Read Online The Star Man by Jan Irving - Free Book Online Page B

them, allowing Dove to savor his first experience. “Yeah, I remember. Can we do it again?”
    Matthew shook his head. “When we get back to my place maybe.”
    “I want to have sex with you every day for….” Dove’s brow wrinkled, and Matthew heard the words he didn’t say: for as long as he was here with Matthew.
    Matthew cleared his throat. “Yeah, we will, I promise, but now we have a bit of B and E to do, so let’s get on with it!”
    Dove tugged at his collar, obviously still uncomfortable in his filched janitor uniform, and followed Matthew.
    Matthew looked back at him, raising one brow, aware that Dove was still debating the special circumstances that had led him to decide to break into Dr. Nathan Albertson’s office. The angel wasn’t sure that doing a wrong made a right.
    In Matthew’s case, there wasn’t any debate; he had to keep his promise and keep Dove safe, get him home, even if it meant never seeing him again.
    “Bus is leaving!” Matthew called softly.
     
    *  *  *
    “ What are we looking for, Matthew?” Dove asked once they were inside Albertson’s office. The university had minimum security running over the holidays, which made this easier, as had Matthew’s intimate knowledge of where the janitorial staff probably stored their things.
    “He’s got keys somewhere to that observatory where he takes his students. Once there, we can follow through and try to contact your friends so they can come get you.”
    Dove began to search with Matthew, but he looked unhappy.
    “You have to go home, pet,” Matthew said, an edge in his voice that he knew cut them both. “No help for it.”
    “Your life, it’s a blink of time to me, Matthew. I don’t want to lose you.”
    Matthew swallowed. “Guess we’re not meant to be together, a human and an angel.”
    Dove pulled the smaller man into his arms, sighing as Matthew allowed himself to be held. “Let me take away your hurt?”
    “Yeah, don’t leave.” Matthew rubbed his eyes, taking a breath. “Just don’t leave and I won’t hurt.” He pulled away, knowing they had to do this. There was no other choice. The angel would die if he stayed here. “Turn on the radio there, gorgeous; this may take a while to see if we can find those keys, and if anyone hears us searching, they’ll assume it’s just the professor with the music on.”
    Dove switched on the radio, and then they continued sifting through the astronomer’s office, looking for something to send Dove back where he belonged and away from Matthew forever.
     
    *  *  *
    Finally , Matthew shoved an impatient hand through his hair. He had no idea where the professor stashed his extra keys; he’d used up everything he’d picked up from the B and E men he’d met in the joint. What now?
    Then his eye caught on a little hanging mobile of a Copernicus model of the solar system, much like the one he’d loved to stare at as a kid. Something glittered between Saturn’s rings and the blue mass of Jupiter—
    A key with a tag, Black Mountain Conservatory.
    “Got it!” he told Dove, triumphant, yanking it free of a hook on the model.
     
    *  *  *
    As they locked the office door on the way out, Matthew caught the sound of footsteps. Shit! Probably one of the campus cops doing his rounds, and there was only one way in or out of this stretch of the building, so no way the guy wouldn’t see them. He felt sweat coat his back. If he was caught here, an ex-con on parole, they’d send him back to prison.
    He looked over at Dove. “You fly if I give the word, angel. Don’t stop for anything, and don’t worry about me.” He passed the key to Dove, who was staring wide-eyed at Matthew. “Just get home.”
    The outer door opened, the shadow of the guard fell… and simultaneously Dove tackled Matthew, sprouting wings and glowing with power. He lit the dark space, shielding him.
    “Hello?” The guard looked straight at Matthew in his angel’s arms and then shook his head, as if he