502,024 AD

On board the Emberion, or the Flame, as it was affectionately called by its crew, a figure dressed in black from head to toe moved stealthily through the halls. His back pressed against the wall, feeling the ancient runes gliding over his clothed skin, praying to all the ancestors he didn't get caught before the job was done.

Victor panted, kicking the ball to Jessie, his midfielder, dodging number twelve, the defender on the opposing team. Jessie then passed it to Adrian, his team's defender, who passed it back to Victor, the team striker. He didn’t waste any time the second his foot touched the ball; Victor kicked into the goal and won the match. 

They had just played their first game of the year, which would be Victor's last season by the end of thirty-four games. Victor’s feelings for the game had changed in the past two years, but he couldn’t put his finger on the reason, or maybe he didn’t want to admit that things felt different.

Days turned into weeks, and Douglas and Marcus developed a schedule. They’d stuck to the ground rules for the first couple of days, but as they got to know each other, their two-day deal went out of the door. Now they had every meal together.

Marcus now saw Douglas as a friend, and nothing else. The man was fine as hell, but he wasn’t Marcus’s type. Marcus realized that even though Douglas had signed a non-disclosure agreement, he wasn’t ready to bare his soul to the man. Marcus looked around at the boxes he’d accumulated in the past few weeks he’d been living at the villa. The good news was they were leaving the following morning and flying to Oseka.

Marcus woke up and stretched, then got out of bed and ran to the bathroom because his bladder was screaming at him. Once he was done, he crawled back into bed and got comfortable. Over the past two months, he’d done nothing other than eat, sleep, throw up, and go for daily walks or swimming to keep himself active.

Three weeks later, Victor walked into his apartment and dropped his bag in the hallway, kicking it to the side to empty later. He’d done something he never did during his season break: left his parents' house early. Usually, he’d stay until a week or two before practices started. It felt strange that the holiday had come and gone, and although he’d had a great time with his family, it was time for him to get back to his life.

Victor stood by the window, wondering what the hell had happened. He hadn't moved from the same spot since watching Marcus’s limo drive away. He licked his lips, tasting the lingering fragrance of ginger mixed with Marcus.

Fuck, why is he quitting now? Victor didn’t want to say it, but he felt that Marcus's reason for quitting did not sound plausible. Victor felt that something was off.

“Are you okay?”

The limo stopped, and Marcus waited for the door to open. He stepped out and then extended a hand to help his mother out of the car. Reporters stood around taking pictures and asking questions he chose to ignore. He’d answer all of their questions in due time. Looking around, he spotted his father, and for a second it caused him to hesitate, but a reassuring squeeze from his mother gave him the courage.

Looking away from Marcus Sr., he told his mother to wait there for him. She wouldn’t be allowed in the men's locker room, and he knew his father wouldn’t try anything with all the reporters around. Marcus also knew that by the time he was finished talking with his team, Bill would be by her side. Bypassing all the reporters, he headed straight for the locker room to speak to his teammates.

When Marcus walked into the locker room, everyone was there, including the lawyer Bill had gotten for him to deal with the annulment and, later, his father. Marcus nodded to the attorney, who reached for his briefcase and pulled a stack of papers, then handed them out to everyone.

Marcus sat in the limousine, leaning back and closing his eyes. His lips were still tingling from the kiss he’d shared with Victor. Kissing the other man was the only thing he could do to stop himself from telling Victor about the baby. On the way to see Victor, he’d been determined to tell him everything, but Marcus had changed his mind the second he saw him.

Not only that, Victor was the one who had asked for an annulment the second he found out they’d eloped. Marcus sighed as he thought about his grandfather’s stipulations. He didn’t feel too bad that he was passing up millions of dollars, but what hurt was that his mother’s legacy would be given to his father, simply because they had gotten married and had a kid. Marcus knew he wasn’t like his father, and it was the reason he couldn’t tether Victor to him when Marcus knew the man didn’t love him.

Victor didn’t believe it, no matter what Marcus said to him, he felt that the man in front of him was hiding something from him.

“And that’s all it is? You’re not feeling the game anymore? Dude, you are fucking talented on the field, you make the game seem so easy.”

“Hold on, are you complimenting me?” Marcus asked.

“Yeah,” he said with a shoulder shrug. “So what if I am?”

“Don’t do that too often, I’ll start thinking you like me.” Marcus smiled, and Victor felt a tightening in his chest and reached up to rub it in agitation.

Victor didn’t know what to say. The thought of not seeing Marcus on the field bothered him, the man was his rival. And even though he’d never admit it, Marcus Reid played the game better than he did. He was born to be on the field, and most of the time Victor was in awe of the man’s abilities.

"I need to speak with you." Victor could tell the word privately was left off his statement.

Sighing, Victor nodded and stepped over to Valencia. "Val, can you give us some privacy?" When she didn't respond right away, Victor tapped her on her shoulder.

"What?" she snapped, turning to look at him. "Can't you see I'm ogling my male god?"

Victor was lying on his back, willing the remote to appear in his hands without any success. He groaned as he leaned, overreaching for the controller, then going back to his comfortable position on his couch. The only thing he’d done in the past two weeks was eat, sleep, and shower—in that order.

Instead of flying back to Sun Breeze City, Victor went to Ashburn city to his parent's house, where he’d been relaxing without being hounded by the press, or anyone else for that matter. Married, what the fuck? Victor had called his lawyer, Trevor Sims, to deal with getting an annulment; he realized he’d have to jump through hoops because of certain laws. He’d yet to tell his parents what had happened and was surprised that the press hadn’t caught wind of it yet.

"It's time I stand up for myself. It's time I fight for what's mine. I loved your grandfather, but I've never denied that I carry some hate for him as well. His form or protection hurt me more than comforted me." She turned to Bill. "If you're willing, I would like to marry you. I know what I will lose, but I've wanted to be yours since we met."

A few hours later, there was a knock at his door. Marcus looked through the keyhole and breathed a large sigh of relief when he saw that it was his mom and her lover, Bill. He unlocked the door, and his mother hugged him tightly as soon as he opened it.

“I’ve been so worried about you.” He wrapped his arms around her, holding onto her for dear life. She pulled back and cupped his cheek. “You look terrible.”

“I feel terrible.”

“I brought you some ginger tea for your stomach,” she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as they walked farther into the room.

“Are you sure Dad didn’t follow you?”

Marcus wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and sat back, praying to the gods he didn’t have to throw up again. It had been two months since he’d made the mistake of getting drunk-married, and after taking three pregnancy tests, he couldn’t deny that he was pregnant.

Marcus had been avoiding everyone since that night a couple of months ago. After storming out of the hotel room, he'd gotten home and saw his father’s car sitting in his driveway. Instead of confronting his father head-on, Marcus returned to the hotel lobby ATM and withdrew some money before disappearing.

"Fuck!" Victor screamed as the door slammed shut. He kicked the bed hard, wishing he could throw something. He was angry with himself for his stupidity.

"Shit!" Victor fell back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

Marcus Reid groaned as he rolled over, trying to wake up. His head felt like it had been split open, and someone put a herd of elephants inside, so they could purposely stomp all over it. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked around, not recognizing where he was. He noticed a slight movement out of the corner of his eye and looked over quickly. A sharp pain stabbed his skull, and he slammed his eyes shut, hissing from the pain. Taking a few calming breaths, he opened his eyes again and looked at his sleeping partner, stunned to recognize Victor Masterson.