The Color of Spring Lightning Read online

  One word jumped out at Kody. “Already? You’ve already fallen in love with me?”

  Jarvis scowled. “I’m supposed to be such an enlightened, rational man. Such events shouldn’t happen.”

  Kody sighed. “Trust me, they happen. Even where I’m from, no matter how knowledgeable or rational mankind tries to be, the very bottom line of it all is that we are emotional mammals. To deny that only leads to problems.”

  “I see,” Jarvis said, still wringing his hands together. “Not much consolation, if even the future fails to be rational.” He looked expectantly over at Kody, the question etched pleadingly into his face.

  “I wish—” Kody started, suddenly feeling like a total shithead. He had pushed Jarvis to consider thinking about relationships without considering the possible consequences. “I mean… right now I’m feeling completely overwhelmed with trying to adjust to absolutely everything being so foreign.”

  Jarvis’s face collapsed. “You don’t reciprocate.”

  “I didn’t say that. I do feel something, something that feels like more than just grateful for your rescue and all. But I can’t say, right now, quite what it is. It’s so churned up with everything else I’m dealing with.”

  “I see.” Jarvis stood and began pacing the floor with a stoic expression. “But you’re not discounting it?”

  “At this point, I honestly feel too much and don’t know anything.”

  Jarvis paced over to the desk, paused briefly, then paced back to Kody. “Then perhaps you should retire for the evening,” he suggested, a smolder of desire showing briefly through his stoic mask. “In the guest room, of course,” he added quickly.

  “Isn’t it a little early?” Kody asked, but then he realized there would be no television, no movie theater, nor even a radio to occupy the evening. It didn’t seem there would be much to do once the sunset led to darkness.

  “A bit, yes, but considering your ordeal of the day, you should take the extra rest.”

  “Probably right,” he agreed as he stood.

  Jarvis led him up the stairs and to another bedroom, on the opposite side of the hall from Jarvis’s. “You should be able to find all you need, but I’m just across the hall if any… questions arise.”

  Kody nodded, not at all sure if Jarvis was trying to flirt with him. “Good night, then.”

  “Good night.” Jarvis walked across the hall and back down the stairs.

  REALIZING his clothes were still hanging on the hooks in the powder room, Kody went back downstairs and grabbed them. He had planned to sleep in his T-shirt, but a sample whiff of the shirt proved that it still had that charcoal-y ozone tang to it. Kody should have thought to wash it earlier so it would be dry by now. He would have to save the washing for a morning project.

  Even without plans to wear them, Kody brought the clothes back upstairs with him. It would be best to keep them close until he decided what to do with his “future” items. He stripped off the suit and poked around in the wardrobe until he found a pair of linen pajama bottoms. The pants looked cut in a style to probably be a bit baggy, but he filled the pants out like a pair of snug jeans. They would have to do for tonight. Another thing to add to his growing shopping list.

  Wearing just the pajama bottoms, since he figured the pajama top would just be a lost cause, Kody crawled under the layers of covers on the bed and stretched out. He felt weary. But his mind, finally free to roam, churned worriedly from one thought to another in a seemingly random fashion without the least regard for sleep.

  Kody kept thinking about things he had left behind. He could easily survive not ever seeing any of his family again. His father, after the divorce so many years ago, had drifted far from his life, and they had barely spoken in the past decade. Kody’s mother wasn’t much closer. She never did deal with the whole coming-out thing, so in later years they pretended to be close while stepping around the lump in the rug formed by all the unpleasantness previously swept underneath. He didn’t have any brothers or sisters to miss.

  So what would he miss? Not TV, really—he had never gotten into that distraction or been “hooked” on any particular shows. But music, though—radios and iPods—that he would miss in this deathly quiet world.

  As to the rest of his lost modern world, like hot showers and working out… those he could probably find a way to recreate somehow.

  Yes, his mind agreed as he thought about those possibilities. Kody wouldn’t have to just survive here; carefully using his foreknowledge, he could easily thrive here. That idea left him feeling a bit excited. His attitude took a huge shift, and he stopped thinking of the situation as some strange punishment and more like a challenging opportunity.

  Jarvis retired to his own room soon after seeing Kody to bed. He removed his suit jacket and draped it over the back of his chair before digging around the storage cubicles near his drafting desk. He soon found the house blueprints. Even if Kody changed his mind about staying, the home improvements needed to be completed anyway, or so he kept telling himself as he lit the gas sconces over the drafting desk and set to work.

  Kody rolled over again, no closer to turning off his whirring mind and finding sleep. He was facing the bedroom door now. A flickering glow was still visible under the door’s lower gap. Kody wondered what the time was. Come to think of it, he had only seen one clock in the entire house, the large grandfather-style clock in the parlor.

  Watching the flickering door gap, Kody wondered how long it had been since he’d gone to bed. Had Jarvis been awake doing whatever this whole time, or had he just recently gotten back up? Only one way to find out. Kody slipped out of the covers and quietly walked out into the hall.

  He saw that Jarvis’s door gaped slightly ajar, that warm, flickery glow of light spilling into the hallway and enticing him forward. Kody walked across and lightly rapped on the door. At least, he intended a light rapping. His knuckles seemed to bang and echo loudly in the ethereal quiet of the late hour.

  “Yes?” Jarvis’s voice called him forward.

  Kody slowly pushed the door open and stepped in. He saw that Jarvis was sitting in the corner at a large drafting table Kody hadn’t noticed in the room that afternoon. Jarvis had removed his suit coat, but still wore the vest and slacks, so he must not have gone to bed yet.

  Four strategically placed wall sconces fully illuminated the work corner, flickering with their gas flames. Seeing the desk and shelves beside the drafting table all a jumbled mess of papers and drawing supplies made Kody smile. This was where Jarvis lived.

  “I apologize if I awakened you,” Jarvis said, trying not to drool at the nearly naked buff god walking into his room.

  Kody approached the drafting table. “No apology needed. I haven’t slept, just been thinking a lot.” He peered over Jarvis’s shoulder and saw some sort of building blueprints. “What are you working on?”

  Jarvis turned back to the page, trying to keep his eyes off the nicely tanned, naked flesh so near. “Pulled out the house plans and started working on getting the plumbing modernized. It was always on my duty list, but it seems now it should have a higher priority, since having an extended houseguest and all.”

  “I was meaning to ask. I haven’t seen a bath or anything in the house….”

  “There isn’t,” Jarvis explained. “Since I eat my meals out and bathe at the gentleman’s club most nights, it wasn’t really necessary.”

  “Oh,” Kody said, smiling, “so this is just a crash pad. That explains a lot.”

  “A ‘crash pad’? What a strange term.”

  “A place to just sleep and change clothes, because you are out elsewhere nearly all the time.”

  “Yes, that is, or was, the situation. I have to wonder from some of your expressions, though. The future seems to be maybe a bit violent.”

  Kody tried not to frown. “I did say it’s not perfect. But I guess sex and violence go hand in hand. As one gets more casual, so does the other.”

  Jarvis nearly gasped. “Casual viole
nce? I don’t even want to contemplate such a notion.”

  “It’s better not to.”

  “Then I shan’t,” Jarvis said, turning his gaze to Kody. He then grinned slightly.

  “What’s that look for?”

  “Oh?” Jarvis chuckled. “Looking at you, barely dressed like that, I still can’t determine if you’re a devil or an angel.”

  Kody almost blushed from the sincerity of Jarvis’s compliment. “Which do you want me to be?”

  Jarvis turned back to his drafting table. “I merely want you to be who you are, Kody. I don’t want to interject any of my own notions upon you.”

  Kody looked over the blueprint. “You’re planning to add the bathroom here?” he asked while pointing at the vacant area next to the downstairs powder room.

  “Yes, do you think that works?”

  “Had you planned on adding a shower?”

  “Just a tub.” He looked over at Kody and saw his disappointment. “Unless you think that might be important….”

  “Well, when I was lying awake in bed, just thinking about all the things I might miss, the memory of a nice, hot shower kept haunting me.” Kody shook off his wistfulness. “Of course, I don’t know if that would even be doable yet, or how that might fit into your budget.”

  Jarvis laughed. “Budget?” Then he studied Kody. “You really don’t know. I’m not sure if I should find that insulting or not, to be neglected by history.”

  “Don’t know what?” Kody asked.

  “Banks. Susan and I are the heirs of the Banks and Trust Financial fortune. How else do you think a part-time accountant and tinker could afford such an extravagant house?”

  Kody just shook his head. “I hadn’t thought about it. I’m not familiar enough with how things are now to realize this is an extravagance.”

  “Well.” Jarvis widened his smile. “It is. And that puts away one of my other fears.”

  “Oh?” Kody asked, realizing this put a whole new perspective on Jarvis’s sexual reluctance. If the guy was so upper crust, he would have a reputation to protect and be in constant fear of blackmail. Jarvis would have to keep a tightly closed closet for a reason.

  Jarvis sighed. “I did have this fleeting paranoid notion that you knew who I was and had somehow targeted me for my money.”

  Kody laughed. “I’ve never been called a gold digger before.”

  “A ‘gold digger’?” Jarvis laughed. “You and your peculiar phrases.”

  “I’m glad I can keep you entertained.”

  Jarvis got a brief glint in his eyes. “I’m sure you could find many ways to entertain….”

  Kody smiled. “I do think, Mr. Banks, you are flirting with me again.”

  “Maybe,” Jarvis admitted before going stoic and scribbling something on the blueprint.

  Kody watched as he erased and shuffled around the bathroom items.

  Jarvis looked up at him again. “Besides the hot shower, what else do you miss?”

  “Music,” he replied without thinking. “Radio and movies. But those are just around the corner, so I only have to wait a couple of years.”

  “And what of the calisthenics machine you mentioned earlier today? Will you miss that as well?”

  “Yes,” Kody agreed wistfully.

  “Then you must sketch the machine for me.” Jarvis glanced over at Kody’s delicious body again. “And if I used the machine, could I also develop to be as blessed as you?”

  Kody chuckled. “Blessed? Believe me, if you saw the other bodybuilders in the future, you’d realize how puny I am.”

  Jarvis scoffed. “Puny? You are like the alluring spawn of Aphrodite herself and a chestnut ox.”

  When Kody saw Jarvis’s grin and heard his warm laughter, he felt a stirring in his chest. He knew then those feelings he had been trying to ignore were more than simple gratitude. Much more. Jarvis, this smart and funny man from the past, was stealing his heart. Kody wondered if he might need to apply some brakes. “Jarvis….”

  The warm tone of his name sent a shiver through Jarvis, but he puzzled at the tinge of regret he also heard. “Yes, Kody?”

  “I, um, I need to know, right now, if you think this is a bad thing. It may be better if I move out in the morning.”

  Jarvis tried to hide his disappointment. “How could this be a ‘bad thing’? Isn’t this what you were trying to convince me of earlier today?”

  Kody hesitated. “I don’t want to complicate things. I think if I stay any longer—”

  “I honestly confessed my feelings for you earlier this evening. If you’re trying to say what I think you are, it would only simplify matters, as far as I’m concerned.”

  Kody smiled. “I just wanted to make sure we’re on the same page.”

  Jarvis chuckled. “I believe we are, Kody. Now quit gushing and sketch out that calisthenics device so I can build it for you.” He offered his charcoal pencil to Kody as he brought out some blank pages of paper.

  Kody took the pencil and sat on the bench next to Jarvis.

  Jarvis scooted a bit, trying to keep his leg from resting against Kody’s.

  With a grin, Kody scooted closer and pressed his leg up against Jarvis’s.

  Suppressing a smirk, Jarvis pointed at the paper. “Draw.”

  Grabbing a short ruler, Kody began sketching out the fitness machine with its stack of weights in the central back area and upper T-bar to support the pulleys. He worked quickly, squeezing in as many details of the device as he could recall.

  Jarvis watched in fascination. He admired that look of blissed focus that came over Kody’s face as he scratched away the details of the drawing. The machine didn’t look as complicated as he had feared. As the lines appeared on the paper, his engineering mind calculated lengths and weight loads and possible construction materials, planning out how to make Kody’s machine a reality.

  Kody set down the ruler and pencil. “There, that’s about everything I can recall.”

  Jarvis nodded. “This should not be at all difficult to construct. Maybe three or four days if I ignore my sister.”

  “Don’t do that.” Kody frowned. “It’s not that big a priority. Go to work and do whatever you’re supposed to. I don’t want to come between you and your life.”

  Jarvis dropped his hand down to his thigh. “Then it may be one or two weeks,” he said while sliding his hand over toward Kody’s linen-clad thigh. He got his hand just close enough for his fingers to lightly brush the material.

  “That’ll be fine.” Kody replied, gazing over at Jarvis. The hand barely touching his thigh seemed so tentative, Kody wasn’t sure if he should respond with something bolder. “Your hand seems to have found my leg,” he finally said.

  Jarvis gazed back. “Indeed it has. Is that not how a man of the future would act?”

  “Truthfully? If you’re a teenager going for your first kiss, maybe. Grown-ups aren’t usually so subtle,” Kody said as he leaned in and kissed Jarvis softly on the lips. Kody’s heart raced, and he felt a sense of relief at the moment finally arriving. He hadn’t realized how much he had wanted this kiss from Jarvis. Kody put his hand behind Jarvis’s back and pulled him closer as he tasted the foreign flavor of Jarvis.

  Jarvis seemed to melt in his hands as he opened his mouth and kissed back with a guttural moan. He slumped into Kody as though all his bones were dissolving. Kody put his other hand behind Jarvis’s head, just in case he needed to hold him upright.

  Kody pulled back when Jarvis was panting through his nose to catch his breath. “Was that your first kiss?”

  “From a man, yes.” Jarvis replied, still looking glassy-eyed.

  “I hope it wasn’t disappointing,” Kody teased.

  “I daresay decidedly not.” Jarvis straightened himself and grinned slightly. “I’m afraid your analogy of a pubescent boy isn’t far off, though.”

  “You don’t have any experience with a man?”

  “Just a few quick masturbations, and I did receive oral once that was in
terrupted before finishing. But I had never kissed.”

  Kody shooed away the sudden mental image of bodies fumbling in a dark, dingy alley. “How depressing.” Kody frowned. “I guess we’ll have to fix that,” he said as he reached out and undid the bow-tie around Jarvis’s neck and removed it from his collar.

  “I was… I was hoping you would share my bed?”

  Kody reached out and stroked his mutton-chop. “You don’t sound very sure of that.”

  “I’m certain that I want you.” Jarvis reached out and ran his hand across Kody’s bare chest. “Just maybe….” He looked up into Kody’s eyes. “I’ve never done anything like this here, in my home.”

  “No need to be paranoid.” Kody dropped his hand down and began unbuttoning Jarvis’s vest. “I won’t take advantage of you.”

  “But I want you to take me. In a way I’ve never wanted before.”

  Kody slid the vest over Jarvis’s shoulders and off his arms. “Tell me exactly what you want.” He leaned forward and blew at Jarvis’s ear.

  “I, Gads—”

  Kody gently licked his tongue around Jarvis’s ear and followed down to his neck. “Tell me, I’m listening,” Kody whispered as he gently nibbled below Jarvis’s ear.

  “Ah… inside me… I want you to take me, be inside me,” Jarvis moaned quietly in Kody’s ear.

  “What if I’m not a top?” Kody teased, before he realized Jarvis might not know that term.

  “I’d prefer you weren’t. I’d rather you not spin about.”

  Suppressing a chuckle, Kody moved around and kissed Jarvis again. “Then we should move to the bed, I guess.”

  Jarvis jumped up and ran to the bed so fast he made himself light-headed from the sudden movement. He tried to sit steadily on the edge of the bed as he unbuttoned his shirt.

  “Whoa there, cowboy, is there a time limit?”

  Jarvis smirked. “You’re just obsessed with time, aren’t you.”

  “Well, being a time traveler and all, I guess it comes with the territory.” Kody sat next to him on the bed and gazed over at Jarvis. “If that’s what you want, then, do you have any lubricant?”