Frank laughed. “No. Just . . . I’d say consider it a request, but . . .”
Brandon put a hand on the side of Frank’s neck and raised his chin to kiss him lightly. He drew back enough to comfortably hold eye contact. “I don’t want to fuck anyone else.”
They hung up their towels and went into the bedroom. In bed, Brandon rested his head on Frank’s shoulder, and Frank had to resist the temptation to pull him into a tight embrace. That would have been nice, of course, but not terribly comfortable for sleeping. And besides, this? Lying together with Brandon’s arm slung over Frank’s stomach, and Frank’s hand resting on Brandon’s arm? This was perfect.
He kissed the top of Brandon’s head. “I’m glad you came back.”
“Me too,” Brandon said. “Wasn’t sure if you’d want to see me, but I wasn’t going to sleep again until I knew.”
This time, Frank did hold Brandon a little tighter, but only for a moment before they both relaxed again. “I’d have been stupid to turn you away. I was stupid to let you go.”
“No you weren’t.” Brandon snuggled closer. “You were scared. So was I.”
And being scared, I did something stupid, but you’re here now. Thank God.
He kissed the top of Brandon’s head again. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” The words were soft and slurred. As Frank stroked Brandon’s hair, Brandon’s breathing fell into a slow, quiet rhythm, and Frank smiled as he closed his eyes. He’d be asleep soon enough himself, but for a moment, he just enjoyed this. Being in love with someone, having that love returned, and simply being. This was the last possible outcome he could have imagined when Stefan had strutted into Market Garden that first night, but it was the best outcome. The only one.
He couldn’t have known how things would turn out when he’d taken Brandon onto the paintball field. That a game of “capture the ref” would turn into something so amazing.
But it had.
Brandon had captured him, fair and square.
And Frank surrendered.
As always, Aleks is responsible for any and all misrepresentations and abuses of British culture and language.
Since we wrote Capture & Surrender, the UK has made same-sex marriage legal, and there have been promising developments in the fields of HIV therapy/treatment, so the story doesn’t actually reflect the most recent state of affairs. We’ve decided to keep the original timeline of the Market Garden series intact rather than retrofit the story to bring it in line with our world. Sometimes, it’s good to be outdated.