Chapter Eight

Ethan was sitting by the window, a lit candle by his side. He had thought about watching Love Isn't Fair another time, but he would only be able to view it as himself and Mark and it wouldn't be the same. So he had gotten out the play he had been trying to work on. And even though he no longer had to, he still felt the need to. He was working on that when he heard the knock at his door. He said "come in" without even looking up from his paper.

"I'm surprised you're still awake."

Ethan looked up as Mark walked into the room, closing the door behind him. The only light in the room was the candle by Ethan, so Mark was standing in the shadows. Seeing Mark standing there took Ethan back to the darkness of that stage. The kiss...

Ethan's heart pounded in his chest.

"I...I couldn't sleep," Ethan said. "I decided to keep writing the play." That was only partly true. He had gotten out of bed to focus his mind on something else. Every time he closed his eyes to sleep, he kept thinking about that kiss. Once, he had drifted off to sleep only to have a vivid dream of Love Isn't Fair, the movie with himself taking Celine's place.

The love scene hadn't faded to black. It had been the most vivid dream he had ever had. It had woken him up and he had immediately gotten out of bed before his thoughts could stray further.

"You don't have to keep working on that play," Mark said. He walked forward and stopped at the edge of where the light reached, staying in shadows. Did he think Ethan preferred him in the dark?

"I needed something to do," Ethan said. He put the papers aside and picked up the candle. He stood, started toward Mark, but stopped when Mark retreated further into the shadows. "Is everything okay?"

"We need to talk."

"About the kiss."

Mark let the silence linger for a moment. "Yes."

Then Ethan understood. It explained why Mark was staying away from him now. It was a kiss that wasn't supposed to have happened. Mark had even said that he hadn't worked with another love interest. But was he regretting it now out of fear? Was he afraid that Ethan would somehow fuck him over like Celine had?

"Ethan -"

"We got carried away," Ethan said, walking over to place the candle on the night stand by the bed. "We were just acting out the movie."

"It...didn't mean anything..." Ethan wasn't sure if Mark's words were a question or a statement.

Ethan had his back to Mark, afraid that Mark would be able to pick up on his emotions. "So you came up here to tell me it'll never happen again," he said, hoping his voice didn't betray his feelings.

"That wasn't why at all."

Ethan paused then turned. Mark remained standing in the shadows. "It wasn't?"

"I wanted to prove something to myself," Mark said. "Turn out the light." That confirmed that Mark thought Ethan preferred him in the dark.

Instead, Ethan lit another candle then walked around the room, lighting candles until the entire room was bathed in light. He then turned and looked at Mark when he was done. "I want to see you."

And he meant what he said. Ever since that brief glimpse before the show. He wanted to see more. He knew it was more out of curiosity than anything else. When they had kissed, he had only been able to imagine the way Mark looked in Love Isn't Fair and that wasn't fair to Mark. And it was more curiosity than desire. The obsession he had was born out of fascination. The real reason he had decided to stay.

He felt like he was just using Mark for his own fascination. If that kiss turned into something more, it was just benefits to his obsession. Wasn't it?

So why did his heart race when Mark stepped closer to him, stopping a few steps away? Ethan was sure his pounding heart could be heard as Mark unbuttoned his shirt then pulled it off, followed by his undershirt. And then Mark was standing before him, shirtless.

Ethan wasn't sure what he had expected, but he never would have imagined it was this bad.

Mark's chest had similar scars and scratches like his face, but the scars on his chest and stomach looked newer. A large bruise covered on shoulder, three long gashes across his chest. Ethan couldn't help but wonder if some of these wounds were from when Mark had rescued Ethan from the creature outside his first day.

"Oh my god..." Ethan whispered without realizing.

Mark seemed like he had expected that reaction. "I can't remember the last time I took my shirt off for anyone," he said. "But if I'm honest, it was probably around the time of Love Isn't Fair."

Ethan stepped closer. Mark remained still as Ethan reached out and touched him. His fingers trailed across old scars and new. Mark didn't react to his touches. At least not outwardly. Ethan couldn't stop touching him. His skin was dry and rough, cracked in places. Almost as if he was shedding his skin.

"You ARE changing..." Ethan said quietly. And Mark had said it was a fate he deserved? If he hadn't believed it before, he did now. The evidence was right in front of him. His fingers drifted across Mark's abs.

"And I don't have a lot of time left before the change," Mark said. "You have to leave."

"Afraid I'll share the same fate?"

"Not the same," Mark said. "If you stay, you'll be cursed to live forever."

"And if you change..." Ethan trailed off, not completely sure of what he had been about to say. "But if I leave..."

"Benjamin knows you've always been free to go," Mark said. "You can't use that excuse anymore."

Ethan lifted his gaze, his eyes meeting Mark's. "But what if I'm not ready to leave?" he asked. "The curse can still be broken."

"Maybe I don't want it to be broken," Mark said. His words didn't surprise Ethan. He had already said that he thought he deserved his current fate.

"Maybe I'm not ready to accept that fate."

"You've only been here a few days," Mark said. "This obsession -"

"I can make my own choices," Ethan said. The obsession he had with Mark had always been obvious. He had memorized and entire movie, after all. He had never even tried to hide that obsession. But part of him felt like it was more than just an obsession now. He wasn't sure what to call it because he had never felt it before.

"There's no future here for you."

"There's no future for me out there," Ethan said. He thought about Brian and Kathryn. About the family he had left behind in Maine... What would they think if he never came back? After he was cursed himself, he couldn't leave because he wouldn't be able to live with the pain of watching the people he loved grow old and die while he lived on.

Mark was good at reading people. "You're free to stay a few more days," he said. "But then you have to leave. Please. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I hurt you after..." After he changed.

Ethan's hand was still on Mark's stomach. "I don't want to say goodbye," he said. "I know it's only been a few days, but it's felt like so much longer."

"It's the curse," Mark said. "I can force you to leave, you know."

"So what's this about?" Ethan asked. He pulled his hand away and gestured to Mark's bare chest.

"You wanted to see me."

Ethan looked away, suddenly feeling shy. His heart was still pounding. "That's not an answer," he said. "You said you came to talk about the kiss, but instead you take off your shirt and then tell me that I have to leave."

Mark gave a slight nod of his head. "I said I wanted to prove something," he said. "The kiss was in the dark."

"So you thought I only liked you for your past looks," Ethan said, ignoring the fact that Mark's past looks were exactly what he had pictured during that kiss. But that had only been because it had been dark and he hadn't been able to see Mark at the time.

Mark gave a small grin. A grin that made Ethan's heart go wild. "You like me?"

"Up until the point you accepted your fate and kicked me out."

"I accepted my fate a long time before you arrived."

"That doesn't change the fact that you don't deserve it," Ethan said. "No one deserves a fate like that, no matter what they've done. Surely you've learned your lesson by now."

"That doesn't -"

Ethan shut him up by pressing up against Mark and kissing him. If he hadn't made a move, he was convinced that his heart would have beat itself right out of his chest.

Mark was kissing him right back.

Ethan backed toward the bed, pulling Mark with him. He didn't know what had made him so bold, (the curse?) he just knew that he couldn't leave without getting what he wanted. Was he even sure he would actually leave? How could he go back to a normal life after this?

But if Mark turned into some sort of creature and Ethan became cursed, what kind of life was that?

Was there no happy ending?

If they were going to lose each other anyway, might as well confess feelings now. It was better to have loved and lost...

Loved?

Then they were on the bed, Ethan clinging to Mark, kiss becoming more heated. Mark's skin grew warmer than usual, almost feverish. A side effect of what he was becoming? It scared Ethan a little. He didn't know what he was getting into. He had never been intimate with anyone before. But his body knew what it wanted.

Mark seemed hesitant after a moment. Thinking about what Celine had done?

Ethan broke the kiss and looked into Mark's eyes. "I'm not Celine," he said. Thoughts and feelings were making everything confusing. "Mark -"

"I trust you," Mark said. And it was something about the way he said it that made certain feelings more clear for Ethan.

He knew what to call it.

"Mark?" Ethan asked nervously as Mark traveled down Ethan's body. He placed both hands over his face, low-key panicking as Mark pulled his pants down. But there was an entirely different feeling when he felt Mark's breath against his dick, which was standing erect. He lowered his hands away from his face. "Mark...Oh, god!"

Mark had taken Ethan's cock into his mouth. And after a few minutes of Mark's warm mouth working him, Ethan had the most mind-blowing orgasm of his life. And Mark didn't pull away until he had swallowed every last drop of Ethan's cum.

Ethan could taste himself on Mark's tongue when their lips came together in another kiss. He was also aware that at some point, Mark had stripped down naked. The way he was positioned, the head of his cock was poking at Ethan's ass crack.

"Mark?" Ethan's voice was a little more nervous now.

Before he could say anything else, there was a knock at the door. The voice that could be heard outside the room was Benjamin's: "Master...we have a...guest." He sounded concerned about something.

But then Ethan was more concerned with something else. "He knew you were in here," he said.

"You just wanted to see my body," Mark said then added: "I AM good at reading people."

"Fuck you."

Mark smirked. "We were just getting to that part."

The knock came again, more insistent this time. It was, again, ignored.

"All right," Ethan said. "How about we both admit to our ulterior motives so we're in agreement about why we're really here."

"What kind of agreement?"

Then the door opened and Benjamin walked in, one hand lifted to cover his eyes. "Mark...it's Will."

"Will?" Ethan asked as Benjamin left and Mark got out of bed, getting dressed quickly.

"An old friend," Mark said. His voice was deep and dark like it had been when they had first met. He pulled on his pants then his shirt, not bothering to button it up. He turned and left without another word.

Ethan pulled up his pants then rolled out of bed and went to the window that overlooked the front grounds. It was still raining, but not as hard as before. He cracked the window open to see out better.

The front gate looked like it had been forced open. The car sitting in the driveway didn't look familiar. The two men standing in the rain in front of the car, however, were VERY familiar.

The Colonel and his detective friend.