Darius had never been so utterly disappointed in someone as he was with Ben. He’d walked out to stop himself from saying something he’d regret. Being a gay man wasn’t easy no matter where one lived, bigotry abounded everywhere, not just the south. Sure, there were some areas that were more accepting but even those places had narrow-minded individuals who thought it was their business to judge others.
The fact that Ben did exactly that had left Darius wondering if he’d made a mistake in thinking they might have a future. Maybe he was letting his lust for the sexy man cloud his judgment. His parents had raised him to look beyond the person’s exterior before forming an opinion. They were both doctors, his mother a pediatrician, his father in infectious disease control. Most of his childhood had been spent in third world countries helping those the rest of the world forgot about.
It was in Africa, when one of the militias had attacked a village, slaughtering all who lived there that Darius had decided to go into the military. Darius had never been interested in medicine, but he loved helping others. He’d been fourteen when they’d gone to that village to try and help any survivors, little did they know there weren’t any. The images had burned into his brain, enraging a part buried deep within him that anyone could hurt innocent people.
From that moment on he started to pay more attention to what was going on around him. He’d been horrified how so many were treated. For his twelfth birthday on April 5, 1994, his parents decided to take him on a small vacation. It wasn’t much, as they only had a couple of days before they were due at their next assignment, so they stayed at a nice resort in Rwanda. They were supposed to leave on the eighth but in less than twenty-four hours, things went from relaxing to some of the most terror-filled days of Darius’ life.
The Hutu faction started to slaughter the Tutsi faction in what could only be described as a living nightmare. Darius didn’t believe even Hell could be so cruel. It didn’t matter if the person was man, woman or child, the Hutus killed indiscriminately. Those days haunted him.
More determined than ever to help those who couldn’t defend themselves he returned to America on his eighteenth birthday to enlist in the Marines. The rest of his life had been carved by what happened in those formative years. Even today he didn’t tolerate when others were put down. Often, he stepped in when he heard people behaving in that manner. It wasn’t always appreciated but by silently letting it happen he was only perpetuating the problem.
That was why he’d been so angry with Ben. The first step to hatred was to believe in stereo-types. He’d learned firsthand what happened when you distinguished yourself from others. Sure, there were obvious distinctions, like he was a black gay man. Nothing could change who he was, but that wasn’t all he was. If those were the only characteristics anyone looked at, they would never know Darius.
He’d tried not to brood about Ben over the next couple of days, but in the end, it was all he could think about. The man was like a drug and Darius needed another fix. He’d cooled off enough to hopefully have a rational conversation about Ben’s behavior and why it upset Darius. Since it was Halloween, Darius figured there wouldn’t be time after school, so he decided to stop by in the morning.
Pulling into the driveway he was relieved to see Ben’s car there. He knew the man worked from home but that didn’t mean he’d necessarily be home. Ringing the bell, Darius waited and waited. Ringing it again, he also knocked loudly in case Ben hadn’t heard the bell. A crash from deep within the house had Darius concerned. Just as he was about to get the hide-a-key from the flowerpot at the edge of the porch, the door was flung open.
His eyes widened in shock as he saw a very disheveled Ben with red material over one shoulder, what looked like a black fuzzy blanket loosely wrapped around his neck and pieces of thread clinging to various parts of his body. The glare Ben had been giving him as the man opened the door turned into surprise when he saw it was Darius.
“D-Darius, what are you doing here?” Ben asked him with a hint of hope in his voice.
There was just no hope for it, Darius had fallen incurably in love with this man, faults and all. He knew it had only been a week and, clearly, they had differences that needed to be worked on. However, this man standing before him looking like he hadn’t slept in days was still valiantly trying to make Zoe a costume just to make the three-year-old happy. He was too special not to love.
“I came to talk but I can see you need help.” Not that Darius would be much help, but he hoped he could do something, even if was moral support.
The most radiant smile formed on Ben’s mouth.
Stepping forward, Darius took that smile in a kiss, needing to taste Ben’s joy for himself. The feel of Ben sinking into Darius in complete submission had him hard in seconds. As much as he wanted to continue this, Darius knew they needed to take things slower. If he wanted to make a real relationship with this amazing man, they would need to build a foundation before jumping right into bed. Not to mention there was a costume that had to be made.
Ben’s groan of dismay when Darius pulled back from the kiss had him smiling. Looking down at the gorgeous man, Darius said, “Zoe’s costume.”
Those blues eyes widened at his words before Ben whirled around to practically run back to the sewing room. Chuckling as he watched that tight ass sway, Darius followed. He stepped into a room that had seemed fairly neat and orderly the other night, into a room that looked like a tornado, hurricane, and an earthquake had all attacked it. There were pieces of cloth, thread, lace and fur scattered everywhere.
Since Darius knew he’d be useless, he started working on getting the place picked up. As Ben muttered to himself about not having a decent pair of scissors, Darius went to find a garbage bag to start cleaning up this mess. While he worked, Ben several times asked him to hold something while he worked at pinning the material together. Thankfully he hadn’t asked Darius to do any actual sewing.
Ben was putting the finishing touches on the hat as the girls came home. Zoe had come running in asking if it was ready. She squealed when Ben handed her the costume. Zoe dropped her book bag to put the costume on. Darius was amazed at what he saw. Had he not just witnessed Ben sewing the thing, he would have sworn the costume had come from a store, it was that good.
So excited, Zoe started running around the house shouting “trick or treat.”
Anya rolled her eyes. “Are you ready to take me to dance class, Uncle Ben?”
An exhausted Ben nodded. “Sure. Give me just a few minutes to clean up and I’ll ready.”
“Why don’t I take Anya, while you rest before we take them trick or treating tonight?” Darius may have phased it as a question, but his tone made it clear this was the plan and Ben and Anya either got on board or they would have to deal with him.
Anya just stomped off before slamming the door to her room. Ben sagged in his chair. “Thanks, but I think she wants me to take her. Neither of them like to be away from me when they aren’t at school.”
Darius thought about what Ben said for a minute. Now that he thought about it he’d wondered why Zoe wanted to go to Anya’s dance class every day. Normally Stacy said she had to drag her to the dance studio. It was clear Ben needed a break and whether Anya or Zoe liked it, Darius was going to give him one. “They’ll be fine. You get some rest,” he ordered before leaning down to place a kiss on the man’s lips.