Bees and Honey
Running a hand through bedraggled blond hair, Nick Cutter slumped against the back of the chair and allowed the smoky, noisy atmosphere of the bar to wash over him. It had been one hell of a day; another anomaly, another creature, another near disaster. Sometimes Nick wondered whether paleantologists hadn't got it all wrong, and that, in fact, there had been nothing living in prehistoric times that hadn't been large, unfriendly and in possession of more teeth than were good for it.
Today had involved a large, stupid but incredibly pissed off Arsinoitherium. In the end it had turned out that all Connor had tried to do was take a photograph of the damn thing. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to turn the flash off and being blinded had not helped the creatures temperament in the slightest. Being charged by what looked like a large, hairy rhinoceros with two horns was not something Nick had ever expected to be doing. On reflection, not something he'd ever wanted to do either.
The only pleasure he had found in the day had been when Stephen, running for his life across a large field, chased by the eight-tonne beast, had, as a last resort, in the vague hope that the creature would hate water, executed a 90 degree turn and simply jumped head first into a conveniently placed, large and muddy pond. The Arsinoitherium had been completely wrong-footed and had stopped dead in its tracks, turning its head back and forth, snorting in annoyance at the apparent evaporation of the human irritation it had been chasing. Only streams of emerging bubbles on the surface of the pond gave away Stephen's hiding place and up until the moment the great beast turned and lumbered away, Stephen wasn't the only one holding his breath.
Once the coast was clear, Stephen had erupted upwards, gasping for air, in a fountain of mud and slime. Seeing his normally composed partner drenched and covered in mud, pond slime and weeds had, on this occasion, been too much for Nick. Who had simply doubled over and started to laugh. Stephen hadn't been best pleased, hence why they had ended up in the pub at the end of it all, with Nick buying. Talking of alcohol and Stephen...
Raising his head wearily, Nick conducted a scan of the packed bar. He spotted the tall, lanky form of his companion weaving his way back through the crowd, a glass in each hand. Watching Stephen negotiatie the mass of bodies, Nick couldn't help but notice the attention he was attracting. Several girls gave him looks, the mildest of which could be called slightly flirtatious, and Nick could even see a bloke or two watching him, although, not being particularly good with this sort of thing, he couldn't be sure whether they were eyeing him up or simply warning him off.
In some ways he couldn't blame them. Stephen was a good looking man, by all accounts, the short, ruffled dark hair, broad shoulders and air of self-confidence seemed to combine to make him instantly attractive. And when (if) you got closer, you could see the strong jawline, high cheekbones and almost girlishly long eyelashes framing dark blue eyes.It had always been a puzzle to Nick, even when Helen was still around, why Stephen remained stubbornly single, despite the large numbers of girls who had attempted to corner him. Even more of a puzzle recently, as to why the hell Stephen had chosen him. Not that he was complaining. Quite the opposite.
As he watched, Stephen was making his way back through the table, heading for the quieter area at the back where Nick was sitting. A pretty, blonde girl caught his eye from a nearby table and smiled. Nick couldn't see clearly from here but he could have sworn she was fluttering her eyelashes. Probably a good thing he wasn't particularly prone to jealous fits.
Seconds later, he was jolted out of his thoughts by the arrival of Stephen and some decent Scotch. Reaching for the glass, he was tempted to drain it all in one mouthful, but remembering who was paying tonight, he instead settled for a small sip. Looking up, he caught Stephen's eye and detected a wry, amused glint in the dark blue.
'What?'
Stephen looked sideways at the blond girl, and then back at Cutter and raised his eyebrows. Nick mentally rolled his eyes. So Stephen had seen him watching. He was torn between becoming instantly defensive or teasing Stephen about what he had seen. He opted for the teasing; deciding he'd probably had enough tension for one day
.'What's your secret?'
Stephen raised an eyebrow.
'Have you ever seen how people act around you?'
Stretching back, Stephen yawned and shook his head.
'No. Not really. But clearly you have. How do they act?'
'Sticky'
'Sticky???'
'Bees around a honey pot.'
The amused glint travelled downwards and a wide grin spread across Stephen's face. He shifted forwards slightly, allowing his leg to exert just the slightest pressure on Nick's.
'Bees around a honey pot, huh?'
Nick swallowed hard, beginning to wish he hadn't brought this up. Stephen was grinnning like a Cheshire Cat and the pressure and warmth from his leg weren't helping the straight thought process.
'Yup'
'So I'm honey?'
'Yup'
Stephen shifted closer, one of his legs extending slightly and sliding in between Nick's, dangerously close to his groin. He could sense the other man tensing, and the monosyllabic answers proved that he was definitely provoding Nick with some kind of...distraction.
'If I'm the honey and they're the drones, you know what that makes you?'
Nick swallowed hard and fought to keep his voice even and ignore the slight increase of pressure from Stephen's leg.
'No?'
Stephen's grin was now more than a little predatory.
'Queen Bee.'