Free Bermuda Heat by P.A. Brown

some hippy?”
    “I get the feeling she was a hippy for a while.”
    “So what happened?”
    “My grandmother, what do you think?”
    “That must have steamed her puritanical ass.”
    David forced a smile. “I dare say.”
    “You get the feeling there’s more going on here than anyone’s admitting?” Chris stripped the buds off the small twig, littering the forest floor. A blue jay screamed at them from overhead.

    56 P.A. Brown
    The rich loamy smell under David’s feet brought back sharp memories of a carefree childhood before the discovery came of just how different he was. A freak. Worse, a degenerate. He had fought the feelings for years, until he couldn’t fight them anymore. And with the surrender came the shame. What was wrong with him? How could he make it right? Only to realize that it would never be right.
    Chris planted himself in front of him. “So talk to me. Was it as bad as you thought it would be?”
    David sighed. “Yes,” he said. “And no. I never expected the whole rebellion thing. I still can’t imagine my mother ever doing anything my grandmother didn’t approve of. I can’t help but wonder what things would have been like if she’d told Nanna to go to hell.”
    “Fireworks, I’m sure.”
    “You don’t cross Nanna and come out unscathed. She leaves claw marks. A lesson we all learned years ago.”
    “Jesus, now I’m feeling sorry for your mother.”
    “Don’t. She was a coward. It was easier to give in than defy her own mother. That was her choice. No one else’s. She’s damn lucky the woman approved of Graham as suitable. He’s probably the only good thing she ever did.”
    They entered a small clearing in the woodlot. David could hear the whisper of nearby flowing water. A dragonfly zipped through the air past him and a gnarled willow tree dwarfed everything around it.
    David pointed up into the tangled strands of whip-like branches. “There.”
    Chris peered up. “Where? I don’t—oh there it is.” He studied the sturdy-looking planks that formed a platform nearly ten feet off the ground. Several rungs had been nailed into the tree trunk as a ladder. Where once there had been pristine wood, moss now grew on the warped boards.
    Chris reached up to touch one. “Think you could still climb it?”

    BeRMudA heAt 57
    “I’m not feeling all that suicidal.”
    “Oh, come on, where’s your spirit of adventure?” Chris turned dancing eyes on his husband. “We could play pirate treasure. You can be the dashing sea captain who sweeps his cabin boy off his feet.”
    “Like you’ve ever been anybody’s boy.”
    Chris got closer, his breath warm on David’s cheek. “I could be yours.”
    Then before David could stop him, Chris had scrambled up to the platform. He leaned over the edge and peered down at David. His grin was infectious. “Coming?”
    “You’re crazy,” David said, once he had pulled himself up after Chris.
    “And you love every minute of it.”
    Chris lay back on the platform, one knee bent, his hands behind his head. All he needed was a stalk of grass between his teeth to complete the picture of a golden hayseed. A hayseed who was altogether too sexy. David slid down beside him.
    “So what do we do now?” Chris asked, rolling over onto his side to face David. He traced David’s inner thigh with his fingers, feathering lightly over David’s swelling basket.
    David tried to ignore his growing erection. He stared up at the treetops. Sunlight danced through swaying branches, concealing then revealing the cloud-flecked deep blue sky. Lengthening shadows threw the tree house into shadow. “We try to get down from here without breaking anything.”
    “I meant now that we know the whole story.”
    “But do we?” David finally turned his lantern gaze on Chris.
    “We have one side of a pretty complicated story. That’s not everything.”
    “Then we go get the other half.” Chris began stroking him in earnest. Before David could object he slid the