It's my night to work the streets and I'm not looking forward to it. Instead, I lose myself in the steady thump of the hardcore techno beating in the background. Heavy chains jangle as I jerk and sway, moving savagely with the music, sweat trickling down my barely concealed chest and back. Each drop seems to turn to shimmering rivulets of blood in the red light, accenting the curves and dips of muscle and bone.
There's equal amounts of attention fixed on me and the angel swaying sensually beside me. Clothed all in white, he looks like some angel of lust and sex, all ethereal and pure. Collin. He's the light to my darkness.
Our hands meet and mesh, our backs pressing together as we grind back against one another. I barely hear the whistles and throaty cries as my angel rests his head back onto my shoulder. So trusting. It makes my heart clench when I remember that this is all an act and that he really isn't mine.
The song ends and he gives my hand a squeeze before pulling away. It's back to being Ace and Collin; two seperate beings unconnected and alone. That place in my chest where my heart should be feels cold and empty. Collin, you're killing me.
Heaving a sigh, I trudge across the room, barely managing a growl and a few dirty looks directed at the patrons who grope me as I pass. I'm not in the mood to act tonight. I enter the locker room, intent on switching into my street clothes, and pause. Collin... Fuck.
There he sits, perched like a saint in a confessional on one of the dirty, old, benches. His eyes fall on me, their depths liquid and warm like the still, glassy ocean, shimmering in the mid-day sun. His hair falls messily before them as he stands, each lock shimmering like sun-kissed wheat. God, Collin, you're killing me.
"Heya, Ace." His smile... So warm and easy.
"Collin..." I'm surprised I'm able to say anything at all; damn, I've got it bad.
He doesn't move, merely stands and watches me for a moment. I must look dark, sinful, and cheap in my work clothes when not illumined in the blood red light. Compared to him, I must seem like some demon from the darkest pits of hell in those eyes of his.
"You're going out onto the streets tonight, aren't you? Why?" The question startles me more than a little.
I shrug. "I need the extra money."
Damn, I'm good. My voice is calm and my stride even as I move to my locker and enter the combination. I feel his puzzled gaze on my back as I begin to strip, shamless after years of selling myself on the streets.
"...Are you saving to buy your way out of Old Town?" The question is hesitant but firm; my angel's strong.
"Nah. Not me." Actually, I add mentally, I'm saving to get YOU out.
The unspoken words seem to dangle in the air, just waiting for Collin to snatch them up. I hear him shift and take a few steps forward, pressing his leather clad hips into my bare backside. I freeze for a moment, listening to the creak of leather as he shifts, thinking that I must be dreaming, and he wraps a strong arm around me, tentatively running a gloved hand up to trace the long, diagonal scar on my chest. He seems so wary of me, as if I'll turn into a snarling animal at any moment.
"You're so tired, Ace..." From the way he talks, he probably means more than just physically.
"I'll be fine." I don't move, far too afraid that this really IS a dream.
"Ace, skip a night." It's more a plea than anything.
"Look, Collin-"
"Just... Please. You push yourself too hard. You need to be well rested if you're going to protect us."
"Babe-"
"Come home with me tonight."
My stomach must've dropped clear through the floor. Collin must have felt me tense, cus his hand is sliding in slow, easy motions over that scar that he seems to like so much. His cheek's pressed against my bare shoulder, the light stubble, so pale it's virtually invisible, rubbing against my skin. I feel him smile against me and almost bristle.
"What's so funny?" It's sharper than I intended, merely revealing my embarassment with the whole situation.
"Nothin. Just never envisioned you as the shy type." I can practically taste the smugness in his tone.
"I'm not fucking shy." I growl, even as I feel revealing warmth crep into my cheeks.
"Does the fact that you haven't killed me yet mean you're gonna skip you're shift?"
"Guess so..."
-
It wasn't the best place in the world, but it seemed like heaven compared to mine. Everything's neat, but lived in, and at least the fridge's stocked. The angel before me hands me an opened beer and I take it without question. Now dressed in his casual clothes, Collin perches on the arm of the huge chair I'm sprawled in, his eyes veiled, molten sapphires.
"I've never seen you in anything except leather..." He murmurs, leaning in closer than I'm comfortable with to take me in.
"I work a lot." What an understatement; I work all the fucking time.
"I like seeing you like this. All relaxed and content."
I don't know why I even attempt to talk, cus Collin's in his own little world. He stares at me, entranced like a moth by a flame. I take my time in admiring him, then, drinking in the sight of him. Collin's perfection coated in honey. Some one like me doesn't deserve some one like him.
"You're gorgeous beneath it all, Ace." The voice is almost too close and it jarrs me from my thoughts.
He's hovering above me now, one hand braced on the back of the chair. That same, warm smile curves his lips as he watches me. My pulse jumps when he lets out a light chuckle and merely manage to give him a mildly confused look.
"Gorgeous... But clueless, and so very obvious."
I frown at that, the look bordering on a pout, but I don't care. My blood's pumping too fast and my heart is hammering in my chest. Everything is happening almost too fast.
"The hell are you talking about?" The response is too hushed and husky for my tastes.
"You're not THAT clueless..." His hand moves to my bare chest to hold himself up as he leans closer and shifts.
Almost instinctively I reach up and grip his hips, dragging him into my lap. His laugh is happy, melodious, and pure Collin as he settle for straddling my hips and grinning down at me. I leave one hand on his hip and stare up at him almost helplessly. Idly, he runs a hand down my cheek, tracing the 5'oclock that I know is there.
"See? I knew you weren't that clueless." He murmurs, still smiling at me like a damn kid in a candy store.
"Course I'm not." I mutter with a mild scowl. "But I'm not one to get my hopes up."
I mentally curse myself when he blinks bown at me, all wide eyed and innocent. Then he gives me a shy smile and shifts, resting fully ontop of me and burying his face in my neck. A pleasant warmth spreads through me as I slide one hand to the small of his back and the other to thread in the strands of spun gold that make up his hair and allow myself to sink into the embrace.
This was all I ever wanted from Collin. I wanted him; not his body or touch, just the angel whose smile seemed to make everything else seems dull and grey in comparison. To hold him and feel his heartbeat and feel his breathe against my neck.
I close my eyes and lean my head against Collin's, content to fall asleep like this, despite the fact that we can't. As if on cue, he slides lower with a sigh, resting his head on my collarbone. No further words are spoken and I allow darkness to overcome me without a single protest.