Zack froze. For a second that seemed to stretch for hours, his brain refused to process the words. They floated into his ears and hung there like mist. Gradually, however, they took shape, and the full force of their meaning thundered through him. He turned around and stared at the blond shamelessly.

Zack knew that voice.

He’d know that voice anywhere.

And only one person called him Darkling.

He looked at the other man for what felt like the first time. It was like a camera lens had focused. Zack realized John was even better looking than he’d thought. Not just hot either, but genuinely handsome in an old-fashioned, aristocratic sort of way. Like a duke or a prince or something. He was about as tall as Zack, maybe a couple of inches shorter, and had the same lean-but-muscular build. His hair was straight except where it curled at his ears, and he had thick, light eyelashes. Cliché as it was, his eyes were what riveted Zack the most. They were an unusual light-blue color with a shadow of green, like watery mint.

There’s no way, a voice in the back of Zack’s head whispered. This has to be a misunderstanding. There is no way.

Even as he repeated that to himself, Zack knew it was him.

The blond was still standing there, looking as thunderstruck as Zack felt.

Zack opened and closed his mouth several times before he managed to rasp, “John?” His own voice sounded foreign to him, and his tongue was thick in his mouth.

The blond—John—nodded.

Zack stared at him for another second and blurted, “But I thought that was your friend’s name!”

John shrugged. The motion was so nonchalant, it made Zack want to scream. “It’s kind of common.”

The truth, which had been dancing around Zack like a skittish animal, slammed into him so hard it left him breathless. That was definitely John’s voice, no denying it: a silky baritone with a hint of a drawl.

Bouncers shot them dirty looks as they made no move toward the exit.

A single, pervasive thought drifted into Zack’s hazy mind and grew clearer the longer he stared: John was everything Zack had fantasized about, and Zack wanted him.

The shock that had trapped Zack in place shattered like glass.

Before Zack could process his own actions, he whirled around and sprinted toward the exit. People hissed curses at him as he elbowed his way through the crowd, but he didn’t care. He needed to get out of there now.