Stephanie Vaughan

Excerpt: "Another Believer"

"Is this seat taken?"

David looked up and had to make a conscious effort to close his
mouth. It was him. The cute guy. Asking if he could sit down.

"Uh, no. Go ahead."

Shifting his feet, David shoved his backpack further beneath his
seat and pulled his elbows in to make room.

"Thanks." Little ripples of pleasure fluttered down David's back upon
hearing the smooth baritone and the Cute Guy sat down, tucking a
well-worn duffel between his feet.

"No problem." Trying not to be obvious, David cast a quick glance
beneath his lashes at the long legs and sturdy thighs settling in next
to him. Late August in Southern California meant that daytime
temperatures were in the eighties and nineties and shorts were still
the order of the day for most people.

The legs now stretched out beside him were lean and tanned, with
a light dusting of blond hair and David tried not to gawk. He'd
admired the view from behind earlier in the train station, casting
admiring glances and doing his best to be discreet, even going so
far as to offer up a brief plea to the universe that the cute guy with
the seriously hot bod would be on his train. He wouldn't have had
the hubris to ask that said cute guy would sit next to him. That
would use up a year's worth of good luck and there was still the
dorm and roommate lotteries to get through.

The train was already moving, pulling out of Union Station and into
the hazy sunshine that was L.A. in the fall. Forcing himself to look
away, David tried to focus on the scenery such as it was, and away
from maybe the hottest guy he'd ever seen, let alone rubbed
forearms with. The empty vista formed by the cement channel of
the Los Angeles River, even with its colorful graffiti and
eye-catching collection of debris, was no match for the nicely
muscled arm that now rested near David's. Not even close.

David's overactive imagination had no trouble supplying him with
scenarios for what he'd like that very attractive forearm and
attached hand to do, beginning with slipping down over David's
thigh, stroking firmly up and down his inseam a few times, before
cupping his crotch.

Aw, man.

The heat and electricity from being so close was already getting to
him, then the train jerked and the Cute Guy's arm brushed against
David's.

"Sorry."

David's gaze flew to meet the other man's and he was momentarily
lost in the depths of perfect, brilliant green. "'S'okay. I'm David, by
the way." He stuck out his hand, reaching over the armrest to
shake.

"Jonah. Simpson." Jonah's hand dwarfed David's, long fingers
wrapping easily around the back of David's hand. Two fingers were
wrapped with adhesive tape and David tried to hide his shiver as
slightly roughened fingertips scraped across his skin.

"Cool." David retrieved his hand, rubbing it across his thigh,
embarrassed at the tingle he continued to feel. He'd really have to
get a grip before he humiliated himself, but he'd never been this
close to anyone so perfectly beautiful.

Chestnut hair, streaked with everything from dark mahogany to
strawberry blond, fell in shaggy disarray over Jonah's forehead and a
light sprinkling of freckles scattered themselves charmingly along
two high cheekbones and a perfectly sized, perfectly shaped,
perfectly placed nose. A spare upper lip rode gracefully above a
much plumper lower one and already David had gotten intermittent
flashes of a smile that was an orthodontist's dream.

David sighed.

Jonah was absolutely gorgeous.

He was even tall.

Every one of David's favorite fantasies started with a tall man, but
he'd learned early that perfect specimens like the one seated next
to him didn't look twice at short, bookish, science nerds like him. It
wasn't just that, either, though. Every bit of David's research
indicated that not getting a second glance severely limited his
chances of being fucked senseless by any of those perfect
specimens.

Beside him, Jonah leaned over to pull out the duffel beneath his feet
and began rummaging through it. When he sat up again, he had a
dog-eared Manila envelope in his hands, from which he pulled out a
collection of documents and brochures. Kicking the duffel back
beneath the seat again, Jonah straightened the pile before sorting
through it.

Craning his neck a bit, David tried to get a glimpse of the subject
matter, but just then Jonah looked up. David immediately averted
his gaze and switched his gaze back to studying the landscape. He
knew from experience that the scenery around Union Station
consisted primarily of what the newspapers usually called ordinary
urban clutter, but occasionally the extraordinary could be spotted.

Not just the garden variety graffiti and abandoned washing
machines, David knew that street people made their homes in some
of the channels that fed runoff water into the river during the rainy
months. Since those times were infrequent to say the least, right
now the cavernous concrete tunnels were often inhabited. He
sometimes got inadvertent glimpses of their lives and it was nothing
short of heartbreaking so, as much as possible, David did his best
not to look.

"Whoa!"

Yanking his gaze around and up to Jonah's, David immediately took
in the wide-eyed, startled green eyes and the adorable flush in
those high, round cheeks.

"Did you see that?" Jonah's gaze fixed on David and it was
breath-stopping to be the recipient of that much focused energy.

Shaking his head, David could only shrug weakly. "No. What?"

"There was a… a man." Near dumbstruck, Jonah struggled to put
words together. "In the…"

When Jonah's glance strayed reluctantly back to the windows on
the opposite side of the train, David's followed it. He didn't have to
know specifically what Jonah'd seen; he could just flash to his own
memories of some of the more comment-worthy sights he'd
witnessed over the months.

Jonah's gaze strayed back to David and David reminded himself not
to gawk. Those eyes really were amazing, though. Instead, David
nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, it can kind of catch you off guard
sometimes."

Mouth falling open a little, it was Jonah's turn to stare. "You've
seen--?" "

"Junkies shooting up? Pros turning tricks? Naked old dudes doing
things I don't even want to think about?" Randomly tossing out
some of the more frequent occurrences, David watched happily as
Jonah's eyebrows climbed higher and higher, eventually disappearing
beneath the sweet fringe of hair that hung into his amazing eyes.

"It was…" A full-body shudder passed over Jonah and David took the
opportunity to let his gaze briefly roam over the impressive pair of
shoulders evident beneath the t-shirt that clung to Jonah's body.
"He was…"

"Yeah?" Smiling encouragingly, David did his best to keep the
conversation going. If the talk had to do with anything electrical or,
more specifically, his special love - robotics - David could go all
night. But make the conversation anything social and he was at a
loss. He never really knew what to say.

"He was big. And," Jonah paused to look over his shoulder, back in
the direction the steady speed of the train had swept them past.
Peering into David's eyes with an intensity that made his insides
quiver, Jonah somehow seemed to be willing David to believe the
unbelievable. "This big black dude… was wearing nothing but a
diaper. That's it. That's all he had on. His legs were… Back in the… "

David winced at the mental picture Jonah's words had conjured.
Just sad. What must that guy's story be?

Jonah's distress was obvious and David instantly wanted to comfort
him. He had a soft heart and he knew it. The fact that the person in
need of help was so perfectly gorgeous he made David's teeth ache
was beside the point.

His need to offer emotional support was completely impartial.
Altruistic, even.

It was his nature to try to help, so David reached out his hand,
rubbing Jonah's arm softly. "Yeah, it's hard sometimes. I know."

Slowly, by small degrees, Jonah relaxed. The eyes got less intent;
that beautiful mouth that David wanted desperately to lick,
softened; the muscles beneath David's hand loosened. And then,
ever so slowly, Jonah's gaze dropped to watch the circling motions
David only gradually realized he was making - making on Jonah's
very attractive, very probably heterosexual arm.

Uh-oh.

Now he'd done it.

David closed his eyes before Jonah's horrified gaze could find his.
Now Jonah was going to call him whatever Jonah's straight jock
brain's nom du jour for not-straight was. Then he'd probably
threaten to beat the crap out of David's skinny, obviously
not-straight, ass for daring to touch him.

It wasn't the thumping, or even just the threat of it David dreaded,
so much as it was the look he'd no doubt see in Jonah's eyes.
Coming so closely on the heels of the intense look and the
sympathetic one, David knew it was going to sting just that much
more.

"David?"

Low, gritty, slow, Jonah's voice hung heavily in the air between
them. The train swayed and rattled as it took a turn, the steel
wheels clanking rhythmically over the tracks. Random bits of
conversation from other passengers floated by and David grasped at
them, desperate to avoid what was about to come crashing down
on his clumsy, if well-intentioned, head. A man asked the score of
the day's ball game. A feminine, flirtatious giggle was followed by a
low, masculine chuckle. The automated voice of the train system
announced the next stop.

"Oh. Whoa. Sorry. I'll just… Never mind." Carefully withdrawing his
hand, David turned away. Gazing blindly out the window, he was still
hyper-aware of the man behind him; could feel the eyes boring into
the back of his neck.

"You got a last name?"

What, gay-bashers were asking for I.D. now? Did he want to know
whose doorway to dump the body on? Chancing a look, David
glanced over his shoulder and found something undecipherable on
Jonah's chiseled face. "Yeah. Sato. Why?"

"Japanese?"

"Half. Why?" David knew he sucked at reading faces. But even
knowing that social skills weren't his thing, this went way beyond
the usual 'was that a joke and should I laugh now?'

Eyes narrowing cautiously, Jonah slanted him a look that even now
made David's heart beat faster, damn him. "Gay?"

Fear and disappointment made David reckless and he opened his
never-appropriate mouth and sunk whatever hopes he might still
have clung to.

"Gay as in happy or as in likes cock and butt sex?"

Nearly choking, Jonah glanced around quickly, probably looking to
see who might have overheard. David didn't care. He was going to
have to get up and go find another seat now and, after standing in
line for nearly an hour to be sure he got a window on the coast side
of the train, he was extra pissed at himself for the wasted effort.

"Keep your voice down. Jeez." Jonah looked around again before
lowering his head, bringing it close to David's. "The, uh, the second
one."

"What do you think?" Folding his arms across his chest, David leaned
back in his seat. Just because Jonah was hot and he knew it didn't
mean David would let him get away with whatever he wanted.

"Just answer the question. Are you?" To David's surprise, Jonah
followed, pursuing David into his personal space. He leaned in until
David could see the exact hue and intensity of those bright green
eyes.

Maybe it was disappointment, but something boiled over inside David
and he searched for the most outrageous thing he could think of to
set this cruel tease of a straight boy back on his heels.

"Absolutely love the cock, and there's nothing I like more than riding
a big hard one. All night long." He drew out the last bit, taking an
evil delight in watching Jonah's eyes go wide.

"Oh. Wow." Nostrils flaring with the quick, shallow breaths he was
taking, Jonah stared back. "Nice."

* * *