Free Signs by Anna Martin Page B

Luc’s skin he could reach without risking prosecution for indecent exposure. Luc’s black T-shirt had been pushed up, and Caleb had discovered that although his partner’s face was devoid of hairs, there were a few soft ones gathered in a line under his belly button, dipping down beneath the waistband of his jeans.
    Caleb didn’t dare to follow that line farther, although he was tempted to. Luc had pushed his hands under Caleb’s shirt too, all the way up to his chest to brush his flat palms back and forth over Caleb’s nipples. It was painfully arousing, and Caleb was almost afraid of embarrassing himself in public if they didn’t slow the fuck down.
    He grabbed both of Luc’s wrists and held on to them gently, bringing the inquisitive hands to his lips to brush kisses over the knuckles. It was too dark to be able to sign anything, so Caleb carefully returned Luc’s hands to his thighs, pressing them down there and hoping Luc understood. Hands to himself. For now.
    When the screen lit up with a burst of fire or something, Caleb could see Luc’s cat-that-got-the-cream grin and wanted to kiss it off his face. But he resisted, keeping his hands in his own lap, forcing his heartbeat and his erection back to a more appropriate place.
    They held hands chastely for the rest of the movie, although hands did not seem to want to stay still, and their intertwined fingers were in constant motion against each other.
    Caleb’s lips felt swollen and his tongue thick, and his mind couldn’t focus on the story being played out before him. Instead a movie of his own played out in his mind, one where he could lay Luc down on soft sheets, divest them both of clothes, and kiss all over the warm skin that his fingers had been exploring only moments before.
    He wanted to know what would happen when there were no barriers between them, physical or otherwise. Caleb wanted to know what he would be capable of if his own fears or embarrassment didn’t stand in the way.
    The movie ended far before Caleb was ready, and the lights, when they came back on, were too bright for his eyes. In the final half hour of the movie they’d managed to polish off the candy, and Caleb gathered up the trash to dump on their way out.
    “ Good ,” Caleb signed.
    “Yes ,” Luc agreed, and his expression told Caleb he wasn’t talking about the movie at all.
    Their walk back to the car was almost as slow as the walk to the movie theater, although this time they didn’t stop to look in shop windows. Knowing their time together was coming to a close made Caleb’s heart heavy. This was still so new, and yet… and yet.
    They drove back to the lot where Caleb had left his car and stood, leaning against the old car as Caleb cupped Luc’s face in his hands and gently, carefully laid kisses on his lips.
    “I can’t see you next weekend,” Luc said, and Caleb nodded. They’d been lucky, two weekends in a row like this, but it couldn’t always be this easy.
    “ Soon ,” he signed.
    Luc screwed his eyes shut and rose up on his toes to press their foreheads together, kissed Caleb once more, then turned and got into his own car.
    Caleb watched it pull out of the lot and away, around a corner. Then he got into his car and sighed heavily. There was a gnawing feeling in his chest already—one that spoke of loss and pain.
    It was too soon for this. He never meant to fall in love.
     
     
    A FTER HOLDING back unwelcome tears for most of the journey back to the city, Luc locked the car in the garage Ilse rented for an obscene amount just so she could keep a car for client visits. It was only a short walk from the garage back to the house, which he found blissfully quiet. He guessed Ilse was locked away in her room—she was as prone to solitude as Luc was. That was good. He didn’t want to talk to anyone who wasn’t Caleb.
    Luc carefully locked his bedroom door, bolting it from the inside so no one could walk in on him. That was one of the great things about