Scavengers: July by K.A. Merikan Page A

And this desk. It looked as though the ‘documents’ were simply pornographic images that James could apparently not live without.
    Ira stooped down slightly, picking up the nearest print and straightened up, examining it with a calm expression on his face. It depicted two men being intimate in what seemed to be a stable. A half-naked young servant was buggering a man dressed in fine evening clothes, who was presumably his master. Ira turned the piece of paper in his hand, so that the illustration faced its owner and fixed his gaze on James, with a slight pout. He had to admit that the aristocrat’s good looks were one of the factors that made him agree to this quest right after completing the previous one. After all, one was always more willing to rescue a damsel... well, a young prince rather, when they were a looker.
    And even now, as James’ eyes widened slowly and a deep red blush crawled up his face, he noticed that the young aristocrat was handsome. His eyes were of a deep chocolate color, that complimented the long, chestnut hair. When they began this trip, it was tied with a silk ribbon at the back of his neck, but now it was tangled and loose, after all they went through to reach this part of the mansion. He also lost his expensive velvet jacket when one of the undead clutched to it in the corridor. At that moment, he was sitting on the floor in just a cream colored, cotton shirt and brown vest embroidered with golden thread. At least his choice of trousers and boots was more sensible - both closely fitted and comfortable.
    “I...” he bit his lip, looking at Ira as if in confusion. “I have no idea where that came from...” James had obviously lied, his hands were trembling, his face was tense and red, though it still looked strikingly handsome thanks to the distinct features: a pointy chin, high cheekbones and a straight narrow nose.
    Ira lifted his brow looking him straight in the eyes and very slowly lowered the illustration to the desk. “It's none of my business,” he declared in a low voice, though he couldn't help but look at the other man in a slightly different way.
    In stark contradiction to what he had said earlier, James stood up, approached the desk hurriedly and dropped to his knees. He didn’t pay any attention to Ira as his eyes roamed over the pages nervously, almost as if he was sorting through them to decide which ones to take. Ira noticed that getting a hold of those illustrations must have been more important to him than personal dignity. Seeing him like this, hair scattered on his shoulders, face flushed and on his knees right at Ira’s feet, the standing man felt a sudden rush of desire running through him. Licking his lips, he stood there in silence, observing the aristocrat’s frantic moves. In a way, he didn’t sense a chance before. James was not of slight build and had no effeminate characteristics, like some of the male prostitutes in the docks. On the contrary: he was as tall as Ira, with wide shoulders, although there was an aristocratic softness to his skin.
    “That worth a lot to you?” Ira asked, scanning the man’s young face. He fished a small pipe out of his trouser pocket, along with some tobacco and matches. He then secured the door tightly and since there were no sounds coming from the other side, he decided this was a good moment to relax before proceeding with their plan.
    James looked up at him slowly, with caution. “It’s for this particular research I do...,” he mumbled, apparently doing his best to keep a straight face.
    “Well, I imagine it must be very tedious?” teased Ira good naturedly, while calmly preparing his pipe.
    “Y... yes,” James stuttered a bit. “A man needs a lot of good morality in him, to deal with this kind of obscenity.”
    “True, true. One would hardly believe what some chaps daydream about when closing their mouths around the bit of a pipe,” said the other man, starting to smoke and filling the room with the sweet