Chapter Two
The Earl Has…Difficulties

Two months after the mission where the bait was taken, the Major learned Eroica was going to be in the same city as his next assignment. Before he could make his next move, he had to be certain the Earl had literally taken the bait. It was one thing for the man to steal it, and another for him to actually use it.

As usual, the Earl appeared to annoy him, but there was something missing in his demeanor. A lack of his usual enthusiasm in baiting the Major with sexual innuendo.

“Have you lost weight?” the Major asked suddenly when the Earl “accidentally” fell against him.

The question caught the thief completely off guard. “I…um, that is…” He took a moment to recover from the shock, finally making a show of pushing his hair out of his face. Klaus noticed that he seemed to be forcing himself to smile at him.

“I didn’t think you noticed,” Eroica replied.

The strain of keeping up the facade was palpable and Klaus smiled to himself. Then he drew a deep breath before implementing step three. “I’ve asked you this a hundred times before,” he began slowly, “but this time, I want an honest answer.”

Eroica’s eyes grew wide, the sudden gravity in the other man’s voice startling him.

“Why do you follow me? And don’t give me all that bullshit about love.”

Oh, bloody hell, why does he have to bring that up now? the Earl thought wearily. He had been having a great deal of difficulty keeping up his usual appearance as an insatiable pervert. But when he was honest with himself, he had to admit that lately his heart just wasn’t in it anymore.

Eroica smiled with effort. “Major, as you say, we’ve been over this a dozen times over,” he sighed. “Words are just not enough, apparently.”

The Major nodded, seeming to accept this answer. He gave the other man a piercing look, drew a deep breath, and said, “Then…perhaps you’ll just have to show me.”

Eroica’s mouth dropped open and he was sure he had just heard wrong. He stood staring at the officer in stupefied amazement. Bloody hell! I did not just hear that!

“Ssssshow you?” the Earl stammered out finally.

“Yes.”

This was just too overwhelming for words. God dammit, why did he have to pick now? “Major…” Eroica began slowly, “are you asking…what I think you’re asking?”

Klaus felt his heart jump as the enormous blue eyes fixed themselves on him. He also wondered if his face was flushed as he fought back his panic. No, he told himself, all the outward signs were there, verifying that the Earl had taken the drug. His plan was working perfectly. He nodded, taking another deep breath to steady himself. “You have one day,” he stated flatly.

“One day?” came the bewildered reply. “One day for what, exactly?”

“One day to…explain what you mean. To…” Klaus had to struggle to say, “To show me what you are talking about.”

Eroica caught his breath, a hand going to his mouth. Shit! Shit! Shit! Not bloody now, Major! “When?” he heard himself asking.

The Major could see the other man’s growing discomfort, which only served to bolster his courage. “After this mission, when I return to Bonn. I’ll contact you with the time and place.”

By this time, the Earl’s head was spinning. “Oh, my dear Major,” he said breathlessly, “this is so sudden…”

“Are you backing out?” Klaus said sharply. “Afraid to put you money where your mouth is?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Eroica said quickly, waving a hand in the air. “I do have an operation of my own underway, y’know.”

Klaus nodded. “When?”

Now you get anxious! Hells bells, Major, your timing sucks! “Um, well…” came the hesitant reply.

The Major gave an impatient sigh. “When I get back to Bonn, I’ll call you with the time and place,” he repeated. “If you can interrupt your operations to fuck up my missions, you can certainly interrupt one to fuck me.” Christ, I don’t believe I just said that.

Apparently, neither did Eroica, who was staring at the man as if he’d just grown a second head.

“Out!” the Major said sharply and grabbed the Earl by the arm, shoving him out the door. “I don’t want to see your foppish ass until after I contact you!” he thundered, slamming the door shut.

Klaus leaned his back against the door, running a hand through his hair. Then he noticed he was shaking and got hold of himself, crossing to the mini-bar and pouring himself a stiff drink. Step three implemented, he thought, toasting himself. It was step four that would be the final part of his plan. After that, the faggot would be out of his life forever.

* * *

“Damn! Damn! Damn!” Eroica growled as he stormed down the hallway. Why now! After all these years, the Major was his for the taking and he felt nothing. His lechery should be on overload but he felt…nothing! Nothing!  

“My lord, where have you been?” James whined the instant the Earl stepped through the door.

“Shut up, James!” Eroica snapped as he stormed into the room. “I’m not in the mood.”

James was about to point out that he hadn’t been “in the mood” for quite some time, but the dangerous look he received from the Earl caused him to close his mouth with an audible snap.

“We’re going back to England,” Eroica ordered as he threw his suitcase onto the bed and started throwing his clothes haphazardly inside.

“My lord?” Bonham ventured from his place at the door. “Has…something happened?”

Eroica looked up, his eyes blazing. “None of your bloody business!” he snapped. “Now get the team together. We’re going home.”

“Yes, m’lord,” Bonham said meekly, exchanging a bewildered shrug with James. The Earl had been out of sorts for several weeks now. If he pushed for answers, he probably would only get his head bitten off again.

* * *

“I don’t know why you insisted on seeing me, Lord Gloria,” Doctor Roberts was saying as he held out a hand to his patient, inviting him to sit down. “You’re perfectly healthy. In fact, I wish all my patients were as health conscious as you are.” He sat down behind his desk and studied the man as he took a seat.

Dorian smiled, tossing his hair back. “Thank you, Doctor,” he said calmly, “but…that’s not why I’m here.” He cleared his throat nervously. “This is…rather embarrassing…”

“Come now, you know you can tell me anything.”

“Yes.” Dorian drew a deep breath. “I…have no interest in sex,” he blurted out.

The physician’s eyebrows went up. “I beg your pardon?”

Dorian felt his face flush. Never in his life did he imagine he would be saying what he just did. “I have no interest in sex,” he repeated.

Dr. Roberts’ eyes were wide as saucers. “Your lordship will pardon me for being shocked.”

“I must confess to being shocked myself.”

Dr. Roberts sat back in his chair. “I can only assume this is a recent occurrence?”

Dorian nodded. “About…two months now.”

“You haven’t suffered any physical injuries recently, have you?”

“No.”

“Or changed anything in your diet too dramatically? No new, exotic foods?”

Dorian shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Actually, I’ve been trying to watch my weight.”

The physician rolled his eyes. “Lord Gloria, you are the last man on earth I would expect to see here with a weight problem.”

Dorian gave him a weak smile but did not reply. When he lowered his eyes, Dr. Roberts had a brainstorm. “Have you been taking something to control your weight?” he asked suddenly.

Dorian’s eyes snapped up, his mouth dropping open.

Dr. Roberts gave a grunt. “What is it?” he asked sharply.

“I haven’t any idea how to pronounce it,” Dorian replied guiltily as he pulled the vial that he had stolen from the Major out of his pocket. He set it on the desk, feeling like he was back in school and had been caught pinching small objects from the classroom shelves.

Dr. Roberts slipped on his glasses and pick up the vial, struggling a moment to read the label. When he did, his eyes grew wide. “Lord Gloria, do you know what this is intended for?” he asked, looking up sharply.

Again, the Earl shifted in his seat. “The person I got it from told me it was an experimental drug,” he admitted. “An appetite suppressant.”

Dr. Roberts pulled off his glasses and sat back, putting the vial on the desk. “Did this person tell you want kind of appetite it is intended to suppress?”

“I don’t understand.”

“This drug is indeed experimental,” the physician began slowly. “It’s used to…chemically castrate sex offenders.”

Dorian’s eyes grew wide as saucers. “What!”

Dr. Roberts explained that the drug on the desk had been experimented with by the Nazis. It reduced testosterone output, effectively suppressing a man’s sex drive, or as the Earl put it, suppressing his sexual appetite.

By the time the physician was finished with his explanation, Dorian was breathing heavily, his hands clenched into tight fists. A drug experimented on by the Nazis during the war. Something a Neo Nazi expert would surely know about. “That bloody bastard!” he hissed out finally. “That Goddamn bloody bastard!”

“My lord?”

Dorian looked up, waving a hand in the air. “Never mind,” he said dismissively. “Can the effects be counteracted?”

“Well, yes,” the doctor replied. “Or you could just wait for it to wear off.”

“No!” Dorian said sharply. “I can’t…function like this.”

The doctor nodded, getting to his feet. “A steroid injection should do the trick,” he said mildly.

“Steroids?”

“Oh, I know all the bad press they’ve been getting, but one dose isn’t going to harm you. In fact, it should make you feel like your old amorous self again.”

This brought a bright smile to the Earls face. “Then I’ll gladly accept.”

When Doctor Roberts left the room to get the injection, Dorian went to the desk, quickly looking over the notations the doctor had been making. He read the name of the steroid he was to receive and committed it to memory, along with the name of the “appetite suppressant.”

He would remember that.

And he would remember from whom he got it.

* * *