Desperate Lovers Read online

  Rich had to wonder what that was all about. What he and Paolo had shared, it was a one-time thing. Right?

  Just then a sleek limo pulled up near the Municipal building, and

  Rich looked up with newfound interest. Emerging from behind tinted windows were, in order, that officious yes-man prick, Russell Allen; Danvers Converse, the mastermind behind the land grab; and lastly, as though having achieved the final “and” status in a television show’s credits, the glowingly handsome Parker St. John. Rich crossed his arms, an obviously defiant move in light of the new arrivals. The three men strutted confidently up the cement path, stopping only when Converse approached Rich.

  “You realize today’s meeting is a mere formality. We’ll have our land—and you’ll have nothing.”

  “That’s the thing about the future, Danvers, no one knows what it holds.”

  “Foolish man,” he said with a shake of his head. “Russell. Parker.

  Come.”

  Not the first time he’d demanded such a thing of them, Rich surmised. Danvers led, Russell followed. Parker, though, hung back and pulled Rich aside.

  “So, Rich, we haven’t really had a chance to talk. It’s been a long time.”

  “Not long enough, apparently. Parker…what do you want? Why are you doing this?”

  “I have a right to that land.”

  “Is that so? Why do you need all of our houses, isn’t Number

  Two sufficient?”

  “Some day, when you and I have a chance to be alone, I’ll

  tell you everything.”

  “I can’t see a time when that will be happening.”

  Parker, his smile all dimples, looked gorgeous in tight blue jeans and a white dress shirt, opened at the neck to reveal a triangle of thick brown hair. Parker had certainly grown up since high school; back then he’d been short, skinny, barely pubescent, but still definitely cute. Now he was buff, sexy, hairy, and gorgeous with that tanned skin and irresistible dimples. Parker ran a hand over Rich’s rough cheek, scratching at the day’s scruff. Rich realized he didn’t pull back. Temptation stood before him, and he could never resist. Swallowing hard, he fought the urge to check out Parker’s package. For a second their eyes locked, heat firing their irises.

  “Oh, I think we’ll have our moment, Rich,” he said, drawing a finger against Rich’s lips. “Destiny always knows its place.”

  With that pronouncement, Parker St. John went inside the cool confines of the municipal building, leaving Rich alone with the warmth of the afternoon sun. Beads of sweat trickled down his brow, but somehow he suspected the warm temperatures had nothing to do with it.

  Inside the meeting had just gotten under way, but Rich needed to wait a moment until the tightness in his pants receded. As he put a hand in his pocket to adjust himself, he found a piece of paper had been stuffed inside without him knowing. He unfolded it: “Bayside Hotel, Suite 901.

  After the meeting.” For a moment Rich’s cock hardened again. The idea of sex right now sounded good, he knew he was turned on, and not by just one man. But which of them had left the note?

  “Okay, we’ve now heard both sides of the argument,” said LeeAnn Lehman, addressing the assembled crowd, “and while both complainant and defendant paint compelling pictures for and against their plan, it is the consensus of this board that the Wonderland Palaces would be an ideal project for the Village of Wonderland, opening up vast new reservoirs of cash in this troubled economy. We must always look toward the future, even here in Wonderland….”

  A rustle of disharmony erupted in the room, mostly from the residents of Eldon Court. Marc looked to Rich, who still stood in the back, had ever since he’d re-entered the building at the start of the meeting. He hadn’t spoken up at all, leaving all the talk to Edgar and Jack, the longest tenured residents who’d been designated to speak for them all. They’d been good, but perhaps a bit too emotional. Danvers Converse, and worse, his associate Russell Allen, had been scarily prepared, business-like, presenting the pros as though they came with no cons. And now the zoning board appeared ready to hand over their lives to these corrupt men.

  With turncoat LeeAnn surprisingly leading the charge.

  “Gentleman, ladies…please, let me finish my statement. While we do agree on the idea of the Wonderland Palaces, it’s this board’s decision that Eldon Court is not the place for it. We are prepared to offer alternate locations to Converse Properties, and as such not disrupt the harmony or the history of Eldon Court.”

  Just then Danvers Converse stood up and yelled, “That unacceptable. We want that land, and only that land.”

  Russell was trying to calm down his boss, and LeeAnn was attempting her best to maintain order in the room, as were her fellow board members. She banged down on the desk with a wooden gavel, as though this were a court of law and they could all be guilty of contempt. After the third hard blow, the crowd came to attention and all eyes focused on not the woman behind the gavel but the man who now stood before them all. It was easy to look at him, he was simply the most attractive man in the room, probably in all of Wonderland. Marc hated to admit that, but Parker St. John was true beauty. For a second he looked back at Rich, but Rich’s expression showed nothing, unlike Paolo, who sat beside him and was practically salivating at the sight of Parker. That’s when it dawned on Marc—of course, the guy Paolo had been blowing down on the beach, it had been Parker…

  “With all due respect to the zoning board and to the dedicated, passionate citizens of Wonderland, I’m afraid it’s my turn to speak and to reveal a truth I’d been holding back on,” Parker said. The audience was suddenly rapt. “Ms. Lehman, my apologies for not stepping forward earlier, but it’s only in light of the board’s decision to deny Wonderland Palaces access to Eldon Court that I realize I need to come forward.

  Russell, if you would?”

  From a briefcase on Russell’s lap, a tattered manila envelope was handed off to Parker, who took hold of it with the ease of a man who knew just what was inside. “Wonderland has always prided itself on its past, how it seemingly grew from a simple stretch of ocean into an exclusive haven to the kind of evolved people who embrace diversity, tolerance, and human strength. What it hasn’t always embraced is progress, and while it’s clear that’s what Mr. Converse and his company represent, I’m here to say that as a long-time resident of Wonderland, I am fully in favor on the Palaces project—and for it to be built on Eldon Court.”

  “That’s very well and good, Parker,” LeeAnn said, “but might I remind you, first, that you haven’t called Wonderland home in nearly ten years, since graduation, and second, this board has already ruled…”

  “If you would allow me to finish,” Parker said, withdrawing a tattered old piece of paper from the folder. He passed it with a flourish to LeeAnn and to the two elder gentlemen who made up the zoning board. “I present to you the original deed—well, a copy of course, the original is under lock and key—for the land on Eldon Court, passed down through generations of the Saunders family. As you all know, the Saunders have not lived in Eldon Court for several years, not since…since the incident at Number Two Eldon Court. But the Saunders family still retains ownership. And according to this deed, not just to the house at Number Two but also the land where Numbers One, Three and Four are built. So, as you’ll see from the fine print, it is the right of the Saunders family to do anything they wish with the land, and I am here to say that the Saunders family embraces Wonderland Palaces one hundred percent.”

  Marc was so shocked by what Parker was saying he missed Rich walking up the middle aisle. But then he saw that Parker and Rich had met eyes, and damned if sparks weren’t bouncing off them both. Everyone could see the attraction, of that Marc was convinced. Marc knew that despite his love for Rich, he could never hope to contain the man’s intemperate lust.

  Rich spoke up. “You say the Saunders family owns all of the land except Number Five—my home. Why is that?”

  Parker waved off the quest
ion as if it was a pesky fly. “An old family feud that should mean nothing today. I’m sure we could work out a settlement in private. After all, Rich, in light of this deed, you’re really the only person standing in the way of the Wonderland Palaces. Edgar and Jack, Sawyer and Dane, Aaron and Paolo, they’re all powerless to stop progress. Powerless to stop me.”

  “Then I’ll stop it for them,” Rich said.

  “Gentleman, please, this meeting is getting out of hand,” LeeAnn said, trying to break the intensity escalating between these two men.

  “Parker, I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make. Are you here to tell me that you’re somehow representing the Saunders family?”

  Parker turned to LeeAnn, his smile as wide as the oceanfront they were all fighting over. “Of course not. I’m here to tell you that I am a member of the Saunders family. In fact, the only surviving one—unless of course you count that crazy old shell of a man who lives as a recluse and denies to this day the events that happened inside Number Two. The one who continues to deny that I’m his son and rightful heir.”

  The bombshell pronouncement from Parker St. John had certainly been dramatic and caused a genuine flare up of emotions at the meeting, but when the dust settled, the committee said they would have to look into the matter further. As such, the battle for Eldon Court was on temporary hold, with neither side able to make a move until the true issue of the land’s ownership could be determined.

  An hour after the meeting ended, Marc Anderson found himself alone, walking the streets of Down Wonder and wondering just how he could help his friends and neighbors. Rich had left him at the municipal building, telling him he was going to do some research, and then maybe later, maybe on Sunday, all the neighbors could convene and they’d discuss their next plan of attack. He kissed Marc in broad daylight and then disappeared around the corner. Now Marc, having finished off a latte at the March Hare’s Tea Spot and thinking he should just return home to Number Five Eldon Court, suddenly found a needed distraction. The Healy Gallery was just down the street and he supposed now was as good a time to drop by and talk to Lauren.

  He came to the front door of the gallery, peered through the plate glass windows to check out the action. He didn’t see anyone, not Lauren, customers, or artists. He knocked once, timidly, then wondered why he was acting so skittish? Wonderland was laid back, casual, the kind of place where you could drop in unannounced and have a conversation with a friend; no appointments, no phone calls, nothing like that. So Marc knocked harder, and that’s when he realized the door was unlocked. He stepped inside the cool gallery, and heard nothing but the gentle hum of the air conditioner.

  The walls were bare, blank; the gallery seemed to be in between shows, and that was good. Marc hoped to discuss with Lauren the possibility of setting a date for his own showing. He’d been making great progress on his work in the past few weeks, and he felt in a month’s time he might be ready for his Wonderland coming out party—so to speak.

  Coming out seemed to be a theme of the moment because when Marc moved deeper into the gallery, he detected sounds that were…well, unmistakable.

  Gentle moans emanated from the back office. Marc stood in his tracks, unsure what to do. My God, if you’re gonna indulge in a little afternoon sex, lock the door! Still, with the groans intensity building, Marc felt himself irresistibly drawn toward the office. Wonderland loved gossip; Wonderland always wanted to know who was sleeping with whom, and well, as far as he knew, Lauren Healy wasn’t involved with anyone.

  Anytime he’d seen her, she’d been with LeeAnn, and they’d always lamented that there were no available men in Wonderland, they were all gay and…

  “Oh shit,” Marc said, not realizing he’d said it aloud.

  His suspicions were soon realized. Lauren was splayed out on her desk, her legs in the air; LeeAnn between them, licking her, sucking her out like she was a buffet special, all you can eat. Lauren was obviously near climax, her groans growing louder, her breath coming in short, staccato bursts. Marc didn’t know what to do; but hell, he’d never known what to do with women. Still, this was the second time this week he’d stumbled across two people having sex: Paolo and Parker on the beach; now LeeAnn and Lauren inside the gallery office, one step away from a strap-on.

  “Oh my God!”

  Lauren had spied Marc and she reacted appropriately. Trouble was, LeeAnn just though it was a response to the oral sex she was giving, and so she didn’t stop. Actually, she intensified her actions, her tongue thrusting deeper inside Lauren’s exposed cunt, it ringed by a trimmed muff of hair. Lauren tried to push LeeAnn away, but that only urged her friend on, thinking it was part of the foreplay. Just then Lauren cried out, and Marc realized he was witnessing his very first female orgasm.

  As Lauren’s cries ceased, LeeAnn rose from her vantage point.

  She turned around and upon seeing Marc just standing there like a ticket holder at a spectator sport, well, she screamed.

  “I’m sorry…I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” Marc said over and over again, his face beet red. “But…why didn’t you lock the door, or get a room, or…Christ, let us know that you two were involved…oh my God,

  who else knows…?”

  “No one,” the two women said simultaneously.

  “Okay, hey, you’re secret is safe with me,” Marc said, “although, I don’t know why. Wonderland’s got enough of us lusty gay boys, it’s about time the lesbians got some action and recognition in this town. Heck, you might have solved all of our problems had the two of you moved into one of the houses on Eldon Court, bought up the deed to Number Two somehow.”

  “Yeah, that’s exactly how to save Wonderland, bring in the Lesbos,” LeeAnn said.

  “LeeAnn, quiet,” Lauren said. “Look, go wash up, let me talk to Marc, okay?”

  “Fine,” LeeAnn said, and with a wave and a saucy smile she went into the back room, disappearing from view.

  “Really, Lauren…I didn’t mean to watch. I think I was just in shock…”

  “Stop it, Marc. It’s no big deal,” Lauren said. “Heck, maybe you and Rich owe us, we can come over one night and watch you two go at it.

  Let me guess, you’re the bottom…”

  Marc blushed again. “Uh, do you think we could change the subject?”

  Lauren laughed, her body all loose from her climax. “Sure, sorry, I’m just having some fun with you. Look, Marc, this is something new between me and LeeAnn, we’re just seeing where it takes us. Like you said, Wonderland is full of you homos, what chance has a girl got?

  But that’s not what you’re here to discuss. A showing, right? I love the idea, as you know. All we have to do is pick a date.”

  “Wait…you mean, it’s that easy? Don’t gallery owners have to…I don’t know, say no first? Then be wooed, be enticed, convinced…bought?”

  “You’re catching me at a real good time,” she said with a laugh.

  “Besides, the Healy Gallery needs some fresh blood to get some of those snooty critics and wealthy buyers down from San Francisco and Silicon Valley. We don’t want them living in Wonderland, but we’ll certainly take their money. So, let’s look at the calendar, pick at date…uh, wait, let’s not use my office.”

  Marc agreed that was probably a good idea.

  As he followed her upstairs to a special reception area, he said to Lauren, “You know, my gallery debut might just be what all of us need, the neighbors of Eldon Court, all of Wonderland. A big social event to take our minds off our troubles.”

  Lauren nodded. “I couldn’t agree more.”

  “And just think, you could bring a date,” Marc said.

  “Hey, Marc?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You want this showing to happen?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then shut the fuck up.”

  Despite the vulgar language, they both laughed.

  Lauren pulled out her calendar, and, explaining that she hated to do business without a bit of refreshm
ent, grabbed a bottle of wine and three glasses.

  “Oh, goody,” Marc said. “My first threesome with two women.”

  “You left me the note? Why?”

  “I needed to talk to you—in private.”

  Rich looked around at the hotel room, thought about his previous

  visits to the Bayside. Bayside was the location of the penthouse suite where he and Marc had stayed until they’d found their beautiful Victorian on Eldon Court, and the owner’s suite where he was forced to have sex with Aaron, all while it was being secretly taped and viewed by the closet-case Danvers Converse. A mixed bag of memories was this hotel, but certainly a place highly conducive to sex. Not exactly something Rich was averse to. Still, he had to wonder: is that what Paolo had had in mind by asking him to meet here? A healthy fuck session in the middle of the afternoon?

  “Paolo, we could have met anywhere—the beach, one of our homes? Why here, in the same place where Aaron works. What would he think if he saw, or worse, heard from someone else, that you and I were meeting in a hotel room? Look, we had sex that one night, down on the beach when we were both a bit tipsy and horny, but it’s not something that’s going to happen again.”

  “Rich, I’m not here for sex,” he said. “I’m here to beg for your

  help. I didn’t want the others on Eldon Court to know and that’s why I wanted to meet with you in private. Look, it’s no secret that we’re all fearing for our livelihood—no one wants to lose their homes—and now with this bombshell revelation of Parker’s, it’s possible we might lose our homes without even getting any money back. If it’s true that Parker has a claim to the land, he could throw us all out. Like he said, you’re the only one who can stand in his way.”

  “I know. That’s why we’re going to work hard to find out the real truth. We’re all in this together.”

  “Thanks, glad you feel that way. But, it’s more than losing our home…I think if Aaron and I lose the house, we’ll lose each other. We’re hanging on by a thread already, and I understand that it’s partly because Aaron hates his job and when he comes home he’s in no mood for anything…talking, fucking…hell, I’d settle for just some old-fashioned snuggling. What we used to do, what our lives used to be like, that’s what we need back. Now it’s like we’re two strangers sharing space.”