(BL) Hunting The Field Guide - Chapter 179

Chapter 179: What a wonderful day with the Captain Chapter 179: What a wonderful day with the Captain Captain Rhys Thatcher was having one of the best days of his whole life.

In fact, he wasn’t sure if anything would ever be able to top the last 24 hours.  It had started quite rough, if he was honest with himself.

He’d been in a foul mood, and it had only gotten worse the longer he had spent away from his adorable Mr.

Woods.  He had hated that he hadn’t had time to speak with him, let alone hold his hand in the two weeks that the two of them had been running around each other.

Rhys had been kicking himself, frustrated since he was supposed to be seducing his pair, leading him down the road of debauchery at his own hand, and instead, he was stuck in useless meetings with people who spent half of their time blowing smoke up each other’s ass, and the other half getting shit done.  It was an endless cycle of getting a glimpse of Mr.

Woods, and then having to be whisked away by the next task.

It almost would have been better if he hadn’t seen him at all, since then he wouldn’t remember what he was missing.  It was especially harsh on him since it seemed like Mr.

Woods had been completely fine.

The man hadn’t a hair out of place every time he saw him.

He was so professional, and didn’t appear as if a giant crack was forming inside of him.

Not like Rhys.  So he pretended to be fine, pretended to be the perfect Esper, the perfect Captain, even as it felt like his heart was ripping out of his chest and his fingers itched to hold Mr.

Woods.  He was on his last fucking nerve when Pamela brought up the calendar photoshoot.

He had been ready to snap her head off, until he remembered.  It was Mr.

Woods first appearance in the Guild, and he was an important person to the Guild.  Everyone would want a photo of him, and as a Captain, it was his duty to oversee something so important.  A dark, almost Villain-like smile crossed his face, and Rhys had put his head down to get his plan put in place.

He wanted the rest of the afternoon off after the photoshoot, so that meant he had to push everyone hard until that day, get everything done, and give himself a break.

He also wanted the time to actually seduce Mr.

Woods like he had intended.

Maybe the night of the photoshoot the two of them could go out to dinner, spend some time away from the Guild building.

Mr.

Woods liked eating out in the past, and Rhys had liked to watch him glow from the inside out as he tried new things.  It was a slow seduction, but Rhys had time.

He would always have time for Mr.

Woods.  So, he spoke like a human would, smiled until he thought his face was going to break, and tried to be as charming as possible until the day of the photoshoot arrived.  He had to try to play it cool when he saw Mr.

Woods walk in with Guide Jameson, and when he saw the confusion on his face, his heart had stopped.

Then, Rhys came to a startling, and horrifying realisation.  As much as he adored Mr.

Woods, he was also afraid that Mr.

Woods would reject him.

So even as he wanted to rush over and smother him with kisses and affection, he found himself frozen in place.

He was terrified that Mr.

Woods would look at him with cold eyes, full of disdain.

It was the same fear that had gripped him after he’d realised what he’d done to Mr.

Woods on that fateful day.  The one that made him run away.  And like that day, he did the exact same thing, proving that nothing had changed in the time since.  Kicking himself, he watched Mr.

Woods from afar, even clenching his hand tightly when he took photos that he thought were way too close with Guide Jameson.

He knew that they were friends, but sometimes he saw the way that Guide Jameson looked at Mr.

Woods, and it made his blood boil.  That was, until Pamela called him over to take photos with Mr.

Woods and Rhys put his hands on his Guide for the first time in a while.  The man was as stiff as a board, and Rhys would have laughed if his chest hadn’t hurt so much at the thought that Mr.

Woods didn’t want his touch.

The first round of photos were hard, unbearably so, until at one point, Mr.

Woods snapped, and demanded that Rhys be put in the same holds that he had been in.

Rhys had been willing to go along, even eager to understand what Mr.

Woods had been through, until he caught a glimpse of what Mr.

Woods had looked like mid photo.  Rhys had lost all ability to breathe.  If Mr.

Woods had that look in his eyes, there was hope for the Captain still.

So, once he was changed, and after they had previewed the photos, he had gone over to chat with him, test the waters so to speak.  It had been a disaster.  Mr.

Woods had been standoffish, and Rhys worried that he had fucked up.

Maybe…Mr.

Woods had found someone else in the time that they had been apart?

But then, what was up with the way he had looked at the camera?

The way he had held him during the photo shoot?  In his own feelings, Rhys had run away, and only came back when they needed him for the second round of photos.  That was when Mr.

Woods had collapsed in on himself, and Rhys got a peek into him to see how bad he was actually doing, and it was far worse then he had feared.

He had known he wasn’t doing well, but that was because he was in love with the man.

Had been for several years.

But to find Mr.

Woods in a worse state?  The man cried in front of others, for god’s sake!

A man who was known for keeping his composure in the worst situations imaginable had cried not just into, but onto Rhys, and no one could fault Rhys for panicking about it.  The rest in between that moment and the next was a blur, since all Rhys could remember was his frustration about agreeing to whatever Mr.

Woods had said because he was Mr.

Woods, and the deep coldness that had washed over him when Mr.

Woods had opened his glowing blue eyes, and yanked his hand from his own.

The way that those bright blue eyes had looked through him, pierced him, had Rhys wanting to cry as well.

He had never wanted to be looked at so coldly by Mr.

Woods, and had wanted to apologise, but Hill had come to interrupt him.  Fuck, it wasn’t Hill, it was the damn gate.  It felt like the gate was getting in the way of his love life with his pair.

If he had it his way, he would just storm the gate on his damn own and close it.

Too bad that wasn’t something Mr.

Woods would approve of, otherwise he would have just done it to get it over with.

It wasn’t like it would be the first time he went into a gate to work some steam off, but it would have been the first time since he got a pair.  His pair.  Who was so angry at him he had yanked his hand away from him.  He couldn’t be blamed for the foul mood he was in when he went upstairs to deal with the fucking mess.

He was supposed to have the day off, and his plans to seduce his pair were now completely fucked up because of this whole situation.

He had made reservations, but now he was going to have to cancel them, and he wasn’t sure if Mr.

Woods was even going to let him near him after this.  He was pathetic, and frustrated, and on a thin fucking line.

He knew he should have reset himself a few days ago, but like with Mr.

Woods, he just didn’t have the time to do so.  So sue him if he made the Espers tremble around him as he stared at the screen before him, and the sniveling idiots who tried to get him to clean up all of their damn messes.  “-Rhys?” When he’d heard his name from those lips, it was like the world had stopped spinning.

Rhys felt like his whole world shifted, and Mr.

Woods became the center that his world orbited.  He would do anything, everything just to hear his name on those lips again.  When it turned out that the sweet man was asking him on a date?

The Kellen Woods?

Asking him on a date?  He couldn’t believe his ears.  He was floating on cloud nine.  Like a lovesick puppy, he’d followed after Mr.

Woods as they headed upstairs, Rhys going through all of his plans he’d laid for this exact moment.

He had several situations he had wanted to use for this time.

Maybe he’d go slow?

Or maybe Mr.

Woods was in the mood for something else?

What if he pretended to be shy?

Would Mr.

Woods like it?

All of his plans, as usual, went out the window as soon as Mr.

Woods’ soft lips were on his own, and Rhys felt his desire rear its head.

If Mr.

Woods was as touch-starved as he was, he was going to have to take it slow.

He didn’t even know why he was touch starved, and Rhys wanted to savour him.

He’d always had.  But then Mr.

Woods had cooked him an amazing meal, watched him with eyes full of desire, and even told him that he cared for him.

Rhys didn’t think such a perfect day could ever exist for someone like him, but here it was, and given to him freely.

He hadn’t needed to beg or plead for it, Mr.

Woods had just given it to him.

He’d given Rhys his heart easily, and apparently, he’d had his heart for a long time as well.  Rhys teared up even thinking about it.  Oh, he’d held himself together as much as he could in front of Mr.

Woods, but late into the night, after they had spent the night in each other’s arms, and after Rhys had gently cleaned up the other man’s body of their spent passions, he had wept like a baby in the bathroom of the man he loved.  Mr.

Woods wasn’t a very obvious man, but there were signs that he cared for his people deeply.

He sent little gifts to those he considered his, like more of Hill’s favourite lollipops when she’d run out, or more of the hair ties that Gunther liked when he was low.

When Rhys had spoken to Ms.

Green about it, she had laughed and admitted to some of the things that Mr.

Woods had gotten her over the years.  The first obvious thing that Mr.

Woods had done for him, outside of making sure he abided by his food preferences, was a pen that matched his eyes.

The second was keeping his toothbrush he’d forced onto him with his own, like it was always meant to be there.  The man had been so oblivious for so long to his advances, and even his own attempts to seduce Rhys, but finally Rhys was seeing the fruits of their labour.

It was all that Rhys could ever hope for, and he was so scared he was going to fall more in love with this man who already occupied so much of his heart.  Rhys was hopeless, and Mr.

Woods didn’t even know how much power he held, nor did he care.

He was insistent that Rhys wasn’t a monster, even angry with him when he called himself that.

Rhys’ heart ached at the thought of the time he was going to be able to spend with him.

How many nights were ahead of him where he could hold the man who meant so much to him in his arms, offer him comfort, and kiss him whenever he wanted.  Yes, there was the concern of the cost of guiding, but it wasn’t anything urgent.

Rhys hadn’t let himself get that low since Mr.

Woods had entered his life, so he had no worries about surging.

Not even close.

Rhys hadn’t been this stable since before the gate break when he’d received his powers the first time.  Now, he just wanted to spend his time with his precious pair, the man who held his heart in his hands, and enjoy every moment of it.

This happiness he had never thought he was going to get, nor that he deserved.

It was time for him to just enjoy…being alive.

CREATORS’ THOUGHTS CalyB A little peek into the Captain’s inner thoughts 🙂