Chance Encounters - 4. Ch. 4 ~ Carried Away

Richard glanced around him as he left the clothing department store located at the far end of the mall. He honestly hadn’t really had to buy anything new, but had decided to go ahead and purchase a few new black t-shirts and jeans. It had been a month since he had seen Simon, and for some reason it didn’t set well with him. His uneasiness over being away from Simon only reinforced his belief that the other man could be his mate. He could have just shown up at Simon’s house, but he didn’t want Simon to think of him as a stalker, so he had finally decided he would just have to bide his time until he ran into him again. He’d been frequenting different clubs, thinking that maybe Simon would appear in one of them, but so far he’d had no luck. During the day he had started going to different places, thinking that eventually he would come across Simon, but he was getting close to giving up and going to Simon’s place no matter what it looked like.

As he was passing the mall’s food court, a scent permeated his nostrils, overriding the scent of the different varieties of food. He felt his heart begin to pound relentlessly in the cavity of his chest as he stopped and let his eyes roam over the crowded food court in search of Simon. He would know that scent anywhere. His eyes finally found Simon seated at a table with two other guys. Even knowing that he had no right to be jealous, the beast that he kept restrained became agitated at the sight of Simon with someone else.

Richard forced his mind and body to calm down as he watched Simon interact with the two other guys at the table. As though he could feel himself being watched, Richard watched as Simon looked up and glanced around him until his eyes landed on where Richard stood just outside of the food court. Richard’s breath caught in his chest as Simon’s eyes met his in stunned surprise. He didn’t know what Simon said to his companions, but the beast in him started to settle down as well as Simon pushed back the chair he was sitting in and made his way towards Richard. Richard watched the two other men at the table watch with interest as Simon walked up to him and without saying anything, turned Richard around and led him away from the food court. Simon led Richard outside before stopping and sitting on a bench along the wall of the mall.

“Haven’t seen you around,” Simon commented as Richard sat down next to him.

“I’ve been around,” Richard answered with a smile as he dropped his sunglasses over his eyes. His eyes were extremely sensitive to the sun and the whites of his eyes could actually get sunburned if he wasn’t careful. “You haven’t been going to the club,” Richard pointed out.

“Nah, I forced myself to face it that one night, but since then, I just can’t seem to force myself to go there again.”

“So what have you been up to?” Richard asked. He didn’t think it would be a good idea to point out that he hadn’t been going to any of the other clubs either.

“Just working, that’s about it. Other than that I either spent time at home or over at Josh’s.” Simon didn’t confess that everywhere that he did go he watched for Richard. It seemed like once he had quit watching for the other guy, he showed up.

“Josh?” Richard asked, forcing himself to keep his feelings out of his voice.

“Yeah, he’s my best friend. He was one of the two that you saw me with in there,” Simon told him as he motioned towards the mall. “Hey, I’m getting kind of hungry, you want to go grab something to eat?”

“Didn’t you eat in there?” Richard asked, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice.

“Nah, just had a drink,” Simon answered with a smile. He was hoping that Richard would take him up on his offer as he was looking forward to spending some time with him. Especially after the night they had at the club the last time they’d seen each other.

“I could do with a steak,” Richard answered. “My treat.”

“I invited you though,” Simon argued.

“Don’t worry about it,” Richard answered with a grin. There was no reason that Simon needed to know that Richard had more money than he knew what to do with. Richard climbed to his feet and held out a hand to help Simon up off the bench. Once they were both on their feet, Richard reluctantly let go of Simon’s hand before leading him to his car.

“Holy shit, you’re kidding me, right?” Simon swore as he took in the car in front of him. For some reason though, the sleek black Ferrari seemed to fit its sexy owner.

“No, why do you ask?” Richard asked as he pulled his keys from his pocket and pressed the button that would unlock the doors.

“It’s just not what I expected,” Simon said honestly as he resisted running his fingers reverently over the side of the car before climbing into the passenger seat. The windows were all deeply tinted, more so than what Simon thought was actually legal. Simon was so in awe that he couldn’t form another coherent thought as Richard expertly guided the car out of the parking lot and headed to a steak house.

“This is my favorite place,” Richard told him as he pulled the car in. From the outside the building didn’t look like much and Simon hoped that the food was good. “Don’t let the looks of the place fool you; they have the best steaks I’ve ever had.”

Deciding it was probably best if he didn’t question Richard’s taste, Simon just nodded as he followed the other man through the swinging door. Inside he was pleasantly surprised, as dilapidated as the outside looked, the inside had half logs stained in oak covering all the walls, and the floor looked like solid wood flooring. Tables were spaced equal distant apart throughout the room and booths that looked to be made out of the same logs that were on the wall were placed against the walls. Simon followed Richard to one of the booths and slid in one side while Richard slid into the other. It became apparent to Simon that Richard was a regular as a waiter quickly came to the table and set a bottle of Budweiser on the table in front of him. Simon ordered the same before turning his attention to his menu and he noticed that Richard didn’t even have a menu.

“Don’t you need a menu?” Simon asked.

“Nope, I come here quite a bit, they already know what I’ll be getting.”

“Same as they knew to bring you a beer,” Simon commented.

“Yep, if you’re in the mood for steak, I’d suggest the sirloin; it’s out of this world.”

“Then I’ll go with that,” Simon answered as the waiter reappeared and set his beer in front of him. Simon ordered the sirloin cooked medium well with a baked potato. As the waiter hurried to put in his order, Simon returned his attention to Richard sitting opposite him. His eyes seemed to gravitate towards Richard’s lips and his mind went back to the night at the club and the fleeting feel of Richard’s lips pressed against his.

“If you don’t stop looking at me like that I may just have to kiss you,” Richard said with a smile, chuckling slightly when Simon’s eyes shot up to his.

“That would be a bad idea why?” Simon retorted once he’d regained his composure.

“You know, now that I think about it, I think it’s the best idea I’ve had in a month,” Richard told him.

Simon glanced around him and noticed that most of the other people in the restaurant were with people of the same gender. Even as he watched, two men sitting at one of the tables shared a chaste kiss. Trust Richard to have brought him somewhere that was gay friendly.

“Normally I would say it might be a bad idea in such a public place, but apparently they don’t care here,” Simon answered, wanting to see if Richard would actually act on his threat. He didn’t have time to say anything else as Richard quickly left his side of the booth to slide into Simon’s and capture his lips in a kiss a lot less chaste than the one the other two guys had shared. Simon was surprised and reached out and grasped Richard’s bicep as he returned the heated kiss with a passion that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

“I think we’d better stop,” Richard told him with regret once he had pulled back.

“Probably so,” Simon managed to choke out as he tried to regain his equilibrium. Richard’s kiss had awoken something in him and all Simon could picture now was Richard stripping him down and taking him right there on the table.

“Babe,” Richard started, the endearment slipping out, “quit looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” Simon asked quietly as Richard reached out and squeezed his thigh.

“Like you’re expecting me to strip you and take you, and it’s not because I don’t want to,” Richard answered with a grin. In truth, he was afraid that if they had kissed any longer he would have lost control and the beast in him would have taken control and claimed it’s mate. He could still taste Simon in his mouth and it was intoxicating.

“Think you’re a mind reader, don’t you?” Simon quipped as Richard moved back to his side of the table.

“I just guessed you might be thinking it, because that’s sure as hell what’s going on in my mind,” Richard answered honestly. He didn’t have time to say anything more as the waiter arrived and sat their steaks in front of them.

Simon took a tentative bite of his steak and groaned slightly in enjoyment as the flavors assaulted his tongue. The steak was quite tender, and the spices were a perfect complement to the natural flavor of the meat.. Simon glanced up as Richard cut into his own steak and was surprised at how red his steak was.

“Did they not cook it enough?” Simon asked, motioned towards Richard’s steak with his knife.

“It’s cooked perfectly,” Richard answered as he forked a bite of the rare meat into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. He could sense that the time was coming that he would have to tell Simon the whole truth of who he was and he only hoped that Simon could handle it.

Neither man said much as they enjoyed their meal, sharing glances as the savored the flavors of the meat and potatoes. When they were done eating, Richard paid the bill and left a fairly large tip before escorting Simon back to the Ferrari. As they got closer, Richard took Simon’s hand in his and dropped the keys into it.

“Why don’t you drive,” Richard told him.

“I couldn’t possibly,” Simon answered, despite how bad he wanted to feel the power of the car. “I might wreck it.”

“I doubt that,” Richard answered. “Besides, it’s only a car and it’s insured.”

It took a little more convincing, but Simon finally slid behind the wheel and started the car. As he pulled out of the parking lot, Simon focused all of his attention on the road in front of him and in a short time found themselves back at the mall, pulling into a parking space just a few down from his own car.

“Was it everything you thought it would be?” Richard asked him as they sat in the idling car.

“I’m not sure,” Simon answered with a laugh. “I was so worried I’d wreck it that I couldn’t really enjoy it, but thanks for trusting me to drive it.”

“I’m sure you’ll have other opportunities, at least I hope so,” Richard told him before leaning over and pressing his lips against Simon’s. The dark tint prevented anyone from seeing in the car and Richard allowed his hand to slip into Simon’s lap and caress the other man through his jeans. His tongue plundered and ravaged Simon’s mouth as his hand shakingly released the button on Simon’s jeans and slipped inside to slide over the throbbing cock inside. Richard could feel Simon withdrawing from him and quickly realized that he had gone too far. He quickly withdrew his hand and slowly lessened the intensity of his kiss until he was almost nibbling on Simon’s lower lip.

“I don’t…” Simon started only to be interrupted by Richard.

“I know, I got a bit carried away. It’s not the time or place,” Richard told him with regret as he relaxed against the passenger door and watched with interest as Simon rearranged himself and rebuttoned his jeans. ”I’m sorry Simon, I don’t know what got into me,” Richard apologized.

“It’s okay,” Simon whispered, without looking directly at Richard. Instead he seemed to just be staring out the windshield of the car as if he was lost in thought. Truthfully, Simon had wanted it as much as Richard, but the knowledge that they were in a public place had kept him from encouraging him. As it was, Simon also realized that he really didn’t know Richard, except for the few times they had run into each other over the past couple of months. “I just think maybe we need to get to know each other a bit more first,” Simon told him, finally focusing his attention on Richard.

“You’re probably right, and I hope we’ll have plenty of time,” Richard answered him. Richard watched as Simon climbed out of the car and quickly joined him before walking him to his own car. Before Simon could get in, Richard dropped a light kiss to his lips before stepping back enough for Simon to open the car door. He watched as Simon started up the car and the backed out and drove off. With a slight smile he headed back to his own ride before a frown marred the perfect features of his face. He was going to have to tell Simon the whole truth, and soon. He only hoped that Simon would give him a chance once he learned who Richard really was.