy place to access.” His features tightened as he
spoke, and Aidan could well imagine he had a lot
of people refusing to pay him for removals.

Aidan had no intention of being a difficult

client, but out of curiosity he asked, “What
happens when people refuse to pay?”

Doug regarded him silently for several

minutes and then grinned in a way that made Aidan
shiver. “I only remove snakes I’m paid for,” he
said, flicking a look back to his bike.

A sound halfway between the laugh of

amusement Aidan wanted to make and a screech of
terror burst from Aidan’s mouth. “I’ll get my credit
card,” he said in a rush.

“I thought you might,” Doug said, his grin

widening.

Chapter Three

“D

R

. M

ARKHAM

,

glad to have you back.”

Aidan grinned at the large, beefy man striding

toward him. Sam always seemed the size of a
brick shithouse to Aidan, the voluminous clothing
adding to the larger-than-life image. He held his
hand out, tensing only slightly before it was
genially crushed in the detective’s hand. He
suppressed the excited tingle as Sam held onto his
hand a second longer than usual and responded to
the other man’s friendliness. “Senior Detective
Walters. It’s good to see you again.”

“Hmph. You might not think that later.” He

placed a hand on Aidan’s shoulder blade and
steered him toward his office. “Let’s get the
paperwork done, then I’ll tell you what we’re
looking at.”

Aidan grimaced at the pile of papers awaiting

him on Walters’ desk before he smiled at the

solicitor sitting beside them. “Mr. Peters.” He’d
never met a more reserved man. How Peters
managed as a solicitor when he never shook
anyone’s hand was a mystery.

“Dr. Markham.” Peters immediately spread

papers on the desk. “These are the usual privacy
agreements and agreements of nondisclosure. If
you could read through them and sign where
indicated?”

Aidan leaned over the desk. “There are the

usual clauses allowing data to be used in my
research provided identifying information is
protected?”

“Of

course,

that

was

the

original

arrangement.”

Once the paperwork was done, Peters

gathered everything and left Aidan and Sam alone.

“This is an odd one, Aidan. We’ve had a rash

of break-ins in different neighborhoods and each
with a different MO. You’d think we’d be able to
find the evidence pretty quickly, but there doesn’t
seem to be anything linking them other than they’re

all near bushland and have all had trouble with
snakes over the last twelve months or so.”

“Snakes?”

“Yeah. We’ve checked with the Department

of Environment and Resource Management, and
there has been a recent significant increase in
snake populations in the surrounding areas, so
there’s no reason to connect the snakes to the
robberies, especially when the areas are all
looked after by different snake catchers.”

“Your own profilers?”

“All busy on other cases.”

Aidan smile wryly. He always read that

phrase to mean “more important cases,” but it
didn’t matter. He was still helping. “Okay, let’s go
through the cases and see if we can identify
anything specific for me to look at.”

I

T

WAS

early afternoon before they’d finished

going through the cases. Aidan’s head was buzzing

with information, and he knew he needed some
time away from it to think. He stood up and
stretched his back.

“I think I’ve seen enough for today, and I have

people coming over this afternoon. I’ll probably
need to look at the files again tomorrow, if that’s
okay with you.”

Sam stood too. “About the same time?” At

Aidan’s nod, he said, “I’ll make sure they’re
available.” He walked around his desk and opened
the door for Aidan, his hand landing gently on
Aidan’s shoulder blade as he went through the
doorway.

Aidan found the touch comforting and

allowed himself the fantasy that the detective
didn’t touch anyone else like that. “You know, if
you’re not busy, you’re welcome to join us.” At
Sam’s curious look, he continued. “It’s just a
bunch of family and friends having a barbecue. If
you’re free, you’re welcome to come over.”

Sam’s grin was so broad Aidan almost

expected his face to split in half. “I’d love to,

Aidan, but I’m still up to my eyeballs with other
cases. It’s going to be a long night for me here.”
His hand rested on Aidan’s shoulder blade again,
almost a caress. “I appreciate the invitation.
Perhaps next time?”

Aidan smiled and nodded. “I’ll see you

tomorrow then.” Once out on the street, he rang
Baxter.

“Bax, you should have been here. The thing

was enormous, at least three meters long and
poised to strike, and the guy just wandered up to it
and shoved it in his bag.”

“Did you scream?”

“Of course not,” Aidan scoffed. The silence

on the phone forced him to add, “Well, only a
little.”

Baxter laughed. “Aidan, you screech when a

cockroach flies past you in the summer. I’m
damned sure you did more than a ‘little’ screaming
at a snake.”

Aidan huffed. “I’m sorry I told you anything

now. And cockroaches are filthy creatures and they
land on me and climb up my legs. Of course I’m
going to screech.”

Baxter laughed again. “Of course. So do you

want me to come over early and help you set things
up for this afternoon? What time is Kirsty
arriving?”

“I’m fine. Kirsty and her crowd are arriving

around five. If you get here about half an hour
before that, you can help me with the food. I’ll
have it all ready to be plated by then.”

“Okay, will do, buddy.”

“So tell me about the outdoor guy you picked

up last night. I ran past your place this morning but
didn’t stop in case he was still there.”

“Yeah,” Baxter sighed happily. “God, what

energy D has.” He paused before continuing
quietly. “I’m seriously thinking of pursuing
something more long-term with him.”

“Long-term? Really?” Aidan swallowed the

surprise that made his voice rise. A knot twisted in

his stomach. “That’s not like you, Bax.”

“Yeah, I know, but seriously, this guy is so

fucking good in bed he might be worth the
trouble.”

Aidan shook his head. “There’s something

seriously wrong with you, Bax. A relationship
with the right guy isn’t trouble, and pushing for a
relationship with a guy based solely on how much
energy he has in bed isn’t a good reason for one.”

Baxter laughed. “You’re a romantic, Aidan,

and clearly deluded. If you ever had sex with this
guy, you’d know exactly what I mean.”

“If he’s your boyfriend, I’m not likely to ever

have sex with him, am I?”

“Boyfriend? Wash your mouth out, you dirty

creature. Don’t ever say that word again in front of
me. I said long-term, not boyfriend. Don’t even
think filthy thoughts like that.”

Aidan could hear Baxter's shudder through the

phone and laughed even though it sounded forced.
“You never change, Bax.”

“Not while it’s all still fun. I’ll see you

before five.”

The line went dead, leaving Aidan smiling

ruefully. He hoped Baxter was always as happy
with his life as he was now. Aidan would hate to
see him end up alone and lonely because he
couldn’t commit. He sighed. Aidan was ready for a
relationship, had been for most of his adult life, but
it didn’t look like it would ever happen. The guys
he was attracted to were always either already
with someone or fleeting moments that could never
be recaptured or pursued—like Doug. And then
there was Baxter, his best friend. With a few
compromises—okay, a lot of compromises—they
could be perfect together, except Bax didn’t see
Aidan like that and wasn’t looking for anything
serious. The night six months ago had proven that.

Aidan sighed and shook off the sudden

melancholy. His sister, her family, their parents,
and a group of friends would be arriving in a
couple of hours, and he had a birthday to celebrate.
Two birthdays. He smiled as he reached his home

and went inside. As he fussed with cleaning the
house and getting it ready for guests, he imagined
the teasing he and Kirsty would give his parents
this evening. Just like they did every year. He and
his sister still swore their parents planned to have
the two of them on the same day, just a year apart,
so they wouldn’t have to remember more than one
birthday.

A

IDAN

ran a little later than usual the next

morning. And a lot slower. He’d had so much to
drink the night before he almost considered not
running at all, but that way lay the nightmare of
constantly watching what he ate. He liked his food
too much to do that; daily torture, even while
feeling

hungover,

was

the

only

sensible

alternative. He lasted less than half an hour before
deciding he’d done enough and returned home.

To find the snake on his doorstep again.

Staring at him.

Panic bubbled up inside him, just like it had

the day before, but anger overshadowed it. He
eased back down the path toward the gate while
pulling his phone out of his pocket and calling the
number for the snake catcher.

Doug answered on the fourth ring.

“You were supposed to get rid of the snake.”

“What? Who is this?”

“Aidan. You took a snake away from my

place yesterday, but now it’s back.”

“You’re over on Montrose, aren’t you?”

Aidan sighed. He supposed he should be

grateful the man remembered that much. He
couldn’t expect to be as memorable as the large
snake catcher had been for Aidan. “Yes, and the
snake’s back.”

“It couldn’t be. I haven’t taken it out to the

reserve yet. It’s still at my place.”

“Your place?” What sort of person would

choose to keep snakes at his place? Focus, Aidan.
“Never mind. The snake’s back. It’s right here,

exactly where it was yesterday.”

“Okay. I’ll come and have a look, but it’ll

take me longer to get there than yesterday.”

“What do you mean, longer? It only took you

a few minutes yesterday.”

“I wasn’t on call last night, and I’m on foot

today and don’t have my gear with me either, but
I’ll come over and do what I can. Okay?”

Aidan pressed back against the gate and

glared at the snake sunning itself on his porch. He
squeaked as the snake lifted its head when the gate
clicked closed. “Shit, it’s staring at me again.
Hurry.”

He pulled the phone away from his ear and

stared at it. Another voice had murmured
something to Doug and for a split second, Aidan
thought it sounded like Baxter. That couldn’t be
right, though. Baxter had gone out the night before
to pick up his outdoorsman again. He put the phone
back to his ear just in time to hear a quiet chuckle
before the line went dead.

T

HE

sound of a motorbike rumbled by at the end of

the street. Aidan thought perhaps it was Doug but
then remembered Doug had said he was on foot.
What was keeping the man? Aidan had told him the
snake was back and he’d said he’d be there soon.
It felt like nearly half an hour had passed as Aidan
stayed frozen, panic and proximity holding him
immobile, not even able to scream when the snake
shifted its head, its tongue flickering in and out as
it homed in on Aidan’s scent.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. His mind was stuck

with only those words looping round and round.
There was nothing else available. Only those
words.

“That’s not the same snake, mate.”

The words were quiet, almost a whisper, and

very near Aidan’s ear. There was no way he could
control the jump or the scream.

“Fuck.” It was Doug, of course. The sound of

clothing rustling was followed by a flash of blue

sailing past Aidan and fluttering to the ground in
front of him. Before it landed, it jerked like it had
a life of its own, and suddenly Aidan was staring
at a blue T-shirt at his feet with the snake from his
porch tangled in it. Large hands grabbed Aidan’s
shoulders and shoved him back through the
gateway onto the footpath. He stumbled and landed
on his hands and knees, his breath tumbling from
him in panicked sobs.

He collapsed onto the ground, curling into a

ball as he went, the sobs hiding his need to scream
and keep screaming until he passed out.

“Hey,” Doug’s voice was back, soft and

soothing. “Hey, now, everything’s all right, mate.”
A warm hand rubbed circles on Aidan’s back, and
he focused on that motion.

Eventually the tears stopped, his breathing

slowed, and he relaxed out of the protective ball
he’d curled into. Doug helped him sit and lean
back against the fence. The large man sat beside
him and placed his bundled blue T-shirt in front of
him. Aidan closed his eyes, unable yet to face his

humiliation. He rested his head back against the
fence and focused on breathing evenly. In. Out. In.
Out.

Eventually he calmed enough to talk. “What

happened to the snake?”

“Nothing. I’ll take it home with the other one.

You got a pillowcase I can borrow?”

Aidan opened his eyes and looked at the man

beside him, gaze drawn to his wide, bronze-
skinned chest gleaming in the sunlight. “What do
you mean, nothing? A pillowcase?”

Doug nodded at the T-shirt on the footpath.

“Yeah. That won’t keep it long.”

As Doug spoke, the T-shirt moved, and Aidan

realized the snake was trapped in the folds. He
surged to his feet. “Fuck!” He stumbled away,
ready to turn and run and keep running until he
collapsed.

“A pillowcase?” Doug asked again.

Aidan blinked at him, the words taking a long

time to make sense. Eventually he pulled his keys

from his pocket and tossed them to the larger man.
“In the bedroom.” He glared at the writhing blue
fabric on the footpath and retreated farther.

Doug caught the keys easily. “It might be

better if you went across the road.” He nodded to
the opposite footpath. “Just in case this one
escapes before I get back.”

Aidan retreated. He rushed across the road

and paced up and down, his arms wrapped
protectively around his ribs. Another snake. A
different one. Did he have a nest of them in his
house or something? Why would they pick his
house? It was just an ordinary worker’s cottage,
nothing special. He glared at his house, the three
years he’d spent lovingly renovating it forgotten as
he thought of it as a snake magnet. He’d have to
move. Find somewhere else he felt comfortable.

“Shit,” he whispered. It had taken him years

to find this place, the exact spot where he felt he
was home.

When Doug came down the front steps, one of

Aidan’s favorite six-hundred-count pillowcases

swinging from his hand, Aidan glared at him too.
Then he noticed Doug’s face settle into stiff lines
of concentration and realized he was actually
going to touch the snake. Aidan’s breath puffed out
in panicked gasps. What would it be like to have to
deal with something like that every day? Aidan
knew he’d never do it. He was much more
comfortable in his nice safe world of lecturing and
advising the police on domestic and cultural social
issues. Doug stooped, flicked his wrist, and rose,
the cream pillowcase, now hanging heavily, held
away from his body. Aidan rushed across the street
to him.

“Oh thank God, you got it.” He lurched

forward, fully intending to throw his arms around
Doug, then jerked to a stop and took a fumbling
step backward. What was wrong with him? He
didn’t throw himself at men, not in any way. It was
the quickest way to get a bashing. Baxter had
proven that a number of times. “Um, so it’s out?”

Doug hefted the bag. “Yep.”

“Oh, good. I’ll just get my wallet.” Aidan

went to step around Doug to go into the house but
didn’t get far when Doug’s hand closed around his
forearm.

“I’d prefer you didn’t go inside right now.”

Aidan paused and stared at the taller man. “I

don’t understand. You have the snake.”

“It’s a different snake.”

Aidan didn’t appreciate the patronizing tone

he heard creeping into Doug’s words. “So the
other one had a mate.”

“It doesn’t work like that. I think you have a

nest somewhere nearby, and we need to clear it
before you can go back into your house.”

“A nest?” Shit, he was right. “You mean there

really are more?”

Doug nodded. “My guess is there are mice or

rats around here somewhere. Perhaps someone has
chooks and that’s attracted them. The snakes would
like the eggs too.”

Images from Indiana Jones movies flashed

through Aidan’s head. “My back neighbor has

chickens.” He’d always thought the chooks were
cute, and the neighbor often shared their excess
eggs with him, but if they were attracting snakes,
they had to go. The chooks, not the neighbors. A
thought suddenly occurred to him, and he blurted it
out before his brain could catch up. “They haven’t
given me any eggs for a couple of weeks now.”

“There you go, then. They probably stopped

getting eggs at about the same time the snakes
moved in.”

“Snakes?” Plural? Aidan’s knees wobbled

and he lowered himself to the ground. “Oh God, I
have snakes in my house.” He lowered his head
into his hands and tried to concentrate on nothing
more than breathing. If he could do that, he could
then think about the next step: getting up and
finding clothes for the next week. “No way am I
staying here.” He raised his head and looked
imploringly at Doug, hoping the older man would
offer to help him.

Doug sighed. “Why don’t we both go inside,

and I’ll check things out while you pack. Just like

last time. Okay?” His trademark smile was
nowhere to be seen, so Aidan knew he’d suddenly
gone from a cute and amusing client to a pain in the
rear end who had to be humored until Doug could
escape.

“I’m sorry,” Aidan murmured. “I’m not

usually like this.” Before he could continue, Doug
waved a hand in dismissal.

“It’s fine. Let’s get moving so we can get this

day started.”

Aidan clamped his jaw tight. That certainly

told him what a problem he’d become. It didn’t
matter that Aidan had been giving his own
attraction to the snake catcher free rein. He’d
enjoyed watching the way the man’s muscles
moved and the way the morning light caught in the
midnight strands of his hair. And his voice. Aidan
sighed. It had been ridiculous to base fantasies on
that voice when Doug had only been doing his job.
He obviously had a whole life of his own and
wasn’t looking for someone like Aidan to fill the
gaps. For the few seconds it took Aidan to walk

down his path to the front steps, Aidan let himself
wish he was more like Baxter and was happy with
weekly nightclub pickups.

That wasn’t the way he was wired, though.

Aidan wanted a relationship. He wanted someone
who’d be there for him when times got tough. He
wanted someone who’d appreciate Aidan’s
cooking and his sense of humor and his
intelligence. Doug had appealed on all those
levels. Except for the snake thing, of course. Aidan
admired the man for the job he did and was very
glad he did it, but the idea of being involved with
someone who kept snakes in their house on
purpose was a little unnerving.

They went through the process of packing

clothes the same way they had the day before, only
this time Aidan packed for a week and checked the
fridge for anything that would need to be thrown
out before the next weekend. As they worked,
Doug talked, explaining what needed to be done
while Aidan was away.

“Snakes are generally more active at night

during the summer, but yours seem to want to be
out during the morning as well. You haven’t seen
any around at night?”

Aidan shook his head as he pulled a pile of

folded jeans from a drawer and dumped them on
the bed. “The only snakes I’ve seen are the ones I
called you for.”

Doug nodded. “They’re a pretty good size,

though, so you might find there’ll be a nest with
smaller snakes or eggs.”

Aidan shuddered. “God, a nest. It really is

just like Indiana Jones, isn’t it?”

Doug laughed. “Hopefully you won’t have

that many snakes, but you had two, so we should
check to see if there are more. I’ll need to do some
nighttime reconnaissance and set some traps.”

“Traps? You’re not going to kill them, are

you?”

Doug laughed. “You’re a funny one. You

can’t stand the sight of them, but you don’t want me
to kill them.” The light in Doug’s eyes shone with

amusement and something else Aidan forced
himself to ignore. He had read the signals wrong
before; he wasn’t going to do it again.

“They’re just trying to live their lives. I just

don’t want it to be in my house.” He shuffled his
feet. “Or anywhere near me.”

Doug laughed again as he used a broom

handle to wiggle each shoe in the stand inside
Aidan’s closet. He swept the broom handle around
the sides of the shoe stand and then through the
clothing hanging above it. “Okay, shoes are fine,
but be quick in case there’s one wound around a
clothes hanger or in a pocket somewhere.”

Aidan glared at Doug, almost sure he was

joking, but the combination of seriousness and
amusement on Doug’s face didn’t reassure him at
all. He darted into the closet and swiped two pairs
of shoes out to thunk haphazardly on the shining
floor of the bedroom.

“Okay, what’s next?” Doug asked.

“Underwear, shirts, toiletries,” snapped

Aidan, the constant expectation of being attacked

by a snake wearing on his temper.

“Shirts are here?” Doug pointed to the closet.

Aidan nodded. “Tell me which ones you want and
I’ll bring them out on the stick.”

“Is all this really necessary?” Aidan tilted his

head to the side. “If there’s a snake in one of my
pockets and you disturb it, the length of that broom
handle isn’t going to stop it striking you, is it?”

“Not me, no, but hopefully it won’t get you.”

Aidan shuddered. “You know what? I think

I’ll just go shopping. I want some new clothes
anyway. I just need my wallet and phone and
everything else can just stay where it is.”

Doug’s laugh was beginning to get to Aidan.

He was treating all this as some enormous joke
rather than the potentially life threatening situation
it was. He pushed past the tall man and strode
down the hall to the open front door, slamming to a
stop before he stepped over the threshold, a squeak
escaping before he could stop it.

“Look!” The snake sunbathing on his porch

lifted its head; the tendrils of its tongue swept from
its mouth in a hypnotizing rhythm.

“Sssh,” Doug whispered from close behind

him, his hand sliding smoothly from Aidan’s
shoulder down his chest. The warm mass pressed
against his back, and Aidan leaned back a little,
allowing the security of the larger body to hold his
trembling body still. “She’s just realized we’re
here and moving. Stay very still and breathe
calmly and she’ll settle again.”

“Oh God, I was too loud, wasn’t I?” Aidan’s

voice was barely a whisper, the terror clamping
his throat closed.

“Nah. Snakes can’t hear. She probably felt the

air move when we walked down the hall.”

A whimper threaded its way through Aidan’s

body and slithered out on a terrified sigh. The arms
clamped around his chest tightened a little before
releasing him again. “It’ll be fine, mate. You just
stay nice and quiet and I’ll take care of
everything.” The warmth disappeared again, and
Aidan stifled his need to scream and continue

screaming until he passed out. He wanted to close
his eyes, pretend this wasn’t happening, that there
wasn’t a snake sitting less than a meter in front of
him, but he couldn’t take his gaze off the creature
in front of him.

Doug’s arm tightened across Aidan’s chest

again and the broom handle stuck out in front of
them. “We’re just going to move very slowly back
into the house now.” The whispered words
feathered chills down Aidan’s neck, and he
couldn’t control the shudder. “Gently now, one
small step back.” Aidan followed the pressure
from Doug and moved one foot back a few inches.
“Beautiful. Now another.” With the warm comfort
of Doug around him and speaking to him, Aidan
could do this. Another step followed. And another.

Finally they were at the end of the hall where

it opened into the living room and Doug released
his hold on Aidan, stepping back. Aidan shivered
at the loss of the warm protection and turned to
face the other man.

“I think it’s pretty clear you have a nest here

somewhere. That one is younger than the others.
You need to move out right now, and I need to go
and get some more gear so I can get to work.”

Aidan nodded, numb from the shocks of the

last few hours. He took three steps toward the
kitchen and the back of the house, intending to
leave that way, when it suddenly occurred to him
there could be snakes there too. “Will there be any
in the back yard?”

Doug sighed. “It’s possible, but possible is

better than the sure thing you have out the front.”
He gestured toward the back of the house. “Let’s
check it out.”

The back of the house was still in heavy

shade, both from the house itself and the large trees
down one side of the property. “I think we’re
pretty safe here right now,” Doug said. “They want
to sun themselves. That’s why they’re out in front.”
He tugged on Aidan’s arm, maneuvering him
directly behind him as he went down the few stairs
and onto the concrete path below. “Stay close
behind. We’ll work our way around the side to

your car.” He glanced back. “You have your
keys?”

Aidan’s free hand patted his pockets. Keys

and wallet. He nodded but then realized Doug
probably hadn’t seen it, so he said, “Yes,”
dismayed at how croaky his voice sounded. His
gaze travelled the length of Doug’s back, admiring
the ripple of firm muscles beneath the tight shirt.
Aidan sighed. After the last couple of days and the
screaming and everything, there was no way Doug
would be attracted to Aidan, even if he were gay.
Aidan thought he probably was gay; the man was
too comfortable touching another man for him to be
straight, although with the way Aidan’s luck with
men usually ran, he was probably a really tactile
raving homophobe. At Aidan’s car, Aidan handed
Doug his house key, checked the other man had
Aidan’s phone number, and then drove the short
distance to Baxter’s.

“Aidan! What’s up, man?” Baxter checked the

time on his watch, puzzlement scrunching his
features.

“I have snakes. Can I stay here for a few

days?”

Baxter looked up, startled. “Snakes? Plural?

Yesterday it was one.”

Aidan nodded. “Big browny-green ones. Lots

of them. On my porch and in my bed.” He stopped,
needing to take several deep breaths to control the
urge to start screaming again.

“Christ.”

“I know. I thought it was just one and then it

came back, but it wasn’t the same one and then
there was another one and it wouldn’t let me out of
the house so we had to sneak around the back….”

Baxter grasped Aidan by the shoulders, and

Aidan shut his mouth with a snap.

“Come inside and I’ll make you a cup of tea.”

“It was in my bed, Baxter,” Aidan

whimpered.

“I know, babe, it’s okay. We’ll get someone

out there to get rid of it for you.”

Aidan shook his head. “He’s already there.

He took one away yesterday and put another one in
my pillowcase, one with the hand-embroidered
English tea roses, this morning. He said there’s a
nest.” Aidan clamped his hand over his mouth to
hold the hysteria inside. This wasn’t him.

Except, it seemed, now it was.

Chapter Four

B

AXTER

put the kettle on as soon as they were

inside. Aidan slumped onto the barstool at the
counter and thumped his head on the cool granite.

“Stop that. You’ll hurt yourself.”

Aidan rolled his head on the countertop. “I

need to thump some sense back into me. This isn’t
me.”

Baxter chuckled. “You hate snakes, babe.

How else do you think you’d react to having them
in your house?” He brought a black and white
teapot down from an overhead cupboard and sat it
in front of Aidan.

Aidan laughed. “Sylvester? You’d give me

Sylvester?” He grinned at the teapot that was
shaped like Sylvester the Cat. The canary yellow
lid was Tweetie Pie, sitting on Sylvester’s head.

“You need cheering up, and no one cheers

you up quicker than Sylvester.” Baxter quickly

measured leaves into the pot and poured the water
in, then turned to gather mugs.

“I need to ring work and tell them I’ll be

late,” Aidan said as he pulled his phone from his
pocket. At Baxter’s inquiring look, he continued, “I
couldn’t get any clothes out. Every time we turned
around, there was another snake there.”

“We?”

“Mmm,” Aidan nodded as he dialed. “The

snake catcher.” He couldn’t control the smirk as he
lifted his phone to his ear and chuckled when
Baxter’s eyebrows rose in surprise.

“Bianca, can you cancel my classes for this

morning, please? I’m going to be late. I should be
there in time for my meeting with the Director of
Studies.” Aidan wrapped his hand around the cup
of tea Baxter pushed toward him and nodded his
thanks. “No, it’s nothing too serious. Hopefully the
problem will be solved today. I’ll tell you about it
this afternoon. Great, thanks.” He pushed the
disconnect button and lifted his cup to smell the
tea. Baxter always gave him something different

and challenged him to guess what it was. “Mmm.
It’s green but too sweet for Gunpowder and not
earthy enough for Dragonwell.” He sniffed again.
“Is that vanilla?” He looked sharply at Baxter.
“Vanilla in green tea? You’re kidding.”

Baxter laughed. “You’re getting better. It is

Gunpowder, but with chunks of vanilla toffee in
it.” He nodded to Aidan’s cup. “Taste it. Tell me
what you think.”

Aidan frowned at his cup, not sure what to

expect with sweetened green tea, then shrugged.
The diversion had already calmed him down, and
he’d promised Baxter he’d always try his
experiments with tea. He took a sip and raised his
brows at Baxter. “It’s good.” He sipped again.
“Not too sweet, but there’s no bitterness that often
comes with Gunpowder either.”

Baxter grinned. “That’s what I was looking

for.” He grabbed a cloth and wiped the bench in
front of Aidan, rubbing to remove any fingerprints
from the shiny stone top. “Wait ’til you try my new
one: chunks of bitter chocolate and chili in an

organic Sri Lankan black.”

“Why organic?”

“It’s more mellow than other commercial teas

and will handle the bitterness of the chocolate and
bite of the chili better.” Baxter shrugged. “That’s
the theory, anyway.”

They were silent while Aidan finished his

tea, the sweet steam rising from the cup soothing
him almost as much as the mild flavor. Finally he
placed his cup on the bench and sighed.

“Feel better?” Baxter had puttered around the

house as Aidan sat and drank his tea and now
leaned in the doorway of the hallway leading to the
bedrooms.

Aidan slid off the stool, smiling as he

realized Baxter’s distraction had worked. “Much.
Thanks.”

Baxter shrugged. “You just needed time to

calm down so you could plan things logically
again.” He tilted his head to the hallway behind
him. “I’ve put some clothes in the spare room for

you. Take a shower and change before you go
shopping. You’ll make better decisions if you
don’t feel dirty and needing to get into clean
clothes.”

Aidan grinned. “You know me so well.” He

sauntered up to Baxter and gave him a hug.
“Thanks.”

When they separated, Baxter grabbed his keys

off the sideboard in the living room. “No problem.
You know where everything is. I’ll see you
tonight?” At Aidan’s nod, he added, “Anything you
want for dinner?”

Aidan laughed. “Are you cooking? I don’t

care. Even the way you make mac and cheese is
spectacular.”

“I’ll have to think of something a little more

interesting than that. See you tonight.” The door
closed behind Baxter, leaving Aidan’s grin slowly
fading in the lonely silence. At one time he’d
thought he and Baxter would be together forever,
but it had only been the one night. Baxter had
sworn he still loved Aidan and Aidan was sure he

did, but only as a friend. Aidan was fine with that.
Really. He huffed an impatient sigh at himself and
turned toward the spare bedroom and clean
clothes.

Doug was an interesting man, built and with a

nice voice. Aidan could be interested in him, even
if he did like snakes. Somehow, though, it didn’t
sit quite right in Aidan’s head. Quite stubbornly,
his imagination kept providing graphic images of
Detective Sam Walters, his big hands and bigger
smile that never failed to leave pleasant tingles all
over Aidan’s skin. As he showered, he spent a
significant amount of his time imagining in detail
exactly what Sam’s big hands would feel like
sliding over Aidan’s skin. Right at the end,
Aidan’s mind conjured the crinkled edges of
Sam’s soft hazel eyes, the caring and protection he
always imagined in them making Aidan melt into a
little ball of sated exhaustion as he slid to his
knees in the shower. By the time he was dressed
and jogging out to his car, Aidan felt more relaxed
than he had for days. Perhaps that’s all he had
needed: a cup of green tea and a nice long,

relaxing shower. Aidan grinned as he drove
toward his favorite shops.

“I

T

’

S

Tuesday. Why are you at the bar tonight?”

Aidan slid between Baxter and the next stool and
leaned his elbow on the bar.

“He’s going to be here tonight. He said so on

Sunday.”

“‘He’?”

“Yeah, you know, the guy I’ve been hooking

up with.”

Aidan nodded. He knew it would happen one

day. Baxter didn’t want Aidan, but that didn’t mean
he would never want anyone else. “You’ve been
seeing quite a lot of him.”

Bax’s smile was so dopey that Aidan couldn’t

resist smiling back. His friend was in love, even if
he didn’t realize it yet. Aidan was happy for him.
Truly, he was.

“Well, I was only going to stay for a drink or

two, so you can have a free field if you want.”

“Nah, it’s the middle of the week,” Bax said

distractedly, then turned to stare at Aidan. “You
wouldn’t mind if I brought him home?”

Aidan swung his gaze around the bar,

anything to avoid looking directly at Baxter right
now. “Of course not.” Then he realized. “It’s still
okay if I stay at your place tonight, isn’t it? My
place probably won’t be ready to move back into
until tomorrow.”

Baxter slapped him on the shoulder as he slid

off his barstool, his attention obviously on
someone at the other side of the bar. “’Course it is.
We can go to his place tonight.”

Aidan was left alone.

Again.

Aidan grabbed a burger on the way home.

Baxter had obviously forgotten his promise to cook
for them tonight.

He sighed as he let himself into Baxter’s

house. He didn’t even have the comfort of his own

home and, regardless of what Bax said about going
to the other guy’s place, Aidan knew he’d
probably end up here. Then Aidan would be
treated to the sound of Baxter having sex with
another guy. He strode to his room, intending to
pack his meager belongings and go back to his
place, but the thought of all those snakes stopped
him. He couldn’t go home yet. He had to stay here.

He washed the burger grease from his hands,

pulled out a new notepad, and began making notes
from his discussions at the police station. If he
accomplished nothing else, he’d get a bead on the
people robbing all those houses.

A

COUPLE

of hours later, a key scraped in the

front door. Aidan gathered his papers together, not
wanting to see Baxter all rumpled and relaxed
after getting laid. The front door slammed open
and sounds of a struggle wafted into the room.
Worried, Aidan stepped into the doorway so he
could see the entry. What he saw froze him.

Baxter’s head thumped back against the door

as the large man in front of him shoved him back
before dropping to his knees. Aidan thought he
must have had a lot of practice with zips because
no sooner was the big man on his knees in front of
Baxter than sounds of a frantic blow job reached
Aidan’s ears.

His extremely hot ears. The air whooshed

from Aidan’s lungs as he took in the sight before
him. He hardly noticed the man on his knees in
front of Baxter at all. His gaze was riveted on his
friend’s face. He remembered that look. It meant
his friend was beyond caring what was going on
around him. He was ready to come. Aidan had
believed he’d never see that look again, but he was
—just not in the way he wanted to.

Aidan swallowed around the sudden dryness

of his throat, gripped his papers tighter, and, with
one last look at Baxter, turned to his room.

A groan sounded behind him, and he ducked

his head in an effort not to hear more.

“Aidan.” Baxter’s voice was strained, in the

throes of ecstasy, and Aidan couldn’t resist
turning.

Baxter was looking right at Aidan, his

features slack with release. Aidan ran to his room,
tossed his papers on the bed, and locked the door.
For one brief, shining second, he’d thought Baxter
was looking at him because he wanted him, not the
man who was blowing him. Aidan fumbled with
his pants, shoved his hand inside his briefs, and
roughly stroked his rock-hard cock. Twice. Three
times. That’s all it took before he shot his load
over his hand and his shirt.

He slumped to the floor, his back against the

door, and rested his forehead on his knees. A two-
second glimpse of his best friend coming and
Aidan lost control. What a jerk. Voices rumbled
from the living room, one of them short, one
pleading. Then it was quiet for several minutes.
The closing of the front door echoed through the
house before Aidan heard one set of footsteps
pattering down the hall, past his door. He stayed
quiet, not wanting to give Baxter a reason to knock

on the door.

He did anyway.

“Aidan?”

“Go away, Baxter.” Aidan knew he had to

respond but couldn’t face seeing Baxter right now.

“Aidan.” The tone was almost the same as

when Baxter was coming, and Aidan’s cock
twitched. Like one of Pavlov’s dogs, he thought in
disgust.

Baxter shuffled down the hall to his room.

Aidan wiped his hand dry, balled his clothes up,
and tossed them in the clothes basket before
crawling into bed and curling into a tight ball. It
was very late before he finally fell asleep.

“I’

M

sorry

about last night.” Aidan spoke quietly,

uncertain about interrupting the silence that had
ruled their morning so far.

“What do you mean?”

“If I wasn’t here, you… he would have

stayed.”

Baxter ducked he head. “Maybe.” He

shrugged. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I probably
won’t see him again.”

Aidan looked up from his Spanish omelet.

“Why?”

Baxter glared at Aidan. “He didn’t like that I

called another man’s name while he was blowing
me.”

“But that was only because you saw me

there.” Baxter refused to meet his gaze. “Isn’t it?”

“Of course, but he didn’t believe that.” He

dumped his plate into the sink, the sudden noise
making Aidan jump.

Aidan abandoned his breakfast and joined

Baxter in the kitchen. “I’m sorry, Bax. I know you
liked him.”

“He was just a trick, like all the others.”

“Stop it. You and I both know he was more

than that. He could have been much more. It’s okay

to be angry when it ends.”

Baxter pulled away. “Stop patronizing me,

Aidan.” He strode toward his bedroom. “I’m going
to get ready for work.”

Aidan sighed, wondering if Baxter would

ever allow himself to truly care for anyone else.
Oh, he knew Bax cared for him, but that was
friends. Different. As far as Aidan knew, Baxter
had never opened himself up to anyone else. Not in
the way he’d need to in order to have a
relationship. Unable to do anything about it, Aidan
shrugged it off, pulled his phone out, and rang the
number for the snake catcher on duty.

“Hello?” The greeting was short and harsh.

Aidan said hesitantly, “Hello? Is that Doug?”

“Who is this?”

“Oh, um, this is Aidan Markham. You’re

getting rid of snakes at my house over on
Montrose?”

“Oh. Yeah.” There was a pause and Aidan

could imagine Doug taking a few seconds to get his

mind onto the topic. “I located the nest, but it’s
going to take some time to make sure it’s clear.”
Doug sounded just as pissed off as Baxter did.
Aidan began to wonder if everyone he spoke to
today would be in a bad mood.

“Why is that?” Aidan kept his voice evenly

modulated and calm.

“It’s an established nest, with a number of

generations living there. They’ll have a wide
hunting area and might not return to the nest all that
regularly. It’s likely they’ll keep returning, looking
for the nest, for several months.”

“Months? Do you mean I’m going to have

snakes in my house for months?”

“Not necessarily. I’ve cleared the ones that

were there out. You’ll need to put a mesh barrier
around your house if you want to prevent them
getting underneath there again, but there’s no
guarantee that’ll work because snakes burrow
underground. If the ones I didn’t catch establish
other nests, they won’t bother coming back. It
depends on their territory and how good the

hunting is. With the chooks in the neighbor’s yard
as well as all the pet birds in the area, your house
provides a central point to a very lucrative
territory. It’ll support a significant population for a
long time.”

“Christ. I’m going to have to move.”

“Nah, mate. We’ll get you sorted.”

Aidan took a deep breath. Doug seemed to

have recovered his sense of humor, at least. “So
when can I move back home?”

“What have you got on this morning?”

Aidan swiftly ran through his program for the

morning. “I need to be at work by ten.”

“Can you meet me there in thirty minutes? I’ll

do another check, and we’ll make a decision then.”

After Aidan banged on the bathroom door and

let Baxter know he was leaving, he grabbed the
notes he made the previous evening, his keys, and
his wallet and drove over to his house. He sighed
as he pulled into the driveway. Just one night away
and already it felt different, not quite his anymore.

Gingerly, he approached the front door, a relieved
sigh escaping when he saw the front steps and
porch were snake-free. He stayed on the path,
though, not willing to enter the house on his own
until he’d been given the all-clear from Doug.

Within minutes, the rumble of Doug’s bike

sounded in the neighborhood, and seconds later, he
pulled into the street and rode to a smooth stop
beside Aidan’s car. Doug nodded to Aidan as he
swung his leg over the bike, but didn’t speak as he
removed his helmet and rummaged in a saddlebag
and brought out a flashlight, his folded-up stick,
and the burlap bag. His long legs brought him
swiftly to Aidan.

“Anything?” he asked briskly, his tone distant

but not ill-tempered as it had been on the phone.

Aidan shook his head. “I’ve only been here a

few minutes, but I haven’t seen any snakes.”

“That’s a good start.” Doug shifted the gear in

his hands. “I’m going to have a look under the
house, just in case, then quickly check inside, but I
think you’ll be fine today.”

“Just today?” Aidan closed his eyes against

the knowledge growing inside. He really was
going to have to find somewhere else to live.

Doug shrugged. “It’s summer, their active

season, and it’s been a bumper season for them
too. The population of snakes in the area has
skyrocketed. Not much we can do about that,
especially so near to bushland and with so many
‘attractions’ in the neighborhood for them.”

And Aidan had thought living in the suburbs

would be quiet and uneventful. He sighed and
waited patiently for Doug to finish. While he
waited, he ran through all he could remember of
the robberies he was helping Walters with. As he
watched Doug crawl out from under the house,
brushing dirt from the knees of his jeans, it struck
Aidan that his situation matched most of the
robbery cases they were investigating. He lived in
the suburbs, near natural bushland, and had a snake
problem. Perhaps he could do more than speculate
about the thieves.

T

HAT

afternoon, he was back at the police station,

ensconced in Sam’s office, a cup of bitter coffee
sitting ignored at his elbow and papers strewn
across the desk between them.

“So what do you think?” Sam’s voice was

deep and mellow, huge, like his chest, and always
made goose bumps skitter down the back of
Aidan’s neck. This was the second case they’d
worked on together, and with the promise of dinner
sometime, Aidan was beginning to think they could
be friends. At least.

“Do you know I have a snake problem at

home?” he asked conversationally as he pulled the
first report from the bottom of the pile. Sam froze
as Aidan continued. “I live three houses from three
acres of native bushland, and my neighbor has
chooks.” He looked up to find a small smile on
Sam’s face, his eyes sparkling.

“You’ve worked it out already, haven’t you?”

Aidan shrugged. “So have you. I’m not

exactly sure why I’m here.”

“You’re here because each snake catcher

operates in a specific area, and having five people
all in on the same operation when it doesn’t net
enough for each of them to bother with doesn’t
make sense. There’s something we’re missing.”

Aidan nodded.

“You know, a couple of the snake catchers

are gay.”

Aidan jerked his head up and stared hard at

the man in front of him. “What’s that supposed to
mean?”

Sam shrugged. “There’s only one not in an

exclusive relationship. The others are all either
married or living with someone. It’s harder to get
someone on the inside.”

Aidan wasn’t sure he liked the way the

detective was looking at him. “You want an in
with a gay guy, you go to a club and pick him up.”
The last thing he expected was for Sam to nod.

“I was going to, but I wondered if you wanted

to go with me.”

“What?” Aidan squirmed in his seat. This

wasn’t anything he could ever have expected.
Going to a club was way different to going to
dinner. Was this a date? A pickup? He looked
carefully at Sam. Or was it just the job?

“I’ve never been in any of the gay clubs

around here. I know you have, so I thought it would
make it easier if you came with me, sort of like a
guide.”

“A guide?” Aidan surged to his feet, not sure

if he was angry because it was the job and not
Aidan causing this sudden need to go to a gay club,
or upset because Aidan wanted it to mean more,
and he wasn’t even really sure if Sam was gay.
“Dammit, you can’t just walk into a gay club with
someone and expect no one to notice that you…
you’re… I mean….”

“Relax, Aidan. It’ll be fine. If you don’t want

to, I’ll go by myself.”

Aidan stared at the man on the other side of

the desk. His dark hair was cut very short but still

managed to look like little ringlets all over his
head. His square jaw and cleft chin sported
several days’ stubbly growth, and his wrinkled
collar and tie looked a size too large around his
beefy neck. He knew the rest of the clothes were
just as loose and wrinkled. Aidan shook his head,
more in resignation than anything else. No way
would Walters pass at a club without help. Not
just as a gay man, but as an appealing one. He
grimaced as the big man grinned at him, the smile
melting Aidan’s insides just like it always did.
Sam knew he’d won this round.

“Bastard,” Aidan grumbled, then narrowed

his eyes at Sam. “I’m not picking him up. If you
want to do anything like that, you’ll have to do it
on your own.”

The grin widened, and Aidan felt a familiar

lurch in his stomach. Apart from Baxter, Sam was
the only man who’d ever consistently called that
sort of reaction from Aidan. And the man was as
straight as they come. Wasn’t he? Aidan was
pathetic. And celibate because of it. One day, he’d

pick the right man to drool over and to fall in love
with. One day, he’d have someone in his life he
could love and who loved him. And he’d have sex,
good sex. Lots of it.

“When?” Aidan asked in trepidation.

“Friday would be the best night, wouldn’t it?”

Aidan nodded. “Either Friday or Saturday,

depending on where you go. Where does your guy
go?”

Sam named a place, surprising Aidan. “My

friend goes there every week.”

“Do you?”

“Not every week,” Aidan said, shaking his

head. “I usually only go when Bax wants me to
check out a new guy for him.”

Sam’s head tilted in curiosity. “Why does he

need you to check them out?”

“It’s not strictly a gay bar, and Bax has

absolutely no gaydar. He often even misses cues
that would tell most people they’re not welcome. If
I check the guys out first, he doesn’t get bashed so

much.”

“Do you?” Sam’s body had gone still, and

Aidan could feel the tension rolling from him in
waves.

Aidan didn’t understand and said so.

“Do you get bashed instead?”

Aidan laughed. “No. I’m pretty good at

reading people, and I rarely approach anyone I’m
not sure about. Occasionally Baxter insists I talk to
the guys he’s interested in, but usually it’s not
necessary.”

Sam looked like he was suppressing laughter.

“You’re good at reading people, huh?”

“Usually, yes.” When Sam continued to smile,

Aidan said irritably, “You know, if you have
something to say, you could just say it. All those
leading questions probably work really well with
your suspects, but they only irritate me.”

Sam laughed. “Don’t worry. They irritate the

suspects too.” He didn’t say any more, and Aidan
had no more clue what he’d been talking about than

he had before.

“So,” he said, bringing them back on track.

“Friday?”

“Yeah. I’ll come and pick you up and you can

show me the club life.” Sam stood, so Aidan did
too. “I have some more leads to follow up here.
Do you think there’ll be anything more you want to
add to the report you gave me?”

Aidan shrugged. “Probably. It depends on

where your leads take you. At the moment,
everything you’ve shown me points to a connection
with the snake catchers.”

“When you’re ready, give me a call and we

can meet somewhere for coffee.”

Aidan looked at Sam for a long time but

couldn’t see anything in his expression that
indicated the invitation might be personal. Aidan
suppressed the disappointed sigh welling inside
him and nodded before he turned to the door.

Sam opened his office door, but Aidan didn’t

step through. “One thing,” he said, looking at the

detective’s baggy clothing. “Can you wear
something a little less…” he waved a hand in the
direction of Sam’s body, “and a little more….” He
shrugged, grimacing at his inability to just tell the
man what he wanted.

Sam laughed a full belly laugh Aidan rarely

heard but always made him smile. “Don’t worry. I
have clothes in my wardrobe that don’t scream
‘cop’.”

“Good,” said Aidan cheekily. “I hope you

also have something that doesn’t scream ‘straight’.
Try for something a little more fitted.”

That belly laugh was going to be the death of

him, Aidan was sure as he shifted on his feet,
uncomfortably aware of the heaviness growing in
his groin.

“Will do, my friend.” Sam’s large hand rested

comfortably against Aidan’s shoulder blade again,
as it always did when the man ushered him in or
out of his office. Aidan had never shrugged it off.

Chapter Five

S

AM

rang the next day to ask if he should wear a

T-shirt or button-down shirt on Friday night. Aidan
said T-shirt and the conversation ended. The day
after, Sam wanted to know what color the shirt
should be. Anything but blue, responded Aidan.

“What’s wrong with blue?”

“The last blue T-shirt I saw had a snake in

it.”

The day after, Sam asked if he should wear

jeans or something else.

“What else would you wear to a club, Sam?”

“I don’t know. You’re the expert.”

“Hardly an expert. Jeans will be fine.”

“And you’ll tell me if my bum looks big in

them?”

On Friday morning the phone stayed silent,

and Aidan found himself unable to focus on getting

ready for work. Finally, he picked his phone up
and dialed.

“You didn’t call this morning,” he accused.

“I know.” Sam’s voice was thick and groggy.

“Bad incident last night. I’ve only just gone to
sleep.” At Aidan’s horrified gasp, Sam continued.
“I’m glad you called. My morning wouldn’t seem
right without talking to you.”

Aidan smiled so much it was difficult to eat

his breakfast. When he finished, he carefully
checked the draft blockers he’d bought and laid
them across the gap under every door. He figured
if they were moved from where he’d left them, it
meant a snake had got past and into the room
beyond. So far, none of them had been moved after
he’d positioned them and left the house.

A

FTER

one of the longest Fridays he could

remember, Aidan found himself dressing with
more care than usual. He scowled at himself as he

tried to get his hair to behave. “It’s not a date,
Aidan. You’re simply accompanying a police
officer to a club so he doesn’t stand out like a cop
on a stakeout.” Regular and increasingly intimate
phone calls notwithstanding. The doorbell rang.
“Shit, I hope whatever he chose to wear is better
than those awful baggy clothes.” He gave up on his
hair and walked briskly down the hallway, flinging
open the door.

His voice failed him. Standing on his porch

was a man he barely recognized. The size was the
same, the square jaw and stubble were still there,
and so was the wide grin, but nothing else looked
familiar. “Where the hell did all the muscles come
from?” Aidan blurted, then slapped his hand
across his mouth in mortification. His eyes still
wandered over the broad, muscle-packed body on
display in front of him. Sam wore black jeans and
a red T-shirt, but there was nothing remotely baggy
about either one of them. Aidan swallowed and, as
he removed his hand from his mouth, discreetly
checked for drool.

Sam laughed his huge belly laugh, and Aidan

relaxed a bit. Under all that solid, biteable—Aidan
checked his tongue wasn’t hanging out of his mouth
—it was still the affable man Aidan had come to
know.

“Hello to you too,” the big man said, his gaze

quickly running from Aidan’s head to toes and
back.

“You look good.” Aidan’s face heated, and he

wanted nothing more than to disappear. He wasn’t
usually so rude. “Sorry, Detective, but you have to
admit this image is very different to the way you
usually present.”

“It’s useful.” Sam shrugged. “I know the

baggy clothes make me look a little more genial
and a little less efficient. It relaxes victims and
makes suspects underestimate me. And you did tell
me to wear something tight.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t mean painted on,” Aidan

exclaimed as his gaze was once again drawn to the
clearly defined pecs. “What should I call you
tonight?” Aidan asked.

“Call me Sam.”

Aidan glanced around before focusing on Sam

again. “Shouldn’t I call you something else? Aren’t
you undercover? What if I say something to blow
it?”

“I’m not undercover, Aidan,” Sam said

patiently.

He held his hands up in surrender. “I’ll just

get my keys and we can go.” After Aidan carefully
placed the draft stopper against the front door, they
headed toward Sam’s car. Aidan couldn’t control
his smile and chuckled as Sam slid into his seat,
the tight jeans emphasizing his package.

“I’m sorry I said anything,” the big man

groused, immediately knowing what had amused
Aidan.

“I’m not. ‘Little Willy’ has been entertaining

me ever since you told me.” Aidan giggled.
“Sorry. I’m sure I’ll be over it by the time we get
to the club.”

“It’s not that funny.”

“I can see that.” Aidan giggled again, then

made a concerted effort to calm down. It was
mostly nervousness making him overreact. “You
think we’ll actually talk to a burglar tonight?”

“Probably not.” Sam sighed, obviously

relieved at the subject change. “There’s nothing
actually linking any of the snake catchers to the
robberies, but they’re the only common factor there
is.”

Aidan thought about what Sam said, trying to

make sense of the convoluted sentence. “So you
think it might be someone one of them knows?”

“Could be. We don’t have the resources to

check all their friends and acquaintances without
evidence. All we have at the moment is a hunch.”

“So what?” Aidan was confused. “Tonight’s

not official?”

“If tonight were official, I’d have backup. I’m

just checking a guy out. See if I get any vibes from
him.”

Aidan burst out laughing. “Oh God, you’re so

funny,” he gasped.

“What did I say this time?” Sam demanded.

“You’re checking a guy out.” Aidan hooted.

“I am seeing a totally different side to you tonight,
Detective.”

“It’s Sam.” The big man scowled at the road

ahead, but Aidan was sure there was a smile
tugging at the corner of his sculptured lips. “You
can’t call me ‘Detective’ in a club.”

Aidan relaxed in his seat, still smiling. “You

know, Sam, I’m glad you asked me to come along.
This is the most fun I’ve had in ages. I can’t wait to
see you inside.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s not a gay club as such, but an awful lot

of gay people hang out there.” Aidan raked a gaze
over the chiseled body beside him. “You are so
going to get hit on by every twink in the club and
probably most of the butch guys as well. My friend
Bax is just going to adore you.”

Sam looked horrified, then took a deep

breath. “Which is exactly why I have you along
with me. You can protect me.”

Aidan hooted again. “Oh God, that’s funny.”

“What now?” he demanded.

“S-S-Sam, the damsel in distress.”

A reluctant laugh burst from Sam as he turned

the ignition off. “You must be my hero, then.”

Aidan snorted as he opened his door and got

out of the car. “Oh yeah, I’m Ironman.”

“Nah, he’s too arrogant. You’re more like

Spiderman. Thrust into your greatness reluctantly,
but too good a person to refuse.”

Aidan’s laughter died on a gasp, and he

stared at Sam across the hood of the car. Sam
offered a small smile, almost shy, before he
rounded the car and stepped onto the footpath. He
nodded down the street. “This way?”

A

IDAN

shivered under the cold blast of air from

the air conditioner vent just inside the entrance of
the club, but the cool air didn’t penetrate more than
four steps into the crowded area. He quickly
grabbed Sam’s hand to avoid being separated
before they’d managed to find a spot near the bar.
Sam’s broad fingers swallowed Aidan’s hand and
hung on tightly. Aidan smiled at the thought he was
protecting the big man in any way. Like the huge
detective would need protecting at all, let alone by
someone as physically ineffectual as Aidan. It was
a nice thought, though.

“What’ll you have?” Aidan shouted the words

but had to lean close to Sam to make sure he heard.
He shivered a little when Sam focused on his lips,
using the shapes they made of the words to help
him work out what Aidan was saying.

“Cola is fine.” At Aidan’s disbelieving look,

Sam expanded his response. “I don’t like beer or
spirits and don’t have time to learn about wines.
It’s easier to not drink at all.”

Aidan shrugged, suppressing his amazement.

He’d had the big man pegged as a beer man. To

find he didn’t drink at all intrigued him. He
signaled the bartender and ordered Sam’s drink
and a wine spritzer for himself.

“You’ve been holding out on me.” Baxter’s

voice in his ear was both accusing and curious.
“Introduce me to your friend.”

And there went the little bubble Aidan had

been living in for the last half hour, popping
messily in his chest. Sam wasn’t his date. He was
a detective on a case. He looked at his friend
Baxter, who always went for firemen, paramedics,
or cops, and sighed. “Don’t, Bax,” he implored.

Innocent eyes stared at him. “What? I just

want to meet your friend. I saw you arrive with
him.”

Aidan sighed and turned to Sam, placing a

hand on his thick wrist to get his attention. He
leaned toward him, taking in the laughing hazel
eyes, square jaw, and biteable chin, then accepted
defeat. Even if Sam wasn’t straight, he probably
wouldn’t be interested in Aidan. Men like him
never were. They all went for Baxter, though. Still,

he couldn’t resist leaning even closer, placing his
lips next to Sam’s ear, inhaling his clean scent. No
expensive colognes for his detective; just soap and
man. “This is my friend Baxter.” He sat back and
said to Baxter, “Bax, this is Sam.”

Their drinks arrived just then, and Aidan

turned to pick up his glass and gulp half of it in one
swallow, finally turning back toward Sam and
Baxter. Bax had an arm thrown around Sam’s neck
and leaned in close to talk to him. Sam had half a
smile on his face but was shaking his head. Aidan
wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but something in
Sam’s posture made Aidan sure he wasn’t entirely
comfortable. Before he could reach out and pull
Baxter away, his friend turned to him.

“Aidan, tell him to dance with me. He doesn’t

know what he’s missing.” Baxter winked, totally
confident in his ability to attract men and equally
oblivious to the fact Sam was straight. Aidan
opened his mouth to tell him, but snapped it shut as
he thought. He leaned into Sam again. “If you
dance with Bax, you’ll have a better chance of

seeing if your guy is here.” Aidan inhaled deeply,
drawing the warmth from near Sam's neck into his
lungs, and imagined Sam tilted his head closer.

“I’d rather….” Sam sat back, not finishing

what he was going to say, then nodded at Aidan, a
small smile on his face, and turned to the dance
floor with Baxter.

Aidan turned to watch them, his imagination

finishing the sentence Sam left half done. I’d
rather dance with you. Aidan sighed. It was a nice
fantasy, but his life wasn’t filled with fantasies—
only realities that left him alone, every time. Sam
and

Baxter

disappeared

into

the

crowd

surrounding the dance floor, and Aidan turned back
to his drink.

“I thought it was you.” The velvet voice

shivered down Aidan’s neck before he had a
chance to turn and see Doug sliding onto a vacant
stool beside him.

“Doug.” He smiled, as happy to see a familiar

face as he was to no longer be on his own.

“How goes it with the snakes?” Doug asked.

“So far so good,” Aidan replied, then sat and

wondered what else they could talk about. Three
encounters with snakes and a few vague fantasies
over biceps and motorbikes didn’t make them
friends.

“You’re here with someone?”

Aidan nodded toward the dance floor.

“They’re dancing.” They both looked at the crowd
surrounding the dance floor for a few seconds
before turning to each other again. Aidan picked
his glass up and drained it. This was exactly why
he didn’t come here often. This meeting strangers
—well, almost strangers—and trying to find
something to talk about was bullshit, and the
pickup lines Baxter always used were clichéd and
crude. Not Aidan’s style at all.

“You want to?”

Aidan frowned at Doug, not sure if he

understood the question. Doug gestured into the
crowd. “You want to dance?”

“With you?” Stupid. Why else would he ask?

Doug grinned at him. “Come on. It’ll be fun.”

Aidan followed Doug through the crowd.

There was obviously something wrong with his
gaydar, or else Doug gave off the wrong vibes.
Aidan had been pretty sure he was straight. They
pushed their way through to the square of wood
that was packed with people writhing and
bouncing in time to the music. Above all the heads,
Aidan got a glimpse of tight, dark curls swaying
and bouncing. Without thinking about why he
would want to, he pushed himself through to where
Sam and Baxter were dancing.

Sam flashed a relieved-looking smile at

Aidan when he and Doug joined them, and Aidan
felt his cheeks heat. He told himself it was silly to
be so pleased that someone seemed glad to see
him, but he was. The floor was crowded, but
Aidan was sure Baxter was taking advantage of
that to rub himself against Sam any time he could.
Aidan laughed, realizing it wasn’t so much him
Sam was glad to see as it was rescue, then pushed
between them to introduce Doug.

“My hero,” Sam whispered in Aidan’s ear.

Aidan turned. “Now I feel like I should beat

my chest and warble like Tarzan.”

Sam grinned and nodded at Doug. “How did

you find him?”

“He’s the guy who’s been taking my snakes

away.”

Sam’s beefy arm encircled Aidan’s shoulders

and thick fingers squeezed his arm. “I knew you’d
make my job easier. That’s the guy I wanted to talk
to.” The arm stayed where it was, and Aidan was
excruciatingly aware of the friction between them
as they both bobbed to the music in a parody of
dancing.

Baxter shoved between them. “You didn’t

take long to move in on him,” he hissed, indicating
Doug.

Aidan stared at Baxter’s narrowed eyes and

downturned lips. He hadn’t seen his friend like this
for some time. Aidan felt his eyebrows jump as he
realized the last time Baxter had been like this was

the last time Aidan had met anyone he was
interested in. Bastard. He grabbed Baxter’s neck.
“You don’t want me, Baxter, so you have no right
to be jealous every time I meet someone.”

Baxter jerked back. “Fuck off.” He twisted

and grabbed Sam’s arm, attempting to pull him off
the floor back to the bar. Sam resisted.

“You go ahead. I want to get to know Doug

better.”

Even with the music and the noise of the

crowd, Aidan heard Baxter’s enraged gasp. He
burst out laughing and followed his friend to the
bar after letting Sam and Doug know where he was
going.

“What’s up with you, Bax?” Aidan nudged

Bax’s arm. “Can’t handle it unless you’re the one
pulling them in?”

“Fuck off, Aidan.”

Aidan realized Baxter was serious. His friend

was really upset that Aidan came with Sam.
“Come on, Bax, you only met him tonight. You

can’t be that serious already.”

“He’s the one I was telling you about,

asshole.”

Aidan jerked back. “Sam? My Sam?” He

looked toward the dancing crowd. “Really?”

“Not him, idiot. Doug.” When Aidan stared at

Baxter in surprise, Baxter relaxed a bit. “You
really didn’t know?”

Aidan shook his head. “He’s the guy who’s

been getting rid of my snakes for me.” He jerked
back. “That’s why he always smells like DG.”

Baxter was suddenly in his face again. “How

the hell do you know how he smells? Just how
well have you been getting to know him?”

Laughter bubbled inside Aidan, but he

ruthlessly pushed it down, knowing it would push
Baxter too far. “Take it easy, Bax. I told you about
the snakes and how he rescued me from them.” He
flicked another look at the crowd. “So, Bax is
finally in love, is he?” he teased.

“Fuck you,” Baxter groused, then ruined it by

grinning sheepishly before sighing despondently.
“He’s not talking to me since the other night.”

“The other…?” The light bulb lit inside

Aidan’s sluggish brain. “He’s the blowjob from
the other night when I was there.”

Baxter nodded. “He won’t believe me that I

just said your name because you were there. He
didn’t see you. He thinks I’ve been using him
because I can’t have you.”

“You had me, Bax, and it didn’t work. Did

you tell him that?”

His friend nodded miserably. “He says I’ve

probably been pining for you ever since, and he’s
not going to be a substitute for anyone.” He raised
despairing eyes to Aidan, then seemed to collect
himself and shrug. “Well, there are plenty more
men out there I haven’t tried. No point in getting
bogged down with one, is there? It’s too much
trouble.”

“Don’t do this to yourself, Bax.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do. Every time you start to care

about someone, the first obstacle you hit, you bail.
Why do you always have to think it should be
easy?”

“It shouldn’t be so bloody hard, that’s for

sure,” Baxter retorted.

“Love isn’t hard, Bax, but relationships can

be. At least to start with. It takes time to learn
about another person and work out how to fit your
lives together.”

“It wasn’t hard with us.”

Aidan laughed. “You have a very selective

memory, Baxter Finch. We fought most of our way
through primary school, remember? It took the
whole eight years of that before we settled into
being steadfast friends.”

Baxter looked surprised, then laughed, then

sobered, all so fast Aidan thought he’d have
whiplash by the end of it. “Shit, does that mean I
have to fight with Doug for eight bloody years
before we can be comfortable together all the
time?”

“Don’t think about it like that. Think of all the

make-up sex you’ll be having.”

Baxter brightened. “I like the way you think,

my friend.” He turned to look at the crowd,
noticing Sam and Doug weaving their way through
but not heading toward them. “What the hell? Has
your date just stolen my boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend? Dear God, Bax, when you

decide to fall, you don’t muck around, do you? Just
the other day, ‘boyfriend’ was the worst sort of
dirty word to you.” Aidan sucked in a tight breath
as he realized that Baxter had really fallen for
Doug. He told himself it was because of the
robberies and the possibility that Doug was
involved, but there was still a little pang at the
confirmation that all he and Bax would ever be
was friends.

Aidan truly didn’t know why he kept holding

onto the wish for more. He knew, logically, that he
and Baxter were better as friends. He’d never be
able to live with the other man full-time. They’d
drive each other crazy. He looked over the sea of

heads and bodies performing complicated social
rituals and realized it was probably just that he
was lonely and grasping at the nearest straw. At
least one of them had the sense to recognize it and
step back so they could save their friendship.

He noticed Doug head to the bathroom and

thought there was one thing he could do to help
Baxter in his quest for his first boyfriend. “I’ll be
back in a minute,” he said absently as he slipped
off his stool and headed toward the back.

As the door opened, he noticed Doug washing

his hands. Aidan stepped to the sink beside him
and stuck his hands under the cool water. “Hey.”
He looked around, but none of the other men
seemed interested in them. “I’m sorry about the
other night.” Doug looked up, startled and wary. “I
heard the door slam and thought Baxter had come
home drunk and fallen or something.” He looked
up into Doug’s scowling face. “I sure as hell
startled Bax, standing there staring at you both like
that. It was a bit of a shock, and I froze for a
minute. I went straight to the guest room, but Bax

said you left.” He dried his hands and threw the
paper towel in the trash. “So, um, sorry. I’m back
at my place now, so there won’t be any more
interruptions from me, and I know Bax wants to
see you again.” He turned to leave the room, not
sure if he’d done any good or made things worse.

“Wait.” Doug’s hand closed around his

forearm and stopped him in the dim hallway. The
tall man leaned in, speaking softly. “You were
really there?”

“Yeah, I told you I’d stay with a friend while

you cleared the snakes out. Baxter’s my best
friend.” He shrugged. “We’ve known each other
since kindergarten.” He put his hand on Doug’s
shoulder, their bodies close. Aidan kept his voice
low. “And in case you’re wondering, Bax doesn’t
go for slim, effeminate men like me. He prefers
larger, outdoor types.”

“You bastard.”

Aidan and Doug jumped apart. In the split

second Aidan had for rational thought before
Baxter’s fist slugged him in the jaw, he realized it

probably looked suspicious. Then he was on the
floor with Doug kneeling beside him, Baxter
striding angrily away, and, at the end of the hall,
Sam standing, arms crossed and a forbidding
expression on his face.

Chapter Six

I

T

HAD

rained while they were in the club, and the

shush-shush of wet road under the tires
accompanied them as Sam drove Aidan home.

“I’m sorry.”

“What for?” Sam hadn’t looked directly at

Aidan since they left the club.

“I probably stuffed things up with you and

Doug, didn’t I?”

“Me and Doug?”

Aidan rounded on Sam. “Don’t do that. I keep

telling you I’m not a suspect in a case so you don’t
need to needle me into giving you the information
you want. A normal conversation would be nice.”

“What information do you think I want?”

Sam’s voice remained quiet and completely
without inflection.

“Fuck you, detective,” muttered Aidan and he

turned his head to stare out the window,

surreptitiously wriggling his sore jaw side to side.

“If you wanted to spend the evening hooking

up, you should have warned me.”

“I wasn’t hooking up, asshole.” Aidan sighed.

“Baxter’s been hooking up with Doug, and I was at
his place the other night when he brought him
home. He thought Bax and I were together, even in
the middle of a blowjob, and he left and then Bax
wouldn’t talk to me so I thought I’d fix it, but all I
did was make it worse.”

There was a long silence. Sam turned the

wipers on as the rain started again and the sloshing
under the wheels grew louder.

“Was any of that supposed to make sense to

me?” Sam asked quietly.

Aidan sighed. “No. It didn’t make any sense

to me, either. Not when I said it and not when I
was talking to Baxter or Doug. Not even when I
was there. Those two deserve each other. Blind
assholes,” he muttered.

“So, you and Doug?”

“Doug’s the snake catcher.”

“And you spoke to him tonight about…?”

“Baxter.” Aidan sighed. “I just told you.”

“Uh-huh. I’m just going through it one step at

a time.”

“I stayed at Bax’s place the other night when I

had snakes at my place, and Bax picked Doug up at
the club and brought him home.” He cleared his
throat, embarrassed to be relating this to a man
he’d only known through work for a few months,
not sure why he continued, but needing to make the
whole situation clear so Sam would relax and
smile at him again. How pathetic was that? “They
basically fell into the house, and I thought Bax had
come home drunk and hurt himself, so I went into
the hall and saw them.”

“Saw them?”

Aidan ducked his head. “Doug was, um, on

his knees in front of Bax,” he mumbled, then took a
deep breath and continued. “Anyway, Bax opened
his eyes and saw me, um, right at the, ah, crucial

moment, and he said my name.” He sighed again.
“Doug got angry and left.”

“He called your name when he came?” Sam

sounded incredulous.

“He didn’t expect to open his eyes and see me

watching him getting a blowjob! He wasn’t
imagining it was me or anything.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Of

course.” Aidan

could

hear

the

defensiveness in his voice and cleared his throat to
start again. “Bax is my best friend. He doesn’t
want me like that.” Shit, that didn’t sound wistful,
did it?

Sam pulled into Aidan’s driveway and turned

the ignition off. Before Aidan could release his
seatbelt, Sam placed his hand on Aidan’s arm. “Do
you? Want Bax like that?”

Aidan opened his mouth to give his stock-

standard response—Of course not, we’re just
friends—but it wouldn’t come out. He took a deep
breath to calm the fluttering in his stomach. “We

tried it once, six months ago, but Bax is a one-night
stand kind of guy—at least he always has been
before Doug.” He shrugged. “And I’m not.” He
looked up at Sam’s serious face. “There isn’t and
won’t be anything other than friendship between
Baxter and me.”

The silence stretched between them, but still

Sam held Aidan’s arm immobile. The heat seeping
through Aidan’s clothing simultaneously warmed
him and created minute shivers under his skin. He
dragged his attention back to the conversation and
could almost anticipate the next comment—But
you want it to be more. He ran through the
responses he could make without actually lying to
a man who detected liars for a living. He still
hadn’t worked out exactly what he would say
before Sam spoke again.

“How many men have you had sex with since

then?”

“What?” Aidan’s stomach turned, fluttering

uncomfortably.

“How many men have you had since the night

with Baxter?”

“I understood the question. I just don’t

understand why you need to know,” Aidan snapped
irritably. The queasy feeling in Aidan’s stomach
was growing. He needed to get out of here before
he said something stupid—he flicked a look at the
large man looming next to him—or did something
stupid.

Sam released Aidan’s arm and their seatbelts,

then turned in his seat to face Aidan. “I was
thinking you might need to change the memory of
that time by spending a night with someone else.”

Aidan’s mouth flapped open and closed like a

goldfish in a tank. For a second he thought he had
the goldfish’s three second memory span, too,
because the heat and clean sweat scent emanating
from the man shifting closer to him made him
forget what they were talking about. Sam’s face
was half in shadow and half illuminated by the dull
porch light. Aidan’s eyes focused unerringly on
Sam’s lips, the dusky-rose color almost black in
the dim light, the sharp pleat between lip and skin

shining like moonlight. And then they blurred and
Aidan couldn’t see anything but shadows, could
feel nothing but warm breath wafting over his face,
could taste nothing but the tangy freshness of those
hard lips, suddenly soft in a gentle kiss.

His eyes drifted closed and he groaned,

pressing himself into the sparkly pink sensation of
kissing Sam, breathing it in, enfolded in the
comfort of those lips, every bit as overwhelming
as the huge body leaning over him. He whimpered
when Sam’s square-tipped fingers rasped against
the stubble on Aidan’s cheek, barely there except
in the tingle of contact. Aidan sank deeper into it,
drowned in the knowledge of another man wanting
him.

And then the pressure, the taste, and the smell

of need were gone, lifting away and allowing
cooler air to return with reason. Aidan gasped,
sucking in air to fuel his common-sense-starved
brain. Then he fumbled the door open and fell from
the car, landing shakily on his feet and lurching
unsteadily along the path and up the steps to his

door.

What he saw there dragged a scream of terror

from his lungs.

On his porch, between the dislodged draft

stopper and jammed under the door, was a snake.
Aidan knew immediately why the snake was still
there, wedged under the door. A huge bulge, the
size of a large rat or kitten, distended the snake’s
body and prevented it from moving into the house.

Aidan screamed again when large hands

landed on his deltoids, holding him steady.

“Easy, Aidan.” Sam’s breath was harsh in

Aidan’s ear. “Christ, you scared the shit out of me.
I thought… what the fuck?”

Aidan slumped back against Sam’s reassuring

chest. “Oh God, another one. I can’t… I can’t….”

“It’s okay, Aidan.” Sam drew Aidan away

from the porch and steered him back to the car.
“You don’t have to go in there. Come on, let’s get
out of here, and you can ring someone to get rid of
it.”

“It… it moved the draft stopper. What if there

are more in there?”

Sam opened the passenger door and helped

Aidan lower himself to the seat. Aidan dropped
his head into his hands. “I can’t live here anymore.
I have to sell the house.” He shook his head and
dug his fingers into his scalp. “I can’t do this
anymore.”

Sam pushed Aidan upright and pulled the

seatbelt around him, leaning over him to click it in
place. As he backed out of the doorway, his hand
smoothed down the back of Aidan’s head and
rested warmly on his neck. “It’s okay, Aidan. I’ll
take you away from here, and you can call
someone to come and get rid of it.” He closed the
door and trotted around the car to climb into the
driver’s seat.

“Call. Yes, I need to call.” Aidan twisted and

fumbled in his pocket for his phone, nearly
dropping it before he held it securely in his hands.
He pulled the number up and hit dial. There was
no answer. Eventually, the call was transferred to

an answering service. Aidan left a shaky message,
giving the address and his phone number, then hung
up and clutched the phone in his lap, willing it to
ring soon so he could get rid of the snakes. Finally
he looked up and realized they were still driving.

“Where are we going?”

“I didn’t know where else you wanted to go,

so I’m taking you to my place.”

“Your place?” Aidan’s voice was shrill in

his ears but, like his ragged breathing and
rebellious stomach, he couldn’t control it. It was
all he could do to swallow the hysterical screams
echoing in his head, clamoring to get out and find
voice.

“We’ll be there soon, and then we can work

out what to do next. There’s no point in trying to
make a decision until you’ve had time to calm
down a bit.”

“Calm down? How can I calm down? My

house is infested with snakes. I can’t sit on my
couch and read. I can’t eat in my kitchen or sleep
in my bed. I… I….” A sob tore from his chest,

quickly followed by another. Aidan curled into
himself, head cradled on his knees, and wept.

“Christ. Hang on, Aidan. Just let me stop.”

Movement ceased except for the occasional

rocking when another car sped past, but Aidan
couldn’t stop the trembling in his body. The sobs
racking him slowed, but tears still leaked from his
eyes. He lifted his knees, pushing his face further
into the anonymity of darkness. Aidan jumped
when Sam rested his large warm hand on his back
and rubbed in small circles. After a short time, the
click of a seatbelt preceded Sam leaning over and
around Aidan. Aidan jerked at the warm
envelopment, but after a few minutes the tears
stopped completely and he relaxed into the large
body surrounding him. A sudden squall of rain
battered the windscreen and roof, then settled to
the steady patter it had been before. Aidan
wriggled, finding it difficult to draw a deep breath.

Sam moved back to his seat but kept a hand

on the back of Aidan’s neck. “Better?” he asked.

Aidan scrubbed his hands over his face,

wiping the moisture on his jeans. He nodded but
didn’t lift his head.

Sam’s hand kneaded his neck lightly. The car

started again, and Sam’s hand disappeared for a
few seconds before returning. “Just hang on a few
more minutes, Aidan. We’re nearly home. Then
you can have a long shower and relax.”

Aidan nodded but kept his head resting on his

knees. His seatbelt dug into his neck a bit, but he
didn’t want to lift his head in case Sam took his
hand away. The heavy warmth of it was the only
thing holding Aidan together right then.

It was only a few more minutes before Sam

removed his hand, and they turned into a short
street before winding through a maze of
townhouses and stopping in front of one that
looked exactly like the ones on either side of it.

“Let’s get you inside.” Sam clicked the

buckle on Aidan’s seatbelt to release it, then got
out on his side.

A shiver shuddered down Aidan’s spine

when the door beside him opened and cool mist

gusted over him. He stood and wrapped his arms
around himself, the shivering continuing even
though he knew he wasn’t cold. God, one snake
and he’d totally lost it. A hysterical giggle burst
out of him. One snake. After the last week of
snakes, he figured he was due a little hysteria.

“You okay, Aidan?” Sam asked.

Aidan nodded, then shook his head, then

shrugged his shoulders. He would be okay. Just not
right now—later.

“Come on. Standing out here in the rain isn’t

doing either of us any good.” Sam wrapped his
arm around Aidan and guided him into his house
and up the stairs. “This way. I think the best thing
for you right now would be a hot shower and a
good night’s sleep.” Sam pushed the door to the
bathroom open and pulled a clean towel down
from a high shelf. “There you go. You’ll be all
right here now?”

Aidan nodded, then forced his tired voice to

work. “Thank you.”

Sam’s large hand ran another circle on

Aidan’s back. “No problem, Aidan. You have that
shower, and I’ll get a drink for us.” The door
clicked shut, and Aidan shuddered as he realized
he was alone. A thought popped into his head.
What if Sam had snakes too? His gaze darted
around the small room. He didn’t see any, but he
never saw them at his place either except on the
porch, and he knew they went into his house. They
were probably here too. Aidan spun and wrenched
open the door. It slammed against the wall, but
Aidan was already at the top of the steps and
charging down.

Sam met him halfway. “Aidan! What’s

wrong?” He grabbed Aidan by the arms to stop his
headlong dash. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Snakes,” Aidan gasped.

“Snakes?” Sam flicked a look up the stairs.

“Here?”

“Yes.” Aidan nodded, then shook his head,

his heart pounding. “No. I don’t know. How do
you know you don’t have snakes? There could be

snakes here too.”

Sam sucked in a deep breath before looking

steadily into Aidan’s panicked eyes. “I’ll come
with you and check it out, okay? We’ll make sure
there are no snakes, Aidan.” Sam’s voice was low
and soothing, just like the nurses were every time
Aidan’s mother got confused from her advancing
Alzheimer’s.

Aidan closed his eyes and tried to focus on

breathing evenly. “I’m sorry. I know there are no
snakes here. I know it, but….”

“You’ve been dealing with this for a while.

You thought they were gone, and then you’re
confronted with it all over again. It’s a shock,
Aidan. You’re in shock, that’s all. You’re going to
be fine. You just need a warm shower and a good
night’s sleep. That’s all.” The whole time Sam
was talking, he was leading Aidan back to the
bathroom. He turned the water on and, as the room
began to steam, helped Aidan out of his clothes
and into the shower. “You’ll be okay now, Aidan.
Just stay in there a few minutes and warm up a bit,

then you can sleep.”

Aidan scrubbed his hands over his face and

nodded. “Yeah. Thanks, Sam. I’ll be fine.” His
voice sounded distant in his ears, but at least it
was here with him. He felt more himself as the
water pelted down on him. “I’m sorry to be so
much trouble.”

“Don’t worry about it, Aidan. I’ll leave the

door open a little. I’ll just get the spare room
organized and leave something for you to sleep
in.”

Sam seemed reluctant to leave the room.

Normally Aidan would have laughed and assumed
it was because he was standing in the shower
naked, his skinny butt on display, but Sam’s eyes
were firmly focused on Aidan’s face every time
Aidan looked up. The large man’s face was
flushed from the heat in the room, and he held
himself very still, as if waiting for Aidan to break
down again. Aidan focused on the way the warm
water pelted his shoulders and ran down his back
and refused to feel ashamed of the way he’d lost it

before. He was fine now, thanks to Sam. He
offered a small smile and a nod. “I’ll be out soon,
Sam. Thank you.”

When he’d finished in the shower, Aidan

found a small pile of clothing balanced
precariously on the edge of the hand basin. He
shook out the T-shirt and sweatpants and burst out
laughing.

“Everything okay, Aidan?” Sam called out

from somewhere outside the room.

Aidan pulled the T-shirt on and strode from

the room, his hands on his hips. “What the hell do
you call this, Sam? How many of these huge
nightshirts do you own?”

Sam’s laugh at the sight of Aidan, the bottom

of Sam’s T-shirt sitting midthigh, made Aidan’s
smile widen.

“You look like a little kid playing dress-up.”

“I can’t help it if you’re related to Jack’s

giant.” Aidan tugged the neck of the T-shirt back
up onto his shoulder. “The sweatpants would sit

under my armpits and still be too big.”

“Jack’s giant was much larger, and I don’t

have a golden goose for you to steal.” Sam
gestured Aidan toward one of the bedrooms.

“You know Jack and the Beanstalk?” Aidan

walked into the room to find a small double bed
made up with tan sheets and an orange and black
Winnie-the-Pooh comforter. “You like Tigger,
huh?” A feeling of dread washed over Aidan.
Fairytales

and

children’s

stories

weren’t

something he thought the average police detective
would know about.

“It’s my son’s room.”

Aidan whirled around. “Son? You kissed me

and you’re straight?”

“I never said I was straight.”

“You have a son.”

“Yeah.” Sam grinned. “He’s great. He’ll love

you.”

Aidan looked between the image of Tigger

and Sam, who was relaxed and smiling. Even

through the fog of exhaustion and leftover panic,
Aidan realized something didn’t quite add up, but
couldn’t work out what it was or why it mattered
so much. Sam was simply the detective Aidan was
working with on a case—a very friendly detective
who somehow always managed to make Aidan
want to climb up his large frame and stay there. A
dramatic sigh shook his body, and he turned to the
bed and crawled in, shivering a little as the cool
night air caressed his bare buttocks. A soft gasp
sounded behind him, but Aidan ignored it. He
couldn’t deal with anything else right now. He
needed to sleep. He tugged the bright quilt up over
his shoulder and curled into a ball. After a few
moments, Sam switched the main light off and
whispered, “Sleep well, Aidan.” The door clicked
closed a few seconds later.

W

HAT

felt like hours later, Aidan was still

struggling to sleep. He rolled onto his back and
groaned at the ceiling that glowed faintly from the

night light near the door. After another
interminable time of tossing and turning, Aidan
finally rolled out of bed and carefully made his
way downstairs. A warm drink would help him
relax. He held the railing and felt each step in the
unfamiliar house and was thankful for the dim light
downstairs that allowed him to find the kitchen.
Before he entered the room, a voice spoke behind
him.

“What are you looking for?”

Aidan jumped, a scream escaping as he spun

around, hands up to defend himself. When he saw
it was Sam, he clutched his hands to his chest and
backed up. “Christ, you scared the shit out of me.
What are you doing sneaking around at this time of
night?”

“It’s only just after midnight. I’m reviewing

case notes, and I’m not the one sneaking around.
Would you like a cup of tea?”

“Tea?” He had come looking for something

warm to drink. Tea would certainly be better than
coffee at this time of night. “Sure.” He followed

Sam into the kitchen and watched as he took two
colorful, mismatched mugs from a battered mug
tree before filling the kettle with water. Sam
opened a familiar blue packet on the bench and
took out two teabags. “You drink Bushells?”
Aidan asked before his brain had connected to his
mouth.

Sam stopped what he was doing and turned to

look at Aidan. “Always have.” He looked down at
the bags in his hand. “Did you want something
else?”

Aidan shook his head. “No, I just haven’t had

Bushells for a while. Bax generally makes his own
tea blends and uses a different teapot for each
one.”

Sam’s eyebrows climbed his forehead. “I’ve

never known anyone do that before.” He looked
around the kitchen. “I don’t think I even own a
teapot.”

“It’s fine, Sam. I didn’t mean anything by it;

just making conversation.”

Sam looked at him silently for several long

seconds. “You still want tea?”

“Yes, I still want tea. Thank you.” God, what

an inane conversation. It was like they were trying
their damnedest to avoid talking to each other
about anything real—like the kiss, and the son.
Aidan clamped his mouth closed over all the
questions he wanted to ask. It wasn’t his place to
pry, no matter how much he wanted to know why a
straight man would kiss him, or how a gay man
could have a son. He almost snorted as he thought
of himself asking that particular question. Sam
would probably give him a lecture on sex and
conception, and he certainly didn’t want that, not
after that kiss, that’s for sure.

“Did you hear anything back from your snake

man?”

Aidan breathed a sigh of relief at the change

of subject. “No. I got the answering service, who
said they’d contact the catcher on duty, but there’s
been nothing since.” Aidan took a sip of tea that
Sam had handed him, grimacing as it burned all the
way down. He blew softly across the top of the

mug, watching idly as the steam slithered away. A
shudder ran through him, and he looked up at Sam
for distraction. “You said you were reviewing
case notes. The robberies?”

“Yeah. I know the snakes connect them all,

but I can’t quite figure out how it works and who is
doing it.” Sam ran a hand through his hair, twisted
curls snaking around his fingers before sliding off
and springing back to his head.

“You’re sure it’s one of the snake catchers?”

“It’s looking like it to me, but as I said,

something doesn’t quite add up.”

“The fact different catchers are involved in

all the places makes it seem unlikely, and there’s
no time pattern after the snakes have been
removed, but there’s nothing else linking them, is
there?” Aidan wandered over to the couch where
Sam had spread the files over the coffee table. He
placed his mug on the floor by the corner of the
couch and sat down, wondering if he should put
more clothes on. He dismissed it almost
immediately. Sam’s sweatpants would never stay

up, and he wasn’t sure where his clothes ended up.
He tugged the T-shirt to make sure he stayed
covered, then reached for the report of the first
robbery. He flipped through it, not trying to read it
all but letting his eyes rest on words that seemed to
jump out at him.

“What are you doing?”

Aidan jumped as he reached for the second

report and looked up at Sam sheepishly. “Just
flicking through them. Sometimes it triggers
something I’ve been thinking about but haven’t
made the connection yet.” His face heated. It
sounded even more stupid out loud, and Aidan
wished he’d said nothing at all.

Surprisingly, Sam nodded. “Yeah, that’s why

I was going through them again. I’ve read them so
many times I could probably recite them word for
word, but I still go through them again. There has
to be something I missed.” He sat next to Aidan.
“For example, these guys are all friends, very
social. They go to the pub nearly every week and
have barbecues at each others’ places all the time.

It could easily be all of them working together, but
it just doesn’t work in my head. They all interview
innocent.”

Aidan knew what Sam meant. None of the

snake catchers showed any signs, no “tells,” that
would indicate they were lying. Of course, they
could all be gifted and practiced liars, but the
chances of that were slim. “What about friends and
family?” Aidan smiled when Sam stayed silent. He
loved that about the man. Many people Aidan
knew in the academic world were so absorbed in
their own research they completely dismissed
anything he said, without even thinking about it
first. Sam had never done that, not from the first
case they’d work together to this one.

“The barbecues are generally family-only;

partners, spouses, children.”

“Any of the partners seem strange?”

After a frozen moment, Sam leaned forward

and rifled through papers. “This one.” He handed
the report to Aidan. “The wife of one of them. She
came home late, while we were interviewing her

husband, and looked… nervy.”

Aidan raised his brows at the word.

“I think she’s having an affair with someone.

Her hair smelled freshly washed. She said she’d
been at the gym, but if she’d showered there, it
wouldn’t have smelled like that.”

“Why not?”

“She says she swims, but there was no

lingering smell of chlorine. Even with salt water
pools, there’s an odor. I’ve never been able to get
rid of it with just one shower at the gym afterward.
It’s like the whole place has been immersed in
chlorine, and it seeps into your skin.”

“Okay, so let’s assume she’s having an affair.

How does that have anything to do with the
robberies?” Aidan sucked on his thumbnail, then
tucked the offending digit under his thigh when he
realized he was doing it. “You think her husband is
robbing the houses? Perhaps he thinks buying her
expensive gifts will make her stay with him.”

Again, Sam’s response was slow in coming.

“It’s possible, I suppose, but there’s something not
quite right about it. She seemed guilty, he didn’t.
Could just be the affair.”

“What sort of things do they talk about at

these barbecues?”

Sam dropped the file to the table and stared at

Aidan. “You think she’s passing information on to
the lover?” He surged up from the couch and paced
rapidly around the room. “It’s possible. If they talk
about the places in enough detail. It could explain
why only some of the houses are hit. Either they
don’t mention the addresses, or they talk about
them when she’s not there.”

Aidan grinned as he watched Sam pace. He’d

never seen the man so animated, but it suited him.
It looked more like him than sitting behind a desk
wearing baggy clothing did, and a week ago,
Aidan had thought that was exactly who Sam was.
“So how do we find out?”

Sam stopped pacing and stared at Aidan as

though he’d forgotten he was there. When Aidan
first joined the university, he was often dismissed

by academics who thought he hadn’t earned his
credentials yet. It had taken him years to carve his
place and gain the level of respect he had. But Sam
hadn’t even noticed he was in the room… that hurt.

“We don’t find out anything.” Sam pointed an

accusing finger at Aidan. “You’re a consultant, not
a cop, so there’s no way you’re getting any further
involved in this.”

There were so many things Aidan wanted to

say to that: I’m already involved. You did talk to
me about it. I know one of the snake catchers. I
can help. In the end, he said nothing. Sam had
made it clear he wasn’t wanted, and Aidan could
understand that. Sam was right: Aidan was a
consultant, not a cop, and Sam didn’t want him
involved. He swallowed against the hurt tightening
his chest, gave Sam a jerky nod, then stood and
walked up the stairs to the guest bedroom.

As he closed the door behind him, Aidan

thought he heard a muttered “shit” from the living
room.

A few seconds later, a knock sounded on the

door. “Aidan?”

Aidan rubbed a hand down his face. He

didn’t want to deal with this right now. It was bad
enough being rejected; he didn’t want the reasons
behind the rejection to be explained to him again.
Sam knocked on the door a second time. The man
obviously wasn’t going away, so Aidan opened the
door.

“What is it, Sam?”

“Look, Aidan.” Sam ran an agitated hand

through his hair, tugging impatiently through the
curls. “It’s not like I don’t think you know your
stuff, but….”

“I’m not a cop. I’m not trained. Even with my

contract, you can’t trust me. I know that.” Aidan
couldn’t help the harsh note in his voice. He had
begun feeling like he was part of a team, and it hurt
to know he wasn’t.

“No.” Sam pushed the door open and came

into the room. “It’s not that. Aidan….”

The man fumbled over his words, and Aidan

took pity on him. “Don’t worry about it, Sam. You
were right. You’re the cop, and you know what
you’re doing. I’m just an academic with ideas.”
Hoping that would be the end of it, Aidan moved
toward the door. Aidan looked at Sam, waiting for
him to either speak or move. The taller man looked
devastated, but Aidan couldn’t work out why.
He’d just reminded Aidan he didn’t belong. Aidan
had carved a space for himself in academia, and if
that wasn’t perfect, then that’s just how life was.
He couldn’t rely on Sam or people like him to add
the sense of belonging Aidan craved.

Sam came toward Aidan, his hand reaching

out and cupping his cheek. Aidan rubbed his face
into the comforting warmth before he reminded
himself he couldn’t do that and straightened up.
Sam moved closer, tilting Aidan’s head up and
bringing his lips down on Aidan’s.

This kiss was nothing like the tentative kiss in

the car. Aidan was consumed, on fire from Sam’s
need. He stumbled and pushed Sam against the
wall, gripping Sam’s waist to stay upright. Sam

growled low in his throat as he pulled Aidan’s
body flush against his. Aidan ground closer,
rubbing his suddenly aching erection against Sam’s
thigh. He whimpered as Sam’s hands slid over his
back, pulling him closer still, tugging at the
oversized T-shirt, lifting it so his blunt fingers
could touch the sensitive skin of Aidan’s buttocks.

Aidan broke the kiss, flinging his head back

to drag air into his burning lungs, his heart
pounding, thudding in rhythm with his need as he
pushed his hip onto Sam’s rock-hard cock. Sam
buried his face in the juncture between Aidan’s
neck and shoulder and groaned as he sucked and
nibbled on the skin there, causing shivers to race
over Aidan’s skin. Sam’s large hands slid over
Aidan’s naked flesh, cupping his bum, lifting him
to align their bodies, cock to cock. Aidan lifted
one foot and hooked it around the back of Sam’s
knee, trying to work himself closer even though not
even a breath of air separated them, rubbing and
whimpering when it still wasn’t enough. He wound
his arms tighter around the big man and turned his
head, pushing closer, rutting against him to

increase the pressure, reveling in the desperation
of Sam’s fingers digging into his buttocks, delving
between, shooting sparks of want through him.
Blearily, he opened his eyes, needing to find the
bed, and was confronted by a skipping Tigger in a
child’s bedroom.

He pushed against the large body holding him.

Sam dragged him closer, biting into the skin on his
neck. Aidan whimpered and almost gave in, but
Tigger was flashing behind his eyes like a negative
imprint, and he pushed again. Finally Sam eased
his hold, his chest heaving, moisture glistening on
his lips in the dim light.

“Aidan.” His voice was hoarse and needy.

“I need….” He sucked in a trembling breath.

“Let me go, Sam.”

“Aidan, what…?”

“Please.” What kind of fool was he? He was

here, Sam was here, and he needed… Aidan
glanced at the bedspread again. “I can’t do this,
Sam. Let me go now.” He was resolute, but his
voice still shook with suppressed passion. He

lowered his leg and pushed on Sam’s shoulders
again.

Silently, Sam released his hold and Aidan

stumbled back. “Aidan.” Just his name, nothing
more, but Aidan didn’t look at him. He took
another step back, then another. Sam sighed and
backed through the doorway. Once Sam was on the
other side, Aidan grabbed the door and softly
closed it. He leaned his forehead on the cool
wood, his breath rasping in his lungs as he battled
to bring his body back under his control. It had felt
so good, like coming home and flying free all at
once, but somehow it had all gone so wrong.

He pushed away from the door and turned.

Ah, that would be the reason. One of them,
anyway. The bright bedspread overwhelmed the
room, even with only the light from a street light
seeping through the blinds and the small nightlight
near the door. Sam had a son. Aidan knew the
betrayal he felt was ridiculous. He’d only known
Sam a handful of months and mainly in a
professional capacity, but after that kiss, his

foolish heart wanted more.

“You are so fickle, Aidan,” he told his

reflection in the dressing table mirror. “Six months
ago it was Baxter, last week it was Doug. Now
you think you’re in love with Sam.” He turned
away from the mirror and scowled at the bed.
“You need to get over yourself and learn to be
happy with what you have.”

Aidan crawled into bed and pulled the orange

and black bedspread over his head, groaning softly
at his still-aching cock. At least if Sam had any
snakes, the tiger would scare them off. He almost
smiled at that, thinking how fierce Tigger thought
he was and how much he really wasn’t. Just like
Aidan himself. Not that Aidan thought he was
fierce, but sometimes Aidan thought he was loved.
He snorted, ignoring the slightly tearful lilt to it.
Just like Tigger, Aidan was delusional.

Chapter Seven

“H

EY

,

Bax.” Aidan’s greeting held a hesitance to

it that was new for him and Baxter. After the fiasco
at the club the night before, Aidan wasn’t sure if
his friend was talking to him.

“Well, you took your time calling. Where’ve

you been?”

“What do you mean?”

“I looked for you on your run this morning,

but you didn’t go past. I was going to join you.”

Aidan sighed in relief. “Yeah. I didn’t go yet.

When I got home last night, there was another
snake, so I called the snake catcher and left.”

“Left? Where did you go? Where are you?”

The affront in Baxter’s voice made Aidan smile.

“I’m at Sam’s place.” Silence greeted his

announcement. “You know, the detective I’ve been
consulting with.”

“So are you and he….”

“No!” Aidan knew he responded too quickly,

but the denial burst from him regardless. “He
wanted me to take him to the club for the case
we’re working on, so we were in his car.” Aidan
looked around the bedroom he was sitting in. “I
slept in his son’s bedroom.”

Baxter sniggered. “Let me guess. You have

trains on your bedspread.”

“Tigger, actually.”

“That’s tasteful, at least.” Baxter chuckled

before he continued. “So is the snake gone now?”

“I don’t know. I got the answering machine

last night when I rang. They said they’d contact the
catcher on duty. I haven’t heard anything else. I
was going to go home and get my car before
calling them.”

There was a long pause before Baxter spoke

again. “So, Aidan, what was with you and Doug
last night?” Aidan had never heard Baxter hesitate
like that before.

“There’s nothing with me and Doug. I just

wanted to set things straight with him. You know,
the last time he was there.” Silence greeted him.
“Doug’s the guy who’s been taking away my
snakes, Bax. That’s all.” Aidan’s heart twisted a
little. Even though Baxter said nothing, Aidan
could almost hear the anguish through the
connection. Baxter had it bad, probably for the
first time in his life. It wasn’t for Aidan, but Aidan
already knew that. “I hope it works for you, Bax,”
he said into the silence.

“Let me know if you need anything, Aidan.”

Typical of Baxter to avoid the subject completely.

“Will do.”

“Aidan…. Thanks.”

Aidan grinned. “No problem, my friend. I’ll

let you know how I get on with these damned
snakes.”

As he disconnected, Aidan looked around the

room again. This room, Sam’s son, didn’t make
any sense when Aidan thought about the kisses
they’d shared and Sam’s suggestion that Aidan
needed to replace his memory of Baxter with

someone else. A small pile of clothing sat on the
floor just inside the door. When he lifted the shirt
from the top, he found it was his own, freshly
laundered. He smiled as he thought of Sam
spending the rest of the night doing laundry just so
Aidan would have clean clothes to wear. It felt…
caring. He suppressed the wistful yearning that
told him Sam could love him. The man was just
being nice to a guest in his home.

Yeah. The big detective kissed all his guests

to within a few seconds of blowing their load.
That made sense. Aidan was grinning as he left the
room.

He found Sam in the kitchen, taking toast from

the toaster.

“Um, good morning.” Aidan stopped on the

other side of the counter, suddenly awkward now
they were face to face. Would Sam be angry with
him for stopping things last night?

“Good morning.” Sam’s voice was roughly

ground gravel against the spitting and clicking of
the ancient coffeemaker. “There’s coffee and toast

if you want it. I could do eggs as well if you like,
but I thought we should check out your house
before it gets too late.”

The Sam he knew seemed to be back, cheerful

and kind, even if he did wear wariness in his
shadowed eyes.

“Toast is fine, thanks.” Aidan shuffled on his

feet. “Would you mind if I had tea instead of
coffee?”

Sam looked up from buttering his toast, his

gaze intent. “I thought you just didn’t like the
coffee from the station.”

Aidan smiled. “I don’t. I don’t usually drink

coffee before lunch or in the evening. It’s too bitter
for the morning and keeps me awake at night if I
have it too late in the day.”

While Aidan was talking, Sam took down

another mug and poured hot water into it before
pulling a tea bag out of the box on the bench and
dropping it into the cup. Aidan swished the tea bag
around a few times before removing it, dangling it
above the cup, not sure what to do with it. Sam

grabbed the tea bag string, his hand brushing
Aidan’s fingers, making him jump a little. He
turned away to dump the tea bag in the sink and
rinsed his hands.

Still facing away from Aidan, Sam spoke.

“I’m sorry about last night. I didn’t mean to force
you into something you didn’t want.”

“Force? Were you there, Sam?” Aidan shook

his head as Sam turned to look at him. “I wasn’t
forced, Sam. I just couldn’t….” He shrugged.

“No, that’s fine. I understand.” Sam picked a

half-eaten piece of toast off his plate, then dropped
it again. “I’ll just get my things and I’ll take you
back to your place. We can check whether the
snake catcher has been, and you can pick up your
car.”

T

HE

snake was gone when Aidan and Sam arrived

at the house, but the front door was ajar. On the
floor, in the doorway where the snake had been,

was a smear of blood.

“God, did he have to kill it to get rid of it?”

Aidan whispered the words, his voice incapable
of making a louder sound. He’d never expected
Doug to actually kill a snake, not with the way he
always spoke about them. The man voluntarily kept
snakes in his house. Aidan put a foot on the first
step up but stopped when Sam grabbed his elbow.

“Wait a minute, Aidan.” Sam nodded to the

door. “That wasn’t like that last night.” He pulled
his phone off his belt and started dialing before
Aidan could stop him.

“Doug’s here, Sam.” Aidan nodded at the

bike sitting in Aidan’s driveway beside his car.
“He obviously came to get the snake, and he’s
checking for more, like he always does.” He
walked up the steps and stepped gingerly over the
blood. “Doug? It’s Aidan.” He walked down the
hallway, staying in the middle and watching
carefully for snakes slithering along the floor—just
in case Doug had missed any. After the bedrooms
on either side of the hall, the house opened to the

open-plan living, dining, and kitchen areas. Aidan
stopped one step into the living room and stared at
the man lying on his floor.

“Doug?”

“Is that Doug?” Sam asked behind him.

“Yeah,” Aidan stepped forward again.

“Doug?” He looked all around but couldn’t see any
snakes, so he dropped to his knees beside the large
man, his hand automatically going to his shoulder.
“Doug?”

“Don’t touch him, Aidan.” Sam’s voice was

harsh.

Aidan turned to see him speaking quietly into

his phone. “Are you calling an ambulance? Tell
them he’s been bitten by a snake so they know
what to bring.”

“He hasn’t been bitten by a snake, Aidan.”

Aidan’s head swiveled between the two men,

one on the floor beside him, one standing above
him looking grim and serious. “But…” he began
then stopped as he noticed Doug’s face for the first

time. His eyes were half open. Underneath his
head, running from his temple along the length of a
floorboard and under the couch, was a thin line of
blood.

B

Y

the

time the police and the ambulance arrived,

Aidan was sitting, trembling, at the dining table
between the couch and the kitchen bench. He
stared at the floor underneath the back of the navy
leather couch, waiting for the blood to come
through from the other side. Logically, he knew if
the line of blood wasn’t already showing through
on this side of the couch, it probably wouldn’t, but
he couldn’t help but look for it. At least he
couldn’t see Doug from here.

A detective he recognized from his visits to

the police station sat down across from him. His
canary-yellow-covered belly bulged over the table
top, a bright counterpoint to the dull sunflowers
printed on the clear vinyl table cover his
grandmother had given him when he moved in. It

was still on the table after her visit last weekend.
The seat the detective sat on groaned as he shifted
his weight more comfortably. Aidan looked up into
pewter-colored eyes and shivered. “Mr. Markham,
I’m Detective Kinsey. I’d like to ask you some
questions about last night.”

“It’s Dr. Markham,” Sam said quietly.

Aidan flicked a grateful smile at Sam.

“Actually, it’s Professor, but don’t worry about
that unless you need a formal title for something.
‘Doctor’ is fine.” Aidan shifted in his seat, sitting
straighter and raising his head. If he looked in
control of the situation, perhaps he’d start to feel it
as well. “What do you need to ask?”

“Where were you last night?”

Aidan nearly laughed at the clichéd question

but swallowed it quickly. The police needed to
know, and there really wasn’t a more direct way to
ask. He glanced at Sam. “I went to a bar with Sam,
Senior Detective Walters, so he could meet Doug
in a casual setting.”

“Doug is the deceased and was a person of

interest in a case I’m investigating.” Sam’s quiet
voice filled the silence punctuated by the other
detective’s raised eyebrows.

Aidan nodded. “Doug’s gay… was gay… so

Sam wanted me to be a sort of guide.” He
shrugged. “Since I’m gay too.” He didn’t mention
kissing Sam. That had nothing to do with their
arrangements the night before.

Kinsey nodded and made a note on the small

pad he’d placed on the table in front of him. Aidan
could almost imagine what he was writing. He was
gay. Doug was gay. Sam wanted to meet Doug.
Doug was killed in Aidan’s house. Obviously a
murder of passion. What else do you expect of
fags? Aidan shuddered and swallowed bile.

“What time did you leave the club?”

Aidan glanced at Sam, trying to remember. “I

don’t know, really. I introduced Sam to my friend,
Baxter, and Doug, and we danced for a while.
Then Sam and Doug talked for a while, and Baxter
and I went back to the bar for another drink. I
spoke to Doug in the gents for a few minutes.”

“Spoke?”

Aidan glared at Kinsey. “Yes, spoke. He and

Baxter hooked up the other night while I was
staying at Baxter’s place, and Doug got the wrong
impression. I was setting him straight.”

“In what way?”

Aidan sighed, not wanting to air all Baxter’s

private life but knowing he didn’t really have a
choice now that Doug was dead. Baxter would just
have to deal with it. “I stayed at Baxter’s place
while Doug was working here to get rid of the
snakes….”

“Snakes?”

“Doug’s a snake catcher. I’ve had snakes

here. He’s been taking them away for me and
making sure the nest is gone.” Aidan used short
sentences deliberately to give Kinsey plenty of
opportunity to interrupt. He also waited a couple
of seconds to see if Kinsey had any more
questions, but when the detective remained silent,
he continued. “So I was at Baxter’s place, and
Baxter came home with Doug. They were… um…

very focused on each other, and I saw them as I
was going into my bedroom and Baxter said my
name. Doug misunderstood and got angry and left.
He didn’t believe Baxter about why I was there
and that’s why Baxter said my name when he did.”
Aidan sighed again, hating the way this was
sounding—so melodramatic—but unable to think
of what else to do. “So when I saw Doug at the bar
last night, I told him exactly what happened.”

“What did Turnbull do then?”

“Turnbull?” Aidan looked at Sam for an

answer.

“Doug’s last name was Turnbull,” Sam

responded quietly.

“Oh, I didn’t know.” He glanced at the back

of the couch.

“Professor Markham? What did Turnbull do

then?”

“I don’t know. I went out to find Sam. He said

he was finished, so we left.”

“And you went where?”

“Here.” A shudder ran down Aidan’s spine.

“But there was….” He sucked in a shaky breath.
“There was a snake stuck under my door.” He
shrugged. “I kind of lost it for a bit. I don’t like
snakes, and there’ve been a lot of them this week.”
He rubbed his damp palms down his thighs, then
forced himself to sit still again. “Sam took me to
his place. I called the snake catcher number on the
way but got the answering service.” He looked up
at Kinsey. “They’d be able to tell you the time of
the call, so you’d know from that what time we
were here.”

“You stayed at Senior Detective Walters’

house?”

Aidan nodded. “I know we were there before

midnight because I couldn’t sleep and came
downstairs. Sam told me then it was just after
midnight.”

“Why couldn’t you sleep?”

“Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see

was snakes. They’re always here. And then of
course, there was Tigger and the nightlight.”

“Tigger?”

Aidan nodded earnestly. “The bedspread in

Sam’s son’s room. It’s Tigger—bright orange and
black. And there’s a nightlight near the door that
shone straight into my eyes.”

“Sorry,” said Sam. “I forgot that was on a

timer.”

“So you were downstairs?” Kinsey brought

Aidan’s attention back to him and away from
Sam’s liquid hazel eyes.

Aidan nodded again, beginning to feel a little

like one of those nodding dolls. “Sam was
reviewing the case we’ve been working on. I’ve
been brought in to consult on it. So we threw a few
ideas around, and then I went back upstairs to bed.
I don’t know what time that was. I called Baxter
when I woke up before I went downstairs, then
after we had something to eat, Sam brought me
back here.” Aidan glanced at the floor under the
couch again. “Then we came inside and found
Doug,” he whispered.

“Baxter is your friend?”

“Yeah. He hit on Sam last night.” Aidan

smiled at the look of surprise in Sam’s eyes. “Of
course Sam didn’t notice, but Baxter struck out
with Doug as well and thought I had something to
do with that too. He was a bit pissy with me, but
he’s fine now.”

“Why was he ‘pissy’ with you?”

“I told you. He thought I took Sam from him,

even though I arrived with Sam. And then I talked
to Doug in the gents, so Baxter thought I was
getting it on with him as well.” Aidan chuckled
wryly. “It’s funny, really, because Baxter’s the one
who always hooks up with someone, not me, not
that I actually hooked up with anyone. Baxter
really hates when he thinks he’s missing out on
something good.”

Kinsey asked for Baxter’s name and address,

and Aidan supplied it. “He didn’t hook up with
Doug last night, though. Doug left just after us. We
saw him leaving as we drove out of the car park.”
He glanced at Sam. “Baxter had just started a new
drink when we left, so he was there at least that

long after that.”

“What time did you talk this morning?”

“About six or a bit later. Baxter wondered

where I was.”

“Yet you rang him.”

“Yeah. I wanted to make sure we were still

good, you know, because he was a bit angry last
night.” Aidan smiled. “He looked for me to come
running with me, but I didn’t run this morning.”

“Why not?”

“I was at Sam’s. We had breakfast and then

came over here.” Aidan sighed at the repetition,
knowing it was necessary for the police to make
sure they got the complete picture. He glanced at
the floor under the couch again, avoiding the busy-
ness of the group of people on the other side of the
furniture. He swallowed thickly; the bile was
again fighting for release, but he wouldn’t give in
to it. He looked back at Kinsey. “Can I go now?”
His gaze was drawn back to the group of people
on the other side of the couch as they loaded Doug

onto a trolley. He scrunched his eyes closed,
refusing to look at the man he’d last spoken to the
night before.

At Kinsey’s nod, he tumbled out of his house,

gasping in air that wasn’t tainted with the idea of
death. Sam stood quietly beside him. “It really
wasn’t a snake, was it?” Aidan asked.

“No. Definitely not a snake. He was

murdered.”

Aidan fumbled for his car keys, suddenly

needing to get away. Before he could move, a
thought occurred. “Was this connected to the
robberies?” He glanced back at the front door.
“Should I check to see if anything’s missing?”

“It would be a good idea, but I don’t think you

need to do it right now.” Sam pulled his phone off
his belt and dialed. Aidan wandered over to his
car as Sam spoke to whoever he rang. He unlocked
his car and opened the door, then checked around
the car as he always did, in case any neighborhood
cats had decided to sleep behind a wheel. What he
saw made him jump back, screaming.

Curled on the bonnet, basking in the sun, was

a snake.

Large hands grabbed Aidan’s shoulders and

pulled him away from the car, but all Aidan could
focus on was the snake. “Oh God, they’re in my
car too now. It’s on my car,” he babbled.

Dimly he heard Sam call out to someone; then

warm breath wafted near his ear. “It’s okay,
Aidan. They’ll come and take care of it. You just
need to move away and let them do their job.”
Finally, Aidan was drawn back away from his car
and his house and next to Sam’s car. Kinsey met
them there.

“Is there anyone in your life you would

consider an enemy, Mr. Markham?”

“No, of course not,” Aidan replied. “I’m a

professor at the local university. I teach classes in
sociology and write papers on social issues.
Unless you count a couple of colleagues who are
jealous because I’ve had two papers published in
the last six months and they’ve only had one, I
don’t have enemies.”

The questions continued and Aidan answered

the best he could, but he didn’t understand why the
focus was so suddenly on him. Surely this was
connected to the robberies he’d been consulting
on. There wasn’t anything else in his life it could
possibly be. His life was boring and predictable.
At least it had been, until the snakes moved in.

Chapter Eight

B

AXTER

opened the door to Aidan’s knock and fell

into Aidan’s arms. Aidan folded his friend into his
embrace before he’d fully registered the
devastated look on Baxter’s face. He’d never seen
him cry before. Never seen the blotchy skin,
reddened nose, or salt-tracked tears down his
cheeks.

“I didn’t mean it, Aidan,” his friend sobbed,

soaking the shoulder of his shirt in seconds.

“It’s okay, Bax.” Aidan wasn’t exactly sure

what Baxter didn’t mean, but he was equally sure
whatever it had been was an accident. Baxter
might be a self-absorbed hedonist, but he was a
kind man. He maneuvered Baxter into his house
and perched him on a stool at the kitchen bench. In
an ironic reversal of roles, Aidan set about making
tea. He took down Baxter’s favorite teapot, a
terracotta one from China that was fashioned in the
shape of one of Buddha’s hands, and scooped

chamomile tea into it while he waited for water to
boil. He poured the water into the pot before he
realized he hadn’t warmed it or checked the
temperature of the water first, but hopefully Baxter
would be too distraught to notice.

He set a small handleless cup and the pot

beside Baxter’s elbow to brew before going
around to the other side of the counter and drawing
Baxter into his arms again. A small noise had him
looking up to find Sam shuffling on his feet at the
entrance to the kitchen. Aidan smiled at him.
“Thank you for bringing me here. We’ll be fine
now.”

“What’s the problem?”

“I don’t know exactly what he’s upset about

yet, but we’ll work it out.”

“I’m sorry, Aidan. I’m so sorry,” Baxter

howled through his tears.

Aidan rubbed circles on his friend’s back.

“What are you sorry about, babe?”

“Last night. I didn’t mean it.” Baxter’s sobs

increased before he continued. “And now he’s
dead. I didn’t mean for him to die.”

A chill raced down Aidan’s spine. He almost

laughed at the irony. He’d read the phrase in books
many times and always thought it melodrama, but it
actually happened. His best friend had just
confessed to murdering a man and Aidan had felt
little pinpricks of cold dread march their way
down his back.

Sam’s voice was cold and formal when he

spoke. “How do you know he’s dead?”

“I saw him,” howled Baxter.

Aidan looked up at Sam and froze at the

expression on the detective’s face.

“Mr. Finch, I’d like you to come down to the

station with me now and answer a few questions.”

“No! Sam, that’s not what he meant.” Aidan

swung a desperate look at Baxter. “Bax, tell him
that’s not what you meant.”

Baxter looked up through his tears. “He’s a

cop?”

“Yes. I told you that last night.” Aidan was

becoming frantic. No way would Baxter have
harmed anyone.

“Oh God, I’m going to jail,” Baxter wailed

into his cupped hands.

T

HREE

hours later, Aidan was still stubbornly

sitting in Sam’s office. He’d called Baxter’s
partner to get him to arrange legal counsel, and
Sam had arranged for the departmental doctor to
see Baxter. The door slammed open, rattling the
glass pane and making Aidan jump so high he slid
off the seat he’d been perched on. He scrambled to
his feet and stared at Sam’s stormy face.

“He’s a bloody hysterical melodramatic

queen!” the detective roared.

“Who? Not Baxter?” His friend had been

hysterical the whole drive to the police station and
until the doctor had given him a mild sedative, but
Aidan had never seen Baxter melodramatic and his

“queenishness” was always understated and
sophisticated.

“Yes, Baxter.” Sam’s voice conveyed so

much disgust, Aidan took a stumbling step
backward and almost fell over his chair. Sam
didn’t even notice. He stormed around his desk
and threw himself into his chair so forcefully it
rolled away from the desk and thumped into the
wall behind. Aidan squeaked at the violence
emanating from the large man and slapped a hand
over his mouth to stop any other sounds coming
out.

“The last three hours have been a total waste

of time. The whole time your bloody friend was
insisting he was responsible for Turnbull’s death,
we could have been out looking for the killer. But
no, darling Baxter had to go into a meltdown after
seeing Turnbull’s motorbike on a news report.
He’s done nothing but tie up resources that could
have been used to actually catch a murderer.”
Walters, for he certainly wasn’t the Sam Aidan
thought he knew, punched keys on the keyboard in

front of him. He glared at Aidan as he waited for
the system to load. “Get him out of here.”

Aidan fled, not even bothering to pause long

enough to close the door to Walters’s office. A
dozen steps into the bullpen and he pulled up short,
unsure where to go to find Baxter.

“Over there,” called one of the uniformed

officers near him. Aidan looked in the direction
indicated to find Baxter standing next to a severe-
faced man in a suit. He’d never seen Baxter look
so—destroyed. His friend’s arms were wrapped
defensively around himself, his face was blotchy
with tears, and when he raised his face to see
Aidan walking toward him, his eyes held a shame
and devastation that shocked Aidan. He walked
right up to Baxter and pulled him into a fierce hug,
looking over his friend’s shoulder to address the
man next to him.

“Thank you for coming so quickly. I’m sorry

it was a waste of your time.”

The man shook his head. “It’s better to waste

time like this than the time that would be wasted if

an innocent man was charged.” He shrugged as if
to dispel any altruistic motive. “Besides, I’m
getting paid well.” He grinned sheepishly. “He has
my card if I’m needed again. Take him home.”

The ride home was silent. Baxter curled into

himself as much as he could with the seatbelt
around him, pressed against the door, as far from
Aidan as he could get. He walked listlessly into
the house and dropped onto the couch. Aidan
shoved his keys into his pocket and went into the
kitchen to make tea, Baxter’s panacea for all ills.
He slid a sweetened, robust black tea in front of
Baxter before sitting in the seat across from him.

“Do you want to tell me what that was all

about?”

Baxter’s gaze slid to Aidan’s face, pausing

just long enough for Aidan to see abject misery. He
almost left his seat to hug Baxter again but stayed
where he was.

“Baxter?”

“This is why I don’t fall in love.” His speech

was watery and halting. “This is what I become

when it all falls apart.” He reached for the tea,
curling his hands around the tall mug, breathing in
the steam. Even that much seemed to calm him. “I
tried not to fall in love with him. I knew he didn’t
want a relationship like that; he just wanted to
hook up sometimes. But we kept hooking up. Pretty
soon it was every week, then twice a week, and I
wasn’t seeing anyone else and then Doug said he
wasn’t either.” Baxter sipped the tea. “I thought we
were sliding into a relationship, and it scared me.
So I slept with you to prove I wasn’t serious about
him.” Baxter raised his devastated gaze again.
“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“That was six months ago,” Aidan exclaimed.

“You’ve been going out with him that long?”

“We never went out. Just hooked up at the

club or the bar.” Baxter shrugged. “Except for you,
it’s been about eight months since I had anyone
else.”

Aidan gasped, myriad questions swirling

through his brain. He clamped his mouth closed on
all of them until he knew he could keep to the

topic. “What happened last night?”

“He realized you were the Aidan whose name

I said the other night. He thought I’d been cheating
on him and told me he didn’t want to see me
anymore.” Tears began tracing their way down
Baxter’s cheeks, glistening among the salt-dried
tracks of earlier ones. “I told him I never wanted a
boyfriend anyway, and I wished he was dead.
Then he left, and I came home and drank myself
stupid.” Baxter fumbled the mug onto the coffee
table and threw himself down on the couch to sob.

Aidan sat and stared at his friend, his mouth

hanging open. This sort of thing just didn’t happen
in Aidan’s life. He didn’t get snakes, people didn’t
get killed. Sam was always relaxed and happy.
Baxter was always calm and logical. If anyone got
angry or overly emotional, it was Aidan. He
looked around Baxter’s home, searching for things
out of place, something that would tell him he’d
slipped into an alternative dimension or was
dreaming or something to explain what was going
on. There was nothing out of place. Everything

looked the way it should, except for Baxter
sobbing into his couch and Aidan left to be the
logical one.

“Well, if that’s the way it is, I guess I’d better

get on with it,” he murmured as he rose and went
into the bathroom. A few minutes later, after
starting the water in the bath and tipping a
generous amount of Baxter’s favorite bubbles in,
he returned to get his friend, undressed him, and
helped him into the tub.

An hour later, Baxter was sleeping in his bed,

an empty teacup languishing on the bedside table.
Aidan closed the bedroom door, went into the
living room, and collapsed into the chair. This
“being the responsible one” shit was exhausting,
but Aidan supposed it was his turn, and it gave him
something to do apart from think about what Baxter
had told him about his relationship with Doug. He
wasn’t sure how he felt about the fact his best
friend had used him for sex in an effort to convince
himself he wasn’t in love with another man. No,
that wasn’t true. He knew exactly how he felt:

used, betrayed, devalued, suddenly doubting the
deep friendship he thought they had. Surely a best
friend, a friend who cared, wouldn’t use him like
that, without even asking if it was okay.

Aidan glared at the kitchen benches, cluttered

with things he’d taken from the cupboards. He
placed a call to Sam, needing to hear a voice of
reason or even just the happy, carefree Sam, but
Sam was angry at him because Baxter had wasted
his time. There was no answer. Aidan sighed,
trying to accept his life had gone down the tubes,
then grabbed a cleaning cloth and started
scrubbing, stopping far too often to check for
missed calls and messages on his phone. When the
kitchen sparkled and his phone stayed stubbornly
silent, he showered and went to bed. Clearly Sam
had been using him to achieve his own goals too.
Giving himself permission for a single-night pity-
party, Aidan curled into a ball in the middle of the
disappointingly Tigger-free spare bed and cried
himself to sleep.

A

IDAN

woke with a start when china clacked near

his ear. Baxter stepped back and nodded at the tea
cup and saucer he’d just placed on the bedside
table, a somber expression on his face.

“I’m going into work a bit early. There are a

number of cases that need my attention,” he told the
tea cup. “They cleared your place of the snakes
and…. Didn’t they?” His friend turned stiffly and
quickly left the room, closing the door softly
behind him.

“Shit.” Aidan sat up and scrubbed his hands

through his hair. “Would it kill you to look me in
the face, Baxter?” he called out just as the sound of
the front door closing echoed through the house.
He threw off the covers, surging out of bed and
down the hall before he slowed his stride.
Catching Baxter now wouldn’t make any
difference, so he returned to the bedroom and
pulled his clothes on. Time to see if he had a house
to go back to today, provided he could get bloody
Detective Walters to answer his calls.

B

Y

midmorning

,

Aidan’s head was spinning.

He’d gone into work and delivered possibly the
worst lecture of his career, then seen the Director
to arrange a leave of absence for the rest of the
week. Arriving at the police station just after
midday was just another poor decision in a week
that seemed rife with poor decisions, even if most
of those decisions were made because of disasters
he had no control over.

Having been cleared at reception, Aidan

pushed the door open and strode into the bullpen
crowded with uniformed and plainclothes police
on lunch. Were there no accidents or robberies or
murders over lunch?

“Markham!” Aidan turned toward Sam’s

shout. “You’re just in time to celebrate.” The big
man was weaving his way between desks and
people, his oversized shirt twisting and flouncing
around his torso. Aidan waited patiently, telling
himself he didn’t care one way or the other what
Sam had to say and trying to suppress the warm

happiness that tingled right down to his toes every
time the detective smiled at him. Sam’s large hand
landed on his shoulder blade, just as it always did,
and Aidan found himself confusingly near tears
again. He shrugged off the touch and moved a step
away.

“What are you celebrating?”

“We were right. It was the wife’s lover who

was doing the robberies. He thought your place
had been cleared of snakes and decided to hit it
quickly so there wasn’t a time pattern to the
robberies. He didn’t expect Turnbull to walk in on
him. He’s claiming manslaughter, but there was at
least one blow after death so we’re pushing for
murder on it.” Aidan winced at the matter-of-fact
way Sam talked about Doug’s death. Sam’s
expression turned sympathetic and the big man
moved closer again, his hand reaching out, but
Aidan shuffled back until his thigh hit someone’s
desk. Sam’s smile died and a frown creased his
brow. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just came to see when I could

have my house back.” Aidan looked around the
bullpen, but the crowd had thinned noticeably
since Sam had found him. “Where’d everyone go?”

Sam laughed, although it sounded strained.

“Back to work. You caught us just after all the
paperwork was done. Fifteen minutes is about all
the celebration time we can manage.” He gestured
to his office. “I need to talk to you.” His voice was
quiet, personal.

Sam was going to yell at him again, Aidan

knew it, but he didn’t know how to get out of it
without drawing the attention of every vigilant cop
within a twenty foot radius. He walked into Sam’s
office, shuddering as that large hand again rested
on his shoulder blade.

“How’s Baxter?”

It wasn’t the question Aidan had been

expecting, and he blurted out an answer before he
had time to temper his response. “Why do you
care? You couldn’t wait to get rid of us
yesterday.”

“Aidan, I don’t like it when people waste my

time. I get angry, and then I calm down. Get used to
it.”

Aidan stared at Sam, barely able to

comprehend what he was saying. There was so
much “future” buried in those words that Aidan
had to blink back foolish tears. Once he pulled
himself together, all his bitterness over what
Baxter had done tumbled out. “It seems he’s
grieving the loss of the love of his life. He’s shut
himself down emotionally and gone to work.” The
bitterness came through loud and clear.

“Where does that leave you?” Sam asked

tentatively. “I thought you were close.”

“So did I. Apparently I’m such a good friend,

Baxter thought I wouldn’t mind him fucking me just
so he could prove to himself he wasn’t falling in
love with another man. Not that he mentioned any
of that to me at the time, or since.” Aidan began
pacing, feeling the anger build in him. “I need you
to tell me my house is clear so I can go back
home.” Aidan’s breath hitched on the last word,
and he swallowed the lump crawling up his throat.

Sam came toward him, arms outstretched.

“Aidan….”

Aidan backed away. “Don’t. You don’t get to

do that, or anything else.”

“Why not? I thought we were beginning to

move into something special. Especially after that
kiss.”

“You’re straight.”

“What?”

“What about my house?” Aidan couldn’t let

himself get distracted.

“Aidan?” Sam sighed when Aidan glared at

him. “Your house is clear, but you’ll need to get
cleaners in before you can move back in. Quite
apart from the mess left from… the murder, there’s
fingerprint dust everywhere and dusty boot prints
from everyone who was involved in the
investigation. You can stay at my place tonight. I’ll
call a cleaning service we often use and get them
out there tomorrow.”

“Stay at your place?”

“Of course. I want to get to know you better,

Aidan. I know you’re still hurting from Baxter, but
I thought there was something special growing
between us. I want to take some time to find out
what that is.”

He glared at Sam. “You have a son.”

“Yes, I do. He’s my sister’s son.”

“What?”

Sam laughed. “No, no, nothing like that.

Lacey’s gay, and she and her partner wanted
children. I offered so that she and Marianne could
have a child that was a bit of both of them. Lacey
and Marianne know he’s my only chance to have
children too, so they’re fine with him calling me
‘dad’ even though I don’t have any legal parental
rights. He knows his two mums are his parents. I’m
just backup, like a favorite uncle.”

“So, what, you and your sister are both gay?”

He really isn’t straight? Aidan was sure he’d get
whiplash if he couldn’t finally work out what was
going on.

Sam laughed. “Yeah. We’re still trying to

work out what went wrong with our brother. He’s
as straight as they come and a bit scared we’ll rub
off on him.”

Aidan dropped into the chair in front of

Sam’s desk and closed his eyes. His life kept
getting more and more bizarre. He had snakes, a
man was murdered in his house, his best friend fell
in love, and his detective was his son’s uncle. He
scrubbed his hands down his face and looked up at
Sam. “Can you call the cleaning service please and
ask them to get to my house as quickly as possible?
Warn them about the snakes.” He pushed himself to
his feet, needing to get out of here.

“Aidan?”

Hand on the door handle, Aidan paused.

“What, Sam? I need to leave.”

Keys jingled behind him, then Sam came so

close his body heat seeped through Aidan’s
clothing, and he pressed a single key into Aidan’s
palm. “Here. Go to my place and get some rest. I
have to stay here until all the loose ends are tied

up on this case, so I probably won’t get home much
before eight. You’ll have the place to yourself.”

Aidan stared down at the key in his hand. He

could go to a hotel for the night, but while he
needed some space and time to think, he knew he’d
go crazy if he had to spend the whole night on his
own. But there was Tigger. He sputtered a weak
laugh that threatened to turn into sobs.

Sam’s warm body crowded behind him, his

large, square hands rubbed soothing circles on his
shoulders. “Aidan? It’s okay now. It’s over and
you can just relax and get yourself back into your
happy place.”

Aidan jerked out of his weak neediness and

shot a disbelieving look at Sam. “What the
hell….” The laughter burst from him before he
even knew it was there. “Surely you don’t say that
to victims of crimes you investigate.”

Sam grinned. “Of course not, but I knew it

would get a reaction from you.” His face fell back
into serious lines. “Stay with me, Aidan. It’ll work
out, you’ll see.”

Holy shit. He’s talking about more than

today. Aidan’s heart pounded, and he had to fight
the urge to run and keep running. He hauled in a
deep breath and took a chance on his future. It was
a small step, but perhaps it really would work out.
He wouldn’t know until he tried.

“Can I sleep on the couch?”

“The couch?”

Aidan nodded. “I really can’t spend another

night with Tigger. He’ll think I’m serious about
him.”

And there was that belly laugh again. Aidan

had no choice but to smile too.

“You can sleep anywhere you want, Aidan,

just so long as you realize I’ll be there too.”

About the Author

E E M

ONTGOMERY

never stopped asking the

question many parents dread: “Why?” That one
word has led to degrees in Education, IT,
Information Management, Creative Writing, and
Massage Therapy. Never satisfied with the
mundane, E E has taught adolescents and adults,
has worked in fast food restaurants and upmarket
jewelry stores, been a farmer, run a small
business, and now manages a library. Add the
questions “What happens next?” and “So what?” to
all of these things, and you have a recipe for
fiction.

A dedicated people-watcher, E E finds

stories everywhere. In a cafe, a cemetery, a book
on space exploration or on the news, there’ll be a
story of personal growth, love, and unconditional
acceptance there somewhere.

You can contact E E Montgomery at:

[e-mail]

at her blog: http://eemontgomery.blogspot.com/

or

at

her

web

site:

http://www.eemontgomery.com/.

Also from

D

REAMSPINNER

P

RESS

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Also from

D

REAMSPINNER

P

RESS

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Romance and Suspense from

D

REAMSPINNER

P

RESS

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Copyright

What About Him ©Copyright E E Montgomery, 2012

Published by
Dreamspinner Press
5032 Capital Circle SW
Ste 2, PMB# 279
Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are
the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments,
events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover Art by Reese Dante
http://www.reesedante.com

This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or
distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International
Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines,
and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to
others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the
express permission of the Publisher. To request permission and all other
inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press at: 5032 Capital Circle SW Ste 2,
PMB# 279 Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

Released in the United States of America
November 2012

eBook Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-62380-098-7

Table of Contents

Title page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
About the Author
Also from Dreamspinner Press
Also from Dreamspinner Press
Romance and Suspense from Dreamspinner Press
Copyright